Random

Happy belated Thanksgiving.

A few random thoughts for my readers (all 5 of you)

-Pick up the new Kanye West album in stores now. It is easily my favorite album so far this year and may be the best so far this decade. It is not necessarily kid friendly, but a great record for the car or on the computer when little ones are asleep.

- I also have been listening to the new Cee Lo Album. Great if you like a fusion of 60's pop and R&B. Not as strong as his work with Danger Mouse.

-Microsoft Xbox 360 Kinect is by far the funnest gaming experience I have ever had. It runs about $149 but you will be having a great time sweating out to Dance Party or the white water rapid game that comes with the system.

Rainy Sunday In Chicago

Today is rainy, and with the rain comes the inevitable leak that sprouts from our ceiling. The wife and I rent, so it is really that landlords issue, but just the inconvenience of moving the couch, and the lamp, and my Guitar Hero drum set, is enough for me to be "put out". The weekend has been lazy, with a stack of work that I need to get done for school. I will get to it, just needed to blog my headache away. If anyone wants to read a good article, check out today's Chicago Tribune.

The article is about 27 year old Jon Favreau, the president's chief speech writer. At 27, he is working in the White House, and through the power of written word, changing the world. It amazes me the dynamism of the presidential team. I saw Jon on the evening of the election. We were standing in the press pit, looking up at the stage, and for that moment, when Jon stepped in front of me, he looked like any guy walking down the street, or working in my building, or standing in the hall at DePaul. The thing to remember is that each day, when you feel the walls of the cubicle closing in, or the monotony of life on your shoulder, remember that there are people like you changing the world.

It can be done.

Jon Favreau

The Bears...a reaction

was anyone completley amazed by the Bears vs. Colt game on last night?

Who would have guessed that our loevable bruisers would take down the mountain of Peyton Manning and the Colts.

Of course one game in week one hardly makes a season, but there was something in this win, something salty that's been smoking around the veins these last two seasons. I am talking about 2006 and the Bears loss to the Colts in the Super Bowl. You see, Bears fans never forget the big losses and as much as we have sucked since, I think we needed to win this game.

To quote Jack Dundee from The Best Of Times.

We are going to blitz like Dick Butkus into the backfield of the future and throw a vicious forearm shiver on the demon ball carriers of the past.

That is what we did on Sunday. Whether we go to the playoffs or fizzle into the lower bowels of the league, Sunday night was our night. And so it goes.

Success and Forte

A few Sunday Evening Notes

I BEAT level 2 of Turtles today at 12:00-My Dream has been realized.

Michael Turner is God

Matt Forte is God.


BOOYA

Nintendo: My Dream Emerges

Yesterday a magnificent event occured.

I was walking up Clark Street, meandering towards the comic book shop ( to buy the latest Dark Tower comic), and low and behold I see a shop called PEOPLE PLAY GAMES.

Walking in, the sound of classic video games emerges from the sound system. I am talking about tunes from the original Legend Of Zelda and Nobuo Uematsu's beautifully composed music for Final Fantasy VIII. Then comes another familiar sound, the rallying call of Mike Tyson's Punchout. In the corner, a man is trying to beat Mike Tyson. Of course the great ones classic lightining quick punches are not enough for Little Mac, the character you take through the ardous circuit. I walk up behind the guy and apologize for looming. He explains that he has spent the last three day's trying to beat Tyson and was unsuccessful.

I begin looking at the shelves and see the thousands of classic Nintendo games they have. Apparently these guys refurbish old Nintendo systems for ultimate capability and sell the games at a reasonable price. At once my childhood ( another haiku?) came flooding back.

It did not take long for me to decide to buy a system. $89.00 later and now I am a proud owner of a classic NES system. The system came with Super Mario Bros/ Duck Hunt and I bought Super Mario Bros 3 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Super Mario 3 is an old favorite and I can remember scouring the malls of Bloomington/Normal looking for it. My mom and I eventually found it at K's Merchandise. The orginal Super Mario is always a great a game for a little fun, but it is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that is my Everest.

You see, the second level of TMNT is the underwater level. When I first borrowed this game from my childhood pal Jeff, it took countless hours to try and beat the level. The set-up is that you are swimming underneath the dam trying to disable all the bombs before the damn explodes. Of course there are dangeroud underwater foot soldiers and stinging algae. I was never able to beat that level.

I am about to turn thirty in a couple years. My only goal, besides being successful at my job, and starting a family, is to defeat this level.

I will update everyone once I have done so, and I will also update on any new classic games I will pick-up.

I am contemplating a huge Tecmo Super Bowl tournament for my friends.

We shall see.

The Truth About Kiefer and Jack

I recently became re-introduced to "A Few Good Men', Aaron Sorkin's amazing portrayal of high-level conspiracy within the United States Marine Corp. This play, as well as the movie, is a compelling look at the inner workings of command within our armed forces. The movie is dated (i.e. September 11th would have changed how we viewed code red's in the military, and of course Tom Cruises charisma, however I think the movie is a realistic look at how discipline works within the military,

The one problem, and call this a random observation, is the character usage within the narrative.

Let me create the scene.

LTJG Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise) is questioning 1LT Jonathan Kendrick (Kiefer Sutherland). The questioning turns to the matter of the code red and whether Jonathan Kendrick ordered said code red. Now Kiefer Sutherland( in an underrated part I might add) handles Tom Cruise brillantly, and parries and jabs without any problem.

Kiefer 1 Tom Cruise 0

Later, Tom Cruise is questioning Col Nathan R Jessep(Jack Nicholson)and giving him the same hard line joust. Tom Cruise manages, through clever dialogue and a heated scene, to break Jack Nicholson into submission.

Tom Cruise 1 Jack Nicholson 0.

Is this a real world scenario? I totally like Kiefer Sutherland and Jack Nicholson, however there is no way that Tom Cruise would be able to break Jack Nicholson in the real world. To be realistic, Jack Nicholson would have jumped out of his seat and would have detroyed Tom Cruise with a round house kick or a well hidden shank. Kiefer on the other hand would never have taken the verbal abuse from Tom Cruise. I imagine that Kiefer would be like his character from that phone booth movie. He would wait while Tom Cruise was out and about and would snipe him from the 30th story of some building. It would be amazing.

Completley Random.