manicdote

**SITE NEWS** Nevis and I are going to soon be posting on different pages to avoid confusion over who is writing what. It seems kind of funny but some people didn’t realize there were two posters. You can check out a preview of Van Redd Online.

by Van Redd

We live in an uncertain world. One uncertainty is ethics. All of the websites, magazines, and podcasts about gaming say they have intergrity and that their reviews should be trusted. The bad news is that many of these places can’t be, at all.

The most notorious recent example has to deal with Gamespot firing Jeff Gershman over his review of Kane and Lynch. They claim he was fired for other reasons but we all know that is bull****. Another even more recent examlpe is Atari trying to bully some smaller review sites into keeping their so-so reviews of Alone in the Dark quiet. They claimed it was because they were breaking a street date on reviews…yet they also admitted that good reviews could go ahead.

The fact of the matter is that gaming is a bussiness. I understand that. Game publishers need to make money to publish more games. However what cannot be allowed is the buying and selling of game reviews and out and out lies to the public.

The movie industry has gone though similar growing pains. We have all heard the stories of movie studios coming up with fake reviewers to give a movie a tag line. They got caught a few years ago so that practice stopped. The problem with video game journalism is the ease at which people can be tempted. Game studios might fly you up to their offices, let you play on their really nice gaming rigs, and even provide you with awesome food and drinks. You would kind of feel bad to give a ****ty review then huh? A game studio can also pressure a magazine by giving them an exclusive only if they guarantee a great review. Another tactic they use is to pull advertising if you give a bad review. Just ask Ubisoft about that one.

The point I am trying to make is to be cautious and be more then willing to rent a game if your concerned about your gaming dollar. Look at your favorite gaming magazine really close and see if their reviews are consistant. I also recommend that you not support Gamespot in anyway.

**Now, to be fair, I don’t really know if EGM or Gamepro have any corruption. I was just using their images transposed with that of the Skrulls from Mavel Comics recent Secret Invasion storyline to make a point. That being said though, the recent shake-ups with Dan “Shoe” Hsu leaving EGM make me worry.

In this day and age everything is about cross promotion in the gaming world. Sometimes that means ads, other times it means combining two properties. You see it all the time. Star Wars Transformers, Lego Indiana Jones, and of course all the different versions of Monopoly (Simpson’s, Marvel,  & etc.). Since music and rhythm games are all the rage these days I present to you the next gaming hit:

* Combine your love of Rockband and your love of Star Wars all in one game.

* Take on the Galaxy Tour as your favorite rocked out Star Wars Character! Including: Hard Rockin’ Han, Luke Drumbanger, ElectroniLeia, Darth Axegrinder, Vocalizing Vader, R&B2D2, C3PrOdigy, Chewrocka, and many more!

* Play though Carrear Mode as you choose…take the Light Side path by pleasing the fans or the Dark Side path to quick success by pleasing the suits. The choice is yours!

* Expericence the greatest track list in the galaxy, Star Wars Style, including:

I Kissed A Wookiee (Katy Perry)                     Love in this Cantina (Usher)          

Island in the Cloud (Weezer)                         Smack My Bith Up (Prodigy)

The Real Slim Solo (Eminem)                         Like a Floating Stone (Rolling Stones) 

Drops of Tatooine (Train)                             Werewolves of Dagobah (Warren Zevon)  

Womp Rat Scratch Fever (Ted Nugent)          Touch My Tauntaun (Mariah Carey)

Wookiee Wrench (Foo Fighters)                     Fight For Your Right to Jedi (Beastie Boys)

Shock the Ewok (Peter Gabriel)                     Dewbacks in the Cradle (Harry Chapin)

Blitzkrieg Bantha (The Ramons)                    Rockin The Outer Rim (Ben Folds)

Tom Solo (Rush)                                           Everything I Do, I Do It For Yoda (Bryan Adams)

Back In The Falcon Again (Aerosmith)          Born in the Old Republic (Bruce Springsteen)

Video Killed the Nerf Hearder (Buggles)       She Blinded Me With Carbonite (Thomas Dolby)

Pour Some Spice On Me (Def Leppard)         No Sleep Till Dantooine (Beastie Boys)

Don’t Fear The Rancor (Blue Oyster Cult)     Dancing in the Darkside (Bruce Springsteen)

Working Han (Rush)                                     Orange County Gammorean (Gwen Steafani)

Come On Feel The Force (Quiet Riot)           Naboo Dreaming (The Mamas and the Papas)

Death Stick Blues (Johnny Cash)                  Pretty Fly, For A Jedi (The Offspring) 

Sweet Home Alderaan (Lynard Skynard)       The Boys Are Back In Bespin (Thin Lizzy)

Paranoid Protocol Droid (Radiohead)           Hold On My Throat (Phil Collins, Darth Vader)

I recently decided to take the plunge and get a PS3. I held out for a long time, not because of any grand idea of loyalty to Xbox 360 but due to issues over price, game library, and the format war between Blu-Ray and HD DVD. The trifecta of issues prevented me from being able to justify the purchase but now they are no longer an issue.

