inFAMOUS

Man, this game is fun.

A few years ago, a game was created for the second Spiderman movie that had you take control of Spidey giving you the choice to follow a linear storyline or just basically swing around the city and stop crime/help citizens. It was a fantastic concept - so easy yet never accomplished correctly.

Suckerpunch and Sony Entertainment took that idea and ran with it by creating an original character and giving you the option to either become a superhero OR a supervillan. I haven't finished the game yet - I doubt I'm even close. Currently, I'm playing through as a hero and am having a total blast but at the same time, I'm excited to be the villan.

Unfortunatley, it's a PS3 exclusive so a whole lot of people are going to miss out on this one. However, if you have a PS3 - pick it up. You won't regret it.

Buy Me A Shiny New Machine That Runs On Lies And Gasoline

I'm pretty sure The Weakerthans are my favorite band.

For the longest time, I've been a hardcore fan of Counting Crows. Actually, as long as I can remember - I've been pretty big on the Crows. I can remember my Uncle coming home from Vancouver around 1994 or 1995 and hearing "August And Everything After" playing around the house the entire time. He was apparently hooked on their debut album. Being 10 years old, I had no idea what half of the songs were about - they just reminded me of my Uncle. He was pretty much a permanent father figure to me my entire life and that album reminded me of how happy I was when he came home to visit Gary and I, so I had a pretty good connection to that album and that band my whole life. I fell out of them for a few years and listened to a lot of metal/rap-rock (Metallica, Limp Bizkit and Korn..yup) and didn't return to them until late high school/college - when I began to understand a lot of their material.

I heard The Weakerthans for the first time in Sean's Jetta during a camping trip in the summer of 2003 (the greatest and only camping trip of my life) - I had no idea who they were at the time until Brent gave me "Reconstruction Site" one evening in January of 2004 and I immediately fell in love with the album and their sound. John's writing is exceptional - there's no one really quite like him or at least not that I've heard.

Adam and the Crows went 6 years without an album (2002-2008) and never really went anywhere near me that I could actually manage to see a live show. That's no real fault of their own - while they're an established band, they rarely ever play anywhere other than Toronto/Vancouver when visiting Canada and they never really had any new material to form an album with.

I missed Weakerthans in 2005 due to a relationship that monopolized a lot of my time. They were playing a show in Sydney and through no fault but my own - I turned down the show. I really wish I hadn't. I'd regret it a lot more if I hadn't seen them a little over a year and a half later.

Weakerthans played the Halifax Pop Explosion in 2006 when I was attending 2nd year business school. Gary and Brent made the trip up and the three of us went to the show. It certainly was nice to see a band that I appreciated this much in concert - a band (aside from Pearl Jam) that I knew every song in their catalogue - and still played NEW stuff. It was an excellent show from start to finish - they did not disappoint.

About two years ago, they released what I consider their best album - Reunion Tour. They're one of those bands who just keep getting better as they get older - which doesn't happen quite often. A lot of bands peak early and continue to release albums that consistently fail to live up to their early expectations. No other band could release an album with 11 songs about lost pets, bitter "Bigfoot" believers, lonely public transit workers, company executives fallen from grace and a break-up from the viewpoint of the apartment while making it sound so complete and natural.

While Counting Crows' latest effort was worth the wait - I'm losing a bit of respect for Adam. I've read his blogs and lately, his Twitter page and while he is really friendly towards his fans - he comes off really immature and annoying. Maybe it's just me. I'll always enjoy their music for what it is but I think I'm growing to be more of a fan of Samson and his band.

I'm not sure what I meant to do with this post, maybe I'm just rambling but whatever.

Give A Hoot, Read A Book.

I've been reading like crazy lately.

I think I had mentioned in an earlier post that I had close to 13 books on my book shelf that I had not got around to reading. Whenever the wife and I go on our two-three day trips to Edmonton, we always stayed at the West Edmonton Mall. While at the mall, I'd spend a considerable amount of time in Chapters picking up reading material for the next few months in Fort McMurray. I know I'm potentially making Ft. Mac sound like a ghost town - it's not. It's just that we don't really have a decent book store. Coles is here but it's nothing special - let's face it, it's not Chapters.

They have this new invention - it's called online shopping. I agree, I could do that. However, I prefer to actually go to Chapters and look around. I just prefer it that way for no real reason.

Anyway, I finished John Connolly's book complied of short stories- "Nocturnes". It was a decent book but found that it continued to drag on at times. He had about 5 excellent standout stories which I guess, isn't saying much considering there were 20+ stories. His Charlie Parker novella was top notch (The Reflecting Eye) while "The Cancer Cowboy Rides", a story about a man who spreads a cancer like disease through touch, comes in at a close second.

I also finished my 4th Chuck Palahniuk book, "Lullaby". Matty had told me that out of all Chuck's efforts, this would make the best movie. I'd have to say that I agree. It's certainly different then what I'm used to with Chuck - I don't think he had attempted anything in regards to magic/fantasy before. He did a great job. Not sure which one of his to pick up next, I'm thinking "Survivor" sounds like a plan.

