10 Things Men Should Never Say To One Another

Under The Bridge - Alternate Version

100,000 And Counting

Well, $102,991 and counting when I last checked. That ladies and gents is the total amount of donations we 'gamers' have collected so far for Extra Life and I can't express enough how awesome that is! Even after all the crap I've heard from heartless people (clearly the vast majority of them being anti-gamers), I could stand to hear some more of it just so I can throw this number back in their self-superior faces as further proof we are far better people then they claim.

A strange side note to this is how large that number became to me after going to get my mug refilled at the local Chevron a few minutes ago. As you all know, gas stations, supermarkets and so on all do drives for the CMN (Children's Miracle Network) every year. I'm sure you've seen the paper hot air balloons in the windows everywhere. Well, in talking with the manager about Extra Life and as it turns out, Chevron does an average of 35-40k a year for the CMN. Granted, that's one chain out of all of the locations that participate, but to think we gamers, in less time have collected three times the average made by a large nationwide corporation? Now that is proof positive that we kicked some ass!

Of course I'd like to take a second to thank everyone that participated and donated to this fundraiser, regardless if you donated through me, created your own page or just donated to the first name you came across on the Extra Life Donate page. While I was a bit disappointed that I had to change my goal after a good number of people that promised to donate did not (are you for cancer or something? ;) ), the overall total so far pretty much makes my disappointment mute.

Next I'd like to personally thank 'Doc' Adams for putting thew whole thing together and his wife Lesley who I'm sure put as much effort into getting things rolling (if not more). Also want to shout out to the rest of the Sarcastic Gamer leadership (Dave, Lono, PMPB, Rothbart, Captain DDL, Animathais, Havok, Yamster, Ecco, Frawlz, MightyMutt and Truth and Justice) for spreading the word as hard and constantly as you did. Regardless of who donated the most or brought in the most donations, you guys made the difference.

Wow, that came off as if it was my idea and I'm thanking everyone for their help ... I'm just a contributor, Doc and Lesley should get all the love not me.

Next, I want to give a huge nod to the gaming community that pulled this off, again proving that we are a far better group of individuals then the mainstream and disbarred claim us to be. I can't wait until next year when Extra Life comes back with a vengeance and is sure to collect three times what it did this year ... but wait, I'm not done.

As it turns out, Extra Life isn't over just yet. While we did have our marathon and all, Donations are still being taken until October 28th. My page is here, if you wish to give via my name, or you can go to the Extra Life main page and donate through anyone you will at sarcastic gamer donation main page. Or, if you're willing, check out one of the many other teams raising money for Extra Life at Gamertag Radio, The Blue Skittle, Rooster Teeth, The Instance, Post Game Report, Achievement Junkie, Video Game Show, Podtacular, Gaming Angels, The Married Gamers, Gaming 4 Others, Gaming Geeks, Geezer Gamers, King Of Consoles, What Does Tom Think?, SFX 360, The Us Guys Show, Play 51, Bachiatari Koneko, Violence Within, Over The Top Gamer, Limit Break Radio, Achievement Hunter, Gamer Husbands, 4 Color Rebellion, Destruction Dolls, Epic Dolls, Epic Default, Legend Zero, Blue Realm Studios, Mjolnir Armor, Akimbo Comics, Kendl Core, Destructoid, 4 Player Podcast, Sanctuary 4 Gamers, Justin TV, Ten Stones, Gaming Parents, Theresa and Frank, Marshall's Machinima, Player Five, Naruto RP Center, Married Gamer, or Multiplayer University.

Yes I Still Live ... For The Funny

Sorry it's been so long since my last appearance here, or anywhere for that matter, but I wanted to quickly drop by and say ... time to make you laugh.

I hope to resume scheduled blogging sometime soon.

Introducing the Forgotten Saints ... kinda

Decided to take some lousy pictures of my Forgotten Saints band members from Rock Band 2. Some of them are still evolving (clothes and gear) others are pretty much finished. Well, here they are, same team from Rock Band, just with longer names and new digs:


Zayne Ashe - Mostly drums, but I've had him as singer or bass player for a while so I can see his other animations, as well as to make money easier with the other members of the band. As I'm way better on Guitar or Drums and I suck hard at singing.


Chieko Nakamura - Bassist and Guitarist, though I really like her as the singer for a good deal of her animations ... just find it odd hearing her scream in those deep voices on the male songs, though I do get a kick out her going; 'Ooh Ah Ah Ah Ah' for Down With The Sickness by Disturbed.


