What the Hell
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
Mass Effect 3 Ending
So the web has been crazy with controversy over the way Mass Effect 3 ended. I'm going to have to say I don't see what all the complaining is about. The post credit cut scene alone was enough to let us know the story ISN'T over. I have a feeling the ramifications of the public outcry have definitely already made an impact on how future games in the series/new DLC will be handled. I love the fact we can give real time feedback to game developers about our experience so they can do better or different next time. I just think it is unfair for us as consumers to demand that our expected outcome options become a reality. While Mass Effect is different in that you own some portion of the story telling I think it's best to remember that it's not our story. We did not spend thousands of hours crafting these characters and we aren't the ones who know the future of the franchise. I for one would excited based of the current ending to see how the future would pan out after what happened, but apparently others just can't be bothered to have some patience and see what could have been. Now I'm almost certain the free DLC that will be coming out in the future will clear things up, but at what cost to the future of the franchise?
Friday, April 13, 2012
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Monday, April 09, 2012
Sunday, April 08, 2012
8 years ago was a very strange day in blog history
If you read the post from April 8, 2004 the trend seems to be that everybody had obviously had a case of WBS: Whiny Baby Syndrome. I tried to read all the post but there was so much negativity going on I couldn't bare to read it all. I was kind of considered to be a lesser member of the group back in those days but I have to say at least I was(usually) more emotionally stable then most of the people involved in that donkey show of a day. Needless to say I will not review that day in blog history nor will I review any other. It brings back all of the complaints about people back then that I never was willing to air because well, people were too damned sensitive.
Speaking of the past. I went to Albia today and saw Shannon's and my family. It was fun to see everybody but it also like the blog reminded me of lesser times in my life. As much as I miss the high school days in Nick's basement, I can't say I have too many more fond memories of Albia. I used to look back on things regretfully wishing that just one person in my time there would have recognized my abilities and potential. Luckily I had a group of people that I could relate with/outlets to friendships I had formed in Ottumwa. Now I just look back at it with sadness. There is nothing there for me. MOST of the people who are still there still look at the world from the same narrow lens that they were looking through 8 years ago when I finally left.
Speaking of the past. I went to Albia today and saw Shannon's and my family. It was fun to see everybody but it also like the blog reminded me of lesser times in my life. As much as I miss the high school days in Nick's basement, I can't say I have too many more fond memories of Albia. I used to look back on things regretfully wishing that just one person in my time there would have recognized my abilities and potential. Luckily I had a group of people that I could relate with/outlets to friendships I had formed in Ottumwa. Now I just look back at it with sadness. There is nothing there for me. MOST of the people who are still there still look at the world from the same narrow lens that they were looking through 8 years ago when I finally left.
Saturday, April 07, 2012
Timestamps on Blogger
I started this blog this morning then walked away and completely changed it, however it maintained the time stamp from when I initially started it this morning. Weird.
The Miniseries
I just watched the hunger games and while it was pretty good it was also rushed. Strange thing to say about a movie that over 2 hours long but it's the truth. The build up was great but they rushed through some of the good stuff. Granted I haven't read the books but I feel like there was probably a great deal more involved with developing the characters. Perhaps in the end it won't matter but it frustrated me.
My initial thought was that perhaps this would have been better suited as a television series, but what you run into with that is story lines being prolonged for no good reason. Then I realized it may be more suited to be a miniseries. With a miniseries you lose the obligations of a set number of episodes that TV shows often require. You also don't have to deal with time restrictions that a movie forces you into. You have as much or as little time as you need to complete the project. I understand from a business perspective why they aren't used as much but really it could be the perfect setting for a book to film adaptation.
My initial thought was that perhaps this would have been better suited as a television series, but what you run into with that is story lines being prolonged for no good reason. Then I realized it may be more suited to be a miniseries. With a miniseries you lose the obligations of a set number of episodes that TV shows often require. You also don't have to deal with time restrictions that a movie forces you into. You have as much or as little time as you need to complete the project. I understand from a business perspective why they aren't used as much but really it could be the perfect setting for a book to film adaptation.
