I own an Xbox 360 and You Should Too.
by Mike Agnew Jr.Growing up there was always a huge gap in my video game system lineup. It was either Christmas of '88 or '89 when I was blessed with the original Nintendo power set which included the powerpad and zapper. My house was filled with the repeating Super Mario Brother's theme throught the holiday season. I was also the only kid on the block with the power pad and that made my house the place to be. I even charged girls kisses to give it a go at World Class Track Meet. My original NES taught me about business, popularity, and that I was the fastest man alive. But all that would soon fade. 
Soon 16-bit systems became all the rage. Sure, Game Genie helped me breathe new life into the console but, even that, would lose it's luster and die.
A classic story: I had my NES on for about a week straight. I was playing Zelda with GameGenie and had several cheats turned on to be sure I would finally see the ending of the game. In Zelda you can only save when you die. It was the first game to have this save feature. However, since the cheats were on I could not die and, hence, could not turn off the system. I had finally made it to Death Mountain on a nice summer day. Jon was over and getting bored of watching me play video games. He decided to check out my baseball card collection. As he crossed in front of me, his foot caught the controller cord. It all happened in super slow mo. Jon landed hard on the floor. I was also yanked forward and fell to the right. We both looked up at the same time to see a flashing screen. Between the flickers of black and green screens we could see our hero, Link, about to walk through the doorway to face the final boss, Gannon. He would never get there, though. Stuck in that spot for all eternity, a cartridge glitch hell. I leaned over and released him from his pain. Once the system was off I realized that the NES would never be the same again. I still tell this story to the children of my town who run around carefree with their wireless controllers and Digital game DVDs. That, my friends, is how my Nintendo died. It would be 5 long years before I would eventually face that doorway again this time for real, with no cheats. As the goblin guarding the door his precious meat, I bowed my head, said a little prayer, and pressed the up arrow. I would slay Gannon that day, but not without first remembering the horror of that day.
.
It wasn't until I was in college that I owned my next system, a Nintendo Gamecube. I got it cheap and hacked the crap out it. It helped pass the time and was a big hit senior year among my roommates. Post Graduation, I fell victim to getting a Wii and a stack of gamecube games never finished. I bought it on whim while returning a printer to best buy. I thought everyone was just waiting for the store to open. Once I realized I was in line for a Wii, I figured what the hell. This brings me up to last summer when I bought an Xbox 360. Now I bought the system for one reason and one reason only: Batman Arkham Asylum. It was worth every penny.
Since I now had the Xbox I also went onto Amazon.com and bought a bunch of old games for $5-$10 bucks each. Two games I would definitely invest in is Crackdown and the Orange Box. In Crackdown you play a superhuman cop who "cracks down" on the gangs and mobsters that live in his city. It's kind of a mix between Spiderman and Grand Theft Auto. Orange Box is actually 4 games in 1: Half Life 2.0 and 2.1, Team Deathmatch, and game called Portal. Portal was just kinda tacked on at the end, but it is by far the best game in the pack. Portal gives you a gun that....aw hell just watch...
Well the Xbox has been a great investment for me. I use it as a media hub for watching downloaded movies and TV, streaming Netflix movies right to my TV, listening to music on last.fm, checking facebook, and even downloading new game demos. The Xbox will soon be coming out with its new Kenect system that is like Wii without controllers, plus voice and face recognition, so basically big brother in your living room. Jon, I have posted the only video that matters to you concerning Kenect, lightsabers. They also just released two new models of a "slimmer" Xbox 360, a 250 gig model for $299 and one with 4 gig of internal memory for $199.
But the real reason to get one is because there is both a Batman Sequel (Christmas maybe) and a Portal Sequel (Feb 2011)coming soon. Once you get on Xbox Live, my Gamertag, as always, is BigRedSign. See you there.
P.S. - To all the PS3 fanboys...your system is cool too, but I chose XBOX.
