Well, Raven said I had some blogging to do, and I don't have anything to do at the moment.* So I decided to do a general update blog, just to say "Why hello thar" and such.
*Note: By don't have anything, I mean I have something, but I really can't be bothered to actually do it.
To get this party train rolling, College!
It's been a bundle of fun and I've basically been assimilated into the college life. Weekends filled with beverages and football, weekdays filled with school work and the constant battle with everyone's dreaded enemy, the snooze button. I've moved into a townhouse with 3 of my friends from last year. This is honestly some of the most fun I've ever had in my life. You'd think that as a political science major, I'd have copious amounts of time to spend playing games and things of that nature, but I've found time to be at a premium for some reason.
I really should be doing better in a lot of my clas.ses, and I'm working on doing so. I'd inform you all of my grades but that's for me to know and my parents to never ever find out. Suffice it to say, I'm an average student when I could be a lot more. This happens in more aspects than one, particularly when it comes to cheering for my Number 4 Ranked Hokies. If any of you have been following college football, you may have heard about the Virginia Tech-Nebraska Game which VT won 16-15 in the final seconds of the game on 82-yard and 11-yard passes and the 31-7 beat down VT issued the University of Miami in the cold and the rain. To all of you people that know what I'm talking about: I WAS THERE!! Having season tickets on the 50 yard line is something else, let me tell you. Particularly when you give your team up for dead, promise to eat your own shoe if the quarterback pulls through in the last minute, only to watch him prove you wrong, as if he really did want to see you eat your own shoe. Also: massive rainstorms can turn your clothing into 30 pounds of dead weight and give you a strong enough cold to make you miss 2 days of classes. (Totally worth it)
In non-sports news:
- I really don't know how I'm surviving. I'm eating pasta for dinner 6 nights out of 7 with the other night being pizza. If anyone has any quick healthy and tasty meals, I'd love to hear from you.
- Having my own room again is a godsend, even if I took up most of it by using 2 twin mattresses to form a king.
- I've developed a strange love for all things Rhodesian/South African. Don't ask me why, I do however know why I love having their flags hanging in my room.
- I bought a pith helmet while uh....slightly tipsy. (Visible in flag photo, look on the pillows.)
In gaming news, I bought Beatles Rock Band and one of the Guitars. Originally Gamestop sent me a ps3 controller instead of an xbox one, but the local store was kind enough to provide me with one in exchange. Great times have been had, hell, even my mother stopped by and played rock band with me and the guys at one point. Just goes to show that music and video games can bring people together. I've also pre-ordered Modern Warfare 2, and I honestly can't wait to play it. The new features, weapons, modes, etc is just too much for me to take. My favorite weapon in the world, the venerable FN FAL, has been confirmed to make an appearance, much to my excitement. I might lose my social life and academic responsibility when it finally arrives at my townhouse.
I've rediscovered my love for CoD4 yesterday and today. There's something satisfying about watching someone keel over as my G3 bucks on the screen. Been playing with old friends, my brother, my cousins, and random people. It's been a fantastic time and really reminds me how I lost so much time to this great game. I can only imagine how MW2 will turn out.
Few entertainment notes:
- District 9 is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time.
- The Hangover and The Goods: Live Hard Sell Hard follow it closely.
- Vortex by Larry Bond is easily my favorite novel of all time.
- I've been spending a lot of time (embarrassinglyenough...) playing the Text Based RPG "Nationstates." It's like writing a cooperative novel.
- Taylor Swift reminds me of an angel.
- Kanye West is a terrible person D:
Comments
I myself just finished a Psychology class...and raped it. Next up is Mythology, a subject I dominated back in high school. In other words, I've been doing pretty good in college lately.
Oh, and I saw that game against Nebraska. I know I would be absolutely sick if I was on their team...
