tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33350862024-03-06T03:30:02.123-05:00No, I'm not l33tGaming related blabs that go off on tangents more often than a calculus class.Brockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050167468685017589noreply@blogger.comBlogger4085125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3335086.post-38654491434587409162017-05-10T00:53:00.000-04:002017-05-10T00:53:06.577-04:00Getting Into The Swim Of ThingsI'm trying to get into an exercise routine. It's hard because swimming is fun but the hours for the pool require you to either be a vampire or an insomniac.<br />
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I've been trying to get out and walk more but the rain lately wasn't helping. I'm sure I could get to a place where I'll go walking, rain or shine, but I'm not quite there yet.<br />
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It hasn't helped that this year has been one of the best on record when it comes to videogames. I was drowning in content and that was BEFORE Persona 5 dropped in early April. I've also picked up a Switch recently and Zelda is consuming me. The upside of having so many really great games so early in the year is that it is easier for me to resist the siren's call of the new stuff coming out now.<br />
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My stamina wasn't terribly high for the past few months, both due to the surgery and also just general laziness. I'm getting my feet back under me at work now (it's been crazy!) and I was able to survive almost an hour in the lane swim yesterday without having a coronary.<br />
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My current goal is to try to get out to the pool at least twice a week for lane swim. If I can do that, I think that'll be a big step towards getting my groove backBrockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050167468685017589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3335086.post-63496813817902070552017-03-19T23:40:00.002-04:002017-03-19T23:40:57.483-04:00Party Time, Excellent!So today was my birthday. Woo! I'm still around and mobile, so that's a blessing. I guess I haven't posted since just before my surgery, so as you can see, that went well. No more crazy distended bellybutton for me!<br />
<br />We had a lovely party last night at our place. Julie did a lot of work wrangling everyone to come to our place and making some delicious food and we played a bunch of boardgames all night. Monikers was probably the most fun of the bunch. I sometimes forget that I actually DO have friends out there, so it was nice to have a bunch of them come over and yuck it up for the night :)<br />
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As I kick off yet another personal trip around the sun, I'm looking forward to (hopefully) spending more time actually getting into some kind of shape that isn't just round and buoyant so that I'll be around for a few more birthdays. I've also been reading more (and not just comics) so that's a trend I'd like to see continue. As much as I like my videogames, I'm finding that it's just as pleasant to spend an afternoon just reading a book in a comfy chair as it is to save the universe on the TV... What's old is new again, I guess.<br />
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So thanks everyone for all of the well wishes and feel free to bug me about getting out there and riding my bike or at least walking regularly and maybe not eating quite so much garbage. I'm not as young as I used to be!<br />
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Oh, and if you have a chance and are so inclined, spare a prayer or happy thought for my grandparents. My grandpa isn't doing too well these days and that's also wearing on my grandma, who can't go to see him as often as she'd like. They'd really appreciate it.Brockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050167468685017589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3335086.post-14782144592266788302017-01-17T00:15:00.003-05:002017-01-17T00:17:18.739-05:00Snicker-snack Goes The Vorpal LaproscopeWell, tomorrow (today?) is the big day. I'm going in to get my hernia fixed since my previous healing method of 'walk it off and ignore it' didn't seem to do the trick.<br />
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It's supposed to be a relatively short surgery (about 1.5 hours) and I'll hopefully be home before dinner. I probably won't want to eat any dinner for a while after it's all said and done though.<br />
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Any and all prayers and happy thoughts would be appreciated!<br />
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Of course I'm having the surgery the day before Julie's birthday. I knew that the one thing she'd want more than anything else in the world is to get to spend more time with me while I complain about how sore I am. I'm caring like that.<br />
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Oh, and in a bout of serendipity, it appears that Mike over at Penny Arcade just had hernia surgery. I thought that <a href="http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2017/01/16/best-practices">this comic</a> was rather apropos.<br />
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<br />Brockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050167468685017589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3335086.post-61747821152329248472017-01-01T00:05:00.000-05:002017-01-01T00:05:15.586-05:00Good Riddance 2016Well, we survived 2016. At least some of us did!<br />
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Personally, this wasn't a complete train-wreck of a year but I'm happy it's over. 2017 hasn't had a chance to kick us in the face yet and if nothing else, it's shaping up to be a potentially interesting year.<br />
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Next stop: it's our 18th anniversary in a day! Woot!Brockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050167468685017589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3335086.post-51759758607695926442016-03-22T11:39:00.000-04:002016-03-22T11:39:28.328-04:00Feel that? It's you. You're old now.Well, it's official. I'm old now. No longer in my 30s, I'm officially a member of the 40 year old club. <br />