 The format war ended recently when Toshiba announced they were no longer going to be in the HD DVD market. To those of you who are not into that sort of thing imagine how they had VHS vs. BETA back in the VCR heyday. At any rate the Blu-Ray format won the war and PS3’s actually are the most affordable Blu-Ray player available. I also have a really nice HDTV now so I figured it was time to accentuate it.

The cost of the PS3 has come down quite a bit since it was launched. When it first came out the system ran for upwards of about $600. Now you can get one for $400, which is quite a big deal to me. Granted, now you get a smaller hard drive (storage space) but that can be upgraded and I doubt I will use up 40 gigs anytime soon.

The last issue baring me from getting a PS3 was the redundancy of the games. Most games come out on both PS3 and Xbox 360. This is because there are mainly three types of game developers, First Party, Second Party, and Third Party. First Party Developers are owned by the respective console company.  An example of this would be Bungie being owned by Microsoft up until recently. Next, there are Second party developers which are separate from any console company but, either via contract or partial ownership, only make games for one console. Insomniac Games, who choose to make games only for Playstation, are an example of Second Party Developers. Finally there are Third Party developers. Third Party Deveopers are their own entity and can and do make games for multiple systems. Capcom, Konami, and Electronic Arts being the most well known. They frequently release the same game on both PS3 and Xbox 360.

The problem I had was that it took quite a bit of time for the PS3 to build a library of titles that are unique to it that I actually wanted to play. The big deal maker in the end though was Metal Gear Soild 4: Guns of the Patiriots. I have long been a huge Metal Gear fan. It, combined with great games like Uncharted: Drakes’ Fortune, Resistance: Fall of Man and its upcoming sequal, and Rachet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, made me feel ok about getting it.

      

All in all I am really happy with it. I love the way that internet connectivity is wireless out of the box, though at this time the online options are not as integrated as Xbox 360 though they are working on it. My only real compaint is that the Playstation store just does not have enough cool stuff to get. That and I would love to see a Next-Gen version of the Sly Cooper series.

Today has been a weird day. Lots of drama at work, on various message boards and friends via email. It’s like the world has PMS.

Here’s picture of Terry and his friend and co-worker, Belcher at 4H Camp last weekend. I put it through photoshop in this cool new feature I just learned how to use where it makes pictures look all old and very saturated or whatnot. Cool, huh? I’ve been doing it to all sorts of pictures but this is the first one that I’ve put up on here.

In other news not much is happening. Terry is obsessed with GTA4, I’m obsessed with World of Warcraft, scrapbooking and our upcoming vacation.

I  vacation planning…! There is something infinately wonderful about planning for a vacation. I love the entire process. Choosing hotels, dates, activities, budgeting, reading books on topic, surfing the internet about the topic, compiling notes, making lists, plans, etc. It’s intoxicating. It’s (almost) more fun than the vacation itself.

Too bad I can’t do this for a living!

Happy Monday everyone! Well, what did we do this weekend at the Manicdote house? Well, my Dad is coming to visit in 20 days (for my birthday) so we’re in high gear for cleaning. This weekend? Our task was simple. Clean the bathroom. We armed ourselves with rubber gloves, bleachy cleaning products and sponges. We worked our ass off for about two hours scrubbing that bathroom clean. Cleaner than it’s ever been. It’s still ugly, but at least it’s clean! So clean I don’t want to use it. We are weekend warriors…!!!

Next weekend - our target shall be laundry room/mud room and living room. They’re not dirty - just cluttered and need attention! I keep telling the pugs to clean while I’m at work and they’re not listening. Lazy mutts…they’re not earning their keep. Pug kissies don’t pay the bills, baby.

We also played some Grand Theft Auto 4 and World of Warcraft. I’m almost up to lvl 20 so I’m pretty stoked about that. I also scrapbooked. I finished a page I recently did as part of a challenge at a scrapbooking website I frequent. It’s a layout of pictures taken while at Disneyland last summer; Terry on the teacups:

And a close up:

Also - we finally decided on where we’re going for our summer vacation: DISNEY WORLD!!! Of course, we’ll also go to Epcot and all the other parks there. I’ve wanted to go there my whole life so I’m totally excited!

