But like any good citizen of Baltimore, I disliked anything Colt related that was post “moving day.”  My “favorite team” became the Seattle Seahawks.  Not because I ever seen them play, they just had the logo I liked the most.  I watched some Superbowls, the one I remember the most was the Chicago Bears win over the New England Patriots.  Kinda annoyed me when they didn’t sing that “shuffle song,” but it was cool.  The Orioles were always around, but I was never into baseball.  The theory of not having a “father figure” to throw a ball around with could be a factor.  I just was never into the sport in general.  Something about catching a ball that could hit you in the face or hitting a ball being thrown at high speeds (that could HIT YOU IN THE FACE!!!) just didn’t move me.

I did like pro wrestling, mostly WWF (now WWE).  I stayed up to watch “Saturday Night Main Event” and wrestling on Saturday afternoon.  The kids in the neighborhood had their favorites; mine were Macho Man Randy Savage and Ricky Steamboat.  I’d work on their impressions and when we started “wrestling,” I was the “Intercontinental Champion.”  Now we weren’t really beating the crap out of each other, well the older kids would rush our “ring” aka an abandoned house’s porch, and go all “Four Horsemen” on our candy asses.  But we had to be physically active to play and lazy action wasn’t allowed with us.  At one point I did win my friend’s Heavyweight Championship belt from him.  Not fully grasping how much that cardboard, aluminum foil, shoe string, and color marker belt meant to him, I gloated too much after the bout and agreed to a rematch.  Now William was my best friend, and where ever you are William, I pray you are well, but Boo (his nickname) beat the living Hulk-a-mania out me.  It wasn’t a match for William, it was payback.  .  In the best wrestling tradition, he taught me a lesson.  The lesson was “don’t take his belt;” ever.  I went home a broken & battered boy, but the next day we were cool like nothing happened.  Like Macho Man and Hulk Hogan I suppose.

My sport of choice came from a basic need, a need to defend myself from constant ass whuppings.  I started taking karate (Ed Parker’s Kenpo Karate) after finding myself the victim of a string of fights.  I made it easy for them, I was on this “non-violence” kick.  Now I’m not knocking that as a means to an end, however when going to a corner store or visiting your friend across the street became a reenactment of your favorite martial art flick (before the lead character got kung-fu or bo staff skills), something had to change.  I was good, not “Daniel goes to Japan and beats down a guy who studied his whole life when Daniel only studied for a few months” good, but I was pretty good.  I enjoyed the principles of the art and how it directly impacted everything outside the dojo.  My love of philosophy and Eastern Arts came from that studio, and I’m always thankful.  And the fighting slowed down to a crawl when I not only fought back, but “won” some.  “Won” because that kind of violence only goes in a revolution, aka “they got their cousins, damn!”

In middle and into high school, karate was what I did; I didn’t have any need for anything else.  I played basketball, but my attempts to be Jordan on the court ended with the other kids getting mad at me missing the easiest shots in the universe.  I knew who Jordan, Bird, Magic were, but ask me anything else and I’d shoot a brick.  When Starter jackets came into play in the 80′s, I thought The Celtics were the name of the jacket.  When it came to playing football, I was no good.  The idea of having something thrown a ball AT me and I’m suppose to catch it made no sense (again, it could hit me in the face).  I spent years ducking and dodging people throwing damn rocks at me, I need to keep that skill up to good use!!  And I’m not going to let someone tackle me and get me dirty for “fun.”  My Mom spent $60 bucks a month so Mr. Palanzo could teach me to NOT get tackled….

Youth….

In high school I gave thought of joining the football team.  Moms sacked that idea, fast.  She was spending “good money” (Question, is there ever “bad money?”  If so, I’ve never seen it and wouldn’t turn it down…) to keep me safe, how am I going to mess that up by getting killed by some goons?  Besides the fact that most of those “goons” were some of the people in school that actually left my crazy ass alone, as a bit of a loner, any idea I had of ever going into a team sport should seem like a good thing.  Sure there is the chance I could get banged up, but it’s not like teens all over the world was just dropping out because of injuries.  In hindsight, I should have stood my ground on it.  At that moment, football was calling, and just let it go.

However the coach at the school I was attending did want me to try out for the wrestling team.  Between me getting into fights and I was a bit of nut, I suppose he thought I could do well.  I said I’d come down for a meet to see what it was like.  Seeing a friend run around with a trash bag on didn’t make the best first impression.  Later I found out that’s what you had to do to lose weight to meet your weight class.  Then came to the actual sport, I had serious problems with it, not that I stuck around to see the more technical parts of the sport.  First, letting someone “mount me” wasn’t flying well with a teenage Kofi.  Then the uniforms, no; just no.  I can’t do it.  Sorry, no.  What if I see a girl I like and…  Well, nature takes its course and that would be hella awkward.  Then it was the letting someone get the drop on me by letting them get in a position to get a pin.  At least that’s how I saw it back then, I just couldn’t do it.  I’d stick with pro wrestling (irony at its best) and remember how I was the reigning Intercontinental Champion of Park Heights (circa 1984-1986).

