One Reason Why I Hate Halo 3

The following represents one reason why I hate playing Halo 3.

This example seems to showcase how I'm always on the short end of random happenings in the game.

I'm very much aware of the fact that the main reason why stuff like this happens is my severe lack of skill. I'm horrible at this game. I could seriously challenge for worst player in the Halo 3 universe. I used to be decent, but now I can't even sniff a 1/1 kill/death ration. I don't know how Eric & Chang put up with me, as I severely hinder any chances of them winning a match. (I think they're mathematically challenged since they argue with me when I explain to them how I only have a negative impact on our team.)

I know you're wondering why I bother playing if I hate it so much. I play because I like playing with Chang & Eric. All my other cronies have moved on to Call of Duty 4, but I will play Halo 3 occasionally out of loyalty to my friends. I used to get extremely aggravated by my horrid play, but I've changed my mindset to make it tolerable. Now I don't care about my kill to death ratio. In fact, I'm trying to lower it as much as possible. I might as well be the best, worst player, right?

Anyway, onto tonight's little issue:

This is me sneaking up on an unsuspecting opponent. Usually, a melee attack from behind results in an instant kill, which Halo 3 calls an assassination. The difference this time is that this guy doesn't die.


As you can see by the flames (I have no idea why there are flames), I made contact.


Not only does he not die, he apparently can levitate, hanging over the edge, before coming back to attack me.


See that electricity on my body, a la the Emperor? That's me taking damage. Notice that the shots coming from his gun aren't even close to hitting me.


Yup. That's me. Dead. "Respawn in 4...3...2...1..."

By the way, here's a link to my stats from the game where this took place. I went 6-22. Not bad!!

A Whole Lot of Nothin

Lots of stuff I want to throw up here, so here we go.

- Watching UConn host Depaul as I compose this. The Huskies are on a nice roll ever since the Dyson/Wiggins suspensions. Things will be quite interesting when Dyson returns next week. (By the way, how sweet are Depaul's unis? I would love to get my hands on a pair of those shorts.)

- If saying a prayer is your sort of thing, please do me a favor and say one for my cat Cosmo. Tomorrow he goes to the vet to have half of his tail amputated. He had been biting the tip of it pretty bad, saw the vet who covered it up & gave him some antibiotics (which he had a horrible reaction to) but it didn't heal properly and they want to amputate just in case there's cancer involved. He's my boy and I'll be a little on edge Wednesday thinking about him. :(

- Mary's away again, this time in Australia. At least this trip is only two weeks instead of three.

- Before she left, we went to NYC last Saturday to catch Lower Ninth, a play about two guys stranded on a roof in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. The draw for me was two of the three actors in it. Gbenga Akinnagbe (Chris Partlow from The Wire) & Gaius Charles (Smash Williams from Friday Night Lights). (The 3rd was James McDaniel from NYPD Blue.) All three actors were amazing and the location, the Flea Theater, was unique, to say the least. It seats about 50 people and you have to walk across the stage to get to your seats. It made for a great time. Those guys are pretty damn talented.

-
Yup, you read that right. My Dell laptop, which has served me well for almost five years now, is on its last legs. It's been continuously locking up & giving me the BSOD several times. I'm in the process of moving all my files to my external hard drive and just waiting for the next trip to the Apple Store. I've done a lot of research and have decided that the 20" iMac is everything I'll need. I'm looking forward to playing around with iLife and doing some cool things with photos and videos.

- Thanks to this story in the Hartford Courant yesterday, I discovered The Caldor Rainbow, a fantastic blog that documents the current fate of Caldor, Bradlees, Ames and other long forgotten retail giants of the Northeast. There's a ton of fascinating information buried there. I just wish there were some tags or some other form of organization. Great stuff though. Be prepared to waste some time there.

- Another interesting item I discovered yesterday was the story of Centralia, Pennsylvania. In short, it's a town that is basically deserted due to a fire underground that has been burning since the 1960's. There are a ton of eerie photos from this town.

- The Wire is down to it's final three episodes and I'm a little sad. There's talk of a prequel movie, which would be outstanding. To any of my friends who have not watched the show, my DVDs are making the rounds & I will be happy to let you borrow them to experience this masterpiece.

- Finally, Happy Birthday Dad!!!!

Go Rudy!

Looks like I'm going to have to watch the dunk contest this year.

Top 20 Nintendo Entertainment System Games

Ah, the NES. This little 8-bit machine of wonder re-awakened my love of video games for good.

I first was introduced to the NES during the summer of 1987. My cousin Andrew had one at his cottage on Fishers Island. There must've been a bunch of rainy days that summer, since there's no way our parents would've let us stay inside all day playing video games. But play we did. Up in the attic, endless games of Baseball & Super Mario Brothers filled the air. It was fantastic.

That same November, my Dad & I spent Thanksgiving with the Burr's in New Jersey. Again, more Nintendo. This time Pro Wrestling worked it's way into the rotation. A month later, I received my own NES for Christmas.

