tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57209682024-03-07T03:30:24.227-05:00neurological dryer lintdirty deeds... and the dunderchiefJustin Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060485348726043811noreply@blogger.comBlogger1088125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5720968.post-72084731645509357942008-06-24T08:53:00.000-04:002008-06-24T08:56:13.739-04:00cause i'm already on my waywell i think it's time to retire this old thing. in college, when i had interesting thoughts and experiences to write about, it was a ton of fun; although it's difficult to read posts from five years ago - up until a year or two ago, my old writing just makes me cringe. but to chronicle this period of my life for my own future reminiscence, it has served its purpose.<br /><br />i'll still post around on <A href="http://wackmcs.blogspot.com">wack mc's</a>, <A href="http://www.lazyrevolutionary.com">lazyrev</a>, and <A href="http://www.monstercloset.net">monster closet</a>, and of course <A href="http://jw.tumblr.com">toss up the occasional link</a>. so not much of a farewell, more like a "look over there, shiny object!"<br /><br />thanks for reading.Justin Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060485348726043811noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5720968.post-61969985706033563102008-06-22T22:28:00.003-04:002008-06-22T22:37:45.477-04:00in dischord and rhymetagging has come <A href="http://thewisdomofabrokenman.blogspot.com/2008/06/baggage-my-next-random-6.html">full circle</a>. prepare yourself:<br /><br />- i've continued to hold the claim that i am the laziest person i know, and moving has illustrated that. i have spent my whole life avoiding hard work - cutting corners, putting forward the least effort possible to get by. i have determined that is why i hate moving - it is way too much lifting, packing, unpacking, etc. and knowing i will have to work that hard seriously stresses me out.<br /><br />- even though i have spent my whole life sailing, i get more seasick today than i did when i was a kid. and even though i've spent my whole life swimming, i still get uneasy in deep, opaque water, fearing that something i can't see below will bite me. even in simulated environments - in first person shooters, for example, when moving through water areas, i still move very quickly and get nervous.<br /><br />- one of my favorite film performances is danny devito's penguin from <A href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman_Returns">batman returns</a>. most would disagree - but i think he outdoes jack nicholson's joker.<br /><br />- in the twelve years i have known my wife, i've never heard her swear. although the very thought of her cursing can make me laugh, no matter what mood i'm in, because it's so absurd. she claims to have done it once - but i don't think i believe her.<br /><br />- i've never smoked as much as a cigarette, weed, any other drugs, and i've always been super curious what it'd be like. not because there's something wrong with my life that i'd like to modify in that way... more because of our culture's fascination with them, i wonder what all the fuss is about. i'm much too chicken to ever give it a shot, though. i think it was that literature you get when you're in middle school about all the crap drugs will do to your body - it freaked me out enough to always steer clear, even though there were probably four or five boy scouts i'm sure were high during every campout we went on. it's probably a good thing that i've stayed "clean", per se, although i never talked about it because i didn't want to seem like too much of a mama's boy. yeah, the boy scout thing didn't help that out much at all.<br /><br />- my sister has been one of the most significant influences in my musical taste - introducing me to tons of genres and bands i still love today... with one exception - when i was six, a weekend she was down visiting, and she had been listening to madonna's <I>like a virgin</i>, and i was so fascinated... i remember going downstair (yeah) early in the morning, before anyone was up, popping in her tape and listening to it over and over. there may have also been dancing. i have no idea what compelled me to do that. madonna isn't in any of my regular playlists today... however, another album of hers i scavenged, duran duran's <I>rio</i>, certainly is. thanks renee...Justin Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060485348726043811noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5720968.post-5526427876332315112008-06-17T09:03:00.001-04:002008-06-17T09:17:30.864-04:00it's automatic when you feel itthe front of our office looks like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Gear_Solid_4:_Guns_of_the_Patriots">metal gear solid 4</a> starring cicadas - dead and dying bugs litter the parking garage and the walkway in. it's more than a little disconcerting.<br /><br />the drive in to work from the new house is gravy - left at 7:35, stopped for a bagel, still got here at 8. all backroads (except i need to stay far away from tylersville, coming anywhere near that road seems to add ten minutes to the drive)<br /><br />hiring movers is the best money i've ever spent. thanks to them, we had enough time to almost completely unpack. well thanks to them, renee's foresight to start moving things in a week ahead of time, and my brother and her sister, both of whom helped immensely.<br /><br />we did have a few minutes for fun during this terribly long, exhausting weekend - i got in about five hours of MGS4, it's great as you would expect, a good reason to pick up a PS3. i talked about it last week on the podcast and i have a bit more insight this week. the in-game ipod currently works better than my real one, unfortunately, <A href="http://wackmcs.blogspot.com/2007/10/noooooooo.html">the death clock was dead on</a> - it finally kicked the bucket this weekend. wow, a little over two years, apple. you're never getting another cent from me, ever.<br /><br />we also saw <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0949731/">the happening</a>, which you should avoid at all costs. night has completely lost his touch, it would seem - the film had a great concept but was executed terribly, from the casting to the writing to the friviolous, cheap-feeling shock scenes that felt like they were thought up by a sixth grade boy doodling in class.Justin Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060485348726043811noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5720968.post-71105794963551269692008-06-06T14:11:00.003-04:002008-06-06T15:07:59.897-04:00answers to the tangled knotwe are in the new house... it still doesn't seem like ours yet, i feel like i'm walking through someone else's really awesome empty place. i assume it will when we get our stuff in, or when i finish my first job around the house... renee and her parents have done a crazy good job painting. we'll be fully in sometime the week after next.