Jessica CG - originally my main singer, but been having a blast having her on drums since she gets a shit eating grin on her face whenever a hard drum roll and/or riff kicks in, such as the opening to 'Painkiller' by Judas Priest.


High Octane - aka Mike - who has been haivng fun being all over the place. I don't think I've had him play a single spot more then any other, though it always seems like he's pissed off about something when playing bass and while on drums, he sudenly suffers ADD (he'll just gesture to the camera even while the drums are playing).


Forgotten Saints logo ... like it, but it's missing something.


Oh Hell Yeah! Got it tonight and since the text isn't the easiest to read (told you I took lousy pics), it says this: There are no words to discribe your accomplishment ... except these: Hot. Melty. Chihuahua pants. That's how amazing you are. Now hurry up and go to the bathroom! And Rock On!!

That last part will make more sense once you realize that to get this, you have to play the endless setlist; all 84 songs that comes on the disk back to back with no breaks ... unless you pause of course, or even save and quit ... .... ... ... I paused, had to eat, drink and well, I think you get the idea. Granted, by doing so I didn't earn the Bladder of Steel achivement, but I'll let those who are truly deranged or at a kegg party get that one.

Cold Hearts Need Not Apply

Wow … all I can say is … WOW! While the past decade or so has taught me that those who are against gamers can be cruel, unjust and well, just flat out motarded™, it amazes me that they can continue to stoop lower and lower in the intelligence and lack of understanding department with each and every year. While many will claim that video games crush our mental development, I wonder what has destroyed theirs in their youth, or adulthood? I say this because of a series of emails and a comment I have received since posting about Extra Life on my blog, and various other locations, has been overwhelming in the WTF department. Here I offer up a few examples and my retorts.

Comment – Apparently I Steal Money

I can’t believe that you would stoop so low to steal money from children who desperately need it just to fuel your ridiculous addiction of violence, sex and greed. While I must admit your so-called fundraiser page looks convincingly a part of the Texas Children’s Hospital website, I know it to be a well done fake. The fact you are doing this to steal thousands of dollars from those that truly deserve it is unthinkable and I will be reporting you and your friends to the authorities. Enjoy your time in jail.

Signed by someone that calls himself Disapointed and his/her website (at least the one they left) is abacadabra ... geez

Comment Response

Wow, I’d sit by the door and wait for the authorities to arrive, but then I’d be wasting all my time waiting for a moment that will never come. Here’s a hint, go to the Texas Children’s Hospital website (the one you know is real) and click on charities, then look up Extra Life. You will see it is a ‘real’ charity and that all the money goes ‘directly to the hospital’ and never touches our so-called grubby hands. Thank you for visiting my blog to deliver me comedic gold, even if I’m the only one that finds it funny.

Oh, and if you still think iIm full of shit, here's the phone number of the Texas Children's Hospital 'Ways To Give' phone number 832-824-2945, or you can snail mail them directly at:

Texas Children's Hospital
P.O. Box 300630
MC-4-4483
Houston, TX 77230-0630

Next up we have:

Email #1 – Pathetic

I think it’s pathetic how you are all going about this. While it is wonderful that you are raising money for the Cancer Research Center, it’s sad that all you are doing in return is sitting on your asses and playing video games. How very pathetic and you should be ashamed of yourselves. Instead, you should go out and actually earn then money like everyone else does.

Sent by someone out there in lala land.

Email #1 Response

Pathetic indeed, I never thought about it. Maybe I should fire off angry emails to the NBA, and other sports for doing the same thing. I remember donating money multiple times to the NBA in the past when they held charity games, where the basketball players simply held a fundraising game to earn money for their charity by … well, playing basketball. High Schools and Universities are really big dogs at this crime, and have clearly taken my money for charities without earning it. They are lazy and need to go out and earn that charity money! In other cases, writers will simply sign their books and all proceeds go to charity. How dare them just sit there and sign their name. Then there are those despicable bands who hold charity concerts and instead of going out and doing something, they just play their music. HOW DARE THEY! So I hundred-percent agree in my best sarcastic voice, we are pathetic-ly wonderful.

Everyone earns money for their charities in many different ways. Some play sports, others stand there and ask for your money at a kiosk. We are simply getting together and doing something we love to do at the same time reaching out to everyone to help these kids. I find it sad that you have a problem with us earning money for children who need it more then all of us put together.

Oh, and by the way, the vast majority of us are donating to the charity as well, so we’re not exactly sitting on our asses not doing anything, now are we.