I was on the track team, for the quickest of minutes.  Just for the girls.  Hell, at least I’m honest.  But running around a circle, when you are use to running to escape seemed uninteresting after I got my fill of looking at the ladies.

My last year in high school I had teacher who didn’t allow me to slack off or allow me to get away with reading comics or drawing in gym.  He pushed and didn’t budge when it came to me getting involved.  And as a senior who “didn’t need” the class, I figured I’d ace an A or at least a B in the class.  Wrong.  First quarter report card I was an A average student.  Save gym, I had a C.  No typo, C in gym.  My Mom was livid, how the hell I can “karate it up” and get a C in gym?  Not changing into shorts and playing with the other kids is a start…  I planned on going up to coach and ask, no DEMAND to know why I got a C.  So the next day I walked up to him and said, “I got a C in gym.”  ”Yup.” and he kept on going.  I was shook, completely stuckonstupid.  And he was right.  I did earn a C and no, he wasn’t going to back down.  In that moment I learned a lesson I keep to this day and now find myself repeating the young people I work with now.  In sports, you get what you earn.  In life, you get what you earn.  Sometimes things happen, but for the most part, the work you put in will net you the result you get.  And had I not got this lesson, a sports related “life lesson,” I may have learned it another way. 

After high school I started to watch more basketball, but not much else.  I found I like boxing for years, but having cable suddenly made it more accessible.  I found myself drawn to the Heavyweight division, but that’s because that’s where most of the action was.  How have times changed….  I also began to read and study about a man who would be a key inspiration for me.  Not so much for what he did in the ring, but out the ring.  Muhammad Ali.  But still, sports were a back burner thing for me. 

Nothing I was really into.  That is until I moved.

I spent 3 years in Pittsburgh, three amazing, great, and sometimes stressful years.  It was a time that I really found I didn’t have to be what others said I was going to be and was able to grow.  One of those areas was in sports.  Now I went to an art school.  There were no sports teams and perhaps if I had people who went to bigger schools acting as guides/role models, I might have been swayed to go to a school with sports.  But all around me were sports fans.  And hanging out with them, made me a sports fan, even if I didn’t know it. 

First off, the year I went to college was the year the Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore and the Ravens were born.  Now I didn’t really get into that, I wasn’t a fan of the sport like that.  I’d support the home team, but I wasn’t jumping up and down for joy over it.  So imagine when most of the people I met and became friends with in college were from…. 

You guessed right, Cleveland.  Yeah, that was fun.  The looks I’d get when I said I’m from Charm City were classic.  I should have just thrown poop on their shoes; I got everything from dirty looks to “You stole our team,” and everything else under the sun. Thankfully people moved on from that very fast, but it was a source of jokes and conversation for the whole time I was there.

Although we are rivals and division opponents, I have a warm spot for Pittsburgh.  It’s where my love of football started (weird, yes it is) and where I actually learned about the sport.  Buying and playing Madden or whatever random football game didn’t count.  You can’t live in Pittsburgh and not get caught up in football in one way, shape, form or other.  Its life up there, it’s not like they could count on the Pirates for entertainment (and before you Pirate fans cry in your soup, it’s not like Baltimore has a good team either).  I found that doing my job (blueprint carrier) was made boring by not knowing anything about the sport or the team.  There were no conversations to be had unless it was the Steelers or the Penguins.  Not just during the season, all year long.

I remember the first time (?) the Ravens came to play at Three Rivers Stadium.  Some friends and I thought it would be a good idea to hang a Browns towel out an apartment as the Steeler faithful left from a loss.  I just thought it would be funny, but damn was it funny.  People were honking their horns, cursing at us, threatening our lives.  “It’s just a game, shit’s not that deep.”  Wrong.  It was and more than I thought.  The Browns and Steelers had a rivalry (nothing I knew about) and the idea that the “Baltimore Browns” (I hated when people said that) came and beat the Steelers was tough for a lot of people.  But we had fun and it was good for a laugh; however it was not the first time we ran foul across a Steeler fan.