Avatar: The Last Airbender
by Mike Agnew Jr.A few weeks ago, after watching Avatar: The Smurf Ferngully, Amanda and I found this original Avatar cartoon on Netflix. I say original because it ran during 2004-2008 whereas Avatar just came out in 2009. But, I'm sure James Cameron would put up a fuss that he thought of it first. Whatever. He can have it. He'll never let go. Anyway, we are not talking about tribal people with plug and play dreads. We are talking about the Last Air Bender. I had heard of this TV show before but wrote it off as another Pokemon/YuGiOh regurgitated kid-hypnotizing crap. I could not have been more wrong.
From the first episode I was hooked. Here's the gist of the story.
Sokka, Katara, Aang, and Prince Zuko
Avatar starts off as many stories do. There is great unrest and a chosen leader is born and must lead the people of the world to rise up and overthrow a great evil. Avatar takes place in a world that is split into 4 different nations: Earth, Air, Water, and Fire. Goooo Planet! But before you go looking for 
Matee and his useless heart power ring, this show is no Captain Planet remake. There is a power called "bending" that allows the people of these different lands to control their elements. It is also important to note that not everyone has these powers. It is just a random occurrence in the different tribes. This bending power is awesome, it really is. Sure, it starts off with throwing rocks and balls of water but as the characters learn and train, their bending becomes way more advanced. Take water bending for instance. Sure, you can move water but what about freezing someone running at you in mid-step? And how much water is in your body? What would happen if a water bender started to bend the water inside you? I like to think of myself as a creative person but some of the inventive bends even made me go, "I would never have thought to do that. Even the Green Lantern would have been put to shame.
Avatar State = Run Away
As far as the writing goes, we all know that no show can compare to LOST, (this has been scientifically proven) but Avatar definitely has a very LOST-like/Star Wars-like storyline. The main character, Aang (sounded out Fran Lang), is a young boy who, as the Avatar, is destined to bring balance to the force. As the Avatar he is the only that has the power to bend all 4 elements. Each season of the show, referred to as Books, cover Aang's journey to learn and master these abilities.
Although the show is named after the Avatar, he is not the main character. No one really is. It would be like saying Captain Kirk is the main character of Star Trek or Jack is the main character of LOST. We root for who we root for. And like LOST, each character has their own back-story, some even with their own flashbacks. The stories come together by the end of the 3 book series very nicely. Along the way, there are many twists and turns and just when you think you have got the story figured out, you will be wrong.
Right now all 3 Books of Avatar are available on Netflix and Netflix on Demand. I give them 5 out of 5 stars.
.
The poster and previews got me excited to see the movie. An 8% rating on Rotten Tomatoes did not.
Now, there is a movie that has been released called the M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Air Bender that is supposed to be based on the cartoon series. Yea... right! This movie is based on the cartoon like a Steak and Cheese Sub is based on a Philly Cheesesteak. M. Night took something that was great and original and desecrated it. This post could be pages long if I felt like getting into everything wrong with this movie. Instead, I will just list them off and then address M. Night directly. All the characters names are pronounced wrong. All the dialogue is monotone and makes no sense. The movie is dark like Terminator and the Matrix. The humor is misplaced and trite. These are kids learning to fight not 4 Neo's stomping through bad guys. And what actually made me walk out on the movie, they exposed secrets, through narration, that should not be uncovered until the later books.
.
Dear Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan(adingdong),
You gave us the Sixth Sense and for that, we thank you. It was a shocker and one of the first movies to have such a Planet of the Apes type twist at the end that we all rewound our VHS tapes to find what our eyes had missed the first time. But, you persisted and decided to make a genre for yourself. You wanted to be the reincarnation of the great Alfred Hitchcock. Well you, sir, are no Alfred Hitchcock. You have proven time and again that you are short-sighted to what the audience wants and, still, you drag them through the most boring and vain story-lines ever to hit the silver screen. You add your name to the title of movies like it's a gold star, like it has somehow ascended to your divine status. But again, I say to you... You are no Alfred Hitchcock. As your final twist you took a beloved and complete story and removed all the mystery and emotion. You stole the essence. You missed the point. But all is not lost. The Last Airbender, at least, took you down with it. You will never make another film, Mr Shyamalan, and I think you owe everyone an apology. Get out of my sight.
