I SAW Napoleon Dynamite

This Weekend we rented both Saw and Napoleon Dynamite. Both of the movies are extremely good. I was just a tad let down by Napoleon Dynamite, but that was mostly because it had been over-hyped for me. Don't get me wrong, the movie is funny, it just is not Monty Python and the Holy Grail funny. Overall it was not a laugh out loud comedy, as much as an amusing comedy, because I was definatly amused, Gosh!

Saw on the other hand was better than I could have hoped for. It was built up as a horror movie, but it really wasn't. I guess the technical category would be "thriller". To me Saw was very remincent of Seven. It's twist and turns were a lot more creative and more suspenseful than other recent entries into this genre of film like Identity, Secret Window and the deplorable Cold Creek Manor.

I would highly recommend checking both movies out, and if you are the type who likes to buy movies by the dozens (like a few. . .or one unmentioned relative of mine), then of the two I would go with Napoleon Dynamite.

Sweet, Sweet Irony

I got Timesplitters: Future Perfect on Tuesday. I have been saving a gift card I got for Christmas just to buy this game, and fortuantly I can say it was worth the wait. The first thing I did (after playing through about a third of the story mode) was play with the mapmaker. I made a copy of Old Capitol UMC (the church I work at for those who forgot). This is ironic because the church recently banned all FPS from being played by the youth because they felt it was to violent to be played in a church. Now because I created the map, hundreds of people all over the world can now shoot each other up in "Old Capitol church". So if you have a PS2, get this game and d/l the map

Computer Trouble Part II

. . . so I thought my computer was healed but it wasn't. There was still some nasty spyware on it. I thought that I could handle it. Especially when I found out that Field's computer service just used Macafee virus scan to get the job done. So I d/l AntiVir, and it worked. . .a bit to well. It made it so that explorer (the program that loads the desktop and start bar) didn't auto-start. I decided to call the computer repair store again and tell him I was still having problems, and there was still spyware on the computer. He told me to take it in and he would finish the job he started.. Four hours later it was finished. He had to manually remove a program that nothing could detect (even the computer when you ran a search). My computer also had a program on it that no one had ever heard of before (a google search did not reveal it). The biggest problem is somehow Explorer has been compromised and modifiied, which is why AntiVir recgonized it as a virus. Three hours later, it was determined my computer is officially as clean as it can get. And I have two choices 1) Keep running the corrupt version of explorer (which works just fine) and see what happens or 2) whipe the system and start over. Abgail and I are going with option 1 and hoping for the best. Computer experts, your advice is always appreciated.

My computer got the sniffles

Well actually it was a bit more than the sniffles. I am not sure what the appropriate comparrison would be, but the names of STDs keep coming to mind. Anyway, we knew that in the past some fairly nasty Spyware/Adware had ended up on our computer. For the most part it was kept in check, but it eventually got the point that we could not use Instant Messenger. On Friday, after like three weeks of all being quiet on the Western Front, Abigial turned on the computer to see an explosion in Pop-ups. I tried running adware and spybot to root out the problems, as well as manually finding problems that they seemed to always miss, but it wasn't much help. Even without access to the internet, junk files assosicated with a spyware program kept being created and using up all available system resources. When restarting the computer I got a blue screen of death, multiple times and on top of that the computer failed to start up in safe mode. I decided it was time to get help. So we took it back to Field's computer services (the guy who fixed it when it blew up). He used his fancy expensive software and got rid of of 10 trojan programs and 1 virus. Everything seems to be better, but there are still a few quirks that the computer has picked up since this all started. Let this be a lesson to you though (or rather to me), don't take links from strangers!

Massive Gameage!!!

My brother stopped by on his way home for Spring Break, and from 11 am to 9pm (with maybe an hour to eat total) we got our game on. We played some Medal of Honor: Rising Sun and and Champions Return to Arms. We played a quick game of Dynasty Warriors 4: Empires as well as a quick game of Rainbow Six 3. However most of our time was devoted to Killzone and Star Wars Battlefront, with Battlefront taking up the majority of the time. We completely dominated every game we played, not losing once. This is remarkable when considering that over Thanksgiving we were stuck in a stalemate against the computer, this time though they couldn't contain us. The height was when we won Hoth in 2:33, a map that usually takes anywhere from 10-15 min. to complete. All in all it made for an excellent day.

Movie Maddness. . .

