America chose, huzzah
Now we found out if we made the right choice.
Other people can put it more eloquently than I can, but the reason Obama was able to get to so many different kinds of people was his accessibility. I really hope he can carry that to the white house.
Reacting to his acceptance speech, I have to say that I definitely agree with him, RE: the state of our nation. I do believe that our generation and those surrounding it have had it pretty darn "easy"
2 wars, each with no significant national impact, banking and financial sector running free and wild, we are a land of opulence and we've taken it too far. Its time for sacrifices, I've already made several just so I can keep living the way I like to, its not about to end so I'm getting used to it.
Hopefully the rest of America, especially those living in the "real america" will understand and board the train to hopeville, we want you there you know.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
politik
Hello, my name is Chris Schaller and Im a registered Independent who voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election. I live in North Carolina, a battleground state.
Got that out of the way.
I have always classified myself as an independent, or more favorably a moderate. I classify myself this way because I feel that the two party system is a dismal failure, as it breads pandering and catering to special interests to get elected rather than truly representing the voice of the people. Ideally there would be any number of candidates from any number of parties representing all the dissenting opinions in this great land, but then we come to the problem of the Electoral College which throws all that into the shitter.
Needless to say I alone wont be changing how our goverment works any time soon so I have to live with what we got. I voted the way I did in this election because I feel that of the two candidates (and their running mates) the Democratic ticket best represents what I want to happen to government. I agree with the message of change that Obama has put forth and agree with a majority of his policies.
now conservatives, dont get me wrong, I am a moderate and as is such there are a number of things I agree with John McCain on. Had he been given the nomination in 2004 I would have voted for him. I like the "maverick" but I believe that he has changed some of his idealogies with the intention of winning the election. I am not as familar with conservative circles and beliefs as some of you out in internet land but I believe Sarah Palin lost the election for McCain. She certainly is popular with the "people" of "real America" and thats the ticket that supposedly George II rode to the white house twice, but as an "elite" I guess member of society, I have to say the potential for her to lead this nation scares the shit out of me.
If there is one thing in politics (impossible) that angers me the most it is the negative campaigning. In all the rhetoric I have heard and read in this election from the McCain camp (minus the debates) its been all about how we shouldn't vote for Obama, not why we should vote for McCain. McCain rallies full of people saying how they're scared of an Obama presidency. Thats the most ludicris shit I have ever heard of. Im not frightened of a McCain presidency (just a Palin one)
Its very hard for me to put into words because I prefer not to talk about this stuff but as a moderate (and I do believe I am one) the division in this country that is being talked about and created by the McCain camp is the real enemy. To actually believe that there are parts of this nation that are "un-American" hurts me deeply
To quantify my politics in a sentance I would say this, I despise extremes be they conservative or liberal. I cant watch MSNBC or Fox News without getting very angry at my television.
this is all I have to say for now
see you in 4 years
Got that out of the way.
I have always classified myself as an independent, or more favorably a moderate. I classify myself this way because I feel that the two party system is a dismal failure, as it breads pandering and catering to special interests to get elected rather than truly representing the voice of the people. Ideally there would be any number of candidates from any number of parties representing all the dissenting opinions in this great land, but then we come to the problem of the Electoral College which throws all that into the shitter.
Needless to say I alone wont be changing how our goverment works any time soon so I have to live with what we got. I voted the way I did in this election because I feel that of the two candidates (and their running mates) the Democratic ticket best represents what I want to happen to government. I agree with the message of change that Obama has put forth and agree with a majority of his policies.
now conservatives, dont get me wrong, I am a moderate and as is such there are a number of things I agree with John McCain on. Had he been given the nomination in 2004 I would have voted for him. I like the "maverick" but I believe that he has changed some of his idealogies with the intention of winning the election. I am not as familar with conservative circles and beliefs as some of you out in internet land but I believe Sarah Palin lost the election for McCain. She certainly is popular with the "people" of "real America" and thats the ticket that supposedly George II rode to the white house twice, but as an "elite" I guess member of society, I have to say the potential for her to lead this nation scares the shit out of me.
