Monthly Archives: September 2011

The Series Premiere of Terra Nova

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Terra Nova is Fox’s new series which uses dinosaurs to attract viewers. Basic premise is that the world gets messed up so humans begin to travel back in time to hope to give humanity a second shot at life. I did enjoy the two-hour series premiere and I will definitely be tuning in each week. So what exactly is the show about in more detail? Read on to find out more.

The series starts off in the year 2149, in a world that looks downright disgusting. It’s cloudy and dirty as heck, and the people praise the lord when they find an orange. Overpopulation is also an issue, and families can only have two children or face the consequences. The series centers around the Shannon family who’s father is imprisoned for hiding his family’s third child from the government. Their only chance for a decent quality of life now is to head to Terra Nova, which is a commune that is located in a prehistoric era. Apparently scientists discovered a tear in time and use this portal to travel back to an age in prehistory. They have determined that it leads to an alternate timeline, so they have no fear of the butterfly effect. The Shannon’s head to Terra Nova to help this newly-developing flourish as it’s a better quality of life than being in jail.

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The Future of “Nedna” Has Been Decided (Spoilers)

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Tonight was the season premiere of The Simpsons, and FOX promised to reveal what was going to happen with Nedna. If you missed out on last season’s finale and want to know what the heckeroonie a “Nedna” is, check out my recap of the episode here. If you missed this season’s premiere and want to know if Flanders and Edna are a couple or not, then continue reading past the break.

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Book Review: American Front (The Great War, Book One)

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I really enjoyed reading Harry Turtledove’s historical fiction novel, How Few Remain, and couldn’t wait to dive into the next part in the series. American Front continues the concept of a world where the Confederate States of America won the American Civil War, thus leaving the nation divided. How Few Remain dealt with a second Civil War between the United States and the Confederate States, which the Confederacy wins once again. American Front continues to follow these two countries into a more modern time, and how their relationship is with the start of the twentieth century.

American Front takes place during the the events of World War I. Austrian Archduke Ferdinand is assassinated and the European powers draw up their alliances, with Austria and Germany going to war with Britain and France. The big difference in this timeline deals with the United States. While historically the U.S. joined forces with the Allied Powers (Britain, France, and co.), this is not the case in Turtledove’s timeline. In the “Southern Victory” series, the British and French are allies with the Confederate States, while the U.S. builds up an alliance with Germany (this is seen during the second Civil War where the U.S. wages war against the Confederacy, British, and French.) So when World War I breaks out, the Confederacy (led by President Woodrow Wilson)  joins the Allied Powers, while the U.S. (led by Theodore Roosevelt) sides with the Central Powers. Soon enough the war hits home, as U.S. and C.S. forces clash at several different border points in North America. Read More »

My New PS3 Is Here

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My new PS3 came in from Amazon today, and I’m already in the process of getting it back to normal. There are a couple of things I want to note:

  • With the credit from my fat PS3 trade-in, as well as previous game trades I had saved up, I was able to pick up the 320GB inFamous 2 bundle (sure blows my old 80GB away)
  • While I love inFamous and couldn’t wait to play the sequel, I didn’t want to own it. I was planning on returning the game to a local retailer for credit I could have used towards Skyrim or something, but the game has a big ol’ “NOT FOR RESALE” sticker on it, so that ain’t gonna work
  • The new slim system may be a tad uglier (I like the fat PS3′s shininess) but it is sooo damn small and light. Amazing!
  • The controller feels a little lighter, but I don’t know if it’s because they improved it or if it’s missing three years worth of gamer sweat
  • I love that the USB cable that is now bundled with the system is 3x longer than the old one. That thing was way too short Read More »

Thoughts on the Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen

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Last night Comedy Central jumped on the Charlie Sheen bandwagon and devoted an almost two-hour special to him by making him the target of their most recent roast. I’m sure this will prove to be their most-watched one yet, since Sheen is fresh off the “crazy train” that was his meltdown. The dais had some familiar faces such as Jeff Ross, Jon Lovitz, and William Shattner, but also had some nobodies I had never heard of. I have to say that I was disappointed with the absence of two of my favorite past roasters; Lisa Lampanelli and Gilbert Gottfried. In the end, it was a pretty decent show as the jokes ranged from Sheen’s alcohol and drug problems to the fact that he lost custody of his kids. Below is a line-up of the comics and how they were: Read More »

New PS3 is on the Way Thanks to Amazon

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I recently told the sad story of how I traded in my PS3 since it was on its last legs. I guess this is part two of that story, in that I have ordered my replacement PS3. It took some doing, but in the end it all worked out.

