Wednesday, December 31, 2008

I have reached 100 360 games....

Well, with the holiday season, I got more games to add to my collection. When updating my website and the list I created, I realized I have hit the 100 game milestone for Xbox 360. And this list does not include arcade games.

I have mixed feelings about this. Obvious it is great to have so many games, and it might be a bit of a bragging right for some. I have to admit though, I look at it and feel a little ashamed of myself... lol Mostly because I do not think I have played half of them. I had passed the same milestone back in the original Xbox heyday, and though I say I will eventually get around to playing them all, it seems I never will as the collection grows. As it has been put by one of my friends on the Gamespot website before, it is mostly from me getting sucked into great buy one get one deals at Gamestop. On that same note, I do not buy most of my games at the new $59.99 price. Unless it is something I really want, or get as a gift, I usually wait until it gets down to at least $30, or I buy some used, a lot for for around $10 to $20 dollars each.

Either way, it does add up to a lot of money though, and I cant help think maybe I should have done something different. The even sadder part is that my anime collection is much the same. Well, I guess I wouldn't be a true die hard gamer if I stopped now. Its nice to spend on the things you enjoy.... My wife would probably kill me if it was all added up though.

If anyone reads this and wants to see my list, the links are:

http://www.thesmeltingpool.com/games.html

or for my anime:

http://www.thesmeltingpool.com/anime.html

I used to use Gamespot for my list, but kind of quit earlier this year when they changed formats. Plus my list makes it easier for my wife to see what I want or have. Also I find pictures make an easier graphical way to digest how nice my collection is compared to them all crammed in my shelves....

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Filter /Hard Rock

This was freaking awesome. One of the best experiences of my life. My friend Matt and I got to go to the Hard Rock Cafe in downtown Cleveland for the restaurants 10th anniversary and to see Filter play there on November 1st. My wife hooked us up with the tickets, which included meet and greets.

We got VIP passes and it was cool. We first hung out at the sectioned off bar with a couple of other guys, and got some free alcohol. Then the band just came out and just started hanging out and talking with us. It was really cool. I had them all sign my CD cover to their latest album. Then the Hard Rock gave us all free T shirts, which the band wrote Filter on and signed. It sucked that I brought a camera, but the batteries were dead. Hard Rock did get a picture of me and Matt, and I took some with my phone, but again they suck. Back to the concert. We went and sat in a booth after the band left, waiting for the set up and show. The way it was, Hard Rock just closed the restaurant that night, and just removed all of the tables and put in a small stage. That meant we had prime seating. It was more impressive because we weren't suppose to have the booth. They were all suppose to be reserved. They didn't make us move though, and we wound up having it for the whole show. Once it started, we just stood up or sat on the back of the booth, and had the band playing about 10 feet away. Anytime, we wanted, we could just leave the booth, and with a little bit of work, pretty much get right to the front of the stage. It was awesome. As for music, they pretty much played most of the songs from Title of Record, which you wont hear me complain since it is one of my favorite albums of all time. The opening act, which I cant think of the name of at the moment, was also very good. We met another guy there too who hung out with us and was pretty cool named Bill. An awesome experience, and one that I doubt I will get close to ever duplicating again.





Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Coldplay

I went to see Coldplay tonight at the Q and it was a great show. That is one of my favorite groups. My friend Abs and I sat on the left side of the stage and had a great view. We had a bad time seeing though when they went to the far side of the stage and played on the piano to the fans there. It wasn't so much a distance problem, but they had these artsy balls with colors and video hanging and spinning around right in our line of site. I have to say, it really impressed me when the band disappeared off stage and showed up in the aisles in the back of the stadium and played for a couple of songs. They really seem to be cool to the fans. I picked up a T shirt and cant wait to get a chance to see them again.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

I went up to the radio station today, and got to meet Jessica Simpson. My interaction with her was very short, but she was really nice, and I got to take a picture with her. I put it up on MySpace. Anyway, she had several people with her and her dog, which was interesting. We waited while she talked on the air with the morning show, and when she was done with them and some fans that had won the right to meet her, we got to mingle in the hallway for a few minutes. I told her it was nice to meet her, and it was nice to see a fellow Texan. I also mentioned rooting for Romo. She made the appropriate nice acknowledgments, but I am sure it wasn't anything she really was too worried about. She was nice though. She didn't looked like she put some makeup and so on on beforehand, but not all decked out for Hollywood. Of course, I guess I wouldn't expect that for a trip to a radio station. It was cool to meet her though, and when I think about it, she is probably the celebrity that I have met that most people would have the most interest in in one way or another. Its also cool to have to brag to the guys about...

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Went to see Carrie Underwood with my wife. It was a nice show, but rather low key for the most part. Carrie is everything you expect. Sweet, beautiful voice, very pretty. It was nice, and though I wasn't jumping out of my skin to go when previously hearing about it, I am glad I did.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Video Games

Downtime at work again today, so I decided to create a video games page with links to images of my collection of games. As I am typing this, I am thinking about how pathetic and nerdy it sounds, but I have to do something besides twiddle my thumbs. Besides, it could be useful in the future....

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

An actual Transformers update today.... I spent a lot of time and really updated my Transformers IDW cover checklist. I added books I was missing for pretty much every IDW series I have on there. I also updated my Grimm checklist.

