Back to My Roots

This weekend, UW Oshkosh will be hosting State Solo and Ensemble. They have hosted this event for a long time and I remember participating as a high school student for two years. Musicians come together as soloists and ensemble to perform for a judge that gives them a rating on their performance.

While at UW Oshkosh as a college student, I had the opportunity to volunteer for quite a few years. In my last year as an RHD, I have come back to volunteer one last time :). I was a room monitor when I was in college, and I now have the opportunity to be a runner. Sweet!

I am volunteering on Saturday and I am helping a few hours on Friday with set-up. It still leaves some time to relax from what has been a crazy weekend. We also start gaming again.

The Spring Break Agenda

As I stated in an earlier post, I will be attending a mediation training during the day Monday-Friday next week. That still leaves two weekends and some evenings without the normal evening routines. So what's on tap with all this free time?

• Christa I will finally be able to watch The Watchmen. Our weekends have not lined up very well, so without class we will have the chance to see it. There are so many people to talk with about it once we have seen it.
• We were sent Munich through the mail for Netflix, which Christa and I both want to see. Depending on how quickly we get to it, we could get the last episose of Planet Earth before spring break is over.
• I purchase Left 4 Dead, a game that Christa and I both enjoyed playing. When you combine that with the new songs we downloaded for Rock Band 2, we should have a good time gaming next week as well.
• Hopefully, I will have a chance to work ahead on some stuff for gaming. We only have so many weeks left in the spring semester to play.
• Our church will be having a long term ministry planning meeting on Tuesday. I am excited and intrigued to hear from my fellow parishioners about their ideas for the church.

Alas, all of that awaits once we have closed the building, which occurs at 8:00 PM tonight.

What I'm Looking Forward to This Week:

Here is a list of things I am looking forward to this week:

1. Getting preparations ready for gaming on the 4th of October. Maybe I'll finally get a post on the blog. People are curious.
2. Seeing what the Brewers can get done this week. The playoffs are still possible. Can they do it?
3. Seeing how the Packers do against the Buccaneers this Sunday. The Battle of the Bays is back! :)
4. I do my first church service at the Evergreen Retirement Community. Their vesper service is at 4:30 PM on Sunday.
5. On Thursday we are having a Staff Development which will consist of us gathering together and enjoying pizza. How fun is that!?
6. After a break today, I will get back to running. I am hopeful to keep these workouts out for the rest of 2008 and see how my fitness and weight change. I am sprinkling in a few exercise classes at the Rec. Center as well.
   

Broadcasting From a Remote Location

As I type these words, I am sitting at the computer at my pastor's home in Oshkosh, WI. He and his family have left for the weekend, and I am watching the house and taking care of buddy, their dog. In some ways, I am treating this weekend like a retreat. I have work to do and much of it will probably best be done in quiet and tranquility, which I will have for much of the weekend. The tasks that require my attention?

This Sunday's Homily
As will now be the tradition for three years, I have led the church service at First Oshkosh on Memorial Day weekend. Everyone else has plans, and I'm always around so I can usually step up. Of all the times I've done this, I feel the least nervous about this Sunday. I think the previous times I've tried too hard and this time I'm coming at the word of God from my level instead of pretending to be sophisticated and deep. I think it will be more meaningful for the congregation and more meaningful for me. We shall see.

The Continuing Ministry Process
For those that have read the blog for awhile, you know about my contemplation of the Methodist ministry. The next stage of the process involves a discussion with my pastor about a book entitled The Christian as Minister. Steve is having me write down some points from the book that cane spearhead a discussion. I hoping that I can hand this to him upon his return on Monday.

Wedding Tasks
As always, I will need to spend some time working on stuff related to the wedding. I have updated the guest list, have worked on getting the word out about the wedding to members of the church and have a few tasks to work on this weekend as well.

Video Games
I am also hoping to get some quality gaming in. I would say that gaming isn't quite the same when you don't have surround sound and you are playing on a 17" TV monitor. I will try to manage. ;)

Last Thought
Overall, I realize that I am trying a little too hard with this blog. It is interesting to see the cycles that have occurred. It took we many tries (and failed blogs) to finally post consistently. Once I had that down, I thought it would be good to post every day. Little did I realize that my life is not always exciting enough to post every day. So, I am hoping to find a happy medium as this point. I would like to post regularly, but it won't mean every day anymore. (Sorry to disappointment my loyal readers...all 10 of you. :) )

Getting To Old For This?

On my continuing odyssey to find games for the XBox 360 that fit me, I have been successful with only a few. Sadly, the game that I have enjoyed the most is Uno. Uno? Are you kidding me? A $300 machine and a $50 subscription to XBox Live to play Uno?!?!

