Officially a Student [Again]

Although I've known for about a week, thanks to the marvels of the web, I received my official acceptance letter from Oakland University today! What that means is that I can now take classes there in an attempt to get a degree in Cinema Studies; coincidentally a program they just set up.

I'm looking forward to going and getting down to business, but I'll admit that I'm scared of thw whispers that I'm sure to hear behind my back. Why will there be whispers? Simple: I'm twice as old as most of my fellow students. Being 37 isn't a handicap, and I really don't care what the other students might say, but I don't want to go through any emotional shit because of my age.

If I fuck up, I'm fine with them talking about me behind my back, but I don't need any age shit.

Any way, I think I'm finally ready to commit myself to school and getting it completed, degree and all. We'll see what the job field looks like in a couple of years when I start calling myself a screenwriter with a bachelor's degree.

MGS4

You know, it's been about a year since I first completed Metal Gear Solid 4, but I just stumbled on some screen shots that brought a smile to my face... That game is just too awesome, and I think I have to go back through it again soon. (For about the 8th time.)

In this brief series of photos, you can see that I spent the time to knock out a fairly large group of guards with stun grenades and tranquillizer darts. I wanted to see how many I could render unconscious at one time, and it's apparently more than a couple...
Perhaps my only gripe with the AI was that it didn't wise up, and realize that I was there taking people out. Sure, the AI troops would wake each other up and remain cautious for a bit, but that never led them to look beneath the APC, and seldom did they look between the equipment pallets... Still, doing things like this allowed me to get away from killing everything that moved and somethings that didn't.

This of course makes me curious about the upcoming Metal Gear Solid titles: Peace Walker and whatever the heck the name of the other one was... It's being said that Peace Walker on the PSP will have Kojima's full attention in addition to having the MGS4 staff working on it, so I have no doubt that it will be an excellent game, but I really wonder how far they can push the PSP...

In all honesty, I really don't expect much out of the other title since it will be constrained to the limitations of the Xbox 360. Now, I'm not trying to throw hate at the 360... I own one, and I'm currently loving the hell out of Ghostbusters because Maxx, Tom, and Omar also own 360s and are playing it on that platform. Not to mention I love the hell out of Left 4 Dead, but the fact is the PlayStation 3 owns my heart. Not just for MGS4, but for Resistance 2, KillZone 2, LittleBigPlanet, and a fair number of other games I own for it. MGS4 made it clear to me that the PS3 is the superior platform, and frankly I haven't seen anything on the 360 that even comes close.
That said, this other title is going to be primarily action, rather than a lot of stealth, so I suspect that a lot of the game will be on the lines of a first or third person shooter, needing little subtlety or finesse as compared to other Metal Gear games. While I can handle that, and I'm not a purist, I would really much rather have the traditional stealth elements in the MGS series rather than have just another shooter. I have excellent shooters already, I don't necessarily need a MGS themed one. *COUGH*Metal Gear Online*COUGH*

Paperwork Sucks

For the last few weeks I've been trying hard to get the paperwork together for a scholarship to go back to school this Fall. Now twice this week I've travelled by bus and foot to turn in this paperwork and failed to get it accepted and off my hands.

The first time was because I arrived too late in the day to see a career planner which is a mandatory step in the application process. Today's failure was because federal guidelines meant that the faxed copy of some of my paperwork was unacceptable.

I'm already jumping through hoops to try to make this happen, do they really need to be on fire too?

beefcake! beefcake!

ok, I have no need to shout that and I don't really have anything to say, but I wanted to post something so there.

Apollo 11, 40 Years Later

This morning after finally dragging my ass out of bed, I ate breakfast while listening to the news. After getting tired of listening to still more Michael Jackson coverage, I switched to the NASA channel. Yes, they have a cable channel.

I hadn't yet given it any thought but was rather pleased to see some 60s footage of the Apollo program. Growing up in the 70s and 80s, I was obsessed like many with the space program, and it's still one of my primary interests. I never got to see these films when I was younger, so I find them fascinating.

All of a sudden it dawned on me that the Apollo 11 anniversary was just a few days away. Not just any anniversary, but the 40th! Holy shit!

While I'm not disappointed with the last 30 years NASA spent working on and with the shuttle, I am glad that they are once again looking towards manned exploration of the moons and plants of our solar system. In fact I'd say I'm one of the few people to say that the long break was probably the best things they could've done.

The reason is simple: we as a civilization, and NASA in particular, have advanced significantly in technology since the last moon landing. It is now possible to build better, safer space craft today than it was decades ago, and those craft will be significantly more advanced for less money (relatively speaking). A trip to Mars would have been significantly more dangerous in the 70s or 80s than it will be in 2020.

I just want to send my thanks and love out to NASA, it's employees, and the Apollo 11 crew for inspiring me and countless others.

Mounting Confusion

Last year, for various reasons, I moved back to my home town of Detroit, Michigan, from the Los Angeles area. One of the key reasons being that I wanted to be here with my family as and after I went through my divorce.

For the most part, I've enjoyed being back though I miss my Cally friends, and do little other than sit in my house. I'm now in the process of getting enrolled at Oakland University, but I'm really beginning to feel like I don't belong here either.

Almost from the moment I got here, I've run into one problem or another, and I'm currently jobless, broke, and without any prospects. On the other hand, thank God, I don't have a car payment, and I don't have to worry about my next meal or the roof over my head.

Still, I'm beginning to think that it's time for me to move on. I'm not going back to L.A., but I don't know where else I could go. I haven't yet committed myself to leaving, but I'm finding it hard to want to stay.