For those wondering where I vanished off to, unsurprisingly I've been busting @$$ at work. I've had the distinct pleasure of working between 60 and 80 hour work weeks for the past month and a half... and by distinct pleasure I of course mean I'm done with this $#!+.

The Windows 7 deployment is now in pilot, we have 25 users in our MSP office running on Win 7 and all the new applications that go with it. Aside from saying it's been a lot of work to get to where we are and there is much more work to be done before this is all over, I'm not going to say too much more for fear of jinxing the whole damn thing.

Wish I had more to say, but sadly this is really just another "Yup, work is still eating my face" post.

Oh, actually I do have something else to mention. New glasses.

The end of February I got my prescription updated, both my eyes have gotten a little worse not much though; neither eye has exceeded a 1.5 diopter correction. I've always been a huge fan of Oakley eye ware, and I found a local place in Eagan that does prescription Oakley lenses for both normal and sunglasses. I took the opportunity to get 3 new pairs of glasses.

For my normal glasses, I picked up Oakley Jackknife 4.0 (Pewter finish)
For sunglasses, I picked up Oakley Polarized Half-X (Carbon finish)

My 3rd pair of glasses are a little different. I've been reading about 'computer glasses' for a couple of years, but I'd never really done/thought anything about them as I was sure they were just some fad that would go away. However, at my eye exam my optometrist referred me to a website, http://www.allaboutvision.com. After my eye exam I check it out, and what did I find? They have a section about Computer Glasses. So when I walked into Heavy Glare and saw that they also do prescription lenses for Gunnars brand computer glasses, I decided to take the plunge and get a pair made.

So, my 3rd pair of glasses are Gunnars Stylus (Gloss Onyx frame/Amber lenses)

I literally just picked up the normal and computer glasses yesterday afternoon on the way home from work, sunglasses are still at the lab and should hopefully be done by the end of the week. For those interested, I'll post my thoughts about my Gunnars after I've had them for a couple of months and really had a chance to get used to them, but I will say this about them, I'm already finding text a LOT easier to read on monitors with them.

That's it from me for now, back to the grind.

Tags: glasses, work
The Dragon is: tired

Rock, Paper, Shotgun broke the news a couple of days ago now, but it appears that EA is in the process of making a new Command and Conquer game. Current speculation is that it will be a reboot of the franchise.

I'm simultaneously excited and dreading getting further details about this game. C&C was one of the last franchises to use live actors for their cut scenes to tell the games story. The list of who has appeared in the various C&C games is far too numerous and awesome to list, but there are many very well known actors/actresses who have. C&C 3, Red Alert 3, and their expansions have been some of the best RTS gaming I've played in a long time.

So why am I dreading it if I love C&C so much?? Well, did ya see C&C 4: Tiberium Twilight?? When I gave my thoughts on this game a while back I called it "not only a colossal let down, but an out right betrayal by EA to the series fans." Words I still stand by. If C&C 4 was a movie, I'd be comparing it to Skyline or Battlefield Earth... yes, it was THAT bad.

Additionally, if they are rebooting the franchise I have a feeling they'll do away with the use of live actors for their cut scenes, a move that I would understand from a financial standpoint but lament none the less. It also means they'll probably try to mess with the game play mechanics again. While hopefully not as horrid as C&C 4, I doubt they'll be able to match the refinement they achieved with C&C 3: Kane's Wrath.

For now, I'll keep myself from getting excited in any way about this news. Prior to C&C 4, I would have been jumping for joy, but I'm going to need more details out of EA about the gameplay and story before I can get excited about a new Command and Conquer game; reboot or not.

Tags: video games
The Dragon is: awake

Yup, that's right kids, I'm back in Texas. Austin this time. What am I doing down here?? Why helping with my firm's opening of our 9th office!! For those of you going: Wait a sec, didn't you just do that?? Scroll down, that was office #8 in Dallas. Yes, we opened 2 new offices in 4 weeks. Yeah, it's been a lot of work, but it's been fun too.