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I had a lovely birthday though. Even though I was on the mend from a whiplash bout of the flu, we were able to head out to Guelph for the morning and visit the College Royal open house and throw some fireballs and do science, so that was fun. <br />
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Afterwards, we went to Burgers Priest for lunch and then came home for my party. We had a few friends over and we played Telestrations and then a bunch of JackBox Party Pack 2 games. Much laughter was had and everyone left with a smile on their face. I may not be a wild partier (and I was definitely not up to my usual super goofy levels that night) but I had a fun time and it seemed most other people did too. <br />
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Of course, in keeping with my hitting a milestone, I had one of my teeth break at midnight on the night of my birthday (thankfully it was a molar that had already been deteriorating over the past few years following a root canal and it is more annoying than painful) so that was a hoot. <br />
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And my daughter, bless her heart, gave me a creepy homemade card with the following lines.<br />
<br />"Feel that? It's you. You're old now."<br />
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Eep!<br />
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Thanks to everyone who sent me a birthday wish and hopefully I'll lose less body parts between now and 41 :)Brockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050167468685017589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3335086.post-8191597089544496592016-02-15T20:48:00.001-05:002016-02-15T20:48:33.675-05:00Skiing? What's that?This has been a pretty sucky year for skiing, I tell you what. I got ski passes for both Garrett and myself and we've been out a grand total of 1 time since the hill opened in mid-January. Since then, there's either been no snow (stupid thaw) or the temperature has been hovering just above absolute zero.<br />
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And people wonder why I complain about Southwestern Ontario winters. Snow or don't. I hate this bipolar nature. <br />
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Today seemed to be settling into something resembling a regular winter though and hopefully we'll get some snow over the next few days so that we can hit the slopes mid-week. I just want some powder to ski on!Brockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050167468685017589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3335086.post-15604167428634818172016-02-15T20:45:00.000-05:002016-02-15T20:45:03.469-05:00Hearty Stroke Canvassing!Well, I somehow got drafted into fundraising for Heart & Stroke. I do think it's a pretty good charity concidering that I'm sure one (or both) of these things will be what takes me out :)<br />
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I've set a pretty low goal for this year, since I'm not sure how well I'll do. If I do well this year, then I'll pump up the goal bar for next year! <br />
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Anyway, please click below. I'd be happy to have whatever you feel like tossing into the hat!<br />
<br /><a href="http://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?msource=HQEmailPaste&ievent=1144993&supId=431001288">Click this link</a> to go to my personal donation page: <br />
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Brockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050167468685017589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3335086.post-38011689369933777632015-12-31T20:30:00.003-05:002015-12-31T20:30:56.486-05:00RIP 2015 - Hello 2016!Well, 2015 has been an interesting year. Lots of changes at work, but (almost) all for the better. Things have been going rather well on the home front as well, if you don't count the fence that is collapsing in the backyard and the fact that my car is about to die a horrible death one of these days.<br />
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I know that I'm looking forward to 2016 as a year to put a lot of the lessons learned in 2015 into practice, especially at work. And while I was at work a LOT in 2015, I also think I started to finally slow down a bit and pay more attention to family life and appreciate the quiet evenings when we could all just hang out and do things as a family.<br />
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We're looking forward to the big birthdays in 2016 (both of us are teetering on the top of the hill and are about to be over it as of 2016) and I'm fascinated by what wacky stuff the kids will get up to next.<br />
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I will leave you with this, the Doctor Who LEGO movie that my kids spent all day working on! Enjoy and have a safe 2016!!!<br />
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(I wonder if I'll actually update this blog more than 5 times in 2016... that should really be my resolution...)Brockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050167468685017589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3335086.post-37690653426518654102015-09-05T10:07:00.002-04:002015-09-05T10:07:26.115-04:00Playing With Toys 'Cause I'm An AdultI was able to score one of those<a href="http://www.wired.com/2015/09/physics-star-wars-bb-8-toy-works/" target="_blank"> App-Enabled BB-8 droids</a> (hooray for Force Friday) and the most frightening thing is that Julie actually let me buy it, knowing how much it costs.<br />
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I've just monkeyed around with it a little bit over the past day and a half and it is pretty neat. If I set it on patrol mode, it seems to have a knack for wandering under beds and dressers. The upside of this is that it's getting all the dust out from under the furniture. <br />
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It's a pretty cool little bot and I love how the head stays on and moves around. I'm looking forward to seeing what else it will do as they update the app and the bot closer to the movie's release.<br />
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<br />Brockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050167468685017589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3335086.post-80708884312617771632015-05-31T19:00:00.000-04:002015-05-31T19:00:30.766-04:00Alas, Poor RobinThe robins came back again for yet another futile attempt to raise a family on our back porch railing.
