Titillating Trailers

Have you ever been forced to watch video game commercials or trailers?  No?  Is that because you don't have a special man in your life?

Everytime a new video game is coming out- and for those that aren't aware, prime time is in the fall between September and November (something I never thought I would know)- Brandon is watching a new trailer.  If you've seen them, you know the formula.

Soft, sweet, quite possibly older music (say "Amazing Grace" style) starts the trailer off.  You watch thinking, "oh how nice, what game is this? Pioneer Living?" and then there's a sudden drop in bass.  It's probably a large drum to start and does a steady and slow beat.  Until... BAM!  Guns are shooting, people are yelling, fighting is happening!  The trailer turns from lovely to a massacre in 15 seconds!  It's no longer of interest to you (ok, me) because it's so violent and crazy, you've (alright, fine- I've) seen it all before.  Maybe it's about zombies, or war or fictional 7 horsemen characters.

Let me show you some examples:

 and...

and...

and...

And then there's this fun video... much more my style!

Hey Hey Anybody Listening? Hey Hey Anybody Care?

Brandon made some big gaming decisions this week.  And unfortunately one of the decisions was the download a new computer multi player, World of Warcraft type, game and not order two other Xbox games he had on pre-order.  While it sounds like a better trade off, one game in place of two other games, the game of choice is intense and lengthy.  As in... there is no real ending.

At least the Xbox games have an end to the storyline.  They have a goal to reach and then when it's achieved it sort of loses it's luster.  While there is still "free play", tournaments and playing against your friends online, it's just not the same time commitment.  However, the game he is now playing, Guild Wars 2 (because #1 just is so last year), has no ending.  It's just like World of Warcraft.  In fact when I look at the screen it brings me back to these days, and these days, and these days (among many others).  It looks nearly identical.  Of course, if I was playing it (hahahahahaha) I'm sure I would see the differences.  But I just have to listen to the same grungy "monster" voices ("hey I can't restock this until we get more in"), the mythical background music (that's who keeps the flute players employed!), and the common battle with loud outbursts every now and then by Brandon, "agh! so stupid!" or "look at those little raccoons hanging out on the side of the road".

Other then these sporadic comments, he doesn't say much... or listen much.  Just as with WoW, I've lost his attention.  Sometimes I will ask him a question, or make a comment, and it's like I'm talking to the desk he's sitting at.  "ummm, hello? Brandon?"  Nope.  He's gone.  He's immersed in the game world.  I'm fairly certain he thinks he's a part of that world now... or I don't know how else to explain his new horns he's been wearing around the house.

Oh Baby, I just can't stand another lonely night... Save me from another lonely night

There hasn't been a new video game on the scene, well at least in our lives, for some time.  Sure there was some dabbling in "Gotham City Imposters"- an online first shooter XBox Arcade game.  But there was no end or real goals besides XBox "chievers", points and levels.  Boooooooring!

Though my false hope had me thinking that would be all until Chirtmas, deep down I knew it couldn't be.  Deep down I knew there would come a day when the next big video game showed up and took over Brandon's life.  That day has come, folks.  Let me introduce you to the new member of our family...well at least that's how much time it takes up, you'd think it was.

Darksiders 2

Collector's Edition, of course!  Would we have it any other way?  Ask me how much I love the extra empty box that takes up otherwise useful storage space, and the extra toy collectible that adorns the shelves.  Words cannot express my feelings towards these things.  So I just won't try.

What else does this game bring, besides constant love and hours of entertainment?  Hours of loneliness.  And talking to myself...unintentionally, of course. 

Me: "Brandon let's discuss the wedding menu." 
Brandon: ......

Me: "What should we have for dinner?"
Brandon: ......

Me: "Hey, look I'm naked!"
Brandon: ......

See the theme?  No, me neither.

I'm as Loved as a Halo Mega Bloks Kit!

Can you believe how lucky I am?  Please read this MSN chat for further details...

Brandon says: omg please please watch this
http://www.blogger.com/goog_420970746
Shannon says: I'm watching- that thing is HUGE (that's what she said)

Brandon says: thats #1 on xmas list
Shannon says: can you imagine how long it would take you? your other one took like 5 hours!
find it online for sale
Brandon says: preorders are for august first, from toys r us
Shannon says: how much?

