RIP Leonard Nimoy

Leonard Nimoy passed away this morning at his home due to COPD complications.

I am not going to write an obituary or talk about all the TV shows he was apart of or all the movies he starred in.

I do count myself fortunate that I was able to see him on a number of occasions when he attended Star Trek conventions (sometime in the mid '90s).  On one occasion, he was with William Shatner and DeForest Kelley.  The next time he was with John de Lancie and was after DeForest Kelley's passing and he read the eulogy that he had read at the funeral.  It was moving, despite not being a big fan of the Original Series at that time (meaning I was not overly familiar with DeForest Kelley's acting work).  I now greatly regret not staying with Delaños at that convention to watch both actors do a two person on-stage play of something that I have since forgotten.  I apparently had misplaced hormonal priorities in high school.

Prior to Youtube (the video was embedded in some website about sending food to Israeli troops) I discovered his "Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" and while at first I cringed at seeing Spock singing this absurd diddy while women in bad Hobbit/Vulcan ears danced and sang around him, it has since become something that I can rarely get out of my head whenever I think of it.  It is not a bad thing to find yourself humming.

Later I was ecstatic when he had his appearance in the Star Trek reboot (mainly because it wasn't Willaim Shatner trying to be in another Star Trek franchise, but that's just me being me) as well as the show Fringe, for which he came back for a couple of times.

Like probably a lot of people, Spock was/is my favorite character from the Original Series even if the specifics of being and portraying a Vulcan weren't 100% set in stone during the first year.  He is a great counterpart to Kirk's John Wayne attitude towards space exploration and alien cultures.  

The last thing he tweeted (I am only slightly ashamed that I typed that opening to a sentence associated with the death of a person) is perfect and simply beautiful:

A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP
— Leonard Nimoy (@TheRealNimoy) February 23, 2015

If only we could all be as eloquent before our own passing.
Now go and hug someone you love.  And tell them you love them.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

God Damn Steam!

Hehe.  

No, this will not be an article about the faults of Valve's Steam gaming system.  This is about the heated evaporation of dihydrogen oxide.  

Steam as a mechanic is nothing new in video games.  It is often used as a permanent barrier or an intermittent one for the hero to cross on their way to Point B.  I don't know about you dear reader, but it's been one of those obstacles that I have often felt was a bit over the top and over exaggerated.  "What do you mean I can die if I get caught in a jet of steam!?  There's steam in the bathroom when I take a shower.  There's steam that comes out of a tea kettle and I'm pretty sure I haven't died from that."  It's been one of those annoying barriers that is, well, annoying.

From Penumbra: Requiem.

Then the event of Monday November 3rd, 2014 happened.  It was in the morning and I was making coffee for myself and Conklederp as I normally do.  So I had the water in the kettle boiling and letting me know that it was ready to be moved by way of its shrill whistle.  I walked over, turned off the stop top and prepared the Aeropress with filter and grounds.

That's when the steam still jetting out of the kettle hit the back of my hand.  I pulled my hand back immediately and may or may not have uttered an expletive, but I'm thankful that I didn't have anything coffee related in my hands.  I was genuinely surprised by the temperature of the steam.  Yes I know that H2O boils at 100° C (212° F), but I had never thought of it as scaldingly hot.  I then ran my hand under cold water for a couple of seconds and I didn't give it a second thought.

Throughout the day, the back of my hand felt like I had received a contact burn from something hot, which I had and I realize how stupid this makes me sound, but in my head I had rationalized it as "But it's only steam."  I've even been trained multiple times (every two years since 2007) in first aid procedures through American Red Cross, but for whatever reason, I just figured this out.  The next day the pain was still somewhat present, but by  the following Wednesday (November 5th), the pain was gone and I didn't give it a second thought.

Later in the week, Saturday I believe while visiting my parent's, my Mother asked what had happened to the back of my hand.  It was then that I noticed that about a two inch by one inch blob shaped region on the back of my hand had become slightly puckered and rough. What I had chalked up to a very minor contact burn on par with being out in the sun for an extra 13 minutes had changed the appearance and texture of my skin.  A few days later (probably around the 11th or 12th) the skin began peeling, similar to a sunburn, but really shiny (do not do a google image search).

