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Malik (11/10/08)

I quit...or so I'd like to say. I'm talking about watching the Seahawks. However, the more I try to get out, the more I stay in the game. Yesterday was a perfect example of why I am in a love-hate relationship this season with the Seahawks.

The game was close...very close. Two points was all that separated the Seahawks from the Dolphins. Two points that shouldn't have been a problem. For one thing, Koren Robinson bumbled a perfect pass, in the end zone, that caused Seattle to have to go for a field goal...losing four points in the process. Then there was the two point conversion near the end of the game. The pass was great, it was caught, and the game should have been tied with only a few minutes remaining. However, it was overturned on a penalty.

With a big play being overturned, considering it's this season, who could have done the penalty? This is not a hard question for any Seahawks fan. I mean who overturned a 50 yard rush a few weeks ago? Who, the following week, overturned a thirty+ yard run? Who can pull out all the stupid moves on a major play? None other than my candidate for MPoSP (most piece of shit player) for the season; Wahle. This guy seems to have a special ability, like Spidey Sense, to know when he must pull out a penalty (usually holding, but now we know false start is not against his ways) to screw over his team. Wahle is, without a doubt, the Jeremy Stevens of this seasons team.

If the Seahawks want to salvage this season...well, they should stop. I mean a good draft pick is all Seattle should be aiming for now. It's not impossible to turn things around, but it's pretty unlikely. The defense quits by the fourth quarter (like we saw yesterday), the offensive line is offensively bad, and there's not much that can be turned around. Most of all, if Hasselbeck returns next week (like is being expected), he will be out during the first drive. Why? Because he is weak right now and without an O-line to defend him, he will take a hit that is going to end his season (if not be the final nail in his back's coffin).

Unless Holmgren can find something for his O-line to do correctly, it will be time to call this season 2-14 and just let time finish this doomed prophecy of failure. My advice for the offense? Start with getting Wahle out of there...and fast.

Malik

Malik (11/11/08)

First off, it took almost a week, but I did get through Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. It really took a lot of effort to finish this movie. Just like the Seahawks, I don't think the movie could have been easily salvaged, but I think the change of one person could have given it a chance at mediocrity. The Seahawks have Wahle and Indy has George Lucas. I really think Lucas has something in mind for the world...and that something is the systematic destruction of so many things that I held so dearly as a child.

First he took Star Wars...then he took Star Wars again. Then he took Star Wars a third time. Then, not happy with taking one of the most precious parts of my childhood, he took the only thing left that had his name on it (luckily, ET never was my type of movie, or else he would have had another success with walky-talky guns); Indy.

Crystal Skull was, without a doubt, the most pathetic thing I've ever seen with Harrison Ford involved. This goes beyond even his movie with Ann Heche. This was the worst of the worst and it never even showed an effort to redeem itself. Between the stupid sound effects, the overly cartoon nature, and how the movie didn't even borrow on mythology anymore. It was all that something that I think the Cartoon Network would have been embarrassed to show (like surviving a nuclear bomb in a refrigerator).

I won't spoil the movie, but I will say there were two main times I wanted to quit watching. The first being the refrigerator scene in the first twenty minutes (which did force me to stop for a few nights). The second was the ending (the reveal of what the crystal skull was)...luckily, my DVD player told me only thirty minutes remained and I knew one third of that would be credits.

Anyway, on the bright side, I'm done and Colour and the Shape is out this week (today) for Rock Band 2. At least I have something to look forward to now.

Malik

Malik (11/12/08)

I played through all of the new DLC (The Colour and the Shape by Foo Fighters) on Rock Band 2 last night. For one thing, I had loved this album since it first was released, so my opinions are biased in favor of the album. Saying that, I enjoyed the entire thing on expert guitar. There is a little variety to the challenge level, but you'll be disappointed if you only like metal range hard songs. I was able, on first play, to get gold stars on a couple songs and five on most of the others. The only exceptions are...

Since I played through the album in it's correct order, I had no warm up song before I played Monkey Wrench (unless you can call something as tame as Doll as a warm up). So, Monkey Wrench scored a quick four stars as my arms struggled to keep up with the break neck speed of the song. However, it's definitely not something that will be failed by a competent expert level player. If you can do Breed by Nirvana, you can do Monkey Wrench.