I fly home today, the office having opened for it's first official day of business yesterday. Looking forward to having a day off to recover a little (as I'm on day 10 of my current work week). Have to work Friday night though, helping out with network switch upgrades.

Traveling for work is not done yet though... This spring, we will be deploying major software upgrades (Windows 7, Office 2010, and many many more) to all our offices, which will involve a great deal of travel. Tenative schedule for the deployment starts in April and runs through the beginning of July, with travel on average every 3rd week.

Lots to look forward to after the rollout, aside from the completion of what will be (for me) the end of an almost 2 year project. I will be attending GenCon Indy 2011!! So looking forward to going, I haven't been to GenCon in 10 years and it's been a couple of years since I've been able to attend any other gaming con (I've missed Con of the North for the last couple of years due to work). I'll also be back at Ren Fest this year, in addition to being with the Royal Guard (as normal), rakafkaven and I are planning on doing a street fight; very excited.

Couple of things I have to wrap up before I head off to the airport, so I have to end this here.

Tags: gencon, renfest, work
Current Location: AUS Server Room
The Dragon is: exhausted

So, I did have every intention of continuing to post... but I've been a little busy since last Thursday.

I'm writing this from the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, waiting to board a flight home. What am I doing in Texas you ask? Well if you looked at the subject of the post, you'd know I'm working. For those keen minded people thinking "Wait a second, Bowman and Brooke doesn't have an office in Texas", you would be correct... until tomorrow. February 1st marks the opening of Bowman and Brooke's Dallas office, the firm's 8th; and I've been down here since last Thursday with a team of IT/Executive/HR staff getting the office setup.

So yeah, been kinda busy.

I was originally supposed to be coming home on the 4th, but I'm being sent home early to prep for.... well... something else. It's not public yet, so I'm not allowed to discuss it.

On the up side, I think I found the next car I'm going to buy when I need to replace my aging Ford Escort ZX2. Seeming random non sequitur is not random... allow me to explain. While I've been here in Dallas, I've had the pleasure of driving a 2011 Ford Edge (rented from National Car Rental). Even without having a Microsoft Sync account to fully take advantage of all the feature of the vehicle's onboard systems, it was still an awesome car.

Anywho, got a little under and hour to kill before my flight boards, and then into the office. It is Monday after all.... lord I hate Mondays. And I will pistol whip anyone who makes a crack about me having a "Case of the Mondays"

Tags: work
The Dragon is: tired
Current Location: DFW Airport

So, I saw Tron:Legacy at midnight last night. It was everything I was hoping it to be. Is it gonna win Oscars?? No; well, maybe for special effects (assuming the Academy doesn't find a way to disqualify them again), but certainly not for anything else.

If you saw the original and didn't like it... well... don't see this one. To you soul-less technology hating film snob monsters, this movie will appear to be nothing than more of the same that suffers from all the short comings of the original. To all of you who fall into this category, you can just stop reading now... and you're off my Christmas card list (not that I send them out, but that's besides the point)...did I mention that I think you're a soul-less technology hating film snob monster?? End of Line.

It's a good popcorn/action movie, going in with proper expectations is key to enjoying it. If you've seen the original Tron and liked it, you'll enjoy Tron: Legacy; nothing is really done to improve over the original (save for the visuals) and there's some great references to quirks from the original, and a couple of other '80s films like War Games. If you haven't seen the original; my advice if you plan to see this is just shut off your brain and take everything at face value.

Additionally, if you're questioning whether to see it in 3D or not... Go 3D, IMAX if you can. Normally, I'm not a huge shipper on the whole 3D craze... but for this movie, especially the way they use it, it does add to the experience.

I'll post my full thoughts/feelings about the film in another thread to avoid spoilers here.

The Dragon is: geeky
Current Music: End of Line ~ Daft Punk

Well here we go again.

