The Rumble Pack

I just spent the better part of the last two days blowing through Assassin’s Creed II, which is a credit to the game’s design and execution. I do have some complaints about the game that carry over from the first one, but aside from control issues, I think they’re intentional.

I don’t want to talk about the game’s quality here, though. I just wanted to make it perfectly clear that what I want to talk about isn’t a condemnation of Assassin’s Creed II - merely a strange phenomenon I’ve been experiencing.

Similar to when I blew through Modern Warfare 2 and Arkham Asylum, I feel thoroughly “vegged” out. I also feel a pang of guilt. Guilt that I played through a good game too fast and didn’t properly enjoy it. Guilt that, while I was totally enthralled and entertained, I may have just wasted precious time that could have been better spent. Guilt that I’m not having as much fun as I should.

I’m sure sometime around 1 p.m. on Wednesday, when I’m back at work after a two week break, I’ll be begging for a six hour chunk of time to game non-stop. I’ll be daydreaming of one more Modern Warfare 2 match or a long, arduous play of a Left 4 Dead 2 campaign. But for now, I’m left wondering if any game in recent memory has made me smile throughout. I seem to recall being irritated by little issues in games more than entertained by the good parts.

For a while, I had chalked up my displeasure with gaming to unemployment. It’s hard to enjoy anything when, in the back of your mind, you’re always thinking about how you’re going to make it to the next rent payment. But a month and a half into employment (at a job I find 100 times better to boot), I’m still not hitting up that gaming magic. What happened to joyously playing through Crackdown and laughing all the way?

I need to find that again. Even when playing Forza Motorsport 3, I’m not giddy like I want to be. And I’m probably going to pin that game as my favorite of the year.

I suppose I’ll leave these musings to my blog and keep them off the podcast. But if you’re wondering why my opinions seem depressing even when I think highly of a game, you’ll know why. Nothing seems to be sparking the way I want it to.

When it comes to Halloween, I’m a bit of a curmudgeon. I’ve always associated the “holiday” with constantly ringing doorbells, resulting barks from confused bulldogs and last minute study sessions for big exams the next morning, instead of the candy and campus parties that folks love so much. But in the back of my mind, I knew that when the time came to finally don a costume, I had the perfect idea. The ultimate combination of nerdisms, nostalgia and heroics, all rolled into a sleek red-and-blue package. The result…

Wouldn’t hold my breath for this crossover…

Artie, the strongest man…in the world! I’m not sure that the red masking tape did him justice, and I’m short one action land canoe, but I’m so glad I didn’t go with spandex pants. Nobody wanted to see that. Oh, and next to me in the above photo is special ladyfriend Caitlin, dressed up as Joan from Mad Men, a show that you should all be watching!

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I may be penniless and slightly hungry (as always), but you can’t say that I’m not keeping busy. Between an internship at The Book Report Network and a canvassing job for the guy above, I’m suddenly feeling productive again. No longer the lump on the bed scouring Media Bistro for work, I’m actually heading into Manhattan in the morning and patrolling the streets of Park Slope at night.

That’s right, I’m a canvasser. And I’m promising right now that I’ll never slam a door or dismiss a pamphleteer ever again. (Unless I have little-to-no interest in what they’re hawking.) But then again, even though reception can be discouraging, the job has provided many opportunities to get to know my new borough and the local political scene better.

Socially, the past 2.5 months in New York - specifically BedStuy right now - have been quite splendid. I’ve done so much more in this time than I ever did back in Urbana. Some of the highlights include:

• Seeing dozens of movies that would have never come to our Monroe theater. If you’re also outside of the NYC/L.A. markets, I suggest you add A Serious Man, In the Loop and Big Fan to your Netflix queue.
• Eating chicken and waffles. You wouldn’t think gravy and syrup go together, but somehow it works. The food variety in this city still blows my mind. I’m from a town where all we have is pizza shops, so I’m still not used to having so many different types of cuisine nearby. Now if only I could figure how to cook any of it.
• Visiting the trendiest bowling alley ever.
• Listening to a 200-electric-guitar symphony. It doesn’t matter that it was a cacophonous mess.
• Attending Eugene Mirman’s comedy festival. Unfortunately, comedian H. Jon Benjamin (Coach McGuirk!) bombed. And heckled audience members with accents.
• Walking along the High Line, a former above-ground Subway line turned park. This one is ripe for encroaching businesses in the future, but it’s pretty peaceful at the moment.
• Participating in weekly trivia nights every Tuesday at Gael Pub. If you’re in the area, we could always use more team members.

And without delving too deeply into my personal life, I must admit that all of these adventures wouldn’t have been nearly as memorable without a certain special ladyfriend. The hunt for a full-time job continues, but until then, I’m definitely having a good time.

*Don’t worry, I’m not a fan of these personal update blog posts either. I’ll keep it about the games in the future.

I actually have been blogging - just not here. I’ll try to post my rumble musings more frequently, but you can also find me on my mandatory, forced-at-gunpoint editing blog.

