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The death of a legend.
Oh God, why? 
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Digg thisIt begins once moar.
It's September again, and that means education. 
Here are the cIasses that I'm taking:
- Study of Evil in Literature
- Advanced Calculus
- Linear Algebra and Differential Equations (apparently the hardest course my school has to offer, but also one of the most interesting IMO)
- U.S. Government/Business and Finance
- Epidemiology
- Advanced Psychology
Well I got to say, I do think that these courses will be interesting. Very interesting indeed.
As an aside, the crazy relatives have left! 
Are you series? No, can't say that I am.
No this blog post isn't about the legendary "are you series" thread (but it did inspire the title 
). Rather, it's about humor and the growing criticism of said humor.
See, I consider myself a pretty funny guy. My sense of humor is one of the things I pride most about myself. Obviously, it's kind of hard to let my sense of humor come through on an internet forum (believe me, I'm much better in real life). But I try.
Lately though, I've been attempting to post primarily in light-hearted, whimsical threads. And even when the subject matter at hand is kind of serious, I still take every opportunity to make something humorous out of it. Don't get me wrong though - I'm still very serious about things that I'm passionate about, and well, I didn't get into the GUFU by cracking jokes.
Unfortunately, I've found that people aren't quite as accepting of whimsy as I hoped. In one day, I was flamed several times regarding posts that I'm clearly just joking around in. In SW I joke around and poke fun at all the systems and more often than not, I'm labelled as a fanboy.
Thus I've come to the painful conclusion that some people just take this site too seriously. Lighten up folks - you'll love life a lot more. At the end of the day, we all signed up for these forums to have some fun discussing videogames, right? And if heated arguments and pointless bickering is your idea of "fun", well, best of luck in life. 
Family Reunion
Apoligies everyone.... I haven't been able to get on much these last couple of days. And whenever I did post, it was completely random.
The reason for all this was the recent arrival of some relatives from Missouri (um...yay?) and I have to be a good host. I'll be honest with you - these people are about as exciting as a loaf of bread. I'm not exactly great at small talk.... but they bring it to new extremes of badness. That's why I'll be making an effort in avoiding chit-chat with them as much as possible.
I don't even know how long they'll be here, it could be anywhere between a week to a month or two (I'll probably go insane by then). So for as long as they're here, I'll be scurrying about tending to their every whim, while they enjoy the shiny new HDTV. From time to time I'll be giving them tours around the city.
Other than this, nothing new in my life. I'm loving the Olympics and think that Gamespot Wide is wholly unnecessary.
Giant Bomb - 24 hours later
So Giant Bomb has officially launched for over a day now. Let's look at how it's been doing since then. I've made an account yesterday morning, and chalked up 107 posts throughout the day. That said, that number is much higher than my average post-per-day count here at GS.
First, the positives. I'd gamble that more than three quarters of the community comes from Gamespot - so that means lots of friendly and familiar faces to make the transition smooth and enjoyable. In addition, meeting new people is always good, and I've found a lot of these users pretty charming; I've had a lot of fun, interesting discussions, and luls. 
I also appreciate the sense of freedom due to the lax moderation. I don't swear often, but I like having the ability to do so if I wanted to. As for the non-forum parts of GB, I find the Wiki-styIe contributions addicting and the Bombcast is great. I'm not head over heels in love with Jeff and the rest of the editors like some folks, but I do like them.
However, Giant Bomb is not perfect - not even close. First off, the forums are kind of a mess right now. The main forum page is cluttered with topics from about a hundred different boards - and there are only two *main* boards that have the same kind of content really. The place is also lawless. Yes, lax moderation is a bad thing as much as it is a good thing. For every two topics, there's one topic devoted entirely to spam. People like to spam their way to the "top poster" list and racist/homophobic/flaming topics are sure to come. And in less than a day, GB had it's first pr0n suicide..... and a disgusting one at that. 
How the TC isn't banned yet is beyond me. When I went to sleep that night, his two-hour-old thread was still on the front page and getting posts. C'mon guys....
In my first few hours, technical difficulties and long page loads were present, but the site just launched so I'll let them slide for now. It's not as bad today. GB's forums lack some basic forum features ATM (smilies, sigs) that I hope we get soon. I'll also miss some of Gamespot's more advanced features (unions, emblems) but hey, maybe I'll be surprised.
Anyway, I think the positives outweigh the negatives. My username is MoldOnHold, so throw me a friend request if you're using the site too. 