I would like to think that now whenever I come across steam in a game, that I will think twice about trying to sprint through this caustic barrier as if it were a minor hindrance.  And if you find the time, take a first aid course.  The courses are helpful and hopefully won't make you oblivious to the harm that heated dihydrogen oxide can do to the epidermis of your largest organ.  

And don't go running through jets of steam!



~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
It's So Hard To Believe

MIDI Week Singles: 'Battle Against Masked Man' - Mother 3 (GBA)

"Battle Against Masked Man" from Mother 3 for the Game Boy Advance
Composer:  Shogo Sakai
Game Developers: Nintendo, Hal Laboratory, Brownie Brown (music)
Publisher: Nintendo

I stumbled on this track when I was listening to video game songs on youtube.  I left it running so it could 'free associate,' and wasn't really paying attention to what was playing.  But when this song came on, it grabbed a hold of my attention! Now I really want to play Mother 3 (which could also be called Earthbound 2).

This is a seriously disturbing track. The core of it is just a really weird bassline, but on top of the bass someone is having a coniption at the keyboard and effects unit. And during the breaks in the weird sounds, I hear the bassline, and I want to latch onto it for comfort, but there is no comfort to be found there. I'm a sucker for disturbing music in proper doses, and this really takes the cake. I'm going to go take a shower now.

If this song interests you, or check out starmen.net for the complete soundtrack, over 3 hours long! There are also fan remixes, which is cool, too! Also available on itunes.

-D

MIDI Week Singles: "Dementium: The Ward" - Dementium: The Ward (DS)

"Dementium: The Ward" from Dementium: The Ward on the Nintendo DS (2007)

Composer: Jools Watsham

No Official Soundtrack Release

Game Developer: Renegade Kid

I think that's the name of the track.  I saw it a few years back but I have since forgotten  so you'll just have to trust me for the time being on this one.

Being the only track in the entire game (although there may be credits music that I might know about if I had managed to finish the game) which plays during the title sequence, it is a very effective piece of music.  And you know, for only ten seconds worth of music , this is damn good music.  

Think about it.  You have ten seconds to convey the mood of an entire video game.  That's the same length as the "Overture" that Koichi Sugiyama wrote for Dragon Warrior / Quest  and three seconds shorter than Hirokazu Tanaka's "Title Theme" to the original Donkey Kong.  But, unlike Sugiyama's "Overture" and Tanaka's "Title Theme," which were never meant to repeat indefinitely, Jools Watsham's title music to Dementium: The Ward loops perfectly and I have no qualms about listening to it for 3 minutes straight.

Mr. Watsham previously had this song available through the old Dementium: The Ward site, but it is sadly no longer available so to Youtube it was where I had to locate this eight year old gem.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

I Am Not Afraid To Show You Who I Am

Game Review: Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call (3DS)

This article started out as a "First Impressions," but 52 hours later, I feel like I have gone a bit beyond simply "first" and now I am into full on "Game Review" mode, but not a "Full Review."

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call is the sequel to the 3DS music/rhythm game Theatrhythm Final Fantasy that was released by Square Enix back in 2012.  I reviewed that game and was apparently pretty harsh (or at least I think I was), but since then, I grew to love that first game and almost everything that is done here in the sequel has been an improvement over the first game.

First off, if you have not purchased either game and you are on the fence, I would recommend buying only Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call (hereafter referred to as TFFCC), not because the TFF is a inferior game, but because TFFCC does everything that TFF does but it also gives you access to over 100 songs right off the bat.  By the time you reach roughly eight to ten hours, you will have unlocked all 221 songs, whereas in TFF you have access to about 80 songs.

TFFCC also pulls music from a lot more sources than the first game.  New to the sequel are songs from Final Fantasy I - XIV, Final Fantasy Tactics, Mystic Quest, Crystal Chronicles, X-2, Advent Children, Crisis Core, Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon, Dissidia and Dissidia 012 [duodecim], Type-0, XIII-2, Lightning Returns.  There are downloadable songs which you can purchase at $0.99 a piece, but are from various Square Enix games like Xenogears, The World Ends With You, Chrono Trigger, Romancing SaGa 1 - 3, SaGa Frontier, Final Fantasy Adventure, Seiken Densetsu 3, Secret of Mana and Bravely Default.