Dad's going under this morning for an estimated 8 hours open heart surgery to repair an aortic aneurysm. Prognosis is good and the procedure is being done at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN... so dad's in the best hands possible as far as who's caring for him. Doctors give him 90% chance of surviving the procedure, it's 10% less than what I'm comfortable with... but hell, it's better odds than what they gave him when they did his quadruple bypass and his aortic valve replacement, and he came through those like a champ... but then again, he had a lot more to live for back then. Mom's been gone a little over a year, and Dad's gotten so much worse since she passed.

Dad's made it clear he's choosing quality of life over quantity, as right now he's been reduced to being nothing more than a couch potato. It's an easy decision to understand, and I'd probably choose the same myself in his position, but it's hard for me to grasp none the less.

This is going to be an interesting day. Fingers crossed. Hopefully I'll be able to focus on work, lord knows I have plenty to work on.

**Update: 21:04**

Well, it's not what we'd hoped for; but better than it could have been. Keep your fingers crossed, we're not out of the woods yet.

**Update: 04:36 08/31/2010**

My father's rally was a temporary one. While the physical surgery was a success, his heart just wasn't up to the task despite the repairs. He passed away in the late evening of August 30th, 2010.

Tags: dad
The Dragon is: stressed

While video games have always been a very prevalent hobby of mine, I also enjoy non-video games as well of most verities (board, card, and Role-Playing). "Game Nights" with friends is by far one of my favorite social activities. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that I play Magic the Gathering, been playing it off and on since Beta, but I'm in a Magic slow phase right now and don't play all that much... mostly due to a lack of a play group, and more importantly TIME to actually finding time to play.

In terms of Board Games (or other Boxed games like Apples to Apples) here a few that I've been enjoying a great deal lately:

Twilight Imperium, 3rd Edition: Made by Fantasy Flight Games, TI is a board game that can only be best described as the Sci-Fi love child of Axis & Allies and Settlers of Catan (both good games in their own right). To say that this game is incredibly complex would be an understatement, there's a lot going on with this game...but in it's complexity comes the fun; you never play the same game twice as the methods for obtaining Victory Point (the means by which you win the game) change from game to game. Also adding to the variance is that every player plays a different alien race, which are all drastically different. I get a chance to play TI about once every other month, and I greatly look forward to it every time.
With it's expansion, the game supports 2-8 players (4-6 I find plays best) with games usually taking 4-8 hours to play (and ~30 minutes to setup.) The game itself is quite expensive, $89.95 for the core game, $59.95 for the expansion.

Race for the Galaxy: Race for the Galaxy is a boxed card game by Rio Grand Games that is almost the exact opposite of TI, but just as fun in some ways. Relatively quick to setup (5 minutes, if that) and quick to play (30-60 minutes on average, but I've had games take as short as 15 minutes). Getting a hang of the games mechanics takes a game or two, but once you do game plays easy and quickly. Supports 2-4 players ( up to 5 or 6 with expansions) Game is on the cheaper side, the core game is $34.95 and has 3 expansions that are $24.95 each.

Dominion: Another boxed card game by Rio Grand Games. Each player starts with an identical, very small deck of cards. In the center of the table is a selection of other cards the players can "buy" as they can afford them. Through their selection of cards to buy, and how they play their hands as they draw them, the players construct their deck on the fly, striving for the most efficient path to the precious victory points by game end. One of the great things about this game is that the selection of cards you can buy to build your deck can change from game to game (depends on how you decide to set it up), and as such, cards that are great in one game can be undesirable in another. Leads to great fun. Supports 2-4 players (6 with expansion). Game takes 5-10 minutes to setup and plays for 30-45 minutes per game on average. The core game is $44.95 and has 2 expansions that cost $44.95 and a 3rd expansion for $29.95

Betrayal at House on the Hill: A "dynamic board" board game by Avalon Hill (now Wizards of the Coast). This game portrays the stereotypical "horror movie". You and your friends are trapped in the Haunted House on the Hill, but one of you has other plans in mind. The game is very interesting that in that everyone starts out on the same team as you explore/build the house, that is until "The Haunt" is revealed and the real fun begins. The game has 50 different end games or "Haunts" that dictate who the traitor is (the traitor is not always the person who triggers the haunt) and what the conditions of winning the game become. Which Haunt you end up with depends on a couple of factors, so the chances of you getting the same haunt multiple games in a row is very slim. Game supports 3-6 players and takes 2-3 hours to play a game on average. It's currently out of print, but Wizards of the Coast will be releasing a slightly updated reprint on October 5th, 2010. Not sure of the cost, but if I had to guess it'll be in the $50-60 range.

