Tag: love

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viva pinata: pocket paradise… first thoughts

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in the mail today...As a MAJOR fan of the Viva Pinata game for XBOX 360 (in fact, it is the reason I got an XBOX instead of a PS3), I was super excited when I heard earlier this year, that they were making a similar version of Viva Pinata for DS. Well, the game is out, and I eagerly got it as quickly as I could (damn pre-order on amazon… I want it now!), and after playing for an hour or so, I am here to sing it’s praises.

First of all, if you are a fan of the original Viva Pinata, you probably have several things that you wanted changed, because I know I did. I thought that a lot of the ways that you navigated your shovel, seeds, and other tools was too complicated (you had to remember where they were to pull them up with just the d-pad, which you tend to forget when you are worried about watering your new banana tree!!!), and the menus to get to people like Lottie at Costalot’s store were just too fumbled. Well, the DS version has taken care of every issue that I had with the XBOX version! I haven’t been playing that long, and already, I am pleased to see that they made these changes. A really, really nice feature, is that in the information screen for each pinata tells you exactly what the pinata needs, not only to romance, but also to make variants of that pinata; something that was annoyingly missing from the original. YAY FOR THAT!

Other notable changes; the annoying Leafos is gone. Sorry, she is sweet and all, but especially in the beginning of the game, she really was a hand-holder, and all I wanted to do was get to making my garden great, and attracting new pinatas. She made such pomp and circumstance about everything, that I got frustrated with her really quickly. Funny thing is, that you could hit her with your shovel if you got annoyed with her (like I did), and she would say, “nuh uh uh!”. If you hit her too many times though she took away the shovel, which pretty much made you powerless. Needless to say, I am glad to see that she isn’t running things in pocket paradise.

Another great surprise, is that they made the pinata’s the front and center main attraction! This is awesome, because they are the reason you are playing the game, and you get your tutorials from them. That was a great touch.

So far, I have set up my garden, and I am actively romancing the new members. I cannot wait to see how my garden grows, and what great pinatas I can bring inside. I don’t know the mechanics of having multiple gardens yet, but I am sure that it will have similar capabilities of the XBOX game, because that feature made it great for organizing your pinatas, and keeping the ones that incessantly fight separated from one another.

Needless to say, I am thrilled that I get to take this amazingly wonderful game with me, and that I can play when I get bored during my travels. The best part about this game, is that every time you do something (plant something, build a building, romance pinatas, etc), that you are bound to get a slightly different garden, and with experience, you can really customize things, and really keep making the game more fun. This is a game that was HIGHLY anticipated for the DS, at least for me, and so far, it has VASTLY exceeded my expectations. If you are a fan of the original game, you must get this new one… Viva Pinata indeed!!!! (there was also a recent release of Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise, a new version of the original sim for XBOX, and I will definitely be getting that one at some point… but I am still having a fantastic time with my original gardens, that I don’t want to abandon them just yet!).

HUGE UPDATE!!!!!!: I just got a Taffly (for those of you that had the game, you know that they are annoying, because they eat your flowers, and don’t really give you anything… unless you burn them to evolve them, and then sell them; but that is getting outside of the point…), and they have done the best upgrade ever on an ordinarily useless pinata! When he eats something of a certain color, he produces that color fertilizer!!! No more buying that shit! (literally!) It also appears that the color fertilizer thing is more intuitive this time around as well!!! HUGE YAY for that, because I can’t tell you how frustrating the fertilizer thing was in the original game. Alright, sorry to keep gushing, but this feature is too great not to mention!!!!

is it just me?, listen up!, music musings, music suggestion, show the love, venting

leaked: the fame

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Well, the inevitable has happened: The Fame has officially leaked onto the internet. I have been talking about Lady GaGa’s debut for months now, and have been touting it as my most anticipated release of 2008, so of COURSE, I had to get it. Now that I have had a few listens, I am going to make a grand statement, and declare that it is the best pop record of the year so far. This record is MASSIVE.

The massive talent that Lady GaGa has for crafting pop gem after pop gem is clear and present throughout her debut, and I can’t wait for this CD to officially drop in the US. I will say this, if you think Just Dance is a great track, just wait until you hear the rest; the record exudes energy, disco, glamour, poptrash, and all things pure and unadulterated pop. I am very, very impressed. I will wait until the CD gets released to give it an official rating, but from what I have heard on the leaked version, it has earned a “unofficial”, solid 5 out of 5 stars , ladies and gentlemen.

