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Malik (9/28/09)

Watching the first quarter of the Seahawks game yesterday reminded me of why I love this team. I mean even with just about every starting player injured (well, nine starters were out), the Seahawks went out there and took some serious advantage of the situations presented. The first Seattle drive resulted in a touch down. The next two ended with field goals. Then the first quarter ended...and apparently no one bothered to tell Mora's 'Hawks that the game has three more quarters to play.

That's when the Bears went from being down 13-0 to being the victors with a final score of 25-19. Yeah...after a perfect starting quarter again a team that has not beaten Seattle in Seattle since before I was born, Seattle basically lied down and took a severe beating. While it would be fun to say something like "at least the defense looked good," or "at least the offense showed some potential," the truth of the matter is something different. Seattle was bad looking no matter which side of the ball they were on. Mare couldn't even kick a field goal reliably. I mean Seattle just couldn't do anything, even when given thirty free yards on back to back facemask penalties against the Bears.

The Seahawks are basically in the same position they were in last year. Unless they can bring about some healthy playmakers in a hurry, the team will go down another long and torturous season of pain and defeat. The team is beaten up, with key gaps in the defense, the offensive line, and at quarterback. In other words, all that's left is a group of people (the receivers and rushers) who could be good if they had some support and someone throwing the ball who was not too damned short to see over the defense. I like Seneca Wallace, but he's too short and too unpredictable. In fact, the only predictable part of the Seahawks right now is Mora's play calling (although I guess he leaves the offense to his underlings)...which looks a hell of a lot like Holmgren got last year. In other words, the offensive plays are looking more like the strategy of a guy who sees a long vacation/retirement before him. This is not the strategy of a seasoned and prepared coach.

Of course, I should have expected something bad happening yesterday. After the Seahawks started to play in a uniform that not even a mother could love, things were destined to be bad. I mean the alternate nearly-all-green uniforms are blindingly bad. I mean they were probably causing epileptic seizures to many people who turned on the game yesterday. I know, bad uniforms don't make for a bad team or a bad game...but I think it's better to blame these uniforms than to try to even analyze why the Seahawks are looking like crap in more ways than just in a glow-in-the-dark way.

To round out the crap, even UW lost on Saturday. Both big Seattle teams, on the cusp of not being crap, failed to live up to any of their potential and decided to let failure wash over them, again. I guess it was nice to see UW ranked for the first time in way too many years...but now that will be just another memory when the latest rankings come along.

Malik

Malik (9/29/09)

Today should be a good day for Rock Band DLC. I mean, after way too damned long, Alice In Chains gets a freakin' five pack of songs, including three classics and two new tracks. This would be great news, except I'm stuck in a work schedule that will probably keep me from having many coherent thoughts until around Friday. I'll be running with about two hours of sleep until Friday, and that doesn't lend itself well to both playing RB and to writing some opinions on the new songs.

Anyway, as stress levels overwhelm my sorry self, I'm expecting little in the way of posts until at least Friday. Once this week is done, things should begin to flow rather nicely. However, until then I'll only be able to guarantee today's post.

So, I'll just unload about something that is really getting on my nerves; the iPhone. I don't have one. I don't expect I will have one or any equivalent (like a Google Android phone or a Palm Pre) since it's just not my style. I like my phone for calling people, serving as an on-the-go phone book, and as a calendar (since I cannot remember appointments without something vibrating and making a racket from my pocket). Beyond that, I don't dig texting (I hate texting with a passion), I don't need web on the go, and I don't need a bunch of portable games that could be more enjoyable on a real portable format like being on the DS.

However, this isn't envy of some lame sort. Not even envy like the horrible "envy green" Seahawks alternate uniforms (sorry, I had to add another opinion on how much those uniforms sucked). I just don't want or need something like the modern smart phone.

My complaint comes from two main areas. The first being the annoyance of ads and the perspective they add to life on how without one you're a loser. I don't mind ad peer pressure. It's normal and expected in life. I just hate the Pre commercials and the woman who stars in them and reminds me of how some people in the real world are frightening to behold. At least Palm eliminated her voice from the ads, but it's both her voice and face that quite possibly scare the shit out of me. It's like watching a train wreck...you want to look away, but you also stare on in morbid curiosity as you see something that should not be seen by the masses.

