He Wants Your Discipline

I've been debating if I wanted to post this or not, but just as the song says, I just can't help myself and I MUST post it. On the 22nd, Nine Inch Nails released their new single, "Discipline" which I really like, even if it isn't what I'd expect from the band. But the most amazing thing that came about from it is this YouTube video ... which is just awesomely hilarious. Looking forward to seeing NIN this year in September ... let's see if they use the same stage and wardrobe lol.

Victory Is MINE!Domain Updates

Today is a good day. I don't say this lightly. Back in 2001, with the help of family, I was able to tackle and take care of a great deal of my credit issues, where I would pay them off without absurd APR ripping into my ass and taking way less time. Unfortunately, in 2005, a collection agency suddenly appeared out of nowhere claiming that I owed well over 4k on a account that was not only paid off, but closed. In return, I sent proof of this to them, and never heard from them afterwards. Fast forward to October 2007. Once again, I was drawn back into dealing with this same account after I was served papers that a different collection agency based in Washington State had hired a Lawyer here in Utah to come after me for unpaid monies after several unsuccessful attempts. Attempts that were never made I should add - not a single call or letter in the mail. These unpaid monies were now totaling over 10k. Once again, I sent proof that I didn't owe the money, to both the lawyer and the court and again, silence.

January 1, 2008

That was the day that the lawyer issued me the paperwork for Summery Judgment ... papers I did not receive until the third. For those that don't know what this means, its basically a 'I'm going to fuck you from behind' attack where after 10 days, I automatically lose the case and must pay all costs owned, not only to the collection agency, but also the costs of the lawyer and court, but the ass rape didn't end there. When I attempted to get council of my own, I could not hire my own council unless I could produce the paperwork showing if I owed the money or not. After calling everyone in the world, starting at the origin company that issued the card to the lawyer (which added up to 6 different calls), I found that the paperwork was, as far as I was concerned, a myth. Even though it did clearly exist at the beginning, along the way the existence of it became a mysterious one. I say this because I eventually got to the point where the people that hired the lawyer to come after me claimed that they sent the paperwork to the lawyer, but according to the lawyer and his staff, it was their client that still had the paperwork.

Eventually, as time was running out, I made it known to the lawyer, his staff, as well as the clerk to the judge over the case that I had tried to procure the paperwork needed to get council and could not. Because of this, I could not defend myself from being forced to pay money I knew I did not owe. With that now in the open, all I could do was wait and hope for the best. That either the lawyer, the judge or both saw the problem with this and acted on it. The very next day, the lawyer let me know I could show up to his offices and pick up a letter written and signed by him that I would have a 'open extension' until the paperwork was received by him and delivered to me. Afterwards, the 10 day summary judgment would go back into effect.

Enter today. After months of waiting, I finally received a letter from the lawyer and it was way too thin to be the paperwork I asked to see. Inside, I found a letter stating that his client would no longer pursue this matter and that the case was dropped. Clearly, there was no paperwork to be found, as it didn't exist, and the lawyer had no choice but to tell them to go to hell and apologize to me in the same breath.

With that finally out of my life, I can breathe a bit easier and move forward.

Now, onto other good news. Both my main blog (Shadowcasted Realities) and my new blog (Hell / Hell) have their own domains. You can now reach Shadowcasted Realities via www.shadowcastedrealities.com and Hell / Hell via www.helltohell.com. The old ways still work as well, obviously, but I just wanted to let everyone know of the new paths as well.

Finally, in regards to Hell / Hell, I thank those that have watched the episodes up to this point, and that I also plan on doing a email response audio soon to answer various questions that have been sent my way.

Toxic Wake-up Call? You Decide.

It's amazing what you find when you surf the interverse. Check out Part One of a Twelve Part series called; Toxic - Garbage Island. Episodes One through Ten are up, series will be finished on April 25th. When it does, I'll be watching it.

