GhostMachine

Explain. Now. GM, does Freedom Force have a monthly fee? ←

Explain. Now. GM, does Freedom Force have a monthly fee? ←

I almost studied Karate, but didn't. Unfortunately, I don't remember why I refused. When I was in Kindergarten, my parents tried to talk me into taking lessons because I had been attacked by a bully. They even took me to a school, but I wouldn't do it. Its too bad, because the man who ran the place was one of the best instructors in the country and had never trained anyone that young, but was willing to try. If I had taken lessons, I'd be major-league bad ass. Only thing is, I think the school taught Ishin-Ryu, and I'd rather learn Shokotan style. Unfortunately, I'm way too old to start taking martial arts lessons, and I couldn't afford it, anyway. But if I did, I'd probably take Jiujitsu lessons. I'd rather take Hapkido, Wing Chun or one of the animal styles of Kung-Fu (Dragon or Tiger), but there aren't any schools around here who teach those. Can't afford the equipment or the lessons, or I'd take Kendo lessons, since you can actually use real swords instead of wooden ones with that skill.

I got Freedom Force like a couple of months after it came out. It was a present, if I remember correctly. Where can I download all that stuff from? ←

I'm waiting for Xenosaga II, which comes out February 15th of next year, and X-Men Legends, which is supposed to be out next month or October, iirc.

First of all, if you're going to do a movie review site, I have three pieces of advice: 1. Don't use the star rating system. Its over-used. Do the good old 1 to 10 rating. 2. Most importantly, don't give away the whole movie in the review. Give a basic plot synopsis, and talk about your criticisms without giving away too much. (ie, if the ending is shitty, say its shitty, but don't tell what the ending is, or mention the fact that it leaves things open for a sequel unless its obvious that the movie was designed to have a sequel) 3. Have a section for reader feedback. i.e, a message board or an e-mail box, and post a few reader comments. And a suggestion: 4. List obvious screw-ups (such as someone wearing a watch in a movie set in medieval times, or someone in the background tripping, or lines being badly edited) and cases of blatant product placement, if you can do so without giving away too much info. I like sites that do that.

I wouldn't mind seeing a female host, but I don't think Sarah Silverman would be a good choice. She's okay as a comedian, and would probably be a good side-kick, but not a host. And Hal Sparks would be a good choice. I enjoyed it when he was the host of Talk Soup after Henson. But I don't know if CBS would have the guts to give an openly gay actor a talk show. Is he still on that Queer As Folk show on Showtime? (Btw, I wish Ellen DeGeneres' daytime show would get cancelled, and she'd just go the hell away. I've never found her to be funny OR entertaining, even before she came out of the closet. She's one of my least favorite celebrities.)

Yeah, and that would be really funny, considering Stewart replaced Kilborn on The Daily Show.

Just saw it on Headline News that after 5 years, Craig Kilborn has apparently decided to move on, and told CBS executives he wants to quit doing his show and move on to other things. (Think they mentioned he wants to try his hand at writing) Wonder who'll they'll get to replace him on the Late Late Show? (Btw, I'm not a Kilborn fan, so this doesn't really affect me one way or the other. Conan O'Brien > Craig Kilborn)

There have been fixed events in the Olympics for years, off and on. Go look up the Basketball results from the 1972 Olympics, for instance. Some Russians have gold medals that rightfully belonged to the U.S. team, because some commie judge added time to the clock that shouldn't have been added, and the Russians came back and won. And don't even get me started on figure skating in the winter Olympics. If the scandal from the pairs event last time wasn't bad enough, there's the women's event from the previous winter Olympics. Oksana Baiul won the gold in that previous Olympics, even though Nancy Kerrigan skated flawlessly, and Baiul fell on her butt about three times while performing. I don't usually pay much attention to the Olympics at all, but I watched the women's figure skating that year due to the whole Tonya Harding scandal. And for some reason, I found myself watching Curling last time.... This year, there's an athlete named Tom Pappas from here who is competing in some Track & Field events, so I'll likely watch some of them and hope he wins a couple of medals. I also hope the Iraqis do well in the games this year. But not in events where they're competing against the U.S., naturally.