I'm not leaving GS at all, I'll just be juggling the two sites.
One last thing:
Smileys rock.
E3 2008 - The Big Three analysis
So E3 2008 is here, and with all the hullabaloo of the Big Three conferences dieing down, I figured now would be a good time for a dissection with pros and cons. Please note that the following represents my attitude towards the actual conference not to the company as a whole.
Microsoft
+ sweet footage of exclusives, namely Gears 2 and Banjo
+ pleasant annoucements of Geometry Wars and Portal
+ Final Fantasy XIII
- so much time was wasted on casual stuff
- new Xbox community is a blatant rip-off of Miis and Home
- nothing terribly new and unexpected
The Final Word: Meh.
Nintendo
+ Animal Crossing w/voice support sure to be great
+ Wii MotionPlus looks promising
+ Wii Music and Star Wars looks somewhat entertaining
- bulk of presentation focused on Wii Sports and Wii Music
- snowboarding, more Guitar Hero, puppies....
- third-party showings lacking
- no spectacular announcements
The Final Word: Bleh.
Sony
+ Insomniac extravaganza (Resistance 2, Resistance PSP, R&C on PSN)
+ great LBP influenced presentation
+ great third-party and first-party support for all 3 platforms
+ plenty of reminders of how 2008 will be a good year for Sony
+ PS3 Greatest Hits
+ exciting announcements (GoW III, MAG)
- large chunk of time dedicated to non-gaming features
- somewhat short-sighted
The Final Word: Alright.
As you can see, I wasn't particularly thrilled with any of them. They all had some major flaws. Their E3 was kind of crap, or at least, not nearly as good as it should've been or could've been. I preferred Sony's conference, but not because it was the best, but simply because it sucked the least.
*shrug*
I Am Now Officially Bald
My hair, my beautiful hair.... 'tis all gone.
So I've kind of been having a little.... hair trouble these last couple of months - it kind of hates me. My hair line has receded, and whenever I lay down, take a shower, or even just ruffle through my hair with my hand, I always seem to drop a couple. On the other hand, it doesn't seem to grow either.
The other night, in what seemed like an act of madness, my mother suggested that I shave my hair bald and in a few weeks time, my hair should grow back stronger and fuller than ever before. Frankly, the theory doesn't make a lick of sense to me at all - so in order to grow hair, I must lose it all? Bleh. Well, mother does know best, right? Right?!
There are some people that can pull off the bald look. As I'm sitting here, looking into the mirror, I can tell that I am certainly not one of those people.
Friends! Lend me your moral support, because these next few weeks may be some of the most grueling that I'll ever have to live through.
The New Beast
So the other night, I went out with the family for dinner. It was a nice dinner, and somewhere along the way, we decided to stop at a Best Buy. Long story short, we came home that night with an HDTV. 100% unplanned.
More specifically, it's a Samsung 40" LCD. It is not 1080p; I figured the jump wasn't worth it ATM. And since this is my first HD experience after all, the 720p picture was gorgeous enough for me. That said, we picked it up at a reasonable price of $900.
And now, pickchurs!
In order: teh box, teh set-up, Super Mario Galaxy (), Assassin's Creed ( ), Ace Combat 6 ( ), Mass Effect ( of joy).
EDIT: I've come to the conclusion that just about none of these pics do the TV any justice. Looks like I need to work on my photography. >_>
5 things
Got tagged by XFull_MetalX. Damn it FM! 
Well here goes nothing.
5 things you may not know about me:
1) I was threatened with arrest when I was 10 or so years old - apparently, I was "trespassing" in Madison Square Garden. The funny thing is, I was actually just trying to find the bathroom. Through a series of doors and twisting corridors, I ended up in the "administration only" area or something. The people that caught me were pretty damn harsh considering the circumstances, no? but whatever. Never went there again.
2) I share my name (first and last) with every male on my dad's side of the family - and this has continued for 10 generations before me. Seriously. Some day over 150 years ago, some dude thought it would be a good idea to start this damn chain, and it's affected EVERYONE. My father, brother, uncles, cousins, grandfather, you name it. The only way to differentiate between us is through our middle name, which is unique to each guy.
3) I've only played an SNES (a physical one) for about 5 minutes in my entire life. It was Mortal Kombat. Ah, but what a 5 minutes it was....
4) My personality type is ISFP. According to the same test, my perfect job include pediatrician, surgeon, geologist, meterologist, systems analyst, archeologist, and ceramic engineer among many other things. None of those appeal to me really.
