Ain't over!

Go Rockies!


That's right, Traci.

Hello!

As you may or may not have been able to notice, I've changed my overall website a bit by making nothing accessible by the previous gateway page. There's a couple of reasons for this.

1.) I'm going to start another blog, only this one will be for my travels and to document all of that. I hope to be revealing that within the next couple of weeks. I think the "gateway" has been confusing as I really have about 10 websites all compiled into one. I hope to make this less confusing with an inevitable re-tooling.

2.) I hope to redesign my site with a couple of things that are going on. It's always just been kind of a "personal" page with nothing really on it save some previous websites, some writing and stuff of the like, but I really want it to be something a bit more. Even though it's one of my better designs, I think it can be done in a better way. I think I will be trying to get rid of the multimedia feel to it for the most part. More details on that, later.

So I will continue to update this blog, as well as the new one on a periodic basis. I hope you keep checking back though, as I hope everything will be clear and concise sometime early in 2008, if not earlier. I'm very excited about what's going on, here.

We’re only 5 days away now (as of midnight) from the launch of Halo 3.



I’m so excited for this game I can’t wait. It seems my life is again at a sort of crossroads. Where time is divided into two times: before this and after this. It doesn’t have much to do with Halo 3, but some of that I can’t deny. The last Halo was 3 years ago. Things weren’t too different back then and not much changed after it came out. Except for my attention to some things. But Halo was more of a priority. Duh.



Anyway, as most of you know, I push off for South America next Friday. It will be the 2nd time I’ve visited that continent. I’m such a fortunate guy, I really hope that someday I can be as generous to my children as I’ve been afforded so many great opportunities. And to my friends and family.



I remember certain times of my life more than others. Oddly, or not, my name means to traverse, or crossroads. I always feel like I’m at some sort of crossroads and crossing into a path that will lead to good things. I certainly am hopeful that the talents I have will not be wasted on my endeavors and will lead me more in the direction of my life’s work or whatever.
Changes are on the horizon on many fronts. I’m excited about all of them, as I believe each of them progress a part of me and enhance my life in many ways.



I’ve been watching a lot of the X-Files lately. I remember how much I love that show now…it makes me wonder how much the government hides from us and how little we know about the strange things in our universe that might not be explained by anything we know or can prove. My struggle has been that if aliens exist (which I am convinced they do), how does that fit into a Christian perspective? Does it negate us as a people, as beings, as earthlings, as a planet? I think the universe is way too big to not have something else exist. Does that mean we’re not special? What’s our purpose? But if we are the only things out there, that would be miraculous and I don’t see how God could be disproven through that idea. Likewise, can God be disproven if we are not alone? Certainly the questions are mind bending and I wonder often at the possibilities.

I had a huge long winded entry all written out and then the connection was “lost,” and I lost my entry. Oh well. Gotta love technology.

So as many of you knew (or know), I had planned on trying to relocat myself next year to Australia. It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do, to go to a foreign place and try to make my way. I had intended to go on a skilled worker’s Visa, but hit a snag. I expected many of these and was happy to know that the majority of everyone I knew was very supportive of my endeavor. Eventually I discovered that my career hasn’t been happening for long enough, so the ability to go down there in the fashion that I wanted to is not possible for the time being.



Understandably I’ve been a little bit bummed, as I had planned to go down there and try to make my way, even by working retail or in the food industry. I am thinking that I still may be able to visit for a month (give or take), and though I haven’t ruled out the possibility of trying to live there someday, I’m not so sure it’ll ever happen. Who knows where I’ll be in 2-3 years.

So while that’s been a disappointment, it gives me the freedom to explore other options. Even though I have little interest in any other foreign country, I think there’s plenty to experience here in the States that I wouldn’t mind relocating to. I’ve always held an interest in the Northeast, Northwest, and Alaska. They draw me because of their adverse terrain and seemingly laid back pace of life. Though I enjoy the city living of Denver (and Heaven knows plenty of opportunities are here), I’m ready for something different.

Indeed this takes me to the idea that I want to travel more. I plan on scoping out more of the East coast early next year. Presumably March is when I’d like to go, and I plan on visiting Maine, Ithaca (to see Justin at Cornell), NYC to visit Kevin (and Traci) as well as DC to see Jonathan. I’m excited to explore more of the continent I live on, in hopes that I may find something to eventually explore further. Though the move wouldn’t be permanent I don’t think, I feel like I should take advantage to see more of the world while I have the chance.


Apparently a sight in Maine. I'm hoping there's a bit more...

It’s going to be an exciting next few weeks and months. Halo 3 comes out in nearly 2 weeks. I’ve already started to arrange a LAN party to have at my place on October 20th. It will have probably 8 Xbox 360’s and TV's, all hooked together to experience Halo 3. I can't wait for the trash talking to ensue. Nerdgasm, indeed.



With plenty of Mountain Dew to go around.



