Game Review: Halo Reach Album Reviews: Asylum & A Thousand Suns

Blog #4: I love my job

Okay this will probably be my last blog for today cause I don't know of what else to blog about. I'm sure I'll think of something sooner or later though.

First up on these reviews is the new and last game of the Halo series, Halo Reach. This game is a prequel to the first Halo when there were many super soldiers, Spartans, that trained and work on a planet called Reach. The covenant invade Reach in search of a weapon to help take over the galaxy. The humans must secure the weapon and keep it out of enemy hands to avoid the end of the human species. I was really surprised at how well they made this story fit into the beginning of the first Halo. It exceeded my expectations by a long shot. I was really concerned because the multiplayer Beta was terrible. And while not much has changed from the Beta, I have adapted my playing style to best fit the game and now it's more fun.

The positives are the equipment you get to use. You can use to either have a jetpack, be able to sprint, or sometimes go invisible. Every player uses a different set so it makes the game very unique and different every time. I love how they have daily challenges that help you earn more credits to buy cool armor and upgrades.

The only negative I can think about is that the multiplayer maps are not as good as Halo 3's. Oh and the achievements are pretty easy. I've only had the game a few weeks and only need one more achievement to have my 1,000.

Here is my order for each Halo game according to campaign fun:

5. Halo ODST

4. Halo 2

3. Halo Reach

2. Halo 3

1. Halo

I give the game an 8 out of 10

My next review is Disturbed's newest album that came out on September 28th I think. It's called Asylum and it will rock your socks off. Now I know most of you think of Dusturbed as, well, Disturbing, but they are a really awesome band and actually sing about better topics than drugs, sex, and violence. This album had many different songs that sang about various themes. The first song is called Asylum and sings about a guy who has to live without this girl he loves and so his mind feels like an asylum.

I'll see you die, in asylum

i live a lie

Don't you know I'm in love with you

And I wasn't ready, for asylum

relive a lie

To let go, now it's dragging me into your grave

Your asylum

forget the lie

Overcome all the feelings, that I won't get to join you in time

This loneliness is killing me.

Another song talks about global warming. My Child talks about a guy who has become a father and he's afraid of what kind of father he'll be. Innocence is about corrupt lawyers who lie and cheat for their client's to be released from jail:

Your corruption is like a cancer growing inside

You owe the world an apology

You've been taught all your life that truth is easy to hide

You face your judgement another day

And suffer eternally

I love this album and I give it 4.5 out 5.

The last review of this blog is Linkin Park's A Thousand Suns. This album is a concept album, meaning that all the songs flow together. This album is focused on war and the end of the war which is unlike Linkin Park's old songs. Linkin Park used to say, "screw the world" and now we're trying to save it? Their songs have turned into mainstream, light, technoey crap that made me really really depressed to listen to this album. I was very disappointed, and now when I say who my favorite bands are I have to mention Linkin Park but only their old stuff, because they've gone downhill ever since their days of Hybrid Theory and Meteora. RIP Linkin Park

I give this album 1 out of 5.

Well that's all I can think of folks

Buckcherry, Three Days Grace, and Nickelback

Here I go again with another post for today. Just trying to keep yall busy. Well, just trying to keep myself busy.

Last week I got to go to another awesome concert with my brother, Zach. I love my brother to death. He makes me laugh, and even though I've corrupted him a little bit, he still sets a bigger example for me then I do for him.

He showed up the night before our concert and we kinda just chilled at the house. We were going to go mini golfing, but our FHE sisters asked us to come visit them for a little bit. By the time we were done talking to them the mini golf place was closed so Zach and I went to Walmart to get some food for the next couple of days.

The day of the concert was really fun. We went mini golfing at Trafalga. We found two extra balls on the course so we felt okay to play an extra round. :) I beat him, but I think it's just cause I get more practice than he does.

The concert started with Buckcherry from Los Angeles California. I don't know much about them so they weren't as good cause I didn't know any of their songs. I think the only song that people know is called "I'm Sorry"

I'm sorry I'm bad, I'm sorry I'm blue
I'm sorry 'bout all the things I said to you
And I know, I can't take it back
I love how you kiss, I love all your sounds
And baby the way you make my world go round
And I just wanted to say, I'm sorry

Next up was the band that was the reason why Zach and I went: Three Days Grace. Three Days Grace is from Ontario, Canada and they have hit singles like: I hate everything about you Animal I've become, Never too late, Pain, and Break They sang those songs and also some songs off their new album that most people don't know, but of course Zach and I did. They sang World so cold which was amazing. My favorite song was "Last to know". It's a slow song that just starts off with the piano and the lead singer, Adam Gontier. Look it up on YouTube because it is awesome. The chorus starts:

You were the first to say, that we were not okay
You were the first to lie, when we were not alright
This was my first love, she was the first to go
And when she left me for you, I was the last to know

And then the rest of the band came on the stage and it became all powerful music with him singing the last chorus:

I'll be the first to say, that now I'm okay
And for the first time, I've opened up my eyes
This was my worst love, you'll be the first to go
And when she leaves you for dead, you'll be the last to know

Last up was Nickelback, who we saw in May. It was very similar to the concert before so it wasn't as exciting, but they were still really good. They didn't sing some songs that I really liked that I'd hoped they would've like Far Away and If Everyone Cared, but at least they sang my favorite song, Someday:

How the Hell'd we wind up like this
Why weren't we able
to see the signs that we missed
and try to turn the table
Now the stories played out like this
just like a paperback novel
Let's rewrite an ending that fits
instead of a Hollywood Horror

Nothing's wrong just as long as you know that someday I will

Someday, Somehow
I'm gonna make it alright but not right now
I know you're wondering when
You're the only one who knows that
Someday, Somehow
I'm gonna make it alright but not right now
I know you're wondering when.

