Wow, I suck at blogging.

I have to apologize for not writing anything for a long, long time... Between school, work, a baby, new games and laziness I've just procrastinated. Well, I thought that I would blog now.

Recently I watched 'The Day After Tomorrow', a fictional movie about humanity's punishment for mistreating the earth by using fossil fuels. As disaster movies go, it's pretty entertaining and I particularly enjoy Dennis Quaid as an actor and I don't know if there is a movie that he's been in that I don't like.

Well, as I'm watching this movie, I begin to think about the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere... How much is produced by humans, but how much is produced by volcanoes and other sources. By researching some mostly reliable sources, I found that humans directly or indirectly cause about 26 billion tons of CO2 per year. While finding the amount that volcanoes put into the air (a disappointing 130 million tons per year.. I thought it would be a lot more.) on a government site, I found a wikianswer that said that insects produce about 48 billion tons of CO2 per year. Really? I then started digging, but no matter how I phrased it on google, for about two hours all I came up with were articles on how CO2 affects insects, or the effects of climate change on insects.

On google books, I found an obscure reference in a book by a real Entomologist that stated that it is estimated termites produce about 2% of the global amount of CO2... considering that the global amount of CO2 is about 3,000 billion tons (According to Wikipedia) that would mean that termites make about 60 billion tons per year... and that's just termites!

So why am I having such trouble finding information on the amount of carbon dioxide that is *not* produced by humans? All of this conflicting information makes me feel that this is kind of a conspiracy, and that blaming global warming on humans is completely ridiculous. If the 26 billion tons of CO2 that humans produce is just too much for this fragile ecosystem, then I have a plan to rectify global warming once and for all: Kill all the freaking termites!

It's Official!

Yup, we're definitely having a baby! We won't be able to tell if it is a boy or girl until 16 weeks, and we are a couple of days away from week 11... So we have awhile.

When I saw it and it's little pin-sized heart beating, I was in awe. An overwhelming feeling of joy overtook me - this is real! We are having a baby! There are still some things that I'm worried about on our journey through this.

Incompetent Cervix is something that scares the daylights out of me... But I have a really good feeling, and I think that everything is going to be alright.

I've included the ultrasound below for your enjoyment.. :)

Guess what?

Yup. :)

This post has been sitting in "draft" status for about 2 weeks, because Courtney wouldn't let me post it... but I did it anyway. She still feels like this is a dream and is scared to announce it, but I want to shout it to the world!!

WE'RE PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She is almost 9 weeks along and doing good - no morning sickness, but she has other "symptoms" like super enhanced sense of smell, and craving foods that are not normal (to Courtney!).

So yeah! We're so happy.

:D

It's been a year!

Wow, it's been a year since I started this blog and I only have 13 posts not including this one... so I guess I'll post again to commemorate the occasion!

I had the wonderful opportunity to have my best friend Nathan Sheranian over to my house, where we were able to spend some quality time together, and talk about things. Oh yeah, and we played Halo. I really have to thank his wife, Kristen, for allowing him to spend time with him. It's really been a long time, and it was good to hang out with him while my wife was out of town.

Nate did something funny during our Halo 3 game that I thought was hilarious, so I'm posting screenshots. I introduced Nate to the many features of Halo 3, and I swear his mouth was watering.. :)

The above picture is Nate (red) and some other dude (Blue). Ironically, they melee'd each other at the exact same time super close to each other, and it appeared in the video as though they had collided and both parties recieved concussions. XD

A few frames later, it looked like Nate was going through some horrific bodily changes as he changed into a different life-form (Really, there was some error causing deformities in his neck, forearms and knees... it looked funny, so I put it in here.).

Some dude in the distance watched it all, and I bet he was laughing pretty hard.

Anyway, Nate and I had alot of fun, and I hope that we can keep doing stuff together (Wives may or may not be included. =] ). Nate and Kristen, we love you guys!

These last 10 days...

I just wanted to say something briefly... awhile ago, I sent my wife to Connecticut to see her sister Hillary because she was really stressed out at this time in her life, and she needed a vacation. My reasons for sending her were not altogether selfless - she was driving me bananas, and I needed a break. I thought that I would have tons of fun, and party and do all the things I couldn't normally do all the time with her around.

When we checked her in to her flight, I started to get pangs in my stomach, and realized how much I would miss her. When she hugged me goodbye and left me to wait in line for the security check, I had to control myself from bawling.

The week passed, and life went on without Courtney... But things in my life just weren't the same. So I wanted to say something to her:

Courtney, the love of my life - I have trouble sleeping without you. I miss you more than I have missed anything, and I need you now more than I have ever needed anything.

You are the light of my life, the salt that gives my world flavor, and I love you... so much.

I am so excited for you to come home.

I love you. See you soon.

