Video Game Review: Final Fantasy IX

Final Fantasy IX

PlayStation

The first Final Fantasy game I ever played was Final Fantasy VII for the PlayStation one. The game completely blew me away. I've played it more times than I can count, and even after all these years it may still rank as my favorite video game of all time. I found VIII to be quite disappointing, however. As a result, I only ended up renting IX when it came out as opposed to actually buying it. I didn't want to waste another 50 or 60 bucks on a game if it was only going to pale in comparison to the Final Fantasy that I knew and loved.

I played the crap out of the game over the weekend that I had rented it. Yet still, I didn't even make it through the first disc. I didn't love the game, however. It was a little too child like for me. I told myself that I would either just keep renting it until I beat it, or I would buy it some day once it had gone down in price.

Years passed, and I never bothered to pick up the game again. It wasn't until the Blockbuster in my old neighborhood went out of business and this game went on sale for mega cheap that I picked it up again. I was drunk and high a lot during this portion of my life. I know I started over from the beginning and beat the game. I KNOW I did. But for whatever reason, I can literally remember nothing about that play through.

This was around 2005 or 2006. It wasn't until this year when I started doing this blog that I got it in my mind that I had yet to review an RPG for the blog. What better place to start than Final Fantasy IX, a game I could barely remember anything about?

I was familiar with the beginning of the game. I knew all about the play, the kidnapping of Garnet, the drama in the forest where the ship goes down. I remember the game pretty clearly up until the part where you make it to the village where Black Mages are being made. After that, it was like playing the game for the first time ever.

Admittedly, I started playing this game at a pretty poor time. I knew that RPGs were long and required dedication to see them through to the end. Yet I started playing this right before my July vacation. And then I got back and got hooked on Breaking Bad on Netflix. I got caught up in a string of birthdays, parties, and family events that took away my free time and kept me out of the house through almost the entire month of August. during this time I also reconnected with an old friend from grade school that I like to hang out with on the weekends. Then I hosted an ORG (online reality game) in September. Then football season started... The point is, I started playing this at a pretty busy point in my life. 

I would play for a few hours one day, and then not pick the game up again for two weeks. Then I'd play it for a few days and it would be another month before I picked it up again. I just really couldn't get into the story line at all. I'd forget where I was supposed to go, what I was supposed to be doing - and then have to use an online guide to get back into the swing of things again. It just isn't the same when you are having to look up and down from the computer to the game, and back again. This is a title that requires a certain amount of immersion to truly enjoy, and I never really felt that level of immersion. 

This is solely my fault, not the game's. But its rating is going to suffer because of this. Just so you know and are aware of this and don't track me down to kill me after reading this. I know this game has a loyal following and I don't mean to disrespect anyone for liking it so much. 

Final Fantasy IX feels lot different from Final Fantasies VII and VIII. Both of those games were very dark, and had kind of a cyber punk feel to them. This game definitely puts the "fantasy" back in Final Fantasy. Expect a large, grandiose world full of mystic and magic. This world is teaming with many different kinds of life. Humans, people with tails, talking animals, elf-like creatures, and many other fantasy style characters abound everywhere you turn. 

Technology is limited. Magic rules the world. The game definitely has a much more comic feel to it than previous FF games. Expect a lot of goofy characters, oddball conversations, and humorous situations going on here. If you come into this expecting something dark and serious, as in the previous two titles, you are going to be completely shocked. Tonally, this game is much different from anything in the series. 

The game itself is very linear. True, all Final Fantasy games follow an intricate story line and are linear to an extent. But in FF VII and VIII, you could at least go around and explore things on your own time. Sure these games were probably just as linear as this one, but they didn't FEEL linear. This game feels linear all the way. You are guided from point A to point B to point C, etc - with little to no room for exploration.

It isn't until nearly the end of the game that you get an airship and are able to explore the landscape of the game. But by this time, you have already explored everything there is to explore. And there isn't much point in going back and checking things out yet again. 

Also, for the first three discs of the game, the story falls flat for me. You just basically follow the same group of characters around from one destination to the other. You react and adapt to the situations the game puts in front of you, but you never really get the feeling that you are driving the story line whatsoever. And - you really don't have any idea what the story line even is. There is a lot of stuff going on; all happening at the same time. You get the idea that some kind of dark master plot is going on behind the scenes. But what this plot is, you don't find out until the very end of the game. So the majority of the game is basically scrambling from one destination to the next, reacting to bad things happening around you. Every once in a while you will go on a random fetch quest for some character or another.

Again, maybe I get this feeling because I played this game in such a disjointed manner. Three hours one day, and then I wouldn't pick up the controller again for another three weeks. This is very possible. Even so, I didn't enjoy the story much. Once you get to the end of the game and things start to come together, this situation drastically improves though. But not much. This is probably the weakest story line of any Final Fantasy game I have played. It didn't make a whole lot of sense, and I just didn't really care what was going to happen.

One thing I will give the game credit for is its gameplay. I like the things the game does. I have always been a fan of turn based combat in RPGs, and this game does it better than almost anybody. For sure, this was much more enjoyable than FF VIII and its horrendous draw system. The game is not too difficult either. There is one point early in the game where the enemies seem to be a little overpowered for the level of characters you have, but once you get through that, it is smooth sailing. 

I do have to gripe that the level of random encounters in this game is a bit much. I got extremely frustrated trying to navigate some dungeons in the game because I would get attacked every 4 steps I took. Some of these dungeons are big and have a lot of puzzles. They require a lot of exploring. And so it was just irritating to me that I was constantly getting attacked so many times. 

Another thing that this game does right is its big, complex world. It took me a little adjusting to get used to the tone of the game, but once I got past its silliness I was really able to appreciate just how amazing the world in this game is. As I stated earlier, this title puts the fantasy back in Final Fantasy. And I think that was a much needed thing for the series. The graphics aren't particularly mind blowing, but all the characters are pretty nicely detailed. The enviroments are well drawn and immersive. The musical score is not as memorable as, say, Final Fantasy VII - but it still holds its own. I had no complaints in that area. And the cutscenes are great. Definitely the best in the series up to this point.

The cast of characters is very strong as well. None of your party members are ignored, and you finish the game really feeling like you know each and every character in the game. This game also forces your party to separate at multiple points on your journey, so there really aren't any characters that you can avoid playing as. In previous Final Fantasy games, there have been characters that I never used, such as Cait Sith, Vincent, and Irvine. In this game, everyone has their moment to shine. I like balance in my party, so once the game got to a point where my party was whole again, I mainly rolled with Zidane, Steiner, Vivi, and Garnet. My two biggest neglected characters were probably Freya and Amarant.

I think if I had played this game in a more condensed time frame, I would have enjoyed it more than I did. Instead, it took me about 5 or 6 months to get through this. Which is about 4 months too many. At nearly all times I felt kind of disconnected from the game and its story line. I really wanted to dive into this game head first and let it completely immerse me, but for multiple reasons, it didn't. It is not necessarily the game's fault, but at the same time it is. If it had been better, I would have wanted to beat it quicker. Instead, I had no problems setting the controller aside for weeks at a time in between playing sessions. 