<br /><br />i'm discovering the neighborhood. we are pretty far out, which is probably good for me. we're surrounded by a lot of big fields, farms, some newer housing developments, etc... it's peaceful, more quiet than we've had in western hills, ten or fifteen minutes from any major shopping centers. i was too used to having a grocery store next door.<br /><br />i will miss the nice stuff about stuck-thirty-years-in-the-past western hills, but it's not all lost: there's a little ice cream place down the street, a couple of pizza places, a park right next door... met one of our neighbors already - they are cool, younger like us, with a six year old boy. actually everyone around us seems super friendly. traffic on the way home from the office isn't bad, but it's fastest to take backroads. looks like that motorcycle might actually be reasonable.<br /><br />we are on episode three of the <A href="http://www.monstercloset.net">podcast</a> and i think we're getting more comfortable and into our rhythm. artie has been generous enough to come up with some awesome looking concept art for the site, and i can't wait to see how it will turn out.<br /><br />the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weezer_%282008_album%29">new weezer disc</a> has a higher ratio of woo! to yawn than their past two releases. that pleases me. plus, there's more electronics, a grittier, dirtier guitar (see the first part of <I>the greatest man that ever lived</I>) and far more interesting songwriting from rivers... there's very little "boo hoo i didn't get the girl" from them, probably cause rivers got married. exciting!Justin Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060485348726043811noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5720968.post-10560292325398476922008-05-28T21:37:00.004-04:002008-05-28T22:16:16.256-04:00fifteen years getting loaded<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n1SFkvVReCg/SD4LB4POzwI/AAAAAAAAAM8/9Alpm5HW9fE/s1600-h/1300181431.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n1SFkvVReCg/SD4LB4POzwI/AAAAAAAAAM8/9Alpm5HW9fE/s320/1300181431.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5205610346190917378" /></a><br /><br />remember the scene in <A href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107290/">jurassic park</a> when dennis nedry, played masterfully by wayne knight, is trying to get off the island and loses his way, ending up at the mercy of the acid-spitting dinosaurs? it's one of the most tense moments i've ever seen in a film - just thinking about it gets my blood pressure elevated. spielberg sure knew back then how to get the audience to the edge of their seats... <br /><br />i've felt that tense most of the day, trying to get prepared to close on the house tomorrow. granted this is way too commonplace of an event in American society for mistakes or incompetence (either on my part or someone else's) to totally derail the whole thing. that's exactly what i am expecting will happen, though - and events are conspiring to bring it to fruition. mortage dude emails me crucial paperwork that he'd forgotten about the night before... i find out i won't know the exact amount i need to bring to the closing until the morning of... you're thinking, these things probably aren't a big deal. true!<br /><br />nearly every nightmare i've had in the past ten years has looked something like this: i'm in a room or a hallway, usually at a high school or college, and i'm late to a meeting or a class of some kind, and i can't find something i need - a bag, a folder, etc. i am turning over tables, opening drawers and lockers, desperately trying to find whatever crucial thing i am missing. someone is in the room with me urging me to hurry up, and i get more and more frantic.<br /><br />so apparently, my greatest fear is that i will irreversibly screw up something important by being late to something - or not having some <I>thing</i> very important that i am supposed to have - or not knowing something i am supposed to know, and i will let down people that are important to me. so i expect myself to be a little tense for the next 24 hours until this thing gets done - after all, this event is the most important one of its kind that i have ever faced.<br /><br />i was very pleased to have a 5-6 week buffer zone between when our offer was accepted and when we closed - it was so this type of crap would get taken care of, by someone else that does it for a living, waaaayy ahead of time, and i wouldn't be able to futz it all up, or have to prepare paperwork so close to the deadline and not know the information i'm supposed to... <br /><br />prayer has helped a lot to bring calm... driving around the new neighborhood today has also... watching hockey certainly doesn't (does anyone else get really tense watching hockey?) - but it looks really good in HD so i'm doing it anyway...Justin Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060485348726043811noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5720968.post-27048466446090406152008-05-22T10:02:00.001-04:002008-05-22T10:06:52.240-04:00just another stupid americani drove home at 2:30am last night, squirming uncomfortably in the driver's seat... i felt like someone had kicked me in the stones - it was the most visceral physical response to an emotional wound i had ever felt, and its cause was an overwhelming disappointment drowning my heart.<br /><br /><I>indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull</i> was soulless and empty, a scifi b-movie-of-the-week poorly dressed up like the films from the 80's that i loved. it was like going on a date with a mannequin that looks like your girlfriend. comparisons to the new star wars trilogy (<I>raiders of the lost ark</i> is to <I>a new hope</i> as <I>the phantom menace</i> is to <I>crystal skull</i>) skip over one important point - episode 1 had <I>some</i> redeeming qualities.<br /><br />you could recognize lucas' abysmal writing and story from a mile off, something i braced myself against walking in... but nearly every otheraspect of the film matched that low quality - one dimensional characters (wow, shia lebouf, you're such a rebel who plays by his own rules), an uninteresting villain, and a convoluted "backstory" that they tried to present as mysterious but came across as half-baked and confusing (apparently indy was in the cia? whatever). <br /><br />and since when does ILM let their janitor create their special effects? for the most part they were run-of-the-mill, except for the very end, in one of the final crucial scenes - i won't spoil it, but i will say i felt like i was watching <I>men in black</i>. <br /><br />the most stunning betrayal came in harrison ford's utter failure in reviving the indiana jones character. twenty years ago he was funny, clever, committed, the guy had <I>heart</i>. there was absolutely no heart in the indy i saw last night - 90% of the time, harrison played the grumpy, i'm-always-right, get-off-my-plane, give-me-back-my-family old man he's been in every film role for the past ten years... for the other 10% he was a disconcertingly sensitive, warm-and-fuzzy chump that made me want to projectile vomit.