Brandon says: no idea lol

Shannon says: I'm sure like $300!

Brandon says: its not on websites yet, its available for pre order starting August first
Shannon says: an online forum speculates the suggested retail price to be 250 Euros! That's more than $300
Brandon says: I know I know- but its amazing

Shannon says: I didn't know you were this big into Halo haha it is pretty neat- but I imagine it's huge

Brandon says: look at it in front of the guy when the video is on, so awesome

Shannon says: yes yes I watched the video, is this the blog post inspiration?

Brandon says: no, i just thought that it was awesome...like...so awesome...ugh <3

Shannon says: you feel the same way about a Mega Bloks kit as you do me?! 

Brandon says: I cant describe how my much my heart hurts because I now yearn for that set...you should look it as I love you as much as I love Halo.. which is a whole bunch

Shannon says: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Brandon!

Brandon says: I'd choose you if I had to pick obviously but in this reality.. I do not have to pick so I love both

Shannon says: oh...well thanks for the bode of confidence  you're a total loser! 

Brandon says: I'm not- why do you say mean things like that?

Shannon says: because you told me you love me as much as a Halo Mega Bloks kit!!!

Brandon says: just please love me

Shannon says: I do! as much as I love my Macbook Pro!


Now do you know why I'm marrying him?!

Why Canada/Independence Day is for the Rich

Ok maybe not the rich, but people that have money to spend. These national holidays are supposed to be a big, fun celebration for everyone residing in the country, but things can get expensive if you want to have any patriotic fun.

We considered going camping- but it's always so busy and the cost can grow quite fast with food, supplies, gas etc.

Drinking is possibly the cheapest activity, but at the risk of sounding like alcoholics, we can drink quite substantial amounts with little effects (we are Irish and Newfie, ya know).

Fireworks can be fun, depending on the location.  Unfortunately, we couldn't afford to buy our own though- and the ones that are put on by the city are good, but so busy...

So all this to say, for our Canada Day long weekend we enjoyed some good old fashioned relaxation at home time. It was actually quite nice to have basically no plans. We managed to get the entire weekend off together- which is usually rare but seems to have happened twice this month.  We visited with my horse, Sophie, who after eating the apple we brought her proceeded to sneeze-cough a portion of it (along with some grass and spit) right onto Brandon's face!  I laughed for a long while after that... including 45 minutes later driving in the car on our way home. He didn't seem to find it quite as funny as I did... but that doesn't matter- cause if it happened to me he'd find it equally as hilarious.  I tried to take a picture before wiping him off, but he strictly forbid it.

We also started (and finished) Lego Batman 2 for Xbox.  Those Lego games rock!  It all started with my Lego Pirates of the Carribbean game I got for my Wii many months ago when Brandon was married to his Xbox (so I had something to do too), and we got hooked.  We finished Lego Pirates (twice- once on Wii, once on Xbox), tried Lego Star Wars (weren't fans) and now Lego Batman 2.  Even though we completed all the levels there is still so much extra stuff to do. So now we're working on that.  How is that for a long weekend of fun?!

What did you do for your Canada Day weekend? And for the American neighbours- with the holiday more fresh in your memories... or at least I hope so- what did you do to celebrate your country's birthday? Other country readers- how do you generally celebrate your country's national holiday?

That Man Has Funny Hair, Drunk by 2pm & Giant LEGO

Yesterday was a whirlwind day for us.  It really only started out with plans to head down to Fort York downtown, to see if it was an acceptable wedding venue.  (the answer is yes)  That turned into a stopover at the Steamwhistle Brewery for a tour and free beer- a favourite activity of ours.  And continued into a fantastic weekend spent together.  That doesn't happen all that often because Brandon works shift work, and gets mostly weekend shifts, where I have a "typical" 9-5 job Monday through Friday.  So we spent great time together and enjoyed our weekend activities.

It started while riding the subway, sitting, minding our own business, probably discussing something profound and important we hear a little (but loud) voice yell across the aisle, "THAT MAN HAS FUNNY HAIR!", followed by a small finger pointing towards Brandon.

In case you didn't see in our photos from my birthday and engagement party, Brandon has cut his hair into a mohawk of sorts.