Maybe some day, I will pick the game up again and give it a more fair shot. I am the first to admit that the game does a lot of things right. The combat, the characters, the colorful world, the epic musical score, the great cutscenes, the large areas to explore. A lot of hard work was put into this game, and it shows. But the weak story line, goofy tone, nonstop random encounters, and the linearity of the whole thing are stong points against it. It just wasn't as fun as it should have been. And in the end, fun is all that really matters. And if you are not going to be that fun, at LEAST deliver a great story line. 

Did I hate the game? No. Did I have a blast playing it? No. I was just kind of neutral on it. So a neutral grade is exactly what it is going to get. Don't hate me, FFIX fanatics. I am really not a terrible person.

Overall:

C

Video Game Review: Guerrilla War

Guerrilla War

Arcade

I was a child of the 80's and I had family members that bowled. As a result, I often frequented bowling alley video game arcades. I had two favorite genres of games. There were the Ninja Turtles style side scrolling beat em ups. And then there were the over the top, non stop carnage type shooters. I played nothing else until Mortal Kombat and Lethal Enforcers came along in the 90's and broadened my horizons.

But before they came along, one of my favorite games was Guerilla War. Whenever I would see this machine, I would get excited and pump my quarters into it. I wasn't very good at the game, however. And seeing as how I was never allotted very much spending money, I never came close to actually beating the game. The 80's went away, this game was replaced by new games in the arcades. Eventually the arcades went away altogether. Guerilla War dropped out of my life, right?

We're going to fast forward in time. We're not going to just hit the fast forward button, we are going to stop the VHS tape and THEN fast forward it so it goes extra fast. I have not even so much as thought about this game in years. If I didn't see it on sale on the Playstation Network for $1.80, I may have never thought about it again.

When I saw it on sale - and for so cheap - there was never any question in my mind. I was going to buy this game. And that was that.

Seeing as how it has been so long since I had last played this game (at least 20 years) it took a while for it all to come back to me. I knew what type of game it was. I knew I liked it. I knew you played as a soldier in the jungle and you shot enemy forces. But beyond that, it was like playing it again for the first time.

There is a story line, but I didn't pay it much attention. There is a war. You are a soldier. You must traverse the enemy island rescuing hostages and shooting bad guys. At the end, you must kill the evil dictator responsible for this whole mess. Pretty basic stuff.

The game starts out with you getting dropped by a helicopter onto an enemy beach. The perspective of the game is overhead/slightly over your character's shoulder. You make your way off the beach and into the jungle. You can do three things in this game - you can move, you can shoot, and you can throw grenades.

Grenades are mainly there for destroying barriers and tanks. They also come in handy during boss battles. Mainly you will be firing your regular gun. The gun you start out with has a pretty limited range. The bullets only travel about half the length of the screen. As a result, you have to get fairly close to your enemies to kill them. Over the course of the game you get gun upgrades. These upgrades change the appearance of your shots into fireballs or lasers, which is good because these are wider and can cause more damage than your regular piddly little pea shooter. Some of these upgrades will fire through walls, which comes in handy. Other upgrades will destroy things you normally need grenades for, such as tanks and barricades.

Gameplay consists mainly of running "up". You shoot bad guys. You blow down barricades. You can rescue hostages for points. But if they get hit, whether by you or by the enemies, they die. When I first started playing the game I tried to rescue all the hostages, but I quickly discovered that it wasn't really worth the effort. Yeah you can get points, but you are probably going to get killed in the process of trying to save them. And then you lose said points.

The game play is not very varied. Expect to shoot a lot and die a lot. Every once in a while things get changed up and you can enter a tank. The tank is useful in the sense that it can take more damage than your standard "get hit once and die" mode while on foot. You can also run over enemy soldiers, which is nice. Simply touching them on foot kills you, which is irritating. I always liked getting into the tanks. It is like riding a dragon in Golden Axe. You know you are not going to have it very long, but it is still pretty cool while it lasts.

The game overall is just very, very hard. Your character moves very slowly, and there is often so much coming at you at once that it is impossible to dodge all of it. Certain boss battles consist of just standing in front of the boss and mashing the fire button. You simply have to accept the fact that you are going to get killed a lot. It is no wonder I never made it past the first stage in the arcade. Just playing it at home, I must have died and had to continue at least 6 or 7 times simply making it through the first level. At 25 or 50 cents a pop, this game would have wracked up a small fortune from you if you were to play through the whole thing in the arcade. I believe there are 5 or 6 stages in the game. I probably died, like I said, 6 or 7 times a stage. Some particularly hard stages - probably more than that. It would easily cost you ten bucks at least to make it through the game in the arcade.

Luckily I didn't do that as a kid. It took me a while to figure this out, but the home version of this game tries to emulate the arcade version as closely as possible. Hitting the triangle button is like putting a token into the arcade machine. So if you want to continue, you have to hit triangle and THEN start. The first few times I attempted to play through this, it wouldn't let me continue when I would die and the timer would run out. And then I'd have to start from the beginning. It was pissing me off, to be honest with you. But I figured it out.

Also, because arcade game screens are so big, the game does funny things with the picture and kind of condenses it down and zooms in so you can't see as much of what is happening. Again, like with the whole token thing, this is something not explained when you first start playing the game. Often enemies would pop up on the edge of the screen right in front of me and kill me before I would have a chance to react. I didn't know that the picture had been altered, so I kept playing on. It wasn't until I got to the game's final boss that I knew something was wrong.

The evil dictator that you have to kill is on the rooftop of his villa, surrounded by turrets that rain death from above. But with the picture so zoomed in - you can't see the dictator. You can't see the turrets. All you see is the villa, and if you get too close to it bombs drop from the sky and kill you. There is literally nothing to shoot at, nothing to do. After ten minutes of experimenting and running around shooting at nothing, I finally looked up the final boss battle online. I thought that the game had glitched because all the walk throughs I was looking at described something I wasn't seeing.

I paused the game to exit out to the beginning, when I noticed a setting to change the screen dimensions. I changed it to the classic arcade view. Sure things were a little zoomed out. My character was smaller, and the picture now looked very elongated and awkward.  But now I could see everything. I could clearly see the boss and all the turrets on the roof of the building, and I was able to finally kill him and complete the game. I could only think how much easier the whole game could have been from this view. I could actually see enemies and obstacles coming before it was too late to do anything about it.

I went back and played the first two levels for shits and giggles - and yes it was a lot easier being able to see everything. Why this is not the default setting, I have no idea.

The game itself is very short. You can beat it in a half hour easily. I had mentioned that the game was difficult, which is true. You die a LOT. But due to the fact that you have unlimited continues for the home version, the game never really feels too overly frustrating. I can only imagine trying to play this to completion in the arcade though. My god, I would have started pulling my hair out.

There is a two player option for this game, but seeing as how I am pretty much a lone wolf in my household when it comes to gaming, I never got the chance to play with anyone. I can imagine that its a lot more fun with multiple people.