<br /><br />depressed yet? don't watch this film, unless you want to feel like someone just ran over your dog.Justin Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060485348726043811noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5720968.post-38705846445601264052008-05-16T16:50:00.003-04:002008-05-16T17:12:11.580-04:00songs of redemption, songs of wari'm not sure i have the right look for radio, but i do know tony does, as he already runs a <A href="http://reallybigdeal.wordpress.com/">successful podcast</a>. and ryan, duh, homie was born for it. i have suckered these two into a new experiment, <A href="http://www.monstercloset.net">monster closet</a>, a podcast about games. shhh! it's still sleeping. hopefully we will record episode one soon. in the meantime, someone make me a better logo, my photoshop skills really butchered <a href="http://images.google.com/images?q=mudkip&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1">this poor mudkip</a>.<br /><br />i was totally wrong about <A href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Poet's_Life">tim armstrong's solo album <I>a poet's life</I></a>. i heard <I>into action</i> and kind of yawned because it wasn't another pure rancid or op ivy track. turns out there's nothing wrong with the album, though, its really solid, head-bobbing reggae/dub/ska with tim's heavy, gritty vocals. a bunch of the tracks hearken to early stuff by the specials... very reflective of tim's roots influences, and definitely worth a listen.Justin Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060485348726043811noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5720968.post-41330064364615751742008-05-15T15:40:00.003-04:002008-05-15T16:11:14.894-04:00below the blanket of a burning sky<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n1SFkvVReCg/SCyY1K1zZNI/AAAAAAAAAM0/ILJs0SCVzYU/s1600-h/dudes.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n1SFkvVReCg/SCyY1K1zZNI/AAAAAAAAAM0/ILJs0SCVzYU/s320/dudes.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5200699708916589778" /></a><br /><br />eric (at least i think it was him) threw a comment below about adrian graduating soon and being pretty high in his class... as in, dude is valedictorian... i am crazy proud that he has done so well - while working, getting his eagle, running, playing soccer, learning to play guitar in Rock Band on expert, and dating a girl. seriously he's like ten awesome people duct-taped together, a true renaissance man.<br /><br />we've changed closing dates like four times on our place. it appears the deal is happening may 29th now. we start painting the following week, and then move some small stuff, and movers show up june 16 to get everything else.<br /><br />i think i am close to shutting this particular site down. i'm shocked it's taken me this long to lose interest, honestly...Justin Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060485348726043811noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5720968.post-10631011801968710952008-05-08T15:47:00.004-04:002008-05-08T22:35:41.398-04:00your revolution is a silly ideait's weird being one of the only gamers i know not playing <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Theft_Auto_IV">grand theft auto IV</a>. any game with <a href="http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/ps3/grandtheftauto4">scores this high</a> i generally check out on principle, and i am a little intrigued by the gameplay and visuals. i've never been a huge follower of the series, though, and i'm not sure if it's because of the stigma behind it (as the most immoral thing ever created by man) or because i usually get into less mundane stuff. not that it's boring, but it's too real. i don't need a simulation of a real city, real cars, people, etc... probably why i enjoy scifi so much.<br /><br />i'm actually excited about decking out one room in our new place - the office. i had this idea while in college but never followed through (the <I>transformers: the movie</i> poster was sufficient): a dozen or so of my favorite album covers, hi-res and in black and white, in black frames. when i say favorite, that's in terms of the artistic quality, the ones that really capture the mood of the album, that reconnect you with the emotional state you're in when you're listening to it, or where you were when you first listened to it.<br /><br />i knew a few of the ones i wanted right away - <A href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physical_Graffiti">physical graffiti</a>, <A href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Temple_Pilots">purple</a>, <A href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who's_Next">who's next</a>, <A href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghosts_I%E2%80%93IV">ghosts</a> - but there are a bunch of others i am juggling around. i put the candidates so far up <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jwhall/sets/72157604960038667/">here</a>. so tell me about your favorite album covers - why do you like 'em?Justin Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060485348726043811noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5720968.post-5627326467737112482008-05-05T11:29:00.002-04:002008-05-05T11:58:26.875-04:00my voice just echoes off these wallsanother week, another <a href="http://theslip.nin.com/">new, free nine inch nails album</a>.<br /><br />it's so strange - we used to wait five years between albums, and now in the space of a year we get three. i just finished my first listen now and enjoyed it. sort of. <br /><br />i'm not complaining, mind you. used to be, though, i would spend those five years poring over those albums, extracting every nuance, grinning at the subtle, the refined, the way trent played the same style of music in a completely different way.<br /><br />except i haven't even finished digesting <I>ghosts</i> (with which this disc sounds as if it will pair very well, btw). again, not complaining; this is more like too much of a good thing. it's just different, a different sameness. we aren't waiting five years and getting a different trent, like a letter from a long lost friend twice a decade, now-he's-an-angst-ridden-junkie, now-he's-an-anti-establishment-radical. we are seeing a more steady stream of thought. weird. a good weird.