Much like in past years, none of the chicks made it to full-fledged birdhood but this year was the furthest I've ever seen any of them make it. We had 3 plump chicks out there in the nest a few days ago and then something (likely a cat or raccoon) got at the nest one night and there was only one chick left. As of yesterday evening, it was still alive and even had its eyes open, which is more than we've ever seen from the chicks in the nest before.
Unfortunately, last night saw us suffer a cold snap and that along with the fact that we hadn't seen either of the adult robins for a few days likely spelled doom for the last chick. I checked it this afternoon and it was no more. An ex-robin.
Hopefully this ever lengthening lifespan for the chicks in the nest will see us with a viable brood next spring. They used to be lucky to actually hatch. Now they were almost ready to fly. Brockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050167468685017589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3335086.post-78465523996460277462015-01-02T23:17:00.001-05:002015-01-02T23:17:25.127-05:00Happy Sweet 16(th Anniversary)It's hard to believe that it has already been 16 years since Julie failed to come to her senses and actually said, "I do," when asked if she'd be my lawfully wedded wife. <br />
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I still wonder what I ever did to deserve such an amazing lady in my life. I also wonder what she ever did to get stuck with me :)<br />
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Happy 16th anniversary, darling. To paraphrase something a wise, wise person once said,<br />
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"Marriage is like being on a wild roller coaster ride. Now we're looking for weapons."<br />
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:)Brockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050167468685017589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3335086.post-48827605412395671012014-11-26T22:01:00.000-05:002014-11-26T22:01:43.967-05:00We Did Something RightTonight my son was a little extra moody and arguementative with us (gasp, shock, surprise). No biggie, but when I was heading down the hallway at 9:30ish and he was sitting on the edge of his bed looking mopey, that was a pretty clear sign that there was something wrong (and not just that he didn't get a bedtime snack).<br />
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Turns out that some of the kids at school are trying to impress him by saying that they have a PS4, which wasn't that impressive for a kid who's had a PS4 since launch. Then they got miffed that he wasn't impressed. And they made fun of one of Garrett's friends.<br />
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Not only that, but they're the 'popular' kids (in Grade 5) and wanted Garrett to be one of the popular kids, which involves swearing and beating other kids up. Garrett told them that he didn't want any of that (in so many words).<br />
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I have to say, I'm impressed. It's a lot easier (and fun) to do all that bad stuff and fit in and here's Garrett, at the tender age of 10, standing up for what's right. <br />
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It's always interesting to see what sticks when it comes to raising the kidlets and tonight was proof that we must have done something right along the way. I guess I'll have to let Santa know that he can cancel that order of coal :)Brockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050167468685017589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3335086.post-16373540698691670752014-11-09T20:20:00.001-05:002014-11-09T20:20:12.368-05:00Adventures In AquariumingWe got a new 13 gallon tank for our adventures in aquarium maintenance. It was looking pretty sparse yesterday with 3 tiny neon tetras and some gravel, but it's looking much more vibrant today now that there are lots more fish and some decorations!<br />
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<br />Brockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050167468685017589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3335086.post-83454520157366804382014-05-27T21:45:00.001-04:002014-05-27T21:45:05.416-04:00And Then There Were NoneAlas, I have sad news to report.<br />
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This morning I went out to check the robin nest because it didn't seem too lively and there was only one chick in there. I figured it was a bit too early for the other three to have flown the nest but at least there was still one little guy left in there and maybe it would get big and fat since its brothers and/or sisters weren't fighting for worms.<br />
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Well, that dream is over. Julie just called me up because the mama robin was having a freakout and when she turned on the light outside, there was a cat on the railing who quickly zoomed away when Julie yelled at it. Unfortunately, when the nest was checked, there was nothing in there except a few pieces of straw and a streak of bird poo. <br />
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It's a little sad. Sure, they were just a few little robin chicks that happened to be growing up on our back porch, but they were OUR little robin chicks. There's going to be a little something missing from our morning and evenings when we look out at the empty nest and don't see a beak or two poking out of it, looking for worms. <br />
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The upside of this whole thing is that at least they made it a lot further than the brood from last year. Those poor buggers didn't even make it out of the eggs. <br />
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Next year we're posting guards...Brockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050167468685017589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3335086.post-41222809107834334422014-05-22T23:41:00.001-04:002014-05-22T23:41:28.897-04:00Robin Has Babies!Last spring, we had a robin decide that building a nest on our back porch railing is a super smart choice when it comes to survival of her brood. Sadly, this proved to be an unsuccessful tactic for the passing on of her genes as something got into the next one day and smashed the eggs long before they had a chance to hatch.<br />