Call it another form of March Maddness. Movie Gallery is having a crazy clear out sale, of buy 2 get 2 free. Abigail and I decided to stop in and see if we could get a cut of the sweet action. I imediatly found Aliens vs. Predator, which for the one scene where the predator throws the alien alone was a must get for me. We also found Spiderman 2. Both of these movies were $9.99, and both were DVDs we were for sure going to get at somepoint, and this was as cheap as we would find them. So, this left us trying to find 2 free movies. We decided we would each pick one. Only problem there weren't any other "must haves". In the end Abigail deliberated between the court drama Runaway Jury and the romanitc comedy Welcome to Mooseport, and romance won out. On the other hand, I decided that if you can dodge a wrench you can dodge a ball and went with Dodgeball. Which we watched tonight, I forgot how hilarious the movie was. I would rank it right up there with Happy Gilmore and Tommy Boy as one of the best comedies ever.

As if there were any doubt . . .

Gunner Gamer


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Also. . . for the truly bored/blog addict, I have kind of slipped (that is really the best word for it) into the habit of maintaing a blog at 1up.com It is 100% video game related. Anything I put here related to games I copy and paster but there is original stuff as well:
http://escaping_burger.1up.com/do/my1Up?publicUserId=5390352

Gridiron Hero?

I am not an athlete. However, I am also not the last person picked (close, but never last!). In just about all sports I have something I can contribute. The classical exception to this was football, I never really liked playing football. Despite that fact, I still played football with 14 teenagers last night, and for the first time in my life, I was the star player. As a reciever, I got myself open 8 out of 10 times or so. Everytime I rushed, I got a sack, and at the end I demanded to be the quaterback, because the teens had a habit of ignoring half the team. Every drive I played as quaterback resulted as a touchdown. Yes, I was playing with teenagers, and yes as far as natural physical ability goes mid-20's is its peek, so it probably isn't that much of an acomplishment, but for the first time in my life I can say I was good at football . . .even if it was just for one game.

Just Because I can

So you know this random survey things that float all over the internet? Most likely your answer is yes, and I hate those. Well, I have always sort of liked those, and I found a perfect one for me today

Gamer's Boredom Survey

1. Name: Sean Johnson

2. Age:24

3. Sex: male

4. Location: Corydon IN

5. First system you ever owned: Atari

6. First game you ever beat: Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers

7. Most consecutive hours spent gaming: Probably close to six

8. Number of controllers broken in a fit of frustration: 0

9. Most games traded in to get that one on the first day:I have only traded in games 2 for 1 at Book and Music Exchange

10. Number of quarters spent on favorite arcade: I have no idea how much I put into the X-men arcade game. . but it was a lot!

11. Marvel or Capcom:Marvel

12. Capcom or SNK:SNK

13. Mario or Luigi: It's me . . .Mario

14. Jak or Ratchet: don't care

15. Microwave dinner or Pizza delivery: got to trust the Pappa John on this one

16. Mouse or Controller:controller

17. NES or SNES: SNES

18. Cord or Wireless: Don't care to much

19. DDR or PumpitUp:DDR

20. Sega or Nintendo: Nintendo all the way

21. Top 5 best games: Mario Kart 64, Star Wars Battlefront, Halo, Culdcept, Gladius

22. Top 5 worst games: Haven Call of the King, Star Wars Jedi Power Battles, Pit Fighter, Splinter Cell, Sector Z (at least I think that is what it was called, we had it for the Nintendo)

23. Top 5 best game soundtracks: Star Wars Battlefront, Zelda Ocenaria of Time, SSX 3, Medal of Honor Frontline, Secret Weapons over Normandy

24. Top 5 worst game soundtracks: Burnout 3, most original Nintendo music

25. Top 5 most wanted games: Brothers in Arms, Timesplitters Future Perfect, The Legend of Zelda, Lego Star Wars, Final Fantasy Chronicles

26. Top 5 favorite arcade games: X-men Arcade game, Soul Caliber II, Daytona USA, Pac-man, any pinball game

27. Top 5 best reasons used to convince parents to get you a game: I don't have to do that anymore!

28. Top 5 reasons your parents said no: see above

29. Top 5 dorkier things about yourself other than gaming: I know way to much about Star Wars, I subscribe to Military History Magazine, I have a closet full of games with names like Hero quest and stratego legends, I have made up my own games to put in that closet, I know how to play Magic the Gathering.

30. Top 5 things that make you awesome: I am awesome? Sweet!

It always happens. . ..