I don't have pictures now cause I'm at work, but I will post them as soon as I get them.

My Top 25 and comments

Wow! Two posts in one day. Work is really dead today so I have time to do stuff like this :)

1. Boise State

• Okay, I know this is my favorite team, but when you start off the year ranked #3 in the nation and the two teams in front of you have lost, you're still undefeated, and you haven't had any scares against crappy teams yet, I'm going to put them #1.

2. TCU

• Same reason as listed above. I thought TCU's thrashing of Baylor earlier this season meant nothing, but with Baylor now ranked in the top 25, it is looking better and better.

3. Oregon

• There's not much you can say about Oregon except for the fact that they just embarrass every team that they play. Their offense is unstoppable. Let's see how their defense does against USC who is looking better.

4. Auburn

• Right now the BCS has them ranked at #1 but what the BCS computers doesn't realize is that even though they've beaten four ranked teams, it hasn't been in convincing fashion. They beat Mississippi State by 3, needed overtime to beat Clemson, needed a last second field goal to beat Kentucky, and beat an overrated LSU team by seven. Computers don't see that though. I do.

5. Missouri

6. Michigan State

• The reason I picked Missouri over Michigan State: I think Oklahoma is better than Wisconsin. If Michigan State beats Iowa this week, I'll be more convinced to move them ahead.

7. Utah

• Ahead of Alabama, because they haven't lost yet.

8. Alabama

9. Wisconsin

10. Oklahoma

11. Ohio State

12. Stanford

13. LSU

14. Florida State

• I have them higher in the rankings than the BCS does. To me, they've just looked more impressive than some of the other one loss teams that are ahead of them.

15. Arizona

16. Nebraska

17. Virginia Tech

• I know I want this team ranked high because they lost to Boise State, but I really believe that this team is rolling on all cylinders and that they have the best chance of winning the ACC

18. Baylor

• Just like Virginia Tech, this team has been looking good the past few weeks.

19. Oklahoma State

20. South Carolina

21. Iowa

22. Arkansas

23. Mississippi State

24. Hawaii

• Have them ahead of Nevada cause.... well... uh, they beat Nevada.

25. Miami

Book Review: Death to the BCS

I finally found a book that I enjoyed reading. This book came out on the 14th of October and once I got it I could not put it down. For those of you who are college football fans, I would recommend this book.

Death to the BCS is a book that calls for college football reform. It explains the corruptiveness of the BCS, and takes all the counter-arguments that the BCS executives use against a playoff and makes them sound ridiculous. The first chapter explains the reasons why the executives of the BCS won't give up their power for a playoff. These executives are getting paid millions of dollars to put on these bowls, and might receive a cut in their paycheck if they were to go to a playoff. The second chapter is the authors' proposal for a 16-team playoff that was very similar to what my proposal was:

1. 16- team playoff with each conference champion receiving an automatic bid.
2. Remaining five teams are selected by a selection committee and then re-ranked
3. All the games except the national championship will be played at the higher seeds' home field

They explain that under this system the conferences would roughly make around $25 million for each game one of their teams plays in. They explain that under this system that conferences like the SEC would have made close to eight times more money than they did under the BCS!

The BCS argues that they don't want a playoff to keep the sacredness of the regular season. They say that if there is a playoff, then there will be some teams who know that they will be selected in the playoffs and will slack off during the regular season. They argue that the regular season will not mean as much as it does now. This is a ludicrous argument, because seeding will be so important in the playoffs that they can't afford to take a game off. The difference between a #3 and a #4 seed is the difference between playing a crappy CUSA opponent and a much better at large bid like LSU. The difference between a #2 and #3 seed is one extra game that you'll get to play at home. Another argument for this will now produce more competitive matchups. Under the BCS format you can only get into the championship with zero or one loss. So now all these powerhouse teams are scheduling crappy opponents to gurantee that there are no screwups. With the playoff format they will be able to schedule more competitive games, thus making the season more entertaining to watch.

Next to that agrument my next favorite argument was how corrupt the current system is at choosing who gets to play in the national championship. Last year there were five undefeated teams at the end of the regular season. Alabama, Boise State, Cincinnati, Texas, and Texas Christian, and only two of them got to play for the national championship. Someone needs to tell me how that is fair. Throw out strength of schedule, because these teams cannot control who they play. Right now the BCS is comprised of three elements. The Harris (media) poll, the USA Today coaches poll, and a computer ranking. In this book it told how each of the undefeateds were fighting for that #2 spot so bad that the coach of Texas Christian voted his team #2 and Cincinnati #8. Cincinnati voted their team #2 while they voted Texas Christian #14. I'm not 100% sure on their exact poll location but it was something close to that. So instead of people voting for who they truly think is the best team, coaches and alumni are voting their teams #1 and voting all of the competition way down the list. The computer polls get me the most because they don't factor in margin of victory in their rankings. Sure, having margin of victory being factored in would motivate teams to run up the score, but it would be better than what the computers do now. This year when the first BCS rankings were released, Oklahoma was ranked #1 in the computers, but what it didn't realize was that Oklahoma had barely beat a crappy Utah State team by seven and Air Force by three. Boise State has slipped in their polls because of Oregon State losing to Washington, but the computer doesn't see that Oregon State lost by 1 in double overtime in Washington and without their star receiver.

There are plenty of other arguments that this book contains that I could not agree with more. This is the way a college football post season should be played. I loved this book and was glad I bought it, and I know that if you are remotely interested in college football and know a little bit about the system it is run under, you would love this book too.