Hes a Dancing Queen?!

Forgive me for all that Dancer gibberish, i had to copypasta the DNC AF quests into my blog...

i did it cause FFXIclopedia is blocked on my work computer

damn thourough IT guys!

anyways so i got my DNC AF. 

it only took me 150k and 48 hours, all solo. 

with minimal playtime to boot

what about the AF3 quest you ask? 

haha look it up. its called "Comeback Queen"

well since then i finished gettin em, and i do have to say, that was the easiest full AF set i think ive ever gotten.

hell, even COR AF3 quest took a month to get people brave enough to head out to the ashu taliff.

so yeah, the AF story isnt bad, here are a few screenies. enjoy!

 

Year of the Reinvention -or- Change Ain't Just for Obama

Well well now... ive been a busy....

person.

i got myself a load of new songs, most of them just singles off upcomming albums.

theres definatly a trend going here.

and if you dont know what it is by now *eyes title* im not tellin ya...

seriously...

anyways! lets move on to it. i got alot to get through so im gonna be fairly consice.

first one is a new single called "Gives you Hell" by The All-American Rejects off their upcomming CD

Im actually a pretty big fan of these guys after i saw one of their live preformances (even if you are so-so about their songs these guys are a blast in concert. they play better in concert than they do on their CDs!)

they've always been the pinacle of summertime feel good rythems and good sometimes even laugh to yourself funny lyrics.

this single gives you more of that with a rather refined sound organization. hats off to the mixer and producer cause they really took what AAR does best and improved on it.

it takes failed past relationship, peppers in some cynical fork-tongued goodness, and has you bouncing to the beat all the while.

if this is any indication their really going to take their newer more organized sound and work magic with it... i can't for the album if im in store for more of this!

Im also a big fan of BoA a korean born J-pop star (shush all of you)

unfortunatly i really only have access to her EPs.

this is actually a single off one of her albums thats recently come out though, called "Eat You up"

the single is that is. 

Its no secret that BoA actually can speak pretty good english and it isnt the first time shes done it, but this song too is actually all in english.

but that combined with an american house style beat makes this song stand out from her previous stuff.

its not as good as some of the other songs of hers i own, but is still pretty good.

and it sounds incredible with my subwoofer ^^

her english is great though, and short of Utada Hikaru or Maaya Sakamoto, BoA's english vocals are very easy to understand and have almost no accent to them.

its yet another very dancy and singable song BoA.. what more can you ask for?

Ok... now its time for a couple by those F.O.B.

man what to say.

i mean its on par with some of the songs off their last album, but it is still so different in comparison.

some of my same gripes from my review of "I Don't Care" remain, although some lines are certainly quotable.

at certain times the band strikes a wonderful vocal range, hitting some lows and together with the beat bringing a very Depeche Mode feel to the song. 

hell the beat itself sounds like something out of a 80's synth rock/pop manual.

and no Fall Out Boy song would be complete with mondgreen of somekind lol. 

one line is either "Does your husband know the way that the sunshine bleeds from your wedding band" or Does your husband know the way that the sunshine gleams from your wedding band"

imho bleeds makes more sense but w/e

all in all i have to applaud what F.O.B. accomplishes... but i still miss what they brought to the table in years past.

theyre experimenting and theyre evolving, and most of all theyre growing.

and god damn the song is catchy

Another Fall Out Boy release off of Folie a Duex... "What a Catch, Donnie"

this one is even more different than the rest.

its a soulful balled like XO or Golden before it but its a little more difficult to get into.

i didnt particularly like Golden when i first heard it but it managed to grow on me somewhat

im not sure how much this one will grow on me.

not so say its not without merit. 

most notably the song replays lines from famous F.O.B. singles at the end of the song, like "Grand Theft Autumn/Where is your boy", "Sugar We're Goin' Down", "Dance, Dance", "This Ain't a Scene its an Arms Race", "Thks fr th Mmrs", and even from "Headfirst Slide into Cooperstown on a Bad Bet"

it even features some great lines, but all in all its the kind of song you end an album with

and according to Wikipedia's Folie a Duex page... its mid album.

can't say what they might be thinking but i guess we'll have to see how it plays out on the album.

heres to hoping.

 

KanYeWest. 

