'A Song Of Ice And Fire' Coming to Next-Gen Consoles

Cyanide Studio has acquired the rights to produce George R. R. Martin's 'A Song Of Ice And Fire' series of books for Next-gen consoles and the PC. In case you aren't familiar with ASOIF, or George R. R. Martin, THAT IS TOTALLY FREAKING COOL! So we now have production started on the HBO series slated to start filming in Ireland in the fall, and now a game (series?) has been attached to a studio. YES! Now... if GRRM is able to get 'A Dance With Dragons' to print this year, all will be right with Westeros!!

BTW - if you haven't read these yet, stop what you are doing, go to your local book purveyor or Amazon, and get 'A Game Of Thrones'. You will NOT be sorry. In fact, you will probably call me and thank me because your mind will have been blown. At which point I will in turn give your message to Merlin as he is who turned me on to them, and blew my mind. SRSLY, they are so good that other books I read now are just OK. Think I'm kidding? Read the first one. I DARE you. Got ya! You're hooked and you can't stop! Martin's ability to create a grand, epic world with THOUSANDS of characters and intricate woven plots is unparalleled. I in fact am reading them for a 2nd time in anticipation of book five, 'A Dance With Dragons', and it can't come too soon!!

Here's the link to Joystiq for the story and pictures of Winterfell and Jon & Ghost from thewolfswood.com for your enjoyment.

|)3V!|_

Gamer Score and You

So this past Christmas, my nephew got Guitar Hero 3 for his Play Station. I played it that day over at my sister's house and I quickly learned that it was a fun game to play. That and I totally kicked my nephew's butt!! So within the next few days I decided that I was going to purchase the game for me and my X-Box 360 (far superior to the Play Station). So I did.

Then I looked at my gamer score and saw that I was under 1000 points. I thought that was rather lame so I set out to raise my score. I set a goal of 3000 points for myself to get to by this summer. I mean I was just under 1000 - so I figured 2000 points shouldn't be that hard to accumulate. But how to do this without breaking my bank account and buying every cool game out there?? Simple - play the games I already have! Mind you, I had Gears of War that I had not played and I had a few other games that I had tried and put away. It was just a matter of playing games and having fun playing them. I think I can handle that!!

So I started playing Guitar Hero 3. In a matter of days I had beaten the Tour on Easy mode and was more than half way through the Tour on Medium. I tried Hard - and it was really hard. So I stuck with Medium. Then I borrowed GH 2 from a friend and applied the same technique. Blew away Easy and Medium on that, all the while racking up gamer score points.

Then Devil persuaded me to try Gears of War. So I did. WOW!! Talk about a life changing event. OK - so maybe its not that good - but it was the best game I had played since Halo 3 game out. Devil and I co-opped our way through the campaign on that and finished shortly before the release of Gears 2. Well I did go out and buy that game. Gears 2 blew away GOW. It was awesomely good. Once again, Devil and I plowed through the campaign on that one too. Then did it again on Hardcore!! NICE.

So by this time, I had hurtled across the 2000 point barrier and was well on my way to my 3000 points. Also, by this time, Bungie released the Mythic Map Pack for Halo 3. Along with that were a whole slew of new achievements. So the Prophets have been working on unlocking many of those achievements and enjoying the new maps.

While I am just shy of 3000 points, I am pretty sure I will be there shortly. I put together a list of the games played by the Prophets and how much gamer score we have achieved in each game. My challenge to each of the Prophets is to get to 3000 points! I will play Halo, Gears of War, Guitar Hero and Battlefield: Bad Company with any of you any time. The only game I won't play is that DDR/DS 2 game that Domino got (he claims for his daughter - but I know its his favorite). So take a look at the chart and start building up for that 3000 mark!

Speaking of Movies...

This weekend, the new Star Trek movie came out. Did you see it yet? What did you think? I have not, but I hear that it's awesome. TOTALLY F'n awesome. I am blocking some time next weekend to see it as both media reviews and friends of mine have all corroborated it's Trek awesomeness...

Next up? Terminator Salvation. This is the one that I think I have been the most anticipatory for. The trailers all make it seem like an amazing thrill ride through the apocalyptic, SkyNet controlled future that up till now, we have only gotten brief glimpses at. Well now that the movie is about 10 days away, here is a new FOUR MINUTE trailer of amazing quality, that should cement your decision to go to see this when it comes out. Again I can only hope that it's as good as the trailer and that they didn't blow the good scenes just for that. If the movie lives up to this 4 minute batch of glorious eye candy, then we're in for one hell of a movie.

Sit back, relax and enjoy this, the total shizzle....

|)3V!|_

Ps. Let me know what you think of the new layout. I am trying to give more room for posted videos and images. The other layout would not allow for stretching and would send YouTube vids off the page. Now I can post them more bigglier!

Movie Time!!