First of all, I'm going to cover the Cowboys. For two reasons: The Cowboys are my favorite team, and I'm sick of all the talk about Quincy Carter. I can't believe everyone is saying Dallas is in trouble because they let Carter go, and Vinnie Testaverde is washed up. LOOK AT THE STATS, PEOPLE! Last season, Carter had 17 touchdowns, but also had 21 interceptions. Before he was injured, Testaverde had 7 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions. They've traded a young, inaccurate drug addict...er....quarterback....for an older, more experienced and more accurate, but less mobile quarterback. Testaverde may be long in the tooth as quarterbacks go, but lets not forget that during their last seasons, John Elway, Dan Marino and Joe Montana were still better than half the other quarterbacks in the league. Plus, Dallas added Keyshawn Johnson and Eddie George to the roster. Unfortunately, Johnson has been more talk than action so far, but Eddie George will be more than ready to step up if Julius Jones proves to be a bust, and will be able to take over if JJ needs a rest. As long as his blockers do their job, Testaverde's lack of mobility shouldn't pose too much of a problem for Dallas. His passing accuracy should make up some for the yards they won't be getting because he isn't running much. HOWEVER, Dallas hasn't upgraded their offense enough from last season. Especially with the upgrades the other teams in the division have made. I don't think anyone can deny, however, that Dallas still has the best defensive line in the division. Everyone is saying Dallas will probably be an 8-8 team this season. I don't agree. I predict they'll finish 9-7. The Giants. What can I say about the Giants? Well, not much. I'm one of the people who believe that Kurt Warner is over-rated. And its obvious that Eli Manning will most likely spend a year on the bench, only going in if the team is up by a few TDs, or down by a lot, in the last quarter. The Giants haven't upgraded their roster enough from last year, and their defense might even be slightly worse. Plus, I don't think their new coach, Tom Coughlin, will really fit in too well with the team. He's known too much as an old-school, hardnose type coach. If he doesn't lighten up some and let his players relax, I doubt he'll last more than two years before being let go. Giants were 4-10 last year. I'm predicting they'll still finish in the division basement, but maybe with a 1 game difference either way (ie, they'll be either 3-11, or 5-9). Btw, I know its not pertinent, but I hate Jeremy Shockey's guts. Washington. First, let me say that Dallas and Washington both have problematic owners. But Dan Snyder is far worse. While Jerry Jones tends to hog the spotlight (anyone remember him doing most of the talking at Darryl Johnston's retirement press conference), he at least cares about how the team does and generally makes good descisions (Dave Campo as head coach is the about the only major mistake he's made in recent years). Washington's main problem is that Dan Snyder is an idiot. Getting Joe Gibbs to come back is the first thing he has done RIGHT as owner. Clinton Portis is arguably the best running back, or at least one of the top 3, in the NFL. But I'm not too sure if he will mesh well with Gibbs' coaching style and the team's offense. (I didn't watch the pre-season win over the Broncos, so if he played any, excuse me) Mark Brunell is a competent quarterback, and is very much a major upgrade from Patrick Ramsey. My father is a Redskins fan, and it was painful for him to watch the team with Ramsey at the helm. I'd say Dallas or Washington will finish second in the division. It all comes down to three factors: If Gibbs still has it as a coach, if Brunell and\or Testeverde stay healthy, and how both teams do against the Eagles. Dallas is screwed if Testaverde goes down, because the two backups are both unproven. Washington is screwed if Brunell goes down, because Ramsey sucks and Hasselbeck needs more seasoning. Washington has the better offense, but its not as good as the Eagles', and Dallas has better defense. Good news for Skins fans: They won't be 5-11 this year. They'll finish at, or just over, .500, unless Brunell gets hurt. The Eagles are going to win the division, unfortunately. I say unfortunately, because they signed Terrell Owens, a player I have nothing but disgust for. A man who does have talent, but has a bad attitude and is too much of a showboat who tries to take away the spotlight from the rest of his teammates much too often. They also got Jevon Kearse, and I predict that the Freak will bust loose in Philly. They're the only team in the division not in a rebuilding period (although everyone in the Cowboys camp would likely deny it), and they actually upgraded at the WR and RB positions. I will say, though, that I don't think Philadelphia will make it to the Super Bowl this year, either. For two reasons: 1. Athlon predicted a New England vs. Philadelphia Super Bowl, and they're never right. and 2. I think the Vikings and Rams will be better. At least in the playoffs. So, I'm scoring the division like this: 1. Eagles. 2-3. Cowboys or Redskins, depending on whether or not their starting QBs stay healthy and how each team handles the Eagles. 4. Giants.

*sigh* If I had a better video card and more memory, I'd SO be there. I'm very close to quitting Everquest. I can't play when I want to, and it takes several hours to complete some quests (and you have to do those quests from start to finish - can't take breaks). From what I've heard, City Of Heroes is a lot more flexible. (ie, no camping a particular enemy with several other players for several hours at a time) Midg, did you ever check out that information that I sent you a while back?

Terrell Owens is the one player who has no business even being in the league. He can't seem to open his mouth without inserting his foot into it, and he's too much of a showboat on the field. Anyone remember the game against Dallas where he disrespected the team by dancing on the team's logo in the middle of the field two different times after scoring touchdowns? I wish the player who hit him after the second time he did it had snapped his fucking spine.

1. John Bonham 2. Keith Moon 3. Lars Ulrich 4. Charlie Watts 5. Rick Allen (yes, the drummer for Def Leppard. Heck, even with one only arm, he STILL kicked butt)

I forgot all about the finale. I hope they re-run it next week. Of course, I think that's what they did with the first one, isn't it? Ran the finale again in its usual time slot after RAW the next week?