If there is one thing in politics (impossible) that angers me the most it is the negative campaigning. In all the rhetoric I have heard and read in this election from the McCain camp (minus the debates) its been all about how we shouldn't vote for Obama, not why we should vote for McCain. McCain rallies full of people saying how they're scared of an Obama presidency. Thats the most ludicris shit I have ever heard of. Im not frightened of a McCain presidency (just a Palin one)
Its very hard for me to put into words because I prefer not to talk about this stuff but as a moderate (and I do believe I am one) the division in this country that is being talked about and created by the McCain camp is the real enemy. To actually believe that there are parts of this nation that are "un-American" hurts me deeply
To quantify my politics in a sentance I would say this, I despise extremes be they conservative or liberal. I cant watch MSNBC or Fox News without getting very angry at my television.
this is all I have to say for now
see you in 4 years
Friday, October 31, 2008
Further experimentations in the field of yum science
last night I decided to do some cooking experimentation. I took a rather plain Mac and Cheese recipie from the box of muller elbow noodles and spiced it up a bit.
The recipe calls for a rue of butter and flour. I used flour seasoned with BBQ and Mesquite spices, as well as some salt/pepper and oregano, which gave my rue this amazing color and smell. After mixing in some milk for the cheese sauce I added the bacon I had chopped and cooked earlier with a similar spice mixture. After boiling the mixture and simmering I added the cheese, just a simple mild chedder and added it to the already boild macaroni. Baked it with a topping of italian breadcrumbs.
it was quite possibly one of the more delicious things I have ever produced.
The recipe calls for a rue of butter and flour. I used flour seasoned with BBQ and Mesquite spices, as well as some salt/pepper and oregano, which gave my rue this amazing color and smell. After mixing in some milk for the cheese sauce I added the bacon I had chopped and cooked earlier with a similar spice mixture. After boiling the mixture and simmering I added the cheese, just a simple mild chedder and added it to the already boild macaroni. Baked it with a topping of italian breadcrumbs.
it was quite possibly one of the more delicious things I have ever produced.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Vote
On Friday I voted. And unlike 4 years ago I feel that it actually mattered seeing as North Carolina is now a tossup state. The early vote thing has got to be the greatest thing to happen to the electoral college since...well ever
I hope by reading this it reminds you to do you patriotic chore by Nov. 4 Check your state Board of Elections website for early vote info.
you will note I would never dare tell anybody how to vote...just to vote
I hope by reading this it reminds you to do you patriotic chore by Nov. 4 Check your state Board of Elections website for early vote info.
you will note I would never dare tell anybody how to vote...just to vote
Thursday, October 16, 2008
A vidja game posting
Its been a while folks, time to dust this thing off with a post about what I've been playing lately.
Its that time of the year again, and by that I mean its time for blizzard to release another expansion to WoW, this won called Wrath of the Lich King focuses on arthas and northrend. Of course I've already pre-ordered mine and cant wait to start, thats a sad little peak into my life. I had the opportunity to play some of the beta and have this much to say, they made the first few levels of 70-80 much more accessible with two different starting zones, also the death knight starting zone/quest line is some of the most fun you can have in an MMO style game.
Regarding WoW's most immediate competitor, Warhammer, I have not played WAR yet, because they don't offer trial subscriptions and I'm not gonna shell out cash to play something for a week and decide I dont like it. From what I've heard its almost entirely pvp balanced and focused, which WoW is not and that's what they are selling the game on: a fully realized pvp experience with a lackluster pve component. The reason why WoW is winning is that it can appeal to both audiences as well as the moderates. The hardcore pvper's already left for AoC and came back so now its something new for them to do.
FYI I'm almost wholly dedicated to pve content in warcraft (armory) primarily because I'm not that good at pvp and it would take up even more of my time.
on to consoles, 2 newish games that I've been playing on the sexbox360 include TigerWoods PGA '09 and The Force Unleashed.
