Friday, November 30, 2007

Offical KofC Emblem Discussion

Well, some of us (Squatting Bear and I) were thinking about the idea of an Official KofC Emblem. Originally we were not big fans of it, but the more and more we thought about it, the more we liked it.

First, when we play against other clans with the same emblem it could lead to some further trash talking and future set up clan matches, which would be fun. Second, studies have shown that clans with the same emblem get 30% more kills than similar clans with different emblems. And finally, it might be a good way to show support for fellow KofC members.

Anywho, there are two general ways clans have their emblems. Either everyone has the exact same emblem in the clan or everyone has some sort of variation of an emblem where each member can make it their own.

I am not partial to either one of these schools of thought. But, I think I might be getting ahead of myself with all this talk. First we need to decide if we want to even discuss a clan emblem.

But, since I already have all this thought out in my head I am going to go ahead with it as if we thought it would be a good idea to explore the option. But if we all agree it's a bad idea, at least I wasted some time in my day.

First, I suggest everyone check out the Halo 3 Emblem Generator. This is an easy way to try out different combinations without having to be on your Xbox. Also it lets you direct link to the emblems you come up with so we can all see your sweet ideas. I think everyone should come up with some ideas of what they would like either the exact emblem to look like or the basis on which we would develop our clan emblem theme.

For example: I spent a couple minutes at the Generator and came up with this idea.



Obviously the theme is the grey box with the blue background (KofC colors). But everyone is free to use what ever logo they want, (Josey, Wolf. Daymonster, Bad Ass Unicorn. etc.) I haven't see this type of theme used before so I think it's a bit original, but, maybe not.

That's just one idea, I have millions (well maybe not millions, but tens) of ideas. I think we should go with an Official Song style vote. But maybe each person can propose two emblems with a short sentence or two explaining how it would be used and it's reason (example: colors changeable, background changeable, etc.)

You can email me the link to the image that the generator provides and the reasoning for it. If everyone thinks this is lame... screw you guys.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Thursday's Thoughts

I was hoping to post Unky Eternal's interview but he is undoubtedly too drunk/hung over to answer the questions... ahh, to be young again. I can say things like that because I am currently sitting in my cubicle drinking earl grey tea and an orange juice. While I keep checking my inbox for a response from Eternal I will pass the time with a couple KofC housekeeping issues.

KofC Picture of the Day
Random Screenshot I found while scouring Bungie.net, might be the picture that goes up on the website.

Website
The KofC website is up. I welcome all criticisms and suggestions. If you are viewing it with IE the front page might look goofy, which I will fix soon. But in the mean time just download Firefox, it's way better anyway.

Official Song
I was thinking about the KofC Official Song, and I wanted to add this one to the conversation. Some of you have heard it but maybe someone here hasn't. I like it and so should you. Make sure you listen to the words and the shout outs at the end.








New Google Maps!
I just upgraded to the new google maps for my blackberry. It can tell where you are without using GPS, using the towers to triangulate your location. It's cool because it's faster than GPS and it works indoors but it's not as accurate. I know what you are thinking, Big Brother right? Well, this technology is used everyday and has been used on your phones for years, so I am not worried... yet.

Best Video Game Commercials
You owe to yourself to check out GameGirl's post about the Top 7 best Video Game Commercials. The list should really be the Top 7 funniest commercials, but they are all really good. My favorites are the Zelda one and the Banned Xbox 360 one with the accompanying audition clip. Enjoy.

Shit We Need to Learn How to Do... ASAP

I have tried this stuff over and over again but I can't seem to get it, anyone want oto play around in the maps tonight and try it out?

Clan Matches
We have been challenged by a couple of clans to some Halo 3 matches. The Winged-Warriors Clan and the UK GAMERS clan. I am not going to sugar coat this: The Winged-Warriors are way better than us. Here are some of their stats: Pastemaster, WW Horizon, Phade. But to be fair they are never drunk when they play, so it's really not a fair comparison.

Not much is known of the UK GAMERS except that they are 6 hours ahead of us, that might work for SB and the Unky's but some of us gots to get our sleep.

Essentially, I'll play whoever, it will be very depressing when we lose, but we gotta try to play some other people time. We would need to agree on our 4 people who would play, I would be out probably because we cannot risk someone lagging out in the middle of a close match.

Call Sign Conundrum
Pablito recently changed his call sign to "T08" which is supposed to resemble "TOB", he brought up the idea that we all make our names easy to decipher, I know "S27" and "M84" represent SB and Josey respectfully, but I don't remember anyone elses. It's a thought that there should be some rhyme or reason to the call sign, tonight I'll change mine from "O07" to something different but I am not sure what exactly. Suggestions?

Crossword Answers
Pablito wins the prize for finishing the crossword, he got almost all the questions right, and I am sure he is the only one who tried it so he wins the prize. You can view the answers here. The prize is.... ummm... at any point in any map you can ask me for a weapon I have and I will give it to you. Yeah, that's it. Sorry it's all I could come up with.

YouTube/CNN Republican Presidential Debate
I was so upset last night about getting booted out of two games in a row due to lag, that I actually watched the republican debate on CNN, twice. Almost all the questions and answers can be seen here. It was funny watching Guliani and Mitt going at each other over immigration, and then McCain and Romney going at eachother over Waterboarding (aka torture). But my favorite part had to be when Jay Fox asked a question about gun control.

Anyway, that's about all I got for today. Please people, keep commenting and chatting, today is going to be a long day and I need KofC members to get me through it.

Pollo's Whereabouts?

While typing my Environmental Economics (FWIW, public smoking ordinances seem to have no effect on the revenues of bars and restaurants. So if we were planning to look into smoking policies before buying our bar, there seems to be no need.) paper I engaged in this conversation with Loco:

locopuyo (1:39:17 AM): muahahahahahahahahhaa
biGpaPacRusTer (1:47:07 AM): wut
locopuyo (1:47:41 AM): secrets will be revealed
locopuyo (1:47:45 AM): soonh
biGpaPacRusTer (1:47:52 AM): plz do
locopuyo (1:47:55 AM): in a few days or so
biGpaPacRusTer (1:48:05 AM): will they explain your whereabouts in the past 3 weeks/
locopuyo (1:48:03 AM): muahahahahahaha
locopuyo (1:48:09 AM): mebe
locopuyo (1:48:24 AM): NOM NOM NOM
biGpaPacRusTer (1:48:31 AM): they betta
locopuyo (1:48:31 AM): = clue

Stay tuned.

