Welcome to the World of Warcraft!

I've been a fan of Warcraft since we got Warcraft II back in middle school. Warcraft III was a bit of a disappointment; I can't say why for sure, but I just didn't think it was as good as Warcraft II (but then, what game is?). But that didn't stop me being excited when World of Warcraft was announced! Then I found out it would be an online-only game. I was disappointed, because I don't like the idea of buying a game and then having to pay a monthly fee to play it. Little did I know how easily this one would hook me.

I was lucky enough to be in the open beta, so I got to play the game free for a couple of weeks. My brother and his friends set up something so we can chat with our microphones instead of by typing in-game. They also invited me to join their guild, which is great because it's nice to have teammates sometimes, and I don't know anyone else who plays. The game is fantastic! You get to pick from 8 races and then pick a class after that (for example, I created a human warrior and an orc hunter). The graphics look plenty great to me! I had so much fun just working out what my characters would look like. The game itself is very well done. You level up by doing quests, which you can do by yourself or with a group if you like. I had a great time playing it, but the beta went bye-bye this week. But the real deal comes out Tuesday. I'm eager already!

Other news tidbits: last weekend I saw The Incredibles. I'm a Pixar fan for life. I was a little disappointed in the short, but the feature was great fun! I want superpowers. Go see the movie. In other gaming news, Half Life 2 came out this week. Kevin bought it, and it is mighty pretty indeed. I'm looking forward to playing the new Counter Strike. Drew's left his amp here so I've been getting to rock the guitar on pure Marshall roar. Life is good.

And now, the other big news: I'm currently planning the second WC Drums original. In case you missed there first WC Drums original, here it is:


For more info, go to my drum page.

My second drum will be my first adventure in wood drum building, which will be a whole new beast to conquer. Staining, sanding, finishing... it is going to be a lot of fun. I won a free paint mask from Fender Custom Vinyl as a promo on GhostNote, so there will be a design on this one. I'm thinking black base on the drum, and either metal flake (probably green) or silver (to match the hardware) for the design. I'll be going with chrome hardware (Ego Well Rounded lugs... so tasty). Can't afford die cast hoops this time around, or the fancy Trick strainer, but it'll be cool anyway. Plus I can always switch out the hoops later. Definites: 8x14 birch snare, chrome hardware. 8 inch depth will show off the design nicely without the lugs getting too in the way, and I've always wanted to try that size. I've also always wanted to try birch. This should be an experience!

One last piece of AWESOME news: my parents went to Miami last week, and what did my mom bring me? GARFIELD'S HALLOWEEN ADVENTURE ON DVD!!!! That's right, I now have the finest in Halloween viewing on DVD (also includes Garfield's Christmas and Garfield's Thanksgiving).

Song of the night: "Home Again" by Hootie and the Blowfish

Halloween Weekend and Then Some

Well Halloween was awesome as always. The whole weekend was excellent. Friday started things off great. I got home from work and at last the crowning element of my costume had arrived. I had mail-ordered an awesome awesome AWESOME hat and it did not disappoint. I love it. It's black leather, and perfect for a badass cowboy outfit. I had feared it would not arrive in time because the guy never got my money order, but he was beyond understanding and sent it to me anyway just so I could have it by Halloween! So Friday I got costumed up and went to a party at Jessica's (but not before trying out my brother's latest purchase - Battlefield 1942!!!). The party was good. I was kind of dubious about it at first because I didn't really know anyone except Jessica and I don't do the alcohol thing. But it got really really good because not only did I get to spend time with Jessica, but the one and only Kyle Jones showed up and I got to talk to him for the first time since summer. Many good costumes were to be seen, including various pirates, Xena (Warrior Princess), angel, devil, Jasmine from Aladdin, construction worker (including caution tape), and of course Kyle - who was attired in a cape and an orange construction vest. Someone said he looked like Dracula on his day job and Kyle wisely noted that Dracula would have a pretty hard time having a day job. Add to that the presence of dry ice and the party was a big success.

Saturday was the Colonnade Ball, which was exciting because I put on my tux and Jessica put on a beautiful dress and we went out dressed to kill. Or dance, whichever. But unfortunately the music... well, ok, it sucked. Two bands were playing: a rock-ish band that could only play one tempo (no matter how fast or slow the covers they did were supposed to be) and the UVA Jazz Ensemble (because "Band" is too few syllables!), who played just weird music. Not even much swing stuff, mostly just "look, a soloist is improvising" kind of stuff. Not exactly dance music for most of us.... a lot of people just kinda stood around looking at their watches during that. Then the jazz band played a FORTY-FIVE MINUTE song so people could do the "Virginia Reel" to it. That was it. We waited for it to finish and it kept going and going. We stayed after for one more song and when that was no better we left. But it was fun to get all dressed up and we did enjoy the early part of the dance.

Sunday was the day I'd been waiting for. Halloween. Yessssss. I spent the day doing homework and then quit that to do more worthwhile stuff - decorating, dressing up and handing out candy. I am so proud of my decorations. Here are some of the best:








The poor guy under the car was a last-minute idea of mine and turned out to be very popular with the visitors. For my jack-o-lantern (which I thought turned out quite well this year) I decided to try to light it with a glow-stick instead of a candle to try and have green light come out. It looked awesome, and this picture doesn't do it justice:



I think it looked very cool. There was a decrease in trick-or-treaters this year (which, incidentally, was my first year handing out candy) because Page's Field didn't have the usual candy hunt. But there were still some incredibly cute little kids, one of my favorites was a Hershey Kiss. I love small children. After the candy was handed out and the visitors had stopped coming, Jessica came over and completed my tradition with me. We ate candy and watched It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and Garfield's Halloween Adventure. The Great Pumpkin is a wonderful little movie and no Halloween would be complete without it. Garfield is the peak of every Halloween for me. It needs to be brought out on DVD. It's one of the greatest things I've ever seen.

And so another successful Halloween came and went.

Since then it's been mostly schoolwork. But I've managed to find time to play a good amount of Battlefield 1942 with Kevin. It's a great game. My parents left for Miami on Tuesday so we're by ourselves til next Saturday. Today we sorta got the band together. Drew was back from JMU so he and Daniel and I threw together a little rock session for a couple of hours. It was great to play with those guys again. Jon couldn't make it, but hopefully we'll all be back together as a unit soon.

The song of the night is the beautiful "Brothers in Arms" by Dire Straits. It's one of those songs that I can actually lose myself in. A song where I feel like I should turn off the lights, close my eyes and just let the music take me away. I love that. Mark Knopfler is an amazing guitarist, and the tone of his guitar could make grown men weep. He and Stevie Ray Vaughan are topping the list of "tones I'd like to get out of my guitar" right now.

And with that, I am going to bed.