At $1.80, was it worth the money? For sure. I got to relive a little bit of my childhood and fully explore a game that fascinated me when I was younger. It kept me entertained for a good hour or so. I doubt I will come back to this game anytime soon, however. The premise is too simplistic and there really isn't much replay value here. Maybe if I can find someone to play two player mode with me, I will.

Does the game live up to my memories of it? Not really. I can see why I would like this game as a kid. The graphics were good for its time, the game play was fast and furious. But my tastes have evolved since I was a preteen little snot running around in 1980's arcades with a pocketful of quarters. While offering up a nice little helping of nostalgia on a plate, the game didn't really do a whole lot for me. Like I said, I put in my hour, and now I am good. It's not a bad game. But seeing how I barely scraped the surface of it as a kid it doesn't really carry any sentimental weight with me.

I'm glad I finally got to explore this game to its fullest. 7 year old Danny boy can finally rest in peace. That's basically all I am taking away from this experience. I'm sure if I was reviewing this in the 80s I would have given it an A++. But now, I have seen bigger and better things from video games and this game left little to no lasting impression with me.

Overall:

C-

VHS Tape #6: Are You Ready?

What a funny name for a VHS tape. Yes I am ready. Why wouldn't I be? As you may have guessed by the #6 after VHS Tape in the title of this blog entry, this is indeed the 6th VHS tape in a long line of VHS tapes. I don't really do it anymore, but I used to record crap off of TV like sporting events, funny TV shows, news moments, reality shows, etc. I wanted to keep the moments on these tapes forever.

I don't really need to do this anymore since you can find basically anything online or on YouTube. But I am still meticulously going through each tape and posting my findings on this blog so that I have a permanent record of what is on these tapes. And hopefully once I get through all 50 or so of these I will never have to do it again.

START OF TAPE

(00:00:00)

Tape starts off in the middle of some MXC clip with a bunch of guys in football shaped uniforms chasing after girls. It cuts out after like 30 seconds though.

JKX
- Jamie plays a lifeguard who calls everyone out of the pool because he needs to leave for a bathroom break. In front of everyone, he goes into the pool, pees, gets out, and then says that the pool is now open again.
- A guy tricks his parents into thinking he is marrying a cross dresser (who is really Jamie Kennedy in drag). The parents are freaked out and start drinking heavily. The mom is especially upset. She tries to drag the son out of the wedding several times.
- Jamie plays a card dealer who's mouth is wired open after surgery. He drools all over the place and no one can understand him. The players are clearly weirded out.

(20:56)

Howard Stern
- Matt the Giant is interviewed. You may remember him from the movie Big Fish. There is a segment with Matt on Maury Povich on tape #26.
- Porn star has sex with an old man and his grandson. The old guy is hilarious.
- Interview with Bob Saget
- Hero of the Stupid: Sidney Poitier and Kathleen Turner
- Interview with some dumb chick who was fired from the View way back in the day
- Fiona Apple is interviewed on the red carpet and asked dumb questions.
- Nicole Bass, the world's champion female weightlifter promotes Howard Stern. She's really manly and ugly.
- Dirty 3D Joke Man
- Guy farts in the face of Howard and his crew to see if he can make them puke. The guy has performance issues, and Jackie is the only one bothered by the smell.
- Hero of the Stupid: Sir Andrew Previne, whoever the hell that is
- "Brown Fingers" musical score about that guy who works in the studio and chain smokes all day
- The crew talks about Gary's brushing habits. They follow him into the bathroom with a camera, and there are all kinds of gross closeups of him flossing and stuff.
- A little sweet old lady who runs a museum about nuts is interviewed and asked silly questions. She seems oblivious.
- Hero of the Stupid: Harrison Ford
- KC is given a lie detector test to determine if he is gay or not
- Robin flips out because the guests keep using up her Half n Half
- Chevy Chase is asked an inappropriate question regarding the death of Phil Hartman and he gets pissed

(49:14)

JKX
- Jamie plays a waiter at a restaurant who just had jaw surgery. He drools everywhere, no one can understand him. Yeah, yeah. We just had a segment like this.
- Judge Jamie: Young man sues his friend for messing up his car while off-roading
- Jamie is a businessman who tricks a young man who is new to the job. He asks him to pretend he's gay to cover up an affair he's having behind his wife's back.

COPS
- Van is pulled over by the police for speeding and not signaling. The driver has a curly mullet, and drugs are found in the car. He claims he'll get out of this jam easily because he's disabled and has a good attorney.
- Old black man with cornrows and a few others are arrested for selling drugs to an undercover officer.
- Police respond to a domestic violence call. The lady who originally called slams the door in the officer's face and is arrested for interference. The male half is nowhere to be found. That's it.

(1:17:07)

AFV
- I Can't Dance music montage of people falling
- Little girl eats candy when she's not supposed to and gets scolded by dad. "I don't know!"
- Music montage of people getting hit by baseball bats
- Slow walking graduating kids
- Cat climbs a staircase upside down
- Two people in a row mess up horribly while bowling
- Guy with a mullet has a dog tied to his fake leg while throwing a football around. The dog runs away and takes the leg with him. This seems staged to me.
- A series of clips where the narrator names each clip with a movie title
- Cat attacks child and beats on his head.
- Two dirty kids are in a stroller at Disney. One of them yells "Daddy!!!" and apparently it's funny.
- Ape rubs its butt in the face of another ape.

Howard Stern
- William Shatner is interviewed. A rabid Star Trek fan is brought in and shows off all his collectibles. Shatner seems disgusted.
- Filthy 3D Joke Man - "Why did the gyneocologist go to the eye doctor? Everything was looking fuzzy to him!"
- Red Peters is brought in and sings Ballad of a Dog Named Stains
- Eminem interviewed
- Hero of the Stupid: Brian Dennehy
- On her last day, an intern agrees to lick Benjy's armpit to get on the show
- James Garner is asked offensive questions and he flips out on the reporter. He gets so upset, it's funny. He grabs away the microphone and asks "Do you want this stuck up your butt?"
- A band with a really fat member comes onto the show. They bring two hot chicks along, and one of them is a virgin. They both want to sleep with the band. The fat guy gets naked and spreads his cheeks for Robin.
- Howard interviews a man over the phone who runs a museum dedicated to menstruation. He runs this museum from the basement of his house. Creepy. Howard asks him all kinds of silly questions, and the man laughs repeatedly.
- Howard interviews the subway vigilante, Bernard Goetz
- Dan Akroyd is asked silly questions at a charity event and calls for security. He gets really pissed and has the interviewer thrown out.

(1:40:56)

JKX
- B-Rad asks his sister's husband if he can move in with them
- Jamie plays a guest star on some WB show that has Harold from Harold and Kumar, and the dorky guy who poops in American Pie. He is supposed to be tricking the actors by stealing their lines, but it turns out that he was being Xed and they were in on it.
- Jamie plays a TV show producer documenting the life of a real family. Everyone is in on it but the dad. The girl is dressed like a slut even though she's underage. Jamie rigs the show by changing family members out and scripting things to get a rise out of the dad.
- A man is tricked when his girlfriend agrees to sleep with Jamie Kennedy for a million dollars. Jamie keeps lowering the amount of money until it gets down to five dollars, and she still says yes.