This young boy thought it was hilarious that Brandon's hair had chicken-like qualities (ok he didn't say that- but I can only imagine that's what he was thinking from his yet to be educated mind). Naturally, I laughed and so did Brandon, who also spoke to the kid and acknowledged his hair as being funny. His dad told us that the week prior the little boy had seen a man who had a long beard but no moustache. The little boy pointed at that man and said, "that man forgot his moustache!". While hilarious for us, potentially mortifying for his dad, I commend this kid for saying what he thinks! Good for him. Perhaps the pointing could be a problem later in life, but keep up the honesty kid!

Also on the subway, we saw Colin Farrell's Mexican cousin, Cortez Farrelle!  Brandon says he should be in a movie called "Tele-phone Boothe".  I considered taking a photo, but posting pictures of random people on the Internet tends to be frowned upon.

We arrived at Fort York and headed in to see the potential wedding venue.  Quick tip: apparently if you tell places that you're considering their venue as being a place for your wedding, they'll give you free admission.  So not only did we get to check out the venue for our wedding, but also just got to enjoy the grounds.

I made an agreement with Brandon many months ago, that he must allow me to take minimum one picture of the two of us (or at least him) during any outing we go on.  Outings include anytime we have some sort of agenda to leave the home beyond going to family or friends' homes or work.  Brandon regrets this I'm sure, but a deal's a deal.  So this was the first attempt at our together picture:

 

Brandon's photography skills leave something to be desired.  So I tried: 

Doesn't even look like it was a self portrait.  I know how to hide my arm and make it look natural.  Because sadly, I take too many of these pictures.

Walking back from Fort York, we decided to stop in at Steamwhistle Brewery.  This is probably our favourite brewery, though we enjoy visiting all sorts, and have been known to plan small trips just to visit various breweries.  If you've never been, it's usually an interesting tour with free beer.  And who doesn't enjoy free beer?

Brandon tries to ignore the camera

Until you get him drinking

This is Leroy the Steamwhistle kitty

I actually out drank him this time!

We did so much walking when we were downtown, then went out to a friend's birthday later in the evening and walked home.  Our feet felt like cement blocks this morning. 

Somehow today Brandon got another day off, so we made good use of the day.  Slept in, paid a visit to the comic book store to get the new edition of "The Shadow" and the onto Toys R Us.  "Why", you may ask? "You guys don't have kids.  You haven't mentioned any children's parties you're attending. Your niece/nephew isn't due to be born until the end of August."  Oh I'm aware.  We went so Brandon could get a new Mega Blocks kit.  Yup!  Brandon has started collecting Mega Blocks.  And not just any Mega Blocks- Halo Mega Blocks!  He's already got 2 smaller ones that I would consider regular sized.  But this new one he got today is 12" long and 6" wide!  It's a huge vehicle.  It's a UNSC Warthog- Halo 10th Anniversary Collector's Edition.  Exciting, right?!

Brandon has been working on building this item for 3.5 hours already and still isn't done.  My part to helping was organizing the pieces by colour, size and style.

So, its been a wonderful and eventful weekend.  Something we haven't been able to appreciate in quite some time.  Now I must face the dreaded work week... wish me luck.

Mario Cart Commute

While driving to work, it often hits me that I'm quite hungry because I have, most likely, not eaten a balanced breakfast as is suggested by the Canadian Food Guide. Eating in the car can be a juggling act, so I often opt for a banana. Easy and simple (like a cheap whore), the banana doesn't have to be washed or prepped.

So, I'm eating my banana this morning and I prepare to throw my peel out the window. Yes, I throw it out the window. Onto grass. It's green waste and it's better for it to be on the grass with the chance to decompose (or have an animal eat it), than to be stuck in a garbage can between other non-green waste and not have the oxygen or opportunity to decompose.

I digress.

So, I prepare to throw my peel out the window, but we're in the "fast" lane so the boulevard is approximately 20 feet from our car. I look at the distance and decide, "ya I can make it", and I exuberantly toss the peel. Naturally, and I'm going to stereotype here, being a woman, the peel didn't quite make it. If you're wondering if I feel bad that my green waste won't decompose properly, the answer is, of course.
But how can I not laugh when my sister in law says, "did you just throw your banana peel at that van, a la Mario Cart?". Unintentionally, but yes.