Kanye, Kanye, Kanye...

first off... its a great sounding song. 

trademark Kanye beat.

great subject matter

catchy

singable.

wait... singable?

yep... there is no rapping in this song.

isn't that odd... for a rapper to do?

i know hes borederline hip-hop/R&B... but he was still a rapper

nonetheless i cant really find a reason to not like the song. 

even the T-pain spin on his voice which i would normally complain about it is perfectly fine in the song

yes.... im weirded out at this strange turn of events in the Kanye saga... but its good.

i mean i think it may bring listeners to the table that aren't a big fan of his rap.

not to say he stands to lose fans of his college dropout record if he doesnt have some rapping on the LP. 

we'll just have to see. its a great song though

Now this one is a gem... a total gem. 

in basic premise its the entire Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack covered by other artists... even the instrumental songs.

it really is a blast to listen to famous and or other artists take on the great works of Danny Elfman

and since this is a CD of various artists i'll give a quick rundown of each song so you'll know what youre getting into if you buy it

which you should

go buy it >.>

1. Overture - Devotchka - Good! mix Danny Elfman and eatern european stlye poka music (its good, dont be afriad!)
   
2. Opening - Danny Elfman - Good! hes no Price or Stewart but this is his baby and its good to hear him on the narration for once
   
3. This is Halloween - Marilyn Manson - Great, same as the one on the 2 disc NBC soundtrack a year or so ago
   
4. Jack's Lament - The All-American Rejects - Passable. i say this because they apply their own style wel enough, but they lose feeling in the sadder parts of the song. injecting your style is great, but dont lose the point of the song
   
5. Doctor Finkelstien/In the Forest - Amiina - Good. its instrumental and sounds great, similar to th original but with a twist
   
6. Whats This? - Flyleaf - fail. they miss the point of the song, once again injecting your style is great but dont lose the point of the song. its supposed to be about an inquizitive and exciting new thing jack discovers, and her vocals sound lazy and disintrested.
   
7. Town Meeting song - The Polyphonic Spree - Fail. this song is simply painful to listen to
   
8. Jack and Sally Montage - Viatamin String Quartet - Good! very faithful but a great way to listen to the song with just a dash of difference to make it interesting
   
9. Jack's Obsession - Sparklehorse - Fail. also painful. its not only painful to listen to but breaks up the vocals making them awkward. ignores the feel of the original song too
   
10. Kidnap the Sandy Claws - KoRn - Great! im not a fan of KoRn, in fact i actively dislike them. but i have to say they successfully add their own style without changing the song. good job
    
11. Making Christmas - Rise Against - Great, same as above, they are decen about controlling their angst partailly without sounding foriegn to their natural style. they capture the intensity of jack in parts of the song, good job
    
12. Nabbed - Yoshida Brothers - Great! almost completely different from the original but the Mandolin sounds incredible, more proof that different can still equal great
    
13. Oogie Boogie's Song - Rodrigo y Gabriella - Great! with no words even! spanish guitars play all but 2 lines in the whole song, which are the only vocals. daring, bold, and different
    
14. Sally's Song - Amy Lee - Great! worth buying the album for. Fiona Apple's version was good but her vocal style can sometimes be too morose. Amy captures the intensity of Sally's doubts without making her sound suicidal. and shes got some pipes on her too
    
15. Christmas Eve Montage - RJD2 - Great, a treat to listen to, a DJ doing a remix of the song making it seem very edgy, yet faithful. i can listen to it all day
    
16. Poor Jack - Plain White T's - Good. The vocals can be a bit tiring at times and i have to deduct points for trying to simply copy the original, but they do play it well and definatly capture the emotion
    
17. To the Rescue - Datarock - Great! so fun to listen too, especially with the music that plays during the fight with oogie boogie! can also listen to it all day!
    
18. Finale/Reprise - Shiny Toy Guns - Great! take what i said about RJD2 and add good vocals. faithful while different, also very fun to listen to!
    
19. Closing - Danny Elfman - Good. Same as i said about the opening
    
20. End Title - The Album Leaf - One of the most faithful songs on the album but a very good way to close it off. anything as different as some of the others would leave me feeling less nostagic i think.
    

and there ya have it!

with more winners than losers i think anyone that can get into the 5 covers on the special edition soundtrack from a year or so ago will love it. 

just in time for halloween too!