In order to get to school, we who lived in Allegany Center Seven (school apartments), had to cross the Seventh Street Bridge.  Now before you got to the bridge, you’d pass the parking for the Stadium.  And EVERY Sunday the team played, we were greeted with the wonderful smells of cooking food.  Seeing people of all races, creeds, backgrounds hanging out and talking the universal language of NFL Football was so awesome to see.  And yes, you ran the risk of getting called every single name under the sun if they saw you wearing anything other than Steelers clothing.  My dude always wore his Browns jacket and I picked up a Ravens cap from home.  Needless to say, we engaged with the locals and gave as well as we got.  Well, sometimes they’d get too worked up.  But that taught me one thing, if you are going to support your team, you need to stand tall.  Nevermind I didn’t watch any games, but I was from Baltimore.  And PROUD to be from Baltimore, I can’t rock anything other than Baltimore. 

Now I was given a Steelers hat from an old boss, but after a few wears it found it’s way into a bag of clothes I didn’t wear.  Maybe I gave it away, I’m not sure.  In the end I couldn’t do it, I couldn’t wear it.  Just felt wrong and I didn’t know at the time that was “home loyalty” kicking in.  

Living in Pittsburgh, I knew all about the team, saw how loyal the fans were.  But I also saw how they didn’t take any junk.  Cordell Steward was THE toast of town.  He was all over the papers and people LOVED this man.  He could dropkick the mayor and people would just shrug their shoulders.  When his play dropped, he became the most hated man in the city.  Now I wasn’t digging that too much.  How can you just go 180 on someone like that?  Just didn’t seem right.  What I got out of that, people who praise you will be the quickest to call for your head.  Not comparing Steward to Jesus, but the story is as old as the Bible.  And yeah, I’ve been guilty of this, but you have to have a commitment of excellence in being a screw up for me to feel that strongly.  Not just in sports, but in life in general.  I don’t know if Steward actually deserve that, but that’s how it was up there.  Do right or bounce, no half stepping….

Up north we played on Sunday morning, but that was more for the students who followed the sport and knew they were going to spend their day in computer labs.  Being a good sport, I attempted to play like everyone else.  I sucked on offense skills positions and wasn’t big enough to be an effective offensive lineman.  So when I played defense, I’d chase people down the best I could and found it wasn’t good enough, so to rattle them enough to get an edge, I’d growl or something.  Yes, I’m laughing at myself so you can laugh too.  Like a badger, I’d gun toward some dude and lunge as if they had the last slice of Pizza Outlet on the face of the planet.  “Did he just fucking growl?”  And I’m laughing on the field; I’m having fun and releasing stress.  I wasn’t good or anything, but for an hour or two, I could be a part of group.  A group I never fit in before and wanted to be like.  I was one of the guys.  During this time and when AiP would have YMCA days; but I learned quickly my “Jordan skills” in basketball were no match to people’s real life skills.  But it was cool, I wasn’t there to be an athlete, I was there to be an artist.  And no one judged me on my sports talents.  Thankfully.  I was just one of the guys.

After Pittsburgh, I came back to Baltimore (after a few months in Punxsutawney, PA, that’s a whole other story).  And Sundays became a time I could sit back and enjoy football.  I started to watch the game with a keen eye and learn about the history of the sport.  I researched and decided this would be my sport, like it should have been years ago.  Then we won the Superbowl.  “We,” as if I was on the field too.  I wasn’t, but I was a part of something bigger than myself.  And for a moment, everything I wanted as a kid, everything I wanted over the years, I felt it.  Being a part of something that had more universal appeal than my comics or sci-fi stuff had with other people; something that connected me with the world.  I was like everyone else.

Now I’m a football nut.  I like basketball, and that mostly comes from (again) my friends from Pittsburgh.  But football is where it’s at.  Having a home team plays a huge part, I can’t claim the Wizards, and I’m not from Washington.  My “football season” doesn’t end.  I’m reading up on my team, other teams, anything in-between.  I don’t know all the details and find points, but I’m a huge fan.  Had you ask the young Kofi would he be following football, I think he’d give you that look and say no.  And if I could, I’d tell a young Kofi to get involve earlier and do more.  That you can balance your fantasy stuff and get out there and get dirty, get banged, experience getting a win with people instead of just for you.  How the concept of working with a team isn’t just for the classroom or work, but the elements and life lessons sports can give you translate into the real world.

No, I don’t know if I could do it.  Because if I did, then the journey I had wouldn’t have happened.  And the “now” wouldn’t feel so good.

Go Ravens.  ALL DAY, EVERYDAY.

I’ve had this hunger for years, just never acted on them in a productive way. I became content with “the meal” I was given and allowed my hunger to go away. It took a shock to the system to remind me why you should have a constant hunger and never let that go. Due to recent, well… events, I feel like I have less time to play around with and I’ve allowed myself into the very false sense of security of what my life is and what it’s about. For the longest I’ve had this idea of what life is and that’s now gone. Without great detail, I have suffered a huge fall and now I’m left with a lot of broken pieces.

