Back to Business
Yay I am back at work now (technically I have been for a week and a bit now but meh to technicality). It's great when the teachers and kids come back as I get really busying during the start of the year. My brain is finally getting some stimulation and its loving it 
Encountered some nasty problems already and I love to solve em.
Also finally got my hands on the Crackdown demo; I had to buy the XBL Arcade Unplugged DVD which comes with 1 month of XBL Gold to get the demo but it was worth it. Its soooo fun. Its like as a friend put it GTA cross with Judge Dread. A city full of crims and your a super/enhanced human who has been given the duty to restore order. So instead of being a criminal like most sandbox games in the past (GTA, Saints Row to name a few) you are a good guy (who can use force to bring justice to the world) but hurting civilians impeeds your ability to level up in your abilities (Driving, Explosions, Firearms, Strength and Agility is all of them I think) and even the regular cops (called Peacekeepers) will hunt you down if you cause too much bodly harm to the civilians. Leveling up your Agility is so far as you can literally jump across skyscrapers like it was jumping a hurdle. Once you have all your abilities in the high side of things you are literally like a agent from the Matrix. Whenever you jump you make a dint wherever you land, you can kick moving cars and watch them fly, 1 punch enemies and watch them fly. Its just soo fun. I remember showing my mates a few days ago by picking up the SUV I was driving and hurled it 100 meters into a pack of dirty criminals. They were amazed at the sheer fun of the game that they too are now going to buy Crackdown.
Looking on the RADAR there are a few new SEB cds coming out soon that are looking good. I am still awaiting my order of anime from Madman that I placed just before Christmas. Should arrive this week according to a staff member in the know (they have been moving warehouse and implementing a new warehouse inventory system at the same time so orders were on a halt from the Christmas period onwards). Cannot wait as I purchased the last 2 discs of Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig and I really want to see the conclusion.
Anyway back to making dinner
Bye Bye
All that we know is he is called ‘The Stig’
Thats right folks. Top Gear is back on the air and you will find the first episode of the new season on www.finalgear.com. Its not up at the moment but it should be by the end of the day. It should be a great episode with the emotionally charged return of Richard Hamster Hammond. Alot of talk has been generated from the Hamsters crash in the Vampire Jet-powered Dragster and we will finally here from the man involved. Keep your eyes peeled!
Cheers
Crackdown Demo is here
Yup thats right, the Crackdown Demo is on Xbox Live Marketplace today and I still lack XBL Gold Membership 
Yesterday when I get some prepaid credit for my phone I went searching for Gold passes but to no avail. I found a place on eBay that sells 48 hour XBL Gold passes so I shipped some money to my Paypal account but it will take 2-3 days so I'll have to wait till it gets transfered over. Then I just buy the pass, paypal the dude and he emails the XBL 48hr Gold pass code
Till then i'll play some more Dead Rising demo (golf club+shopping trolley+zombies+camera=endless fun) and Gears of War on hardcore (and it is bloody hard, I hate to think what Insane is like).
UPDATE: Looks like it hasnt hit the Australian XBL Marketplace yet. So i might be able to get a gold membership in time.
UPDATE2: Nooope I did my timezone calculations. It will hit XBLM tomorrow midday for us.
The names Petti, DXPetti
Downloaded the Casino Royale OST last night, glad it had the theme at the end of the movie including the soft lead up! Entitled 'The names Bond, James Bond" is a classic, with the guitar riffs much like the original it is sure to please all Bond fans.
