August Train Collides With September

Yes, the two week break has finally arrived!! Unfortunately I have a fair bit of work to do so I have resolved to put a little bit of effort in each day, as at the end it all goes a long way.

I was incredibly busy over the the last week, with a crazy essay which I did the readings for, but did not actually start writing up until 2 days before it was due. Luckily, I was quite prolific and my output was 1000 words a day and I got it done on time. It was an incredibly stupid thing to do, because it was hard none the less but I won't do something like that ever again. I like doing my stuff early, because it's always less stressful! Hence my resolve to work like a dog during the break, however, I will also see friends and relax a bit.

Thanks to the brilliance of the other, I received Battlefield 2 a longggggg time ago, but I haven't really been playing it very much up until this semester.
I love it so much! It's really rekindled my fondness for first person shooters, not since Doom or Wolf 3D have I been into these kinda games. I've just been getting an absolute load of it lately. I've also been making some insane missions for Swat 4, with millions of villains who are heavily armed. I enjoy the intensity and fear (especially with Stereo headphones through a Creative Soundcard) at night. But Battlefield 2 is just a rollicking good time! I've had some wonderful matches, such as winning an entire round under 4 minutes without even shooting a single bullet! I really should try the online games in my long holidays. I enjoyed the multiplayer Swat 4 and Unreal Tournament days!

However, I am missing strategy games. I have not played Warcraft 3, or Age of Empires 1 & 2 in agesss! But then again, I haven't had the time to really get into them since those games take a good 2-3 hours for a memorable round. I really like the skirmishes because it's just a full on battle royale.

Speaking of, I'm currently procuring for myself (cough cough) Rome Total War because I have been watching a crap load of those war documentaries on SBS and ABC lately and I am loving it. I think I need a deeper level understanding of tactics, and hearing about battles such as the one of Boudicca's defeat and the beat down of Vercengeterix (both at the hands of Rome, even when heavily outnumbered) but by sheer tactics and discipline they managed to commit some of the most outrageous victories in military history. Don't get me wrong, war is stupid and pointless! Hence why I play games! I also feel like re-playing LOTR Strategy, because I really loved the epic battles with just 1000's of guys going mental at each other, but I am needing a good dose of battle tactics. Example? Boudicca had a force well over 100 thousand, and the Romans had a few thousand at the most - Boudicca's forces were slaughtered due to a lack of tactics so that's what I'm after with Rome Total War.

Formula 1 is looking REALLY good. I still hate Alonso, but with the championship coming right down to the wire, I still have faith in Michael Schumacher because he's just a genius. Unfortunately Massa is starting to show form, which would mean he'd stay at Ferrari and I don't want that to happen because Raikkonen and Schumacher in the same team would be unstoppable, but I don't think Raikkonen would want to be #2, and Schumacher wouldn't be able to be in a team with someone who is technically a better driver. Let's see what happens. I also must voice my discontent with Mark Webber. His career in Formula 1 is over. He should have moved to Renault, it was a sure fire way of eventually becoming world champion, but I think he just went where the money was and now he has no chance at Red Bull.

Keane are a crap band. I don't like them. Then I heard Is It Any Wonder - a song which I liked INSTANTLY, which is a rarity for me. I'll usually have to listen to a song 5-6 times before I start to like it, but this was just instant liking. I still don't like the band, but that song rocks. I also must sing the praises of Beyonce's Deja Vu. The bassline is one of the best I've ever heard, even though the chorus is a little flat. I don't like the new trend of R&B with Rappers over the intro and bridge, but I like Nelly Furtado's Promiscuous. The instrumental is very ethereal and I think it evokes the emotion that the lyrics are about very well. I'm also getting into some Alice In Chains, their string arrangements are as sublime as Motor Ace's. I also heard the new song from The Panic Channel - Why Cry. If you don't know, The Panic Channel is the new band from the instrumental people from Jane's Addiction, but the new frontman is a guitarist and a good singer but this song was crap. I expected better from Dave Navarro, but this was sheer emo crappery and he should be castigated for being associated with it. I will listen to the whole album soon, hopefully it was just a bad song.

I am also hanging out for Richard Patrick's new band - Army Of Anyone. For those that don't know (and should be smacked around for such ignorance), Patrick is the former lead singer of Filter (one of Joaquin's favourite bands) and has hooked up with the Stone Temple Pilot instumentalists and they are meant to be amazing, but I have yet to hear a song.

My guitaring is progressing nicely, as I have been steadily playing, but nothing to actually improve, more just noodling to think. I have finally arranged some multi string flowing leads which are in the vein of Eric Johnson so I am happy (and it almost killed me, one phrase took me 3 days to compose and learn, whereas Johnson can improvise them at will). I've also been hard at work with some string skipping arpeggios and finishing a rhythm track I have been working on for a long time. I love Guitar Pro! Especially with arranging a song and then changing instruments to pianos and the like, as it just sounds wonderful.

Well this entry has been a monster, so I shall leave it here for tonight, but don't fret, I shall return with a post tomorrow (yes I actually do have blog notes for a change). Have a nice day people!