The Hourglass (or pinwheel for me)

Otherwise known as: The Delayed Response

By now, of you're an avid reader, you know Brandon plays World of Warcraft (whether or not this makes him a "wieney" or not is still an ongoing debate).  There are many times I am patiently being a wonderful girlfriend and occupying my time (Internet-less at his parents' house- as they have no wifi) reading books, playing with the dogs, doing laundry and often times just bugging him like the inner 10 year old I am.

I'll begin with a story of some kind, or maybe a question: "what plans do we have for the day?" for example.

Silence.

"Hmmm ok", I think, "he must not have heard me".  So I ask again, "do we have anything planned for today?  Anything you need to do?".

Silence.

Now I know, it's not that he isn't hearing me, it's more that he isn't listening to me.  Because he is so involved with Orcs, goblins, quests, spells, auctions and winning "Toblerone" (unfortunately NOT the chocolatey treat).  So I wait.  I try to occupy myself in some way.  Fast forward between 30 seconds to 4 minutes.

"what? oh. ya. we have to go grocery shopping" the mumbled, gurgley voice of Brandon who hasn't spoken in hours, finally speaks and somehow remembers my question and answers it.  So now, I just try to ask my questions 30 seconds- 4 minutes ahead of time. Ahhh, you see I'm learning!

A memorable scene from a favourite show of mine, "The Big Bang Theory" demonstrates the above scenario perfectly, and proves it's not just Brandon.

The Return of the XBox

The Xbox games have been silent for a few weeks, solely because Brandon had forgotten his console at his mother's house one day while visiting.

This sparked his reconnection to World of Warcraft, a new laptop and a much more quiet household for me. Online computer gaming has been much quieter because there is no microphone system. You can't discuss your tactics and gameplay beyond an instant messaging chat. Fantastic!

However, last night... The Xbox returned. So far I haven't been subjected to any Xbox Live, or any gaming at all for that matter, but I feel like it may just be a matter of time.

Level: Prestige

In Modern Warfare 3 there are levels- as with most video games.  But there's a special little extra.  Something called- Prestige!  (ooooohhh, ahhhhhh)

Prestige is when you hit level 80 and get to the end of that level, in which you get a Prestige Token, which you get to spend at the Prestige Shop.  You also get Prestige Emblems- up to Prestige 10.  Can you honestly say you have ever had so much Prestige?!  Brandon can!   He's Prestiged (can you use that as a verb?) twice!

The Modern Warfare 3 Creatures

A few weeks ago Brandon asked me to help him type out some descriptions, I picked up his laptop ready to type (before I "broke" it).  He began narrating to me the different MW3 "creatures" that lurk in the game. 
His list included:

Corner trolls- they hang out in the corners and shoot you as you walk by
Stairwell salamanders- similar to a corner troll, these guys hang out in stairwells running up & down waiting for someone to come by
Prone snakes- crouching around on their bellies and shooting at passerbys
Pump-action lemur- jumping around with pump action shotguns
Auto monkey- running around with automatic guns shooting at anything they see
Quick scope kinkaju- aiming & firing simultaneously with their quick scopes, without much skill

They apparently make their presence well known in the ever popular Modern Warfare 3... these are usually the people Brandon's yelling at from the living room.

The Loud, Angry Voice from the Living Room

I'll be getting ready for the day, maybe reading a book, surfing the Internet or perhaps writing a blog post and I'll hear a large and loud voice booming from the living room, "ARG! Stupid dumbass corner trolls!"  or some other obscenity!  Almost always he's yelling at some player on Modern Warfare 3 whom he doesn't agree with their actions.  Actually, it's ALWAYS at someone on MW3.  He's got all sorts of names and titles he calls these people who do certain things in the game he doesn't think is honest game play (more on that in another post).

This is also when he tends to practice his accents from different places.  Talking to his XBox friends or just harping on random players, I've heard a Boston, English, Australian, Russian and some indistinguishable accents.  Recently it's been the Boston accent because the other week he watched "The Town" and "The Departed" which take place in Boston- a town he loves.  So he repeats lines from the movies...over and over again.  Oh the power of XBox and all sorts of funny things it does.