Tiger woods is pretty much the only sports game I'll play. Its the best golf sim I've ever played and it looks fantastic. Granted there isn't a lot of playable content but its highly repeatable. The learning curve isn't too bad and theres tons of difficulty to add in as you get better at the game. That is not to say it is without fault however. While EA picked up a ton of liscences for the game and real courses, there are a few notable things missing, namely Pinehurst, Agusta National, and the trademarked majors (British Open, Masters, US Open). The FedEx cup is there but the feeling of epic golfy-ness seems missing. The most frustrating aspect of the game however is the camera. Occasionaly the camera will jump to the worst angle possible, or trees and shit is just in the way and you cant see anything. Seeing as in the easier difficulty modes you have some control over the ball when it lands, these shots are incredibly frustrating.
The Force unleashed had so much hype attached to it, and I dont think it lived up to expectations. The story was flawed and raised more cannonical questions than you can shake a stick at. it seems it was written for the audience that loved the prequals and loves to make connections between people that shouldn't exist, while other star wars games (namely KOTOR) were designed to be enjoyed by the true fans. That aside, the gameplay is fun, if not frustrating at times when IT WONT LET YOU MOVE AND KILLS YOU!! But thats a curse of most action "platformers" using that term loosely. Interesting to note is that I myself bugged out the game on 3 different occasions, which doesn't say much for the QC teams at lucasarts. For those of you going wtf KOTOR(1 and 2) had literally hundreds of little bugs, I'm not talking about a graphical glitch, I mean purpetually falling through a graphical glitch till you reset the game. Additionally Kotor is a 40+hour game with tons of content, I finished TFU in under 20 while exploring all the content I could find (and I looked), you would think they could have fixed some of those things? Maybe I'm being unfair, I dont exactly work in the gaming industry so take my comments with a grain of salt.
That is all for now
godspeed and good luck
Its that time of the year again, and by that I mean its time for blizzard to release another expansion to WoW, this won called Wrath of the Lich King focuses on arthas and northrend. Of course I've already pre-ordered mine and cant wait to start, thats a sad little peak into my life. I had the opportunity to play some of the beta and have this much to say, they made the first few levels of 70-80 much more accessible with two different starting zones, also the death knight starting zone/quest line is some of the most fun you can have in an MMO style game.
Regarding WoW's most immediate competitor, Warhammer, I have not played WAR yet, because they don't offer trial subscriptions and I'm not gonna shell out cash to play something for a week and decide I dont like it. From what I've heard its almost entirely pvp balanced and focused, which WoW is not and that's what they are selling the game on: a fully realized pvp experience with a lackluster pve component. The reason why WoW is winning is that it can appeal to both audiences as well as the moderates. The hardcore pvper's already left for AoC and came back so now its something new for them to do.
FYI I'm almost wholly dedicated to pve content in warcraft (armory) primarily because I'm not that good at pvp and it would take up even more of my time.
on to consoles, 2 newish games that I've been playing on the sexbox360 include TigerWoods PGA '09 and The Force Unleashed.
Tiger woods is pretty much the only sports game I'll play. Its the best golf sim I've ever played and it looks fantastic. Granted there isn't a lot of playable content but its highly repeatable. The learning curve isn't too bad and theres tons of difficulty to add in as you get better at the game. That is not to say it is without fault however. While EA picked up a ton of liscences for the game and real courses, there are a few notable things missing, namely Pinehurst, Agusta National, and the trademarked majors (British Open, Masters, US Open). The FedEx cup is there but the feeling of epic golfy-ness seems missing. The most frustrating aspect of the game however is the camera. Occasionaly the camera will jump to the worst angle possible, or trees and shit is just in the way and you cant see anything. Seeing as in the easier difficulty modes you have some control over the ball when it lands, these shots are incredibly frustrating.
The Force unleashed had so much hype attached to it, and I dont think it lived up to expectations. The story was flawed and raised more cannonical questions than you can shake a stick at. it seems it was written for the audience that loved the prequals and loves to make connections between people that shouldn't exist, while other star wars games (namely KOTOR) were designed to be enjoyed by the true fans. That aside, the gameplay is fun, if not frustrating at times when IT WONT LET YOU MOVE AND KILLS YOU!! But thats a curse of most action "platformers" using that term loosely. Interesting to note is that I myself bugged out the game on 3 different occasions, which doesn't say much for the QC teams at lucasarts. For those of you going wtf KOTOR(1 and 2) had literally hundreds of little bugs, I'm not talking about a graphical glitch, I mean purpetually falling through a graphical glitch till you reset the game. Additionally Kotor is a 40+hour game with tons of content, I finished TFU in under 20 while exploring all the content I could find (and I looked), you would think they could have fixed some of those things? Maybe I'm being unfair, I dont exactly work in the gaming industry so take my comments with a grain of salt.