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Crossword Puzzle Challenge 2007!

So, no one seems to be online today and no one is commenting (entertaining me) today. So I took matters into my own hands. I have made a KofC Crossword Puzzle. The first person to complete the crossword puzzle will win a prize, a prize not yet decided. But believe me it will be a good one.

The questions are part; how well do you know your fellow KofC member, part how well do you know Halo 3, and how well can you answer a couple random questions.

Below is the crossword puzzle you can download the image by clicking on it or you can download the word document. Either way complete it, return it to me, and you will win something so valuable and awesome that I cannot even explain it on this blog.

ACROSS
1 Developer of Halo 3
5 Too busy to play from sex.
7 Engaged KofC member.
10 Press X you bitches.
11 Hidden things in campaign.
12 Greatest Halo 3 clan ever.
16 Squatting Bear's favorite Vehicle.
17 Will be the best map once released.
18 Green mist thing that I never use
19 Has a cat.
20 Fourth grenade that has never ever been used.

DOWN
2 Delicious Citrus Cherry Soda.
3 Josey's obstacle in playing Halo (besides school).
4 Goes tanning.
6 Dammer and Daymonster's least favorite Halo 3 weapon.
8 Josey's favorite map
9 What comes before Killtacular.
13 Underused game type for team slayer.
14 Who you want waiting at the back of the base when you have the flag.
15 Kill ten opponents within 4 seconds of each other.

Good luck. (Estimated time before Josey complains about one of the questions, 15 minutes. Starting.... now.)

Halo Madness

"It's called... 'TRASH TALK'"

"Ugly racial slurs, anti-Semitic rhetoric, homophobic chat and sexual innuendo... and guess who's listening? YOUR CHILDREN!!!!"




It's like a 21st century Reefer Madness, well maybe not that ridiculous, but pretty ridiculous none the less. It's your classic over-the-top sensational tabloid style reporting we have come to know and love, not just from Fox news but a majority of the TV news networks. Do you know where else there are swear words, homophobic and racial slurs? The playground, the school bus, TV, movies etc.

The report switches wildly between accusations of racism and warnings of credit card theft, before attempting to terrify parents by suggesting children could be abducted by sex offenders should they play on Xbox Live.

Now that I think of it, we should get some credit card numbers tonight.

Kof C Picture of the DayUnky and friend riding the 'goose together

Downloadable Content Alert!
The Halo Theme MJOLNIR Mix by Martin O'Donnell & Michael Salvatori is available for FREE on the Xbox Live Marketplace. It's actually a pretty fun song to play.

That's all I can think of for today, someone email me some questions for Unky Eternal.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Tuesday Tidbits

Not too much is going on today, at least in my world, so if anyone has anything pressing please feel free to post it or add it to this post.

Amazon's deal of the day is the Halo 3 Legendary Edition for $59.99 with Free Shipping. Essentially you can get your own Master Chief collector's helmet and Halo 3 for 54% of the regular price with out paying tax or shipping... tempting.

KofC Picture of the Day
Dammer's Screenshot of a stick he had on Narrows.

Speaking of Dammer, his shitty Steeler's barely squeeked by the winless Dolphins 3-0. Wow, was watching the MNF game really better than playing halo?

I just completed the replacement program for the Rock Band guitar. As I told you the other day my guitar is broken but fortunately the replacement process seams pretty easy, I just told them the issue I was having, gave them my address and they should send me a new guitar with a prepaid box to send my broken one back in. Until then they put a $125 charge on my credit car to ensure I send back my old one. And they said they weren't selling individual instruments. Liars.

Bahamas is looking more tempting by the minute. My only question is: this place is like a resort, I am worried we can't just walk in and sleep in your room. There might be some restrictions on things like that and the last thing I want is to get down to the Bahamas and not have a place to sleep. Well, it's not exactly the last thing I want, but it wouldn't be as cool as mooching of SB for the week.

As most of you saw from Josey's comment, Target is selling a Def Leppard guitar. I have included a picture and description from Target's website. The only question: is it compatable for Rock Band?


Lastly, we need something to get excited about again, like the Get to Know 'Ems, or the Official K of C Song (which, I believe is "Immigrant Song") anybody got any ideas?

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving!


Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at the
Knights of Cydonia!
Gobble! Gobble! Gobble!

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Knights of Cydonia: Get to Know 'Em (DammerWillEatU)

This is the final instalment of the first round of KofC interviews. I am sure we will have another round so everyone put your thinking caps on and think of a new line of standard questions. The interview with Dammer has a lot of inside jokes which I do not currently understand but hopefully this weekend they can be explained to me or recreated. On that note on to the interview...

Name: Jeff Hellman

Age: 22

If you could go out drinking with any 3 people, alive or dead, who would they be? The Luther College Drinking Team (LCDT - there is no I in team so we count as one entity), Andre the Giant, Alberto Salazar

Same question, replace drinking with video games: My 3 brothers. Simple Mario Partys turn into brawls, FPS games turn into shouting matches, my brother Mike is bad at vids and gets all whiny and quits, my brother Ben is better than me and it pisses me off. Surprisingly RPG is the only type that we can peacefully play at once. [Editor's Note: Three dudes playing RPGs is gay]

Halo 1, 2, or 3? It depends. If I'm looking for a game where the difference between horrible and good is the biggest I would choose Halo 1. One pistol, one spawn camp, three shots, one dead nubblet. If I'm looking for a game where there is excellent balance and even the best of players can get owned (most often by a nub with a mauler) then I want Halo 3. The thing I like best about Halo 3 is the variety of ways you can kill someone, and the variety of places to kill them from. That and it has matchmaking. If I had to choose right now what I wanna play I would choose Halo 3. Nostalgia, however, insists that I play a prolonged session of Halo 1 a couple of times each year. Notice Halo 2 didn't crop up in this discussion.

