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Malik (11/8/10)

Seattle at Oakland...last week I said that was the worst Seahawks game I ever saw. It was. The key word is "was", since yesterday did indeed happen.

41 to 7, with the single touchdown coming once the Giants pulled most of their starters is the worst I've seen from the Seahawks. There was no lessons to learn from this game, no messages to take away, and nothing to build upon. Yes, when many starters are out due to injuries, you can't expect the Seahawks to do great against one of the top teams in the NFC. Especially when those injuries leave Seattle with third stringers starting on the offensive line, a backup QB who has never started a regular season game in his five year career, and a team that just came off a horrible and humiliating loss to the Raiders. It's a perfect storm of despair, and Seattle gave in.

The true sign that all was wrong was seeing the Giants up 21-0 in the first quarter. However, it also was obvious how bad it would be with Whitehurst throwing passes that couldn't find a receiver, even if one was wide open, Washington fumbling a return that sent the ball about 20 feet in the air, and when the 12th Man was so quiet that you could hear the visiting fans cheering "Go Giants!" over the TV. At least I hope it was the visiting fans, but with how bad the game was, I wouldn't blame turn-coat fans too much.

Actually, when I said there were no messages to take away from this, I was not telling the truth. The one important message is for the Hasselbeck haters who keep shouting for Hasselbeck to be benched in favor of Whitehurst. The message? Whitehurst is just not a NFL starter. He did have some good passes that found unprepared receivers (the the Mike Williams interception in the end zone, that gets put, in the stats, as Whitehurst's interception). He also could scramble enough in the pocket to avoid pure doom from the defensive machine that is the Giant's defensive line. However, I'd take Hasselbeck over Whitehurst any day of the week.

Of course, if you're a Seattle sports fan who lives in fantasy (thinking Seattle has solid teams and are better than the competition), then this was a horrible weekend. UW was an obvious victim going into a game against the #1 Ducks. If you didn't see that coming, then you just have a better escape mechanism than I do. As for the Sounders FC...facing #1 LA in the second leg of an aggregate score two-parter, with LA up one goal already, it was obvious that Seattle would see it's soccer season end yesterday. At least Seattle did manage one goal.

Malik

Malik (11/10/10)

I finished Fable 3 last night...which is not the same as saying that I'm finished with Fable 3. After the game ends, you are rewarded with a few new quests. Best of all is how many of these extra quests are tied into the decisions you made as king. For example, if you drained a certain lake, then you get a quests or two dealing with what becomes of the former body of water.

This is not to mention the quests added near the end of the game that are quite easy to overlook as you finish the main quest story. It also doesn't include anything left for perfectionists (like how some gold and silver keys are found after beating the game). In other words, if the game is over, it still isn't done with you.

I think the seriousness of the ending was a bit lost on me as I played. I was mostly serious minded (staying in character, so to speak) as I did main plot related events. Some other quests involved a less stoic of approaches, but the main plot was protected from my insanity. Near the end, I saw the achievement for holding the royal court while dressed as a chicken...this led to the downfall of a serious ending.

Ending spoilers follow...but only mild spoilers. Nothing too much about the plot, only some of the general activities in the end of Fable 3.

If I was going to be a chicken for court, I wanted to make it a bit more on the silly side. So I hit the brothel and used the sex invite command on eight prostitutes. What's the harm, right? I would hold court as a purple chicken with a loyal legion of whores. I would get a laugh and then send them on their merry way. I thought that, but didn't realize that the last court session of the game was in front of me. A session that allows no more "bed time" before the final conflict.

After court, I was in the treasury with my annoying real world butler. It was only the butler and myself, when a portal to the Road to Rule (your special ghostly world for leveling up abilities and hearing plot from Theresa, the blind seeress) opened. I hopped in and found Theresa...along with my eight whores. A special ghostly world that only the Hero of Ablion could enter, and my eight whores were there. Apparently, there were nine Heroes of Albion, and these whores were the other eight. Little did I know that I, the Hero of Albion, was on a vague reality show and would put the eight whores to the test to see who the next true Hero of Albion was.