With that, I believe that now is the time for me to really take stock in every thing and also get all my shit together. Not that it will be easy, 10 plus years of “ugh” doesn’t change over night. Typing a few words won’t get me where I want to go, where I believe I should be. However it’s a start and the only way I will get to where I need to be is to put one foot in front of the other and get to stepping.

And there is the problem I have and have had in life for years; fear of the unknown. I know can be a procrastinator, been battling that for years. If it’s work, I’m solid. Once I come home… Well it’s a different story. But that’s half the problem, the other half is the fear of the unknown. The fear of failure. It’s the reason I’ve put off so many things and haven’t stepped outside my comfort zone in years. It’s why I have the same schedule everyday without fail, the reason I don’t experience new things, the reason I’m at the same place in my life when there is so much more to do and explore.

So what’s the plan? First is to actual DO SOMETHING. So far it’s a win, so let’s get down and do the “victory dance.” Now that’s out the way, the goal is to do something everyday. Each day something has to be done, nothing big, damn sure nothing small. However I have stay moving because like my favorite animal, if you aren’t moving to satisfy that hunger, you are dead. And I’m no use to my boy dead, physically, spiritually, emotionally, or mentally. Write out the agenda for the week, with set days to do key things. Make the time to do them all and if/when needed, ask for help. Something I don’t do enough of and often when I’ve bashed my head against the wall too much. I’ve had my head bashed in enough, time to use it for something else beyond the sledgehammer.

So let’s think of this as the “pre-manifesto.” The last time I drafted a manifesto was sometime ago, it was actually pretty damn effective. Right now it’s really about getting things done and the right way; and to use the anger inside to get this done. This anger, this depression, and this void I have; I’ll be honest, I’m hurting. Hurting real bad and it’s going to be like this for a long time. But if I can be productive while working through this, perhaps I can gain some sort of victory in more ways that one. Right now I need all the victories I can get.

You name it, it happened: Not enough time, things popped up, I forgot, lost interest, lack of energy, blah, blah, whatever.  No matter how you cut the steak, hmmmmmmm steak, I was on some bullshit.

 So here we are at the here and now.  I always mean to come back to this, but I’ve always put it off.  Tomorrow, tomorrow, next week, next Monday….  At the here and now I’m tired of waiting for some mystical, magical muse to come and spark all of these wonderful and extra super duper talents of mine.  So today, we begin.  From this point I won’t talk about the past.  We are on to the now.  And now, the now looks pretty damn good.

 And I promise to cut out the cursing.  That was a bit much earlier, I know.  But I was really on some bullshit….

A few superheroes I made up

Meet the — I don’t have a name for them.  I don’t have a name for most of them actually; I tend to draw characters off the cuff.  Mostly at work when there is nothing going on.  One of my favorite things in the universe is superheroes.  The guy in the center was the first one drawn, I know he’s ticked-off, maybe someone stole his turkey and cheese sub.  The cat with the scythe, he actually a character I made up in the ninth grade.  Ares von Zeus, a bad ass mercenary who often crosses path with another character (this one made up in the eighth grade), Ninja Nerd; more on him later.  The others, I have no idea.  But the guy in the lower left is clearly in homage of Battle of the Planets and the woman has on mask.  Masked Woman!!!

A whisper is all that is needed

Can I tell you a secret?  I don’t care if you tell other people, it’s cool.  For the longest time, I had a mental block with drawing other characters that I didn’t make.  So Wolverine, Spider-Man, Hardware, Batman, Robin, etc, I didn’t like to draw them because I felt I could never do them justice.  I could never rock it like my favorite artists, so in my youth I wouldn’t draw these or any other characters.  Well….  I’ve kicked that nonsense to the curb!!  Black Bolt is one of those heroes I like, but depending on who writes him, he can be a complete bore.  Here is a guy who is a ruler of people who ALL have powers and live on the Moon.  The MOON!!!  And is so powerful, when he barely whispers, he can level mountains.  And his wife is a fox too, not that I pay attention to that kind of stuff…  So I wanted to have him fight someone pretty massive, Dragon Man fit the bill.  Would it be a “fair” fight?  Maybe, however if I wrote it, it would be fun.  Yessir…

GRIMM light model sheet

Here is Grimm.  Grimm is the most popular toy going on right now.  He has a cartoon, videogames on multiple systems, and enough merchandising to last seven lifetimes.  Aaron Whittaker is a young lad who really wishes he could live the life and adventures of his favorite hero.  Wonder what happens when he gets that wish….

How my thought process

Finally is something I worked on some time ago.  A while ago I made a Facebook post involving Hip Hop sentries an Funk rangers, something like that.  Anywoo, this was supposed to accompany that post.  The problem is that I had about six or seven ideas going on with this one.  Ranging from armor that can be used for IQ (again, more on him later), to a futuristic android, to a lieutenant in the Grand Funk Army.  Then there is a siren on the bottom, I do know she is a member of Team Mjolnir.  Of course this was before the Thor movie was announced; now I suppose all things “Mjolnir” will be on lock.  Awe, screw that.  Meet the first two members of Team Mjolnir; the super powered group of adventures to protect the world from threats minor and major.  They do more in seven dimensions than most people do in their whole lives. 