<br /><br />as a result: <I>the slip</i> doesn't sound exactly like <I>year zero</i>, but they are certainly very similar, both in tone and artistic direction. some tracks could easily be mistaken as <I>zero</i>'s b-sides (except <I>corona radiata</i> which is straight off <I>the downward spiral</i>, hot). there isn't a furious, gripping track, a blatant standout. nevertheless it is cohesive in a way the 90's stuff (and <I>with teeth</i>) never was; sharp and satisfying and compelling from start to finish, with none of the dreary, moody quiet you see in the tail end of the previous albums.<br /><br />dave, doug, daniel and i got tickets to the lexington show in august and i'm excited to hear how these tracks work alongside the others. especially <I>demon seed</i> and <I>1,000,000</i> and <I>corona</i>. dang.Justin Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060485348726043811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5720968.post-7786744224102779442008-05-04T16:38:00.003-04:002008-05-04T17:19:25.828-04:00your polaroid is on the walli'm always up for a good superhero flick... good being operative here, and the ones i've enjoyed since the genre exploded early this decade (the first two <I>x-men</i> films, <I>superman returns</i> and <I>batman begins</i>) are the ones i knew at least a little about. although i wasn't ever a comic junkie, the genre has appearled to me, but i've avoided the <I>punishers</i> and <I>fantastic fours</i> because i can recognize when a film has nothing to say to me, and it's purely a product of marketing.<br /><br />normally <A href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0371746/">iron man</a> would have fallen into that category - and i think i'm glad that i knew nothing about the series or characters before walking in. i have no idea if robert downey jr's tony stark is close to the comics, and i didn't really care for once, because the character was capitvating, smarmy and self-important and yet you want him to succeed, to live, to win. and jeff bridges, generally too nice of a guy to pull off a modern villain, ends up as a solid corporate bad guy. there's a sort of lame half-love-story and a clumsy (but poignant) anti-war thread... but gear heads and gadget nerds will eat it up.<br /><br />yes, <a href="http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/03/ges-latest-dect-6-0-phones-feature-dedicated-goog-411-button/">this phone</a> has a dedicated <a href="http://www.google.com/goog411/">GOOG-411</a> button. i wanna shake the hand of whoever came up with this idea. bravo, GE.Justin Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060485348726043811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5720968.post-80449882664798987112008-05-01T14:14:00.002-04:002008-05-01T14:27:59.646-04:00call your bluff like it had a phone numberreally enjoyed this <a href="http://deeproots317.com/talk.cfm?id=9">lengthy but compelling talk</a> from evan griffin on personal change from a spiritual perspective, a topic that has long perplexed me and yet no one ever seems to speak practically on. i kind of miss hearing this type of stuff from navs/younglife leadership. i guess NKY younglife records messages weekly and posts it... great idea...<br /><br />our family went up to check out <a href="http://meshrestaurant.com/home.html">mesh</a> for my mom's birthday last night - an honest-to-goodness new restaurant in cincy, amazing - incredible atmosphere and decor, great food but mega pricey... and they were a little misleading about it... i probably wouldn't have gotten side dishes, for example, had our waitress not made it sound like they were included with dinner. i did enjoy them (basil bisque - like a mild creamy soup made of pesto, and a spinach & mushroom risotto in which i couldn't quite locate any mushroom) as well as the special, the most sophisticated walleye i've ever had.Justin Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060485348726043811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5720968.post-59034578020892511192008-04-28T21:37:00.002-04:002008-04-28T22:35:01.020-04:00a world that won't stop burningafter watching <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0481536/">harold & kumar</A> this weekend (mostly funny) i realized how rare trips to the movie theater have been in the past year or two... obviously the just-under-$10 tickets have dampened my moviegoing spirit, but so has the lackluster menu. remember when we used to do a few midnight showings a year? it's certainly been a long time since anything was worthy of late-night devotion... i remember in 2005, after <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0121766/">revenge of the sith</a> and <A href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0372784/">batman begin</a> i thought, we'll never have another year of marqee titles i will care about again...<br /><br />except 2008 is chock full of 'em. behold:<br /><br />- <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0367882/">indiana jones 4</a>, may 22. it's been almost twenty years since <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097576/">the last crusade</a>, and in that time i grew to love the trilogy's stories almost as much as <I>star wars</i> or <I>the lord of the rings</i>. so this new one feels like coming home.<br /><br />- <A href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468569/">the dark knight</a>, july 18. duh. nolan's <I>begins</i> has edged out burton's first as my favorite superhero flick, and i certainly didn't think he could outdo himself. it'll be a masterpiece.<br /><br />- <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443701/">x-files 2</a>, july 25. the long-forgotten series fits well in the context of a film, and so even though this one won't tell more of the alien conspiracy mytharc, i know chris carter will tell a great story, and i still hold a place in my heart for mulder + scully. and john doggett, haters shove off, yaahh trick!<br /><br />- <A href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0458290/">star wars: the clone wars</a>, august 15. there is potential here... i really liked genndy tartakovsky's <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0361243/">animated series</a>, seems that the <I>star wars</i> universe can make for great cartoons. plus, lucas isn't writing or directing it, so that's at least one plus.<br /><br />- <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0830515/">quantum of solace</a>, november 8. my initial "meh" towards daniel craig's bond and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0381061/">casino royale</a> in general has faded - i have reluctantly accepted the new guy - and so i'm eager to see him in a full-fledged role. and this one starts right after the last one. continuity, intriguing...