Anti marijuana TV commercial where a guy takes advantage of a girl at a party

(2:04:57)

COPS
- A white trash guy who kinda looks like Val Kilmer in Tombstone is arrested for smashing maliboxes. He was mad at his girlfriend. The girlfriend arrives to talk to the police, and she is carrying a white cat.
- A black man is wrestled to the ground in front of his house after running from the cops. During the struggle, he throws something to one of his family members, and they grab it up before the cop can react. A shotgun is found in the abandoned car.
- Another man is arrested in front of his house. His obese sister tries to throw the cops off him while he's being arrested and she gets pushed away and nearly arrested herself.
- Man is arrested while stealing from a warehouse. The security guard who originally spotted the man and called the cops is the highlight of this clip. She looks like white trash and has a mullet. Reminds me of Debb Eaton.

Mr Rogers clip on PBS. In this clip, he meets with a paralyzed kid in a wheelchair. They sing "It's You I Like". We then cut forward to present time. The kid is grown up, and presents Mr Rogers with an award on stage.

People on the street are asked easy questions by a game show host, and they give silly answers.

(2:31:20)

High Times at Colleen's
- I won't go into too much detail here. I don't think it's safe! Basically, this is a homemade video shot at my ex girlfriend Colleen's birthday party. After the party clips end, it cuts to a hilarious conversation in the bedroom. Let's just say lots of craziness ensues. This is when I had blonde hair. Best home made video ever. That's all I'm gonna say.

(2:58:28)

Family Matters. This is the episode where Urkel helps Laura run for class president. Harriet becomes head of the neighborhood watch, making Carl jealous.

*there is a Maury Povich clip in the commercials where a groom is made over shortly before his wedding*

Step By Step. This is the episode where a camera crew moves in and documents their life. They are doing a TV special on blended families. At first things are fine, but then lots of fighting ensues and is caught on camera.

(3:41:55)

COPS
- A couple of black children steal snakes from their school, and are tracked down and arrested by the cops. One of the kids has a gun. The mom is put into hysterics and freaks out that it isn't fair.
- Cops fish a bunch of stolen cars out of the water. After they are done with this, they catch a man stealing a car and arrest him.
- A group of hooligans breaks into a house. A crazy old toothless black lady lives there and had inherited all this alcohol when someone who owned a liquor store died. That's what the goons were after. The lady didn't even know she was being robbed. She comes to the door and was all like "I was asleep!!!"
- A woman kicks a man out of her house and throws his clothes out the window. He won't leave, so the cops come and arrest him. He's drunk.
- Guy is arrested for breaking into and sleeping in an abandoned house.
- Police respond to reports of a fight at a Shell station. In the lot, a crazy white guy attacked a black man who was giving directions, and the black man stabbed him in self defense.
- Eccentric old white man who kind of looks like Milky from Me, Myself, and Irene stops an animal patrol vehicle that is taking in a wounded bird. He doesn't want the bird to be euthanized. The police come and settle the dispute.
- Two female cops come to the site of a fight and arrest a man who tries to run away.
- Man is arrested for breaking into a house.

(4:22:45)

Girls Behaving Badly
- Wedding designer sees signs that the groom in the wedding is gay, and the wife to be is oblivious
- Woman is tricked when she shows up at a party and no one else does. It's awkward. She's stuck hanging out with the host, who she doesn't even know. The host seems oblivious that no one is there, and she parties and gets wild like nothing unusual is happening.
- People at a mall are blindfolded while volunteering to test out a new face massage product. It turns out that while they are blindfolded, a vibrator is actually being rubbed on their face. When the blindfold comes off, they freak out.
- Lady with a freakishly long and abnormal prosthetic toe tries out sandals at a shoe store. They film the employee for her reaction.

(4:40:30)

MXC - Almost Live. This one has white people instead of Asians, oddly. Greeks vs Geeks. Tony Hawk and some skater chick make guest appearances.
- Wallbangers
- Sinkers & Floaters. One of the contestants is a fat guy who wears a shirt that says "I Beat Anorexia." LOL. There's also a chick with huge bouncing breasts.
- Window Pain. Chip Babaganoosh is the last to go on this segment. He sticks it!
- Log Drop. Tony Hawk and the chick both attempt Log Drop and make it through without falling. They make it look easy.

(5:17:00)

Ellen. Jamie Kennedy is interviewed. They also show a clip of one of his Xings (a Miami Dolphins player), but the tape goes bad and you can't tell what's going on. Jay Williams, Jason Taylor, and Adewale Ogunleye are in this clip. Afterwards, Jamie and Ellen trick a few old ladies in the audience by asking them to dance eccentrically.
\

COPS
- Police are called to a domestic dispute between two overweight lesbians. One of them has blood on her and claims she ran into a wall.
- Small little black child is arrested for stealing a bike and he starts crying. He says his friend put him up to it. So they go visit the friend and tell the boys that they can't hang out anymore. And then the first boy is released. Hopefully he learned his lesson.
- Police come across a dead body. It had been beaten up, stabbed, and run over. What a way to go out! The murderer is tracked down and arrested. It's a Mexican guy. He rats out his buddies at the police station.
- Crazy suicidal Mexican guy threatens to swallow a razor. The police follow him around the block and eventually knock the razor away and tackle him to the ground. He lives.
- Police come to settle a fight between two cracked out black lesbians. One of them complains that she let her girlfriend move in along with her son, because the son had been assaulted and needed somewhere to stay. The son started breaking stuff in the apartment and that caused the fight.
- Man and woman are arrested in a parking garage. Apparently they had been trying to either steal a car or leave without paying. It's never really determined. They put up a fight and resist.
- Psychotic angry lady is pulled over for speeding and she throws a huge fit and has a terrible attitude. She makes a fool out of herself basicaly. She's really bitter and mean, and I don't like her.


END OF TAPE

Video Game Review: Resident Evil - Director's Cut

Resident Evil: Director's Cut

PlayStation

Resident Evil completely changed the way I looked at video games. Games were always just a fun past time for me. Whether they were action games, first person shooters, puzzle games, sports games, RPGs, anything really. They were fun, and that was that. I didn't think games could evolve any further than they already had.

But then this game along and took everything I knew and completely tipped it upside down. You could make a game like an interactive horror movie? Games could be scary? What?

I had no idea what I was getting into when I first checked out this game. I don't remember the exact circumstances, but I was hanging out with my stepbrother Kyle at our parents' house one weekend. He had brought his PlayStation over (I unfortunately, had decided to buy a Sega Saturn) and we were looking for something to rent.There were a few games to choose from, but I saw this one and pointed it out. I distinctly remember hearing that it was supposed to be good. So we got it.

We set up the PlayStation in the basement on a big TV. Neither of us knew what to expect. Coincidentally, it was dark and the house was quiet. It was the perfect condition for playing this game. We fired it up... and holy crap. That's all I can say. Holy crap.

We were young enough and the whole "next gen" thing was pretty new to us. We didn't notice the bad acting in the opening sequence. We didn't notice the poor voice work. The clunky controls, eh, they took some getting used to but we adapted. We were just too blown away by this game to notice its flaws.

