Xbox 360 vs. Paper Games

I recently acquired an Xbox 360 and yesterday I went out and purchased Call of Duty 4 and Assassins Creed for it.  I started Call of Duty 4 and so far have been really impressed with the quality of single player in a game well known for its online play.  After I chew through those two I think I'll get Bioshock, which I heard a lot of discussion about at the 2008 Meaningful Play Conference that was hosted at Michigan State University.

However, there have been a lot more than just video games being played.  Thursday night I learned how to play the card game Citadels, which is essentially a cross between Monopoly and Magic: The Gathering.  I have to admit I was really quite impressed with the game design of Citadels.  It puts strategy both in the place of role selection (from different cards that give you certain abilities and attributes for a round) and in the actual utilization of the cards in hand during the round.  Furthermore there are extra role cards that can be swapped in and out to increase replay value of the game.  I think it would even be feasible to make some DIY role cards just for fun.

It's a game that is similar Magic: The Gathering (and I would argue just as fun) that is contained in a single box.  The fact that it's not a Trading Card Game makes it a lot more accessible to people have never played before.  I definitely think I'll be playing it again sometime soon.

Starbucks

My friend Trusty bought me Starbucks yesterday because I went with him to buy a board game and then gave him advice on what to order at said Starbucks.  I had to remark that I found it amusing that the one thing he has chosen to ask me about for advice was Starbucks.  What really intrigues me about the whole situation was that "coffee literacy" seems so natural now.  A conversation comparing the deliciousness of different coffee drinks seems integral and normal when a trip to Starbucks or Biggby's is made, but a person who doesn't have any knowledge of delicious coffee drinks is a person that is hard to find.

Some people think that Starbucks has built too many stores (I believe Starbucks management shares that sentiment), yet I'm not sure that I've ever been in a Starbucks that was empty of customers.  They may have cost themselves some of their profits by building so many stores, but I think another result is the very deep integration of Starbucks coffee into the culture of many communities, to the point where unfamiliarity with Starbucks seems like a foreign concept.  Which results with many people like myself and Trusty spending our hard earned cash on expensive coffee.  Maybe I should pick up smoking too so that I can really be broke.

My delicious coffee drink of choice: Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino.

Flow

So last night I went and saw the band See You Next Tuesday, which I have to admit, was a lot of fun.  However, something has really been bothering me.  All of the bands opening up foe See You Next Tuesday weren't very good.   Sure, they were local bands and locals are generally less talented than nationally touring acts, but I never seem to understand why they can't figure out that there might be reason why everyone in the crowd pretty much stands still while they play.

However, that mystery is dwarfed by the fact that the opening bands were also a very different style of music than the headlining band.  Sure, in a really broad sense the locals and the headliner might both be categorized as "metal," but the locals all played very generic and slow metalcore.  See You Next Tuesday plays very fast, experimental grindcore.  The way this played out was that I was quite bored for the first three bands and then finally had a good time when See You Next Tuesday got on stage.

I always thought opening bands were supposed to get the crowd excited and energized.  I have yet to go to a concert in Michigan where the opening acts actually do that.  Then again, maybe that's an Indiana thing.

Blogs

It was recently impressed upon me that making a blog might be beneficial for increasing my internet presence and thus be beneficial in a pre-professional sense.  Which apparently was what I needed to push me over the edge and actually start writing one.  It would be a lie to say I haven't entertained the idea of starting one for months now, but it took the push of creating a blog for more than just my personal enjoyment to finally make one.  I think that's disgusting, and I resent the fact that shear procrastination stopped me from trying my hand at something as easy as a web blog.  Then again there is that Living With Lions song titled "Later Is Better," so I can only hope that that's the case.

As I mentioned, I had been entertaining the idea of starting a blog for some time now, and I've been reading several on a daily basis for years now.  Some of them have really made an impression on me, which has me stoked to finally be writing my own.  Of course, they also give me strong urges to buy a really nice camera to supplement my writings.  Too late for that, because I spent my paycheck on an xbox360 yesterday.  So anyways, here are some of the blogs that I enjoy:

Mitch Clem, the ever intriguing punk cartoonist.  I've followed his blog and comics since my sophomore year of high school, which means I quite possibly know way too much about his life.

XKCD, the web comic for the nerds of the world.  Randall Munroe updates his comics very regularly, but his blog only sometimes.  However, the posts are usually quite interesting, and the comics are great.

Johnny Cupcakes, a former member of the band On Broken Wings, started a clothing company.  He also writes an awesome blog on the website that rivals the quality of the clothing.  He takes some awesome pictures to go along with with his posts.  I'm always impressed when I find myself on his page.