1080woooooooooooah
Got my 360 yesterday. After I cleaned it up (the previous owner was gotta grotty with it and it still has some dried paint splatter on the HDD) I set it up under my computer desk and hooked it to my Dell 24" Widescreen. I was loving it how crisp and clean it was, and that was at 480i then I switched it to 1080i and went berserk. Absolutely love the 360 and all of its online features. Gears of War was fscking amazing too though without sound I only played through the training section and then quit. After downloading heaps of demos I set it up in my room and played Gears of War at 1080i on my Sony Bravia (which has reinforced my wallet from when I brought it yonks ago). The only disapointing thing about the Bravia I have is its lack of HDMI and only two component inputs, but if I get a new reciever that has more component inputs and possibly HDMI (which most of them should by the time I gather the money which will be around April+) then I can hook my 360 and PS2 into the Component on the Reciever and use the spare Component on the Bravia for a Digital Set Top Box (im keen on getting a HDDSTB with HDD recorder, Sony has a 160gig one for $1200 
) and hook the DVD into Composite socket. If I do get one with HDMI then the HDDSTB (thats High Definition Set Top Box) can plug into the HDMI socket and free up a component socket for the DVD player. And eventually I'll get a Blu Ray player but thats not till at least a year down the track. Anyway once I put it in my room something left lacking. Seeing as I had no wifi adapter for the 360 and no ethernet wall sockets I didn't have the 360 hooked to the net but a few minutes ago I grabbed a ethernet cable ran it from the 360 to my Laptop which has a CISCO Airnet Wifi card in it and bridge the two connections and hey presto the 360 had a net connection. So tonight I am going to re-route the cable behind my bed and my entertainment unit so its nice and hidden and have it permanantly like that. Although I am restricted to having the laptop on when I want net connection for my 360 its no great drama as my laptop is pretty much on if I am in my bedroom.
All in all I am very pleased and excited about having a Xbox 360. When I pickup Crackdown on 22nd of Feb I'll get a play and charge kit for my Wireless Controller so I don't have to churn through AA batteries.
Adios
Crackdown+DX=win
Made the effort today to drive to my local EBGames and preorder Crackdown for the Xbox 360. Got questioned by the blokes at EB if I was preordering Crackdown for the game or the Halo3 BETA entry. I had a chuckle and told them truefully at first it was the Halo 3 BETA entry but when I delved into the net and researched Crackdown I found it was a awesome game and is worth my $100 (sorry should I say 50 bucks plus my $50 EB Voucher ) and I couldn't care less if I missed out on the Halo 3 BETA entry; though it would be a nice bonus.
Can't wait!
Dancing in the Street
Well, thats what I feel like doing (damn Mick Jagger and David Bowie, such a awkardly good song XD ) atm. I won a Xbox 360 Premium System with Gears of War for 581 delivered. Feel pretty proud with that price considering the Premium System alone retails for around 650. I was gonna just wait till PS3 comes out but there is so much <3'in that I am missing out on in gaming terms. I mean Gears of War for one is ultimate streetfighter ownage and Crackdown which is due out soon shall be revolutionary (well, the creators have done that twice now with Lemmings and the original GTA series). Many other great titles are coming out aswell such as Halo 3, Halo Wars, Shadowrun etc etc. So yer I am pretty psyched.
Not long ago I finally got the chance to see Casino Royale. A mate of mine hit me up on MSN and was all like Royale... Casino you in? At the time I wasn't feeling too well and stupidly I thought he was saying Royale as in the Pub in Mornington and Casino as in Crown afterwards. I really didn't feel like that and when I said that he's all like you too sick to goto the Cinemas 
I was stumped XD but eventually caught on. Anyway I agreed to go and drive him and his mate to the cinemas. Was worth it.... Casino Royale is my favourite Bond movie to date now. It used to be Licensed to Kill with Timothy Dalton (most underated Bond ever!) and Thunderball with Sean Connery but this one tops them both. It goes back to the storytelling roots and not all these fancy effects and stunts. All the stunts in Casino Royale are more real if you will and it just feels right. It was good to see how Bond became the man he is and I think Daniel Craig portrays Bond more true to the Ian Flemming Bond and not the Bond that we are used to (aka Womanisering, One Lineing, Up to his arms in gagdets). 9/10 from me
Speaking of Casino's I went back upto the Crown a few days ago. Though this time I didn't buy in (with Rego, Insurance, Ambo and AFL bills looming quickly and just winning that 360 I'm really shortchanged until I go back to work which is this Friday) I still had fun. The Aussie Millions tournament was going full steam down in the serious Poker Floor and I was lucky enough to walk by the sizzling Shannon Elizabeth. Though not wearing anything revealing she is still very beautiful in person. It was funny because at the time my mate who was with me didn't believe me it was her. As we were walking to all the tables these guys who looked like little gangsters (people I would normally steer clear from) were literally standing with a expession and I just said "that was her right?" and they were like "it must of been". Hehe beautiful women, bringing people together XD. Also got the chance to watch Joe Hachem (that now famous Australia Poker player) play 1/2 a hand. What I mean by that is we were there from when he sat at the table and I shit you not we were there for a good 15-20 minutes and they didn't even finish placing their initial bets. We didn't even see the flop (the first 3 cards in the middle of the table). Was a bloody joke. Sure there is strategy but that would straight out shit me to tears with boredom.