PP

Well the video games didn't cease for long.  Brandon was back on his XBox playing Modern WarFare 3 with his buddies doing their online gaming matches.  As I return from bringing in the dogs from outside I hear him proclaim, "Don't touch my pee pee".  A tad shocked I asked him why he'd be saying this to his online gaming friends.  This is the time when he told me about a gun they use for MW3 called a PP.

I have no idea what PP stands for- it must stand for something (let's hope).  After he turned his mic back on he continued with things like, "I have a red dot on my PP" ('cause he has some designation on his gun) and "you shot at my PP".  That was my cue to head to the bedroom and watch some TV- and write this blog post.

Goodbye Skyrim!

Well the other day Brandon finally beat Skyrim.  The game he's been playing for hours and hours, day after day is finally over.  (Yippee!)  He got 49/50 "chievers" otherwise known as achievements to the normal world.  He became a Thane, part leader of a Brotherhood, of a Thieves Guild, a few colleges, a master enchanter among many other titles of great importance.

Goodbye to all the orks, elves, nords, lizard-people, dragons, humans born with dragon souls, cat-people...and goodbye to his Imperial wife (stupid bitch!).  Fun fact: in this game you are allowed inter-species and same sex marriages.
The sounds of dragons groaning & growling, giants grunting, horses whinnying, Scottish creatures' brogue and all the other sounds of Skyrim will no longer fill our home.  What a shame.

While looking up the names for these creatures I came across an interesting article which explains to men how to turn their current girlfriend into a "gamer girl".  Below is the brief summary of said article (http://www.craveonline.com/gaming/articles/168843-how-to-turn-your-girlfriend-into-a-gamer?utm_source=crowdignite.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=crowdignite.com):

• Find a game with a good narrative
• Keep her away from the Nintendo Wii
• Get her hooked on the online/arcade games for your console
• Don't play with her

I hate to say so, but I agree with all these points.  I am drawn in by good story lines that seem more like movies than pointless games that contain hours of play. 
I can't say I 100% agree with staying away from the Wii... I enjoy my Wii!  But I see that it isn't productive to making your girlfriend a true gamer, seeing as the Wii doesn't include any online components or gamer points, or achievements. 
The arcade games on the XBox are interesting.  I don't like that they are only demos and then you have to buy them.  I mean, I understand that from the business aspect of it, but it sucks as a user. 
And finally, it's true not to play with your gamer boyfriend.  He'll totally beat everything you do first, get ahead of you in the level and probably even end up killing you at some point.  This happened to me at my own game!  We played Lego Pirates of the Caribbean together on his XBox (after starting on my Wii and him wanting more gamer points) and he kept getting ahead of me, even though I knew all the level maps.  This is incredibly discouraging, so don't do it.

Dreaming Skyrim

The other day Brandon woke up and told me he had a hard time sleeping because all he could think about were the tasks/challenges he had to complete on Skyrim the next day.  Then once he finally fell asleep he dreamt of his Skyrim adventures.  Oh wait it gets better... Dr Dre was apparently there too!  Who not only dreams about video games but also places out of date rappers in there too?!

Skyrim... Seriously?!

When I used to work at the movie theatre, we had popular times of the year Blockbuster, big-name movies would come out: beginning of summer and mid October to mid November.  Apparently, video games have this same type of practice.  Because this past month at least 3 big-name video games have come out.  Which of course means- Brandon has gotten 3 big-name video games in the last month!  Yippee!

First came Battlefield 3- interesting game, good graphics, but he beat it in like 6 hours!  How fun is that?!  I know the point of the games is to beat them, but really if you can beat it that fast, then aren't you missing out on the fun?  Apparently not.

Next up, Call of Duty: Modern WarFare 3.  Also slightly interesting story, but is so very similar to it's predecessors in visuals and tasks.  At least from the amount of knowledge I have of it.  Again, Brandon beat this games' campaign mode in a day.

Finally, Skyrim has joined our household.  And oh what fun that's been.  It's been hours upon hours of play.  It resembles Brandon's old gaming obsession from the summer- Rift, in style/theme/genre.  Basically, it's medieval fantasy "business" with dragons, witches, trolls, giants, elves and other fictional type species all mixed about a HUGE playing map of mountains, valleys, towns, caves and the like.  I admit it's well done and interesting in short spurts of time.  But the hours that have turned into days are ridiculous and monotonous.