Hello dear readers. Guess what? No, I did not win the lottery, but thank-you for your prayers in that endeavor of mine. Alas…one day!

Although I did win the lottery with Terry. He is a wonderful, smart, handsome man. I love him! And my puggy babies. Aren’t they adorable? I took this cute photo of them in their new bed and put it through the computers “watercolor” effect. Rukia is a little blacked-out but Poley looks adorable. And you can see their newest favorite toy, Mr. Loofa, which we won from darling Clover’s (Clover’s Adventures) Mummy during the Pay-It-Forward. They totally loved it. And I forgot to get a photo of the treats she sent. They inhaled them and completely loved them. ALSO, the best part of the gift was the gorgeous sketches!

Here are some pictures of the sketches. Clover’s mom, Jess, also has some pictures of the sketches up on her blog. They’re totally awesome! Mostly because they’re of my little darlings, but also because the artist was obviously quite talented: First Napoleone when he was a little puppy:

And then Rukia as a puppy:

Also, I wanted to post my recipe for Chicken Salad Sandwiches. Consider it my Pay-It-Forward gift to all my readers. These sandwiches are TOTALLY awesome! People would pay for them!

Allison’s Chicken Salad Sandwiches (2-4 people depending on your appetite)

3 Chicken breasts
1/2 cup vermouth (enough to make liquid around chicken)
Spice mix (Salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, season salt)
Olive oil (just a little drizzle)
Mayo (enough to coat)

1. Put a drizzle of olive oil on chicken breasts, rub on with your fingers. Then put spices on: Salt, Pepper, Paprika, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder and Season Salt - this will create a pinkish paste over the chicken breast.
2. Pour some vermouth over chicken - this will make some sort of sauce that is loose around the chicken.
3. Bake at 375^F for about 30 minutes, until chicken is cooked through (press with finger - meat should feel firm.
4. Cool chicken. Cube. Mix with mayo until desired texture. Add salt & pepper to taste.
5. Put on either a toasted hamburger bun or croissant. Enjoy!

Here are some pictures of the process:

I have always considered myself a nerd. Even before I knew what a nerd was! When I was seven I wanted to be a writer when I grew up so my parents bought me a typewriter so I could practice. I spent my youth reading Nancy Drew books instead of playing in the sunshine. I spent years taking every anthropology and archeology class in college as electives instead of taking ceramics or something easy. I took greek as my language in college because I thought that it would be cool read The Iliad and The Odyessy in their original text. I have listened to progressive rock. I identified with Weird Al’s ‘White & Nerdy’. I have reformatted my own hard drive. I have a good friend who speaks Klingon. We will not go into my World of Warcraft addiction except to say that my Night Elf Druid would totally kick your Blood Elf Warlock’s ass! Burn! 

However, I took this “How Nerdy Are You?” Quiz and I’m ashamed to say that I only got an 80%! Maybe there is still hope for me yet. Maybe there is a cheerleader hiding inside me, just waiting to pop out and go clubbing or whatever. Do people still go clubbing? I have no idea.

Want to know how nerdy YOU are? My friend Mercedes was only 32% nerdy. Ha-ha!  What a loser! (just kidding, Mercedes, you know I loves ya, babe) - Check out the quiz HERE and let me know what you got. Just know that I shall use the Comic-Book guy voice and mock you should you get less than I did. Finger pointing may also be involved.

In other news I’m vaugely concerned that Rukia is part something else. I’m not sure WHAT, just not 100% pug. First of all, she’s ridiculously tiny. She’s probally…4-5 lbs tops. And she’s 4 months old. Poley was like 11lbs at her age. She also doesn’t listen to a word I say. I call her and she runs in the opposite direction. Or she’ll look at me and proceed to pee on the carpet. Napoleon doesn’t do this. He runs to me with a happy smile. He is also potty trained. He doesn’t pee on our socks. Could she be a chug (Pug + Chihuahua)? I have researched what chugs look like, and she doesn’t really look like that. My new working theory is that she’s a dwarf pug. Aparently it’s somewhat common with German shepherd’s but I can’t seem to find anything about it in pugs. Am I just being overly paranoid?

Okay, so I’m really getting into two new hobbies. Scrapbooking and World of Warcraft. I know what you’re thinking. These seem like very disseperate hobbies. However, I am a woman of contrasts. And talents! But we won’t go into all my talents because that would take too much of our time.

