i’m on depression…

Taken from the S2000 forums…

“Cale was severely injured yesterday (November 9th) during the second time trial session at Summit Point Raceway. He’s suffered many internal injuries, but the most severe was a serious brain injury similar to what happened to Dale Earnhardt. Before we left the hospital last night at 2am, the doctor said there was no brain activity and was recommending the removal of life support. Cale’s family is there and will make the decision. His family and his girlfriend asked me to make this post to let his car buddies know what’s going on.

His car went off Summit Main’s turn 1, tracked to the left and struck a bare concrete wall near the skid pad entrance. No one knows what happened but most suspect some form of brake failure.”

Some of my fondest memories are of you, dude…

Like the time we decided to carry out the world’s dumbest idea by holding a “World’s Drunkest Man” competition. You were a trooper, up with the rest of us at 6am, for what was to be the longest day ever. And somehow, fittingly enough, it ended on a race track. Well, sort of. It turned out to be a go-cart track, which we eventually got kicked out of after Mark and I both passed out while driving. So it turned out that you won. You are still the reigning “World’s Drunkest Man.”

And I remember the first time I looked under the hood of your car. I was amazed, dumbfounded, and humored. You go down as the only person I’ve ever known to build a turbo system out of PVC piping.

Then there was the time when you fell asleep on the couch at 1139. Bru and I tried to wake you up and ask you if you had any cigarettes. But you started talking in your sleep, saying “You’re a hundred feet off!!!” That still manages to make us laugh, even now.

And then the last time I saw you, at Josh & Gina’s wedding… The Steelers were in a playoff game that night, so you went and bought a portable TV so you wouldn’t miss a snap during the wedding reception. Then afterwards, you insisted that we all take a limo to Murphy’s, even though it was only a few blocks away. Ah yes, Murphy’s… where this picture was taken, which I will forever cherish as the best (or worst?) titty twister ever…

I know we weren’t the best of friends, but that’s just a testament to your ability to touch the lives of even the smallest of people, further evidenced by the tremendous outpouring of support, prayers, thoughts, wishes, grief, mourning, and shock of so many others all over.

Rest in peace, man. You will be forever missed.

Rooney up the middle, makes a nice lead pass to Ronaldo up the right side. The defender closing in, Ronaldo stops quickly and shakes him off. He crosses it…. There’s Rooney…. GOOOOOAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!

soccer was the first organized sport i played as a kid. i forget how long i stuck with it, but i do remember it being lots of fun. it was a school team, so i got to enjoy playing with the same group of kids year after year. i guess you can say it was a classic story of worst to first. the first couple years were spent in last place. but i remember how happy we were the first time we DIDN’T finish last. you would’ve thought we just won the world cup or something. but then things just got better from there. growing together as a team, we began to play as a team. we won games. then we won tournaments. next thing we knew, we had won a conference championship. and then another. it was probably one of the best experiences of my life. i’m not sure that i necessarily became a better soccer player, but i definitely learned something about teamwork… about being one person among many. and that’s the thing about putting together a team. you don’t need the best players, you need the right ones. when you have a group of people all working towards one goal, it’s important for each person to know their individual role, to concentrate on it, and execute it well.

so what does this all have to do with a video game? well, not too much really. i was just trying to explain the origin of my interest in soccer, but i ended up rambling on about my glory days as a 10-year-old athlete.

ok, so even though i only played a for a few years, i’ve still managed to hold the slightest bit of interest in the soccer world. my interest usually manifests itself in the yearly FIFA series video games. i’ve been a regular fan of these games ever since it was available for the sega genesis some time in the early 90’s. as the years went by, the games got better and the graphics more realistic. i probably spent a few too many hours playing video game soccer with some friends when i should’ve been in class. but i try to keep up with the real life counterparts, as well. i’m a fan of the english premier league, but they don’t show too many of those games here. thankfully, though, they usually televise most of the UEFA champoinship games when the time comes around. still, i manage to get my fix through the FIFA games. in addition, since EA holds the licensing rights to just about all soccer leagues, it’s a great way to familiarize yourself with teams, names, stadiums, etc.