Preferred Halo 3 weapon? Battle Rifle. If the flamethrower didn't inevitably kill you it would be sweet.

Least favorite weapon? Plasma Pistol.

Preferred Halo 3 vehicle? Warthog, with the mongoose a close second. The bad thing about the mongoose is that I'm always so tempted to just drive instead of engage battle.
Least favorite vehicle? Brute Chopper because every time I use it I fail. That being said, a game of Demo with Brute Choppers would rock.

Greatest Halo memory? There really are too many to count. I think most of the ones that stand out to me have already been mentioned in Pollo's and SB's interviews. A personal favorite of mine is getting third behind SB/Pollo and the Cupids at a MegaLAN Halo 2 tourney, with nothing but myself and the worst Halo player ever as a teammate. You know you're in for a hard time when your teammate doesn't shoot and just throws grenades with the hope of getting someone before he dies.

Worst? Every time I wanted to play by myself and Cody (see player mentioned above) joined so I couldn't play ranked and I had to be on what was inevitably a losing team.

What is your favorite beverage? If I'm drinking with lots of people a couple red beers for taste and then a lot of 'Stones or Coors Lights to get drunk off of. If I'm drinking on a weeknight with just Pete, Sunset Blush. If I'm drinking on a Monday it's the Hawk. Seriously though, a cold Coors Light handed to me by a member of the LCDT, regardless of whether it's in or out of a boot.

What is your best drinking accomplishment? Individually sub-5:00 club. Teamwise, 5 guys, 5 sub-5:00's to come through in the clutch and close out Beerfest.

What size and type of TV do you play on? 46 inch Sharp Aquos. The same as Puyo's. One dead pixel in the left black sidebar of a 4:3 display. [Editor's Note: I have a dead pixel, and it accounts for at least one death every game, I am sure of it.]

What are your halo 3 strengths? My recent play has suggested I am learning to have a better K/D. Of course, with Daymonster in team doubles racking up the assists it helps. My overall strength I think is finding nubs and defeating them royally. If you look at games where we play horrible players I tend to lead. If you look at games where we play good players I'm middle of the pack.

Weaknesses? I'm learning to get out of this one, but I charge more than I should and I don't think through my grenades. I tend to throw two right after another in the same spot instead of anticipating where the enemy is moving to avoid the first throw.

Now that you are dating someone where you work what "Office couple" are you most like. Pam and Jim, Dwight and Angela, or Oscar and his boyfriend? Pam and Jim, only she has the same job as me so she has the same salary (unless my company doesn't pay women as much).

When can the Knights meet your new girlfriend? As soon as she's around when they visit me or I visit them. Last time I was with the Knights she wasn't considered my girlfriend. I offered the Poison concert but she has plans....which sucks cause now no one will take care of me when I'm blitzed off of free drinks. [Editor's Note: Rando Poison Fan Chick?]

Are you going to follow fellow KofC member Tilla and play house? Are you asking if I'm going to buy a house? Get married? Literally play house like a 4 year old? To all of the above: not in the immediate future.

Why do you look like such a wiener? Why do they still have this picture up?

How was it living with Josey for two years? It shoulda been more. Sophomore year took a turn for the worse and split us up, but we learned from it and became stronger friends. The trial run where Josey basically lived in my room J-Term junior year (the best month of life ever) solidified that we coulda co-existed. (speaking of why has nobody else mentioned that J-Term on this blog yet?) In the end I roomed with the horrible Halo player mentioned above and I have far more complaints about that than I ever will about Josey.

Do you think Squatting Bear has recently hid any fruit in your room? Probably. I'd rather have fruit than a bowl of shit though any day of the week.

Follow up question, if he did, how would you retaliate? Past history says I would probably take a Fosters and pour it all over his floor in a fit of drunken rage (I'm good for one of those every year), then take a sidewalk ice scraper, threaten him and then use it on myself causing a huge bruise on my quad. Following this I would calm down and drink more.

What is the best part about living in Owatonna? Proximity to everything. I'm 2 hours from home, an hour from Josey, SB, and Pollo, 2 hours from Luther (debatable about whether that's good or not).

How does it feel to be a victim of Asian rape chick? I go to my survivor meetings so it doesn’t feel as bad as it used to.

Please explain your legendary nasty farts: After drinking beer, my stomach exudes pure horribleness.

Favorite King's Cup Moment? Every time Dave was accused of playing guitar for girls. Close second, Josey refusing to say “Big Guy’s gay” after every sentence as dictated by the rule master.

Nel or Kay? To pwn? Kay by far. To eliminate from existence? Kay.

Pablito Gets Box Of His Own

Having scrapped and saved and worked myself into the ground the past 2 weeks at work, I'd finally collected enough money to get my own Xbox 360. Just having the dough wasn't the only hurdle to overcome either. It started on Friday when The Daymonster forwarded me a deal regarding getting a free copy of Halo 3 with the purchase of a 360. All you had to do was register your box's serial number and put a code into this website and your free copy would arrive in the mail in a couple short weeks! I was immediately excited, perhaps too excited. After thinking about it for the rest of the work day I decided I'd buy one online since my company has a partnership with Microsoft and I could get a small discount through the glorious Employee Purchase Program. Unfortunately my computer froze near the end of the day and I didn't want to take the time to reboot and risk missing the bus.

I tortured myself all weekend mulling it over in my head again and again. Should I try to get one online on Monday? I can find a ride to Best Buy, should I just get one in the store? Should I get one at all?

Monday came and I arrived at work like any other day. I logged into my computer, checked my email, went to the company intranet and ordered a 360... A wave of hysteria rushed over me. I just ordered my own Xbox! I chose the fastest shipping, it said it would take 2-3 days. That's not long! I'm a bit more patient than Daymonster, I'll be fine until then. I quickly got a confirmation email of my purchase and not long after that I got an email confirming the item was on backorder: "Please allow 7 to 14 days for more inventory to become available."