Amazon received and processed the PS3 yesterday. Amazon quoted that I would receive $160 if it was in “like-new” condition and $138 if it was in “good” condition. Now when I sent it in I had a feeling it might be only considered “good” since I was missing the video cables. Not that I was missing them, they were just stuck somewhere in our storage unit since I had been using an HDTV to that point. So I was hoping for the $160 but expecting the $138.

I get the e-mail from Amazon telling me they processed the order, but they only gave me $48. I couldn’t believe it. I was wondering what the issue was, because I didn’t think that a missing cable would cost me over $100 in trade-in value. I went onto Amazon’s site and looked up my trade screen, and they claimed they were giving me $48 because it was in “acceptable” condition due to a missing instruction manual. That was a mistake on their part, since I did include the instruction manual with the package. Seeing how this was the case, I contacted Amazon through their chat to see if I could get this resolved. Read More »

My Catchphrase: “Sweet BBQ Chunks”

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That’s right, I’m publicly making my personal catchphrase known. It’s “Sweet BBQ Chunks”, and rather than a noun it is an adjective to describe something totally awesome. I initially used it to describe a guy I worked with at Wal-Mart who worked in the deli and made the bbq chicken nuggets that they sold there.

It really came into affect when I worked at the Ponderosa in Oneonta. I don’t know how I first uttered it, but someone either asked me how something was or told me they were going to do something, and the phrase “sweet bbq chunks” came out of my mouth. My co-workers liked it, so I kept using it to describe how the food on the buffet was or to acknowledge something someone said.

Ex- “How are those instant mashed potatoes coming?” “Sweet bbq chunks.”

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RIP PS3: 11/8/08- 9/12/11

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It’s been almost three years and my fat 80GB PS3 has begun to show it’s age. It’s been noisier than ever, and I’ve been having quite a few game freezes and crashes and what not. Initially I attributed it to the wonky interwebs connection I have here, but then when I started to just play offline and it still happened I realized my system was just getting old and used. My biggest problems were with both Resistance 2 and Resistance 3, in that when I died the game would freeze and never load up the last check point. It also happened while playing LittleBigPlanet 2, Back to the Future, and Comix Zone.

I’m sure it’s a combination of many things. First off, it is a three year old system, and they just don’t make ‘em like they used to. Secondly, my PS3 has a ton of game time logged into it, and it definitely gets more use than the above-average system does I’d wager. Thirdly, it’s been through quite a bit. I’ve traveled with it many a time so I’m sure it got bounced around a little despite my careful packing procedures. And lastly, it did get hit in a thunderstorm in July while we were on vacation, so I think that definitely has a lot to do with it.

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PS3 Review: Dead Island

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I think I was one of many who were captivated by the awesome teaser trailer released for Dead Island several months back. The trailer looked too good to be true, and it appeared that the PS3 would finally be getting something it was lacking…a FPS zombie kill fest. One of the 360′s advantages is it’s hold on this genre with the Left 4 Dead series. So does Dead Island live up to the hype? Does it succeed in matching the awesomeness that is L4D? Read on to find out.

Dead Island takes place on an island resort in New Guinea where a zombie infestation suddenly occurs. The peaceful, beautiful, lush island is soon overrun with the undead and the player is given the simple task of surviving. That’s about all the story you’re going to get. There are four different characters to choose from, each with his/her own backstory. Yet these backstories seem pointless as there is very little story otherwise. There are some cutscenes here and there to coincide with completing a quest but they are more filler than worthwhile content. Now many times you will hear be complain about how a game is lacking due to a lack of story, but not with Dead Island. It’s the kind of game that doesn’t need a true story, as it’s more important (and fun) to explore the huge environment on your own. In this respect the game reminds me of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, in that I could really care less about a story as I was too busy doing whatever the heck I wanted to do.

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New Site on the Way

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Before you get all excited or flip out, let me say this…bigbadbob113.com is here to stay! However, I have recently been working on an additional site which is why it’s been a bit quiet here as of late. So what’s the secret site? Is it about video games? Or Sasquatch? Or purple polka-dotted puppies?!

The answer is none of the above. With all the free time on my hands lately, I wanted to do something useful. I am in the midst of preparing a somewhat more…educational blog. Basically it will be a blog about American History that will be geared towards education students and those who don’t grasp History as easily by just reading a historical article or book. And I will also concede the fact that there is a tiny ulterior motive to doing this, as it will hopefully help my resume stand out a bit more. Read More »