The Call of the Champions

I have received much...many much...criticism for the sheer amount of time I spend playing video games. This post is dedicated to all you who have doubted the way I choose to spend my time.

I guess the best way to discredit the arguments against my habit of gaming is to take a quick look at the arguments against it. I think one of the major arguments comes as a result of some people completely enveloping themselves in the virtual world. This tends to come primarily as a result of playing real-time role playing games, such as world of warcraft. I don't know if anyone has actually played W.o.W. (admittedly, I have twice), but it is boring garbage. I mean, one of the reasons I play video games is because it gives me a slight illusion that I'm accomplishing something in a fraction of the time it would take in real life. I mean, if I can build an ore refinery in Command and Conquer in 2 minutes....I mean, take that industry because it'll take you months upon months. Sure, it won't produce anything "REAL" but the sense of accomplishment is still there. These real-time games, where things happen at the same rate that they would, are just a massive waste of time; I don't care how many marsh bats you can kill in a minute, your level 3 firebolt spell will do nothing against my AK-47. Just saying. That being said, all you haters need not worry about me becoming intensively invested in a virtual reality. But, as a bit of an aside, here's the level to which this investment can go: World of World of Warcraft.

The extent that I went into these real time role playing games was Diablo...the original. There was something strangely fulfilling about finding Arkthereon's Warhammer with +3 to light aura and finally banishing Baal to the third ring of Hell. Only a fraction of people will know what I'm talking about, but yeah, you know what I'm talking about. But that's it...and that was years ago.

Nowadays, the fun lies in First-person shooters. I should correct myself, these have been big since Goldeneye. If you don't know what that is, I recommend you go re-live the latter half of the '90s. Followed by Perfect Dark, and then I moved on to Halo 2 (I skipped Halo 1...just in the same way you should skip the first generation model of any new product...or anything by Apple), and then after my mission I discovered Call of Duty and my life hasn't been the same since. Some of you may call the change that has overtaken me "being desensitized," but I beg to differ. I still can't watch some brutally violent movies without throwing up a little in my mouth, but these war style games are different. I have never felt so involved in national security as I did when retaking the White House from those dang Russkis (however you spell it. And that may have been an exaggeration).

Another thing is that people see me play and think I must have spent a long, long time playing a video game to develop the skills I have, but I'll have you know, I learn things quickly. While others were still trying to figure out that the controls from the y-axis weren't actually inverted, I was working on...killing them and laughing hysterically...because that's just the kind of person I am.

To end, let me just say this: I am fully aware that video games aren't the BEST use of my time. That's nothing new. It's a time-killer, so while I'm waiting for that date that never seems to happen, I'll keep rescuing Soap MacTavish from a certain death, and you can READ...or whatever you nerds do.

From Great Heights

Some have been known to say "practice makes perfect." If that's the case, then I'm about 30 years from being able to walk the trail to Angel's Landing in Zion's National Park blindfolded. Don't misunderstand me, I don't mean to incline anyone that being able to hike that trail without the aide of sight is a high priority in my life (Hence the 30 year deadline). All I'm saying is that for the past three years in a row, I, along with my fraternity, have made a Spring Break trip to St. George, and with the trip comes a day-trip to Zion's and a hike to Angel's Landing. For anyone who hasn't made that jaunt (no, it's MUCH more than a jaunt...I just like how that word sounds), I would highly recommend it. It...is....awesome.


This is a view from the top of the hike. What you can't see, however, is the journey. Any words I could write wouldn't do it justice, but it's intense. There's roughly a 2500 ft. increase throughout the course of about a mile and a half (about). If you ever want to know what it feels like to LITERALLY (not literally) have your calf muscles on fire, this is definitely a good start. A little (long) while ago, I wrote about the behaviors of some of the people in my fraternity, and the same people definitely surprised me on this hike. At the summit, there's a very, very large cliff on 3 sides of you. Common sense would dictate caution under such circumstances. Perhaps it's something about youth, but certain of the younger fellows I know thought it would be a good idea to run and jump around. One even went so far as to throw a rather large rock from the top. Was there really an immediate danger about doing such a thing? No, probably not, BUT I've taken physics. The energy he has to transfer into that rock in order to throw it has to be negated by a backwards force on him. If there were any chance that throwing the rock could move me in any way for any reason, and if I had a thousand foot fall on either side of me, there's a good chance I wouldn't do it. Call me overly-cautious, but that's just how I roll. All I could do was shake my head.

Another thing that permeates society is that dependence on any substance trends negatively (I don't really know what that means either). In other words, if we are dependent on any external substance, it's bad. I learned something on this hike, however. There are instances where dependence on something external in this hike is nothing short of required. You probably can't see it very well, but there's a ridge in the photo to the left. Basically, you're scaling the lip of the ridge with drops on either side, holding on to chains that have been mounted in the mountain, and you're holding on for DEAR LIFE. Granted, I don't think it's stuff like this that they're referring to when people say dependencies, but I think it fits. Yes, I do. and you can't do anything about it.