Mike Agnew, Jr.
El Apartamento
by Mike Agnew Jr.With Bill leaving the greatest bachlor pad known to man due to this wedding business, I have turned on my animal insticts and have started to prepare for the hunt. I followed the normal route: start from the bottom and work your way up. In other words craigslist back to a legitimate website. As with all hunting you must get to know the beast you are tracking. I am limited by the second income but will not take up much ground on my own so I don't need to land a very large kill.
A good deal is easy to find but I found something so humorous in the reviews of the local apartments I had to share them. Some of them were so back and forth...completely polar opposite reviews....and some were just funny responses.
Garner House
"Its not every day that you find a peaceful quiet place to live in apartment living. Garner House definitely lives up to this and is well maintained."
"New mgmt took over year ago. Since then we have had a murder here in the bldg. Police are here at least two times a month for fights and drinking. Drug needles found in parking lot."
"Thanks for giving my mom the best of everything, safety, cleanliness and friendships!"
Studio apartments for $775/mo.
Robert Bruce West Apartments
"With drug sales going on in the hallways, husbands beating wives, and property damage happening weekly, I could not escape quick enough from RBW. The first few years were OK, but then a change in management and tenants and the place became very unsafe. Having known pyromaniacs starting fires or setting off fire alarms a few times a week, or drug sales being done in the hallways and the people running up and down the steps at all hours of the night - you would think management would want to respond - no they did not."
Studio apartments for $1,969/mo.
Apartments at Rosewood
"Gang activities everyday. Noise, prostitutes... No parking, no lights, smell on urine in the hallways. Old garbage disposal dumpsters with broken doors..."
"I'm reading some of the reviews online and I wonder about them. I live here now and I love it. Eileen has been incredible and my neighbors are awesome!"
"Later I heard that she wanted to get rid of all of the "white trash" that lived there, and that the complex was turning into section-8 infestation. She is completely unprofessional and needs to be removed from the property. By the way, nothing that goes on in the home that does not cause a problem IS NOT ANY OF HER BUSINESS, BUT SHE WILL MAKE IT HERS. Don't rent here if you value your privacy!!!!!!"
"Where should I start..Let's see Eileen the lanlord was some kind of monster (THE MOVIE) and had no life outside of "ROSEWOOD" one would say. After 3 months of being there she started banning my friends and started to tell me how I should live my life. Yes, it was cheap to live there if you wanted to live like a caged animal."
Studio apartments for $1,034/mo.
And my personal favorite...
The Livingstone Apartments
"overpriced, gross, awful staff support, mean landlords, put together extremely poor. bad paint, laundry facilities, unsafe basements, no locks on basement doors leading outside, broken heaters, an inch of space underneath apt doors, letting out heat, mold issues like crazy."
"this place is nasty a@$ dirty.The maintenance man "sammy" is an ugly flirting no nothing piece of you know what."Tom the manager knows nothing about good bussiness which is probally why he was kicked off the condo association board.The apartments smell like crap and attract the kind of people who smell the same.Also extreamly overpriced."
Studio apartments for $1,235/mo.
Continue reading @ Apartment Ratings dot com
Hi, My Name is Mike Agnew.
by Mike Agnew Jr.Well I have been busy and left this blog to dwindle in the wind. With work, school, videos, a little brother, and a girlfriend, I have been stretched quite thin. Not that I am complaining, but this is a formal apology. A formal apology that will hopefully stop the Hassinger's Mind jokes. Even though I don't mind them at all because all of my friends pretty much make up my mind. 