This was a pretty lengthy post, mostly just pinned up energy need to be released.  I won’t keep you too long in the future, but I do hope to keep you around.  I’ll still “talk jive” on the things that interest me the most.  “There are bigger problems in the world, I know.  But I gotta talk about the world I know.”  Or something like that, sorry Jay Z for jacking up your line…  So I’ll drop lines about this and that, even talk about some more serious topics from time to time.  Thanks for listen to me talk, I’ll promise tomorrow will be better than today.  Because today is a gift and the present was left by the Ninja Pirate Santa Claus, see you back in the future.

“So what’s going on?” you might ask.  Well, not too much.  I’m enjoying life and the various, and I mean VARIOUS challenges it brings.  No, I’m not going into all that.  For one, some stuff is personal and I don’t spread my affairs over the Interwebs.  Two, this is suppose to be my outlet for all the stuff I want to rap about.  Not that everything is bad; much of it is very good and makes me a better man.  But this ain’t no “Debbie Downer” blog.  If the monsta would just use the potty more, I’d be a REALLY happy man.  J

Of course I’m still up on my videogames and such.  In the very near future, I’ll talk about some of the things going on in the industry, but currently I’m playing thru a healthy rotation of games.  Right now I’m very into playing games on Xbox Live.  From Bad Company 2 and Modern Warfare 2 I’m enjoying the heck out the service.  Of course May 3^rd is the Halo Reach Beta.  Yeah…  Let’s just say reading all there is about this game… yeah.  Just… yeah. 

There are still great SP games too, Dragon Age: Origins, Bayonetta, Mass Effect 2, Final Fantasy XIII… All great and offer something for various gamers.  I’m really drawn into great gameplay and amazing worlds.  These games offer that and more.  Again, as time goes on I’ll talk more about each one and the other upcoming games (and the older games for that matter) that are moving me.

Last thing on games, thanks to the “issues” that Modern Warfare 2 had since launch, I am no longer buying ANY MP shooter that doesn’t go thru a Beta Test of some type.  Now I’ve been putting my MW2 skills to the test, gearing up for the new maps dropping tomorrow.  I haven’t witnessed any foolishness since Bad Company 2 took over my Live time, but the damage has been done.  So far Halo Reach and Ghost Recon Future Solider have announced open Betas.  I’m hoping that the next Call of Duty and Medal of Honor games do the same.

Tomorrow the Method Man/Ghostface/Raekwon album comes out tomorrow.  I’m a HUGE Wu-Tang Clan fan.  And while the group hasn’t put out a ton of amazing work as late, Ghostface Killah has continued to drop gem after gem (even if I wasn’t feeling that R&B flavored album, just didn’t move me, but still better than 80% of the stuff out now).  Both Meth and Rae have come back with a vengeance over the last couple of years.  The Mathematics Mixtape (Mathematics Presents Wu-Tang Returns), Rae’s OB4CLII, Meth and Red’s Blackout, and even 8 Diagrams were crazy nice.  So needless to say, I can’t wait for tomorrow.  This is a project that should have happened years, no a decade ago.

And not only are we blessed with a new Wu album, but we will blessed with another Erykah Badu album tomorrow as well.  I don’t think the world can contain such kickass.  Badu always give us great work and I’m sure this will be no different.  I’ve managed to stay waya from any leaks from both albums, even though many people have told me I should have gave a listen to them.  So let’s recap:  We have new content for Modern Warfare 2, Bad Company 2 (free mind you), a Wu-Massacre, AND Badu tomorrow.  Happy March 30^th indeed!  I’m sure I’missing something, but if I am, I don’t even want to know.  The world can’t take anymore….

I can’t think of anything else and I think I’ve once again typed a ton of stuff, too much if you ask me.  So I’ll leave anything else for tomorrow.  But yeah, things are cool.  And I have a HDTV!  Finally…. I’m enjoying it all right now.

 Peace.

Here are a few things I’m working on.  The cat on the left, he’s for my header.  The current one isn’t cool… 

Long wait huh?

I have to be very truthful, I can get sidetracked.  Thank you Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and everything else under the sun.  And well, there are no excuses for the lack of writing.  I just haven’t done much.  Had a lot to say and talk about, but just never have.  Even one of my best friends (and newly proud Papa) told me I need to update my blog more.  Of course, I didn’t see it because…. I haven’t checked it in months.  Sad isn’t it?  Well, welcome to a new day.  I’m not going to front like I’m some big time writer or whatever; I’m just one cat who often has something to say on a variety of things.  And I plan on doing just that and more. 