So, if you and a group of friends are looking for a new game to play, I highly recommend any of these.

Tags: games
The Dragon is: nerdy
Current Music: Shambala ~ Rockapella

This past weekend was opening weekend of the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, and for the first time in over a decade I was NOT there as a participant. There was so much thought that went into my decision not to participate this year, and to be honest I'm still struggling with it.

There were were really two things that kept me from participating this year:
The first was, I'd been kinda wanting a year off for a while now. I can't really point to any one reason for this feeling, more a combination of creative burnout, wanting to engage in other hobbies (Paintball being the biggest) that I haven't gotten the opportunity to in some time, and stress in other parts of my life forcing my social introvert to the surface (which makes performing hard when all I can focus on is getting alone time.)

The second, and by far the larger factor, is my job. I have a huge project going on here at work that is demanding a large portion of my focus right now, and in very short order is going to begin demanding a lot of time to get it completed on time. I NEED this project to go well.

I KNOW that not participating this year is the right decision....and yet... I'm feeling very frustrated by the decision. I think mostly because I'm feeling like the decision was forced on me by demands of my professional life; but there's more to it. I get this distinct feeling that I've let a lot of people down by not being there this year; specifically the other members of the Royal Guard. I've made no secret of my not being at Fest this year being a strong possibility since our first meeting back in January and have kept them apprised as things have slowly spiraled out of control; and yet at the meeting when I announced that 100% for certain I wouldn't be performing this year, the collective response from the group was one of surprise and disappointment. There are so many things I WANTED to this year at fest, getting involved in street fights being the largest of them.

Which brings me to Saturday, opening day. I WAS there, but with some of lawsoprano's and my friends from her Law School class. I again struggled with going at all, I felt like if I was there I should be there in costume, with the Guard. I did my best to have a good time, and I kinda did, but I can't escape worrying that it was a mistake, and that some of the Guard will see it as a snub to them.

The next 6 weeks are going to be hell for a number of reasons... and through Thanksgiving is going to be rough.

Ugh... I didn't want this to turn into another brooding post... got enough of those. Best to end this one here.

Tags: renfest
Current Music: When David Heard ~ Eric Whitacre
The Dragon is: stressed

So as I posted a few months ago, with my having left WoW I had a laundry list of games that I wanted to get to playing.

Mass Effect 2: I REALLY enjoyed this game. A lot. Twice. I HIGHLY recommend this game if you haven't played it yet. The blend between 3rd Person Shooting action and RPG elements is just shy of perfect. If you haven't played the first Mass Effect yet and are considering picking up 2... pick up 1 and play it first.

Unlike a log of games these days, the path you take and choices you make through the game matters. Decisions you make in the first game have direct impact on some of the story elements of 2, and while you can start 2 w/o importing a save from 1, you'll be coming into the story blind and there is a default for carry over plot elements from the first that are forced on you.

ME2 is a master piece from Bioware, and unless you have some specific aversion to generic genre (Sci-Fi, RPGs, 3rd Person Shooters) or don't have the time to invest...You NEED to play this game.

Bioshock 2: On the flip side of ME2, Bioshock 2 was a gigantic let down. There was nothing really compelling about this game. There are really no new mechanical elements to the game to make if feel fresh or somehow distinguish itself from the original Bioshock, Bioware was relying on the game's story to reel you in and keep you playing....unfortunately the plot just wasn't compelling to me.

I stopped playing the game about midway through the 3rd chapter. I had high hopes for this game, considering how good the original was.

Command and Conquer 4: For every bit as bad as Bioshock 2 was... Command and Conquer 4 was 100x worse. Billed as the finale if C&C's Tiberium story line, this game was not only a colossal let down, but an out right betrayal by EA to the series fans.