Friday, April 06, 2012
Minutes to Spare
I nearly already failed my quest on the first day no less. It's currently 11:48 and I don't even have topic. This feels a lot like high school. I would often wake up with a make or break my grade paper due in an hour and not be done. I would usually succeed in these situation. I was good at using the internet search engines to complete papers, even without Wikipedia available to me. Kids these days seem to have it easy in these matters, so long as the student isn't straight plagiarizing. I usually successfully put in some complete bull shit to throw the scent of plagiarism. I often times forget how clever I was back then. If only I had the communication skill back then to convince people I wasn't a complete waste of DNA. I suppose that will be my first of 15 days. A fairly weak entry but an entry none the less.
Thursday, April 05, 2012
Post A Day
I, Kevin Henderson, hereby do vow to blog 1 time every day for the next 15 days. Tomorrow will be the first day of my pledge.
Monday, April 02, 2012
Wrestlemania
So I watched Wrestlemania last night and it was for a change of pace actually good. The matches were good, they didn't waste too much time, all in all it was a pretty good show. Some moments were memorable even for an old school fan like myself. This lead me to decide to post my top 10 WWE moments of all time.
Honorable Mention: Mr. Perfect vs Bret Hart (Summerslam '91), Kurt Angle's Milk Truck, Booker T calls Hulk Hogan a Nigga(OK not really but it's funny)
10. Jericho wins the title.....no wait, but he
Back in the day I never missed a Raw and I nearly skipped this one. I remember the feeling on the show that night. Chris Jericho was playing a face and he was finally getting his shot at the title against HHH. Jericho beat Triple H that night and the crowd went absolutely ballistic. Only thing is that once we got back from commercial HHH forced the ref to overturn the decision. It was bittersweet but I actually cared about the product and the character back then. It would be a while before Jericho would, well I'll get to that later.
9. Papa Shango puts a curse on the Warrior.
Man, oh man did that shit terrify me. You don't need the full story odds are if you read this blog you know what I'm talking about.
8. Is that a tooth in his nose?
Mick Foley vs Undertaker's hell in a cell match was an instant classic. While the two of them will not earn any points from the perspective of a wrestling purist it was still an iconic moment.
7. HBK wins the World Title at Wrestlemania 12
He beat Bret Hart in the first ever(it think) 60 minute Iron Man match. It was an iconic match and the beginning of a new era. It was the last time I probably enjoyed a match with the naive eyes of a child. His emotional celebration after his victory was truly an amazing way to end the Bret Hart era.
6. Shane McMahon coast to coast on Vince
Why? Because I didn't expect it. I can usually call a move in advance but this shocked the hell out of me. The below video illustrates a coast to cost.
5. Warrior beats Hogan
22 years ago the industry was all about 1 man, Hulk Hogan. That was until The Ultimate Warrior. We loved this guy and as an adult I can't for the life of me figure out why. His promos are nonsense, I guess it was just the energy. This was the moment that finally put another "good guy" on top. Sure there was Macho Man before this but Hogan never would have even dreamed of putting Savage over. This moment is truly priceless and allowed WWE to begin to flourish.
4. Chris Jericho beats the Rock and Austin back to back.
I watched this PPV with Eric Jourdan, Scooby, Britt Ogle, Joe Bricker, and a few others. I'm also pretty sure I was stoned like a mutha-fucka. I walked in arguing that Jericho would be the man to unify the titles and they all doubted me. Jericho had for years been a top name in the WWE but hadn't yet been given his due. He beat the Rock and my confidence soared as all the others in the room doubted me. Suddenly the sound of broken glass hits and out comes Austin, just seconds after Jericho beat the Rock. Well my confidence wavered for just a minute. Ultimately Jericho would unify the titles and finally solidify his legacy as one of the greats.
3. Macho Man wins the World Title @ Wrestlemania 4.
In my childhood I had a strange infatuation with tournament brackets. So WM4 was definitely up my alley. Hogan was eliminated early in the tournament in a double DQ with Andre. So my little heart was crushed early on watching this one. However, Macho Man would go on to win with a Hulk Hogan assist(which further proves my argument that Hogan would never have personally put Macho Man over)
2. Undertaker goes 20-0 at Wrestlemania
The streak would continue last night and I don't think I need to say anymore.