I also flew through Frank Miller's Daredevil story, "Born Again". A multi-issue arc written in the 80's that supposedly defines the Daredevil character. This is the first exposure I've had to Daredevil aside from the 2003 movie and I was not disappointed. I've always been a fan of Miller's writing - at least what I've read in the last few years. I'm looking forward to picking up Smith's Daredevil outing soon - the character is probably the closest thing Marvel has to Batman.

Finally, I just recently started the 3rd Dexter book, "Dexter in the Dark". I'm going through some serious withdrawal from the TV series and I thought this should last me until the 3rd season is released on DVD. I'm only a chapter in so I have no real opinion on it yet.

So, I have a few left to read including, "A Million Little Pieces", James Frey's memoirs about battling addiction which was apparently mostly made up. "The Catcher In The Rye", a classic novel I've yet to read and a biography about professional wrestler Owen Hart. I've read two books about the Hart family now so I doubt this is going to tell me anything that I don't already know.

"Do I Look Like A Man Who Exaggerates?"

First of all, I love summer movie season. I really do. After watching the first big blockbuster of the year, I'm all pumped up for the rest of the season. It's too bad that most of those big movies are being released in May. As you know, we're moving back home in July and it would be nice to see some of the bigger blockbusters in a NICE theatre. I'll also get to purchase a medium "swirl" frozen yogurt and dump a bunch of Reese's pieces in there - mix 'em all around - and enjoy a tasty treat while taking in a film.

That being said, Wolverine was actually quite good. I really can't think of too many flaws - the effects were satisfactory and the acting was pretty solid(as far as your comic book adaptation that isn't Batman related goes). I'm not a buff on the history of the X-Men, so I'm not sure how faithful this movie adaptation was in regards to Wolverine's original origin story. I will say that it leads perfectly into the first movie and the scene after the credits ties everything up nicely.

So, it's May long weekend. I don't really have a lot planned to tell you the truth. Ash is working straight through so I plan to spend the next three days in the house possibly and probably watching movies/playing video games. I might go to the gym but I really can't see me doing that given my recent medical predicament (trust me, it's not fun). I rented "Wolverine" for the 360 and I have a lot of TV Show Seasons/DVD's that I purchased and never really had the time to view - I will take advantage of the three glorious days off to do so.

The day in which we move home grows closer and closer and I still have yet to hear from any of the 5 Co-operators branches in the CBRM in terms of hiring my sorry ass. I do have my general insurance license, so I assume I can find work with another firm if needed but I'm not someone who really embraces change - even on the smallest of scales. Either way, I need a job. I do have a few dollars saved up, so if I go a few weeks in between work it might be a good chance to get some R & R. Maybe a big concert will roll through Halifax that I can go see (one that ISN'T THE VIRGIN MUSIC FESTIVAL - GAH).

In '06, I moved away - so long boys, I'll be back someday"

I haven't updated this in a while.

Some new things have happened since then. We've decided to move back home as we've had enough of Alberta I suppose. It certainly hasn't been a terrible place to live but it's not home and our families are not here - so that's it.

Hoping to get hired on with The Co-operators in Sydney upon my return. I haven't heard anything as of yet anyway. I actually enjoy insurance, I think I'm actually pretty good at what I do and there's a strange pride that comes along with that. Put that together with the fact that I was nominated for an award this year in terms of "Service Excellence". It's a shame that I have to leave the position that I have right now, I'm pretty high up with an excellent rate of pay but it's not where I want to establish my career and start a family - so there's really no reason to stay here.

The house we're moving into is in Sydney Mines, a short drive from my home town of Sydney. It's in a great new and quiet neighborhood. The house itself is actually only two years old and is equipped with a finished basement and a HUGE above ground swimming pool. It seems kind of surreal that I'm in the position in life now when not 4 years ago I was living with my mother grossing like $7,000 a year. There's nothing wrong with that, I was and still am very, very happy but I just have a lot more than I used to and I'm really grateful for that.

My return date is July 19th, 2009. Our stuff should arrive sometime after that. So, we'll probably be living in a big empty house with nothing for a few days..which is fine. Hopefully I won't have to work for a few days anyway.

Some random things:

**I've been reading a lot, finished John Connolly's "Nocturnes", an awesome collection of short stories in the style of Steven King and started reading Chuck Palahniuk's "Lullaby" which has also proved to be awesome. I have a few up next to read. I think the last time I checked I had something like 10-12 unread books.

**I'm also hopelessly addicted to the newest Joel Plaskett CD. I didn't become a fan of the guy until I heard "La Di Da" but since then, I've been a fan of most everything I've heard. This album is definately in my top 5 - which I guess, is saying something.

**Ash and I have become addicted to "How I Met Your Mother". We literally killed three seasons in about a month - probably faster if we didn't go home for that week. I didn't think the show was a big a success as it is, I always thought it was rather low key and had a steady respectable audience but apparently it's one of CBS's highest rated shows. Weird. NPH is amazing, his Barney is one of the better sitcom characters in recent years. The laugh track doesn't annoy me either, which I sort of expected it to.

**I'm patiently awaiting Conan O'Brien's return to television. June 01st cannot come fast enough.

**I find myself in an odd position. Maybe it's because of my brother but I'm rooting for the Red Wings to take the cup this year. They're such a great team and they deserve it. That awful play from earlier this week was heartbreaking for the Wings but I'm sure they'll bounce back.

That's basically it. Until next time.