There was no part of this game that was good. The game mechanics were changed SO much that it's hard to even call this game C&C. The story was terrible (only reason I know is I looked up all the FMV cut scenes on YouTube because I wanted to know how the story ended but I couldn't stomach playing the game). Hell, it wasn't even stable on release... even after patching.

Shame EA... Shame on you as a company and all the individuals who was involved in the creation of this insult.

Heavy Rain: This was a nice game, with some wonderfully retro game play. While it didn't live up to the hype for me, it was still a fun and enjoyable game. At it's core, it's a mystery story viewed from the perspective of 4 different characters. The game play was reminiscent of games such as Dragon's Lair or Space Ace; and as such the game feels very much like an interactive movie.

Don't take the interactive movie part to mean that your decisions/(in)ability to pull off the action sequences don't matter... they do. There are 17 different ending snippets that are mixed and matched depending how each of the character's stories turn out. My only real complaint about Heavy Rain was that it felt too short.

If you own a PS3; rent, borrow, or buy this game used.

Final Fantasy XIII: This was one of two games that I bought my PS3 to play. To be honest, I should have just played it and not read any of the reviews. Apparently the "tutorial" section of the game where they introduce you to all the game mechanics and set up the story is ~35 hours. I read this about 7 hours into the game and for some reason felt very discouraged. I WISH I would have kept playing because it was also at a very awkward part of the story that I put the game down.

I've recently picked back up playing FF13 a couple of weeks ago, and so far I'm glad I did. Ultimately I can't tell you if this game is worth it or not yet, but I'm going to give it a fair chance and work my way through it.

StarCraft 2: This wasn't the slam dunk for me that it was for others. Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed the game immensely, but if you're considering grabbing it there are some things you should be aware of.

The biggest is the lack of LAN support. If you want to play with your friends, it has to be through Battle.Net even if you're on the same network. The second is that there is no true "offline" mode. If you want to play SC2 (even the single player campaign) you have to be connected to the internet and signed into Battle.Net

For me, both of these things were annoying, but not show stoppers; but I know a few people who have refused to get the game for one or both of the above reasons. In terms of the game itself... It's freaking StarCraft, it's awesome. The campaign is wonderfully done and enjoyable. Multi-player is just as deep and comprehensive as the original.

-------

As of right now I'm working on FF13, with Transformers War for Cybertron on the side if I get bored. While I also reactivated my WoW account and played a fair bit in June and July... it was fairly causally and there was a ton of new content that I wanted to see... and have now seen. I still want to play WoW more... but my game time has been severely limited the past few weeks by the dreaded disease known as "Real Life."

Feel free to ask if you want to know more about any of the games I've played that I mentioned in this post.

Tags: video games
The Dragon is: sleepy

Okay Okay... I know... it's been 8 months since my last update. I know I say this in just about every post... but I should really post more often.

Part of the problem, as I've stated in the past, is that I have problems sharing; especially when it comes to myself. I feel like this is something that I should work on. So, rather than making one horrendously long post, I'm going to try and do a bunch of smaller posts over the next few days.

So I think that's what I'll post about today... my sharing problems.

A lot of it stems from a lot of stuff that I used to think about posting was concerning my opinions about things. I've always been comfortable sharing my opinions about things when asked, but I usually don't just put things out there; for some reason I have a weird stigma in my head about it being inappropriate or something.

Part of it is a conflict avoidance thing as well. I know that my opinions on certain matters that I do get vocal about (i.e. politics) is VERY different from many of my friends, and I don't like arguing with friends. On some level I need to get over that and have faith that my friends and I can have differing opinions on certain topics, have discussions (heated or otherwise) about them, and remain friends.

Then there's also the minor part where I feel like my life is fairly boring and no one wants to read about it.

Anywho, point is, yet again going to try to use my LJ more and talk about more stuff other than the 40,000 ft over view of the events of my life.

The Dragon is: thoughtful