<br /><br />on top of those, i will likely check out <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0371746/">iron man</a>, even though i know nothing about the comics - solely because downey looks like a trip... <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0910936/">pineapple express</a>, which i first heard of friday, could be the funniest thing i see all year...<A href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0425061/">get smart</a> may come in as a close second... shyamalan's <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0949731/">the happening</a> will get a courtesy watch, but i was so let down by <A href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0452637/">lady in the water</a> that i am now pretty hesitant... and <A href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0942385/">tropic thunder</a>'s cast and plot are pretty appealing. <br /><br />what looks good to you?Justin Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060485348726043811noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5720968.post-41808457564038192532008-04-27T21:36:00.002-04:002008-04-27T22:00:02.476-04:00right behind what's happeningi really couldn't miss <A href="http://www.botcon.com">botcon</a> when it was fifteen minutes away, and call myself a transformers fan. if for no other reason than to tell my kids that i went once. i guess. doubt they'd care.<br /><br />it was a letdown, of course, but really the only way the event could have satisfied me was if i walked in the door to be personally greeted by <A href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0191520/">peter cullen</a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0919798/">frank welker</a> and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0490383/">chris latta</a> (which would have been impressive since he passed away fourteen years ago). it was 95% dudes selling toys and memorabilia... gratefully i didn't have much cash on me or i might have a <a href="http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/template.aspx?template=3280">gen-1 megatron</a> or <a href="http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/template.aspx?template=1130">starscream</a> in my hands. there were some comic artists and illustrators from the new series signing autographs, as well as drawing classes, a "film fest" (i.e. a dvd player, a tv and a dvd boxset of <I>beast wars</i>) and a fan-art competition.<br /><br />(i am definitely picking up a <A href="http://www.bigbadtoystore.com/bbts/product.aspx?product=HAS15131&mode=retail">tf:animated starscream</a> in june when they come out - prerelease versions were up there and they look sweet)<br /><br />there were a ton of true fans there, though. their passion was tangible (and quite contagious). a bunch of them had their kids along and you could see them bonding over the experience. there are some pix <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/jwhall/sets/72157604762994944/">up here</a>...Justin Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060485348726043811noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5720968.post-80932225026966825932008-04-25T13:35:00.001-04:002008-04-25T13:38:13.060-04:00to think that you've lost your cool<A href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Gear_Solid_4:_Guns_of_the_Patriots">metal gear solid 4</a> is the top reason i picked up a PS3... which has been heavily delayed and is now slated for a june 12 release. with MGS4 they're including a totally separate, full-blown multiplayer game called <A href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Gear_Online">metal gear online</a>. <br /><br />i played about ten minutes of <A href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Gear_Solid:_Portable_Ops">MGS:portable ops</a>' online multiplayer and found myself instantly overwhelmed by the more skilled veterans. i never went back.<br /><br />an invite to MGO's closed beta was included with a preorder... the beta was supposed to start april 21 and has also been delayed due to server failures and, we assume, konami underestimating exactly how much bandwidth they'd need to make this thing work.<br /><br />so the beta went live today and over lunch i set up my character, went through the training, and played a four-round match and - shockingly - came in first overall, something that's only happened to me probably a dozen times in fifteen years of online gaming. mostly because i haven't ever had the desire to put in the practice required, with one exception: the original <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quake">quake</a>. <br /><br />in high school, i had <A href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doom_(video_game)">doom</a> and <A href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descent_(computer_game)">descent</a>, but "online multiplayer" - i.e. groups of two or more playing over an internetworked WAN - didn't exist so much. the best you could hope for was peer-to-peer over dialup, and there were only a handful of folks at northwest with the savvy, willingness, phone line and a fast-enough modem to make it work.<br /><br />but during the end of high school and the first year of college, i sunk hundreds of hours into quake. the game itself was a turning point in online multiplayer - one of the first FPS' with a client/server network model (one person starts a quake server and clients connect/disconnect at will). before quake, groups of players had to simultaneously start a networked game, and they had to be on a local network. quake was the first to support TCP/IP, too, which meant it would work over the public internet. servers sprang up everywhere - at onenet we had quake.one.net, a fairly popular server that i would hang out on regularly - mainly because i was already on their network, so the ping to the server was low (meaning a fast connection).<br /><br />throughout the rest of college, i had other things to occupy my time and couldn't really devote energy to mastering the online games that gained popularity after quake - namely quake 2, half-life, and teamfortress classic (although i did have a brief stint with counterstrike). shortly after i wandered away from PC gaming completely for halo and missed tribes, battlefield, medal of honor and call of duty completely.<br /><br />it was even less of a draw after getting married (other multiplayer experiences took precedence). i played call of duty 4 enough to level up to 22 or so, but the only time i could fire it up was later at night, and the sounds of gunfire and soldiers' shouts don't make for a pleasant, peaceful house for our family.