1. Shawn Michels vs Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania 19
In my opinion the single greatest match of all time. This was a true match that showed two different generations greatest going head to head. HBK was Jericho's hero when he was coming up and if you watch Jericho wrestle you can really tell. Jericho developed his own style off of watching Michaels and adapting it to his own strengths as he traveled the world before his ECW days. Michaels was a seasoned vet at this point and had seen it all. The two of them together was as pure as it gets. The match itself was a mixture of old school grappling, combined with high flying antics, and mixed in with a little submission. For me this was probably truly the swan song for my fandom. I still watch the PPVs with Ryan from time to time, and get a little nostalgic, but the fact of the matter is I will probably never enjoy anything WWE does again as much as I enjoyed this match.
Honorable Mention: Mr. Perfect vs Bret Hart (Summerslam '91), Kurt Angle's Milk Truck, Booker T calls Hulk Hogan a Nigga(OK not really but it's funny)
10. Jericho wins the title.....no wait, but he
Back in the day I never missed a Raw and I nearly skipped this one. I remember the feeling on the show that night. Chris Jericho was playing a face and he was finally getting his shot at the title against HHH. Jericho beat Triple H that night and the crowd went absolutely ballistic. Only thing is that once we got back from commercial HHH forced the ref to overturn the decision. It was bittersweet but I actually cared about the product and the character back then. It would be a while before Jericho would, well I'll get to that later.
9. Papa Shango puts a curse on the Warrior.
Man, oh man did that shit terrify me. You don't need the full story odds are if you read this blog you know what I'm talking about.
8. Is that a tooth in his nose?
Mick Foley vs Undertaker's hell in a cell match was an instant classic. While the two of them will not earn any points from the perspective of a wrestling purist it was still an iconic moment.
7. HBK wins the World Title at Wrestlemania 12
He beat Bret Hart in the first ever(it think) 60 minute Iron Man match. It was an iconic match and the beginning of a new era. It was the last time I probably enjoyed a match with the naive eyes of a child. His emotional celebration after his victory was truly an amazing way to end the Bret Hart era.
6. Shane McMahon coast to coast on Vince
Why? Because I didn't expect it. I can usually call a move in advance but this shocked the hell out of me. The below video illustrates a coast to cost.
5. Warrior beats Hogan
22 years ago the industry was all about 1 man, Hulk Hogan. That was until The Ultimate Warrior. We loved this guy and as an adult I can't for the life of me figure out why. His promos are nonsense, I guess it was just the energy. This was the moment that finally put another "good guy" on top. Sure there was Macho Man before this but Hogan never would have even dreamed of putting Savage over. This moment is truly priceless and allowed WWE to begin to flourish.
4. Chris Jericho beats the Rock and Austin back to back.
I watched this PPV with Eric Jourdan, Scooby, Britt Ogle, Joe Bricker, and a few others. I'm also pretty sure I was stoned like a mutha-fucka. I walked in arguing that Jericho would be the man to unify the titles and they all doubted me. Jericho had for years been a top name in the WWE but hadn't yet been given his due. He beat the Rock and my confidence soared as all the others in the room doubted me. Suddenly the sound of broken glass hits and out comes Austin, just seconds after Jericho beat the Rock. Well my confidence wavered for just a minute. Ultimately Jericho would unify the titles and finally solidify his legacy as one of the greats.
3. Macho Man wins the World Title @ Wrestlemania 4.
In my childhood I had a strange infatuation with tournament brackets. So WM4 was definitely up my alley. Hogan was eliminated early in the tournament in a double DQ with Andre. So my little heart was crushed early on watching this one. However, Macho Man would go on to win with a Hulk Hogan assist(which further proves my argument that Hogan would never have personally put Macho Man over)
2. Undertaker goes 20-0 at Wrestlemania
The streak would continue last night and I don't think I need to say anymore.
1. Shawn Michels vs Chris Jericho at Wrestlemania 19
In my opinion the single greatest match of all time. This was a true match that showed two different generations greatest going head to head. HBK was Jericho's hero when he was coming up and if you watch Jericho wrestle you can really tell. Jericho developed his own style off of watching Michaels and adapting it to his own strengths as he traveled the world before his ECW days. Michaels was a seasoned vet at this point and had seen it all. The two of them together was as pure as it gets. The match itself was a mixture of old school grappling, combined with high flying antics, and mixed in with a little submission. For me this was probably truly the swan song for my fandom. I still watch the PPVs with Ryan from time to time, and get a little nostalgic, but the fact of the matter is I will probably never enjoy anything WWE does again as much as I enjoyed this match.