There was only one appropriate thing to say: "That's unacceptable."

I scoured the website for a number I could call to cancel my order but it was all automated. The only option was to try to cancel via email. I submitted my request and as of the time of this writing I still haven't gotten a response. I can only hope in 2 weeks a second Xbox doesn't arrive at my door.

Monday night was uneventful. I suspect other KofC members played a few casual Halo matches while I, as Valencia, got knocked out of the Champion's League quarter final stage (in penalties!) by Roma in Football Manager. I still had no idea what I was to do about my Xbox situation.

Tuesday arrived and I sent in a few more emails requesting my order be canceled. Then I made plans with my brother to go to Best Buy after work and get a 360 the sure-fire way. 3:00, alright the day is almost over. I'll just go to bathroom to waste some time. While on the toilet, darkness... the lights go out. Is this a joke? Who shuts the lights off in here? The power had gone out, I realized, after finishing up and finding my way outside. It started back up when I got to my desk so I turned on my PC to get back to work. A little less than an hour later... darkness again! I can't work in this environment! In the middle of a text message to my brother to pick me up immediately, the power comes back on and I think better of trying to sneak out early. 5:00 comes and goes. Where is Turner? He was supposed to come get me 15 minutes ago. I call him and he's in the middle of an online poker tourney. Pretty good excuse, I can't argue with that. He promises to pick me up at the break in 9 minutes and go back to his house for him to finish the tourney and afterwards we'd head to Best Buy. Back at his house I sit there half watching him play, half watching TV. He starts getting excited; he's almost in the money! He opens up the tourney lobby and there's 19 players left and the top payout is $23.50?! What the fuck! I sat here waiting for you to finish this tourney worth a couple bucks? I throw a $10 bill at him and say I'll buy him out if we can go to Best Buy RIGHT NOW.

Finally, we're in the store and there's enough copies of Rock Band for all the customers to buy two! I grab one along with a 360 and Halo 3. I felt so relieved to have them in my cart, hand the cashier my card and have them all paid for. I ride back to my apartment with the Rock Band box buckled safely in the backseat.

Upon coming home, we set about the business of unpacking everything, which took a while and made quite a mess that I'll hopefully have cleaned up by Sunday. Rock Band is amazing. I never imagined the drums would be so fun. I promise I'll stick to guitar for the KofC band though, otherwise we'd just be a drumline. After Turner left I spent a little time getting my connection set up and Gamertag recovered and signed into Halo 3 where Josey and Daymonster were waiting for me. The comforting environment of my own apartment and probably the fact that I didn't have to share a screen was conducive to my play. Here are my stats from last night compared to the (last time I played at SB and Josey's):

Record: 7-2-1 (5-8)
K/D: 109/103 (172/191)

Quite an improvement I should say!

Supplement:
Not even 30 seconds after posting this I received an email from Microsoft Care Team alerting me that my online order had, per my request, indeed been canceled.

Could this ending be any happier?

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Heroic Map Pack

This is exciting news. The three maps known as, Art Vandelay, Prince of Dorkness and Jodrell Bank are now officially named and have release dates. The three maps, (Rat's Nest, Foundry, and Standoff) will be available for DLC on Xbox Live on 12/11/07 (About 3 weeks from now).


When the maps do drop (haha, do drop) on Xbox Live, they will cost 800 Bill Gates Bucks (Microsoft Points) or about $10. That's $3.33 a map which might be kind of expensive if you think about it but next time you go out to the bar, if you don't buy that last beer, you got your map for free. It's mathematics.

Also, when some of us have the maps and other's (Pablito) won't don't worry you aren't restricted to playing them in custom matches only. The day the maps come out there will be a special matchmaking list with the new maps. This is where everyone on Live that has purchased the maps will be able to play them (not sure if these will be ranked or social, but I am guessing social). In addition to that, in regular match making, the Xbox Live Gods will be able to tell if everyone has the new maps and will add them to the hopper accordingly.

Let's take a look at one of the new maps: Rat's Nest (Formerly: Prince of Dorkness)


While this picture doesn't show much, (as the majority of this map is inside) it gives you an idea of the type of mood this map will convey. Pretty much the only indoor multiplayer level its surprisingly large according too Bungie. It's meant for 6-16 players and features a large playing area but lots of close quarters for small battles.

Foundry (Formerly: Art Vandelay)


It's hard to get a good feel on the size of this map by the picture and it looks completely different than any other Halo multiplayer map yet (at least I think so). According to the creator's it's almost completely customizable all of the crates are movable and the map can be completely redone. I don't know how much of that the KofC will be doing but hopefully it will be a good smaller (4-12 players) map that we don't veto constantly like Snowbound or Epitaph.

Standoff (Formerly: Jodrell Bank)


This is by far the map I am most excited about. It's like a more rounded/squished Blood Gultch. It's a semi symmetrical map with two "labyrinth like" bases as each end. Mongoose's and Warthogs will be present and Turrets on the top of each base. Looks like a pretty good Classic CTF map to me. The map is said to be good for anywhere from 4-16 players in games like CTF, Team Slayer and Assault. One of the doors (presumably the most dangerous is open by a switch, similar to the lever in Zanzibar/Last Resort). Also in Forge the Man Cannon is available, should be fun.

There they are the newest addition to the Halo 3 collection of Maps... Thoughts?

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Poison + Booze = Fun



Squatting Bear and I are going to this event on New Year's Eve. Poison will be playing, and there will be free drinks all night. You all should come, please let us know if you want to because we are going to get the tickets in a day or two. Its not far from where we live so we will just crash here after. Face it you don't have better plans, and this is really sweet!

Friday, November 16, 2007

Knights of Cydonia: Get to Know 'Em (Pablito Neal)

While Neal's answers are often short and without explanation, we get a interesting look into the mysterious creature that is, Pablito.

Enjoy the Interview. Please post any questions or clarifications in the comments section below.