That is all for now
godspeed and good luck
Saturday, July 12, 2008
4e redux
Im gearing up currently for my first 4e campaign and I wanted to share with you background and character info for my Dragonborn Fighter, Balthazar Al-Mua
Character Stats:
Ability Scores
STR 18
CON 14
DEX 13
INT 11
WIS 12
CHA 12
29 HP
19 AC
14 Fort
13 Ref
11 Will
weapon of choice is the battle axe with shield, I've taken the "guardian" path but will def be picking up some Damage dealing skills on the way up. Im attempting with the Battleaxe (a d10 damage weapon) to go with a hybrid build, with the ability to do damage and stay alive, we'll see how successful I am.
with this campaign our DM is planning to incorporate personal histories in the form of personal quests, one for each of the three level tiers and appropriate in difficulty. The format is for heroic tier (1-10) the quest would be to find somebody involved in your life, or in your overall goal. For paragon (10-20) tier is to find an item giving it a sort of artifact status be it related or not to your overall goals. the Epic tier (20-30) would involve doing something "epic" or world altering (i.e. your overall goal etc.)
What follows is what I've come up with for my personal quest and personality.
The Al-Mua clan of Dragonborn is as ancient as the race itself. As is such, the family is a very pure clan of warriors and defenders of the ancient empire of the Dragonborn, a family integral in its defence and government, even related by a thin branch to the ruling family. Since the disbanding of the clans, and the demolishment of the empire, the Al-Mua clan almost completely alone stood together on the island of Dalmasca intending to carry on the old ways, making it their goal and destiny to one day to reunite the clans and forge anew the great empire of the Dragonborn. To achieve this goal the clan elders have aligned themsevles with the King of the Ordelia Empire (a hodgepodge civilization); thinking that service to an established empire can afford benefits that could prove useful. To this end, the recent son of the Al-Mua clan, Balthazar, a student of the God Erathis has completed his training in the Dragonborn tradition and goes abroad in the service of King Ordelia.
The three quests that we came up with are as follows.
Heroic: I intend to seek out an avatar or recieve a prophecy of Bahamut the patron of the dragon born who will hopefully point me in the right direction to re-establish the dragonborn empire
Paragon: i will seek out the Hydra Armor of Dartharos Baldiem, the first leader of the dragonborn civilization
and of course my epic: Reunite the sprawled Dragonborn clans and establish a nation for our own use.
Character Stats:
Ability Scores
STR 18
CON 14
DEX 13
INT 11
WIS 12
CHA 12
29 HP
19 AC
14 Fort
13 Ref
11 Will
weapon of choice is the battle axe with shield, I've taken the "guardian" path but will def be picking up some Damage dealing skills on the way up. Im attempting with the Battleaxe (a d10 damage weapon) to go with a hybrid build, with the ability to do damage and stay alive, we'll see how successful I am.
with this campaign our DM is planning to incorporate personal histories in the form of personal quests, one for each of the three level tiers and appropriate in difficulty. The format is for heroic tier (1-10) the quest would be to find somebody involved in your life, or in your overall goal. For paragon (10-20) tier is to find an item giving it a sort of artifact status be it related or not to your overall goals. the Epic tier (20-30) would involve doing something "epic" or world altering (i.e. your overall goal etc.)
What follows is what I've come up with for my personal quest and personality.
The Al-Mua clan of Dragonborn is as ancient as the race itself. As is such, the family is a very pure clan of warriors and defenders of the ancient empire of the Dragonborn, a family integral in its defence and government, even related by a thin branch to the ruling family. Since the disbanding of the clans, and the demolishment of the empire, the Al-Mua clan almost completely alone stood together on the island of Dalmasca intending to carry on the old ways, making it their goal and destiny to one day to reunite the clans and forge anew the great empire of the Dragonborn. To achieve this goal the clan elders have aligned themsevles with the King of the Ordelia Empire (a hodgepodge civilization); thinking that service to an established empire can afford benefits that could prove useful. To this end, the recent son of the Al-Mua clan, Balthazar, a student of the God Erathis has completed his training in the Dragonborn tradition and goes abroad in the service of King Ordelia.