I think we knew right away that this game was going to be something special, but I don't think we knew just HOW special. We were a little scared by the setup. The zombie feasting on the dead guy in the hallway - okay that was a little freaky too. But the point where we realized that this game was for real was the point where the dogs come bursting through the hallway windows. I think this moment scared the bejesus out of everyone who didn't expect it. But it got us, and got us bad.

The game terrified us from this point forward. The creepy ass mansion, the chilling musical score, the camera angles that could block what was around the corner, all of it was too much. Add to the fact that this game has such a limited supply of health and ammo items, and we were playing without a memory card (told you we were new to next gen gaming!). So when we played, it was like we were literally playing for our lives. We were scared to enter new rooms. Scared to go around corners. Each time we would come into a room we would just sit there and listen for even the faintest sound to indicate there was a zombie in the room.

We must have stayed up that entire night playing this game. We didn't get very far, in fact I believe we hardly scratched the surface of the game. But Resident Evil had hooked its claws in the both of us. I knew from this point forward that the video game landscape had changed completely. My Sega Saturn wasn't going to cut it anymore. I needed to get a PlayStation and get this game.

And eventually, I did. And you can bet that I played the crap out of this game.

This is such a great game. Not only is it revolutionary, but it is flat out brilliant. Even if it wasn't scary it would be a great game, but the fact that this terrified me SO MUCH when I was younger makes it even better. Nothing in all the years since I had originally played Resident Evil has even come close to matching this game's level of fright. When I stayed up at night to play this, I wouldn't want to leave my room to use the bathroom or get a snack - it was that bad.

The copy of the game I ended up buying was actually Resident Evil: Director's Cut. This version of the game has several different modes of play as opposed to the first game. You can play an easier version of the game, the original version of the game, or you can play the advanced version. The advanced version is definitely the reason I bought Director's Cut. It is basically the same game as the original, but with the locations of all of the items and keys scrambled around. So even if you had mastered the original Resident Evil, it was still a brand new experience.

For those who don't know what the basic set up of the game is, I will explain it. You can choose to play as either Chris or Jill, members of a special forces unit called STARS. This group is sent into the wilderness outside Raccoon City to investigate mysterious deaths and disappearances that have been happening in the area. The team is ambushed by a pack of rabid zombie dogs and are forced to take refuge in an isolated mansion. Of course, the mansion is creepy as all fuck.

Once inside the mansion, the team splits up to check things out. This is where you take control of your character. People refer to the controls in this game as "tank controls". And I can see where that comes from. Your character moves like... well a tank. You use the right and left buttons to rotate your character. You press up to make them walk, down to make them back up. I never had a problem with this control scheme, but apparently other people do. I know people who say they can't play the series because they can't control their character. Too bad, I say. You are missing out!

As you explore the mansion you discover all kinds of fucked up shit. A zombie feasting on the corpse of one of your old squad members turns out to be the least of your worries. Combat admittedly is a little clunky in the game. You have to hold the shoulder button to ready your gun, and then tap X to fire. In the old version of the game, it was very hard to hit your enemies because you have to be so precise when pointing at them. Which is hard with all the preset camera angles. A lot of times the enemies that you are firing at aren't even on screen and you just had to "guess" where they were. The Director's Cut cleans this up a little, as your character will automatically point his or her gun at the nearest enemy when you hold the right trigger.

Depending on which character you pick - Chris or Jill - the game unfolds in a slightly different manner. Jill starts out with her gun, and also has a compadre still alive named Barry that will occasionally help her out. Chris is armed only with a knife, and soon finds himself completely alone before encountering a woman named Rebecca from the previous STARS mission. Barry isn't in Chris's mission, and Rebecca isn't in Jill's. There are also many subtle differences in each character's quests. So this is really two games in one and is totally worth playing through with each character.

There are a lot of enemies in the game, yet a limited supply of ammunition. So you really have to pick your battles wisely when you are playing. Try to go through the game guns blazing and you may find your gun empty when you need it the most. There are puzzles and hidden areas all over the mansion, and the key to advancing in the game is opening everything up. For example, in one area you must play a piano to open a secret wall. In another, you use a bag of poison to destroy a killer plant that blocks your way to a key item. Discovering where you need to be and what you need to unlock first is crucial to preserving your health and ammo, as it is best to explore and clear each area fully before moving on to parts unknown.

The whole game keeps you on edge. Just when you think you know what to expect, they flip the script on you. Other enemies besides zombies and dogs will attack you as the game progresses. My least favorite enemy is the hunter - a green reptile like creature that stalks you and attacks with viciously timed leaps. These hunters are very hard to hit, and they also can take a lot of damage while dealing a lot of damage out. There are also "boss" creatures in the game, such as giant snakes and a giant evil plant (really).

The game is mainly divided into four areas. The largest is the first area: the mansion. Then there is the guardhouse. You come back to the mansion for some mop up duty after the guardhouse, but you aren't there long. I consider the third area to be the underground tunnels. And the fourth and final area is the lab.

If you come into this game blind, you will find it very difficult to beat. I played this game in the era of magazine walk throughs and had to fully utilize these to make it through the game. Games nowadays have dumbed down their puzzle solving areas, but this game is an actual challenge. If you have never played this game before, expect to get stuck. A lot.

It's hard to say whether the game has withstood the test of time. Obviously, it doesn't look great anymore. The environments are still nice and detailed. The mansion still has a creepy, authentic feel to it. But the characters are very blocky and pixelated. They don't have a very detailed feel to them at all. The voice acting is cringe worthy compared to present day games. I can easily see some young teenager picking up this game and thinking ew this is old and stupid. I'd like to think that if they just gave it a shot and played, they would fall in love with it too. But I truly don't know. All I know is that this game was cutting edge when I first played it. Even though I can see its faults now, I still love it.

This game meant so much to me as a young adult that there is no way I can give it anything less than a perfect score. I don't care that the graphics and voice acting are primitive by today's standards. The tank controls never bothered me. Resident Evil comes to mind, and I think back to the first time I played it as an inexperienced no good whippersnapper  in my dad's basement. How much it scared me. How much it opened my eyes as to what video games were capable of.

This was a historic game to me. And I can still pop it in all these years later and have a great time with it. Resident Evil is a true classic.

Overall:

A+

Video Game Review: The Wolf Among Us

The Wolf Among Us

PlayStation 3

I've been a pretty big fan of almost everything that Telltale Games has put out there. The Walking Dead Games were fantastic. Game of Thrones, from what I have played, is really good. Even the much maligned Jurassic Park I had a great time with. Back to the Future, I could give or take.

I had heard great things about the Wolf Among Us. That coupled with the fact that I've really enjoyed this type of game recently raised my expectations.... perhaps a little too high.

We'll start off with the plot line. I have never read any of the Fables graphic novels, nor do I really know anything about its characters. The characters themselves are modern day versions of classic fairy tale characters. You've got the Big Bad Wolf, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White, Blackbeard, Ichabod Crane, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, etc etc. There are also some other minor characters floating around in the game like talking pigs, trolls, frogs and that sort of thing.