Everyone will bow to the Haus of GaGa; the new princess of pop has arrived. An interesting thing about Lady GaGa that has come to my attention, came in a revelation that a friend of mine pointed out: how her voice does bear some similarities to Gwen Stefani (who you all should know by now that I completely abhor). While I do see what he is talking about, I think that the stark difference is that Lady GaGa (and the irony of Lady GaGa’s real name being Stefani is not lost here) is what Gwen would sound like if she were more talented in the realm of pop music. I cannot forgive Gwen for the serious misstep that was Holla Back Girl (*shivers*), and frankly, I haven’t heard anything that would be worthy of redeeming her in my eyes. So, I hear the similarities in voice, but seriously, Gwen doesn’t have anything on GaGa, and that is just fact so far as I’m concerned.

Finally, one thing that is sort of related to the whole leaking of GaGa’s CD, is the eventual backlash from the RIAA that I can naturally foresee. But what I don’t get, is why they would release a CD in August in Canada (eh!), and then have a release date for the same CD in the US almost 2 full months later. I mean, do you think that people aren’t going to leak it? Dumb. Just release the damn thing at the same time all over the place, and we will flock to the stores like your puppets as you want us to anyway, and fork over our hard earned money for the goods.

I guess it makes me irritated to have to deal with attitudes on downloading music because of the major bullshit like this release issue. I was in Decatur CD not too long ago browsing the CDs, and I overheard this conversation a “record exec-type” was having with the owner. He was literally bashing the hell out of anyone that would “dare” download music, and after he pretty much equated downloading music to the 11th greatest sin, I just got so frustrated that I put down the 2 CDs I was going to buy, and I left. Don’t these morons know that the people that download music actually buy a majority of the records that are released? If it weren’t for downloading music, I would miss about 80% of the stuff that I love, and I just don’t see how learning about new music, and then going out and buying it is such a bad thing. Whatever. Just a gripe of mine. There, it’s been said; but let’s not let it take away from the amazingness of Lady GaGa… who’s record is B-R-I-L-L-I-A-N-T. Now… just release it so I can get it!

happenings, near and dear, that is so gay

engaged, take two

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rings and the city

So as mingaling pointed out in the comments from yesterday’s update post, I left out one important thing that happened over the weekend. I posted before about how James had proposed on the top of 30 Rock in NYC while we were there, and that I had made plans to propose to him as well at some point in the near future. I thought it would be beautiful to do it over looking the city, much in the way that he proposed to me, so I found a spot in Atlanta that would be perfect.

I told him that we were going to run to a spot to take pictures really fast, on our way to a friends house for movie night. He was totally surprised when I got down on one knee and asked him if he would marry me too. It was really sweet, and the view of the city made for the perfect backdrop in this proclamation of our love and long lasting relationship. Now, I guess the planning should officially start!!! We’re getting gay married y’all!!! Look for invites and what not in the future!!

happenings, home improvement, shiny stuff

the reveal

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Well, the new counter tops are in, and they look AMAZING. It is incredible how much of an improvement they make on our kitchen. First of all, the original counters were not only a cheap imitation granite, but they were installed improperly; meaning the dishwasher couldn’t be shut properly without LIFTING UP ON THE COUNTER!!! AHHHH!! Needless to say, I have wanted new counters for a LONG time.

It is funny though, they seem to highlight how plain and frankly, quite dirty our cabinets are!! Oh well… I LOVE these counter tops, and I am glad that we were finally able to get them (after talking about them for FOUR years!).

First, I give you the gritty truth that was the before, boring counter tops:
before
before

Now, I give you the dazzling, amazingly beautiful new counter tops!
after
after

See the vast improvement?? I love ’em! I also love the new sink, faucet, and dishwasher that came along with this remodel. I feel like an HGTV remodel gone incredibly right!!!

all about me, friends, happenings, mixed media, near and dear, photography, show the love, that is so gay, venting

new york city: the trip, the story, the post that follows

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As I mentioned in my previous two posts, we went to NYC for a little vacation, and despite a horrible 10+ hour delay in LaGuardia, we are back. Fun was had, sweat was shed, feet were hurt, subways were ridden, food was eaten, money was spent, and all of that made for some great stories and good times. I have decided to give you a list of the highlights of the trip, so here we go:

downtown

  • I got engaged. James proposed to me on the top of the 30 Rockefeller building, also known as the “Top of the Rock”. It was amazing being up there, and seeing all of NYC, and then being surprised by a beautiful ring (which I picked out), from a beautiful man. I don’t know when the date is going to be set, but I need to ask him in return, so I need to come up with something as romantic as his proposal (which was uber sweet).
  • When I say above that sweat was shed, I meant it. NYC is fucking HOT in the summer. Top all that heat off with the lack of A/C in a lot of places meant that I took no less than 3 showers a day, and changed clothes at least 2 times as well. All in all, we started to acclimate by the end, but that was pretty much pointless, as we were headed back to ATL at that point. I would like to go back to NYC in the fall next time; I have only ever been when it is scorching hot, or freezing cold… I would like to see it during a happy medium.
  • When we got to our hotel, I committed a bit of a gay snafu, if you will. Upon arrival, we checked in at the desk, and I needed to ask the clerk something, so I addressed her by name; or so I thought. Her name was Liza, and I thought, “it can’t be pronounced Lie-za, it just can’t be”, so I called her Lee-za. The best part, was that she corrected me by saying, “no no, honey. It’s Liza. With a Z.” Needless to say, we got a big laugh out of that one, even though I probably lost a few gay points for not knowing the correct way to pronounce Liza.
  • As a result this trip, I’ve pretty much given James and ultimatum; the beard has got to go back down to a van dyke. The reason being, that while we were in NYC, almost every place we went, people asked us if we were twins. Now let that sink in for just a second; not just brothers, but twins!?! I know that we are both guys with beards, but seriously, twins?? I don’t see it. Either way, I don’t want to look just like my lover, so I want him back in the goatee ASAP, so we can curb this “brother” nonsense.
  • We saw two shows while in NYC: Legally Blonde the Musical, and RENT. First of all, Legally Blonde was AMAZING. It met and greatly exceeded my expectations. I saw it on MTV last fall when they broadcast a performance of the show, and when I found out that Laura Bell Bundy was still in the show on Broadway, I HAD to see it. SHE. WAS. AMAZING. If you like the movie, you owe it to yourself to see the musical; it is just as fun, and the songs are delightful. I am so happy I got to see this show with the original cast. Also, we saw RENT, which I have loved for many, many years, but I had never seen on Broadway. As with all traveling shows, they just don’t compare to the Broadway version, and as such, I had to see RENT before it ends on September 7th. RENT was one of the first musicals that I got into, and it was great to see it on Broadway. It too, was excellent.
  • As I mentioned before, walking around really was painful on the old feet. I realized that I need to get back in shape, and I am committed to doing so; especially after suffering during the trip. I hope that I can make a permanent foray back into working out regularly; and if anything good comes out of our trip, that would definitely be a great one.
  • While there, I got to hang with one of my best friends, Steve Yockey, which was awesome. I also got to meet a fellow flickr friend, Michael, for the first time, who accompanied us to a sunny afternoon on the pier, followed by dinner. I wish I could have spent more time with each of them, but time didn’t permit.
  • Overall, the trip was awesome. John was great, and a lot of fun to hang out with. We got to see pretty much everything we wanted to, and felt like we saw it all (even though we really didn’t). It was awesome seeing such spots as the Stonewall Inn and the Brooklyn Bridge, and took a lot of pictures (expect them to trickle onto flickr in the coming days!). I had a lot of fun in NYC, but I am so glad to be home; it was a great vacation, however, I need a vacation because my vacation tired me out so much! Oh well, that’s how it happens, right?

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green tea heaven

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I have found it; today, I had the best green tea frozen yogurt I have ever tasted. After lunch at Doc Chey’s, my buddy Deb and I wandered over the Yoforia to sample the “Italian frozen yogurt”, and after a small sample of the green tea flavor, we eagerly decided that is what we should get. They offer lots of different types of toppings, but to be totally honest, this frozen yogurt is so amazing, that it didn’t need anything… but a spoon and a mouth to put it in.

After I finished what I am now dubbing the “best green tea ice cream I have ever had”, I really wanted more. I love this place, Yoforia, and I will definitely be requesting future trips for more of this delectable treat. Perhaps the best thing about the sinful treat, is that it is totally fat free (!!!!!), and, totally organic. Can we say LOVE??? Yeah, love is officially spelled Y-O-F-O-R-I-A today folks… I seriously am considering going back again later tonight!!! I also totally love the decor in this place, it is very futuristic, with lots of orange. I loved the orange counters and the glass tiles in the bathroom. I want them for my house.

Now I have to see how I can convince Deb to go there after lunch (or before!??!?!) again tomorrow!!! YUM!

On a totally unrelated note; I finally uploaded a bunch of my Sara Bareilles pictures. I must say, that I got some AMAZING shots, so please, do me a favor, and go and check them out. Let me know what you think; I had a great time photographing the show, and I am definitely loving my new camera! More to come!!

concerts, listen up!, mixed media, music musings, music suggestion

kate nash tonight at the variety!

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As the title so simply states, I am going to see the amazing Kate Nash at the Variety in Little Five Points tonight. I am currently a Variety Playhouse virgin, but I have heard lots of great things about the venue, and I am looking forward to the concert. I think that I am going to try and get their a bit early, as I want to be pretty close to the stage.

In case you have no idea who (or how amazing) Kate Nash is, recall that just four months ago, I named her debut, Made of Bricks, my number 3 CD of 2007 (there are some sound clips you can listen to if you follow that link). I have seen some live shots of her on youtube, and I can definitely tell you that I am very excited to be seeing her tonight live, for the first time.