The characters say that same things over and over, like "I am sworn to carry your burdens" and "watch out for the creatures of Skyrim, they're creatures but they can be dangerous".  And these are just the times I am sitting and listening, I can't imagine how repetitive it must be when he plays for the amount of hours he does.  To put it in perspective, his character in the game has a house to store all his crap!

I've just been informed that his character (whom he named) was named after "the Thrall from World of Warcraft who was the warchief of Durotar"... so basically we could have called him Nerd of Loserville and it'd be about the same name.

Of course along with the hours of play, came all the special edition paraphernalia in another huge ass box!

 What's that on top of the box, you may ask?  That would be the giant dragon figurine that came inside the giant ass box!  More pictures below...

The dragon's spot on the shelf

The dragon & friends from Gears of War & Halo

Man I love these special edition video games!

End to the Trilogy

For those of you with men in your lives that enjoy video games, you know Modern Warfare 3 has come out.  It's the third and (say it isn't so) final installment to the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series.  Yesterday was a day full of tracking this game down.

Brandon preordered it weeks ago and has been counting down the days until it's arrival.  We had to stay home from regular day activities so as not to miss the postal man.  Whilst waiting around of course Brandon made good use of his time, playing Battlefield.  And to his credit- also played a boardgame with me!  During the course of the day, and still no knock on the door, he had been tracking the package online and seen that the status went from "en route" to "attempted and failed delivery-waiting at postal facility for pickup".  We still had no note on our door, no knock on the door and no slip left anywhere in our facility.
I call Canada Post and ask them why we don't have a slip on our door or anywhere near our house, and why no attempts were made to deliver it.  The woman tells me that the status often changes online but the attempt may not have been made yet... blah, blah, blah.  She informs us to wait until 6pm when the last driver attempts delivery.

A couple hours go by and we have yet to see anything or received any slip of delivery attempt.
So I phoned through to Canada Post again.  This began our day's activities tracking down the long awaited game.  After speaking to a representative on the very unhelpful phone lines, we got no further ahead except for them to tell us it is in fact at the local Shopper's Drug Mart awaiting pickup.  We get ourselves into the car and head over, wait in line, speak to the lovely postal worker and... no package is there!  The woman tells us she will call us when it arrives for us to pick it up.

We get home and Brandon is extremely upset.  He wants his game- and he wants it now.
I call the customer service line back and tell them that this is not the first time we've had this issue at our home and that we are tired of not getting our packages on time and having to go pick them up.  As our friend pointed out, it kind of defeats the purpose of having it shipped!  We file a complaint against our terrible driver who can't seem to deliver packages to our home.  During this time the supervisor tells me they have checked it in at the postal office we were just at 15 minutes prior.  But we still haven't heard from that postal worker at the local branch.  So we wait a little while longer.  And longer.  No phone call a few hours later.  So again a trip to the postal office (in rush hour traffic), and it's there... at 6pm at night.

We have dinner, and Brandon loads the game onto his Xbox.  Apparently, loading the game makes it run faster and smoother while playing.  (I know way too much about Xbox and gaming!)  Game play commences beginning with the "Campaign" or story mode.  Not 6 hours later, he's beat the game!!!

How can you be so excited for a game you can beat in less than 6 hours?!  But I should know by now, it's so much more than just the campaign mode... it's the playing against others and with friends  Learning new maps.  Unlocking new features, weapons etc.

This will be the game he plays for a while.... well actually not too much longer now that Skyrim is also on it's way to our household in the next few days!

My only concern is that I'm running out of Grey's Anatomy DVDs to watch while he's busy playing games... what will I do with my time now?

Gears of Reach?

Brandon and I are out picking up some necessary items today: toilet paper, Kleenex etc... and he would like to go to Best Buy.  So we stop in and of course we head directly to the Xbox section of the store.  Here he seeks out the new tool he'd like to purchase: an Xbox cooling fan.

In theory I must admit this seems like a neat little nick-nack.  It directs the hot air that your Xbox creates away from the unit and into the room.  I wanted a little room heater anyway- maybe 2 birds, one stone?  But after further inspection Brandon sees this tool is actually intended for units which are kept in confined areas, such as in an entertainment stand.

You know the ones that electronic manufacturers always tell you NOT to place their equipment, but people do anyway?  Ya it's meant for those morons.
Since Brandon isn't one of those morons, and keeps his Xbox (alongside Doug's) in our otherwise adult living room, he decides he doesn't need this tool.