I wouldn't think the way I think if it wasn't for them. So it's all part of the same thing.
It's a remix...shut up.
So I think I got stuck when it came to writing the DC University. I got all caught up in getting everything exactly right and became consumed by the research. In the next few weeks you can expect to read articles on The Spectre, Booster Gold, The Death of Bruce Wayne, and, my favorite topic, The Origin of the Joker.
Along the lines of comic books, I will also be posting all the reasons why Heroes had all the potential of becoming a great show and threw it all away to become a prime time soap opera.
I will take some time to brag about my Motorola Droid and what it actually does. I will give my opinion on the best apps and also what the greatest annoyances are. Eventually Bill and I will switch phones for the weekend and give a real showdown comparison of the Droid vs. the iPhone.
Finally I will be building the SDAND website with Flash. I will post about my progress and find ways to explain working with flash and photoshop in plain english. I will also be posting updated information on the Summertime SDAND event set for July 24th.
P.S. There are a few other side projects I plan to work on. One of them being turning one of my previous posts into a book, a novel of sorts. Wait. Wait. Ok now that all the eye rolls have finished....you know you will read it if I do write it.
Also thanks to Jon for keeping this slumbering bear of a website alive. I'm calling all the baby daddies out. Where's the Fatherly Advice?
SUPER SIZE Jon.
by Jon HassingerAfter my battle with the Double Stuf Oreos, a few weeks ago, I decided a to give my intestinal tract a new challenge.
And to all the religious nuts reading, who view this as 1 of the 7 deadly sins, Gluttony, calm down. I do this purely for entertainment. Anyone cruising the internet on a lonely Saturday night, searching for something to make them laugh, this is for you.
So please, don't crucify me for this...
Now I know what you are thinking: Jon you never eat McDonald's!! In fact you shun all those who eat that crap!"
True. I despise McDonald's, and believe all fast food establishments should have some type of system set up where you can only purchase food from them once a month. It is literally this country's # 1 killer.
But again, like the religious nuts I remind you this is purely for your entertainment.
The Sophomore Success
by MattAnyone who listens to music knows about it. It's the elephant in the room -- The Sophomore Slump. If you are a music talent (and I use that word lightly today given the current state of American Idol-forced-factory-produced "music") and are luckily enough to break out and be signed AND be lucky enough to score a hit single AND EVEN more lucky enough put out a brilliant game-changer debut album AND even luckier to have critical acclaim to back it up AND EVEN LUCKIER to have mainstream success with sales to go with it, you're still not in the clear yet. Gone is that hunger and originality you once had while trying to break into the business. Now, the artist has had a taste of fame, success, a new entourage, a bunch of "Yes Men" following them around, and of course money. Eventually, the record company will pressure that same artist to head back into the studio and start recording the follow-up to their debut album. Most of the time that artist will say, "Now what?" Enter: The Sophomore Jinx, Slump, Jinx, whatever you want to call it.
Everyone needs one
Trust me, it's happened many times and it's going to keep happening. Whether we want to admit it or not, everybody gets older. Everything is declining slowly. Sure, some people peak physically, professionally, musically, mentally later or longer than others, but in the end we all end up the same. Sports and Music careers are the ultimate microcosms of our lives. You have the Brett Favres of the world and then you have the Mike Mamulas. You are now closer to the end of your life reading this sentence than you were reading the last one. Sorry to sound morbid or depressing, but it's a fact. Deal with it. That being said, the typical artist's life-span is similar on a smaller scale. This even holds true with the once-in-a-lifetime game-changing artist. Insert whoever you want here. Madonna, Michael Jackson, The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Elvis, Kenny G. Whatever, whoever. They may re-invent themselves a bunch of times to enjoy a long career filled with many transitions, but ultimately they decline too. They are the "Brett Favres" of music.
Who are you in life? This guy....