Name: Toby Neal

Age: 22

If you could go out drinking with any 3 people, alive or dead, who would they be? Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha

Same question, replace drinking with soccer: George Best, Johann Cruyff, Ferenc Puskás

Same question, replace soccer with video games: Me on lead, Daymonster on drums, Dammer on bass (I understand he's really good though I've never seen him play) and 'Howlin' Pelle Almqvist with the mic. P.S. We're playing Rock Band

Halo 1, 2, or 3?
1, 3, 2

Preferred Halo 3 weapon? Shotgun

Least favorite weapon? Plasma Pistol

Preferred Halo 3 vehicle? Ghost

Least favorite vehicle? Banshee

Best Halo memory? Getting the leaked French Halo 2 and training nonstop so I could be amazing on the release date. [Editor's note: define 'amazing']

Worst? Constantly being cheated by standby-ers on Halo 2 Live

What is your favorite beverage? Guinness

What is your best drinking accomplishment? The vast amount of local beer brands I've had in the places I've traveled, also getting and drinking absinthe in the Czech Republic.

What size and type of TV do you play on? SB's giant TV

Why do you not own a 360? Mainly a money issue, not pulling in Administrative Assistant dough. [Editor's Note: It's team assistant, ass.]

What are your Halo 3 strengths? Making a game plan.

Weaknesses? Sniping

You just purchased a cat... does that mean you are gay? No, I have a girlfriend, but she's from another city, you don't know her (and she's a model, blah blah blah)

If you could be any of these Toby Neals which would you be. Techno DJ from Australia, Homeopathic practitioner in Toronto, English Photographer/Writer, or 16year old calculator Mario level maker?
The 16 year old calculator Mario level maker! Can you believe how many people have downloaded that? It's a tragedy I never uploaded the sequel and its 3 versions: Ultimate, Hard and Wyatt. [Editor's Note: My levels have been downloaded more][Interviewee's Note: Only 1 of your 3 levels had more downloads than mine and Ultimate World II would be wildly popular had it been available. I think my TI Graph Link is lying in a box somewhere...]

Which is scarier to you; Figuring out how to get out of Squatting Bear's basement with Josey, without running into Unky Deb on Sunday morning, or your computer freezing in the middle of a Championship Manager Match? I save often in CM so escaping SB's basement is much scarier. It's not that she gets angry, just disappointed. Makes you feel way worse.

Starting at what salary would you quit your current job and play Championship Manager 40 hours a week? How much would I need to live on? Maybe $15,000. Do I get overtime when I inevitably play more than 40?

Once you start drinking heavy with other clan members, what do you think is your average amount of time before you fall asleep unnoticed? 2 hours.

Follow up question, how have you passed out early so many times but avoided the wrath of the sharpie? (especially when Unky is around) I haven't drank around Unky much. I've been sharpied once in my life, in Prague by some Aussies.

How much stuff are you downloading of Bit torrent right now? I know you are! CDs: The Hives, Ingrid Michaelson, Tokyo Police Club and DVD: Almost Famous

What percentage is porn? 0%, use youporn.com so my hard drive doesn't get too filled up.

Do you think your Austrian GF (who is cool, no attack), your fluency in German, and prolonged and constant returns to both Germany and its neighboring country Austria, raise any questions of your loyalty to the USA (K of C) drinking team? (specifically as we train to "compete in a super secret international competition to take on the Germans for national pride!") My loyalty to the USA politically is pretty questionable but to my clan-mates it's unwavering. If we were competing against the Germans/Austrians in a drinking competition I'd spy on their teams like Cherry did in Beerfest except I'd do my job right and hopefully not get executed.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

ZMOG!!

Not to take away from Daymonsters post, which you should read below this one. But I am in the library, and wanted to give myself a 5 min break before I read some super sick long case. So I went surfing the net for Beerfest stuff, like I need the temptation, man I am stupid but anyway, check this out.

I think I might prefer the type we got (for a number of reasons), but man o man I want to give one of these a shot, bad!!!!!!

Daymonster Update:

The boot pictured had our original logo, but the good people at the Knights of Columbus got mad and made us change it. :(

I didn't want to put up a whole new post about this so I thought I would just add this.

Josey got me thinking, what about a KofC boot for our annual holiday fundraiser? I looked into custom boots and it would run about $80 USD. Steep I know.

This above picture is just a prototype as you can tell by the poor paint job. But it's an idea. And like most ideas 22-24 year old guys have, we will get all excited about it and never see it through. But hey, it's more fun that not getting excited about it. Right?

Thursday's Notes

I don't want to do a full post right now as everyone is still concerned with the Official KofC Song vote. It's neck and neck and looks like Tilla will be the deciding factor. Dammer, please inform Tilla that the polls close at midnight tonight.

But life goes on and there have been some interesting news that has popped up in the last few days I think we should be aware of.

Rockband Downloadable Content
Rock Band, as you all should know by now will be released in approximately 109 hours. Which might seem like a long time but that's one sleeping session for Squatting Bear. I already pre-ordered it from GameStop and will be picking it up after work and I drop off my final project for Grad School.

But for those of you who have it pre-ordered from Best Buy you can go to the midnight launch in your area. There is only one in Illinois and it's about an hour from where I live... tempting.

Also, Harmonix and MTV has announced their plans for DLC for Rock Band. Songs are going to be available the day it comes out with each song costing $1.99 (160 Microsoft Points) or a 3 pack for $5.49 (440 Microsoft Points). Some of the bands that will be available will be Metallica, Foreigner and Weezer. The entire list of songs and dates can be seen here.

Internet Connection
So here is a quick story. I scheduled time for an RCN contractor to come out and check on my internet issues. The only time I could do it was from 5-8pm yesterday. I tried to leave early from work but something came up (formatting issues for the KofC site). So I left around 4:50pm and hoped the cable guy would arrive closer to the 8pm side of the time frame.

He wasn't.

He called me at around 5:04pm and asked if I was there. Obviously I wasn't and he said I was going to be charged $79.95 for his time and he wouldn't do anything. Needless to say I flipped out. I was on the bus yelling at the cable dude and told him that he needed to come back and unhook it cause I was switching to DSL immediately. He told me that he couldn't come back and to call RCN to unhook my service.