Absolutezero, The Ace of Skulls

Welcome to the solution, Skull...

The final solution...

The last absolution!

Glory Glory Hallelujah

Well at least theres one thing this week i have to look forward to in a sea of Fail.

Keep it clean?

Bungie secrets?

a new Halo game... what?

and then through the clouds of secrecy and mysteriousity (yes i made this word up)  we get this:

Yes!!!

Hello first wave invasion of earth!

Hello battle of new mambassa!

yeah. you remember that dont you?

that battle all the promotional material talked about?

why wasn't that in Halo 3? yeah i felt cheated too

but no longer!

you play as a ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Trooper) during the first invasion of the earth by the covenant forces.

nope, the game does not feature the Chief as the main character... hes off blowing up the Ark remember?

but it does have an all new campaign, new multiplayer maps and formats too from what ive read.

its still an FPS, something that was under debate for awhile but thats confirmed by bungie at this point.

also still features some of the things i LOVE about Halo 3, the Forge and Theatre/Save Games feature.

which are all awesomeness.

its set for release fall 2009 as a seperate game disc not neededing Halo 3, or as (once again i hear) a download of XBL marketplace. 

come on bungie... no more pushing your games back please >.>

if you do i kill you.

Balloon Fiesta day 2 pt 1

well... the title is actually misleading...

the balloon fiesta was cancelled late friday night and all of saturday was cancelled.

instead of doing that on sat we went to eat brunch with my girlfriends family

we went to a place called golden pride.

apparently all they do is breakfast burritos, fried chicken and ribs lol.

the chicken was good though.

so after brunch there we decided to check out and head home early.

so here we are, about 2 hours into the 4 hour journey back home!

hope yall missed me!

cause momma.. momma im comin home!

Balloon Fiesta day 1 pt 3

incredible event.... not untouched by tragedy though

unfortunatly during the launch of the special shapes one of the balloons, shaped like a triangle hit a power line and the 2 pilots caught fire as their gondola caught fire and fell from the balloon.

sucks to think of something like that happening

a florida news crew apparently got video of it but it wasnt shown in its entirety for fairly obvious reasons.

after balloon fiesta we went back to the hotel

after all that it was naptime.

jesus was it nap time.

after that a trip to the mall where i browsed as my brother spent his whole check

i saw a master chief hoodie ive totally got my eye on now, and a cd of famous artists re recording the entire soundtrack from the nightmare before christmas.

and that is so win!

thankfully thats all for day 1.

stay tuned for day 2 happenings!

Balloon Fiesta day 1 pt 2

yes.

thats Darth Vader.

fucking win.

that was only one of the totally awesome special shapes balloons they had at the field. 

they had nearly 100 that all started to inflate and take off at daybreak.

they had cows, pirates, bees, cathedrals, haunted houses, and dragons just to name a few

dont worry ill hook you up with a slide show once i get back into town!

but yeah it was pretty incredible.

Juli and i ran around getting as many pictures as we could before settling down on a bench with my parents and brother.

and just when we thought it was over... several hundred balloons all came over from a field further down for a contest

the picture from the first post is of not even a tenth of the balloons we saw.

they all dipped and dove to try to snatch an item from one of 4 poles

one of which was a grand prize of a new car

the other 3 were generators and such (for balloons im sure)

they could also try and drop things into buckets as they passed

tough stuff!

Balloon Fiesta day 1 pt 1

now now, im updating from my phone again so this will look weird until i can fix it monday

that having been said this is the scoop, skinny, lowdown, story... you get the idea!

thursday night... had to miss Einherjar... but we left at about 4 o clock.

traffic sucked.

but doesnt traffic always suck?

my dad drove the first half of the 4 hr journey until my brother, recently having aquirred his liscence, begged him to take over.

it was as eventful as you would think a 4 hour drive through nowhere would be.

pretty uneventful

well at least thats over with.

and aside from getting up at 4:30 in the morning

(oh my god)

the day has been quite awesome

we got up and made our way to the local mall, hopped on a bus that took us to the field, slobbingly dragged our asses around the kiosks for breakfast and finally settled as the balloons began to launch.

it was the "special shapes rodeo"

which if you alow me a minute... i will show you what that means!