Whatcha think? *edit: changed the frame rate, per DoubleX's suggestion* Also, here's one I did for one of my Neopets:

I really hope he makes it into at least one NFL game. $10.00 to anyone who goes and tapes footage of him doing an SSP off the goalposts, or F-5ing the football in the end zone after running it back for a TD following an interception. :thumbsup:

Wanna hear something funny? One of the two men who created the Turtles married Julie Strain, a former Penthouse Pet who does softcore porn movies!!! As for the original b&w comic....there are a few major differences: Baxter Stockman and April O'Neil were African-American. Casey Jones was either supposed to be part Asian, or they just did a bad job of drawing him and he came out looking like he was. No separate colors for the Turtles. They all wore red. And, Shredder was killed in his first battle with the Turtles. (He got decapitated)

First of all, there are two good reasons why I wouldn't trade for Jason Kidd if I was an owner: First, he's got a bad reputation, and I wouldn't want that rubbing off on my other players. I'm especially sure that the coach wouldn't want that either. Second, RDB obviously forgot something, and that's the fact that Jason Kidd has a bad knee. I wouldn't want to put him on my team and risk him ending up injured and needing season-ending surgery or at least being out a few weeks. I pretty much agree with everything else that RDB said, especially about the Nets being one of the worst run organizations in the NBA (along with Cleveland, who pulled some boneheaded moves since the season ended). That's a given. I also believe that he'll end up in L.A. if he does get traded. However, as a Lakers fan, I'm hoping it doesn't happen. Of course, if it does happen, maybe I'll be lucky and he and Kobe will kill each other..... :thumbsup: There's recently been some talk about Vince Carter wanting out of Toronto, and rumors that there might be a trade between the Raptors and Knicks, with Toronto getting Stephon Marbury in exchange for Carter. Personally, if I was the GM of any team even looking at Kidd right now, I'd try to pull off the trade with the Raptors, instead of letting the Knicks do it. If the rumor is true, that is. I don't believe Mark Cuban will trade for Jason Kidd, unless he gets rid of some dead wood instead of giving up some quality players in the process.

All Along The Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix

You know who I think got the best deal out of this trade? The Expos! They got Alex Gonzalez. With the team's attendance being down and the Expos having an uncertain future, they're lucky to have been able to get anyone, instead of trading away someone they really needed for some single-A level prospects that might not even make it to the majors. That said, I'd have to say the Cubs got the better deal....in the short term. Like slimg said, Nomar is the 2nd or 3rd best shortstop in the majors right now. The Red Sox got....a decent (but not as good as Nomar) shortstop in Orlando Cabrera, and Doug Mientkiewicz, who will likely be backing up David Ortiz for a while. There shouldn't even be a question of who got the better deal...RIGHT NOW. It depends on if the Cubs can keep Nomar around for several more years, or if he decides to go somewhere else once his contract is up, or asks to be traded out of the Cubs organization at some point. The minor league prospects that were traded around by all the teams involved don't even figure into the equation because they're unproven in the majors. Just because someone hits a lot of home runs or wins a lot of games in the minors doesn't mean they'll do the same in the big leagues. Just like it doesn't mean jack when going from Little League to High School or from High School to College. So I see the prospects as an x-factor. One thing I'd like to mention is something that Backn brought up: The rumors that Nomar may have been faking the injury. Why exactly would you fake an injury? If you're on the DL, you're bringing your career stats down, and if you want off the team, wouldn't it be simpler to just go to management, demand a trade, and refuse to play if you don't get it? I don't believe he was faking, but if he was and the truth ever comes out, forget everything I said, because that would mean Boston got the better end of the deal by getting rid of someone with that kind of character. And the Cubs may be undefeated since acquiring Nomar, but I think Nomar made a mistake in opting out of Beantown. I'm calling it right now: Boston will make it to the final round of the AL playoffs, and maybe even to the Series itself. The Cubs will be lucky to make it to the postseason, and will definitely be a wild card team if they do. I don't see them surging back to beat the Cards for the division title unless Pujols and half the Cardinals' rotation end up on the 60-day DL. Too bad, because a Red Sox\Cubs World Series would REALLY be interesting after this trade.

Someone wanna go check RDB's pulse?

As a Cowboys fan, I'm a pissed about this. I didn't want Dallas to sign Testaverde in the first place, because I've always felt he was overrated. Still do. He's a decent quarterback, but not great. But if Carter was snorting, then I'm glad they have Testaverde, because that means they'll at least have one proven quarterback to rely on. I just hope Parcells doesn't try to get any more players who played for him on the Jets or Giants....

Rockstar would likely have been sued by either Dark Horse Comics or Frank Miller (or possibly both) if they had used the Sin City name. (Even though `Sin City' is an old nickname for Las Vegas, they'd likely have a case) Regarding Spider-Man 3, they could possibly throw a huge swerve..... *Spoilers* The way things are, its likely that the villain will most likely be Harry as GG 2, or possibly the Lizard or even Man-Wolf. BUT.... There was more than one capsule of the GG formula in the secret room, and there were two gliders. What if they have both the second Green Goblin AND Hobgoblin, with Harry finding someone who also has a reason to hate Spider-Man to be the Hobgoblin, and the two team up against Spidey? (If Harry is the villain, then I hope they add least add some purple to the GG suit.) *End Spoilers* But as long as the villain isn't Venom, Carnage, the Vulture or Kraven, I don't really care which villain they use.

War Of The Monsters (PS2) Freedom Force (PC)