These people all live in a small section of New York called Fabletown. They use glamour to conceal themselves from the normal people and blend in like nothing is wrong. The Big Bad Wolf, or Bigby as he is called here, has reformed his image and is the sheriff of the town. He keeps the law amongst the fables - investigating crimes and making sure everyone is using their glamour properly to keep themselves hidden.

The story of the game centers around the search for a killer who is beheading his victims. Expect a dark, gritty, noir based adventure. At first, I thought the game was really cool. Noir isn't really my thing. I kind of hate it actually. But I was willing to give it a shot.

Unfortunately, the game just really couldn't hold my attention. The characters are all despicable, and I did not care for any of them. I have no problem with the F bomb, but so many of the conversations in this game involve people shouting it at one another. The whole game actually has a very trashy, low class feel to it. I didn't know if I was playing a video game or watching a bunch of washed up fairy tale characters on Jerry Springer.

The story itself wasn't that interesting. Aside from a few rare moments, the game is mainly devoid of action and is based fully on picking conversation choices. Again, I would have no issue with this if the story was actually interesting, or if I cared about the characters. But I didn't.

I quickly became bored with the game and kinda stopped paying attention to what was going on about the middle of the way through the second chapter. I stopped caring and I just started going through the motions so I could beat it and be done with it. Oftentimes I would set the controller down and play Candy Crush or something on my phone and just let Bigby give everyone the silent treatment. Even though I beat the game, I still have no idea what really happened in the story.

For a game that is 100% story based, you HAVE to deliver on an actual good story. And I think the makers of this game failed spectacularly. I am pretty easy to entertain, especially when it comes to video games. But I was not amused by this at all. I was quite bored as a matter of fact.

Aside from all the long, exceedingly dull conversations and occasional quick time action scenes, the game occasionally offers you the ability to walk around and look at things. Oooooh, exciting! A comb. A potted plant! I know sarcasm doesn't translate well to the internet, but I am hoping you get the point here.

The game does do some things right. The look of the game is fantastic. I like the dark, atmospheric setting. The neon lights and all that. The music is cool. The characters are very sharp and nicely animated. I think the look of the game blows the Walking Dead away.

Also, the choices in this game really affect the way the game plays out. In some other Telltale games, you could make different choices on different play throughs but things still wind up pretty much the same in the end. Not here. On mopping up the trophies for this game so I could get platinum, I was awed at how the different choices you make change the game. It is like a completely different game at points when you are playing through it again. You can see new areas, meet new characters. There all multiple endings. Very well done.

But back to the negative we go. The game is glitchy. Like, REAL glitchy. I lost count of how many times the game froze up when I was playing through it. I wasn't that big a fan of the game to begin with, so this only angered me even more. And then on trophy mop up duty, the game completely deleted my save information not only once, but twice. Twice! What should have been an hour long thing turned into me basically having to play the entire game over again. I was not happy, to say the least. I almost said fuck it. But I wanted the platinum damn it.

I left the game feeling frustrated because of all the glitches, bored by the pedantic gameplay, and completely uninterested in anything the game's story line had going for it. Maybe if I had come in as a fan of the Fables graphic novels - I would have liked it more. Like I said the game does do some things right. And I am sure that there are people out there who really like this game. In fact, I know some of them. But I was not feeling it. At all.

In fact, I kinda want my money back.

Overall:

D-

My TV show rotation: A weekend in review #6

It has been a while since I have sat down and written out one of these blog entries about my TV show rotation. I'm about to finish with two shows on Netflix (Hell on Wheels and Sense8) and one on my computer (Big Brother 8), so I figured I better do this now and sneak them in while I can.

My rotation is already smaller than it usually is. Plus, these three shows are about to exit left stage. I was thinking that for my next entry, since I will have multiple gaping holes in my rotation, I will watch ten shows I have never seen before and pick out 3 or 4 to add to the rotation. But for now, let's go around for one more trip. One episode from each show that is currently in my rotation.

Season 1

Episode 12

"I Can't Leave Her"

This show is a little bit of a disappointment to me, and I am glad I am almost over with season one. I expected it to be more fast paced and addicting. Instead, it is pretty slow and boring. Things are too drawn out. There is way too much set up and too little of a pay off. It's taken the show makers waaaay too long to really get into the heart of the story. It is like they are more concerned with being artsy than they are with actually providing a compelling story. Some of the characters are interesting, but I don't really have an attachment to any of them. I've stuck with it in the hopes it would get better, but so far it really hasn't.

*watches episode*

This was pretty good. For once I actually felt an emotional connection with one of the characters (Riley). There was some action that was actually relevant to the procession of the story. It still wasn't really gripping or thrilling to me, but it was still a solid episode. Which is good, because if your finale isn't better than an average episode, you are doing something wrong. Hopefully now that things are ramped up a little, season 2 will be better. But I have a feeling it will be more of the same.

Season 31

Episode 1

"Second Chance"

I haven't been this excited for a season of Survivor in a long time. So many former greats coming back to play. And none of them have ever played a second time before. I am expecting nothing less than a fabulous season, so let's hope that it starts with a fabulous episode! And it is starting at just the right time too, right when I am about to finish with Big Brother 8.

*watches episode*

It was just as good as I expected. It's so awesome to see all these old school players playing again. Kimmi, Jeff, and Kelly Wigglesworth were there three I was the most looking forward to see playing, and they got a lot of airtime, Kelly and Jeff in particular. I was a little bummed to see Vytas get voted out. Not because I like him that much, but more because I dislike Abi Maria. Oh well, I don't think she'll be long for the game anyway. Good start, can't wait to see more. Do I have to wait another week to see what happens next? *pouts*

Season 4

Episode 13

"Further West"

Sometimes this show is really good, sometimes it drags and is a little boring. The first half of this season sucked, but the show has steadily gotten better as it has gone along. Two episodes ago with the leg getting sawed off was awesome. The last episode with Ruth letting herself get executed was a great, gut wrenching episode. I'm a little curious to see how they wrap up this season. There are still a lot of loose ends out there. Hopefully it doesn't end with Bohannon getting incarcerated again, because that is getting a little old.

*watches episode*

It was a decent send off to the season. It sets up the show in a totally new direction for season 5, which I am curious to watch. This was definitely an episode of change. Mickey (is that his name) gets run out of town and has to take his hoors with him. Eve tags along as well, as his partner. Chief O'Brien loses even more control to the evil law enforcement guy. I am terrible with names. Bohannon goes back to his family to find Fort Smith abandoned. He heads to Utah to find them, only to discover that the fort had been hit by smallpox and that very few of the Mormons are still alive. He finds a clue that she is "west", which is incredibly vague. But he agrees to work with a rival railroad company heading west, hoping he will find her along the way.

So yes, definitely seems like next season is going to be different than anything we have seen yet. And I hear it is the last season, so I really want to see how they wrap this all up. Make it good, AMC. Make it good.

Season 8

Episode 33

"Finale"

This has been a really great season of Big Brother. In fact, looking back, this is the last season where I can recall being really obsessed with the show. Both seasons with Dan were good, but everything else has been mediocre. I know how the episode ends. I know that Dick wins and everything. But I'm still super excited to finish this up and move on to the next season.

