Five Things I'm Pretty Sure I Think (Tuesday Edition)

It's another edition of everyone's favorite catchall! Yet again, I toss out five random topics that have been bouncing around in this head of mine, as a form of navel-gazing or simply to get them out of my head and clutter up the Internet a bit more.

1. The Canton, MA arm of the Columbia Falls Grants are now the proud owners of a minivan. To accomplish this feat, there has been a relative flurry of automobile dealing going on. Over the past 4-5 weeks, we have (a) sold our 2007 Toyota Corolla S, (b) sold our 2002 Toyota Highlander Limited, and (c) purchased a 2008 Toyota Sienna LE. From the previous sentence, you can correctly infer that we are both a Toyota family and an expanding one, as the van was needed to fit the inevitable third car seat. One thing you might not infer is that we are completely sick of the auto buying/selling process, and hope to not have to partake in it for some time. The purchase of the minivan does have its upsides, as it puts the twins in the 3rd row bench seat, which will make it more difficult for them to pelt Mom and Dad with french fries. I can also now affectionately refer to our vehicle as the 'family boat.' :)

2. It was a fantastic showing for the Patriots this past Sunday, returning to 2007 form against the hapless Tennessee Titans, 59-0. Brady had 380 yards and 6 touchdowns...after one drive in the third quarter. Needless to say he finished the game on the sidelines sipping hot cocoa and watching Brian Hoyer get some experience under actual game conditions. It's not absurd to think that the Pats offensive unit experienced more pressure in practice the week leading up to the game than during it. Now, let's hope that this was not just a fluke game against a terrible opponent, and that this is just Brady returning to pre-knee injury form and the rest of the team starting to click, not that this week will be any test either. They'll face the pitiful 0-6 Buccaneers in London before having a bye week.

3. Taking far longer than it should have, I finally finished Final Fantasy PSP, with liberal use of online FAQs and guides. At first, I felt bad about having to rely on them to make my way through a game that's older than my brother (who's 21, by the way), but it dawned on me that the game design was obtuse in such a way that it encouraged far too much aimless wandering. Sadly, with the amount of free time I now have, I'd prefer to spend it pursuing a concrete goal, and the guides allowed me to stay focused and finish the game. My party, a Knight, Red Wizard, White Wizard and Black Wizard, were level 46 by the end, and even then faced a tough test in defeating Chaos. Now it's on to Final Fantasy II, also on the PSP, which should be a bit more interesting for me, as I've never experienced this game before (I'd completed Final Fantasy back on the NES, many many moons ago).

4. Hanging my head in shame and defeat, I will admit to the fact that Arkham Asylum was shipped out yesterday (via Goozex trade) without actually being completed. After several failed attempts at the Joker fight, somewhere around 10-15, I had no desire to go back and try again. The overall game experience itself was still positive, but the design of the final battle still boggles me, and feels like a letdown after the high quality displayed by the rest of the game. Maybe someday I'll rent it and finish the game and the remaining Riddler challenges, but not right now. The game has been converted to 1000 Goozex points, which will help me net another few titles in the near future.

5. Last, but most certainly not least, the wife and I enjoyed a rugrat-free extended vacation last week, when my parents so graciously offered to take them off our hands. We met in the middle (we live 6 hours apart), transferred the precious cargo, and each party enjoyed a different experience from Friday evening to Wednesday afternoon. My wife and I reconnected as a couple (read: we didn't kill each other), and my parents soaked up some grandkid time. The kids probably benefitted the most, as they were able to spend time with people who weren't beaten down by life and the grind of parenthood, but were energetic, excited and ready to spoil them rotten. I took some time to indulge my gaming hobby, at one point playing for 4 hours straight with no guilt or neglecting of family duties. It will be some time before this happens again, but I certainly appreciated it.

Five Things I'm Pretty Sure I Think

Here's another installment of the Five Things I'm Pretty Sure I Think:

1. Psyched that the Patriots won this week against a very tough Ravens team, but I was disappointed in the officiating. The roughing the passer penalties were just ridiculous, and that's coming from someone who's team benefited from the calls. It's a shame when (arguably) the outcome of the game was affected by questionable calls. It's far better to win or lose based on talent and execution, as opposed to needing the ref's whistle. Here's to hoping the frequency and accuracy of these calls improve.