Now here are some new pictures of my latest scrapbooking page. The pictures are from a Fall Out Boy (FOB) concert that Terry and I went to last June. It was one of our first dates and Terry’s very first concert. I used to work selling insurance to rock bands and FOB was one of my clients so I scored us some free tickets in the 3rd row. We were actually sitting next to the drummer’s family. Anyways, here’s the layout. Sorry the pictures are blurry. I need a new camera. A sexy little birdy told me I’ll be getting a new one for my birthday next month. And that means Terry can’t keep a secret. Have I told you lately how much I love him?

And a few close ups:

One more, because I’m a picture slut:

Also Terry and I are addicted to this World of Warcraft (WOW) thing. It’s SO much fun. I’m playing a Blood Elf Mage and I love it. If you’re on the server “Shadow Council” - let me know! We can go on a raid together! Or we’re also looking for a Guild and we’d love to join yours.

It’s very fun. And addictive, but I’m forcing myself to put the game in its place and not let it take over our lives. We still go to work, eat, walk the pugs, play other video games, scrapbook, etc. WOW will not take over my life! I won’t let it…! But it’s SO much fun, though.

Oh, and here’s some pictures of a baby card that I made for my friend Pher and his wife Jen to celebrate the birth of their newest daughter, Lily:

And the inside:

Hooray! It’s almost friday! That, right there, is reason to celebrate. This has felt like such a loooooong week, hasn’t it? And this weekend should be fun because we’ve got big plans to play Rockband, and as everyone knows, I’m totally addicted to playing it.

Here are some pictures of Rukia in a cute little dress that I bought for her. She loved it and she pranced around the house wearing it like it was the height of haute couture. She is so silly! This first picture is of her from the front. Look at her work it. She’s “America’s Next Top Puggie”…! Watch out Tyra Banks!

Then this picture is of her from the side.

Isn’t she adorable? Well, I think she is, but I might be a tad bit biased. And then here she is in my arms. Sorry it is a little blurry.

Of course Terry had to get in on the posing action…except his poses are always silly!

I just bought a new bed for the puggies. It was on sale at Target for $12 so I picked it up to replace one of their older beds that is raggedy, chewed up and too small. So, of course we took a few pictures of them enjoying their new bed.

Here’s Napoleon enjoying it calmly:

Then Rukia comes over, bringing their favorite bunny toy. This of course, riles him up.

And then we took the bunny away and they act nicely with the hope that daddy will stop taking silly pictures of them and give back Mr. Bunny.

But of course this calmness doesn’t last long and Rukia chases beleaguered Poley away.

After Poley is finally gone and she has the bed to herself she stops to pose cutely for the camera.

But her stink eye is always watching Poley, who is off-camera.

You’d better watch out. Her stink eye is out there.

And she’s always watching…

Well, Napoleon is doing great. His surgery went well and he’s pretty much recooperated and doing good. He was a little out-of-it on Saturday (day after surgery) and slept all day long, but now he’s back to his normal self. Here’s  apicture of him looking silly and goofy. He goes back on April 1st to have his stitches removed, but other than that he’s all set for the next year.

This picture was captured while we were playing and his ear is flipped back. So cute! Oh, and his ear mites are all gone…the doctor is pleased with his weight, his growth, this health was perfect, except the vet said he had excessive ear wax, so I was given this ear solution to clean out his ears weekly. Funny. Napoleon has TONS of ear wax and Rukia barely ever has any.

Oh, and thanks to the suggestion of green beans as treats (sorry…can’t remember who suggested it or where I read it). I thawed out a bag of them and now we use them as training treats - they’re healthy, they aid in digestion (ruffage) and totally inexpensive. Also, the puggies L-O-V-E them. I highly recommend them to all you dog owners out there! When we went on a walk yesterday, I had a bag of them in my pocket and we used them quite effectively - we’re trying to teach them “heel” but it’s not going that well. As you know…pugs can be quite willful when they don’t want to do something. And they really prefer running crazy wild on the leash. The idea of walking sedately at my side seems to be TOO MUCH for them to comprehend.

Here’s a picture of Ruki and I posing for the camera. Aren’t we hams? I love my little girl and she’s still so small. At her age, Poley was already like 8 lbs. Whereas Rukia is only 5 lbs. I think she’s just going to be smaller than him. However, I have noticed recently that her legs are getting unusually long so I think she’s about to have a growth spurt. Hooray!

In other news, we are still in love with the game “Rockband” and are quite obsessed with it. We were inducted into the Hall of Fame the other day, but now we’re working on completing all the cities in the game for acheivements and also, it’s a lot of fun! It can be challenging at times, but that’s part of the fun and it makes it a game as apposed to a glorified karaoke machine.

And for a parting shot, here is Terry on the couch with the puggies. You can see Poley in his favorite spot (on top of the couch). And Rukia is in her favorite spot - her Daddy’s arms.