Archive for July, 2007

Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks The 80s

One word should be used to describe this game: RAD! I’m such a huge Guitar Hero fan. I don’t personally own either game, but everytime I hit up my friend, Sean, or sit in the back seat of The Eddie’s Excursion, I’ll wield the plastic guitar and shred it up…the song, not the guitar unfortunately. I’m definitely a “novice” guy.

The game was released yesterday (July 24). Most gaming websites have been rating this thing at around 7.0 on a 10.0 scale (MetaCritic, IGN, and 1up). How can you rate a game with such nostalgia and a nice little setlist so low? Well, that seems to be the problem. With Guitar Hero II, there are additional tracks available for download. Apparently “Encore” does not. Still, I can’t imagine getting tired of jamming out to these 80s jams. But, hey…this is coming from a guy that only buys NCAA Football and driving games.

Rocks The 80s Setlist
There are 30 tracks listed on Wikipedia (via GameSpy). Some of my favs include 18 & Life by Skid Row, I Ran (So Far Away) by A Flock of Seagulls, Radar Love by White Lion, Holy Diver by Dio, Turning Japanese by The Vapors, and What I Like About You by The Romantics. Be sure to check out the rest the tracklist.

If you’ve already had a chance to play it, let us know what you think. Is this really only a 7.0 or is that bogus?

Rock on! \m/

Popularity: 2% [?]

Eat Your Heart Out Mobile, Alabama!

Sunday morning, I woke up to the most beautiful thing I’d witnessed in awhile…the sun. It was so bright, that I could hardly keep my eyes open…the kind of sunlight you curse when you’re trying to grab an extra hour of sleep on the weekend. But I welcomed it, and started the day with a smile, a stretch…and I almost belted out the tune from Song of the South. Almost. But I’m not much of a morning person, so my glee was limited. On a normally quiet day, the sound of lawn mowers and weedeaters filled the air. Some, including yours truly, opted to wash their cars even with the realization that by the next day, it would be caked with road grime all over again. It’s raining now. When you read this, it’ll probably be raining. This is just so ridiculous. I decided to snap a picture of the gloom so that you could share the mood with me.

Mobile, Alabama is the rainiest city in the U.S. San Antonio is well on its way.

This Week’s Forecast
According to the National Weather Service, here is this week’s forecast for San Antonio.

• Tonight. A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72.
• Thursday. Rain and thunderstorms likely. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 89. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
• Thursday Night. A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Cloudy, with a low around 71.
• Friday. A 50 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms. Some of the storms could produce heavy rainfall. Cloudy, with a high near 88.
• Friday Night. A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Cloudy, with a low around 74.
• Saturday. A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Cloudy, with a high near 89.
• Saturday Night. A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 75.
• Sunday. A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 91.

Great. So, if my blog posts carry undertones of depression, anger, and sadness you now know why. Have a great day, folks. (That was sarcasm, by the way).

By the way, for those of you from San Antonio…you can view real-time road closures on the City of San Antonio Public Works website.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Now Look What You’ve Done, Leo!

I was making my usual blog rounds yesterday and check out what happened when I stopped by Leo Chiang’s blog. Our company uses Websense to filter “bad” sites.

They picked his up in the “Weapons” category as a result of his post about tactical firearms training. Until it falls off the front page, I’m sure I won’t be able to view Leo’s page from work. Funny stuff.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Foul Ball Claims Life of Beloved Baseball Coach

You may have read or heard by now about Mike Coolbaugh, a coach killed during a minor league baseball game on Sunday night. He was struck in the head by a foul ball during a game in Arkansas. Talk about a freak accident.

Coolbaugh, a batting coach for the Tulsa Drillers, was standing in the first base box. He was only 35. Mike was from San Antonio, and attended Roosevelt High School with a good friend of mine. David Flores of the San Antonio Express-News reminds us of another incident that occured nearly 18 years ago.

Another accident in a memorable locker-room incident 18 years ago this fall tarnished Coolbaugh’s senior football season and ended the late John Ferrara’s career as a public-school coach.

With his team trailing Judson 21-0 at halftime of a key district game on Oct. 28, 1989, an angry Ferrara hurled a clipboard at a wall in frustration.

Unfortunately, the object hit Coolbaugh in the face and cut him badly. He had to be taken to the hospital and Ferrara was fired as the Rough Riders’ coach a few days later.