<br /><br />initially i wanted to talk about how great MGO is, even in beta - plays smoothly, no skipping or lag, gorgeous graphics and immersive audio, the much-heralded MGS4 improved control system is great... but i know as much as part of me wants to invest in becoming great, i feel - what is it? the weight of real life and priorities. the knowledge of its importance in the grand scheme and how it's not worth the time is a buzzkill, to be sure, but that doesn't make it wrong. i certainly hope MGO turns out to be a game that the moderately-skilled can still play online and enjoy (much like burnout: paradise is, and halo 3 is not).Justin Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060485348726043811noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5720968.post-68434781471152834432008-04-23T13:37:00.002-04:002008-04-23T13:58:42.237-04:00did i cross a line?i LOVE the new digital music era. LOVE IT. <br /><br />trent just posted a new nine inch nails single, <i>discipline</i>, for <a href="http://discipline.nin.com">free download here</a>. comments in the ID3 tags say to visit <a href="http://www.nin.com">www.nin.com</a> on may 5.<br /><br />the track itself is alright - not incredible, but very good. very, very good for the price.Justin Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060485348726043811noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5720968.post-77133446040978786812008-04-23T09:24:00.002-04:002008-04-24T11:05:31.051-04:00collision is such an ugly soundb and i made the trek up to the DAY to see paramore + jimmy eat world last night. not many artists are worth a drive longer than 30 minutes these days; though to cross another band off of the "see before i die" list is always motivation enough.<br /><br />paramore was forgettable... the teen girl squad was out in force to shriek every time hayley williams scampered across the stage, and so the hannah montana vibe sort of elbowed out any chance of hearing or appreciating the handful of their generic pop-punk tracks that i enjoy.<br /><br />jimmy's 90 minute set was thoroughly satisfying, OTOH. they nailed my dream setlist, hanging out in the last four albums fairly consistently, playing:<br /><br />- <I>crush, blister</i> and <I>your new aesthetic</i> from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarity_%28album%29">clarity</a><br />- <I>bleed american, a praise chorus, hear you me, sweetness,</i> and <I>the middle</i> from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bleed_American">bleed american</a><br />- <I>futures, just tonight, work, 23,</i> and <I>pain</I> from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futures_%28album%29">futures</a><br />- <I>big casino, let it happen, always be, here it goes</i> and <I>dizzy</i> from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chase_This_Light">chase this light</a><br /><br />unfortunately they dropped the tuning of the three songs at the end of the main set, before the encore (<I>just tonight/bleed american/pain</i>) and they sounded pretty bad.<br /><br />i do find it interesting how hearing some songs live makes me enjoy the studio versions more afterwards - <I>23</i> and <I>dizzy</I> are good examples, i felt they were kind of boring before last night; today listening to them is a very different experience. since i don't enjoy standing in one place, being shoved by ten people way inside my circle of comfort, and having my ears hurt for eighteen hours like i did ten years ago, i think a renewed appreciation for parts of an artists' catalog is one of the only reasons i go to shows anymore. anyway, <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/jwhall/sets/72157604692735181/">pix are here</a>.Justin Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060485348726043811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5720968.post-41119875155098764522008-04-20T22:35:00.002-04:002008-04-20T22:42:11.872-04:00your arm in mine here near midnight"i consider the true history of the american revolution and the establishment of our present constitution as lost forever."<br />- john adams, in a <a href="http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/library/index.asp?document=599">letter to hezekiah niles</a><br /><br />maybe <a href="http://www.hbo.com/films/johnadams/">adams</a> was right... i certainly feel a little more enlightened and a lot more grateful, though, after this extraordinary series. easily the most visceral, intelligent, real tale of the revolution and one of its central figures. while a little tedious around the middle, the series otherwise doled out steady nuggets of fascinating, well-written accounts of american history. i think this is a series i will revisit regularly. i fell apart when abigail died, of course, fairly typical for me during scenes where a great love is lost (i doubt i could watch <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0414993/">the fountain</a> again, for example).<br /><br />i modified <a href="http://www.jamieoliver.com/">jamie oliver's</a> recipe for <A href="http://saltmarshbeef.co.uk/Pages.asp?Page=16">steak, guinness and cheese pie</a> a bit today - used cast-iron for the stewing, swapped out rosemary for basil + parsley, got rid of most of the cheese, added red potatoes.,, i also found that the liquid didn't thicken or reduce as much as i expected - but it worked great after being extracted, gravy-fied and re-added to the meat + veggies (and i do think guinness gravy could complement a bunch of other dishes). i've always wanted to make a steak pie as delicious as dad's... i think i came close today.Justin Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060485348726043811noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5720968.post-41700348828915249872008-04-19T19:52:00.003-04:002008-04-19T20:05:10.861-04:00better leave while you can<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jwhall/889096126/" title="my nightmare by jwhall, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1233/889096126_e747618cea_m.jpg" width="240" height="180" alt="my nightmare" /></a><br /><br />sure, all fall out boy all the time is certainly a nightmare of mine. which is why i am saddened and terrified that i cannot stop listening to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcAmzLVsGjo">their cover of <I>beat it</i></a>. i think i'm ill. it's a very accessable, by-the-book version, if you enjoy the pop-punk as i do, you will likely devour it.<br /><br />i just fracking found out that i missed mike doughty at the southgate house last week. argh!<br /><br />so kyle noe and doan tran are engaged and we got the chance to go to a traditional vietnamese engagement party. lots of protocol and formality, and oh yeah, i obliterated a plastic patio chair. scooted backwards a little too fast and it exploded. really helped with the romantic, familial mood that was going on.Justin Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060485348726043811noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5720968.post-58430383205216598552008-04-16T18:06:00.002-04:002008-04-16T18:17:06.057-04:00refuse to sing along<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n1SFkvVReCg/SAZ6wpP5RPI/AAAAAAAAALU/-H9mW4T7_14/s1600-h/starwarsurban8small.