Harry is Home

I just got back from Wally World after taking my girlfriend to pick up the 7th and final installment of the Harry Potter series. It actually just took a few minutes to grab it and get out. Many of the other locations selling the book were doing parties and all sorts of hoopla, so thankfully we were able to avoid that at the store we went to. Don't worry, no spoilers here. I'm too busy blogging to read what's going on anyway. ;)

XB360 a Class Act(ion)

Microsoft is named in a Class Action lawsuit claiming the Xbox 360 damages discs. This coming only a few days after their extended warranty regarding "the red ring of death" and the announcement of Peter Moore jumping ship.

Working at a game store I can confirm I've seen a number of XB360 discs that were damaged in the specific fashion stated in the lawsuit. Although it isn't frequent, it usually occurs when someone does not have their console on a level surface or if they move their system while a disc is still inside.

You can read the full story here.

Pranked Telemarketer

I was rolling on the floor listening to this. Absolutely classic!

Smoker's Bib

When it gets to the point that you need one of these, I'd say dropping a lit cigarette is the least of your worries. Not to mention whenever you blow yourself up with the oxygen tank, that I'm sure you would have at this stage, do you really want to be found wearing this thing?

Stupid Things

This happened to me a few weeks ago, and I have no clue why I'm sharing it with you other than to demonstrate that we all have magical moments of complete idiocy at some point in our lives (some more than others). I will preface this by saying I was in a huge rush to get to work, so I wasn't exactly focused. ;)

I had become engrossed in something online and completely lost track of the time. Suddenly, I realized I was going to be late for work if I didn't head out the door...and fast! I quickly put on some clean clothes and brushed my teeth, then performed my usual pre-work check. I went through my pockets to make sure I had everything before running out the door.

Cigarettes...lighter....watch....ring...wallet...keys - all good, time to roll!

I opened the car door with the usual push of a button on my keyring. I don't think I've ever used an actual key to get into my car, and at this point it would probably just seem "weird" to do so. A blast of heat slammed into my face as I climbed inside while letting out a customary gasp, as to indicate to anyone watching the extreme level of "hotness" I had just encountered.

I quickly turned the key in the ignition. The engine sprung to life and I immediately turned the A/C to full, letting out another gasp as a warm blast of air hit me again from the idle A/C. I noticed a familiar, yellow icon pop up beside my speedometer and various other meters displayed in the console for my vehicle. Great, I was sitting on empty. Luckily there was a gas station close by, but I was sorely pressed for time so I better hit it quick. I threw the car in reverse, backed up and sped off through the parking lot to my next desintation.

Within a minute I had arrived at the gas station. I popped the cover for the fuel intake from inside the car and hopped out while reaching for my wallet. I shoved my credit card into the reader directly on the pump and waited for the authorization prompt. Once it flashed on the screen I started pumping gas from the hose I had already grabbed and held at the ready for my fuel tank.

Seconds later a few thoughts bounced around my head.

Hmmmm. Why is it this nozzle does not seem to fit? It seems like gas is going to splash all over the place. That's sort of a different smell. That's weird. Wait...am I pumping gas?

Broken by an audible "Oh, SHIT!!!"

I suddenly realized that I had just force-pumped about 2 gallons of Diesel fuel into my car. Don't try and rationalize how I could have made such a blunder, as I still can't figure it out myself. Perhaps the green handle or the glaring fact that the nozzle didn't remotely fit my tank should have been dead giveaways, but stubborness and lack of focus were the rulers here today.

I immediately stopped pumping Diesel fuel and began cursing my own stupidity. After verbally slapping myself around for a few moments I reached for the "real" Unleaded hose and finished putting gas in my car. I sped off again for work, barely making it on time.

The real torment began when I mistakenly told my girlfriend what I had done. She had worked on jet engines in the Navy and understands mechanical elements far better than I do. She probably enjoyed all this a little more than I was comfortable with, as I rarely make such bold mistakes (or admit to them). She relished the thought of me "screwing up" so much that she felt the need to contact her family and share the experience with them.

Needless to say, it was a dreary couple of days for me being poked fun at. I also had to keep my gas tank full (with Unleaded) and octane boosters over the next few weeks to help dilute the small amount of Diesel until it had made its way out of my engine.

So next time you're at the gas station, remember if the nozzle doesn't fit then it probably isn't supposed to go there and pay close attention to the handle colors because "Green does NOT mean go!"

Ads Worth Seeing

Granted, some of these are likely a product of photoshop or "convenient" placement, but they are still funny to look at. Check 'em out here.

Haiku Review #1

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry grows stronger
Teaching Hogwarts to defend,
Evil will not win.

The movie was awesome! You will not be disappointed with this 5th installment in the series. And let me just say Dumbledore kicks ass in this film - nuff said.

Stitched

This is a song I composed a few years ago with a friend of mine for a video game he was working on. I also have a link for "Stitched" on MySpace, but I wanted to try out the Box storage service for sharing my music and see how I liked it. Frankly, I think MySpace is a poorly designed garbage site that makes me want to scrub my hands with industrial cleaner after visiting.

STITCHED.MP3

Do You Believe?