I finished in the Road to Rule and was sent to a meeting about the coming final battle. It was my general, my loyal trainer and friend, and a few other soldiers...and eight whores. While most characters get quiet during a special dialogue section, these whores did not care for etiquette. I was under advise from my general and my follower to be ready. Meanwhile the whores reminded me to accept a gift from one of them, and how amazing the castle was, and how certain decisions I made ruined the kingdom, and how I'm a murderer (I took evil quests, despite playing a good guy), and...well, it goes on from there.

Then we are teleported to a final battleground. A battleground of numerous demonic creatures, a few red shirt style soldiers, my general, my follower, and myself...and eight unprepared whores. I tried to keep everyone alive during the fight (mainly by just trying to kill before I could be killed). After numerous waves, I saw I was down to three whores. I guess those three all got roses, in that weird reality show style my game had taken. Then another round of selection and another one left (or was left as a corpse). Finally, it's the last round of battle, and one male and one female "Hero of Albion" candidate remained. I lost track at this point as I was in a nice epic battle of my own.

Once the final battle (Fable 3, unlike Fable 2, is cool enough to have a boss fight to end the main quest!) was done, I was transported to a special scene in which the last loose ends are put to rest. The whole time, the next Hero of Albion was with me...offering me a present. During an emotional ending, I just kept hearing "I have something for you!" and "You're so amazing!" from my final loyal whore. The next Hero of Albion is apparently a young woman with a important role of being the whorish hero.

I accepted her gift after the credits, and then sent her on here way the only way I could after using sex invite. Not every day the next Hero of Albion does it with the current Hero of Albion in the royal bed in front of the current hero's wife. Maybe a great feast shall be held each year in honor of the occasion.

I haven't done video capture of a game for a long time. I just don't have a good video capture card for my PC, and I don't like the idea of using a video camera to record a TV screen...but this one time I wish I had recorded what went down.

Anyway, the lesson in this story is simple; if you want to keep the ending of Fable 3 serious, don't hit the brothel and not close the deal before holding court. On the other hand, if you want some humor, just don't seal the deal. By the way, you can get more "followers" (12 or more), but you should take your whores on a field trip and seal the deal on location. It takes a while for them to respawn. Of course, you need to chose the brothel over the orphanage to do this.

Malik

Malik (11/11/10)

After seeing so much this season from poor Seattle teams, there was only two options left. One option was that Seattle could start to kick ass and turn things around. At this time of year, it meant the Seahawks were the only hope. Since I live in a reality based world, I know that's just crazy talk. The other option was for things to keep getting worse to disprove the common Seattle sports mindset; it can't get much worse.

Dave Niehaus, the only MLB hall of famer who represented Seattle in the hall, passed away. Considering he was active since the first ever Mariners game, he represented the M's unlike anyone else ever could. More than three decades with the team, and he was still going strong. I mean he missed, in about 34 years, less than one season worth of games. He called over 5000 games for the M's. Niehaus was, is, and always will be the voice of Seattle sports. He was baseball in Seattle before I was old enough to listen. He was baseball in Seattle before I was even born.

While one could say easily that the announcer (or pair of announcers) for a team are good or bad, it's rare to find one who's voice was unmistably the true voice of the team. His voice, quick wit, knowledge of the game, and absolute authority on the history of the M's made Niehaus a true legend. I mean he was inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2008 for being one of the best damned voices a team could hope for. Until Ken Griffey Jr. (with the "if" of "if he goes in in a M's uniform), Randy Johnson (who I doubt will go as a M's), or Ichico is inducted, this is the only M's uniform in the HoF.

Even when the game got bad for Seattle (anything after 2001), Niehaus still announced in a way that made each game feel important. There were no "end of the losing season filler games" in his style. Every game was to be played to its fullest, and every call was to be the most appropriate and amazing possible. I mean Niehaus wasn't just a local celebrity, a local sensation, and anything that small. Dave Niehaus was baseball in Seattle and was the voice of summer. Hearing a M's game without his "My, oh my!" will never be the same.

Malik

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