Looming deadlines, exhaustive reading assignments, and late night study sessions - it’s all rushing back to me now. Though I’m completely overwhelmed by the size of the Champaign Urbana campus and back to square one on the social front, it feels good to be a student again. I’m sure this sentiment will change in a few short weeks when I’m downing (heavily caffeinated) Dews and stalling out on my lead paragraphs, but right now the “professional journalist” title seems within my grasp. I’m just one “intensive” year away.

The bad news is that this fast track comes at a price. If I learned one thing from last week’s orientation, it’s that I’m going to have very little time for recreation. Couple that with the discovery that my dormitory internet connection is tenuous at best (though this probably will change as the semester progresses), and it should come as little surprise that I will need to drastically decrease my involvement in The Rumble Pack Podcast. Believe me, this is a hard sacrifice to make, but my perpetual loafing had to come to an end at some point. That doesn’t mean I’ll be leaving the show completely. Right now, we’re considering pre-recorded addresses or rants to tag to the end of our shows (think Andy Rooney of “60 Minutes,” except maybe even more crotchety), and you can check back here for weekly blog posts every Monday and reviews every Tuesday Saturday.

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Wow, a couple months back and not a single blog entry. Pretty shameful, I know.

Word on the street is that since my return to America, most of my old haunts in China have been demolished in preparation for the Beijing Olympics. The old noodle shop, the local hospital, even my urine-soaked place of employment have all been torn down to somehow encourage “tourism.” Shijiazhuang, who are you trying to fool? If you’ve kept up with my blog, you’ll remember that there’s not much to see here besides a couple mountains and the occasional rock market. However, though I cannot say that I was attached to the city, it does make me sad that when I return someday to visit my Chinese friends, most of the familiar sights will be gone. When I got on the train bound for Xi’an, it was like leaving a poorly-constructed, cockroach-infested sandcastle by the shore overnight (yeah, not so hot on the analogies). No doubt that bigger apartment buildings and shopping parks will spring up (literally) overnight, but I’ll no longer have any personal attachment to China’s 7th most polluted city.

I may have some more musings related to last year’s adventure in the coming days, especially with the Olympics coming up (Preview: I’m excited for the Chinese citizens but I believe giving the Olympics to the country was a political move and does not hold true to the supposed “spirit” of the games). For now, I’ll leave you with a few final photos of my brief stay in Xi’an. Sorry to be a bore…this is more for posterity’s sake.

Everyone should know the guys behind me. Say hello to the Terracotta Warriors, built in honor of the first emperor of China. I’ve seen this hall in dozens of text books but mere photos cannot really do them justice.

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Starting on Sunday, I will be concluding my China experience with trips to Xian and Shanghai before flying back to the States at the end of next week. Since I’ll be going dark for the next week or so, I thought I’d post some pictures from a recent trip to Shijiazhuang’s Hanging Temple and a subsequent farewell dinner at the restaurant across the street from my apartment.

Fans of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon may be familiar with this temple…

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*Major “The Wire” spoilers towards the very end of this post…

Wow, what the hell happened? I had intended to follow up those stupid potion photos with something substantial shortly after, but somehow time just slipped through my fingers. I’m not saying that I don’t have a few valid excuses, but I do feel bad for letting so many days pass by.

Tokyo: I have never appreciated clean air so much. After spending half a year under the smoggy blanket of Shijiazhuang, it was so refreshing to be able to see the sky again. My lungs almost had trouble adjusting to Tokyo’s comparably pristine air. On the ground, things were just as immaculate. Though I had trouble finding trashcans anywhere besides convenient marts, there was hardly any trash in the streets. The recycling program is also far beyond what I had encountered before - even in fast food restaurants, patrons have to separate their plastic straws and lids from the rest of their garbage. Of course, the Japanese use tons of packing material in lieu of mass quantities of preservatives, so I would imagine there are trade offs.

Stuffed poop inside a U.F.O. crane game - almost worth the 100 yen admission…

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It’s been a very busy week.

3 out of 4 nights have involved overtime and I haven’t taken lunch in about 3 days. I was so exhausted tonight, that I missed a monthly night out with my fraternity brothers. I also haven’t played a game in days. If it were any other week, I think I’d be at the end of my rope.

But not this week. Oh no, not this week.

You see, I’m currently trying to complete a project at work - one that should have been finished weeks ago, but thanks to certain circumstances (you’ll have to private message me for them), it’s getting crammed into this week. I’ve seriously been working like a dog trying to get it finished by friday. Because Monday, I’m not showing up for work.

Monday is all mine.

That’s right, I’m making my own mini-vacation, and it officially starts at 5:00 tomorrow.

Of course, the main event is Saturday at midnight.

So you’ll have to excuse me for the short blog entry this week - every ounce of energy I have that’s not being consumed by work is being stored for this weekend. And trust me - I’m going to need it.

Remember to send me your friend codes.

I’ll see ya on the other side.

Final Fantasy Potions: As Bad as You’ve Heard…

I’m back from Tokyo. Check this spot in a couple days for a full rundown of the madness.