Now, here's the twist. Here's where I throw you off. I think artists' sophomore albums are their best. Snoop Dogg is an outlier. You probably didn't see that one coming, did you? Let me explain. Keep in mind there are TONS of variables as I'll explain later. Some artists "blow up" with third, fourth, even fifth albums. I get that. You can argue many points against this theory of mine. Usually, these are anomalies. Yes, Snoop Dogg, I know. Assuming that the artist records the second album within 2-3 years of their debut, they still posses a good amount of that rawness and hunger that was needed to break through in the first place. My favorite part of the equation is that they have been in the record business for a few years at this point so their work sounds polished but not TOO polished. Basically, it's the originality that made them famous with some touch-ups. A studio-big-budget-produced sound that still has that original fire that got the artist there in the first place. By the 3rd album, this has diminished and mostly all you get is a big-budget-studio sound. The artist has been collecting royalty checks, touring, famous for 5-10 years, and comfortable. Yes, Snoop Dogg, I know, I get it. Are some 3rd albums better than 2nd albums? Of course. Again, there are always exceptions. I personally feel, depending on the circumstances, that an artist may peak around the time of their 3rd album. That time of the 2nd album is special. They are still appreciative of their fame. They had success and money but want more. They still aren't that far removed from the days of passing out demos to club owners in an alleyway in North Jersey. Yeah, yeah, SNOOP DOGG.
Some examples:
Eminem (my personal favorite)
(Major Label) Debut album: The Slim Shady LP (1999) - Sold over 6 million worldwide
Follow-Up: The Marshall Mathers LP (2000) - Sold over 19 million worldwide.
From a creative standpoint, SSLP may be better. Only 3 tracks were added to that album after Eminem signed a record deal with Aftermath. The rest came from his independent effort The Slim Shady EP. On the MMLP, he sounded so polished yet still showed glimpses of the underground hunger and viciousness that helped him make it. Oh, and more Dr. Dre never hurt either. Not just one of the best rap albums of all time, but one of the best, period.
This is the template for every other artist you want to insert into this debate. Snoop Dogg, you ask? Fine.
Snoop Dogg
(Major Label) Debut album: Doggystyle (1993) - Sold over 7 million worldwide
Follow-Up: Tha Doggfather (1996) - Sold over 2 million worldwide.
Obviously, you lose Dr. Dre and have Daz and DJ Pooh instead and you are going to lose some quality. What people FORGET is that Snoop was featured heavily on Murder Was The Case soundtrack (1994) and Tha Dogg Pound's controversial debut, Dogg Food (1995) Still working with Dr. Dre, Snoop DID enjoy that very small window of "Sophomore Success" as I call it. His content during that period was classic g-funk material for its time. If he was not involved in his murder trial, Dr. Dre would still be with the label, AND he put out his album during 1994-1995, we would never hear how Snoop's second album failed horribly. Snoop would never have been linked to all that "never be able to top Doggystyle" talk. Would he have topped it? Probably not. He would have been real close, though.
I'm not going to pretend that I know every genre of music by heart. I do know that Lady Gaga is currently enjoying this small window of time and success before she becomes more and more manufactured and polished. Slowly, over the years (and she will enjoy a long career) she'll move further away from the creativity that makes her unique. Remember we all die. Think of your favorite band, artist, rapper, even dare I say American Idol. Think of their first 3 albums. Think about which one is the best. Think about which one sounds the most polished. Think about which one sounds the most creative. Now, think about the album that has all of that combined. Your answer is probably their second album -- The Sophomore Success.
Or this guy?
Ellianna Thuy Mi Walicki
by Mike Agnew Jr.
Ellianna Thuy Mi Walicki
Born Saturday February 27th 2010 at 11:41PM
Weight: 5lbs 5oz
Height: 19in
Congrats to Matt and Mary!