It seems that whenever I try to plan a youth group that is specifically designed to get people to come, I have the least amount of people show up. For example I gave away Switchfoot's Beautiful Let Down. I average between 10-12 people, and only 6 showed up. Between family events, buying a car, and pink eye, there just wasn't anyone else who could really come. I also planned this cool dart gun game, where they ran around the church finding clues that led them to a proof of God's existance as well as another clue. The entire time I was hunting them, and if they shot me, I would leave them alone for five minutes, and if I shot them, they had to read a Psalm before continuing. It was really cool, and there was actually decent discussion about how we can know God is real afterwards. To bad only half the group showed up. Oh well.

Going Portable

So a Gameboy is something that I have thought would be kind of cool to have since about 1989. It is something that I would occasinally look on ebay for, and whenever I found one really, really cheap would put a bid in just to see the auction end at like double my max bid. With an upcoming international flight my desire for a gameboy has grown. Waiting for three hours this week to have breaks fixed showed me the down right necessity of portable games (well nescessity might be a bit strong of a word). Anyway, I really began looking on ebay. 10 lost auctions later, I finally scored a Gameboy Advance for fairly cheap, especially considering it comes with a rechargable battery pack and car adapter. Abigail then found two games on ebay for me, so by the end of this coming week, I should be able to "watch" the Aprentice with her ( a show that makes me go meh, but she loves) while playing Final Fantasy Dawn of Souls or Mario Kart Super Circuit.

What I am playing . ..

I know no one really cares, but it has been a good while since I have posted what games I am currently playing. Since getting a cable modem, the way I play games has changed quite a bit with online play. Before I for the most part played three games at a time, and then occasionally did a burnout race, atar classics, or FPS deathmatch just for variety. However, I am currently playing around six games. The two games that have most of my attention now are Killzone and the Sonic Mega Collection. Killzone is a really tense FPS, and it has an onlinemultiplayer, but it annoys me, I just can't figure out how to use the gernades effectivly online. I am really wanting to get through this game, so that as soon as Brothers in Arms comes (which I got for my Birthday) I can start playing that. The sonic mega-collection is just so fun. I can't get enough of the 2d hedgehog running at high speed. Also, there is a puzzle game on there that Abigail really likes to play, so I play that against her. I am also playing Champions Return to Arms with Abigail. We beat the game once, and we have already started on our second play-through. I am also occasinonally playing World Championship Poker with Abigail online. I also try to get in at least one or two games of Star Wars battlefront online a week. I was playing Front Mission 4, but I ran into a really annoying brick wall, and after pouring over five hours into one mission over the course of the month, I have given up. I started playing Final Fantasy X-2, but I am only like an hour into that. Finally, I am also playing through Mark of Kri with Alex, Abigail's brother but last I checked I am ahead of him, so I won't continue till he catches up. Just as a side note, I know it sounds like all I do is play games (and despite what Abigail says, I don't), but I am not playing any more than I did a year ago, it is just my attention is a bit more divided, mostly to online play.

This song is going to get me a ticket

I know some people require music to drive, I am not one of those people. However, occasionally a song gets a hold of me, and becomes a perfect driving song. For me right now it is "We Shall Overcome" by the O.C. Supertones. Everytime I am in the car by myself I put the CD in go to song 3, crank the volume up to about 20, and rock out.

We Shall Overcome

By the O.C. Supertones

I've been holding back my rhyme to long,
let it go and unleash the fury of my old school flow.
I'm no superstar more like a John Doe.
But i'm badder then the water down in Mexico.
Oh no, a rock n' roller man who's not allowed to be rap.
But i write what I like and I like the boom bap.
The rhyme's in the front and the beat's in the back
a trunk full of funk and a page full of fact.

Right about now i'd like to hear everyone say.
YES O YES we shall overcome.
My fans got a job,
are we gonna get it done?
YES O YES we shall overcome.

I can't be shy I've gotta come with it.
No fear here! I Sing and bring it.
In christ you've got no right livin' timid.
He's light in the dark and hope for the wicked.
There's a land of the dead called planet earth
and a race called man walks dead from birth
and the beast and man both bear the curse.
Come from the womb but retrun to dirt.

Right about now i'd like to hear everyone say.
YES O YES we shall overcome.
My fans got a job, are we gonna get it done?
Yes O yes we shall over come.

Here's what I do I hope I get through.
So cling to what's true and tell the world too.
Cause some live in fear, oppresddion from peers.
These kids smoke weed, these kids that drink beers
who don't want to hear what you got to say
and they shut their ears and laugh cause you pray,
but don't be afraid, that used to be me I used to mock God
but I was empty.

Right about now i'd like to hear everyone say.
YES O YES we shall over come.
My fans got a job, are we gonna get it done?
YES O YES we shall overcome