Average Grod's Average Blog

Valve announced the final Scout update and it looks fun. I voted for the Force-A-Nature just because I want it. It would probably be wise to limit the amount of those things in the game and vote for something else but they look fun and it is leading with 42% of the vote so my vote will do little to change anything. They had about 30k votes when I cast mine. I will be online tonight playing. I may try scout for a bit but I think I will probably stick to pyro or medic. IM me or hit me on steam if you want to team up. I also ordered a new video card and power supply. I'll post more on them when they arrive.

Valve is launching a new update for TF2 soon and as always it looks great AND IT'S FREE!!! This time around the The Scout is getting all the attention. Light up your flamethrowers because with all the servers filling up with scouts there is gonna be a lot of fresh meat out there to sear. The updates sound cool so far and if I understand right the new scout stun will even stop Uber players which will definitely make things interesting and would put a quick end to anyone trying to make an offensive push which would really make Scouts a bit more useful on defense. I'll be checking the updates on a regular basis and post as new details are revealed. I'll be on this week and if the content goes live next Friday I will be on that night for sure. This is why TF2 is still probably my most played game regardless of it's age.

The other day I mentioned that I bought a treadmill. Wow. People at my work asked how I liked it and how did I do the first night with it. I responded "Listen. I know this may come as a surprise to all of you but I'm really not in good shape." Laughter ensued and I told them how I really just spent the first night walking and getting used to it.

Last night I was trying to dial it in and get a baseline to work with. I like walking on my breaks at work. Because of my leg I walk pretty slow. It doesn't feel that way to me until I am walking with someone. Last night I played around with the speeds and my best guess is that I walk at about 2.6 mph. I would guess that most people walk at about 3.5 or so. I also did a timed mile. One of my long term goals would be to do a consistent 10 minute mile. My long long term goal is to run the Beat the Bridge race with my wife and actually beat the bridge which would require running 2 miles in under 20 minutes. I think this is probably achievable but 2010 would be the earliest I could try. If I can handle 5 mile walks (the race is 8k) I wouldn't mind participating in it this year. My short term goal is to hit a 15 minute mile.

Last night I did a 17:45 mile but I know I can do a little better. I was having a difficult time keeping a steady pace due to my unfamiliartiy with the new machine. I would go too fast and then have to compensate by slowing down and then speed up and so on. After I realized the treadmill will tell me what my mile pace is I was able to even out my walk. Tonight I can choose one speed and just maintain it in order to hit a 17 minute mile. From there I can attempt to increase my speed in 0.1 mph increments over the weeks to see if I can hit a 15 minute mile. Once I can do 15 minute miles and I am familiar with the pace I can see how long I can do it. 8k would take me about 1 hour and 20 minutes unless I can keep a very consistent pace. So I may have a shot at participating this year. Who knows. I am going to start posting my times to track my progress.

It really does doesn't it? I sold my 1987 Honda Prelude today. I know it is pretty strange that this should spark any sort of deep philisophical pondering on my age but I am only human and I think in a way that car really represented a previous phase of my life. I bought it in 1998 and I had it all through college. I have kept it in my garage for the past year and a half despite repeatedly promising my wife I would sell it. I never drove it during this time. I can't even fit both of my kids in it anyway so there really was no reason to keep it. At least I haven't been forced into buying a minivan(yet). After realizing that this car is 21 years old and that I have had it for 11 years and then looking at how big my kids are I was really starting to feel my age. Probably why I never wanted to deal with selling it. I really felt like I was closing a chapter. I'll be entering a new decade of my life in less than four months and I experienced one other big reminder of my age just this week.

Don't get me wrong the Murder City Devils show was great! When I first heard them I was a sophmore. In high school. Seriously. This music still penetrates and moves my soul the same way it used to and my friends and I proved that there is still a place for 30 year olds in the middle of a mosh pit but I don't know how many more concerts are in my future that don't include me driving my daughter and her friends in a minivan. I was glad to see people my own age at the show as well as some young blood. I love that band so much that I was happy to see a new generation experience them live. As I said they had put together a sweet boxed set. I didn't spring for it. I returned home and told my wife that as much as I wanted it I just couldn't do it. She told me that I have grown up so much since she met me. OUCH!!!

I took the money from the Prelude bought a treadmill. I parked it in the space reserved for my holy honda. I'll probalby think about it everytime I am out there running. I know I did the right thing. I probably have grown up. I'll only admit to growing up a little bit though and I don't need anyone to remind me. After all that's what I have my kids for.

I finished reading Freakonomics yesterday and I really enjoyed it. It is the type of book that I could read through in one or two sittings if I didn't have any kids. The author has a great way of looking at mountains of numbers that would intimidate even Rain Man and pulling out useful and interesting information. No punches are pulled and all the data is laid out for anyone to see.