Rock Band DLC: Screaming For Vengeance

Since before the games release, Harmonix has been teasing us with the fact that Rock Band would eventually get FULL ALBUM releases in the game. Up until now, it started to look like it was going to be the games Duke Nukem Forever, Grant Turismo PSP or Phantom game system ... until now. The day has finally arrived where the complete album of Judas Priest's; Screaming for Vengeance makes its way onto the XBLM, PSN on Thursday. The DLC is comprised of nine master tracks from the "Screaming for Vengeance" album, all of which can be purchased individually from the Marketplace for 160 ($2) Microsoft points or as an album for 1200 ($15) points.

First off, while this album might not be on the top of my list of albums I'd love to see, it is on the other hand, pretty freaking suh-weeeeet! Easily my favorite song to play on the album is "You Got Another Thing Commin'", but I have enjoyed playing all 9 songs on the album. Even scored myself a gold star set on expert drums on, "Pain and Pleasure". Didn't do as well as I'd like with expert guitar, at least I didn't fail any of them, but I really need to get back on the guitar ... my skilz are fading like Kid n Play's haircuts.

Anyway, this is a must have DLC pack, as far as I'm concerned, and I can't wait to see what else they give us!

In other Rock Band news, I finally beat The Perfect Drug on expert drums. I feel like a god now!!!

Let The 80's Play

I cut this one at the end, not because of anything I said, but simply because I was going over 5 minutes. So, if it sounds like it ends suddenly for no reason, it does, but for the reason of protecting your ears from my mouth. Outside of that, enjoy.

Otaku-rific!

AB2: Damaged Support

Rock Band DLC: Simple Man Call Me With a Message in a Bottle

Another week, another batch of songs ... and I love it ^_^

*ahem*

This week Harmonix delivers more classic 80's love, though I believe the Lynard Skynard song came out in 73 (shrug) with Classic Pack 01. This pack comes with "Message in a Bottle" by The Police, "Call Me" by Blondie and "Simple Man" by Lynard Skynard. All of which are amazing songs and I'm glad they made their way into Rock Band, even though Message in a Bottle was already playable in the Guitar Hero series. I'm not complaining, as it's so much nicer now to be able to play drums and sing the song.

I haven't had much time to actually play these tracks like I wanted to, but I did give each of them a go once with Drums and Guitar ... and I'm ashamed to say that I failed on "Call Me" on Expert Drums.

*hangs head*

But I will defeat it! As for the rest, I did pretty damn good, and would have probably gold starred "Simple Man" with guitar, but damn allergies got me and I sneezed a few times. Did well on most, but finally missed a critical section of Overdrive Power ... oh well, I'll Gold Star it later.

Also, as a surprise, outside of the previously announced songs, they also released Motley Crew's new single "Saints of Los Angeles" via Rock Band as well, marking the first, play it before you actually hear it on the radio song to hit DLC. Which is kinda odd, since we had the announcement of Metallica's new single hitting this way a long time ago and we're still waiting. Hrrmmmmmm. Anyway, it's a must have pack, so get it now if you are on the 360, or wait until the 17th if your on PS3 ... then you'll have to download 7 songs from all the back up thanks to Sony.

VB8: Audio Only Update

Hell / Hell blog can be found here. Episode Two: Muds is now up.

Coming Soon to My VB's

I figured I'd just get this bit of info right out of the way, that way when I actually start doing these new type of video blogs, I can just do them without explaining them ... that is if I do them as they are resting on the shoulders of another individual. For almost as long as my blog has been around, I have had one constant reader, who lets himself be known to me constantly via email, who goes by the name of ShortRaider. You might recognize the name back from the days he actually used the comment section *poke* before going exclusive to the email option.

Anyway, he recently sent me a email with an idea he has for my blog ... my video blogs to be more exact. While he still wants me to keep up what I do spontaneously, as he find its extremely entertaining (as does his wife and teenage daughter), he also wants to start sending me single questions for me to video blog about. He promises to make the questions worth it ... so we'll just have to see if he sends anything I find as worth it as he does.

In all reality I like the idea. Since what I want to talk about sometimes can be single minded, so having someone else point in another direction and say 'retort' works for me. He said he's already made up about a dozen questions (some of them his wife made up) and that he'd send these questions randomly and without warning. After that, it's up to me if I want to answer them or not.