Email #2 – Gibberish (unaltered email)

Videogames are the curs eof this world and no cherity should use games or gamers to rise money. You and your kind are only bringng in the wrong crowd that thinks more about themselfes then those you are trying to get donations for. The sooner you all stop playing these violent games the sooner the world will beocme a better place to live. Besides, you dine and pony donations are so small that no child has benefited from them and never wil.

Sent by, ah hell, it probably wouldn't make sense anyway.

Email #2 Response

Strange, by playing these games we all met each other in order to raise this money for, well, a better cause that hopefully in the near future will make the world a better place WITHOUT cancer. Oh, and next time, use spell-check before you hit send ... wait, let me make sure I've done it myself

...

...

...

I should be good and I’ll just file this email under Motardnation™

Seriously, and to say we’ve never raised enough money to ever alter a child’s life for the better? How stupid are these people?? I don’t know about you, but if total strangers gathered together and raised money for you, wouldn’t that change your life regardless if it was a couple hundred dollars or millions? In fact, Child’s Play raised 1.4 million dollars last year alone for children in hospitals all around the world, which might not seem much, only dimes and ponies I guess you could say, but every single one of those dimes and ponies changed a child’s life for the better. If it be they got a toy that made them happy, or it went to further research towards finding a cure. And, let’s not forget that Child’s Play is run and sponsored by … shocking inhale of breath … people who play video games!

While these people see us as nothing more then Satanists dining on baby flesh, if it be because they have been lied to by the media or have deluded themselves to make themselves feel better, we are actually out there trying to make a difference. Which is a hell a lot more productive then sitting back, blog searching, and writing attacking emails towards those trying to make the difference happen.

Sometimes I wish these people would just look in the mirror next time they feel like attacking people actually doing something good and question themselves on what they've done lately besides bitch.

Extra Life Fundraiser

Okay, I'm a little late getting all of this set up, but here is it. The crew over at Sarcastic Gamer have been cooking up this amazing idea for a while now and even after they announced it, I've been slow at getting my ass all set up for it. The idea is called; Extra Life, where we gamers prove we have big hearts, unlike what some will claim. (Though I think that things like this and Child's Play continue to prove those people wrong). The idea behind Extra Life is simple, but instead of stumbling all over myself, I'll let Jeromy Doc Adams tell it to you directly ... well as directly as a Letter from him to the gaming community can be.

Dear Friend,

I lost a very precious part of my life this year. She was a young lady from Orange, TX who had her heart set on being a cheerleader. In January, Tori lost her third bout with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, or cancer of the blood. She beat it twice, enduring things you likely can’t imagine. On the third time around, even when things weren’t looking so good, Tori kept everyone around her in positive spirits. On the drive home from Tori’s funeral, I thought about courage and the human spirit. I thought about how many times this scenario had played out in hospitals all over the world. I thought about how many kids, like Tori, were still fighting cancer.

I decided that as moving as their stories of courage are, and as much as I treasure having these kids in my life, I would much rather live in a world where kids got to be plain old kids. Before Tori died, the Sarcastic Gamer Community pulled together some money for a gift for Tori. After witnessing so much generosity towards a girl they didn’t even know, I realized that this community and the dozens of communities with whom we interact with every day are made up of some of the most generous gamers in the world.

There is no community better equipped to take on this challenge.

PLEASE join us in a 24-hour video game marathon on Saturday, October 18th, 2008.

To participate, sign up and get 4 people in your life to sponsor you for just a dollar an hour for 24 hours. Then, on the 18th, start playing those games and know that you’re doing something completely awesome for kids you might never meet who are waging the war of a lifetime. The money raised, every penny of it, will go directly to benefit pediatric cancer treatment and research at Texas Children’s Cancer Center at Texas Children’s Hospital.  TxCCC is one of the largest pediatric cancer and hematology centers in the WORLD, and sees kids from all 50 states and over 80 countries.  Every child gets the same ground-breaking treatment, regardless of their family’s financial situation.

This generous philosophy DESERVES your support.  Please join us and be a part of something bigger than yourself.  Bigger than Sarcastic Gamer.

Sign up now for Extra Life, and be a hero!

Cancer kills a classroom full of kids every day worldwide.  It takes kids from all walks of life, and respects no borders.  Cancer doesn’t care about ethnicity or religion.  It doesn’t care if a child is from privilege or poverty.

Cancer is a scary enemy being faced every day by some of the bravest people in the world.

Stand with these kids.  Stand shoulder to shoulder with them and their families as they take on Cancer.