Anyways to make a very long story a little bit shorter, when I got back to my apartment I called him on the number he called me at and convinced him to come back. He did, apparently he had another no show (how ironic). He added an adapter to my cable that is supposed to regulate the signal that he thought was creating the problem. He wouldn't change anything from the outside, much to my anger. But...last night I tried to test to see if it helped. The few games I played online seemed to have no lag but I didn't get a large enough sample size because I couldn't enjoy playing because no KofC members were on.

So anyone up for some lag testing tonight?

Bungie's Weekly Update
I really recomend reading this. It's really interesting and sometimes it's funny. In this week's update they show where the kills and deaths happen on Gaurdian. Like I am sure most of you suspect, the yellow room with the elevator thing is where the majority of the action is. [Editor's note: Unky informed me that the map is of Sniper kills and deaths, it's still interesting though.] Here is the link to where all the weapon heat map. I was waaaay off.

Also, these updates tell you what changes are being made to the matchmaking. Like you might have realized Social Team Doubles is gone and Rocket Race (which sucks btw, but this guy likes it) has taken it's place.

KofC "Juvenile"
Check out the one comment on our video on youtube.

Daymonster Feeling Left Out
I realize that many of the members of KofC date back to the college days where drinking boots to Beerfest was the norm. But I feel out of the loop during these conversations. So with that I offer two solutions.

a. I would like to reminisce about a couple things real quick. Striker '96, TimeSplitters, Open Gym at the Armory, and the Beer Pong summer of '06. There, I got it out of my system.

b. I would like to get super drunk watching Beerfest next weekend with as many of you as possible.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Official KofC Song List For Voting

After much wait and anticipation we have finally received a song from every member (kind of) of the KofC clan. Here are the rules:

Each song's title will be listed by the clan members name and a short (or not so short) reasoning for the song. It could be an explanation from the clan member himself or just a posting of the lyrics. Along with the explanation and title of the song there is obviously the song itself. Click on the arrow to hear each song. (Josey if you edit this post and mess up the code again, I'll kill you, not in real life but I'll betray you once... on purpose.)

Vote for two songs that you like in the comment section and you can't vote for your own. I think that's all of the rules so....on to the songs!

Josey Wales:
Power Station - We Fight For Love







"I will protect you, nothing can hurt you (the flag).
I am a mountain surrounded by your love.
We fight for love.
Somewhere. Somehow. Someone.
I fight with fire (flamethrower), as I watch them conspire, to blow the wold apart,
between the light and the endless fight, you will always be in my heart (sniper rifle).
Somewhere. Somehow. Someone.
We fight for love."
Dissection: Clearly the opening statements of this song reflect the Knights of Cydonia. I think the words and also the solid 80's music sum up our clan. I know I fight for love, I find myself trying a lot harder when there is another clan member in the game, it just means more to me. I really don't like to let my team members or the clan down and I think we all play with a lot of intensity, for similar reasons. Its hard on me anytime I see a teammate die because I feel like I could have done more, it just pisses me off. So if you are like me, and feel that you play with lots of intensity because you fight for love of the other clan members, vote for this song. In a final note I think a solid 80's rock song also says a lot about our clan, many of us enjoy some solid 80's rock, its bad ass music, like our clan!

Unky Warthog:
TuPac - Me Against the World







This selection may come as a surprise to many of you. After all, I am in no way a rap fanatic, but prefer slower, easy-listening/gay types of bands (think Coldplay and Death Cab). However, while perusing my iTunes, I could get over how much this song means to me, and hopefully KofC.
"Can you picture my prophecy?
There ain't no stoppin me
Constantly movin while makin millions"
At first I imagined an invincible (he just got OS, obv) SB strafing with his turret, shooting down nubs while clicking his mouse and winning his house. However, I then realized this could be apply to any KofC member, past or present, though "7-Figures" Daymonster is probably the most likely target.

"Witnessin killings, leavin dead bodies in abandoned buildings
Carries to children cause they're illin
Addicted to killin and the appeal from the cap peelin
Without feelin, but will they last or be blasted?"
B-Buttoning/Rocketing/BRing in High Ground, Last Resort, Construct, Shotty huts (various maps) and simply moving on to new enemies w/o regard for life or limb. It's what we do. We like it and we cannot stop.
"Hard headed bastard"
Josey.

"Maybe he'll listen in his casket -- the aftermath
More bodies being buried -- I'm losing my homies in a hurry
They're relocating to the cemetery
Got me worried, stressin, my vision's blurried"
An epic battle. I see my comrades falling and urging me on through their mics while I spin around erratically, trying desperately to locate the player indicator while being hit with a well-placed flare by the opposing team.

"The question is will I live? No one in the world loves me
I'm headed for danger, don't trust strangers
Put one in the chamber whenever I'm feelin this anger"
At this point all my KofC members are dead. The only person left on my team is some 12-year old girl telling me how good dual plasma rifles are. Fuck. Better reload my shotty.

"Don't wanna make excuses, cause this is how it is
What's the use unless we're shootin no one notices the youth
It's just me against the world baby"
Dead. We did our best, we tried our hardest. That's all you can expect out of KofC, but we'll be back! It's just us against the world (ZOMG 580,000 gamers!).

Pablito Neal:
The Hives - Tick Tick Boom!







"You know I’ve done it before
And I can do it some more
I’ve got my eye on the score
I’m gonna cut through the floor
It’s too late
It’s too soon
Or is it
Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick Tick … Boom!!"
Dissection: The guitar riff and energy of the song gets me fired up to waste noob kids. The title is like a (death) grenade going off and the lyric directly before ('it's too late/it's too soon/or is it) is me wondering 'did I time my throw correctly to get the guy?'

The Daymonster:
Top Gun Theme Techno Remix







I can't really post the lyrics because there aren't any which I think is a good attribute of a theme song. When I hear the opening of the song I imagine all eight of the KofC walking over a hill in one of those slow motion moments in movies. And then when it speeds up, I see short fast clips of us wasting 13 year old nubs and humping their corpses. But that's just me.