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Well, she's back again this year and this time her eggs have hatched! Yesterday there were only a couple of babies in the nest but as of today, all four eggs have hatched. The mom is a very protective bird and gives us the stink-eye whenever we're in our kitchen, but it's worth it to see the kids staring out the window as she feeds the babies.<br />
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<br />Brockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050167468685017589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3335086.post-66975904954986537972014-01-18T21:48:00.000-05:002014-01-18T21:48:16.307-05:00Happy *mmph mmph*th Birthday, Julie!It's Julie's <i><b><strikethrough>(redacted)</strikethrough></b></i> birthday today! Hooray!<br />
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We didn't do anything too crazy except go out to eat at Wok Of Fame (so yummy). She also got to stand out on a lake watching the kids skate in the afternoon and I think she may have knit (or crocheted) a scarf.<br />
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Wooo!<br />
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Brockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050167468685017589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3335086.post-65113170711136468342014-01-02T05:00:00.000-05:002014-01-02T05:00:01.772-05:0015 WONDERFUL Years<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Holy cow. I can't believe that 15 years ago, I was able to somehow convince Julie to say, "I do" when we said our vows. It has been a very wild ride since then and she's still sticking around, so I must be doing something right!<br />
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15 years ago we had the blizzard to end all blizzards and this year we had the crazy ice storm. It appears that the 15 year gift is crystal, so I'm going to claim that I ordered all of that ice for our anniversary :)<br />
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Anyway, thank you to everyone who was part of our special day lo those many years ago, even if we don't see half of you nearly as often as we'd like to.<br />
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And Julie, I may not say it nearly enough, but I love you and can't imagine what I would have done without you in my life all these years. Thanks for putting up with me and all of my shenanigans, work-related and otherwise! It takes a special woman to deal with my crazy schedule and bad jokes. Brockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050167468685017589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3335086.post-89365727804642265742014-01-01T23:24:00.001-05:002014-01-01T23:25:41.961-05:00Happy New Year! (RIP 2013)Well, 2013 was an... interesting year. I wouldn't go so far as to say it was a great year by any stretch, but then again, it wasn't a particularly bad one for us either, especially not compared to the crap we had to deal with in 2012.
Let's just say that 2013 was an educational year. And in Julie's case, a year that she left far too many pieces of herself behind in (unintentionally in most cases).<br />
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I've got some big plans for work in 2014 that should see me with a few less gray hairs by the end of the year if I can implement them all. And hopefully this year the kids will get out and learn even more crazy things (like skiing and how transdimensional phase shifters work) and Julie will end 2014 with all of her body parts attached!<br />
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I say this every time, but hopefully I'll get a few new pictures posted shortly. I got Julie a new camera for Christmas and it's actually resulting in pictures that look great. I just need to figure out how to get them off the camera!Brockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050167468685017589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3335086.post-20301405785517131562013-11-20T17:25:00.001-05:002013-11-20T17:25:11.147-05:00SAVE THE LAST HUMANSOh me oh my, the PS4 is delightful.<br />
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I went to the midnight launch last Thursday night and after about a 45 minute wait in the cold, I was able to get my mitts on the newest of the next-generation systems to hit the market. Given that I was working all day the following day, it may not have been the wisest move to go to the midnight launch but I figure that if this generation is anything like the last one, I'll have a good 8+ year wait before the PS5 launches and at that point I'll be far too old to stand in the cold.<br />
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The only retail game I've purchased so far is Assassin's Creed 4 and what I've played is fantastic. I did eventually enjoy AC3 last year, but it took a long time for it to sink its hooks into me and the main storyline and main character in AC3 was mediocre at best. Given that the only part of AC3 that really stood out to me was the naval combat, I was pleasantly surprised that AC4 started with a naval combat mission, which looked phenomenal. I'm still less than 10% complete in the game (one of these days I'll leave Havana) but I'm quite looking forward to sailing the briney deep and looting ships at sea.<br />
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All of that aside, the game that really has me addicted to the PS4 is RESOGUN, which is an absolute blast. It's a simple, modern take on Defender from back in the day, but between the awesome sound and music design and perfectly fine-tuned difficulty, I just keep coming back for more. One of these days I'll manage to save all of the humans on level 1!<br />
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Not to gush like a fanboy, but the last console I bought at launch was the PS2 and while I wasn't quite as excited for the new systems this time around, I am really enjoying my time with it so far and am also interested in seeing how the launch of the XBox 1 goes later this week. I got into a bit of a Twitter spat with some guy bemoaning how disasterous the PS4 launch was and it got me wondering if I'm going to be happy if things go off without a hitch or if I'm secretly hoping for a bit of a debacle...<br />