I am starting to think that video games have gotten too complex for me. I grew up in the ear of Nintendo and Super Nintendo. The games were (relatively) simple and straightforward. Now, games are really complex. I am still catching up to the concept of the first person shooter game. I can only imagine what that will be like when I try playing with people from around the world.

Even RPGs are pretty intense. Oblivion, while really good, seems to be too complex for me to figure out. I will continue to search for games. When Call of Duty 3 is available for rental, I am going to check that out. There has to be more than Uno :).

Weekend Duty: Day #1

Well, let's just say that the evening had a little adventure than I anticipated. Hopefully Saturday night is a little more relaxed.

Friday evening represented a large step forward in the XBox 330 department. A few improvements:

• I posted by gamer score on my blog now. Now you can track my geekiness.
• I rented Viva Pinata for the weekend. I have tried it here and there. It is OK.
• I purchased Galaga, Bejeweled 2 & Uno on the XBoix Marketplace.
• I achieved all 200 achievement points for Galaga in 30 minutes.
• I have become a big fan on playing Uno on-line. You meet some crazy people at night, but I have also met some really fun people to play with.
• I got Christa onto XBox Live.
• My gamer score is up to 1,500.

Yes...I am a dork.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Mark, my 1st floor CA, told me about a game that I would really like...it's called The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. It is a role-playing game, and unique to many of the RPGs I have played before. I resisted for as long as possible, but I picked up the game a couple weeks ago and I have already put about 20 hours into the game thus far. Here is what I really like about the game:

• Experience - In most RPGs, you gain experience based on the creatures that you kill. in Oblivion, your character has seven major skills (blade, light armor, spells, etc). When you use these skills, they improve. When you improve 10 levels in these skills, you go up a level. It is a new and refreshing way to level.
• Versatility - This game is wide open in terms of the path you choose. You can pick from a large variety of quests and do them in any order you want. If you are stuck on one quest line, you can move to another and then you will unlock more quests. It is impossible to get bored...there is always something new. I have around 10 open quests at the moment.
• Alignment - Along with quest versatility, there is also character versatility. If you want to be "evil", you can. You can steal, kill innocents, be part of the dark brotherhood and run around with a bounty on your head. You can be nice and do all things lawful. Everything has a rating.

I would recommend checking this game out for your XBox 360. It is pretty sweet and quite addicting. I am resisting the urge to play right now.

Gaming for Charity?

Mark and I went to the Credit Union today to count up the money that we raised for the "Gaming For a Cause" program held in Breese Hall over the course of the weekend. Can you believe over $50 was raised? Who knew that playing video games could so greatly benefit the community :). My hats of to Mark, the residents of 1st floor and other members of the Breese Hall community past and present that made it possible.

With that money alone, Breese has reached its $1,000 fundraising goal. And, we have a lot of money unaccounted for that will cause us to crush that goal. Most exciting!

Catching Up

The final month of the college academic year are quite hectic. You are wrapping up one year and beginning to think about the following year. If you throw in an upcoming wedding a NACURH conference in June, things can get really hectic. So, the entries in here may be more sporadic and may not be as exciting as usual. I shall do my best.

Christa and I got our first wedding gifts in the mail. I didn't realize we would be getting them this early. When you do your registration on-line, it will actually show you what gifts have been taken off the registry. I suppose it can make gifts less exciting, but it is also fun to know what will be coming in the near future.

I rented Lego Star Wars II for X Box 360 over the weekend. It was pretty good. I am glad that I didn't buy the game now; it is definitely a game that I will pick up when it goes down in value. What I really enjoyed were the cut scenes. They adapted scenes from the movie and made them humorous.

I recently purchased The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. I haven't played it for too long, but from what I've seen it's incredible.

Big Brother For Gaming

Wanna know what your fellow XBox 360 players are doing? Check this out. You can see what game they are playing, what their status is and you can know all about their achievements and accomplishments. Very interesting...nothing is safe.

The parents are coming to Easter service tomorrow. Very cool!

Mmm...video games

For those of you that are curious, I am pretty much back to normal after the wisdom tooth work. I am eating as I did before and I was able to run and lift weights today. I am going back to the oral surgeon's office this afternoon for a follow-up. Let's hope everything is progressing as it should.

Many thanks for Mark Medinger and Nick Sayner for giving me some games to try out for the XBox 360. I rented Saint's Row as well to give that a whirl. It was OK, but I did get tired of the game after awhile.

I then rented The Godfather for the XBox 360. This game is pretty sweet. I plan on purchasing it after I turn in my rental copy. There is something about actually going through a plot line that runs along with the movie that is cool. You can rob banks, steal shipment trucks, take over warehouses, extort businesses, bribe cops (or kill them) and work your way up in the Corleone family. Good times.