Even though he went on to a long pro baseball career after graduating, Coolbaugh never escaped his association with that infamous incident. But he handled the unwanted attention with the dignity that defined his life.

Needless to say everyone is heartbroken over this recent tragedy. Mike Coolbaugh was held in high regard by those he met throughout his life…coaches, friends, fans, teammates. Coolbaugh is survived by his wife, Mandy, and two sons, Joseph, 5, and Jacob, 3, all of San Antonio. Mandy Coolbaugh is expecting another child in October.

If you would like to help out the Coolbaugh family, you can bring donations to any Frost Bank under the Mike Coolbaugh Family Fund.

Mike Coolbaugh Family Fund
c/o Spirit Bank
4802 E. 15th St.
Tulsa, OK 74112

You can read the rest of David Flores’ article at MySA.com.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Teach Your Teens Financial Responsibility With PAYjr

Part of parenting is teaching your children how to be financially responsible whether it means teaching proper ways to save, how to invest wisely, or to spend with discipline. PAYjr offers an interesting way to educate kids about budgeting. PAYjr provides a way for parents and their kids to manage chores and allowances together. Parents create chores. Kiddos complete chores and receive payment. Parents monitor spending and control how much money is on the PAYjr Visa Buxx Card. And as a safeguard, these prepaid cards may not be used to make adult-oriented purchases (dating, gambling, pornography, etc). PAYjr CEO, David Jones, suggests that their product is ideal for children ages 7-14…that regularly perform chores around the house.

As a promotion to launch the program, PAYjr Visa Buxx has also created a Teen Credit Card design competition. The grand prize winner will receive an Apple laptop; second place will take home an Apple Video iPod; and third place wins an Apple iPod Nano. Winning designs will be used in PAYjr’s gallery so that others may purchase them. Vote for your favorites and stay updated on which design has the most votes. Once you submit your design, PAYjr will send you code that you can add to your blog or MySpace, to help gain votes for your design.

This is a Sponsored Post.

Popularity: 4% [?]

David Beckham Made Me Watch Soccer

Seriously…I like soccer just about as much as I enjoy watching hockey (sorry, hockey fans). I don’t. But what did I do last night? Watch the Los Angeles Galaxy play Chelsea FC. You’ve been under a rock if you haven’t heard about David Beckham joining the Los Angeles MLS team. I try to focus all of my energy on one celebrity at a time. I chose Eva and Tony for the summer. But somehow, David Beckham kept getting in the way. Heck, Eva even went to the game as a guest of Posh Spice in the skybox. How can I ignore that?

Jennifer Love Hewitt may have described the event most accurately: “This is better than any movie premiere I’ve been to recently”. Man I love JLH (drop Ross McCall ASAP…just a suggestion). When she’s right, she’s right. There were more movie stars per square foot there than any given day on Sunset Blvd. And although I’ve never been to a movie premiere, I do know that the energy and excitement I saw yesterday as Beckham entered the field during warmups was off the charts…kinda like the Texas/USC Rose Bowl. And I rarely compare sports energy to a college football game. The paparazzi assumed the position — right in the guy’s face. How ridiculous is that?

Beckham Momentum
So, the question remains…will this momentum and excitement carry on? No doubt that Beckham’s addition to MLS has boosted attention of the sport. I don’t know much about soccer, but as they showed his career highlights he didn’t seem to be “one of the best players to ever play the game” as one commentator described it. He seems more like a Robert Horry — a clutch role-player who gets it done when you need him to. And please, soccer fans, correct me if I’m wrong. Just don’t correct my use of the word “soccer” because there’s only one real football.

And is it just me, or did you expect Brett Favre’s voice (ok…maybe his pitch) to come out of Beckham’s mouth? He sounds like a lovable Pixar movie character…or the GEICO gecko.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Hamster With The Dramatic Look

I stumbled this Tuesday, and I think I watched this about 23 times…CONSECUTIVELY!!! DUN-DUN-DUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNN!!!

Hat Tip [Noob.us]

Popularity: 2% [?]

BlogRoll

• Milk Was A Bad Choice
• CrackBerry.com
• Stock Trading 101
• For The Love Of Sports
• Project Spurs
• Busted Coverage
• WallStreetFighter

Sponsors