Birds are Weird

Tycho and Gabe had it right when they said this... it's no exaggeration. I repeatedly catch my birds doing weird and strange things, but I rarely have the wits to grab my camera and document it. Well, here ya go. The first video is my bird Callie singing to a sock. When I brought the camera out, she started singing to it instead of the sock, but make no mistake: She was singing to the sock before I had the camera.

In this next video, I heard some light muffled chirping and went to investigate, only to find that they had made a "nest" inside the couch. This is typical mating behavior for cockatiels, but both of my birds are males... so this would be an example of atypical behavior. Once again: they are oh so strange.

So there it is. Birds are weird.

Halo 3

Okay, I know that it has been forever since I updated my blog, so I thought that I would stray from the norm and update it! I know, it's about freaking time.

I really want to upload some really cute movies about my birds, but they are on my camera and I am way too lazy to go get it right now. Besides, it'll get me to post later.

I guess I'll post these pictures from a Halo 3 match. I have some really good friends in California (Thomas and Willie) that I used to play Halo 2 with, and we ended up staying buddies and continued to play through Halo 3. Well, Halo 3 has got some cool features... you can enter theatre mode and view any and all recent games in 3D, and you can take snapshots and roam around freely while the film plays.

Trust me, it's cool.

So my buddies and I were playing a racing map, and we all went off a jump at the same time - totally unexpected, and it made for a freaking awesome snapshot.. so I'm the brown one, Thomas is the green one, and Willie is the loner yellow dude:




So this is why Tim, Darin and Steve need to get Halo 3. It just rocks on so many levels.

This appears to be for real...

Okay, I know that this sounds like an advertisment, but bear with me. I found a site through a friend that ships you a Xbox 360 Elite... You sign up for an offer (I did a free trial one with no commitments), and then you get 10 or 12 other people (I need 12) to do an easy offer (To sign up for their own free Xbox 360). Once everything is complete, they ship you the system for free. I really would like to try it, and if any of you are interested, feel free to do it. I plan on doing it, and I will update my blog with my progress.

For proof that this is for real, I researched the company:

http://www.trainn.org/reviews.php

There are plenty of offers to choose from such as Blockbuster online, Stamp.com, Netflix, Gamefly which are services you would regularly sign up for anyways. I did the Stamps.com for a 30 day free trial and it didn't cost me a penny and I received credit for it 20 minutes later. (Which I promptly cancelled)



Okay, so here is what you need to do to get started:

Step 1: Use this link: http://www.360Elite4free.com/index.php?ref=4122517 (It's important for me that you use this exact link)

Step 2: Sign up and chose an account type (Referral is the easiest and best).

Step 3: Complete just 1 offer (Like Blockbuster or Stamps.com) and refer up to 10 people to do the same (Do what I did, copy my ad).

Step 4: Receive your Xbox 360 Elite in about a week or so... (Even The Shipping Is Free)

Recommended Offer: Stamps.com
I did the Stamps offer and it was completely free. Recommend this to all of your referrals as well!

If you have any questions feel free to email me!! I'll Respond ASAP.

I figured I would post it this way - totally non-confrontational, and you can do it if you want. :)

Bioshocked on the Freeway!

I'll deal with the events of my yesterday as they came... 8/21/2007 was the day the highly anticipated Xbox 360 game "Bioshock" came out, and I had reserved it at my local Play'n'Trade. However, I had called the lady at the store previously to see if the game would be released on 8/21/2007 and she told me it wouldn't... that they wouldn't have the game until 4 days after the release date. That was totally unacceptable to me, and I made arrangements to buy the game at a best buy near my work in Orem. I did so, and after my work, I decided to get my money back from Play'n'Trade.

I returned to my car and got back on the freeway and was careful to mind all traffic laws, when suddenly at 7200 S. and I-15, I saw white burning tire smoke and bright red brake lights ahead. They were coming up really fast, and I slammed on my brake narrowly avoiding the car in front of me.

The car behind me was not as lucky as I was. He tried to brake and switch lanes to avoid hitting me, but his front driver's side met my passenger's side bumper at about 20-45 miles per hour. My car was hit with such force that my car did a 180, stopping when my passenger's door met with his, and I saw him face to face.

We decided that it was best to meet at Mcdonald's right after the exit, and he took off, leaving me in traffic facing the wrong direction. I couldn't believe how inconciderate people were! I was signaling to try to turn around, and people kept going around me. They wouldn't stop! I had to finally apply my foot to the gas to show people that I meant business. That finally made people stop, and they waited for me to move.

Well, the guy gave me all his information and admitted his fault, insisting that we didn't need to call the police, and that his insurance would take care of everything. He was very genuine, and so far, he was right. His insurance is doing everything, even giving me money for lost wages. :)

If I wasn't so loyal to Allstate, I would switch to Farmers Insurance because they have treated me very well.

Here are some pictures that I took at my inlaws:

I never thought that people would care if I updated my blog or not... apparently I was wrong! Court told me that she had several people tell her that I needed to update my blog. So here I am.