5) My first game system was an NES, which was actually given as a gift from the parents of the GS poster named The_Ish. He's my cousin. The first system that I actually bought was a Sega Genesis.
I tag..... nobody! This thing/virus/disease has to fracking die already. Otherwise, have a nice day.
EDIT: I tag the-very-best, just to give the guy something to do.
10k posts! And a personality test.
Well since the dude I leeched that awesome Wonder Woman pic from happened to remove it from his photobucket, I thought it was high time for a new blog.
I've got past 10k posts! About darn time. For those of you who missed my post party, you guys suck.
Indeed it is.
Now, my friend gave me this personality test that I thought was pretty cool. I don't know if he made it up, or if he got from the internet, but the point is, it was surprisingly accurate for me and I thought it was worth sharing. Here we go:
1) You have somewhere to go, yet you're in no particular rush to get there. There are two routes available to you. There is the long, scenic route and the short, boring route. Which one do you take?
2) Along whichever road you're walking on, you see an iron gate. How big is the iron gate relative to you? As in, is it shorter than you, taller than you, or your height?
3) Now, along your way, you see a house. You enter said house. The first thing you see is a fireplace. Is the fireplace lit?
4) You walk up to the second floor, and you see an old man lounging on an armchair. He is awake, and just staring off into space. What emotion are you feeling at the moment? (ex: scared? relaxed? indifferent?)
5) Then you exit the house. Now, you are on your way back home and like before, you're in no particular rush. Once again, two routes are available to you. Do you take the long, scenic route or the short, boring route?
-
-
-
-
Well that's it! Now to tell you what this all means.
1) The first route you chosen represents how quickly you fall in love. If you said the long route, it takes a long time for you to fall in love, and the short route means it takes a short time for you to fall in love.
2) The gate represents your pride, but inversely. The taller it is, the smaller your pride, and vice versa. If you said it's your height, then your pride is neither excessive or miniscule.
3) The fireplace represents if you are or are not in love. If it's lit, you're in love.
4) The emotion after encountering the old guy represents your attitude towards your own death. Scared, happy (I hope not many of you answered that!), indifferent, it's all good. For the record, I was indifferent, complete with smiley.
5) The last route represents how quickly you fall out of love. If you said the long route, it takes a long time for you to fall out of love, and the short route means it takes a short time for you to fall out of love.
Cheesy? Yesh. Accurate? Maybe. A good waste of 5 minutes? Awww yeah.
Instead of making a blog post about MGS4....
....here's one completely unrelated to MGS4.
Oh yes, I so did.
Spaghetti and Meatballs - one of the most overrated dishes of all time?
So here's the deal. I've actually never had spaghetti and meatballs before. Yep. I live in New York, one of the most culturally diverse places in the entire world, and I've had foods from several ethnicities. But the one thing that's always eluded me - spaghetti and meatballs. It's not like I didn't want to try it.... it's just that I never got around to it. That all changed a few days ago.
I ordered the dish for the first time ever, sitting in an Italian restaurant by my house. I was pretty excited. Why, you ask? Well, this has to be one of the most praised dishes of all time. Seriously. People keep talking about the stuff, how it's their favorite dish, how they have a family recipe that's been perfected through the generations, etc. So I bought into the hype.
Then my food came. The smell was nice, but the actual taste? A resounding meh. I mean it certainly wasn't bad by any means, but I guess I just expected more considering how lauded it is. Or maybe the guy didn't cook it right.
GTA IV and Okami (at the same time)
"No, don't do it Mold!", some say.
"Good God, what are you thinking man?", others say.
"Think about the children!", still others say.
Nay, nay I say! Reject the notion that playing two games at the same time is a horrible idea, and detracts from the enjoyment of both. I say that this is one of the more refreshing approached I've taken to gaming, even if it is very simple. So, unless you haven't already guessed by now, I have copies of both GTA IV and Okami in my possession right now. I can safely say that these are two of the best games of this gen and the one before it, respectively. Here's more on each of them individually.
Grand Theft Auto IV - I'll be honest here. GTA III may just be my all-time favorite game. No matter how much of a sheep I am, the GTA series is the closest of a "system seller" as I can possibly have. Now, when R* revealed that players will return to Liberty City yet again in number IV, some people were upset. I was one of the few people that were glad, ecstatic even. It's just an amazing environment, with so much to see and do. Heck, I wouldn't even minded if they just had a graphically updated version of number III's LC. But of course, R* did me a solid and added two new islands and completely revamped the others. The audio/visual presentation is as good as ever, the combat is improved, the online multiplayer is good fun, and the story is miles beyond that of any GTA. I'm only at 36% in, with about $51,000 to my name, but I can still say that this is gaining ground on the top spot of my "favorite games" list. Now, I could probably spend hours taking about the little details that matter, but I'd rather spare you. This is the kind of game that you probably already know if you'll like it or not.