Maritime (-or- Merit Time!)

Maritime - Adjective - IPA: /'mærɪtaɪm/ 

1. Related to the sea or sailing

2. Of or relating to a mariner or sailor

Now your wondering.... why the definition?

well im sure you all could use a little learnin'.... but mostly its to get my pun of a title.

you see im a Corsair in FFXI.... what... you knew that already?

so yeah... Maritime... "of or relating to a mariner or sailor"... check. 

Maritime sounds like Merit Time... check.

ive been meriting the last couple weeks... oh, now we get the pun! (hey i didnt say it was a good one ok?)

basically its been like this: i know exactly what im going to merit for my COR, and for most of my other jobs to boot.

afterall the goal is to be badass... like this:

Oh yeah... thats so gonna be me! anyways heres the plan:

Attributes:

max combo:5

max per item:5

meriting: 

STR (5/5) 3>6>9>9>9 

total: 36 merits needed

Combat Skills:

max combo: 20

max per item: 8

meriting:

Marksmanship Skill (8/8) 1>2>3>3>3>3>3>3

Dagger Skill (6/8) 1>2>3>3>3>3 

Sword Skill (6/8) 1>2>3>3>3>3 

total: 51 merits needed

Others:

max combo: 8

max per item: 4

meriting:

Critical Hit Rate (4/4) 1>2>3>4

total: 10 merits needed

Corsair Group 1:

max combo: 10

max per item: 5

meriting:

Quick Draw Recast (5/5) 1>2>3>4>5

Quick Draw Accuracy (5/5) 1>2>3>4>5

total: 30 merits needed

Corsair Group 2:

max combo: 10

max per item: 5

meriting:

Snake Eye (3/5) 3>4>5

Fold (3/5) 3>4>5

Winning Streak (3/5) 3>4>5

Loaded Deck (1/5) 3

total: 39 merits needed

....thats 166 merits needed total.... which is 1,660,000 limit points to gain.

wait... i already have 1 in Marksmanship, Crit rate, Quick Draw recast, Fold, Snake Eye, and Loaded deck... so 12 total merits earned

well thats 120,000 limit points

yay! only 1,540,000 to go!!!

/wrists

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! -or- Sleepless in San d'Oria

Ok both titles are lame... i know.

but this is indeed overdue... ive been too busy with work and trolling the Pocket Aces forums in my spare time to post... forgive me!

in any case this past sunday was Dynamis - San d'Oria.

not usually my favorite pre-update because its the only zone no THF relic dropped in.

but of course post update... COR relic!!

and last sunday.... COR relic!!

yep yep... awesome i know.

in fact they are so awesome because they also have:

so in case you lost count... (how could you!) thats 3/5.

and with any luck.... i have 2 chances to get the Tricorne this month. got xarc runs on 10/19 and 10/26.

if i get it then ill only need the Commodore Bottes (Dynamis - Bastok) before im totally pimpin' a 5/5 relic armor COR.

and you can't help but Gyar at that idea... least i cant haha. (gyar)

and in case youre wondering exactly why my title is so lame... we ended up getting 16 relic drops in that San d'Oria run.

yeah no joke!

List of winners:
1.Absolutezero - COR
2.Deliata - RNG
3.Lostris - WHM
4.Omegaguardian - MNK
5.Arkain - PLD
6.Flameon - MNK
7.Snicky - DRG
8.Darksaphyr - NIN
9.Flameon - RDM
10.Flameon - PLD
11.Skulloneix - RDM
12.Mysticrain - PLD
13.Mageofphantasy - SMN
14.Ailden - MNK
15.Flameon - WAR
16.Seyomeyo - COR

So yeah, great run. 2 big money drops and 247 small currency too.

i am totally loving this last update shit

My GF is an AWESOME GF!

lol excuse the title's... lack of wittyness

im pretty ecstatic atm.

well ya see.... my GF got me Force Unleashed. 

if you dont know what that is... well wow... i really cant help you. 

go get help.

professional help.

anyways so yes. im over here totally happy

don't believe me?

Yep.

thats it there

its love... shrink wrapped in a green clamshell :)

honey i love you!!