Stephen King On Video Games

It's kinda funny. I was going to make this post, most likely a video and type post, if not my first YouTube post on Stephen King and how he affected my life before going into a Movie Review for The Mist. Because I thought about doing this last night while at work, I had Stephen king on my brain for a very long period of time, as I tried to filter out and decide on what I was going to talk about. Well, after getting home and collecting my hours of sleep, I woke up and fired up my PC with the goal of making that post, when I came across this. My review on The Mist and my words about Stephen King will have to wait, as I found his words on Video Games and Video Game Violence very interesting, if not echoing what many gamers (like myself) have been saying for years. The difference? Its now being said by someone who has a voice ... well a voice that is recognized and people actually listen to. Now the question is, will his be heard? Honestly, I think it will be noticed, but heard is still a challenge.

As taken from the Entertainment Weekly Article: Stephen King on Video Game Lunacy

I'm no fan of videogames; pretty much gave them up in the late '70s or early '80s, when my kids used to beat me regularly at Pitfall! (hell, they used to beat me at Pong, and back then our youngest wasn't yet eligible for T-ball, let alone Little League). Sure, I've occasionally plugged quarters into one of the machines in the lobby of my local cineplex and shot at some bad guys, but I always miss the high-value targets and can never remember how to reload. As for amassing enough points to get bonus time? Forget about it. If I arrive early for the show, I'm much more apt to stick my money in the nonviolent machine that's full of stuffed toys. You probably know the one I'm talking about; you get 30 seconds to maneuver the claw, then drop it. I won a stuffed dog on one occasion doing that. Another time I won a rubber frog. When you squeezed it, the frog made a ribbit-ribbit sound and stuck out its tongue, which I enjoyed (your uncle Stevie is easily amused, he admits).

So, nope — videogames are not my thing. Nor am I some kind of raving political nutcase. But when I heard about HB 1423, which happens to be a bill pending in the Massachusetts state legislature, I still hit the roof. HB 1423 would restrict or outright ban the sale of violent videogames to anyone under the age of 18. Which means, by the way, that a 17-year-old who can get in to see Hostel: Part II would be forbidden by law from buying (or renting, one supposes) the violent but less graphic Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

According to the proposed bill, violent videogames are pornographic and have no redeeming social merit. The vid-critics claim they exist for one reason and one reason only, so kids can experience the vicarious thrill of killing. Now, what does and doesn't have social merit is always an interesting question, one I can discuss for hours. But what makes me crazy is when politicians take it upon themselves to play surrogate parents. The results of that are usually disastrous. Not to mention undemocratic.

One of HB 1423's cosponsors is Rep. Christine E. Canavan, of Brockton. ''I think this legislation is a good idea,'' she told the Boston Herald. ''I don't want this constant barrage of violence on young minds and for them to think it is all right.'' It's a good point...except that it seems to me that the games only reflect a violence that already exists in the society.

Nor will I argue for the artistic value of stuff like God of War, or 50 Cent: Bulletproof, where looting the victims of gang violence is part of the game (players use the money to buy new Fiddy tunes and music videos — classy). I do, however, want to point out that videogames, like movies, have a ratings system, and ones with the big M or A on the box mean ''Not for you, baby brother.''

And if there's violence to be had, the kids are gonna find a way to get it, just as they'll find a way to get all-day shooters like No Country for Old Men from cable if they want. Or Girls Gone Wild, for that matter. Can parents block that stuff? You bet. But most never do. The most effective bar against what was called ''the seduction of the innocent'' when this hot-button issue centered on violent comic books 60 years ago is still parents who know and care not just about what their kids are watching and reading, but what they're doing and who they're hanging with. Parents need to have the guts to forbid material they find objectionable...and then explain why it's being forbidden. They also need to monitor their children's lives in the pop culture — which means a lot more than seeing what games they're renting down the street.

If HB 1423 becomes law, will it remain law? Doubtful. Similar legislation has been declared unconstitutional in several states. Could Massachusetts legislators find better ways to watch out for the kiddies? Man, I sure hope so, because there's a lot more to America's culture of violence than Resident Evil 4.