I bought my 2nd iPod last weekend. For my trip to South America my dad wants to view videos on my current 30gb iPod, and I wanted to make sure I wasn’t without tunes. Plus I’ve been wanting to find something smaller in size and weight for exercise. I am glad I didn’t go with the Nano, as Apple unveiled the new ones this week. On a sidenote: are you pissed Kevin on the dramatic reduction in price of the iPhone? Being an early adopter has its price, but certainly less than 3 months and 33% price cut is rather dramatic. (Read: Letter to iPhone users) I decided to buy the Shuffle. I really do love the designs and after considering a ZUNE heavily for about 3 seconds, I wanted to go with another iPod. I'm very impressed so far with the Shuffle. It's small, sleek, and is just pretty neat overall. I also am enjoying the new earbuds (what an improvement over the last ones!) It makes me want to go out and grab the new Nano or iPod touch. Apple has a brilliant execution of its products. By the time the keynote was delivered on Wednesday, 75% of the new or revamped products were on their way to outlets. That’s impressive.



If there’s one thing that Microsoft has executed brilliantly, it’s the Xbox 360. Though they’ve had tremendous overheating issues, one cannot deny the fact that it’s a great machine. The Wii is a great one as well, but certainly in a different category altogether. They’ve made some good improvements to the box over the last 2 years, and though I bought one nearly 5 weeks after its release, I’m not unhappy with mine. Has anyone played Bioshock? I must admit I was skeptical at first but I've been drawn into this fictional twist of reality. It's quite entertaining, and certainly a time passer until Halo 3.



Has anyone seen this story? I don’t think that internet usage should be prohibited or set into tiers to divide the information highway. Equality is important…and restricting bandwidth or transfer rates I think is silly.

Anyway, I’m excited to see where the next few weeks and months take me. The short list includes Halo 3, South America, Texas, Minnesota, and the East coast. I’m trying to fit in San Diego somewhere in there too…so if it all happens according to plan, that will be 11 states and 2 countries I visit within a year’s time. I do look forward to more travel in 2008 as I had planned on this for 2007. Overall I’m pretty happy with where I’m at. I wouldn’t mind dating someone in there too, but at this point I’m really not too interested. I’ve been exhausted by the events of the last couple of years. And frankly, it’s exhausting to see that effort go nowhere.

Additionally Jonathan and I have been scripting (pun intended) our screenplay. I’m happy with where it’s going and the effort lately we’ve been giving it. Equally I’m just as excited on a book I’m putting together with a friend composed of poetry I’ve written in the last 9 years. It will also contain graphical enhancements to suit the poetry style and meaning. Though I’m not really ready to reveal more than that at this point, it’s something that’s given me a lot of confidence and hope in what I think will be a great outcome. If it’s anything like I think, it’s going to just be awesome. Some of you have seen a preview of it, but I’m really waiting until more of it is completed before giving more details. Rest assured, those will be revealed in due time.

Exciting times are ahead, with uncertain outcomes. But we shall see.

We shall see.

Yes.

Halo 3! At this point, the whole game is about 4 weeks away (closer to 3 at this point probably). September 25th couldn't come sooner.

And I know some people just roll their eyes (*cough* girls *cough*) at such a ridiculous obsession, but really, let's look at it.

1. The Halo universe is a shoot em up. That's always a plus, for destroying your enemies and getting some pent-up frustration out occasionally.

2. Creating bonds everyday. I know some of my favorite Halo moments are shared with my friends, especially when in large groups and enjoying ourselves. Part of the fun of the game is the teamwork and camaraderie.

3. The violence isn't overbearing. Though there are guns (and blood), it's not as if arms are being ripped off and guts are being spilled on the floor. The violence in it is normal FPS (First-Person Shooter) material, just with a tasteful twist.

With all those things in mind, why do some people have such a hatred towards it? I dated this girl once (who shall remain nameless) who HATED that I LOVED Halo. I should've seen it sooner that she should've gotten the boot. Such is hindsight. 20/20, as they say.

Anyway, Halo 3's marketing machine is already rolling. There are commercials all over the TV, Halo 3 Mountain Dew ("Game Fuel") being sold now, with Slurpee cups at 7-11. It feels like Star Wars. For our generation of gamers, it pretty much is.

Halo 2 made 125 million its opening weekend in November 2004. At that point, it was the largest opening weekend EVER for ANY media (movies, games, etc).

Spider-Man 3 made the biggest opening weekend ever this May at 151 million dollars.

Halo 3 will kick the living hell out of that figure. I guarantee it.

Additionally, why won't they just man up and make the movie already? Another great way to create buzz on the franchise is to basically continue with "shorts" that are live-action. I think the intentions of these are two-fold: to move forward with what the movie would look and feel like, as well as to create so much buzz that a Hollywood distributor/studio picks it up yesterday.

Okay, so it'll cost 200 million. And granted, movie tickets (5-15 dollars a piece) is harder to justify such a large budget (when the base Halo 3 game will be 60 dollars, special edition for 70 dollars, and legendary edition for 130 dollars), but anyone can see that this movie is just going to rock. I've attached 2 of the live-action sequences thus far. What else is it going to take to get Hollywood on board?

They're stupid enough to make DOOM, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Super Mario Bros., Far Cry, Hitman, and Postal...why won't someone shell out for this? Of course there's probably more than meets the eye behind the scenes, but they need to straighten this out. Someone's sitting on a gold mine.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=3sQfc0VIRMk

And:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=cdkPYA5vxHw

Seriously. Make this freaking thing already.

I can't wait for September 25th.