On the surface one of the chapters suggests that abortion in the U.S. may be responsible for the reduction of violent crime during the 1990's. This statement could probably be described as offensive, funny, ironic, or preposterous depending on whom you asked but rather than propose that abortion may be more effective in fighting crime than gun by backs and innovative policing strategies the author shows there is a direct correlation. He doesn't provide opinion on this hot topic or try to sway your thinking. He just provides the facts. The rest of the book is just as eye opening, informative, and maybe even more entertaining.

In the closing of the book he suggests that you may actually have more questions than answers after reading Freakonomics. I know I do but this book shows that it is ok to ask what at first glance seems like an obnoxious question as long as there is solid logic behind it. The stupid question really is the one you don't ask. There is a new revised version available and I will probably read this version in the future. I will add it to my Amazon store in case you are interested in picking it up. There is probably a copy in your local library. I highly recommend this book.

I am putting the wraps on 3 other books right now so you will see quite a bit of progress on my 2009 book list. I tend to read about 4 books at a time so my list will sit stale for a while and then explode with check marks. Keep checking back and feel free to make suggestions.

Tonight I am lucky enough to have a ticket to one of the best live shows in Seattle. The Murder City Devils. The Devils have put together reunion tour and it kicks of tonight at The Showbox in Seattle. This will be my 4th or 5th MCD concert and I wish that number were higher.

They have are offering a beautiful box set entitled feather bed whisky blanket. It contains all four of their releases pressed on white vinyl. There are only 275 hand numbered sets and they each contain different items packed by the band members. You can check their website or their Flickr account for photos. They are selling for $150 and I want to get one so bad. My wife has signed off on the deal but I still don't know if I can do it. That is a big chunk of change even if it is a piece of fine rock history.

I am glad to hear that they aren't planning on playing any new songs. I know what I am going to the show for and the thought of hearing a piece of half written music that isn't fully fleshed out and will never be available for purchase simply doesn't interest me at this point in my life. Tonight will be fun and the music will be great. If you ever have a chance to see The Murder City Devils play, don't let it slip away.

I can remember reading about Battlefield 1942 and thinking that the game would be larger than life. I was out of state when it was released but I bought it as soon as I had a chance to get to store where it was on sale. After logging plenty of hours on my own I knew this was a game that deserved a night of LAN play dedicated to it.
I brought my PC to a friend’s house. A couple hours later after installing, patching, networking, and probably a crack (we only had one copy of the game), we realized that his video card wouldn't run the game. We were new to the world of dedicated video cards and back then we probably couldn't tell one card from another which complicated the whole "minimum system requirements" thing. Nothing could keep us from playing this game that night. We drove down the road to the local big box retailer and returned triumphantly with a new video card. Apparently my friend hadn’t accumulated enough debt during his college years and of course it is a well known fact that credit cards are best used for video card purchases. When we returned we quickly realized the recent purchase wouldn't fit into his 4 year old Gateway. I am almost positive he bought an AGP card and the Gateway was built about the same time AGP was developed so it shipped with a PCI card. We knew another trip was eminent.

As I said, we couldn't be kept from playing that night so we were met with rolling eyes at the door of the store we had just left 20 minutes earlier. They informed us that they were closing and made it clear that they weren't interested in helping us pick a card or process an exchange. No small purchase would be worth staying late. Without batting an eye my cohort smoothly and confident almost to the point of brazenness asked "What if I buy a computer?" The clerks looked at each other and replied "Really?" One swipe of the credit card later and we were home installing and patching all over again. I don't remember how early into the next day we played but it wouldn't be our last time greeting the sunrise with Nazi blood on our virtual hands.

When Battlefield 2 launched I was a little late to the show but only because I didn't have a Battlefield worthy gaming rig at the time. Ironically I was gaming on the PC my friend had purchased to play 1942 and it just couldn't handle BF2. Our once cutting edge AGP card was already being phased out by BF2's launch and I had to replace the entire rig with my current gaming system. After I had procured my copy I spent every minute possible playing BF2. My time was cut short this round due to the addition of a family somewhere between my 1942 days my purchase of BF2. I did get to play quite a bit with one of my brothers which was tons of fun and I wouldn't be opposed to the occasional night of BF2 with him or any of my other friends which is why I just can't figure out how the recent announcement of 3 Battlefield games this year does not excite me.

This is looking to be a 2-3 article post so stay tuned.

I ordered two games this weekend. I thought long and hard about springing for the Steam Weekend Deal but in the end I opted to pick up two games from Amazon. I bought Culdacept Saga and Lost Odyssey. I had a gift card so the total was only about $35. Make sure you buy from Amazon on the weekends. Culdacept was $40 or $50 during the week but has been hitting $20 during the last couple weekends. I have never played either of them and I don't know tons about them but I am looking forward to logging some hours in these two new worlds. I honestly think it was the artwork that initially drew me to both games. I am no stranger to either the collectible card board game or jrpg genres. Well maybe the first simply becuase they hardly exist in the video game world but I am a fan of both sub genres. I know that both of these games will require mountains of time and I will probably never finish either but I am going to do my best just so I can get out a review in the future. Maybe by summer. I'll post some updates along the way.