2. Haven't yet completed Arkham Asylum, because of my frustration with the final boss battle. Considering how great the game to this point has been, the tone of this encounter just doesn't fit with the rest of the story and atmosphere. This probably isn't the case, but considering that the mechanic is very similar to other boss battles (the swarms of thugs to fight through) and that the tone feels out of step with the rest of the narrative, this particular sequence feels rushed and not very polished. I'm going to give it another shot this evening, and hopefully put it behind me. Definitely looking forward to going back through and solving the Riddler challenges.

3. Finally moved on from being 'stuck' in Final Fantasy PSP (just plain stupidity on my part, nothing else), and made good progress over the weekend. Sitting at level 30, having completed the class change quest, getting the airship, and now moving on to lighting the other three crystals. After this, I'll move on to Final Fantasy II PSP, in an incredibly slow but dogged attempt to complete all the major numbered Final Fantasy games, with the notable exception of XI, the MMO entry. I just received an e-mail from Goozex that Final Fantasy III DS is in the mail. I own IV already (on GBA), I have requested V through Goozex, and have VI on SNES. I also have other games for the PSOne and PS2, but I do have some holes to fill in the catalog.

4. I started Dragon Quest V on DS a couple of days ago, before being consumed again by Final Fantasy. This game has a lot of promise, just from the couple of hours I've put in already. The game displays a refinement from its predecessor, which I played and thoroughly enjoyed, and the combat mechanics 'feel' good. I'll have more to say on this one as I progress further into it.

5. Though I don't normally talk about it here, work has been an absolute bear over the past few weeks, cutting drastically into my time for anything else. I think there's a light at the end of the tunnel which is encouraging for me, considering my 20-month old daughter's favorite phrase appears to be, "Bye Daddy!" Makes me proud and sad at the same time. One of my goals is to be there with them every morning when they wake up, and be there to help read stories and put them to bed every night. It makes putting in the extra hours at work a challenge, but I hope the results will be kids that know and love me, and see me as a part of their lives, instead of an outsider looking in.

That's all for now. Talk to you all again soon. I'd love to hear from you (if there's anyone out there reading this), so please leave comments if you feel so inclined.

Monday Musings

Well, I didn't complete HL2 like I had intended to over the weekend, although I'm not sure I eve had much chance to do that, considering how I digest game content. I did, however, advance to Ravenholm, one of my favorite sections during my first playthrough, so I'm definitely looking forward to that.

In my defense, I did have a lot of distractions that kept me from putting in a goodly amount of game time. My kids, for one (or two, since they're twins), justifiably garnered much of Daddy's attention. The Red Sox games on Friday and Saturday nights also ate into game time. The fact that I impulsively went out and picked up Portal cost me some advancement in HL2 also, since Portal is one of my favorite experiences in gaming. Even after convincing myself that I should wait to install Portal until after HL2 was done, I couldn't resist. In only a short half-hour of actual gaming, I found myself at the start of the 14th test chamber, and I also found myself loving the experience nearly as much as the first time through. The game plays a bit differently on the PC with mouse and keyboard than it did on the 360 with the controller, probably for the better. I'm not one of those hardcore gamers who think mouse and keyboard always beat the controller, probably because I'm not a hardcore 1st person shooter player. I enjoy my games both with a mouse and with a gamepad, but I digress. That's a topic for another day...

Going back to the Sox, I was pleased to see them earn a split in Tampa, as they didn't fare very well in the Trop during the regular season (in all fairness though, nobody did, considering the Rays' 57-24 home record). Dice-K spun a gem on Friday, which was equaled in anthesis by Josh Beckett's 4-1/3 inning, 8 run performance on Saturday. On the upside, the offense woke up on Saturday, and if the hitters can keep that momentum going in the friendly confines of Fenway, the series may not make it back to Tampa.

The Patriots came out in San Diego and got creamed by the Chargers, 30-10, which only confirmed my suspicion that this is a team that's going to be mediocre for the rest of this season. It's difficult to see this team, who have been among the best in the NFL for so long, struggle so mightily on both sides of the ball. Maybe the defense will figure things out and maybe Cassell will grow into his new role as starter, but I see more painful performances in the future.

As the blog moves forward, I hope to provide more 'feature-type' content as opposed to the off-the-cuff daily ramblings that make up the majority of the posts so far. I have some ideas to flesh out the content provided, now the onus is on me to bring them to fruition. That is something I've struggled with all my life (I'm full of great ideas, but often lack the follow through to see them to completion), and this blog is my latest attempt to break that cycle. Wish me luck as I push forward.

Enough of my ramblings. I'll be back soon, hopefully with something more structured and 'meaty'.