There's something about hikes that makes me impatient. I love the journey about a hike. I love the scenery, but, most of all, I love the feeling of accomplishment created by reaching the summit. What I don't like, however, is the trip back. I mean, I've already been here today! If i could find a hike that didn't involve doubling back for the return, that would....I don't know...be cool...Until then, I've discovered a good way to make the return journey a bit more enjoyable for myself: running. It doesn't matter how steep the trail is (yes it does. There is no way in...you know...that I would run down the face of a cliff I had to climb with the help of chains), running makes the return journey go by faster, and it adds a whole other dimension in the...thing. Yeah. I forgot what I was saying.


I'm all about balance. If I spend time one day eating nothing but sweets, I begin to crave something salty. If I eat too much meat, I begin wanting vegetables. If I spend all day listening to Josh Groban, I....listen to....The Used...? (I don't know what the opposite of Josh Groban is). ANYWAY, the burning invoked in my calves by the journey to the summit created an imbalance in my lower extremities. What's the best way to counter that? Oh, well, how about that, it's by running down the trail. If you've never run downhill for a mile and a half, I would strongly recommend it. The jelly-like feeling created in your quads is like...awesome. I dont' know how to describe it, but it feels like someone LITERALLY (not literally) injected a pint of pudding into each of my legs. If that doesn't create an image you really want to forget, but for some reason can't, I don't know what will. It is awesome.


Here's the moral of the story:
1) Don't throw rocks from high places, because the rock will push you backwards and you will fall and die.
2) If you're going to become dependent on anything, make it be chains while scaling a cliff. Just saying.
3) Not only is pudding great for eating, it's awesome when injected into the legs.
4) If you ever see or hear someone use the word literally, there's a good chance they didn't actually mean LITERALLY.
5) Ivan Drago is the greatest Movie villain ever (if you didn't catch that from my post, reread it. It's in there...somewhere)


Lastly, if you want to take a look at all the fun-ness had on the hike, here's a link to the pictures I took.


Angel's Landing '010

Daniel Radcliffe

So, I've been a bit ill these past few days, and, as a result, I'm been spending my time watching a very wide variety of movies. Star Wars, Chick Flicks, Disaster Movies, etc. I've seen things from a woman haplessly falling in an old mine shaft to the destruction of the Washington Monument. I must say, however, that nothing was more curious than something I noticed today. As you may be able to infer from the title of this post, it centers around one, Daniel Radcliffe. I hadn't taken the time to watch the first Harry Potter movie (for those unaware with the series, it's called Harry Potter and the Philanthropist's Throne...or something like that). The reasons for my not watching it are thusly: I remembered not liking it at all, and it gives me indigestion - Too much "wingardium leviosa" for me, if you know what I'm saying. But, being that I'm ill, I figured there couldn't be much more indigestion given, and I had nothing better to do. These were my findings (I don't know if you caught on to that last sentence, but I was meaning it to sound kind of like the thing it says on Law and Order - "This is their story" or whatever. I didn't say it was clever.):

By some weird twist of fate, possibly by repeated ventures into the twilight zone, Daniel Radcliffe seems to have gotten worse at acting with age. Not saying he's old, but you'd think that after 6 movies, he would have learned a thing or two. I'm definitely not saying he's the worst actor out there. I mean, few things are more entertaining than watching Ron Weasley's hyper-cowardice in the second movie. When the shot shows the writing in blood on the wall for the first time, there's definitely something popping, and it's not just Ron's eyes from the shock and awe of the situation. It's probably my...anger..gland or something.

Anyway, back to Daniel. There are certain things that children can get away with, especially when it's their first appearance in a major motion picture. I mean, look at Haley Joel Osment. His performance in Forrest Gump didn't compare with what he did in The Sixth Sense. Granted, the roles were a bit different, but let's be honest: what is the real difference between a wizard-in-training and someone who sees dead people anyway. I don't claim to be any type of movie critic, but Daniel's performance in the Phantasmal Phone was acceptable. But as he aged, his skills didn't, and, in my mind, that's the same as being worse. His cohorts in the movies seem to have improved, but MAYBE he was put under some spell where his skills would not progress until the curse is broken...possibly by falling in love (too cliche), or even if we destroy the jewel hidden in the underbelly of a mystical creature. Now there's a movie! You heard it here first, folks. I am going to free acting skills that have been captured from Daniel Radcliffe, and then we'll see who the real hero is. Voldemort, shmoldemort. I brought back something that people didn't even know existed.