The mode of play is pretty much identical to TFF although I have noticed that battle music stages (usually battle music) seem easier while the field music stages (typically overworld and dungeon music) and the event music stages (themes played over in-game cinematics) are more difficult.  I've noticed that I have received a "Bad" rating while holding my stylus over the green slider (the one where you hold and follow the path during the field music stages), possibly because I wasn't holding the target up/down enough in the direction that the path was going (??).  

Another addition that I did not think that I would initially like is the online battle system where you can engage in a 1:1 battle with another player either locally, domestically, internationally, or against a computer AI if you are unable to connect with other players (or if you just do not want to).  Battles are run like a standard battle music stage with your party of four characters going up against random monsters as well as a boss-type monster (Kefka, Cagnazzo, The Undying, et cetera).  After a certain number of successful hits, you perform one of nine attacks on the other player that have varying effects such as having the notes/triggers move faster, having them move at varying speeds; needing to hit the note/trigger precisely (critical hit) otherwise it is counted as "Bad;" having the notes/triggers show a question mark until right before you have to tap them so you don't know if it's a regular tap or an arrow swipe; having the arrow triggers spin which makes anticipating which direction they will be pointing when you have to swipe them pretty difficult.  Basically you are messing with the other person while they mess with you and whomever has the most points at the end of the battle wins points (bragging points) and in-game collectable cards.

In TFFCC, I have noticed that some songs are used in the BMS's such as "Aerith's Theme" or "Final Fantasy Theme (FF XII Version)" which are not battle themes, but I am guessing were included in this category so you could use them in battles.

In TFFCC, cinematics were removed from a lot of the games in the series (FF I - XIII), but some of those that were included (Final Fantasy Tactics) were very short, lasting less than two minutes and having just over 50 notes to tap, which seemed kind of sad and useless.  Another criticism I have is that while there are a lot more characters to choose from, there are some characters that have doubles due to them appearing different in different games (Tifa from FF VII and the film Advent Children; Lightning from FF XIII and FF XIII-2).  Personally I would have like to have had additional characters from Final Fantasy (White Mage), Final Fantasy IV (Cid or Yang), Final Fantasy VI (Shadow, Setzer or Realm), or Final Fantasy VII (Red XIII).

Overall, I love this game and listening to the music from a number of the games in the Final Fantasy series that I have not played (VIII, X, X-2, XIII, Chocobo Dungeons, Type-0, Crystal Chronicles) definitely makes me want to go back and play these games.  Well played Square Enix marketing department.  Additionally, I began thinking of all the Nintendo game series that have great music that I would love to see implemented in this style: Dragon Quest/Warrior, Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Donkey Kong (Donkey Konga does not count).  Granted there would have to be some tweaking since not all are turn-based RPGs, but something similar could be thought of for any one of these games and I, along with a good portion of the video game music loving community who own 3DS', would buy these games up in very near to a heartbeat.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

The Realm of the King of Fantasy

Explaining My Decision In More Words Than Is Really Necessary For A Post Like This One Here.

I recently (as in a month ago but it was "recently" when I began typing this all out) purchased Theatrhythyhm: Final Fantasy Curtain Call.  I can never spell that god damned word!  T-h-e-a-t-r-and then I'm lost.  Theatrhythm.  Let alone that I have a hard enough time spelling rhythm, rhyme and garuntee. . . I mean guarantee, which I didn't need spell check for that last time.

ANYWAY!

Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy: Curtain Call for the 3DS.  If you don't know the game yet, it's a rhythm game using the music from the Final Fantasy series.  I recently (see above reference to "recently") purchased this and I would like to give my long and drawn out thought process for my decision because this is the Internet and things like this were the reason for its creation.

So I had $35 of Gamestop gift cards in my possession and following Steam's Wallet Drain Sale (aka: Winter Sale) and I knew that I wanted to use this for buying a 3DS game.  I knew my choices ahead of time, and even then, the choice was not made without great thought and care (stop laughing Ma).