I just got over some toe surgery this last week- I had a section of toenail (1" x 1/2") taken out two weeks ago because scar tissue from previous ingrown toenail operations had caused the nail to grow sideways instead of straight out, making the nail dig deeper and deeper in my foot.

This surgery caused me pretty much the worst pain I had ever felt in my life, and I needed more darvocet than they gave me, but I was too chicken to ask for it... I didn't want to be a drug seeker.

So... My wonderful wife threw me a birthday party, and decided to invite my close friends and family, and I decided that it would be good to invite my cousin from Georgia who is kinda the black sheep of our family, but I have a soft spot for him because he was my best friend when we were kids and would spend weeks at my house playing games with me in the summer.

I don't want to go into a lot of details, but let's just say that he wore out his welcome and took advantage of my family and I, and he probably won't get an invitation to our house for awhile.

How's that for an update? I'll do more later, but that should be good for now.

So I know that it's a little late, but here is what I was for Halloween: A pirate. Courtney was my pirate wench. :) She made both costumes.

It seemed my dad was one too... a pirate, that is...

What's a pirate's favorite restaurant? ARRRRRRby's!

Saturday

Today is Saturday morning (Sleeping over at my In-Law's house), and today we get to go paint our new room in my parents' house before they sell it. I am actually looking forward to painting... how strange is that? =] It'll be really nice when we are finished.

It is 8:30 right now, and we have reserved tickets to see Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End @ 10:00. I'm really excited about it. Many critics didn't like it, but I've heard countless times that it is better than the second pirates film, and I *liked* the 2nd one. We'll just have to see how it is, and I'll let you know how I liked it.

YaYz! Courtney let me buy Muse tickets! I think that we will have lots of fun at this concert... Muse has really good music. Really catchy stuff. If you are daring, go listen to "Starlight". It did really well in the US, and will give you a taste of what the band is about.

Well, I gotta go hit the shower. -JG

My Amiga, My Friend

Ah, the Amiga.

In 1989, it was the pinnacle of technology: 3D animation, superior graphics to both the Macintosh and the PC, and it had more games than you could shake a stick at. It really was super cool.

Something happened, though, and the Amiga tanked. I think it was because of poor business practices... but whatever it was, it was suddenly gone, and you couldn't find it or any software for it anywhere.

Well, recently I found a really cool site called Recordedamigagames.org, and I can relive all childhood nostalgia. I have included two videos that are from my favorite video games, Shadow of the Beast, and It came from the Desert. You can tell from the sound that it was pretty high quality for 1989.





If you are interested in Amiga games and software and reliving the old nostaligia, you can actually buy an emulator complete with kickstart roms at amigaforever.com. I haven't done it yet because we are poor, but some day in the future I might.

Peace.

-JG

It's been awhile

I had originally intended for this blog to be a slightly impersonal blog about video game reviews, music, and a few other miscellaneous things that I enjoy.

About the time that I started doing this blog, I had been telling my wife that she should start one, as it would be a nice way to keep a journal and to post pictures and what not. However, she didn't really listen to me and told me that she didn't want to, and it took her sister Hillary and our friends the Hickens to really get her to see how cool it is, and that it can be lots of fun.

Needless to say, she started her own. I guess that we know who influences her the most, and who doesn't at all! (Just kidding, Court! You know that I love you.)

Now that *that's* out of the way, I just want to say that this blog will continue being about video games and other stuff that I am interested in, but it will have more of a personal touch because I know now that people I know are reading it, and I didn't really think that they would, or that people would be interested.

Stay tuned, I post some pictures, or something interesting.

If you would like your blog added to my list, let me know...

Quote of the day:

I love this quote:

I've had recurring nightmares
That I was loved for who I am
And missed the opportunity
To be a better man

-Muse(Hoodoo; Black Holes and revelations)

Isn't that why we are here on this earth, To become the best people we can? How terrible it would be to just waste all of our potential, be mediocre in all things, and never to improve...

Welcome!

As this is my first real blog, I must apologize. I haven't really done one before, and the ones I have done have been more "journal" oriented than anything.

Let's get to it. To start out, I just wanted to say something about my favorite game for the moment: Oblivion.

Okay, I just need to get it out... I love this game. I really don't think that I have ever played a game so long in my entire life. Even the same quests played over and over don't get old for me, because they can be played so many different ways with different characters. Bethesda Softworks has really outdone themselves, because I wouldn't even touch TES:3 with a ten foot pole. I tried it for about 30 minutes and couldn't stand anything about it.

I don't know if it's the graphics, the fact that I am an avid fan of the actors that they hired to do voicework, or if the storyline has been improved in general. Whatever it is, it's got me hooked.

I am really excited that an expansion is coming out. I mean, really excited. I really would recommend this game to anyone who loves RPGs, even if they didn't like the last Elder Scrolls game. I would also recommend getting the PC version, as countless mods can be downloaded and even made with this game. The PC version also has the ability to increase the player's view of the scenery, and to increase the texture quality as well.

Well, that's it for today...

Freakazoid out.