The three quests that we came up with are as follows.
Heroic: I intend to seek out an avatar or recieve a prophecy of Bahamut the patron of the dragon born who will hopefully point me in the right direction to re-establish the dragonborn empire
Paragon: i will seek out the Hydra Armor of Dartharos Baldiem, the first leader of the dragonborn civilization
and of course my epic: Reunite the sprawled Dragonborn clans and establish a nation for our own use.
Friday, June 13, 2008
4e
if you are a classic nerd like me, hell if you even know me you probably have at one point in your life leafed through a Dungeons and Dragons book. Though most of you reading this have even participated in such an event as a campaign, there are those of you out there who have not been touched by its greatness.
Last week the much anticipated 4th edition of the classic paper and pencil roleplaying game was released with a rousing cheer in the nerd community, and a whisper elsewhere. I started playing the game towards the tail end of 3rd edition with the Spaniard and some other friends from Connecticut days and we got pretty into it. When 3.5 came out it didn't seem like a lot was changing so the transition wasn't too bad. Granted by this point I had moved to North Carolina and our 3.0 campaign was on indefinite hold. Once when I came back up to the CT we played a bit after converting to the new rules. In college I got involved in some pretty lengthy 3.5 campaigns that were tonnes of fun with Nate and that crew and we pulled a bunch of people into the lifestyle with us.
After graduation, getting a job, and moving down here I found I was hurting for some DnD so after a few trips to my local games store I landed myself in a campaign with some kids who work down in the Depot where I do my contract work. These cats showed me how to really do the "game" aspect of 3.5. Twinking out your character, min maxing, all that fun stuff, it was a totally different game experience than with "its the gnome" or "whatever Nate called his campaigns"
Anyway on to 4e. They changed everything. No joke, no exaggeration. Combat system, class system, magic items, character creation, there is very little left from 3.5 that went unchanged. Its going to be a totally different experience for a lot of people, and there will be some that will reject the change. Personally I'd be excited to play either version, since they both have their merits, but I can see where Wizards was going with 4e. They wanted to make it more accessible to the general public in a world dominated by World of Warcraft and I don't really blame them, they are trying to run a business. I just hope they don't completely abandon support for the 3.5 ruleset, since I know some people who will still play it.
Last week the much anticipated 4th edition of the classic paper and pencil roleplaying game was released with a rousing cheer in the nerd community, and a whisper elsewhere. I started playing the game towards the tail end of 3rd edition with the Spaniard and some other friends from Connecticut days and we got pretty into it. When 3.5 came out it didn't seem like a lot was changing so the transition wasn't too bad. Granted by this point I had moved to North Carolina and our 3.0 campaign was on indefinite hold. Once when I came back up to the CT we played a bit after converting to the new rules. In college I got involved in some pretty lengthy 3.5 campaigns that were tonnes of fun with Nate and that crew and we pulled a bunch of people into the lifestyle with us.
After graduation, getting a job, and moving down here I found I was hurting for some DnD so after a few trips to my local games store I landed myself in a campaign with some kids who work down in the Depot where I do my contract work. These cats showed me how to really do the "game" aspect of 3.5. Twinking out your character, min maxing, all that fun stuff, it was a totally different game experience than with "its the gnome" or "whatever Nate called his campaigns"
Anyway on to 4e. They changed everything. No joke, no exaggeration. Combat system, class system, magic items, character creation, there is very little left from 3.5 that went unchanged. Its going to be a totally different experience for a lot of people, and there will be some that will reject the change. Personally I'd be excited to play either version, since they both have their merits, but I can see where Wizards was going with 4e. They wanted to make it more accessible to the general public in a world dominated by World of Warcraft and I don't really blame them, they are trying to run a business. I just hope they don't completely abandon support for the 3.5 ruleset, since I know some people who will still play it.
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