Bravely Default

I played the demo for this game earlier in 2014 and I immediately loved it.  The visual style reminded me a lot of Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light and the music, while not of Nobuo Uematsu's creation, was very fitting for the game and setting.  I very much enjoyed what was shown to me, being an introduction to how navigate towns, how battling and the "Brave" vs. "Default" battle commands worked.  It was everything that you wished all demos could and would do.  There was even the option of transfer over experience earned from the demo to the main game if you played one and purchased the other.  Very enticing.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

This was a great looking game and I really liked the concept introduced by the trailer.  Even the title, for me, was a call back to A Link to the Past and after starting and not getting beyond the first temple in Spirit Tracks or finding the chutzpah to finish Twilight Princess, I was hoping that this would be the Zelda game that got me back into the series.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

I loved the fecal matter out of this game, even more so than Ocarina of Time, and when I saw that this game was finally getting a remake on the 3DS, I was very excited along with the rest of a good portion of the Internet.  Currently, Majora's Mask has a release date of February 13th of this year, but at the time of purchasing, there was no official release date.  Plus, I have already played this game before and I still have a functioning copy for the N64.

Fantasy Life

No, not another Final Fantasy game (thank Odin SquarEnix hasn't been a douche-canoe and copyrighted either the words "Final" or Fantasy").  From what I understand, Fantasy Life is an open world RPG, which doesn't sound all that original except that it's on the 3DS and has gotten some pretty decent reviews.  It looks and sounds like a fun little game when I'm not busy escaping some prison in Tamriel or traversing some apocalyptic wasteland (take your pick on that front).

Animal Crossing: New Leaf

Now, I've never played a game in the Animal Crossing series and (most) everything that I've heard about New Leaf has been positive and that it's a shamefully addicting game.  I figured that this might be a good game to get started in that world.

Tomodachi Life

Similar to New Leaf, Tomodachi Life is a life-sim-type game where you use your Mii avatar along with other characters you create and have them interact on an island full of shops and activities.  Knowing me, this doesn't sound like something that I would normally go out and buy, but what sold me was the concert arena where you can have your characters perform.  This was one of the last options in the demo and I had to wonder if the game somehow tailored it to my own interests.  The band (and it being the only option in the demo) was a power metal band that sang about wizards and dragons.  How'd they know!?

So ultimately, as you by now already know, I went with Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy: Curtain Call.  As I told Conklederp the other night, I made my decision because I really just wanted a game that would  not require a massive amount of my time as I already have a backlog of RPGs that I am eagerly looking forward to playing.  A game that I could pick up and play anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour without fear of losing my place within a larger story.  Plus with 220+ wonderfully composed songs from a series that I have been playing off-and-on for 26 years.  There will probably be another post about Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call on Monday, so come back Monday. . . or don't, that's cool too.



~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian
It's Been Three Whole Weeks

Pak Watch Deluxe: Point-and-Click Adventure games

This is a Deluxe edition of Pak Watch because it features 4 games instead of my usual one or two.  I recently completed 'Six Days a Sacrifice, and I wanted another taste of the point and click adventure genre.  It appears that this genre is thriving on the internet;  when I started looking, I just kept finding new and interesting information about the genre, least of which is the Adventure Game Studio community.  More on that later, for now, some games:

----------------------

Shardlight

Developer:  Ben Chandler and Francisco Gonzales
Publisher:  Dave Gilbert of Wadjet Eye Games

Shardlight is a post-apocalyptic game, that I can find minimal information about, and the same four images over and over again.  But I really like what I see, and I'm very interested to see how it works out.  I love the post-apocalyptic genre, and the 'world of junk and ruin' aesthetic looks solid here.  I can't speak for the story, but here's hoping.  

 ------------------

unprintable MAGENTA
Developer: Fitz
Publisher: (Unknown) 

Another link I got from Indie Game News.  Unprintable Magenta has a strange, low-production visual style that piques my curiosity.  It looks to take place in a modern, superhero setting, and has plenty of room for silliness.  I appreciate that.   

-------------------

Thimbleweed Park
Developer: Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick
Publisher: Kickstarter, kind of.  
 
Maniac Mansion is back! Or at least, the creators of that classic game are back, with a very successful kickstarter for a new game called Thimbleweed Park.  Viewing the promo video for said kickstarter, I think we can count on a true retro delight.  There are hilarious referential jokes all throughout the kickstarter page.  Have a look if you have any interest at all. 

--------------------

Project Scissors: Nightcry 
Developer: Hifumi Kono and Takashi Shimizu
Publisher: Playism games

And one more game with celebrity developers: a horror game from the makers of the Clock Tower series and the director of JuOn (the grudge).  That was enough to get my attention.  Then I got scared after viewing some of the images.  Maybe I don't have the guts to play this game.  Do you?