Friday, September 5, 2008

American Idol Tour

Last night went with my wife to the American Idol Tour concert. I have to admit, I really wasn't looking forward to it. I have watched the show with my wife the last few years, but have always felt that the show has a little too much drama, and that most of the time the people at the end won more a popularity contest than talent contest. Last year I did think was better though, and it did translate to me actually enjoying the concert to a certain degree. My favorites were Carly and Cook. I liked them both the best at the concert as well. I guess the best thing is, that there was not anyone in the top 10 I really hated with this group. So for the concert, even the artist that I didn't care for as much still were okay to watch. Cook was awesome at the end with his version of Billy Jean. I actually will probably buy the CD for this winner for the first time. My wife did have fun, and we got her some cool souvenirs for her studio such as a group poster, a program, and photos of Carly and Cook. of course, while she enjoyed it, I do think she is overly infatuated with New Kids right now.......

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Indians Game

I got invited by a good friend of mine Tom to go to the Cleveland Indians game yesterday. My friend John was going too, and he drove us. It was fun. Tom had us in one of the Suites his company has behind home plate. Food was good, and the people I didn't know were all nice. I really enjoyed the game, and it was nice to see the Indians winning. They have been doing well lately, which is nice since most of the season has been a disappointment with the way the season ended last year. Anyway, it was really cool, and it was nice of Tom to invite us. We left a little early, which I normally hate to do, but everyone else was bailing out, and since I have to get up for work early the next day, I wasn't going to put up a fight. Baseball hasn't been as fun for me this season, so this was definitely a highlight.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Browns Preseason Game

Went to the Browns preseason football game against the Chicago Bears. It was me, my wife, and our friends Dave and Carolyn. It was nice to hang out with them, but the game wasn't so good, since they played a lot of third string players and guys that probably wont make the team. Also, they managed to lose towards the end of the game. I was excited to go though, since the Browns are expected to be good this season, and tickets are probably going to be hard to get during the regular season. I will also say I was pleasantly surprised with the seats we got. It was section 509, which sounds like nose bleeds, but it was towards the bottom of the level, we could see the players pretty well, and it was at midfield. I will have to look for tickets like that in the future. Doubt I will have any luck this season though. I guess I can always cross my fingers....

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Some downtime today, so I finally did some updating of covers of recent books such as the IDW Transformers books, as well as Tarot. I will complete it more, and do more updating as I am able.....

Monday, August 25, 2008

Thought it was time to make my updates on news on my homepage easier to update, so I am converting to a blog. I think this is better because I can more quickly make changes and also I can do it from anywhere. Also, I know that this a "Transformers" site, but I am going to start making some post on here that aren't really about them. I don't really believe I get that many visitors, and if I do, and they don't want to read my blog, they don't have to (Or if I have to, I will just go back to just Transformers, and do a personal blog elsewhere). Anyway, I just started a new job last week, and have had a lot going on in my personal life the last few weeks, and thought that there are so many milestones I have had in my life that the details have gotten a bit sketchy to me. Why not blog these things, and going forward, I can better remember them. I am going to backdate some entries from the last couple of weeks up to this current one. Guess I will see how it goes. Thanks

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Got to go to Crue Fest at Blossom Music Center, and it was an awesome show. All the bands were good. I was not disappointed with one. Motley Crue and Buckcherry especially. Motley Crue was better than when I saw them last year, though I have to admit the video they showed on the screens bothered me some. I admit I did enjoy some of it, being a guy and all, but the video montage consisted of what I felt was three themes, and all bothered me in some ways. It was war, hardcore porn, and making President Bush look stupid. War is bad, and I generally feel there is not much I have to say there. The porn I felt was just too excessive, and while I know this is an adult show, I felt there were too many kids around for it to be showing like it was. Maybe I am just getting old. As far as Bush, I don't mind if people have problems with him, I just hate the reflection on people it presents. It just seems a little unpatriotic to me to dog out any of our Presidents like this in such a public non-political forum. I also am just tired of seeing it now everywhere you go, and feel it is mostly done now because it is the popular thing to do. Okay, I will get off the soap box now.... Anyway, it was a great show, and the bands all rocked. I really did enjoy it. We saw Poison in concert the week before, and while they also were really awesome, this show with the Crue was definitely better.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Cedar Point

Just a quick minute to throw this on here. I will come back and edit later....

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Poison Concert

Just a quick minute to throw this on here. I will come back and edit later....

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Minor site updates with IDW books, etc. I added Grimm Fairy Tales page to my books I collect. While it is fairly complete, lots of work to do labeling and marking collection. Moved some of the old news over.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

I got a great Licensing Kit for Gobots, and added it to the GoBots page, as well as the Wendys Kids Meal Gobots. Really cool.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Added the Dreamwave page to the comics section.

Saturday, February 9, 2008

I had website hosting problems, but they all seem to be fixed now. I don't think I get a ton of traffic anyway, but for any that does come through with any regularity, sorry. I don't foresee having this problem again. Since I was sitting around working on this, I got going, and decided to do some significant work on the Gobots page. Many great YouTube video clips were added, as well as updating names, of those I collected, etc.