After spending the last two weeks with Halo 2, I have mixed–but still positive–feelings about it all. I’ve found out just how good Bungie and Microsoft are at producing a top-notch game and pushing the boundaries of online gaming and stat tracking. Unfortunately, I’ve also found out just how good they are at marketing the hell out a game that doesn’t quite live up to the hype. Here are a couple of my gripes.
Tonight I took a chance and headed to Northline Mall in search of a “communications log” of the ilovebees ARG. More surprising than the chosen location was the experience itself. One of those things where you just don’t know where to look or what to look for. Everything is a clue and everyone is in on it. Or not. Turns out I met a few cool people there. Not the massive crowd that I had expected at all, but just a few good folks that turned up to show their love for all that is Halo.
Not that most of us knew what to do. The specified address where this was all supposed to go down ended up being a movie theater in the mall. That was easy to figure out–especially after walking through the rest of that funky mall. I just made my way to a bank of phones at the front door and waited. Eventually a few others showed up around seven o’clock, but we still just stood around, speculating what might happen at the stroke of eight. It wasn’t until someone (who I hadn’t noticed arrive) had the bright idea of asking the theater employees, that things started happening. When they were taking pictures and holding up discs, the rest of us started moving in. So at around 7:30 we got our DVDs–even though it was about a half-hour earlier than the specified time–and said our quick goodbyes. It was an interesting bit of community there for a half-hour or so, in the most unlikely of places.
So…just like that *snaps*, it’s settled.
Bush declares victory. Kerry concedes. Just as backwards as that sounds, so is this entire election and its outcome. No dispute, no argument, just lie down and take it.
Not a chance.
From BoingBoing:
“Get over it,” he said, “The way you feel now is exactly how I felt when Nixon won a second term — crushed. I just couldn’t believe America was that stupid. But remember what happened to Nixon that term.”
Maybe Osama bin Laden got just want he wanted with that last tape, scaring folks into thinking that Bush was indeed their protector. I think he just guaranteed that he’ll live for another four years, because we all know that Bush, being a self-proclaimed war president, can’t wage a war without an enemy.
Maybe Kerry shot himself in the foot by parading his military experience too much, to the point that the Bush campaign was able to cast doubt and even discredit a decorated veteran. Or maybe he just wasn’t arrogant enough for most people’s liking, considering that we’re now becoming a nation of gas-guzzling, SUV-driving, super-size-eating, money-grubbing pigs.
Either way, if you voted for Bush, you are undoubtedly a fool. Not in the childish, Mr. T sense of the word, but in the most miserable, tragic sense. The saying that Bush once so horribly attempted, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” was never more fitting than now in regards to 51% of the American people. Not only have you been lied to, you’ve been led to believe that those lies are in fact acceptable. As the president would most likely have you believe–the ends justify the means.
Shame on you for not considering that there is another truth other than what your government tells you. For not putting forth a check and forcing this administration to provide a balance. For being complacent and settling for just good enough. Shame on you all.
Yesterday I finally did it. I took the plunge and bought an Xbox. I initially had to think twice about it, but I eventually came to the conclusion that I couldn’t go without the awesomeness that will be Halo 2.
Actually I had made up my mind a couple of months ago, but when Microsoft announced that they’d be selling the Xbox, two games and two months of Live for the same price of a box alone, I decided to wait it out. As long as I got my console before Halo 2, I’d be all set. Here’s my philosophy with Microsoft: I don’t want to give them my money, but if I have to, I’m going to get as much out of it as I can.
We now have the first image of our second child, which we expect to arrive sometime around the beginning of May of next year. The quality isn’t quite as good as it was with our son Robbie, but you can still kind of make out the shape if you try. And it’s still too early to tell whether it’s a boy or girl, but when we return in December it should be obvious. Since we’ve already got a son, of course we’re hoping for a baby girl. Wouldn’t that be so…complete? Can’t wait!
This all brings to mind the experience of being pregnant with our son and waiting for his arrival. The anticipation, the worry, the joy of it all.
Of course, it also brings to mind the lost hours of sleep and steady feeding schedule, BUT I assure you it’s all worth it. Now with Robbie approaching two years, running around on his own, finding a little independence, I’m confident that it won’t be as hard to care for a newborn as I had once thought. We can only hope that he’ll accept the new baby and find a way to share his space with him/her.