-D

MIDI Week Singles: "In Case of Trouble" - Bastion (PC)

"In case of trouble" from Bastion (PC)

Bastion Original Soundtrack

Composer: Darren Korb

Game Developer: Supergiant games

Choosing a single can be tricky business.  For example, albums are often front-loaded with the catchiest songs coming first.  However, if you stop there, you may miss the best stuff on the album.  Still, that said, I'm going to go with track 2 from the Bastion soundtrack.  I'm just a sucker for jangly acoustic guitars,  and I like how this song isn't in a hurry, waiting a full minute before the larger arrangement kicks in.  As with much of the soundtrack, Darren Korb does a great job mixing melody and ambiance.  

I have been toying with the idea of doing a song from the Bastion soundtrack for some time.  But it was last weeks single from the 'Gun' soundtrack that tipped me over.  Bastion is heavily influenced by western sounds, but uses them in a different way from Gun, mixing in electronic sensibilities and what sounds like the 'arabic scale' at times.  Bastion is another score from one of those fantastic Humble Indie Bundles.

-D

Frmonthly Frupdate: Frebruary 2015

First, let me show you this ridiculous and hilarious animated gif of Mario going completely berserk ala "the Night Santa Went Crazy" by Weird Al.  I got this from BrandonDeSanta in the Retro Video Games google+ group, though I don't know if he's the one who made it.  You can just watch that and laugh for a while if you like.  This is just one of the gems I encountered over the past month.  

I consumed a lot of Sci Fi this month.  The best of which was a movie called 'Predestination', based on a Robert Heinlein short story called 'All You Zombies.'   I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but I definitely recommend the movie.  I was pleasantly surprised and impressed.  I will be reading the short story... shortly.  Beyond that, I watched two Keanu Reeves movies:  Constantine and Johnny Mnemonic.  Constantine is great, a very stylish and well-shot movie.  I'm kind of a sucker for God vs Devil possession movies and action adventures. Johnny Mnemonic was kind of hokey and dated, but still lots of fun.   Additionally, I read Neuromancer by William Gibson, which is sort of a sequel to Johnny Mnemonic.  The common link is the character of Molly, who is awesome (and called 'Jane' in the film version for some indiscernable reason). I've got the book version of Johnny Mnemonic coming soon.  Fun fact:  Johnny sold his childhood for a measely 80 gigs of memory. 

I read a couple other Sci Fi novels:  Kindred, by Octavia Butler, a time travel story about Slavery.  It was a harsh read, but well written.  Also, Wind up Bird Chronicle, which wasn't straightforward sci fi, just very strange like most Murakami.  But I really like Murakami for his strangeness. 

In Gaming news, I beat Starseed Pilgrim.  FINALLY.  It was pretty cool.  I was tempted to start over again from the beginning, but resisted.  I really, really like that game.  Next, I revisited Six Days a Sacrifice, of the Chzo Mythos by Yahtzee Creshaw, and managed to beat it quickly.  I enjoyed that series, and the final game ties together a lot of thematic points and characters.  It's not perfect, but I appreciate the effort.  Playing that game has got me in the mind to play more point and click adventure games.  We'll see what the future holds!

In other news, I'm looking forward to a move in February.  The plan is to get my own apartment at a more convenient location.  Should be fun!

-D 

P.S.  Another Funny animated gif, gotten from Google+ user Miss Electro Head

MIDI Week Singles: "Empire" - GUN: Showdown (PSP)

"Empire" from Gun: Showdown on the PlayStation Portable (2006)

No official soundtrack release (that I was able to find)

Composer: Christopher Lennertz

Game Developer: Neversoft; Rebellion Developments: PSP

This was kind of a hard choice for me, which means I probably should do a Game Scores article for the music from Gun: Showdown.  But what I love about this particular track, is how amazingly good the quality of the music is, considering that it's from an eight year old video game.  This is the quality that all video game soundtracks should aspire to, if they're aiming for a real instrument sound that is (not looking at you Super Meat Boy and VVVVVV), and if they have it in their budget.