'Nough from me, enjoy
Yay for not being antisocial :P
Howdy folks,
Yesterday my mate and his family took me to the 20/20 Cricket match involving Victoria versus Queensland. On one side it was really cool, both sides were going hard at it to get 4s and 6s as much as they could...but on the otherside with the music inbetween balls it really didn't feel right. It felt more like basketball where everytime they score music starts and the crowd goes wild then it quiets down again. Not the cricket kind of feeling. Though there was a group of guys who had the crowd doing mexican waves and started multiple chants which was good. It made me think Test cricket would be more fun as they have more anticipation each time the ball is bowled. And lets not forget people like the Barmy Army, those kind of groups fuel the fun in Test matches. In summary I had a good time.
Straight after the Cricket we got a taxi (my shout) to the Casino where the parents played Pokies and the men played Poker . It was my first time playing poker with real money and because it was real money we stuck (and will stick to) the $60 buy in, $1/$2 Blinds Tables. I was pretty nervous but once I stat down I realised (apart from one noisy/drunk asian would my mate got rid of) that all the people including the dealer were really nice. I was really newb but I managed to double my money on my first winnings. Sadly though it was too early in the evening to quit while I was ahead and kept going. I started to bleed chips pretty badly and went on the conservative. My mate went out about half way through our time at the table. I think I sticked around for about 1 1/2 hours but it really flew by. A (really really hawt) chick sat down at the table and like myself was really new to the game however in her first major bet she managed to get me out XD. I had 8 and a 9 and was looking for a straight and missed out by 1 card but still had a pair of 9s and went all in (as I only had 7 or 8 bucks left). Unfortunately though the chick beside me had a pair of Kings and I was done for. Though it was a pleasure to be ousted by such a good looking lady I would of prefered to get to know her a little longer 
. Oh well I got up and said 'Ladies and Gents thanks for the great game and enjoy your evening'. Gracious in defeat I left the table and joined by mate (who was chatting up a chick who was with the chick beside me) looked for his parents. I look forward to the next time I go up to the Crown and hopefully we can get more of our group up there.
Today I started off the day by going to the local beach. Before I got into the water I took some shots above the beach with my D50. Then I went for a little swim and headed back to my car to get one last shot off the Beach sign with the crystal clear water behind it. I noticed none other than Andrew Demetriou (AFL Chief) and his family were at the cafe I was parked at. I think he got a little worried when I pulled out my D50 thinking I was going to take shots of him XD
Lastly I have added another person to my Blogroll. Banshee is another member of the clan I am in and has just started up his own blog so go on over and take a look.
I'll leave you with some shots I took today.
Car Service “That new car feeling”
Man I love getting my car serviced. The drive after it (once I get my seat back into its rightful position) is amazing. Everything is new again, the tightness of the steering, the grip of the tyres and the roar of the engine hitting 5000RPM. It creates a large smile on my face And the guys at the Camber Mornington Service Centre were kind enough to give me a rose to give to my mum for dropping me home and back to the Service Centre after it was done (handed it in at 9:00am and it was ready by 11:30am Wasn't expecting it to be this quick).
Starting to add more anime to my collection. After a few recommendations and judging the popularity and synopsis of a few I now have added Death Note, Nana and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. All are worth checking out. Also I have confirmed that there will be no more fillers in the Bleach anime and it is now back on track with the anime. Finally the 6th Series of 24 is starting in America this month so keep your eye out on the various nets.
Enjoy