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n1SFkvVReCg/SAZ6wpP5RPI/AAAAAAAAALU/-H9mW4T7_14/s320/starwarsurban8small.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5189970596715906290" /></a><br /><br />if i could (read: renee would let me) decorate our entire house with <A href="http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/04/15/cool-stuff-star-wars-urban-photography">this guy's stuff</a>... i don't know art, but i know what i like. absolutely gorgeous.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/aussh-renaissance-austin-hotel/">this hotel</a> here in austin has an alarm clock with an ipod dock. should be standard in every hotel room in the country, what an awesome idea.<br /><br />i really liked <A href="http://ianlubbers.blogspot.com/2008/04/sin.html">ian's recent post</a> on sin, i have been feeling some of the same things recently... i had a kind of picture in my head a few days ago after reading - what a day in my life would look like without treating God or the people around me badly. for about a tenth of a second i almost believed it was possible; which made me kind of realize the defeatist attitude i have adopted about my own sin. you hear "you can't be perfect while on this earth" from wise people, and my brain auto-appends "so don't even bother trying to be better" to the end. there is certainly a lot that i cannot defeat on my own; there is also a lot that might require some heavy lifting on my part and i haven't bothered with it because of the former stuff. let's see if this theoretical concept could translate to reality...Justin Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060485348726043811noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5720968.post-86131951805912343512008-04-14T09:40:00.003-04:002008-04-14T10:17:02.909-04:00keep getting stuck here all the timei will oblige the honorable <a href="http://danielsmyth.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/i-got-tagged/">daniel smyth's tag</a> and respond with random things about myself:<br /><br />- i have crazy dreams almost every night, david-lynch-style creepy, and most of them are about being late to something or not knowing something i'm supposed to know, and the dire consequences of those failures<br />- two of renee's favorite things to eat - jellied cranberries and cottage cheese - are two of maybe four things in the world i won't eat<br />- the other two are liver, and... i can't remember the other one<br />- i've watched <A href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105793/">wayne's world</a> more times than any other film, even <A href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076759/">a new hope</a> or <A href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118715/">lebowski</a> or <A href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090728/">big trouble in little china</a><br />- i've read gibson's <A href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_Zero">count zero</a> more times than any other book... close seconds are <A href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitchhiker's_Guide_to_the_Galaxy">H2G2</a> and <A href="http://www.donaldmillerwords.com/bluelikejazz.php">blue like jazz</a><br /><br />and... here's the big one... are you ready? <B>ARE YOU READY?</B><br /><br />- i used to watch saved by the bell. <I>religiously</i>. there. you now know my biggest secret. so why have i derided its fans for years? kept my mouth shut during SBTB trivia, when i knew every answer? walked away from every "whoa bayside"? because i am <I>ashamed</i> of my SBTB-watching past. years after i'd seen every episode and turned my attention to other things (this was probably during my senior year), i caught a few minutes of a stray showing on TBS or something - and saw it for what it really was - meaningless drivel. i was so disgusted by my past love for it that i swore to eliminate it from my memory. i'd never intentionally watch it/discuss it/avow any knowledge of it again.<br /><br />it's your turn: <A href="http://kuhncrew.com/blog/">artie</a> (to whom this revelation will likely strike the hardest blow); <a href="http://rustproof.org/blog/">b</a> (mister "i'm blogging again", yeah); <A href="http://stevebragg.blogspot.com/">the braggalicious treat</a> (the reason that wayne's world number is so high); <A href="http://room113.blogspot.com/">duebber</a> (who is a good sport about these types of random lists); <a href="http://thewisdomofabrokenman.blogspot.com/">darren</a> (whose answers will be a thousand times more interesting than mine); and <A href="http://bathroommonkey.blogspot.com/">brain</a>, (who is quickly running out of posts before he quits). six random things. now.<br /><br />so this whole post isn't self-aggrandizing - a few other notes - one, <a href="">purple</a>'s producer brendan o'brien is making <A href="http://idolator.com/378957/acdc-to-work-with-brendan-obrien-angus-to-sound-like-a-deleo-brother">the next AC/DC album</a>, hot! and also - there is a snippet of <A href="http://www.amazon.com/Pork-And-Beans/dp/B0017QPT9I/ref=sr_1_95?ie=UTF8&s=dmusic&qid=1208043442&sr=1-95">the new weezer track <I>pork and beans</i> up on amazon</a>, delicious.Justin Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060485348726043811noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5720968.post-78605942328078139792008-04-09T21:30:00.004-04:002008-04-09T22:04:21.482-04:00i'll star in a mysterylike a bunch of other churches in the area, <a href="http://www.lifespringchristian.org">lifespring</a> just started <a href="http://www.consumedjourney.com">the consumed series</a> developed by <a href="http://www.crossroads.net">crossroads</a>. even though i've known for a few months that it was coming down the pipeline, i was still surprised at how powerfully i was struck by the first week's content, and more than that, how ready i was to hear it. <br /><br />for years i have half-rationalized, half-ignored my own rampant media/gadget addiction... "it's my hobby", or "i tithe / donate enough", etc... since we got married renee has (very patiently) helped me to curb it a bit, but the root cause hasn't been addressed - the addiction... the high you get from picking up something new... a feeling i have also been objectively aware of for years, and also rationalized away.<br /><br />since sunday, and then our study's first week of discussion about the material on monday, i've felt the weight of my possessions and my desire to buy stuff. i even had the quick, terrifying feeling of <I>wanting to intentionally spend less</I> than my normal self-imposed limit this month.