I don't need to dissect my song and draw comparisons from each verse to Halo. All I know is that Top Gun represents the type of players we are; always pushing the limit, always testing the boundaries and ALWAYS coming out victoriously.

DammerWillEatU:
Led Zepplin - Immigrant Song







"Ah, ah,
We come from the land of the ice and snow,
From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow.
The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands,
To fight the horde, singing and crying: Valhalla, I am coming!

On we sweep with threshing oar, Our only goal will be the western shore.

Ah, ah,
We come from the land of the ice and snow,
From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow.
How soft your fields so green, can whisper tales of gore,
Of how we calmed the tides of war. We are your overlords.

On we sweep with threshing oar, Our only goal will be the western shore.

So now you'd better stop and rebuild all your ruins, For peace and trust can win the day despite of all your losing. "

Dissection: "We come from the land of the ice and snow" is obviously a reference to everyone wanting to leave Snowbound. "The Hammer of the Gods" is a reference to much Halo lore. What comes to mind first is the Gravity Hammer obviously, but Foehammer crops up in Halo 1 campaign as the call sign of one of the pelican pilots.

The covenant is heavily religious and deems the arbiter as an instrument of the gods to do their holy work. "To fight the horde, singing and crying: Valhalla, I am coming" is clearly a reference to the epic battles that take place on Valhalla, with the horde referring to the opposing team.

"How soft your fields so green, can whisper tales of gore" alludes to how often in Halo there is unnerving silence, or beautiful in-game landscapes. The calm before the storm if you will. So much blood has been spilled, helping the fields of green grow.

"Of how we calmed the tides of war. We are your overlords." This is perhaps the most pivotal piece of the song in reference to Halo play since the KofC is constantly trying to calm the tides of war by defeating the other team and becoming their overlords.

"So now you'd better stop and rebuild all your ruins" The Halo series is built upon ancient forerunner ruins and the beauty of a world in chaos and destruction. After the destruction of the flood much rebuilding needs to be done for both human and covenant.

"For peace and trust can win the day despite of all your losing." Peace is what the KofC strives for in our endless amount of battles, and we use significant amounts of trust in our teammates on the battlefield. Watching Josey's back while he snipes, taking it for granted someone will kill the person you significantly damaged, exacting revenge for your fallen teammate, etc. All your losing just means we win a lot.

The long ahhhhhhh's at various points in the song are indicators of the countless number of foolish players that play as Elites and make a similar noise to the ahhhhh's as their elite dies. It is also what Josey and Tilla sound like when they furiously yell into their mics post-death.

Lastly the song is sweet, and has a certain feel to it conducive to good Halo play. The underlying drum beats gives a sense of calmness but not laziness, adding focus to your play instead of uncontrolled chaos.

TILLA1234:
Priestess - Lay Down







"Lay down, this pain will be long gone
With the absence of your breath
I know that you loved me
But I can't love you when you're dead
So I'll leave you in that coffin for God
And I'll leave you in the dirt
Lay down
Leave you'll be lonely
I know I won't go
Lay down
Sleep you'll be lonely
I know I won't go
Lay down before me
I know I won't go
It's not my turn."
[Editor's note: Tilla didn't give me any reason and from the lyrics it's not obvious to me. But I should point out, this song is on Guitar Hero III and its really fun to play.]

Squatting Bear:
Beerfest Theme Song - Wasted






"We all got wasted, drunk and wasted."

Dissection: While KofC is a Halo clan, we must not forget our storied history. Among us, we have several sub 5 minute booters, and one man who nearly broke 1 minute, which has been said to be harder to break than the 4 minute mile. I feel it is important that we recognize this important part of KofC's past through our theme song. Also, choosing the Beerfest anthem as our theme song will give all of us hope that one day we shall return to the glory days, where all we do is watch beerfest and drink copious amounts of booze all day. Many of us are in tough situations right now (Daymonster doesn't like his job, Josey is slaving away at law school, I am unemployed, etc.), and to put it simply, Beerfest Anthem is a song of hope. Hope that we all need to continue to get out of bed every day

LocoPollo:
Brad Paisley - Online







"I'm a scifi fanatic
A mild asthmatic
And I've never been to second base
But there's whole 'nother me
That you need to see
Go checkout MySpace
Online
I'm out in Hollywood
I'm 6 foot 5 and I look damn good
Even on a slow day
I could have a three way
Chat with two women at one time
I'm so much cooler online
Yeah, I'm cooler online
I'm so much cooler online
Yeah, I'm cooler online
Yeah, I'm cooler online"

Dissection: We are cooler online.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Knights of Cydonia: Get to Know 'Em (Tilla)


Name: Tyler Buchardt

Age: 22 and 3/4 years of age

Sex: Yes Please!

If you could go out drinking with any 3 people, alive or dead, who would they be? Your mom, Cortona, and Bob Ross

Same question, replace drinking with video games: The angry German kid who was caught on camera cursing and screaming whilst playing video games (http://youtube.com/watch?v=kBVmfIUR1DA), Jim Cramer from MSNBC's Mad Money, and Sergeant Major Avery J. Johnson

What was your Halo 1 name, who did you frequently play with on the Luther network, and did you ever encounter Josey, SB, LocoPollo, or DammerWillEatU? If so what were your immediate impressions? My Halo 1 name was DIPSHIT. Unfortunately I was unable to play any Luther network games because LUTHER SUCKS!!! The only people I ever played with were Christian Kline [Editor's Note: Ramathorn], Pants, and some of their other buddies. I guess I played against Pollo a few times. My initial thoughts of him were, "Who is this dude and why doesn't he have a life?" (Referring to the game me and my buddies played him 3 v 1 and got pwned).

Halo 1, 2, or 3? 3, 1, ……………………………………………………………………..2

Preferred Halo 3 weapon? My trusty rusty BR (he he he)

Least favorite weapon? NEEDLER!!! There's no way that gun is that powerful!!! [Editor's Note: IS TOO!!!]