However, in his travels in the Xbox aisles of paradise, he finds this HUGE box.  It's a special edition-or legendary edition- Halo Reach game and other stuff...you know, the important things like: fake medals and badges you can proudly display in our home of fictional characters no one knows, and photos of this character receiving these medals, and fancy packaging (total not eco friendly).  But he's so excited.  It's something like half price of what it used to be.  So he buys it.

Of course it also comes with this large "statue", made of like a rubbery plastic.  It has all the characters from the game with their respective guns, and again gets to adorn the shelves of our home.  Brandon now has 2 of these great "statues".  One from his Gears of War 3 special edition pre-order package and one for his new Halo Reach purchase.  They sit on his bookshelves:

Gears of War 3 dude

Halo Reach guys

Together on the shelf

 Another fine point to note is that this new purchase today was something he already owned.  OK, not the whole kit.  But he already owned the game, why the need for all the extras in the large box?  We take the nearly 2' x 2' box up to the cashier and she asks, "Is this all for one game?".  Brandon explains there are a lot more collector items (ie nerdy items) inside besides the game, and also offered up the information that he already owns the game but just wants "all the cool stuff inside".  Her follow-up remark was, "So all your guests can see them?"  I think she seriously wondered why someone would do this.  I have to admit, prior to meeting Brandon I may also have wondered the same thing.  I still wonder, but it doesn't seem as foreign to me anymore- it's just our life.

The LARGE and in charge boxes these collector edition games come in- which take up considerable room in our storage closet.  So much that we have to move some of our out of season jackets to another closet.

Also just being informed yet another large special edition box set video game is on pre-order (see picture below)...yay.

Look at all those unnecessary items it comes with...besides the map- of course he needs an antique map for the game!

Guys and the XBox

Let me set the scene of guys and their Xbox.

8am- wake up, eat breakfast, watch some TV

9am- text friends to see if they’ll be up and/or on Xbox Live soon

9:15am- turn on Xbox

9:16am- begin talking to friends on Xbox Live and load up game

9:17am- begin shooting, knifing and throwing grenades at the other guys on Xbox (many of who I assume have been up all night and/or woke up in the middle of the night to begin playing)

9:18am-12pm- continue shooting, knifing and throwing grenades at people

12:01pm- make lunch

12:03- eat lunch, meanwhile talking to the other guys on Xbox informing them he will be back online in just a minute or two

12:05pm- login to lobby of Xbox game and decide on which “map” to play with friends

12:06-5pm- continue playing and harassing other people on Xbox Live

5:10pm- girlfriend walks in the door and realizes her boyfriend has played Xbox for 8 hours while she was at work and will continue to play for the remainder of the evening.

In our humble abode we have 2 Xboxes.  And more recently, the 2^nd one, which used to live in the “man den/airplane room” (more on that another day), has moved into the living room with the other Xbox.  In fact they sit on top of one another.  (see picture )  Now, depending on if you have a boyfriend/husband/brother/friend who also plays Xbox (or any other gaming console), you may not understand why TWO Xboxes are needed or why they would need to be in the same room. 

It’s all about the online gaming.  Where you can play with and against people from all over the world who are also wasting their time playing the same game.  Fun fun!  That’s right- you too could play with the person in the very next room…online!  Why play with them, sitting next to them?  That’s so Super Nintendo era.  Folks, we’ve moved on where you not only play games online but with people in your house- in other rooms.  This is apparently fun for guys.  I’m sure somewhere out there… maybe there are a couple girls who also like to play Xbox, but I’m going to guess that population is very small.  So for those girls who don’t understand it, you aren’t alone.

What is it that this stupid grey box has?  How can you play the same game over and over again and be entertained?  This is where I get lost in the matter.  Sure, maybe once…twice even could possibly be fun.  But really every day, all day, over and over again?  It’s the same mission- kill the bad guys, protect your team, win achievements.

It saddens me that I know as much as I do about Xbox and the games that are played on it.  It’s not something I’m happy is taking up a portion of my brain and memory…but when you live with 2 men, it becomes part of your life.

"God created men before women because you’re always supposed to have a rough draft before you create your final masterpiece."