Here’s hoping that I get lots of great pictures of the show… and maybe I’ll even get to meet Kate; a big here’s hoping on that last part. That would be so awesome!

Just to get me in the mood, and to share the love for Kate, I thought I would post some videos of her greatness…

Here’s her third single, the amazingly catchy Pumpkin Soup:

And of course, I had to post one of the best songs that came out in 2007, Foundations:

If you are planning on being at the show, be sure to say hi! Onward to Kate Nash!

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loving British telly and an account of my finger accident

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First of all, my Grandma is feeling much better, and is out of the hospital; seems it was a bad reaction to some bad medication. I am just happy that she is doing much better.

I spoke earlier about the new season of Torchwood starting up, and how excited I was about it, since the show is fantastic. However, I didn’t mention the fact that I was going to give Doctor Who a go as well; especially since Torchwood is a spin-off of that series. I was curious as to the beginning of Jack Harkness (the leader of Torchwood), and found out that he got his start in the first series of the revival of Doctor Who. Well, I downloaded all of the new series, and I just finished series one yesterday, and I have to say that I have become ENTHRALLED with the realm of Dr Who. This show is amazing, funny, fantastically written, and engaging. The story is full of fantastic intricacies and sci-fi goodness that totally makes my inner nerd jump with glee. I don’t know what took me so long to get into it! I can’t stop thinking about it, and find that my hunger for British telly growing stronger and stronger with each show I get into to.

As I mentioned, I just finished series one, with Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor, and it was purely brilliant. I loved every episode, and found myself a little upset when it was over. I can’t wait to get into series two, because I have heard that many like David Tennant as the Doctor better than the previous Doctor. Either way, I love this show, and I am so glad that I finally got into it. It is awesome too, because I can watch the episodes that I downloaded to my PC through the Xbox 360; which is pretty awesome in my opinion. Technology rules!

I also watched the last few episodes of the British comedy Hyperdrive last night, which is another British show that I have been watching after I ordered the DVDs a while back (mostly because it stars Nick Frost). I also had a great time with that show, and I think that it has made me really pay way more attention to what is going on at the BBC. I am going to regularly check out British shows, in hopes that I can find more shows that I enjoy as much as I have enjoyed these. Perhaps when I finish the Doctor Who series, I will give Spaced another watch; I have seen it twice now, and that show is just brilliant (and fucking hilarious) as well. Such good shows that hardly get any attention over here… strange. Perhaps something great has come from the writer’s strike; we get to see what great telly the Brits have to offer us!

Switching the topic completely, I had a minor accident last night, one that I swear I haven’t had since I was in middle school; I was getting out of the car, and I slammed the door on my finger!!! The worst, was that James had locked the doors before I got out, and I couldn’t re-open the door! I was just screaming into the phone (I was talking to Grandma), and freaking out. Luckily, my finger turned just the right way, and I didn’t break it. It is swollen today, but all in all, it is quite funny, since I seriously haven’t done that in ages. Silly, accident prone me.

happenings, listen up!, mixed media, sex (oh yeah), show the love, that is so gay

torchwood season premiere tonight!

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In case you may be like me, and are saddened by the fact that there is practically NOTHING to watch on TV these days (thanks to the writer’s strike), I have good news; I am here to rescue you from TV boredom!! Tonight is the season 2 premiere of Torchwood, the most fantastical show, fresh from BBC America! For those of you that have no idea what Torchwood is, here’s a brief “synopsis”, from wikipedia:

Torchwood is a science fiction drama television programme, created by Russell T Davies and starring John Barrowman and Eve Myles. It deals with the machinations and activities of the Cardiff branch of the fictional Torchwood Institute, who deal with supernatural occurrences.

Basically, it is technically a spin off of the recent revival of the Dr Who series, but in my opinion, it is much more serious (no camp here folks), and more adult; not to mention, better in my opinion. It is great television, and has a serious edge to it, which is both refreshing, and fun to watch.

If you need any further reason to get on board with Torchwood, check this clip out from one of my favorite episodes in season one:


In my opinion, this is seriously the most romantic and beautiful kiss I have ever seen on a TV show. Wow. If you liked that, and are looking for a new sci-fi based drama, check out Torchwood! I know that I am glad that I did, and I seriously cannot wait for the season premiere; which comes on tonight on BBC America!

listen up!, mixed media, music musings, music suggestion, show the love

dear Cardigans,

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I want to take a second to sincerely apologize, because I have no idea why I always forget how amazing you are as a band. Seriously, my apologies.

I see you on my ipod, and I always pass by you, for whatever reason I cannot identify. However, this morning, I stopped by again, for the first time in a long time, and I was instantly reminded why I love you so much; you guys are amazing. Amazing. Again, my bad.

I am now listening intently, and I hope that we can curb any future instances of this egregious behavior. All my love… I miss you and hope you come out with something new for me soon.

Love you forever,
duane