Okami - Man, how could I have possibly missed this the first time through? This game is epic, in every sense of the word. It's funny, it shares many of the positives with GTA IV (great story, memorable characters, fun combat) even though they are worlds apart in concept and execution. I have the Wii version, and even though it's not significantly different from the PS2 version, the motion controls are pretty neat; there's something incredibly fun in using the Wii remote as a virtual paintbrush. The visuals are.... well, words can't do it justice. Seriously. Screenshots don't do the game any justice. The actual game on a television screen is downright insane. It's an artistic tour-de-force. The game world is huge as well, and with so much to explore and find out, the hours just keep racking up. Some people say that this game is a lot like the Legend of Zelda. Well my response to that is: "is that really even a bad thing?".
So, as you probably already know, these two games can't possibly be any different from each other. Most people advise against playing two games simultaneously, but 'tis a great success. I have both games in my 360 and Wii disc drives, respectively, and I'm playing both titles at the same time (well obviously not exactly at the same time since I have one television set, but you get the point) and loving both. Mix and match two completely different games sometimes - it can lead to some absurdly hilarious results.
Butting into conversations (Moldtip #1)
Do these people annoy you? 'Cause they sure as heck annoy me.
So let's say you're having a conversation with someone. It doesn't matter if it's light-hearted or intimate. All of a sudden, some guy (a friend, colleague, average Joe, etc.) chimes in with his two cents. Usually, it's completely irrelevant info. However, it doesn't matter if it is relevant; I was in the middle of something man! Of course I could just go with the flow, but I shouldn't have to readjust just for this one jerk.
Gee, thanks for the info, buddy! You're such a hero, guy! Where would I be without you, pal?
Butting into conversations usually does one or more of the following:
- Derails the conversation
- Creates an awkward silence (transitional period)
- Makes one lose their train of thought
- Makes one cry
As you can see, this is not fun. So, do your friends a favor, and don't be that guy.
(don't bother arguing with me; I am quite knowledgeable in the......conversational sciences. )
And this concludes: Moldtip #1! Have an eye out for more of these in the near future.
3 years at Gamespot
It was only a matter of time. For the past three years, Gamespot has become a small but consistent part of my life. So what has three years gotten me? Level 32 and 8800-odd posts. In comparison, some folks have been here for only two years and have twice as many posts as I have. Gee, I guess I haven't been on here as much as I thought.
But levels and post counts don't really matter to me. It's about teh people. During these three years, I've met some cool and interesting people here. And that includes you. Yes you. A friend that made my stay here much more enjoyable. Thank you.
Lately though, I've been starting to lose interest in the site. I need to put some serious thought into whether or not I want to keep going with this.
Helping Out
Yesterday was a fantastic day for me. I just completed my first (legit) hours of community service. And it feels great.
So after school, a group of friends and I went to a community center in the heart of New York City. Beautiful place, very luxurious. To be honest, my only incentive of going was a little something to put on my resume. You see, I'm in an organization called KEY Club. Basically, it's a charity and community service organization. More importantly, colleges love seeing it on applications.
But back to the story. The event of the day was Operation: Chicken Soup. Odd name really, since it's not related to chicken soup in any way whatsoever. Instead, we were tasked to bake and cook food to be distributed to a nearby senior center and a homeless shelter. Of the 21 people in our group, 10 was tasked to bake cookies, and 10 more was tasked to cut up ingredients for a chili. So, guess who was the odd man out? C'mon, take a guess. Really, can't figure it out? Sure?
Since I had nothing to do, they put me in the kitchen in front of gigantic pot and deemed me "head chef". What? Basically, all the people who were cutting up ingredients gave them to me and I dumped it into a pot and I cooked them. Before I continue, I must say that I have never cooked anything in my life. Not a single thing. I've never even touched a stove before.
So for two straight hours, I received ingredients, dumped them into the pot, and stirred, quite alone. I felt like my arm was falling off. The ladle wasn't even long enough, so I really had to dig in there. Like I said before, the pot was big, and we made enough chili for 90 people, with enough left over for all of us to enjoy, including seconds.