I am finding some real utility to renting games first. You can get a real sense if the game is for you before you buy it. Like Nick, I am also considering a membership with Gamefly. It might prove a decent alternative to purchasing games. We'll see.

Spring Break!

My spring break began on Saturday, but I haven't found time to write anything until today. On Saturday the wedding invitations were prepared and are now ready to be mailed out. That night, Nick and Shawnta invited us over to their apartment for dinner. The dinner had a "skewer" theme with main course being shish kabob and the dessert being fondue. We also had fruit skewers, shrimp skewers and sausage and cheese skewers. Yum! It was wonderful!!

Sunday and today, I have been slowly cleaning the apartment, but I have distracted by my newest purchase. I figure the XBox 360 will keep me busy while I am resting from having my wisdom teeth pulled.

Saturday Potpourri

So, what's been happening? Here's my opportunity to catch up:

• Wow...Christa accomplished a lot with the wedding today. It got a little frustrating today as well. We picked reception music today, which can for two music people can be very frustrating. It's done though...and we have a good list. We are also in the process of finalizing the guest list. This is also very much a bear. I am going to create the master guest list. Good times.
• Christa and I ate at Victoria's yesterday. It is on College Ave. in Appleton, WI across from the Performing Arts Center. They have some of the best Italian food I have ever tasted. I had the scallops with the marsala sauce. Christa has a humongous plate of spaghetti. You have to try it.
• Gaming day number two takes place tomorrow. Excitement seemed high after session number one. Hopefully this enthusiasm keeps up!
• Ok, so maybe it's not an overly exciting week ;).

Reacquainting With Old Friends

After our staff meeting last night, I had a little time to kill before hall government. I thought I would try prepping for my Sunday AD&D adventure, but I didn't feel like working on that. So, on the spur of the moment, I busted out Guitar Hero. After playing Thunderhorse, Freebird and Mother on Guitar Hero 2, it made me wonder why I hadn't played in so long.

Similarly, while I was showering this morning I wonder why I hadn't started any games of E-mail Scrabble. So...I did.

I try to have a variety of hobbies. However, sometimes I get focused on one hobby that I forget about others. I think we can all be guilty of getting caught up in one thing and liking it, but forgetting about the other things in life that we forget. I suppose that idea goes well beyond hobbies and it can relate to friendships, relations, academics, etc.

I also think part of it is that I have been so busy lately, I think to myself that I don't have time to play video games. There's always time for video games.

Habits

On Wednesday, I had the hugest craving for a candy. And, I relented having a Milky Way bar. It tasted good, really good. It was the first candy bar I had since Sunday. When you don't have something for a little while you realize how truly good something can be; it honestly tastes like a treat because you don't have it all the time.

My two biggest goals this year are to cut down significantly my consumption of both regular soda and sugar. I had gotten so used to both of them that I never stopped to think about how much of it I was consuming. It was getting almost disgusting. So, for the five days of the new year I am doing a good job cutting these down. When I do have them every once in awhile, it makes them more special.

Breaking habits are tough, especially really old habits. I have had more success this year than ever before. There are a few reasons for this, in my opinion:

• Christa - She has been helpful in holding me accountable to the things that I have resolved to do. She takes a genuine interest in me being a better person. It's one of the many advantages to marrying her :).
• Prayer - God has been very helpful in this endeavor. I feel stronger and feel a real purpose to making these changes. They will make me a better person and a better Christian.
• Maturity - I have more background and experience to draw from and can see some truly destructive habits in which I have engaged.

Hopefully, things keep going on as they are. I have more energy, less stress and I feel better about who I am.

Other News:

• Christa does her first planetarium show tonight at the Buckstaff Planetarium. You should check it out! It's at 7:00 PM. I have never been inside it before and I got to see it for the first time last night.
• So far the response to the second semester AD&D campaign has been good. People are creating characters and excitement seems to be high.
  

Assorted Thoughts

Nothing topical today, just a few thoughts:

• My copy of The Christian as Minister came today. Hopefully I can work through that this month so that I can get my letter to the District Superintendent to get the process going.
• This afternoon, Peter, Dave & I are coming out of retirement for another round of Cubitz. Apparently, we are taking on their best team from the year. Hopefully we can hold on to the crown.
  
• I am participating in the Breese Hall Rummage Sale tonight. Let's see if my accumulated junk might be someone else's treasure.
• At 9:00 PM I am doing a presentation in Nelson Hall about First Edition Dungeons and Dragons...my second presentation about it this semester. Score!
• Sadly, I also am not feeling well today...shame I picked a day with all these meetings to feel sick. Bleh.
  