*watches episode*

Adam Gentry is a GOD. I like how the former Suvivor contestant was sitting right up front in the live audience and how he kept mugging for camera time. But it was a great episode. Dick and Daniele gave great jury speeches, but you could tell that Dick was going to win. Dani didn't get enough air time, and it seemed like she got slammed by the majority of the jury. I think that they were just too scared of Dick so they took it out on her. Not really fair, but that's the way society works sometimes.

Also at the finale, Julie Chen revealed the America's Player twist. It was a lot of fun seeing everyone's reactions. I was laughing during the whole segment basically. In the end, Dick was revealed to be the winner, and everyone finally got to mingle with one another and chat in an outside the game context as the season came to a close. I had fun watching it, and now I must move on to BB9. Which I am kind of dreading because I can recall not being too fond of the couples season.

Season 2

Episode 1

"Kaiseki"

As much as I wanted to like the first season of Hannibal it was a little too dry to me, and lacked personality. I mean, it had its good moments and I like all the death and gore, but at the same time I really didn't have that much fun watching. Will season 2 be any better?

*watches episode*

No, not really. This could easily have been a season one episode, not much has changed from last year. The only interesting thing about the episode was the opening scene where Hannibal and Crawford have a bloody, nasty fight. I thought it was a dream at first, but then after the scene it flashes back and says "12 weeks earlier". So clearly something must happen (probably by the end of the season) that exposes Hannibal's guilt. I can't wait to see what that may be. I do have hope for this season yet, although I didn't really love the rest of the episode.

Season 7

Episodes 12 and 13

"The High School Reunion Parts 1 and 2"

Usually when I do this blog thingie I only watch one episode at a time. But I've decided to watch two episodes of this show. Mainly because it was a two parter and I want to finish off the season. I will from this point on be referring to it as just one episode though.

*watches episode*

If you've seen a single episode of this show, you know what to expect from the description of the episode. The gang goes to their high school reunion and makes complete asses of themselves. This is pretty much a one trick pony type of show, but it still somehow manages to be funny as hell every time. Shout out to the guy from Caprica who plays the "cool guy" of the class. I don't think I've seen him in anything else before.

Season 1

Episode 3

"Hong Kong"

Anthony Bourdain is all over TV, but I have never watched a single thing with him in it before. I had heard that he was an A-hole, but so far watching this show I have liked him. The wife and I always like to watch food or traveling shows while we eat dinner, and this show combines both of those interests. It is perfect for us.

*watches episode*

I like the show and it never fails to be interesting, but Hong Kong is not a place I'd really like to visit. It's over crowded, polluted, and the food is mainly gross looking fish stuff. I'm okay with fish and other seafood as long as it doesn't still look like its original form, and you don't have to pick around all the gross stuff while eating it. A lot of this stuff looked icky to me.

At the same time, there were some interesting looking dishes as well. And the cityscape, especially at night, really looked awe inspiring. I'll likely never visit Hong Kong, but at least I know what I would expect if I did because of this show.

Season 4

Episode 9

"Silence in the Library"

Anyone following this blog should know by now that I haven't really been that big a fan of Dr Who. I keep waiting for it to get better, but it has not. I've considered dropping it from my rotation many times, and I may yet still do that. For now it stays. Will this be the episode where I see what everyone else does about the show? Let's find out.

*watches episode*

I actually did enjoy this episode. It wasn't too silly or stupid like some of the past episodes of the show that I have seen and disliked. Sure there was some humor in it, but not enough to distract from the plot. Which was good. I enjoy time travel, and some of the stuff this episode did - like with River Song - was pretty interesting. Sure the whole show is about time travel, but not interesting or mind bending time travel like this. The whole library setting was cool, as was the mystery surrounding the library.

I had fun with this one. And it is a 2 parter too, so I am eager to see how it ends up. Now if only all episodes could be this good. I can't stand the stupid looking aliens that are in a lot of the episodes, and those damn Garlics or whatever they are called. Exterminate!!!! No. This was a good episode. Those type of episodes are not.

Season 1

Episode 4

"New Amsterdam"

A little over a month after finishing Breaking Bad, I decided that there was something wrong with all the shows I was watching. Breaking Bad was the lynchpin of my rotation - something I could always count on to deliver the goods when I just wasn't feeling anything else I was watching. My rotation lacked a show of that caliber, and as a result I kind of grew dissatisfied a little bit. Nothing was keeping my attention, making me want to binge and watch episode after episode after episode.

Now I have heard about Mad Men for several years, but believe it or not I have never watched a single episode. Coming in, I didn't even know what the show was about really. I was hoping it would fill Breaking Bad's spot as my "go to show" in the rotation since I have heard so many great things about it. But so far it is not sticking. I have been watching for 2 weeks now and I am only up to episode 4. I am going to stick with it to see if it improves. But right now I find it kind of dull and aimless. I am waiting for something big to happen yet it never does. There are some good things about it though. Let's see how I feel about this episode.

*watches episode*

It's taken me a little while, but I have actually started to warm up to the show. I think the problem is that I came in expecting something similar to Breaking Bad, but what I ended up getting was something completely different. The show is a little slow moving. Some of the characters are hard to like. But the more I watch the more I start to see them as real people. For example, Pete - who I hated after the first episode or two - has started to become a more complex character that I can sympathize with.

Even though there isn't a whole lot going on as far as drama or suspense, the show instills in me a sense of voyeurism like I am watching something that actually happened. Even when there is not much going on, it is still interesting to watch. Hopefully whatever was holding me back after the first 3 episodes has broken, and I can finally enjoy the rest of the show as everyone else out there seems to do. I hear it only gets better from here, so I look forward to seeing what this show has in store for me.

Season 2

Episode 14

"Innocence"

In my opinion this show has improved by leaps and bounds from the first season. But still for whatever reason I just never seem to be in the mood to watch this show whenever I am bored and looking for something to watch. I am waiting for that really great episode, or the story arc that spans multiple episodes to kick in and grip me and make me want to binge watch this show. So far it hasn't happened. I have heard that this is one of the better episodes, so let's see how I feel about it.

*watches episode*

This episode was pretty much more of the same from Buffy. It wasn't the world's greatest episode but it didn't suck either. Try as I may, I just can't really seem to be able to get into the show. I've heard that this is one of the better episodes, but if this was the best the show has to offer, I don't know how long I can keep watching it. I mean, it wasn't bad. But I know that there are so many other shows out there that I would enjoy a lot more than this. I judge a lot of shows by how eager I am to watch another episode when I finish with one. And I really have no urge to rush out and watch another one. It will probable be another few weeks before I continue this show.

Season 2

Episode 2

"P911"

This is a show that has grown on me the more I've watched it. It's not really a binge worthy show, since there is no continuing story line and each episode is pretty much self contained. I actually haven't seen an episode in a while now, as I took a long break from the show after finishing season 1. The finale was a 2 parter so I watched the first episode of season 2 right away as well. But now, the break is over and we soldier on. Will season 2 be as good as the first season?