Now, in addition to cooking the chili, I was in charge of spices. I had the whole assortment : paprika, chili powder, tabasco, cumin, cinnamon, sea salt, and black pepper. Here is where I messed up. Since I've never cooked before, and since I wasn't told how much to put in exactly, I relied on nothing but my own judgement for spicing. Bad move. As it turns out, I got the salt down perfectly, but I underspiced the entire thing! I mean, it wasn't off completely, but if you have chili that isn't uber spicy, then there is something wrong here.
What a memorable day! All in all though, I was pretty proud of my first kitchen project. It certainly wasn't perfect, but it wasn't a disaster either. Everyone appeared to have liked it. I wish I could share some with all of you but alas, that would mean an amputated arm.
LifeOnHold - concerns about the future
Sorry guys, I haven't been on much lately. Posting on weekdays is practically impossible now, but I will try to squeeze in a few posts during weekends.
Time for a life update. Basically, the last few days have been devoted to some serious thought. Thought for the future. My future. This includes colleges, college majors, and careers in general.
My fascination with organic chemistry makes me want to pursue a career in the pharmaceutical sciences. But whether or not I want to be an actual pharmacist, I don't know. I actually wanted to be an anesthesiologist previously (the guys who administer and control pain-reliving and sleep-inducing medicines during operations), but I don't know if medical school is right for me anymore.
Before I go, here are my term-end results:
Literature 88
Organic Chemistry 94
Physics 91
Calculus 90
History 94
Engineering 98
-
Overall Average 92.5
I'll have to improve my Literature grade if I even want to consider going for Columbia University or Cornell University.....
Free games, new games, relief, Diet Coke, and more.
Exams are over with. I think I did pretty well overall, but I don't want to jinx the matter too much.
On the gaming side of things, MS did the right thing and offered 360 owners a free copy of Undertow. Good show! The game is seriously awesome. The gameplay is certainly engaging and frantic, but it also has the production values of a solid Xbox title (cutscenes!). Not bad for a free arcade game.
Additionally, I got myself a copy of Assassin's Creed (on sale at Best Buy). And my goodness.....this game is simply outstanding
. Everything from the riveting story to the addictive combat to the stealth/platforming....it just screams of win. Not to mention, it's just gorgeous to look at. The game world is huge, and there's so much to see and to do. Kind of overwhelming at first. Unfortunately that has left me dry for Call of Duty 4 and No More Heroes. You guys are certainly welcome to make a donation.
(all applicable fees is to be paid by the donor). Ahem.And to top it all off.....Diet Coke!
A whole lot of Diet Coke. Enough to last the entire month. Combine that with no cIasses and a whole lot of gaming to be enjoyed, well, does it get any better?
WTFinals?
What a week.
While I always knew that I'd have to take term-end exams, I always get stressed out during this time.... no matter how much preparation I throw in. I can barely sleep and my appetite is non-existant. Oh well, just a few more days and I can enjoy a week-long break.
Here's a rundown:
- Organic Chemistry - already taken
- English/Literature part one - already taken
- English/Literature part two - tomorrow (1/16)
- U.S. History - 1/17
- Calculus - 1/18
- Physics - 1/22
Now it doesn't look like much, but it all goes in-depth to a fault. For example, U.S. History covers diplomacy and foreign policy of individual Secretaries of State as well as Presidents.
There's nothing left to say; I will give it my 110%. Take care guys, hopefully I'll be back to full speed in a week or so.
And with that said, engarde finals.
2008 is here! (New Year's Resolutions)
"What, another generic blog entry? 
"
The next one is going to be unique, honest!
"Uh-huh."
Seriously!
---
2008 is closing in! And that means it's time to say goodbye to 2007. A memorable year, to say the least. Here's hoping '08 is just as grand.
As for New Year celebrations, mine is going to be pretty bland. Just spending it with my family and junk food and maybe a movie. Pretty relaxing, but I don't think I'll be able to sleep too much this night. Looming thoughts of school will plague my sleep. I hear folks over at Canada won't be going back to school until the 7th.
Well, how about some resolutions? After all, I did mention them in the blog title, and not giving it to you guys would be false advertising.
---Get my driver's license
---Get my first car
---Get an internship
---Get into at least 3 AP courses for next semester
---Learn how to program
---Be part of a band
---Spend less time on teh interwebs
---Finally make 10k posts
Eh, it's not much. I don't know if I'll even be able to complete all of it this year. Oh well, it won't hurt to have a goal.