Thank you for your time, and your consideration of this incredible cause.

Jeromy Adams (Doc)

Founder, SarcasticGamer.com

And this is what I'm asking you to help me and SG with on this post. Please sponser me and my team to help give these kids a chance. There is a good chance we have all known someone in out lives that has died of, or lives with cancer. Let's all work together to help it come to an end.

Please visit my My Fundraising Page at the Texas Children's Hospital website - doesn't matter if you donate a $1 and hour or $5 ... every penny counts!

Sad But True

Here is another from the sad but true department, which amazingly I stumbled across on the same night I ended up having the similar conversation (different words, same direction), with a anti-video game nut. In 'our' conversation, the person saw video games as essentially equal to the great Satan, but had no problem with nuts having guns, or even little kids. Yes, the person actually said she was completely fine with a kid as young as 10 owning a gun and carrying it around. After all, if there were no video games, murders wouldn't be committed by those with guns. Therefore, in her mind, guns are okay, games are not. I'd still love to get her answer to the question I threw out, but she simply opted to walk away. I asked, if that were true, how come murder with weapons, like guns, predates the first video game?

A New Achivement - Virtuoso

Considering that I suck at singing, this I consider a True Achivement!


Here is my male singer celebrating after completing the final song set.

And here is the congrats screen with my Virtuoso Achivement unlcoked.

Seriously, I never thought I'd see that achiveemnt unlocked unless someone else did it for me, as I'm not the best at nailing pitch in the game. Yet, there it is ... and I'm still in shock!

I'm Deaf, But Happy

Well, just got home from the Nine Inch Nails concert and against the grain of what I planed on doing, I took virtually no pictures during the concert. Silly huh. On the other hand, I did take a pic on my way out to show the aftermath ... which doesn't show much. But, you see those guys wearing red up next to the stage? Yep, that's where I was, back where I belong during the NIN concerts, unlike the With Teeth tour where I had a seat ... yeah, I said it ... a seat.

Anyway, if there is anything I can say about this tour is that I have seen a great number of Trent's shows and I have continually been blown away by the presentation of it all. Yet nothing, and I mean NOTHING he has done before was as awesome of the Lights In The Sky tour set-up. Hands down the best I've seen. It helps that he even got his stage staff in on the fun.

Music wise, he did a amazing job hitting songs from the vast library of his work, spanning from Pretty Hate Machine to The Slip. While it was almost surprising to not hear 'Eraser' for the first time in multiple tours, the set he lined up for us was more the perfect.

My many thanks to Trent Reznor and crew, for not just being one of the best, but bringing it here again for me to enjoy!

Wristband, Pre-sale ticket and The Slip
(the last I got way before the concert, just thought it would make a great backdrop)


The Hand That Feeds in action


On the way out ... sad to see it over, but it was 2 and a half hour show (NIN time, not opening and NIN), so I can't complain

UPDATED: Added setlist, as I remember it ... which was AWESOME!

999,999
1,000,000
Letting You
Discipline
March of the Pigs
Head Down
The Frail
The Wretched
Closer
Gave Up
The Warning
Vessel
5 Ghosts I
25 Ghosts III
19 Ghosts III
Piggy
The Greater Good
Wish
Terrible Lie
Survivalism
31 Ghosts IV
Only
The Hand That Feeds
Head Like a Hole
Echoplex
Reptile
Hurt
In This Twilight

Further Proof The Empire Has Lost It!

Though, one must admit, the production value with the handheld in this is 'lightyears' ahead of the original video. Time difference not taken into play of course.

Words of Wisdom: Tourist Season

Why is it called tourist season if you can't shoot them?

Disraeli Avenue Gives to One In Four

Caroline Smailes, the author behind the novels; 'In Search of Adam', 'Disraeli Avenue', and 'Black Boxes' is giving a special Christmas gift this year. While she might not be buying you a present personally, she's asking that you purchase something for the benefit of those who have been Sexually Abused. Her work, Disraeli Avenue will be specially published as a limited edition of 500 hardback books and all 500 books will be signed and numbered. The pre-order will be available direct from bluechrome at only £10 (about $18 US) and this book is being dispatched on December 1, 2008 ... just in time for Christmas.

While I know most of my blog readers live in North America and feel that the currency exchange, and shipping and handling will be too much, please keep in mind its actually very nicely priced for such a wonderful book, plus all profit from the sale of Disraeli Avenue goes to One in Four the charity run for and by people who have experienced sexual abuse.

So please, join in, spread some love and pre-order Disraeli Avenue HERE.