<br /><br />ZOMG! so what is it that made me ready, caused this obscene, radical reversal in my usual instinct? i have read dozens of words on the subject, heard hours of commentary from some very wise people and my heart hadn't budged an inch before this week. the content of the consumed series isn't all that different from anything i've seen before. maybe cause we are about to step into a thirty-year loan? but i've known that for a while. maybe it's just getting older? maybe it was asking God before this series started to really make it impact me this time. <br /><br />in any case, i'm more hopeful about this particular flaw being fixed than i've been before. the series takes a great approach to the topic - and really illustrates effectively how easily we Americans are ensnared by advertising distrupting our contentment. crossroads did a bang-up job with the whole thing. now if you'll excuse me, i have to go sign up for thirty years of debt. :)<br /><br />also - i take back what i said in 2005 - michael keaton as bruce wayne is > christian bale. what was i thinking? keaton has the nuance, the glum-lonely-wry-disturbed bachelor billionaire down pat, bale makes it a little too yuppie-scum, but that's probably my leftover angst from <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0144084/">american psycho</a>. *sigh* another few months til <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Knight_(film)">the dark knight</a>, to see how bale matures the character...Justin Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060485348726043811noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5720968.post-80171114289684738952008-04-08T23:30:00.002-04:002008-04-09T13:59:32.392-04:00guess my race is runjust FYI on a few things. one:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n1SFkvVReCg/R_w4hAkfZxI/AAAAAAAAAKw/G7pB1fJj2QA/s1600-h/ricklolled.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_n1SFkvVReCg/R_w4hAkfZxI/AAAAAAAAAKw/G7pB1fJj2QA/s320/ricklolled.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5187083010563860242" /></a><br /><br />two: our offer was accepted, we got the house, and we should be closing on june 6.Justin Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060485348726043811noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5720968.post-23437300828353935912008-04-07T16:11:00.003-04:002008-04-07T16:30:55.167-04:00if you float awayi'm starting to understand how my in-laws feel when i come over to fix their PC. i explain and explain using every lowest-common-denominator term in my vocabulary what i'm fixing, how to protect themselves online, how things work... but it never seems to fully sink in. <br /><br />i'm sure our mortgage guys and our realtor feel like that when talking to me - every time i think i have a handle on this whole thing, someone will send me some document, make me sign some paperwork, or make a comment that derails me completely and shoots my blood pressure through the roof.<br /><br />a healthy dose of prayer, <A href="http://www.startinglinerock.com/">the starting line</a> and <a href="http://www.defleppard.com/">def leppard</a> have helped to provide some peace. and God has cleared enough space in my heart for joy about moving to a new community and settling down a little more. we've been blessed with good advice from friends we trust, too. everyone who has thrown out suggestions about what to look for in a house, and how to get through the buying process without apoplexy - i'm grateful.<br /><br />so we put an offer in on <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&q=5210+Kyles+Station+Meadows+Dr,+Middletown,+OH+45044,+USA&z=16&iwloc=addr">the place we love</a> today. hopefully by the end of the week we'll have a deal settled and by june we'll be all done and moving in. originally i was concerned about moving to the barren northern reaches of west chester; but we spent some time in the neighborhood this weekend and i really don't feel too far away from anything. probably means we'll be switching churches, and i'll either need to make regular pilgrimages to <a href="http://www.bridgetownfinermeats.com/">bfm</a> or find a new butcher's shop out there.Justin Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060485348726043811noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5720968.post-67887871719462939472008-04-04T09:45:00.003-04:002008-04-04T10:22:55.476-04:00throwing wrenches in the gearstwo popular third-person brawlers just ended up as portable games recently - and both are excellent translations of the home console experience. behold:<br /><br />- <a href="http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3167027">ninja gaiden: dragon sword</a> is one i doubt i would have laid down cash for, if it hadn't included <A href="http://www.gamespot.com/ds/action/ninjagaidendragonsword/view_image.html?id=aYIL4Esm7hyc5B3l&msg_sort=1">the sweetest stylus ever</a>. it's certainly the most complete action game i've ever played on the DS (new super mario bros. aside). where <a href="http://justinhall.blogspot.com/2007/10/hold-them-down-our-bleeding-suspects.html">zelda's controls collapsed</a>, dragon sword shines - sophisticated, slick attacks are executed like butter. graphically it's not too shabby, the backgrounds are pretty simple and i really think they could have done something a little more stylized (i.e. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOT95HPv51E">okami</a>, or the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNPfS8qPY_0">original SF4 trailer</a> comes to mind) instead of the SNES-level sprites. it's a ton of fun to play, though, nowhere near as frustrating as the xbox installments.<br /><br />- <a href="http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3166395">god of war: chains of olympus</a> is stunning. i've never seen anything look this good on the PSP - the guys at <a href="http://www.readyatdawn.com/">readyatdawn</a> certainly pushed the system to its limits. i was kind of afraid it would run like crap on my original model (load times are faster on the newer <A href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Portable_Slim">"slim" psp2000 hardware</a>) but it looks just fine. the controls made the jump from the PS2 and i actually find myself dodging a whole lot more than i did in GoW 1&2, but that's mainly because the enemies you fight in this version require that you're much more defensive. the only serious flaw is the occasional "where the heck do i go now" moment - a sign of insufficient playtesting by the developer. it's pretty short, too, so i'm glad i rented it. <br /><br />it got me thinking about how good a PSP <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncharted:_Drake's_Fortune">uncharted</a> title would be - i'd definitely hit it (with an inverse tachyon beam). hopefully this game's success drives devs to do more ports...Justin Hallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18060485348726043811noreply@blogger.com1