*watches episode*

This was good. The episode centered around the search for a missing boy whose image has surfaced in an internet video clip. The clock is counting down, leading the team to believe that the boy is being auctioned off to the highest bidder. It's a race against the clock to find him and save him before he is lost for good.

Like I said, it was a good episode. They always catch the killer or solve the crime before the end of the episode, so the outcome was never in doubt. I hope they change it up one of these days and let the unsub get away just to make it more realistic, or set up an appearance by the game unsub later in the show. But I don't know if they're going to do that. I liked it though. This isn't a show that I watch too often, but every time I do it is always solid.

Season 3

Episode 10 

"Chuck Versus the Tic Tac"

This isn't my favorite show of all time but it is fun and lighthearted and good for a watching every once in a while. It will never be a top of the line rotation show for me as I am not interested in the plot enough. But at least it is easy to follow and it never bores me, which the same can not be said for a number of shows that are currently in my rotation.

*watches episode*

I wasn't really feeling it this time around. It was still a good episode. Casey got a lot of airtime, and we finally got to learn more about his mysterious past. It is easier to understand him now that we know what he was forced to give up to become a spy. But it still wasn't thrilling to me.

I do like this show, but it is kind of hard for me to take seriously. I like dark, serious stuff like Breaking Bad and Dexter. I like sci fi such as Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek. I like personal character driven dramas. The show is good and I can appreciate it, but it just isn't something that I would gravitate towards normally. I'll likely see it to the end but it will never be anything more than an occasional fun diversion for me.

Season 3

Episode 9

"Hunt for Ziro"

This show has been making an appearance on my blog pretty much from the beginning, when I first started doing my TV show rotation entries. By now you should know what I think about it. It's okay. I probably wouldn't like it if it wasn't Star Wars. I am not too crazy about it, but I'm sticking with it for now. It is likely not ever going to get any better, but being a big Star Wars fan I am curious to see how the end of this series links with the beginning of Revenge of the Sith.

*watches episode*

This was an above average episode. I don't love the show, as I said. But I had fun watching this one. There were some fun plot twists, we got to see a lot more of the Hutts, and that annoying ass Ziro finally got killed off. I like what they did here. This was less of a typical "things blowing up" episode and actually had a decent plot for once. More episodes like this one please!

Season 2

Episode 27 

"The Mind and the Matter"

I've been skipping around this show, watching the episodes that sound interesting first and saving the rest for later. This is the last one I have yet to watch from season 2. When I am done with this one, I am going to head back to season 1 and start mopping up those episodes as well. But yay, an actual full season of this show will be in the books. Can't wait to be done with it!

*watches episode*

There is a reason I put off watching this episode for so long. It didn't sound interesting - and it turned out to be not that interesting. The episode was about a guy who disliked other people. He read a book about mind over matter, and used it to craft the world to his own will. He eliminated all people from his life, along with other things that annoyed him. Of course, being the Twilight Zone, this didn't last forever. The people came back, except this time they all came back acting like him - hating other people and complaining about them.

Lesson learned, everything reverted back to normal and the episode ended. I didn't really get the point of this episode too much. On the whole it didn't make a whole lot of sense. He kept seeing visions of some guy who was trying to teach him a lesson, but I must have missed who that guy was. I guess I get the "lesson" of the episode. But I did kinda stop paying attention halfway through. So as a result I didn't think it wasn't great.

Season 3

Episode 14

"Grotesque"

As much as I wanna like the X-Files I just find it really hard to get into the show. It is weird because I do recall liking it when I was younger. I don't know if it is because it feels dated or what. But I've been struggling to get through it. I've been watching for nearly 3 years now and I am only up to season 3. And there are still so many seasons left. Gah! Maybe it will click soon. If not, I am going to take a long, LONG break from the show at the end of the season.

*watches episode*

Well.... it was an okay episode. I guess. The episode mainly dealt with a killer who claims to be possessed by a demon. After he gets incarcerated, another killing surfaces, leading Mulder to believe that the demon has jumped to somebody else. To be truthful, I can't really tell you much more about the plot of this one. I started playing Paradise Bay on my phone while watching this and then before I knew it the episode was over.

It seemed like a better X-Files episode than normal, but still it wasn't enough to really capture my attention. I think I am going to have to come to grips that this show just isn't for me.

Season 1

Episode 15

"Blinders"

I do actually like this show a lot. I can't figure out why it is taking me so long to get through it. Every time I watch an episode, I really enjoy it. Maybe it is just not "exciting" enough for me? Could also be because I have so many other shows I also watch that I just never think of this. I like the characters, love all the personal drama. It is a well acted show. Maybe this is the episode that will get me back in the groove of watching this more often.

*watches episode*

This was a good episode, I think. I need to stop playing Paradise Bay while watching shows, because I can not multi task AT ALL! Anyway, the episode focused on one of the assistant coaches making a racial remark that black players aren't smart enough to play quarterback or something along those lines. This causes controversy and a rift to form between the team's black and white players.

A side story in the episode is a powderpuff football contest taking place between two teams of girls. Saracen is the leader of one of the teams, and he doesn't take his girlfriend Julie until the third pick - which makes her mad at him and treat him like shit over it. Also, Lyla and Tyra wind up on opposite team and have each other's number.

So like I said - good episode. I just wish I had paid closer attention to it.

Season 6

Episode 15

Mr Nice Guy

Here we go with this show. Again, not one of my favorites. I could be doing better things with my time than wasting it on this. But I loved it as a kid and I feel I owe it to me as a child to see it through to the end. I'll get there, but I am going to take my sweet time to do it. I've been watching for over 5 years now and I still have 53 episodes of this shit left. Maybe I will get lucky and it will somehow accidentally get deleted from my computer. I doubt I'll care enough to download it again.

*watches episode*

1 down, 52 to go! This one wasn't that bad though. Raphael accidentally gets his personality changed by one of Donatello's inventions. He becomes sickeningly nice, even assisting criminals to escape from the scene of a crime because he just wants to help. The Turtles send him to a shrink to see what is wrong with him, and the shrink finds out about Donatello's invention.

Raphael steals it and gives it to the shrink, who uses it to start going on a crime spree. Eventually the Turtles wise up to what is going on - steal the ray back - and turn Raphael back to normal. For an episode of TMNT, this was pretty good. The plot was fun, there was none of the usual stupidity that comes from characters like Rocksteady and Bebop. I enjoyed myself. I still can't wait for this show to be over, but at least I wasn't miserable this time around.



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Well, another trip through the rotation complete! Sense8 and Hell on Wheels are about to get dropped since there are no more available episodes on Netflix. Big Brother 8 is also over. And I plan on taking a break from It's Always Sunny since I have finished with the season.

That will take 4 shows off of my rotation. I will probably add How I Met Your Mother back to the rotation since I've had a long enough break between seasons 2 and 3. That will leave my rotation at 14 shows. I like to have 19 in the rotation, so I need to add 5.

As mentioned earlier - next week I may watch the first episode of 10 different shows and write a blog entry about them. Then I will pick the 5 I liked best and add them to my rotation. My rotation needs some flavor because a lot of these shows I am just kind of "meh" about. Hopefully this does the trick.