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Either way, I'm happy that we now have consoles that are on par with modern PCs so that my beloved PC games won't have quite the number of design limitations placed on them that the last-gen systems were forcing come the last couple of years. And given the emphasis on the indie scene, esp. with Sony, there will be a lot of neat, quirky titles for me to tinker with in the coming years... and a lot of them are being given away for free, which is even better!Brockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050167468685017589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3335086.post-24597763922035705662013-09-10T00:10:00.000-04:002013-09-11T00:12:30.919-04:00YES! YES! YES!Last night Garrett and I went down to the ACC to catch the live taping of Monday Night RAW. It was a hoot and we both had a great time. Our seats were surprisingly amazing, as we had figured that we'd be lucky if we were only up in the nosebleeds and instead we were essentially on the floor!<br />
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Here are a few of our pics from last night. I was particularly impressed by the Damien Sandow impersonator on the subway and the amazing Daniel Brian puppet. The Randy "Macho Man" Savage impersonator wasn't half bad either!<br />
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Scarfing down some pizza before the show starts. </div>
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We were one step up from the floor. Amazing seats. </div>
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OOOOOH YEAAAAH! </div>
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Garrett was able to get a few signs up on TV during the crowd shots. </div>
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The boom camera rig was pretty cool and rolled right by in front of us. </div>
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"THIS IS AWESOME!" </div>
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"YES! YES! YES!" This Daniel Bryan puppet respects the beard.</div>
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This guy had a fantastic Damien Sandow costume.</div>
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You're welcome.<br />
---<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>What I'm Reading:</b> <i>A Dance With Dragons, The Ocean At The End Of The Lane</i>
<b> </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>What I'm Playing:</b> <i>Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs, Outlast, P3P</i>
<b> </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>What I'm Watching:</b> <i>Breaking Bad: Season 3, 4, 5 and new episodes</i>
<span style="color: white; font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; text-decoration: none;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" title=""><i></i></a></span>
</span>Brockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050167468685017589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3335086.post-31278453395875521792013-06-28T22:47:00.000-04:002013-06-28T22:47:00.064-04:00These Are The People In My NeighbourhoodJust wanted to share a couple of pictures of the lovely ladies in my life...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And they say *I* am the weird one...</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I wonder where she gets it from (see above...)</td></tr>
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<br /><br />Brockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050167468685017589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3335086.post-70638285471212594812013-06-20T22:33:00.000-04:002013-06-20T22:34:02.864-04:00Kara's SK Gradumaration Day!It was Kara's SK Graduation day today. She got a little mortarboard w/ the tassel and everything, then we had a nice picnic outside with the class.<br />
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Of course, the best part was that they all walked into the class as a procession to The Imperial March :)Brockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050167468685017589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3335086.post-74427597460491055442013-05-31T23:57:00.004-04:002013-05-31T23:57:58.290-04:00Young LoveSo it seems that Garrett has a girlfriend. Or at least, that some girl has Garrett for a boyfriend.<br />
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Oooooo!<br />
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I don't think there will be any smooching anytime soon though. That seemed to turn his stomach pretty fast when I asked :)Brockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050167468685017589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3335086.post-33061979310394964232013-04-21T22:13:00.001-04:002013-04-21T22:13:16.406-04:00It's Funny Because It's TrueI need to get this blown up as a poster.<br />
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Brockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050167468685017589noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3335086.post-78899449560948335412013-04-21T22:01:00.001-04:002013-04-21T22:01:44.347-04:00Happy Birthday Kara!It was Kara's 6th birthday today and boy oh boy, did she ever get her money's worth in parties this weekend!<br />
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Yesterday we went to SkyZone in Mississauga for her party with her friends. It's a pretty cool place where they can jump on trampolines and dive into giant foam pits. I saw at least one kid stuck in the foam pit with just a foot sticking out and no way to get back to the surface :)<br />
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Today she had her family party with her aunts and uncles (and aunts-to-be) and cousins in attendance. It was nice to finally have the kids use the backyard and run around in the sunny (though chilly) afternoon.<br />
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Now everyone has gone home, the mess is cleaned up and everyone is sleeping. Sounds like a pretty good weekend to me.Brockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01050167468685017589noreply@blogger.com0