 Ironically, I also got four stars on Enough Space. I say ironically, probably in the wrong way, because I can play this song on real guitar...while singing. I can hit the song perfectly on a real guitar, but the slides just don't translate as kindly to hammer ons and pull offs on the RB system. Saying that, I could get five stars with some practice...but it's definitely much easier on a real instrument.

I also took some more time to finish a few other gigs on BWT which made me happy. In particular, I was able to beat one of my long standing foes; Smokin' by Boston. When it came up on the eight song random set, I was surprised what some determination could do for me. As well as where my skills have progressed to via playing so much since I last tackled this song. I still cannot get better than a low three star rating, but I'll take that over a fail any day.

Lastly, I just want to say that I hate bad weather. Why? Because of some heavy rain in the Seattle area, we have flood watches and a few flood warnings in effect. We get this every year in the winter. It's like clock work. What isn't like clock work is the warning that took over during Fringe last night in this region...and the stuttered message not only left me with about five minutes of dialogue missing (for an obvious message), but it also left me knowing that no one cared.

Yes, if you live by one of these rivers, you would care, but not about the message. The message was so broken and stuttered in it's delivery that, even if you tried to listen (and I did) you'd still have trouble listening with any attention. If a public warning is going to be delivered (even for an obvious thing like rivers approaching flood levels in a time and area where it's expected), it should at least be delivered cleanly enough to convey the message. To do otherwise, like done last night, is a disservice to those who would need this (obvious) information.

At least most of what was cut off from the Fringe dialogue was just the horribly tacked on romantic subplot...which felt contrite and forced.

Malik

Malik (11/13/08)

I skipped a post yesterday since I've been feeling worn down. I would have only had one thing to talk about; my prediction for RB DLC for the week. However, I think I've given up, for now, on making these guesses. Harmonix has gone somewhat random on their selections. The only things I can say for sure is that some categories in the RB2 set list are lacking.

For example, Southern Rock is limited to about a half dozen songs (as opposed to punk). Also, the 1960's are in need of some more DLC attention...but that falls into the problem of master tracks not being around for a lot of these potentially awesome RB tracks. Then again, I'd be happy with another cover or two if it meant more CCR coming to Rock Band.

In fact, there's some other places missing in more unique of ways. For example, if you select the metal genre (and go off of what's really metal...I love Avenged Sevenfold, but Almost Easy is not metal), you will see a big missing element; metal that is not loaded with devil faces for the difficulty. While there is some lesser challenges found in metal (Lacuna Coil and Crooked-X), it's primarily dominated by some of the most challenging songs for at least one instrument (usually guitar). Black Sabbath covers are the only consistent lower tier metal.

Another thing that's missing is some challenging punk. While many people would just poo-poo the idea of difficult punk, there is some out there. For example, Maxwell Murder from Rancid would definitely be up there for bass and maybe even vocals depending on how they handle the vocals (fast and with some strange pitches).

So if Harmonix is going to skip on certain genres and eras, they should at least focus some on the variety within established genres. That, and maybe they should get some ska represented (although Where Did You Go? is a good start).

Anyway, for next week, the DLC announcement is f#@$ing sweet!!! It's about time we got Dead Kennedys on Rock Band, and we get it in a three pack! I just wonder how Police Truck will be handled. Hopefully it will not be as badly censored as the GH: Encore version was. Even if it's just some words being blanked out (like Sabotage), I'll be happy assuming no poor changing of verses. Also, California Uber Alles is good...but...HOLIDAY IN CAMBODIA!!!

There's also a single from Crooked-X (could go either way on that one), a Mission of Burma three pack (honestly don't know this band...), and a three pack of Century Media Girls of Metal. The last three pack may be good or bad, but it might expand on what I said only a few lines up about metal with lower tiers being needed (like the Lacuna Coil song already on RB2).

Crooked-X is 80MP ($1), while the packs are the standard three pack price of $5.50 for the pack or $2 per track. After getting Colour and the Shape, Harmonix blew me away again with Dead Kennedys. Man...I love those Harmonix people!

Malik

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