It will be awesome if this actually happens. I'm definitely up for more X-Files action!

Diablo 3?

Blizzard reveals they have another project in the works, but mums the word. I'd expect to hear more at the upcoming Blizzcon.

NCAA Football 08

Tonight at Midnight gaming stores everywhere will be opening up for the release of NCAA Football 08 from EA Sports. While I'm not a big sports genre fan, I will say the improvements made to Dynasty Mode, which provides numerous tools to influence and recruit players for your school, look to be an awesome update.

The "Shrine" for your athlete is where you can store and share replays of great moments from your games. You can also upload these files and share them over the internet. Expect YouTube to be bombarded with a massive influx of player footage during the next few weeks.

Go Vols! ;)

'Everyone's A Gamer'

On the final day of E3 Nintendo unveils their new WiiSpeak controller.

Caption: "Chimchar I choose YOU! Melt face for granny!"

Top 10 Anticipated Games of 2007

There are so many cool games coming out this year and this is a pretty good indication of what the hot titles are going to be.

YouTube removed the link for this...so until I find another one, just take my word that it was cool. ;)

Sony "Uncut"

Sony just announced on Monday they were slashing the price of the 60GB PS3 by $100 dollars. I was shocked to learn they would actually drop the price after repeatedly saying it was not going to happen. At $499 it is still the most expensive console available, but at least it was a step in the right direction. That same day Sony also announced the next line of PS3 would have an 80GB hard drive and retail for $599 like its predecessor. Now with E3 winding down on the last day they've confirmed the 60GB PS3 will cease to be produced completely.

WTF!?

I guess I shouldn't be so surprised considering they have long since abandoned their 20GB version of the system only a few months after launch. The biggest difference, however, is that they never lowered the price of the 20GB unit...it just simply disappeared. If it was truly Sony's intention to temporarily adopt this new price change why didn't they come clean when they made the initial announcement?

I think they've lost a lot of credibility with this decision and it reeks of bait and switch tactics. Blu-Ray DVD better take off for Sony or they're going to be sitting on a stockpile 60GB paperweights for a long time.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Cash Cow

With its Wednesday opening, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix raked in over $44 million dollars*, knocking Spider-Man 2 out of the top mid-week launch by about $4 million. The final book in the phenomenally successful series hits shelves on July 21. I haven't seen the film myself, but I do intend to after the initial mobs subside.

I used to never miss what I consider a "big" movie opening, but nowadays I just get too annoyed with the mass of people around me answering cell phones, kicking the back of my seat, walking in front of me and generally being a nuisance during the entire experience. Not to mention the Cinemuck and the guarantee (factored into my ticket price) that a lone Gummi Bear conspiciously stuck to the screen will stick out like a sore thumb and cause me to completely lose all interest in the film while I ponder how long it's been there, what flavor it is, where it was thrown from, has anyone else noticed it...and if I have enough cash left to purchase said confection myself.

Speaking of concession items these days...you know there's a problem when the cashiers try to convince you to upgrade from a large. I mean, Jesus Christ, it's a LARGE! Just how big do these friggin' sizes get now?! Considering it's cheaper to buy a third world country than the gargantuan-size Tub-O-Corn and bladder-buster Jug-O-Soda I'm probably better off waiting until I can watch it in relative peace and economic comfort of the small screen in my living room.

And throw Jujubees at my girlfriend.

*Box office figures gathered from Box Office Mojo

Clover What?!

If you've seen the new Transformers movie it's possible you caught a glimpse of the cryptic trailer from Producer JJ Abrams (TVs Lost & Alias) for his latest project. In case you missed the preview, in all its docu-drama glory, you can check it out HERE. The title and plot for this new film (or whatever it ultimately turns out to be) are unknown and shrouded in secrecy. About the only thing you can ascertain from the trailer is something very large is destroying New York City. Either that or they're just remodeling the Statue of Liberty again.

The title so far seems to be 1-18-08, which also doubles as the release date. Working titles for this project include Cloverfield (supposedly a street where the production company is located) and/or Slusho (a fictional slurpee-type drink introduced in Alias). A few days ago Abrams dropped a line to Harry from AICN to further tantalize readers and jumpstart the viral marketing type of campaign that he's become so fond of with Lost. It didn't take long before people started digging up websites believed to be associated with the film (Ethan~Haas and Slusho). It turns out the Ethan Haas sites may, in fact, be completely unrelated as the "Ethan~Wrong" site has since turned into a T-Shirt blitz from Cafe Press. One of the party guests in the trailer is wearing a Slusho shirt so that site is still a pretty good bet...considering the history of the drink found on the website is quite a bizarre read.

Theories on what "the monster" could be have ranged from Voltron and Godzilla to Cthulu, although I can pretty much say they're all hogwash. Others have suggested this film may be entirely shot using hand-held cameras or even unfold in real-time a la 24.

I believe this is all actually linked to Lost in some crazy way and we're witnessing Paramount's attempt to bridge the TV/cinema gap by bringing Lost to the big screen with a unique approach to how media and entertainment interests continue to evolve.

Whatever the case may be, count me in. I'm a sucker for huge explosions and carnage.