I haven't been on in over a week now, mostly due to homework, but that doesn't mean I haven't been thinking of doing a blog. Actually, I had thought of 4 blog titles over the last week, and due to me being a busy procrastinator, I will instead attempt to shorten my blog ideas into one entry with 4 parts. Well, here goes nothing:

Mugshot:
This part is actually much more positive than the title suggests. The "mugshot" in question is what my driver's license picture looks like. After I passed the driving test on Wednesday, they told me to keep my chin up for the picture, and the result was a picture of me looking like a gangster in a police lineup. My friends and I had a good laugh about it. Oh, and if you haven't realized by now, the point of this part is that I got my driver's license.

Finding Zen in Rapture
I've planning on getting BioShock for a while now, but I also didn't want to spend $60 on it because I'm short on money at the moment. Even though most gamers have already beaten BioShock at this point, I'm just now going to be starting the game. Yes, I just recently bought BioShock, and it should arrive sometime this week. I bought it for the low price of $40, so I think I made a good purchase. That's all I really have to say about that because I haven't even tried the game yet, but I hope it will be every bit as good as the demo and reviews make it out to be. The "Zen" part of the title has to do with the Creative Zen Vision:M I bought about a month ago. After a month's worth of use, I can say without hesitation that this thing destroys the iPod. I will NEVER be able to use an iPod again after using one of these. This player works with almost every file type and media player, and it's exactly what I was looking for in an mp3 player. The video aspect is also incredible, and I have multiple concerts that I've uploaded on there (Children of Bodom, Opeth, DragonForce, and Lacuna Coil to name a few). The screen is amazing, and the amount of features is staggering. Yes, it's a bit larger, but as long as it fits in your pocket, who cares? From a music perspective, the Creative Zen is far better than the iPod.

A Concert of Epica Proportions
On Saturday, I went to a concert with 5 of my friends, and it was easily the best concert I've ever been to. Yes, it was better than Rush, Ozzfest, Muse, and Killswitch Engage/DragonForce. It was a $15 concert in a small venue in Seattle called Studio Seven. I had never been there before, but I will definitely be going back. It doesn't look like much, and it really isn't much. However, that's why it ruled. There were less than 100 people at the concert, so my friends and I were right near the front for the entire show. It basically was a small and empty club, and it was almost like having one of your favorite bands play a private concert for you and your friends...for only $15! The headlining band was Epica, which is a personal favorite of mine, but I'll get to their set in a moment. The first band up was a local progressive band called Waking Hour. Their drummer had a Neil Peart shirt on, so I had high expectations for their set. Fortunately, they met them. Any progressive fans reading this need to check out band as soon as possible. They have some heavy Dream Theater and Rush influences, and they played some very complex and creative songs. I'll soon be checking out their album, as I was very impressed with their set. The next band up was another local band called Die By Day. Their bassist was out in the audience for the first band, but proceeded to run backstage and get his bass guitar before climbing onto the stage. It's great to see a band actually be down with the audience for the show, and the fact that his band kicked ass was even better. Die By Day played a very heavy thrash metal set, and huge mosh pits broke out throughout the club. It was a fun set to say the least, but the vocals were a bit difficult to hear. Still, Die By Day put on a fun and impressive set. Next up was Visions of Atlantis, a symphonic metal band from Austria that was touring the U.S. for the first time. I'm not a huge fan of their studio stuff, but they put on a great live show. Their vocalist came out wearing skimpy semi-goth clothing, and every guy in the audience started drooling within seconds of her appearance. The drooling continued for the entire set, as she proved she was just as good of a singer as she was sexy. During the parts where she wasn't singing, she'd kneel down and lock devil horns with members of the audience. One of my friends pushed his way to the stage and got her to lock horns with him as well. Even without the sex appeal, Visions of Atlantis put on a great show, and their male vocalist is much better live than on album. Finally, Epica came up, and blew everyone away. I expected them to be great, but not this great. Their set rivaled that of Rush and Muse, and Simone Simmons (Epica's vocalist) might just have the best female voice I've ever heard. Her voice is simply beautiful, and that combined with the fantastic keyboards were an excellent contrast to the male death grunts and heavy riffs. It was the perfect mix of brutality and beauty, and I will make sure to see them again if they ever return to Seattle. I've been blown away at concerts before, but never quite like this.

Halo Woes
Finally, Halo 3 comes out on Tuesday. Shocking, isn't is? Well, I've said in past blogs that I'm not excited at all for Halo 3, even though I do have it pre-ordered. I'm still not excited enough to want to stand out in line or anything to get it, but I admit that the reviews I've read for the game are making me quite excited about tomorrow. I got an e-mail over the weekend saying the game has shipped, so it should be here either tomorrow or Wednesday. Even if it arrives later, I wouldn't care. I'm in no hurry to play it because I know my friends and I will be playing it for years to come (for better or for worse). The problem is, I might not be able to play it online for a while. I'll be getting Xbox Live either today or tomorrow, but I don't have a headset to use with it. My headset broke earlier this year, and when Microsoft replaced it, they sent me a wireless headset instead. Awesome, right? I mean, I got a free wireless headset, right? Wrong. Microsoft didn't send me the cable needed to charge it, and after calling them numerous times, they still won't send it to me. So basically, I'm left without a working headset, so I'll either have to buy a wireless headset just to get the cable, or buy another crappy wired one. I really don't want to pay $20 to get a cheap wired one, which means that I'll need to spend the money to get a wireless one for the cable. I'll then have two wireless headsets and one cable. I suppose that's not a bad deal, considering I get can get a wireless headset for $40, but I unfortunately don't have the money to get both Xbox Live and a headset at this time. This leaves me in a dilemma, and one that I doubt I can solve by Halo 3's release. Oh well, I suppose I'll be online eventually.

Thanks for reading, and I apologize for the long read.