Whenever this song comes up, I immediately think that I'm listening to a track from Firefly, what with the slide guitar and fiddle.  It's a pretty minimalist song now that I really think about it.  There's a cameo of sorts with the trumpet just over a minute in that conjures any western score that Ennio Morricone has ever written (I even feel a hint of Hans Zimmer's use of the trumpet in his score to Backdraft), but then when you're starting to get a feel for the melody it's playing, it's gone as the guitar, fiddle and whatever type of drum that is come in then fade out before the song reaches the two minute mark.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

A Fire In Your Soul

RIP Monty Oum

Late last week, I read a post from Roosterteeth CEO Burnie Burns stating that fellow co worker Monty Oum had been hospitalized under severe conditions and was unsure if he would recover.  Yesterday, it was announced that Monty Oum had passed away.

We are not a news site here, reporting on the latest information from the gaming world.  We are here, as I think I understand it, to provide personal commentary in anyway we see fit.

I knew of Monty Oum during Red vs. Blue season 8, when more than impressive CGI was introduced to the series that Roosterteeth produces.  I later found out that Monty Oum had caught Roosterteeth's collective eye with an animated CGI fight scene he did with Master Chief and Samus Aran titled "Haloid."  With the creative vision of Roosterteeth, I saw their production go from this:

to this:

I never did get into Monty's self-created series RWBY (pronounced like "RUBY"), but the visuals were still amazing for an independent production.  He has left his mark, for me personally on the world of Red vs. Blue.

That's really all I know about Monty Oum, including some bits when he appeared on commentaries or podcasts, but that's all that I can say.  It is sad to see anyone pass away and it is sad to hear about someone who has worked on a series (since 2010) that Dr. Potts introduced me to back in 2004.  And I am sad that Monty Oum has passed away.

That is all.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

Instrumental

Monthly Update: February 2015

If you're a frequent reader of our site, you may have noticed the fall off in posts towards the end of January.  The last couple of weeks have been taxing on me as coursework has begun to pile up and finding time to both play games and write about them has dwindled to a level that makes posting twice a week very difficult.  Thus, I have decided to cut myself back to posting once a week (Monday or Friday), but not including the MIDI Week Singles that has become a fun staple that both Dr. Potts and I contribute to on a whomever-has-an-article-written-and-ready-to-go-come-Wednesday basis.  Actually, I might post twice a week if I'm feeling up to it and am overly talkative.

That being said, I have managed to put in a fair amount of time with Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call on the 3DS that will garner at least two posts this month.  I also started up playing Dungeons & Dragons again last week, which will hopefully turn into a weekly or biweekly event.  That DMing experience will also earn itself its own article, probably mid month.  This revised interest in D&D had also got me thinking again about painting miniatures, something that I haven't done since July 2011.

Around mid-January, Extra Credits put out a couple of videos about making your own video game and their recommended steps to going about that arduous process.  These series of videos got me motivated about using RPG Maker VX Ace to make a game in the same way that listening to Robert Rodriguez talk about making movies convinces me that I could shoot, cut and score my own movie.  It's simple things like starting out small and not trying to make Final Fantasy VI on my first attempt are more important than churning out a masterpiece and getting bogged down on my first attempt.  All good points and based on their most recent video (part 3 in this game making series), I've realized that I should still scale back my plan just so I can get the mechanics of using the program down.

And then there was that Super Bowl MLLXVXLIX that happened last Sunday as well.  Now, I know it's stereotypical for someone who plays video games, D&D, paints miniatures and cross stitches pixel art to either not know or care about the NFL (or to go to a Star Trek convention instead. . .1999 I think it was), but after the 49ers were eliminated during the playoffs, I sort of turned my brain off and until the middle of last week, I had forgotten all about the Super Bowl.  Plus, without expressed consent from the NFL, I'm not supposed to talk about or give any kind of recap about the game.  Besides, who was I supposed to root for?  The Seahawks eliminated the 49ers so I can't cheer for them, and the Patriots have that whole deflatinggatenonesense going on, but more importantly is that I've never been a New England (team, not the region) fan so I don't plan on aligning myself with them at the present date.  I also don't feel that I should hoorah for the Seahawks only because they're a West Coast team and are closer to Portland than San Francisco, or because 90% of the football fans in the Portland metropolitan area are Seahawks fans.  I ended up picking Seattle.

So that's what happened last month and what is looking to happen in the upcoming/presently circumcised month of February.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

The Works of My Gods Receding Now