 And Game of the Year goes too…

I play videogames and pretty nice at it.  It’s my stress release, it’s my hobby, and it’s my thing.  Every year I play a ton of games and often come up with a short list of a few of my favorite games.  Last year was a pretty good year overall, Street Fighter returned, we have a few new IPs that was just FUN (Red Fraction, Dragon Age: Origins and Scribblenauts).  Downloadable games in GTA4: The Lost and the Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, Battlefield 1943, Shadow Complex), and one new game that just blew me away and I wasn’t expecting it; thank you Borderlands. 

There were the great sequels in Modern Warfare 2, Assassin’s Creed 2, Forza 3, Halo 3: ODST, Fight Night Round 4; the Madden, NCAA, and NBA 2K series.  And yes, I know there are some I’m missing and I didn’t count the PS3 games or Wii games because I don’t own either.  So no one can cry about any dumb ass fanboy biases.

With all that said, there is ONE game that I think stands above them all.  Batman: Arkham Asylum.  Rocksteady made THE Batman game; you felt like Batman and moved like Batman, fought like Batman and thought like Batman.  You matched wits with his villains, all done just right and none felt cheap or lackluster.  The writing and voice casting (Animated Series voices For the WIN!!) made the game that much better and while I wasn’t keen on the overly buffed Commissioner Gordon, the models were just short of amazing.  Sure the final boss wasn’t as great as it could have been, nor was the fight with Killer Croc, however when you take the lump sum of it all, I can’t think of a better game to spend time with. 

And yes, as much time I spent on Modern Warfare 2, Fight Night Round 4, and other games this year, this game was by far THAT game I’d recommend to ANYONE and EVERYONE.

So far this year…

Mass Effect 2.  I will do a proper write up later for this game.  I will say this, this game is epic.  Many say “this” or “that” is “epic.”  THIS is epic; plain and simple.  With all the games coming this year, right now as of THIS day and time, nothing is touching Mass Effect 2.  Nothing.

 There are bigger problems in the world, I know…

 I’d feel seven kinds of bad if didn’t at least say one or two things about the earthquake in Haiti.  My first real experience with Haiti was with the Fugees.  Go ahead and laugh at me or whatever, but that was the first time I really had any sort of tangible connection with the country.  That I can remember anyway.  The first album was pretty cool, it was on regular rotation on the Walkman (yes, WALKMAN).  But that second album, crazy nice and frankly one of my top Hip Hop albums ever. 

 Fast forward to the now and I thought I honestly couldn’t feel anymore sadness and anger since Katrina.  And yet I remember when the earthquake happened and you couldn’t even find news on it at first, almost like it didn’t happen.  Then you saw the news…. 

 At any rate, I’m not going to tell you to donate or whatever.  I think there are many ways to help and not everything revolves around some coin.  But I do want to say my thoughts and prayers are continually with the people there and the ones helping on the ground level.  And I have no words for those who would use this time to pimp their negative and narrow-minded propaganda, those who are selfish with emotion, and those who wish to exploit the people and the children there.  Peace and blessings.

 So yeah, I don’t want to leave on a down note.  So I suppose I’ll quickly talk about my addiction to Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer.  I haven’t played in a few, Mass Effect 2 mostly.  But I will say this game suffers from some of the most “off” situation, bugs, glitches, and some really jacked up people in the community.  And no, it’s not just “the kiddies,” we are talking supposedly grown folks doing this.  But it did get me on Live playing with others, even if I have to mute it most of the time.

Ok, that wasn’t THAT positive.  Let’s try this one:  My son is using the potty now.  Awesome!  Now if he’d do number two and was more regular with it, I can tell the diapers to step off!

 See you in 2.

1. Waiting for midnight or at least tomorrow morning for Modern Combat 2.
2. Already have the game from Gamestop or another store and loving it.
3. Don’t care about Call of Duty at all and NOT getting the game.
4. Never heard of the game and you enjoy collecting stamps.

 Ok, the last was a reach.  But you get the idea.

 I’ve been playing games for the longest (Atari 2600 long, and I can remember playing Pong) and I’ve seen a lot of games hyped up either by the fanbase or the media or retailers.  But Modern Combat 2 (or MC2) is taking the cake.  We have ALL media outlets covering it one way or another, then there are the controversies, the early releases; it’s been a bit of a nuthouse as of late.

 And it’s worth it all.