Today Emma told me she wanted to go to her room to work on a "project." This isn't abnormal for her and it usually means she wants to color, plan a tea party, or play with her dolls. She had something entirely different in mind today. She wanted to make a hand print. I am hoping she meant on a piece of paper. I haven't actually been up to her room to check. Maybe the walls are coated with little blue hand prints. She had done a hand print before at school. I don't think she realized there is quite a difference between markers and paint. She does now. As you can see part of the way through she gave up. She came downstairs and told me that her hand print wasn't working and that she wanted help cleaning her hand. This photo is post cleaning. She wasn't pleased to hear she would just have to wait a couple days for the marker to come off. Emma tried to make a hand print with markers.

Trying to open the present. Trying to eat his present

Linc turned one the other day. He received a present in the mail. Here are a couple photos of him trying to open it and then eat it for lunch. We really need to buy him some cake or something. Movies are fun but unless they are Alton Brown dvds they just can't compete with real dessert.

I got the comments up and running on my new site and I have a little bit of content up and ready to go. Point your browsers over to my new website www.grodontheweb.com. I may add some of the wildhog material to the new site or I may just back it up. If you want to read any of it or look at some of the early Emma pics they will still be here. I just won't be updating. If you link to this blog please update your site to point to my new page. Thanks!

Two weeks ago I picked up Rainbow Six Vegas 2 via Steam's weekend deal for just $10. I haven't played a Rainbow Six game since Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear in 1999 and the series plays like a different game than the one I remember. I used to love the Rainbow Six games but I am more than pleased with the way the series has progressed. RSV2 plays like a cross between the Band of Brothers games and Call of Duty 4.

You progress through the game as you do in CoD but you have the ability to command your teammates and will rely on their skills to provide cover and help breach rooms.For the most part the Artificial Intelligence is solid. Both your team and the enemy are smart enough to move to cover for protection as well as lay down covering fire for advancing teammates.The game is challenging but never becomes frustrating until the last battle.

At the start of the game the controls are completely overwhelming. I played through the game on PC and I have to believe that the limited amount of buttons one a console controller would be advantageous. I couldn't keep track of what key did what and had a hard time remembering how I had made my team do what I wanted earlier. It wasn't until somewhere between mission two and missions three (2-3 hours into the game) that I completely grasped how to control my teammates. Even then I still had a difficult time getting them to rappel and breach windows exactly how I wanted. Fortunately there are only a few places you need to breech this way.Regardless of how the team behaves, rappelling down and kicking through a window or shooting terrorists with a pistol while hanging upside down outside a building is great entertainment!

Planning how to breech and clear a building has always been a staple of Rainbow Six games. I really enjoy how this iteration of the series allows the player to jump right in the game and plan which door to blow and how to clear rooms on the fly. The original Rainbow games were a series of perfect timing and trial and error. When you cleared a level you felt great but you might spend 30 minutes planning a mission only to have it end two minutes later with your team lying on the ground bleeding out. This time around your team is competent enough to clear most of a room on their own if you give them time to get stacked up properly. This keeps the game moving and the penalty for death isn't enough to frustrate you to the point of walking away from your PC.

The story is solid even if it has been done before. If you don't want any spoilers stop reading now.

Basically one of your protégés turns rogue and it is your job to stop him. You don't realize he is the one you are after until the end of the sixth mission. The seventh and final mission is bringing him down. The final showdown was the only part of the game which found me ready to punch my monitor. For some reason your character decides he needs to take on the final boss alone so your two mates just stand by and watch you die multiple deaths as you try and figure out what to do. It probably took me twenty tries spread out over two play sessions to finally finish it. I also encountered an occasional bug at this point. Twice my team were actually standing in a way that blocked me from going out the door to the final fight. I actually had to shoot one of them and receive a game over and reset their positions.

Overall I would probably give this game about an 8/10. I love the updates to the series and the single player 8-10 hours is about the perfect amount of time for me. If I had paid $60 I might have rated the game a bit lower or actually felt it was a little short but I haven't had time to try the multiplayer yet. I will probably pick up Rainbow Six Vegas 1 and give it a go just because this was such a fun game. If you want a solid squad based FPS and you enjoyed Call of Duty 4 but want a bit more depth to the gameplay I highly recommend this game. Especially because you can pick it up for $20 or less.

One more note.
I have a subscription to Game Informer and I was upset to see that they listed Gabe Nowak who is the bad guy of the game as one of the worst villains of a game in 2008. His final monologue was a bit whiny and he isn't the best villain but I don't like that they list him as the boss. I actually read it when I was only part way through the game so the ending was essentially spoiled at that point. The worst part is they actually complain about his final monologue and quote him to help make their point. What they quoted was never actually said by the character. He did whine and I think they made their point but when you put something in quotes on paper people will think that is exactly what the character said. Even if he is just an imaginary game character someone took the time to write the content and I think it is irresponsible journalism to spoil and ending like that and misquote the character.