What really makes me insane is how eager politicians are to use the pop culture — not just videogames but TV, movies, even Harry Potter — as a whipping boy. It's easy for them, even sort of fun, because the pop-cult always hollers nice and loud. Also, it allows legislators to ignore the elephants in the living room. Elephant One is the ever-deepening divide between the haves and have-nots in this country, a situation guys like Fiddy and Snoop have been indirectly rapping about for years. Elephant Two is America's almost pathological love of guns. It was too easy for critics to claim — falsely, it turned out — that Cho Seung-Hui (the Virginia Tech killer) was a fan of Counter-Strike; I just wish to God that legislators were as eager to point out that this nutball had no problem obtaining a 9mm semiautomatic handgun. Cho used it in a rampage that resulted in the murder of 32 people. If he'd been stuck with nothing but a plastic videogame gun, he wouldn't even have been able to kill himself.

Case closed.

In the end, I guess the question could be, do you agree with King or not? As for me, I pretty much agree with him, but by being a gamer, I could be colored biased on this situation. After all, my nearly daily consumption of Rock Band is surely going to lead me to killing someone with my drum sticks in the near future. That or I'll be snorting blow off peoples body parts while I have sex with my ever growing groupie base ... that exists only as numbers on the TV screen. That, or after people open up their eyes and welcome reality, they will see just a bunch of people trying to enjoy themselves as their daily lives trot along. Then there is the point he makes about ratings and that nothing is stopping a underage kid from seeing R rated movies. I've made this rant before as well, but its nice to see someone with a louder voice make it known. In the end, I think he made the same point most of us, gamers that is, are trying to make. Stop trying to let Grandpa Govy raise your kids and take some personal responsibly here. I know its hard, but you pretty much signed the invisible agreement to be a parent as soon as you had kids. So be a damn parent already and stop making everything else be your babysitter.

Rock Band DLC: Everyone Else's Turn

Typically I don't talk about the new Rock Band DLC until the day it comes out, as I want to play it so I can post my impressions alongside it. Yet, in the case of next weeks content, since I've already owned the songs in the game for quite sometime now, long enough to play the drums, guitar and even sing on more then multiple occasions, I feel I can just get it out of the way now.

Next week, Harmonix is releasing over XBL Marketplace (PS3 owners are still waiting until April 17th for Sony to allow them to get anything) the three songs that were featured on the OXM Demo disk ... for free. Well, the songs on the disk were technically free (if you erase the cost of a subscription or off the shelf buy), but they will cost a buck a piece when they hit the Rock Band store.

I'm on the fence about this one. The reason for this is I've loved looking forward to new content each week and this will be the first week that there is no new content for me. On the other hand, there are plenty out there that don't have the songs, so it is new to them, especially the PS3 crowd who never even had the chance to get the songs for free in the first place. So, I'm happy and sad at the same time. But all of this has lead me to wonder if this pack is being released now because of Sony ... and here are my thoughts on that.

Back when Still Alive was going to be announced, HMXSean pushed the announcement back until Monday, instead of the usual Friday, and I can't help but wonder if it wasn't because Sony told them when then handed over the info that it wouldn't be put up on the store until much later. April 17th later. Due to the fact that Harmonix has tried to deliver to both consoles equally, I can't help but wonder if releasing the Harmonix Song Pack now is just a way of saying, "since PS3 has to wait to get something new, so does the 360." Granted, as I said, not everyone that owns a 360 has or even knew about this content, but it makes me wonder nonetheless.

Anyway, the Harmonix Song Pack comes with "Rock Rebellion" by Bang Camaro, "Shake" by Count Zero and "Sprode" by Freezepop. Anyone that has been a Harmonix fan for a while now will recognize Sprode from a previous title, and I must say, actually playing the drums on this song is a hell a lot more challenging and fun then a simple three button press on the controller with some d-pad action. All in all, its a great 3 pack, that is if you like the music. So for all those of you out there that didn't get these songs (360), or were unable to get these songs until the 17th (PS3), I hope you enjoy them now that everyone can play along.

VB7: Train Kept Rollin

Video Note: I need to start doing more of these during daylight or get a different type of bulb, as my current room light makes my walls look like they're covered in urine ... sigh.

Hillary's 3 AM Duty Call and McCain's Fireplace

Starting to love this years April Fools for once.

Metal Gear Creed: Altaired Assassin

Brilliant!