Thoughts From the Weekend

Some thoughts from the weekend:

• Wow...the Packers suck. I know that the local media and others are saying that this team is improving, but it has been painful to watch. To think, only a few weeks ago we were talking about this team making a possible run at the playoffs. Nothing that two brutal losses can't cure.
• I bought Dance Dance Revolution. I can't necessarily beg one solid reason for it. I think it had merit as a form of exercise, but I also just find the game fun to play. Between that and Guitar Hero 1/2, I have quite a gaming collection.
• Christa and I took a trip to Green Bay so that she could pick up a book she needed for class. Am I a great fiance or what?
• I got a lot of work done regarding the church. I got a letter out to all members of church letting them know abotu our new pastor. I finished up my responsibilities as a member of the Worship Commission. I followed up with our new pastor to make sure things are going OK.
• This coming Sunday Christa will officially become a member of FUMC Oshkosh.
  
• I also made a public announcement to the congregation at FUMC Oshkosh that I am pursuing candidacy in Methodist church. Where this specifically leads I don't know, but it is a big step. The congregation has offerred nothing but support. I am very excited!
  

Guitar Hero 2

As anticipated, I had the opportunity to play a lot of Guitar Hero 2 this past weekend. It felt wonderful; it was nice to have a weekend not involving anything stressful. I hooked up my PS2 to the big screen TV, so it was much easier to see what I was playing.

Overall, I think Guitar Hero 2 is a great game. There is much to be excited about, and only a few things that take away from the game.

Strengths:

• Game play is almost completely the same...easy transition.
  
• Some great rock tunes are in the mix: Carry On Wayward Sun, Freebird, Cherry Pie, Shout at the Devil, Sweet Child of Mine.
• I like that you need to get through 40 songs to complete the career mode, not 30.
• I like the Dethklok and Trodgor bonus tracks.
• I really appreciate the option to play rhythm, lead or bass guitar in certain songs.
• The cooperative mode is a great deal of fun...I appreciate the fact that you are working together instead of against each other.
• There is more variety of graphics in loading menus. The quotes are also funnier.
• They made career mode somewhat more involved.
  

Drawbacks:

• I liked the songs from Guitar Hero better than the songs from Guitar Hero 2.
  
• Many of the songs this time around are long; many are also very repetitive and this can get old after awhile.
• The jump from medium to hard is a large jump. Also, overall the game seems to be harded on all levels than it was in Guitar Hero.
• I wish there was a high score board for cooperative mode efforts.
• The bonus tracks are not as good overall.
• I miss the "Grim Ripper" from Guitar Hero. He looked cooler.
• It wierds me out that when you make a mistake your note scroll shakes. Odd.

Overall, it's a great game. I (and Christa) look forward to many hours of playing.

Nearing the End

I realize that title sounds bad, but fear not the message isn't...

So last night I roped myself into playing a little Guitar Hero before our hall government meeting. I have continued working on the "Expert" level and now have rounded it down to two songs. Unfortunately, the last two songs are really, really tough. I have found that the best approach to take with Guitar Hero is to play in smaller chunks. I have found that playing Guitar Hero too much causes the following issues:

• It makes your fingers tired and soar. Then you won't be able to play for awhile.
• It causes either you or your significant other to become very frustrated in your are playing the multi-player mode. (Although no guitars have been broken at this point.)
• You get burned out to the game in general and then you don't want to play it more two to three days.

I have found that playing a little each day allows me to see progress, but still keeps my interest up. Some of you are reading this thinking, "Wow, Jim is thinking about Guitar Hero way too much." You would all be right...but has been such a good stress reliever over the last few weeks.

Other News:

• My excitement for the birthday party increases. Starting on Thursday, the birthday weekend will be great: (1) dinner with RHDs on Thursday, (2) party Friday, (3) hang out with parents/dinner Saturday, & (4) hang out with Christa in Appleton and shop/watch a movie/play. Fun times indeed!

The "Madden Game"

I will in no way take credit for this, but Bill Simmons talked about a phenomenon when you play Madden:

"You know what else was interesting? That may have been the first time that an NFL team prevailed in a "no f-ing way game," those "Madden" games where something gets triggered in the artificial intelligence and the game decides, "there's no f-ing way you're winning this game." I just had one last week -- a six-game winning streak that ended in Jacksonville when I turned the ball over EIGHT TIMES in the first half. Of course, the big difference was that I threw the controller against a wall and angrily pressed the RESET button, whereas Lovie Smith and the Bears had to keep playing and hoping that the Bears D and Denny Green could combine to make up a 20-point deficit without a floundering Rex Grossman having to make a single play."

I got a kick out of it because this happens to me quite often, but I missed my chance to publish it.