Minecraft: Need to Waste Time? Do I Have a Game for You!

Laser King T-Reximus

     Do you know what that is?  That is a laser arm wielding, lava barfing, king of the T-Rexes.   That epic to time wasted was made possible by Minecraft (and my 4 year old imagination).  A game that is absolutely perfect in concept and execution.
    Minecraft breaks down into two modes: (with very similar core game play mechanics) survival and creative.  Survival is simple; you build during the day and you survive during the night.  Creative (it's much simpler) gives you unlimited blocks and you can't die (for uninterrupted creativity).  The game itself breaks down into mining and crafting.  You mine and get enough stone to build a castle (or lava barfing dinosaurs).  Then you build that castle (or aforementioned dinosaur), and love every minute of it.
    With Minecraft's charming art style and easy pick up and go game play you get hooked fast and hard (you really are only limited by what you can think of).  On top of all that, this game is stupid affordable (Just about 12 bucks).  If you hit up Minecraft.net you can play "Classic" for free and get a feel for the game.  Give the free version a shot and join the rest of us!

So I was thinking....

    On my drive home from school tonight I was thinking back on my first two posts.  I came to a conclusion:  I'm pretty damn preachy.  This isn't some admission to a fault in my blog I just figured I should take note of this and in the process form a solution to kill any naysayers (Plus, jump on the opportunity to talk about myself, I love doing that.)
     What's going to happen now is I am going to (on a semi-regular basis) give you guys a progress report on certain projects and pipe-dreams I've started.  That way you guys can get a little insight on what I'm doing and have some sort of affirmation that I practice what I preach.

Weekend Vegetarian:  (I will be attempting to not eat meat during the work/school week).  I was planning on starting today but seeing is how I accidentally ate a meatball...tomorrow is when that will start.

Motorcycle:  I bought the manual for my bike (a 1974 Honda CB550/4) and until my job gets going this one's on hold.

Go Somewhere Across the Ocean:  I wanna see a bit of Europe.  First thing first..Get a Passport!


Start Going to the Gym:  Need to get money for a gym membership

Take Martial Art Classes:  Same thing.. Need Cash

Learn Some Nifty New Song on the Guitar:  I need to find a song


That will be it for now.  I have more stuff I'm doing just didn't need to list it right now.

Learning

     Learning is that thing that thing High School probably completely and totally made you lose interest in.  I ask you, please give it another chance.  It really is fun, healthy, and one of the most satisfying things you can spend your time doing.  Other than cartoons or the occasional episode of House, the only TV I watch is documentaries or some sort of non-fiction.  I'd much rather watch a show that explains the progression of 70's punk than Dexter (not to be confused with "Dexter's Lab" I would definitely watch reruns of that).
   Now you're probably saying to yourself "Huh that paragraph made just enough sense for me to consider possibly maybe ever doing this sometime (read: eventually) in my life.  But Mr. Blog-man I hate homework and how would I go about learning?"  Well Mr. or Mrs. Blog-Reader do I have news for you!  Basically, High School learning is a bunch of crap.  Its really no wonder why kids drop out and don't do their homework.  High School "learning" is contrived, monotonous, and for the most part uninteresting.  What you got to do is just find something: be it a book, an instrument, project, etc. etc.  Start working with it.    Pick up the guitar and start learning some chords.  Pick up a book and really start digesting it.  Try to find some literature and understand the message behind the story.  Buy a junker motorcycle and find out what it would take to get it back together and running.
    Now what I said might sound a bit on the simple side and probably a bit "After-School Special" but honestly I'm just pleading for people to go out and give themselves some life experience and enrich their lives.  Seriously folks, go out and find something new and exciting and jump in.  There is an absolute fuck-ton of awesome stuff in this world and we barely see enough of it.
   I'll consider it a win if all I did was separate the world "Learning" from some of its negative High School bred connotations.  If you do decide to pick up a book or an instrument, or some new project.  Drop me a comment and tell me what you did.  I'd love to hear it.

Hunter S. Thompson an American Badass

     American Bad Asses are in short supply (unlike American Fat Asses) and unfortunately as of 2005 we lost one of the greats.  Hunter S. Thompson was a writer and the pioneer of "Gonzo Journalism."  He lived up in Aspen in his home base dubbed "Owl Farm" where he entertained quite a few guests (including Conan O'Brien, John Cusack, and Johnny Depp to name a few).
     Basically, this dude did it all.  He rode with the Hell's Angels when they were around 100 members and wrote a book about it.  He followed politicians, went completely out of his head on dozens of drugs on the Las Vegas strip and wrote a best-selling book afterward, rode motorcycles as fast as he could, wrote for Rolling Stone, and misused firearms (this guy would shoot propane tanks for fun).
     As far as I'm concerned you NEED to read his work (start off with "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" the movie or book), maybe watch a documentary on him (I recommend "Gonzo"), and if you're anything like me try and live your life a little bit more "Hunter."
     It's no surprise that I'm rebuilding my motorcycle, an English major, and buying a voice recorder.  I'm serious, go out there and start digesting that man's words.

One of his best quotes:

“Life’s journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, totally worn out, shouting ‘Holy shit…what a ride!’” ~Hunter S. Thompson

Maiden Voyage of My Blog...Will Be a Bit Bland to Be Honest

An intro to this fine piece of internet reading material is in order

This blog is gonna be about anything and everything.  Anything I find interesting, captivating, and/or worth sharing is gonna hit this blog (Not limited to just “things” but I also find my own opinion and musings captivating so expect quite a bit of me in these posts).  I should also note that I would LOVE for you to e-mail me interesting things to look at.  (It’ll probably end up on these e-pages).  Music, Youtube Videos, anything really!  Send me a link and I’ll take a look.

Expect sometime tomorrow for my first real post to hit.  (I’ll give you a hint..it rhymes with Gunter S. Rhompson)