fast forward to present day and we have FIFA 09. the last one i had owned was 07. i skipped out on 08 because the demo felt like an exact carbon copy of the previous year. FIFA 09, on the other hand, is different enough that i thought i would give it a shot. as one review said, it’s all about evolution this year, and not revolution. and he’s exactly right. the game has always had so many good things going for it, but its downfall has always been the little things that could be better.

what EA offers this year is the most realistic FIFA game to date. how realistic? well, you even have the option to update player and team stats based on their real world stats on a weekly basis. graphics have always been a strong point of this series, but it seems this year they are taking full advantage of next-gen console capabilities. stadiums are meticulously detailed, as are player likenesses. the fluidity of player motions and animations seems much better and more realistic, too. trying to outrun a defender along the sidelines isn’t as easy as it used to be. try too hard and you just might run straight out of bounds. anticipation is a big part of this year’s game, forcing you to think one step ahead of your opponent.

EA seems to be streamlining their sports games with common features, which isn’t a bad thing. “be a pro” mode makes its first appearance this year, as it had in NHL 09. i haven’t tried it yet, but it looks promising. other common features that unify FIFA 09 with the rest of EA’s sports lineup are similar online game modes and community features, such as being able to upload replay videos to easportsworld.com, allowing you to share your best plays with friends and people all over the world.

as good as this game is, it’s not perfect. one big thing that i noticed was that many offsides calls were blatantly wrong. this has to be a bug of some kind. it doesn’t happen too often. i’d say maybe 1 out of every 7 times. but it’s enough to make it annoying and frustrating at times.

another thing i’m not fond of is the control scheme, and this has been an issue for me over the past few years. the tackle button (defense) is mapped to the same button that passes the ball (offense). there are times when you lose sight of the ball during a tackle, such as when the ball and players are moving up the screen. it’s hard to tell whether or not you have gained possession. and in moments of desperation when i mash that A button trying to take the ball away, i inadvertently pass the ball, sometimes right back to the other team in the most precarious of situations.

overall, i am very pleased with this year’s product. i’d give it a 8.5 out of 10. again, there are little things they can improve upon for next year. but for now, this is worthy of any soccer fan’s attention. it’s fun, entertaining, immersive, and highly addictive. with this game spinning in the tray, i’ve fallen victim to that “just one more game” mentality. just last nite, i started playing around 10:00pm. by the time i called it quits, the clock read 2:30am. that definitely was not my intention, considering i had to be up for work in three hours.

chase… you are my hero.

2008 WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS!!!!
 

To the Tampa Bay Rays and their fairweather fans…

And to Joe Buck, Tim McGarver, all of FOX, ESPN, Fernando Vina, the Baseball Tonight crew, XM Radio and their shitty talk show hosts, and basically everyone outside the city of Philadelphia…

i CAN’T BELIEVE that no one thought this team could win it all–even after a close, but phenomenal game 1 win behind ace cole hamels, a loss in game 2 that was hardly overpowering by the rays, a spectacular and hard-fought victory in game 3, and a total shellacking in game 4. even up until the very moments before resuming game 5, all you idiots were saying that the rays had the momentum and would win in 7. you guys should really take your jobs more seriously as baseball analysts and stop saying what you think will get you ratings. you mistakingly underrated this team, and completely overrated the effectiveness of that rays bullpen. praise david price all you want, but he’s got a long way to go before he proves that he’s got the right stuff. and god bless the rays for thinking they had the momentum and looking forward to games 6 and 7, all before game 5 was even over!!! anyway, thanks for counting the PHILLIES out of it all post-season long. i look forward to you counting them out of it next season, too.

i’ve got this Chairlift song stuck in my head now after seeing that dang ipod commercial a gazillion times on tv…

This New Ocean LP

 the new album titled This New Ocean is now available as a FREE DOWNLOAD. after nearly a decade of writing and three years of recording, it’s finally done. be sure to download it and tell all your friends.

check out the elocine.net for download links and details.

lifting weights won’t make me strong

liars always win

this new ocean

try to ignore the dude dancing in the background…

 tv and sleeping

sliding glass door