 Starting with Call of Duty 2 on the Xbox 360, I’ve been a solid supporter/fan of the series.  The game has becomes Activision’s big cash cow, having both Infinity Ward and Treyarch taking turns releasing games each year.  Infinty Ward are the orginals with the franchise, however Treyarch as done a great job as well.  Most people will swear up and down with Infinty Ward’s work, but Treyarch did a epic job with World at War and the Map Pack DLC.  The game seemed to be stuck in  a World War II loop, with the first three* Call of Duty games set in WW2.  Infinty Ward created two great titles with Call of Duty 1 & 2.  And then Trayarch followed up with Call of Duty 3, even though Infinty Ward had issue with the number three being used.  Then came Modern Combat.

This game was the prefect way to blend the pacing of your favorite action movie with tons of great gameplay.  The single player was a joy to play and the multiplayer action is still among the favorites with gamers online.  You cared about your AI teammates and often gave imaginary fist bumps when a plan came together, cursed AI that seemed to tag you like a Bronx subway train, and cheered when you got him and his homeboy too.  Most of my Xbox Live friends know I’m not a HUGE MP player, but it’s rare you play a game that feels “fair.”  Unless you play with people who do nothing not but play that game, I never logged in and thought, “Yeah, I’m going to get lit up….”  You get a good game in and hours can feel like minutes.

 In short, Modern Combat was damn near a “perfect game.”

 When Treyarch and Activision announced Call of Duty: World at War AND it was returning to WW2, many scoffed at the idea.  However the game was very solid and you have to give Treyarch credit for the Map Pack DLC for multiplayer play.  But many, me included, were spoiled with Modern Combat.  It’s set in a modern (duh) time period and something that could happen now.  They managed to tap into something with players and it showed with the scores and awards won.  By May 2009 (the game released on November 6^th, 2007), Modern Combat sold over 13 million copies.

 So now we are facing Modern Combat 2, or Call of Duty 4 depending on who you talk to, and frankly the last week have been pretty crazy.  We had footage of a scene in the game when you witness/take part in a terrorist attack, a pretty lame viral ad that only served to stereotype gamers and show a lack of maturity in videogame related advertisements, and an early release by Gamestop of all companies.  Yipes.  And within all that is a game that WILL make you talk for all the RIGHT reasons.

 First we have the “terrorist simulator.”  And I know this a very touch subject, so I will go light on this.  I’ve seen a ton of movies that damn near played out like this part of the game (and as someone who actually owns the game, I speak from first hand experience) and it’s not that much different in this part.  You do feel bad shooting these people and rightfully so, at least if you have any morals that is.  I suppose you could go thru not shooting anyone, but once you get to the police, you might want to change your mind.  This isn’t a John Wayne flick, this game has many shades of gray and you will explore them.  If this was a movie or a novel, no one would bat an eyelash.  A game and people are up in arms.  Again, I understand given what world we live in now how this can be off putting, especially given recent events, but without giving out HUGE SPOILERS, you have to experience the whole and not just look at the small parts.

 Then the viral ad came, which I won’t spend much time with just on principle.  It was pretty lame, if their intent was to use F.A.G.S. as an acronym, and they could have made the point about the grenades without having to go to Lowest Common Denominator “humor.”  And what makes it worst is that often on this game and other online games, you get this sort of thing or worst.  Way to go on that one!!!

And then we had the Gamestop launch, early launch.  I’ve owned the game since Saturday afternoon and frankly I’m cool with it.  I was prepared to get the game Tuesday after work, but I’m not going to complain.  Many of my friends have owned a WIDE range of games early for years.  I never got bent out of shape over it and can’t believe that many are this upset over others getting the game early.  What I do find amazing is that it’s Gamestop of all places breaking the ship date.  But again, I’m not really complaining.  Having worked at Gamestop, I know how they stress NOT breaking the dates, so it will be interesting to see how it’s handled.

 Quick mini-impression of this game:  This **** is way too intense. Maybe I’ve been caught off guard because of the pacing of Borderlands. But man, this crazy as hell! There is NO safe place. There is no cover. There is nothing but a wall of bullets coming at you.

You WILL experience fear. You WILL learn (or relearn) how to properly conduct yourself in a firefight. You WILL curse countless jerkoffs that light you up. You WILL cheer when you finally tag that sucker who has been lighting up you. You will smile even after you have been taken out 10 times because you KNOW the 11th time you WILL **** him up.

 So now I’m looking at a Steelers/Broncos game and thinking of playing Modern Combat 2.  As much as I love football, I really feel like I NEED to play.  That’s the strength of this game.  You actually feel the intensity in the action, something I wasn’t ready for at first to be frank.  Without giving a half-ass review without really sinking my teeth in the game (no MP played yet and I’ve only scratched the surface of Spec Ops Mode), I’ll say Call of Duty: Modern Combat 2 IS that good of a game.  No dumb ads needed, no gimmicks are called for, just straight with any chaser great game.  What I really think will shine is the game itself.  Yeah, I think I’ll pop in some rounds in a few….