The main problem I have with smart phones is how they have opened the world to a new type of mass jackassery (my nice way of calling the average smart phone user a tool and a dumbass). For example, now instead of having the person ahead of me in line, let's say at a store or a coffee shop, partially absorbed into a phone conversation and taking way too long to make a quick purchase, I have a smart phone user who is so damned taken away from reality that I'm stuck wasting my time while someone refuses to actually complete the transaction they came to said store to make. Each and every person behind this ass is stuck waiting extra long, possibly on a tight schedule as it is, because someone feels their damned life can be a sensible obstacle to the lives of others.

It also goes further when you work or live around a major metropolitan area. I drive to work, despite how un-green it is or whatever bullshit reason I'm to be told I'm not giving enough back to the Earth. Sorry, but I have to drive when I live in an area like the greater Seattle region and it has no real mass transit options for people who live outside of Seattle city limits. Now, with the typical smart phone overuse, I'm stuck with a moral dilemma at each intersection I come to. I hate violence and try anything in my power to avoid harming another person (even an idiot who possibly deserves pain and suffering). So, I'm stuck wondering if I should slam on my brakes or hit the smart phone user crossing a major street against the signal because he/she is too self absorbed in their web browsing to notice that they are trying to win a Darwin award.

It's not too hard to put the phone down for a minute to get back to reality. However, on-the-go web browsing and iPhone app usage are apparently a drug that cannot be quit. They must be too damned addictive since people would rather blindly enter an intersection with a semi flying towards them then to just stop walking or to stop iPhoning while in public.

It only gets more annoying as more companies encourage this shit. I mean Starbucks now lets you have a Starbucks card on your iPhone (scan the barcode on the screen to get your discount or added funds), car dealerships have coupons that can be scanned and displayed on an iPhone for discounts on maintenance, and it just goes on and on from there. Might I also add, after being in a Starbucks line too many times since their iPhone app came along, that it doesn't seem that the glitches are out of the system yet as lines get held up by the thing not working after the user takes too damned long as it is because he/she cannot stop web surfing to order. There is no escape, and if you're not with the "cool kids" you're sure not going to have any fun when you seem to be thrust into an unfair position; take responsibility for them or know they'll sue your sad ass when you hurt them due to their negligence.

Blah...

Malik

Malik (10/1/09)

I'm back from a magical land of sleep deprivation. I say it like that, since it's amazing what happens to your mind when you get only a short two hour sleep during 42 or so hours of adrenaline pumping work. In the end, I felt a lot like Apu on the James Woods/"Apu Gets Fired" episode of The Simpsons (when Apu was shown on video tape thinking he was a hummingbird from sleep deprivation). I'm not 100% back in my mental cognition, but I think about 50% is good enough until I can catch up on sleep this weekend. Hopefully working three sifts in a day for a single job doesn't become a regular thing.

Anyway, I did manage enough free time to try out the Alice In Chains five pack for Rock Band. I have to say the songs are, for the most part, a blast on expert guitar. In mean they are all pretty easy. If you can handle three note chords and whatever you find on Man In The Box (not counting the solo), you can handle this AiC pack without a problem on expert guitar. However, what makes this pack great is how damned important sounding the guitar is for each of these songs. I mean AiC has always done a great job of having the guitar used in such crucial ways to make the song so much more than it could have been.

Of course, if you're one of those "hardcore" players, then this pack will disappoint. I mean Rooster is the lowest tier, and nothing gets much more than three dots on guitar difficulty. You even have, with Looking In View, the longest song in the game to not feature a guitar solo (no solo and about 7-8 minutes of music). There are a few quick tricky parts, but nothing that will drive a challenge fanatic into a manic state of pleasure.

I was thinking about some of the other songs released this week. However, thanks to the preview option in the music store, I was quick in my decision to skip the other stuff. It might be fine for some people, but I just heard too much whining and too much generic "nu-metal" for my tastes. Still, it's not like I can complain since the AiC five pack is great and I should save some money as the video game season starts picking up steam this month.

Malik

Malik (10/2/09)

Short post today.  I'm off from all real responsibilities today, and I aim to apply that philosophy to posting.  I mean after spending too much time this week without sleep and all that fun stuff, I think the less I think (including thinking about what to type and how to avoid typos), the better it will be for everyone.

So, with saying that, I just need to say one thing on this post...Harmonix is awesome lately!  Once again, I have the need to spend way too much of my money on Rock Band DLC next Tuesday.  When you have Flobots (Handlebars), Electric Six (especially Gay Bar, but there's two more in their pack), Raconteurs (in a three pack), and Alanis Morissette (for those who like her...I have to admit, Ironic, which is DLC, is a guilty pleasure)...well, not much else can be said beyond stating that Harmonix is awesome.

Malik

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