Well its the end of April. So what does that mean?? Not only the beginning of Summer, but the beginning of the Summer Movie Blockbusters!! And while we don't have a Lord of the Rings or a Spiderman this summer, we still have some pretty decent movies to look forward to. Here are the movies I want to go see.

May 1 - X-Men Origins: Wolverine

May 7 - Star Trek

May 15 - Angels and Demons (maybe)

May 21 - Terminator Salvation

June 24 - Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Hopefully they will be good ones! Let me know when you want to go see whichever of them!

As the Weather Turns

After enduring a week of temps in the 40s with wind and rain, the weather is beginning to turn here in Western New York. Its gonna be in the 70s today and 80s and sunny on the weekend!! Yes, I'm excited.

Why? Because its the perfect weather for the first official BBQ of the season!! Ahhh nothing finer than grilling dead red meat!! Unless of course, you add drinking beer and playing frisbee into the mix!! Now you have yourself a bonified party!!

I am proposing a gathering in Ellison Park tomorrow afternoon for all who can make it. Bring your own meat and beer and lets enjoy this beautiful weekend together!

{Ellison Park is a Monroe County Park with a carry-in/carry-out policy. No glass bottles allowed, no open containers within 50' of roads or parking lots or playgrounds, you are allowed 6 12 oz containers per person.}

What that little legal mumbo-jumbo means is that you can only have 6 beers with you at a time. so leave the big cooler in the car with plenty of ice and go for refills as necessary!!

Any suggestions for which part of the park is most ideal?

Holler back if you hear me!

S-I-X

A Gem of A Find!

I am a live music nut. I have literally over 300 GB of live concerts at home on my computer. Yes - that is a lot of live music. I just really enjoy listening to the live performance of songs over the studio versions. One of my favorite bands is Pink Floyd. I have many, many live shows from them over the years. I thought I had all the good ones - but then as I was browsing on The Traders Den, i came across a torrent that I had heard and read about existing, but had never seen before. The 1977 Oakland Coliseum show.

Apparently it was recorded on a full reel to reel tape deck and they had a great location. Then someone found the tape and a couple of guys with the right equipment and know-how, remastered the tape into the version that I downloaded the other day. It is a wonderful sounding show.DISC ONE:
1 - Sheep
2 - Pigs on the Wing part 1
3 - Dogs
4 - Pigs on the Wing part 2
5 - Pigs (Three Different Ones)
6 - Shine On You Crazy Diamond I-V

DISC TWO:
1 - Welcome to the Machine
2 - Have A Cigar
3 - Wish You Were Here
4 - Shine On You Crazy Diamond VI-IX
5 - Money
6 - Us and Them
7 - Careful With That Axe, Eugene

Not only does it encompass two of my favorite albums (Animals and Wish You Were Here) its just a great show from one of the greatest bands of all time. If any of the Prophets are interested, I will gladly make copies for you.
One final note - The Traders Den is an excellent source for live shows. And the best part is, they only allow non-commercial material - so you dont have to worry about the RIAA coming after you. And best of all - its FREE - the way it was intended to be. All you have to do is share it with others and contribute as a seeder.

Best wishes to you as I enjoy the sounds of Floyd.

Six

A Few Things on My Mind

It seems every year we are hit with ridiculous new laws and regulations aimed at "improving" our lives. How many of them have actually helped us?? I will use HAVA as an example.

HAVA is the Help Americans Vote Act. It was a poorly thought out, knee-jerk reaction to the 2000 election because of the poor ballot used in the state of Florida. It has forced every state to buy new voting machines that are "modern" and work "better" than the old ones. Of course, there were hundreds of millions of dollars set aside by the government to pay for this. But as we all know, that money comes from our taxes. Its been a total and complete disaster - I would term it an utter failure. Many states are on their second or third different system since HAVA was enacted. And the machines chosen (actually forced) for New York are the biggest pieces of crap I have ever seen.

So let me tell you what I think the government should be enacting. This is just my opinion, but to me they make sense.

First thing the governement should do is make all car and SUV bumpers a uniform height. How many people do you know (including yourself) who have had a minor fender bender, but one car ended up totally demolished because the hit wasnt bumper to bumper?? Think about it - if they improved the structural rigidity of bumpers and made them the same height, there would be a lot less damage to vehicles. This would mean: lower insurance, lower repair bills, no more rubber-necking from gawkers looking at an accident. It just makes sense!!

Second is they should make cell phone companies create one universal charger. Again, you are over at your buddy's place and your cell phone dies. You forgot your charger - but your friend has the almost the exact same phone. Hey Fred, can I use your charger?? Sure - what phone do you have?? Its the Vibra 250 model X. Oh damn - I have the Vibra 250 model Z - its a different charger. WHAT???? Are you kidding me?? Every phone has a damn different charger!! Design one damn charger and make ALL the phone companies use that one! Problem solved - end of discussion.

Maybe some day common sense will be applied to the things in our lives - but until then, we are stuck with what we got. Thanks for listening

Six