1. Cats rocked some tightass pants.  Seriously, let your junk breathe.  Just because aliens are taking your water and your people for food, it doesn’t mean you HAVE to wear pants two sizes too small.  How are you going to be THE hero with them pants, man?
2. Michael Ironside is more badass than ten nuclear explosions.  He played a much hardcore Han Solo to Marc Singer’s Luke/Han combo.  While I don’t agree with all his views, I’d follow Ironside to the gates of Hades and slap Cerberus in all three of his mouths if directed.  And I don’t have to worry about Ironside, whatever I can’t handle, he can.
3. Marc Singer/Donavon’s shooting pose is equal awesome and horrible.  Let’s be honest, back in the day, cats were rocking the poses when we’d shoot our laser guns.  Flash-forward to 2009, that looks hella bad.  Not to mention there is no reason for all that “flair” when shooting.  There is no recoil and he never uses it to aim.  Han didn’t pose….   AND why did he get to rock the laser gun?  If I was in that crew, I might have picked up one off a dead Visitor too.
4. It was totally rude to scream in terror when the alien baby popped out.  Willie was in the room, how do you think he felt as he watched all his “friends” cry out when that alien baby came up?  I would have dropped the nice guy bit and told them to check themselves.  “Aggghh!!!  It’s a Black Baby!!  Not cool now is it?  IS IT!?!!”
5. The Star Child ruined V.  V was everything I needed and wanted in television science fiction.  Until the Star Child came.  I remember sitting in my kitchen watching the end of mini-series and saying to myself, “this sucks.”  They effectively neutered the heroes and all the hard work they did by introducing this hybrid in the mix.  No cool plan to stop the bomb, no forcing the alien leader to turn it off, and no hero gave his/her life to shut it down.  No.  This “Star Child” used sparkles.  Sparkles…..
6. Kneel before Diana.  Simply put, I don’t know any cat that didn’t have a slight crush with her.  Not to mention she was completely badass.  She was Starscream, but wasn’t a punk.  They don’t make villainess like her anymore. 
7. Finally, don’t be a “house human.”  Don’t raise that eyebrow, all those cats who turned their backs on their fellow humans to get a little shine and props with the Visitors, they deserved all they got.  Even Donavon’s mom.  Yeah I said.  Maybe it’s my inner Nat Turner, but we have a chance to stop the greater evil and you turn your head or worst rat us out?  Not cool….

I hope the new series is good; I plan on giving it a watch.  And I don’t expect it to “beat” the old show/mini-series, especially when there are sentimental factors in play too.  The 80′s hit is just on another level and given how much love it got yesterday, it seems no one has forgotten just how cool that show was.  Nor how it themes worked so well with the content.

Nope, none, nadda. People kept telling me this was a better movie and this had better action. I think people told me this to lower my guard and spend coin on a flick that the first one I panned hard. Yeah. So let’s begin, the great was the action. I enjoyed watching the robots battle. The bad was, there are moments you can’t tell who is who. And speaking of the Transformers, it would have been awesome to actually develop these characters. Instead we are once again “blessed” with the humans, and why is everyone so damn oily in this flick? That is not attractive at all.

And that is where a huge part of my problems come in. The movie is Transformers and the humans take up a bulk of the movie. Yes, a robot CAN carry a movie. And it’s sad when you could actually develop these characters and yet, I’m watching Spike’s Mom get tore up on a college campus. Really? How about getting to know the Transformers? And how about actually design the characters with more range? Save Ravage and Devastator, you couldn’t tell them apart in the heat of battle. Now go back to ALL the other Transformers, they are designed in a WIDE range of shapes and sizes.

And don’t dumb down the movie or the content. Yeah it’s a summer blockbuster, however treat the customer as if they have a lick of brains. I feel like the creators made this movie and thought if we put up a ton of explostions and a “hot girl,” we don’t have to put too much thought into this movie.

Here are some random thoughts about this movie, as I was watching:

“This shit makes Superman Returns looklike Gladiator.”
“I know how Chekov felt when he had that worm in his head.”
“This makes me want to sell off my 2-Disc Transformer 1 movie for a turkey and cheese sandwich. With lettuce, pickles, tomatoes.. extra pickles.”
“I wonder what’s on the SyFy Channel.”
“And I can’t believe he gave this brillant performance in Do the Right Thing?”
“Why is everyone so fucking oily and sweaty? Nasty as hell.”
“She got NO ass at all. And he looks like she’s sweaty as hell, this is not a good look.”
“Wait, you DON’T want a transforming robot to be your personal bodyguard? Really?”
“Where’s my Transformers the Movie? I need to watch something good.”

And I’m never speaking on this or any Transformers (live action/Bay directed) again. The 3rd can come out, I’m not even going to pay it any mind at all…..