I can still remember the games I received with it. Along with Super Mario Brothers & Duck Hunt, Rad Racer & 10-Yard Fight were under the tree. Soon after, Double Dribble joined the group. Over the next four years, many, many games were either borrowed, rented, bought or played with friends. I have fond memories of them all, but I'm especially fond of these 20.

The NES lives on strong today. Emulation (I can play NES games on my Sega Dreamcast), working original consoles (I have two), and the Virtual Console on the Wii (hopefully I'll have one of those soon) all allow a new generation of gamers to discover this classic. You can even play these games online. Just head to VirtualNES & jump right in!

On with the list. (Once again, these are my favorites, not a reflection on the best games ever)

HONORABLE MENTION: Super Mario Brothers 3, Rambo, Castlevania, Kung Fu, NES Play Action Football, Rad Racer, Rampage, 10-Yard Fight, Rygar, Super Dodge Ball, Rush'n Attack, RBI Baseball

(Click on the title for Youtube links. Great for remembering the fantastic sound effects & music.)

#20
Karnov


#19
RC Pro Am


#18
Golf


#17
Top Gun

Landing that plane is still difficult to this day.

#16
Major League Baseball

The appeal of this game was all MLB rosters. Unfortunately, there wasn't any player names, just numbers. Still, I swear #50 for the Mets was just as fat as Sid Fernandez.

#15
Bases Loaded

Joe Cuff & I had some great battles in this game. In fact, we videotaped one of our greatest games, which included a bench-clearing brawl & the ump calling me "a bum".

#14
Ice Hockey


#13
Blades of Steel


#12
Racket Attack


#11
Legend of Kage


#10
Baseball

Jerry loves this game & always kicked my butt.

#9
Tecmo Bowl/Super Tecmo Bowl


#8
Ikari Warriors


#7
Pro Wrestling


#6
Contra

Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, b, a, start.

#5
Double Dribbe

Ah, the Boston Frogs.

#4
Tetris

Please tell me I wasn't the only one to play this game so much that I started seeing Tetris pieces in real life and trying to figure out how they'll fit together.

#3
Legend of Zelda


#2
Mike Tyson's Punch-Out

007-373-9563. I've never forgotten the code to fight Mike Tyson.

#1
Super Mario Brothers

As much as I played this game, I was only able to rescue the Princess once. I still never made it to the Minus Worlds.

Top 20 Songs of the 80's

Compiled in one location for your convenience!

1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989

Perfect Timing

Sure, they only lost one game, but it was a big one. Great season nonetheless. If I had to pick a game for them to lose during the season, this would be the one.

I'm not going to revel in the outcome of the game out of respect to my friends. My friends were pretty classy throughout the year, but there were others I run into who weren't. For them, I will be wearing this several times this summer.

I'm still thrilled that the season is over. The only bad thing about this game is more airtime for Mercury Morris. Can someone please shut him up?

This, That & The Other

Just a few quick hits before going to bed & reading "The Corner".

- Yay. Tomorrow's the Super Bowl. Color me excited. I don't think I need to explain to everyone that I'll be rooting for the Giants. Unfortunately, I realize this is a futile effort. The Patriots are going to destroy them. As much as I'd like to envision the Giants pulling off a great upset (similar to the Pats over the Rams), it's just not going to happen.

The only Patriot I really can't stand is Rodney Harrison. He's a cheap-shot HGHer, who just rubs me the wrong way. Other than that, no one really bothers me. I like Wes Welker & Randy Moss and Tom Brady seems like a good guy. Belichick is a jerk, but whatever.

I'll be happy for my friends the Pats fans. Mike, Eric, Dean, Bryan. Those guys have been fans forever, so they were there when the Patriots were horrible. I can't say the same for the countless front-runners I encounter on a daily basis. They're the ones who ratchet up my hatred for all things Patriots. They wouldn't know Vincent Brisby from Vincent Price, Hugh Millen from Hugh Grant or Stanley Morgan from Morgan Stanley.

Here's hoping the recent news regarding the Patriots spying on other teams becomes a major headache for them & the NFL (Good job Roger Goddell destroying all those tapes!). Just as a disclaimer, the whole Spygate thing earlier this season didn't mean much to me. It's not like they weren't going to beat the Jets anyways & I never once thought an asterisk should be placed on this season. The arrogance from the organization bothered me more, but I didn't expect anything less. This news however is a little different. Videotaping your Super Bowl opponent's final practice before the game is pretty serious. Pats fans, this is where you respond with a) "everyone else does it, we just got caught", b) jealousy, c) witch hunt. :)

So congrats Mike & Bryan. The Patriots roll over the Giants, 55-10. It could be worse than that. Hopefully, we'll at least get to see a falling-over drunk Robert Kraft swear on TV as he receives the Lombardi Trophy.

- Here's a little bit of comedy for you. I apologize for the horrible quality, but Youtube blew the clip up too much. It looks better on a smaller size, but you'll get the general idea.

Two years ago, this guy used to sit in front of the seats I would sit in at UConn games. He would go nuts for the stupid free t-shirts, making wild hand gestures & yelling. I didn't see him at all last year, but today he sat right next to us. Good times!!! Here's a clip from 2006: