Another Friday Afternoon...

Usually around this time of the week i find myself so very bored at my job i have no problem working on this blog for several hours. Nothing comes right to mind for this week, so i think i'll just wing it.
I finished another Harry Potter fan fiction today, but I'm not going to bother recomending it, seeing as all of the other ones i have suggested are superior. Hmmm... my supervision went well today... I'm really starting to get the hang of this whole counseling thing. If anybody out there has any pressing concerns and needs to talk, I'd be happy to refer you. I think that's kind of funny actually. I got in to counseling partially because i was already spending so much time counseling people i know, but now that I have some level of mastery, I am unable to work with people i know due to ethics. I see the point, one needs to avoid those kind of duel relationships, i just think it is kind of funny that now i have an out if anyone starts telling me their problems. Not that i don't care, just that it puts me in an ethical tight spot.
A rather interesting topic that i forgot to bring up today in my supervision deals with an interaction i had earlier this week. One of my students was getting off on a tangent about our foreign policy in the middle east, and it quickly became obvious they had no idea what they were talking about. I spend a good deal of time on this subject and i was frustrated to see this happening, seeing as it is not really my place to try and change their mind in that setting. i mean, they were on the opposite side of myself on this debate, but they weren't even reciting their sides arguments correctly. Overall my views on this topic have not changed much since the leader of our country said " Enough of this F-ing BS!!! BUSH SMASH!!!" and it would take a bit to move me from my current position. The ghost of michael moore could convince me... nah I'm just kidding. I was just trying to get MM dead is all.
Enough quasi politics. Heh... i only have 15 minutes of work left. Maybe i will update this again so my faithful reader will not give up on me.
By the way, Dude is now on facebook. I'm controlling his account right now, but i intend to hand over control to him very soon.
looking forward to the Goblet of Fire... saw a making of special on A&E last night. Very informative. Anyway, I'm around, but soon not at work. I will update again soon... as soon as i think of something to post...

Blizzard, Point Pleasant, and Harry Potter Fan Fiction

One of my more recent endevours in the realm of wasting time revolves around the highly popular, if not somewhat dated game of Diablo 2. Now, I have been a blizzard fan since I first purchased Warcraft: Orcs and Humans way back in the day, and have been a fan since. It is interesting to note that when I first picked up Warcraft, my parents gave me a lot of grief because they thought it was evil. I see their point.
Anyway, I played the hell out Warcraft 2 when it made its debut, and also put many hours in to the original Diablo. Never got much in to Starcraft until much later, and even then not very much. I suppose that swords, axes and magic just makes more sense than guns, spaceships and zerglings to me. I am looking forward to Starcraft 2, and become more excited as they delay announcing it. The reason for this being, the longer they wait to develop it, the more awesome it shall be... just imagine what kind of starcraft game they could run on one of today's high end systems.
I of course got in to Warcraft 3 when it came out, as well as the expansion pack. However, i have found that I have spent more time with the campaign editor than the actual game, but I don't find this too surprising as it is a very fun and rather flexible tool kit. I have one map in particular that I have worked on for over a year off and on, but I wouldn't say it is nearly ready to be played. In fact I have to wonder some times if I am just making the game more time consuming with my alterations. It is similar to the original format but most of the aspects have been altered. It's aimed towards micro-managing your population, with various choices regarding religions and so forth. There is a caste system that I have been working on, so for instance a low born individual could never aspire to be more than a peasent or a footman. I also messed with the resource system, the best example being that farms do not give you food, but rather animals that are raised on the farm do. Like I said, it is a work in progress and I need to work on making it worth while to play a map that requires such micro-management.
Most recently, I have begun to play Diablo 2 and i have to say that I am quite impressed. I couldn't decide which character to play as, so I am playing all of them. For those of you in the know, here is a breakdown:
Necromancer- lvl 20- focus on summoning
Barbarian- lvl 18- all points into axe mastery outside of double swing(primary attack) and find potion.
Sorceress- lvl 14 - Focus on Fireball, Blaze, lots of Warmth and the best Ice armor i can get...fun
Amazon- lvl 12- High critical rate "Bowazon" with multi-shot (5)
Paladin- lvl 12 - All points in Thorns. Working toward Conversion skill.

So thats prettty much it. I don't have the expansion pack yet but i will no doubt get it. The above characters did not take too long, but it will take me a year to get them all up to lvl 24 I am sure. Anyway, I find this to be the perfect game to play while doing something else such as watching a DVD or TV show...or watching a DVD of a TV show...
Point Pleasant. My guess is that few of you have heard of it and even fewer actually watched it (I'm talking like more than 3 people read this... ha!). I know that few watched it becasue it was cancelled after 8 episodes... right as it was starting to get really good. This is not the first time this has happened. They cancelled Clerks after only 2 episodes...and there was only 6. Anyway, there are no doubt dozens of such shows. I was angry when they cancelled Point Pleasant, especially after I heard that there were only going to be 13 episodes in total. This is a practice that I do not see often enough in this country. Make a series that has a begining, a middle and an end. No trying to draw out the story for additional seasons and invariably lose quality. But I digress. Julie and i first started watching PP earlier this year because I talked to my friend Dan Atherton (one of my groomsman) who is living out in California. I was asking him about his work as an extra out there and he told me about Veronica Mars ( which he was an extra in and I am now addicted to) and a pilot for this show called Point Pleasant. So I figured I would give it a watch, and it was actually quite good. I don't know quite how to describe it... the first thing that popped in to my head was The Exorcist meets the OC. But I have never watched the OC, and it's not so much like the Exorcist as it is like The Omen i think.
Anyway, I really like this show. It also got me thinking that perhaps TV studios occasionally put out a show, wait for it to develop a bit of a following, then cancel it and send it to DVD. This would be bad practice with many shows as they may go on for years, but with a show that only has 13 episodes with no intention to carry it on to other seasons, this may actually be good practice. Not good for me, but for them you see. Anyway, good show that didn't get the respect it deserves. You can get the whole series on DVD for 35 bucks, so i think it is well worth it at least. i fyou decide to pick it up, tell them Big X sent you, and you will recieve... free of charge... a funny look.

As mentioned previously on this blog, there was a period of time that I was heavy into the Harry Potter fan fiction. Some are quite decent reads, and it helped kill time until the 6th came out. Anyway, as soon as i thought i was out, they pulled me back in...
I have decided to give a brief guide to the HP fanfic that I have read to date, in case any of you out there are even the slightest bit interested. i will refrain from spoilers of course, but anyone who has read all the books should be able to follow what I am saying. i will arange them in random order.

Name: Dumbledore's Army
Author: Bobmin356 at fanfiction.net
Timeframe: Takes place after 5th book, in place of 6th.
Review: This one is no doubt one of my favourites. i would not go so far as to say that i like it more than the actual 6th book, but it is rather well done. 15 chapters, 194119 words.

Name:Harry Potter and the Spiritus Crystalus
Author: Bobmin356 at fanfiction.net
Timeframe: Sequel to the above story. In place of book 7.
Review: Naturally do not read this one by itself, but if you read the above one, you will no doubt want to read this as well. Both are very good and it gives the series an awesome ending. 16 chapters, 216604 words.

Name: No Thanks
Author: Old Crow at fanfiction.net
Timeframe: In place of book 6. Most takes place during that summer. If there are any people out there who want a relatively shorter work, and like the idea of Hermione and Harry, and also want to see a rather inventive solution to Voldemort, consider this entry. 20 chapters, 92546 words.

Name: H P Love is all You Need
Author: udderpd at fanfiction.net
Timeframe: After 5th book.
Review: Honestly I never finished this one. It started to get too weird for me. This story is perfect for those who can't decide who they want Harry to end up with. Rated M for a reason. Just not my bag, but somebody might like it. Think, harem. But for me, Harry Potter + Erotica = weird feelings all around.

Name: After the End
Author: Arabella and Zsenya at sugarquill.net
Timeframe: Takes place after the fall of Voldy and the graduation of the Hogwarts gang. Was written after the fourth book.
Review: This one is no doubt one of my favourites, and I would argue is the best written one of the bunch. It's also looooong at 44 chapters. I mean, really really long. But it is quite good. There is much character development as the characters from the books try to make their way in the real (magical) world. It spends a lot of time flashing back to the last 3 years at Hogwarts and fills the reader in that way. Needless to say this would best be approached as an alternate universe type of deal as this story is vastly different from the actual books. An added bonus is that this one was written after the 4th book, so anyone who lost a favourite character in 5 should consider this work as there is much development of that character. This was my first HP fanfic, and i would say it is one of the best.

Those are the only ones of substance that i have actually finished enough of to get a feel for. I am currently reading another one by old crow that is in place of book 6 and has a sequel. Pretty good so far. There is also a number of authors who have completed works that start at the end of book 6. When you are a Harry Potter freak such as myself, it is quite enjoyable to read these as they let you continue to experience the characters and settings you have come to love. I have also considered writing one of my own. I really want to re-write the first book from someone else's perspective, and at this point the character i am considering the strongest is Seamus.
Yes I am a nerd. If you have a problem with it, I'LL KICK YOUR ASS!!! ...at Nintendo...