Soldier of Fortune are a bunch of Rhodesia/South Africa fanboys. Many issues OOZE patriotic fervor for those countries, mostly because of the many mercenaries that originated from those countries. Many Rhodesians moved to South Africa during the Bush War and subsequent rise of Zimbabwe. Many former Rhodesian special forces found their way into the ranks of the famous South African PMC Executive Outcomes. I myself have always been fascinated by those aspects of recent African history; Soldier of Fortune regularly runs ads for a website that sells books about the Bush War and Rhodesian military, but have never really looked into getting any before.
I can't wait for MW2 either, though I find myself a bit annoyed with how they have thrown out the last shreds of realism that the original MW had and went with "rule of cool" all the way; dual wielding, throwing knives, soldiers using bomb disposal technician suits as "heavy body armor," that sort of stuff.
I blogged about it way back when it first came out, but I also feel that District 9 was the best movie I've seen in some time. So far, it is easily the best movie I've seen this year. I was hoping it would come out on DVD before Christmas so I could put it on my list or something. I saw Zombieland last week and thought that was great too, but not District 9 great.
I really need to pick up Vortex and Cauldron. They are two Larry Bond novels I've been wanting, but because they don't sell them anymore in stores I haven't bought them yet. I'll wait until I lower the number of unread books on my shelf, then order them on Amazon. Speaking of books, I think I'll look into Harry Turtledove pretty soon. There are a few fantasy series and military nonfiction I want to read first, then I think I'll start his Southern Victory series. Sadly they only carry a handful of his books at my Books-A-Million; none of which are the earlier novels in the series. Gah...There are too many books I want to read these days!
I've been trying to find some books on the Bush War and the Rhodesian Military for some time, along with some books on the South African Border War. I'll probably end up making those books my next round of book buying. Also going to look into books about Executive Outcomes, as like you said, they're made up of former soldiers from Rhodesia and South Africa.
MW2 is a month away and I just can't wait to get my hands on a copy. It's going to kill my social life, and probably my grades, but I'm sure it will all be worth it. As for realism. I don't like the idea of dual weilding, but could see reasons for doing it. Throwing knives and bomb disposal armor....not so much. To be fair, I hardly use knives in CoD4 anyway, as I'm gunning people down from afar.
District 9 is amazing in my opinion, I hear a sequel may be in the works and I'm sorta looking forward to it. I've heard nothing but rave reviews about Zombieland, might have to go check that out as well.
Vortex and Cauldron are two of the best novels I've read. Ever. Larry Bond does a fantastic job. I bought both of my copies from thrift stores for like a quarter each. You might have to go to used sellers online to find copies, as I've never been to a bookstore that has copies of either novel.
Turtledove is good, just have to be willing to stick with the story for a long time. I've heard of the Draka series, never read, but I've heard only good things about it. The plot seems a little strange as it goes on, but it definitely seems like a cool series.
Get War Dog: Fighting Other People's Wars by Al J. Venter. The author is a former war corespondent for Jane's and has spent many years in Africa covering the late Cold War/post Cold War conflicts. He is one of those rare, honest, knowledgeable journalists that was out in the front carrying an AK and extra munitions for troops along with his notepad and camera, as opposed to sitting in a comfy home typing on a laptop in a safe American city. The book presents a truthful account of what real mercenaries are like without all the liberal mud-slinging you get on American news channels. It covers a bit of EO's operations in Angola during the civil war, and it covers a lot of the Sierra Leone Civil War. I got my copy on Amazon.
Vortex and Cauldron are both on Amazon, actually. However, they are sold used by third parties. Still, Amazon has them. I'll pick them up from Amazon eventually.
Finally, the comment limit. Yes, it is a major pain in the ass. They added it not to long ago, and I still fail to see WHY.
Definitely going to have to do some looking into when it comes to Borderlands, not a lot of cash at the moment, but definitely on my radar for when I do start spending a little.
The used sellers on Amazon are probably your best bet. I generally locate most of the out of print books on there.
@homegirl2180: I am not African-American, I've just been drawn into learning about the great wealth of history the region has to offer through reading books/novels on the subject.
hokies1313