The Hangover = The Most Overrated Movie Of All Time
by Matt
This movie has the "crown"
First, I must say that I finally saw The Hangover for the first time yesterday. I've heard SO much about the movie. People were touting this movie as the best comedy since Old School and some even claimed it's better. Movies like Anchorman, Wedding Crashers, and Happy Gilmore weren't even in The Hangover's league. I even heard one younger person describe The Hangover was better than Dumb & Dumber! Yes. Keep in mind this kid was 18, so that makes him like, what?... 5 years old when Dumb & Dumber was released. Maybe he was referring to the hit sequel. Now, I try not to over-hype things nowadays, so I avoided Hangover discussions and talk. I couldn't escape it, however, and even heard talk about it on WIP (sports radio). I really wanted to see it. If it was as good as people said, it would live up to the hype. At the same time, I didn't go out of my way to watch it. Yesterday, that changed.
The movie begins and initially introduces the main character's brother-in-law as the crazy wacky guy that's just going to say random things.... okay.... so he's like this movie's "Brick", but crazy. I saw where that was going a mile away. Suddenly, the movie flashed forward to the end of the bachelor party and we find out that they lost his car...errr no, I mean the groom. Wait, this SEEMS familiar. So essentially, the whole movie is a back story to the night as 4 guys celebrate the groom-to-be's final night of single hood. We see them get together, drive to Vegas, begin the night - BLACK OUT. We have no idea what happened next. We see them wake up, Doug is missing, a tiger in their room, a missing tooth, and a crying baby all have taken place. Doug's future father-in-law lends him his luxurious Benz for the trip and when the 3 remaining guys attempt to get their car from the parking garage in order to re-trace their steps, they are given an entirely different car by the valet.... a police cruiser. Wait, THIS sounds so familiar!
Hmmm
The rest of the movie is basically the 3 guys going back to places they visited throughout the night gathering clues to where their friend may be. They even bump into Mike Tyson, whose cameo has been much over-hyped and wasn't as funny as I thought it would be. I mean, you have Mike Tyson here. The possibilities are endless comedy-wise.
Wait, now there are dangerous, violent people after the guys?!?! Then it hit me..... this seems so strange ....and familiar:
Right! Exactly! From the opening moments, I knew that they were building up to something good and something has to happen... really funny... and it never truly did. Why? I couldn't get past the fact they RIPPED off a cheesy Ashton Kutcher movie. Now, Dude Where's My Car? is what it is: A major movie debut for Ashton Kutcher with the share of the lead and a horrible unrealistic stoner plot. Some could argue that it's a "good" horrible. It's so bad that some of it may be good. Regardless of what you think, you can't deny that Dude Where's My Car? came first.
The acting, overall quality, realism, story, and overall feel of The Hangover is superior to Dude Where's My Car? I really liked the funny character development with the 3 guys (we dont' get much of the missing groom-to-be) especially the whipped guy and the running joke about his girlfriend banging a waiter on cruise....or is it a bartender? The fact people are so quick to "crown" this movie is a joke. It had some funny parts, of course, more than the average comedy, yes, but to "crown" it is a little absurd.
"You want to crown them, go ahead and crown their asses," he said, his voice rising. "But they are exactly who we thought they are!"
Overall, good movie, just not the movie everyone thought it is. I think that one of two things happened here. One, people are just marks and never heard of, saw, or remember Dude Where's My Car? Two, people just didn't care and blatantly ignored the fact the movie was a rip-off and fell victim to the crazy Alan character besides the fact he was a crazier "Brick" from Anchorman. The Hangover is for a generation that will never get to live through first-run classic movies like Old School, Anchorman, dare I say Dumb & Dumber and give them a chance to memorize some quotes and think they are being funny. This is their claim to fame. Hey, goooooooooood for youuuuuuuuuuu, but it's not that great.
For your comparison:
Dumb & Dumber: * Too good to rank*
Old School: 5/5
Anchorman: 5/5
Wedding Crashers: 4.5/5
The Hangover: 3/5
Dude Where's My Car?: 2/5
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