Preferred Halo 3 vehicle? You can't go wrong with the reliable Warthog. Fun to drive and even more fun to lazer the S#$@ out of them as the opposing team flees towards their base in a frantic game of CTF.

Least favorite vehicle? Brute Chopper. Enough said!!!

Best Halo memory? I would have to say that my best Halo memory would be purchasing the Special Edition Halo Xbox with a fresh copy of Halo and 2 transparent green controllers. After pawning off of my friend's Xbox for quite some time, I was glad to finally have my own copy and play whenever I wanted to.

Worst? None. I bad day of Halo is far better than a good day at work. [Editor's Note: It's true Sandy.]

What is your favorite energy drink? Definately Von Dutch. Unfortunately, I cannot find it anywhere...Bastards!

What is your favorite pop/soda? GAME FUEL!!!

What happened when you tried to stop drinking energy drinks and soda? Massive headache! My body could not suffice without the taste of pure, unadulturated caffine/sugar. [Editor's Note: Your level of irritability was off the charts, much like a crackless crack addict.]

You are given the opportunity to maim one single person from the Luther community of students. Who do you choose and why? MATT REYHONS!!! Need I say more!

You recently purchased a house, what is the first part of this house you are going to spend a large amount of your earnings on making cool? No doubt about it...I must have a theater room.

What is your current video gaming setup (TV, Audio, etc.)? Well lets just put it this way...at least I have a color TV... [Editor's Note: It could be worse. DisabilityDan had a 9 inch screen he played 4 player on.]

What are your Halo 3 strengths? Sitting back and not attacking when our team has the lead.

Weaknesses? Going into an ambush all by myself when my team is down...

If you could only eat from the Luther cafeteria for the rest of your life (heaven forbid) what would you eat, and in what ways would you make use of stroganoff's various forms (casserole, sandwhich, noodles, salad, etc.) since you obviously would not eat it? I would probably wander my way over to the pasta line and pray to God that they actually have Garlic and Herb sauce. Then I would ask for as many noodles as they can fit on my tray and just tell them to dump out the whole pan of Garlic and Herb sauce. After that, I would find my way over to the Grill line and pick up 10 Itallian Grilled Chicken patties to top off my tray of pasta delisciousness. The stroganoff would come in handy when filling my neighbor's drawers with whatever nasty concoction I can get ahold of. Those loud ass douschbags will be quiet now!

Rank the top 3 futbol teams you are a fan of. Arsenal,.......................Man U, then AC Milan

Rank the top 3 futbol players you are a fan of. Thierry Henry, Wayne Rooney, and Peter Crouch

You can have a drink at any drinking establishment in the world. What's your drink, where are you drinking it, and in what kind of glass/container? I would have to say a pint of Guinness at any pub in Ireland. If you have not been to Ireland, you are missing out.

Seeing as both you and LocoPollo are red-heads, what is your estimated arrival of red hair losing it's recessivity and becoming a dominant gene? Does it give you any advantage in Halo play? It already is dominant...you better watch yourselves!

I Feel So Dirty

I have a confession to make. I... um... cheated on Halo 3 last night. And not in the way we always do with Guitar Hero or the occasional game of Madden. I mean those are different genres, it's acceptable. Does your girlfriend get mad at you if you sleep with a midget? No. Obviously not, they provide different experiences.

But I did the unthinkable. I bought another FPS. I know, I know, it's terrible. But it gets even worse... It was really fucking good.

I purchased Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for a couple of reasons. One, the reviews were really good and two after I beat campaign the other night and Guitar Hero III a week ago, I have nothing to play by myself during the slow 6-10pm slot after work and before the Knights of Cydonia get online.

The last few nights I have tried to play with the KofC but either they have betrayed me or the internet superweb highway has been in a traffic jam. The reviews I read said it had an awesome (yet short) campaign mode so I decided to buy it.

Last night I only played for an hour or so, beat a couple missions and then quit to try out multiplayer. Unfortunately I hadn't signed in so all my progress was lost. It's really depressing because even thought it was really fun, I don't want to play the first two levels again.

Anyways, I only played one multiplayer map but it was a blast. It's pretty different from Halo. Often in Halo you shoot without zooming in (except BR and snipes), with COD4 you are constantly aiming down the site as you strafe and dodge. You can pull out your pistol really fast so it's often used to finish off a guy after you had a battle with your AK or M14. In addition to the fun gun battles there are some really cool things that happen when you level up as you play. You get more options for classes when you enter a game, and eventually you can pick your class (you get to pick your starting and secondary weapon).

As you level up you get more attributes like the ability to enter last stand mode. Essentially when you get shot you fall down and pull out your pistol and you get a second or two to ice the guy that just killed you.

Another cool thing is when you die, it shows you the "Kill Cam" that shows what happened from your killers point of view. It's great to see how dumb of a move you just made or to see where the sniper is hiding that just nailed you in the face.

I could see how all of this might sound lame but really it's executed brilliantly and I can see how this is a game that would (similar to Halo) have unlimited replayability.

Unfortunately, the reload button is the X and not the LB so I definitely through more than my fair share of arrant grenades. In fact someone called my Unky in a game, it was quite embarrassing.

I am not saying that KofC should move to COD4 (although they do have organized clan matches) I am just saying that it's a great game and I will keep playing it as long as you guys keep betraying me on Halo.

Also there must be a bunch of Nubs playing COD4. Here was my line from my first game:

12 Kills, 7 Assists, 4 Deaths.

KofC Official Song Info
We are still waiting for a SB, Tilla and Loco addition. If they don't want to participate that's fine but please let us know. I have it all ready to go up but I need at least two more.
Also here are the rules that we (mostly me and Pablito) decided on. They are open for discussion but we thought it would be best to post the songs and possibly a one or two sentence explanation on how the song conveys KofC attitude.
Then we can all vote in the comments section. You can vote for two songs (in no particular order) but you cannot vote for your own song. Whom ever has the most votes wins the title as official song of the KofC.

Monday, November 12, 2007

Miscellaneous Monday

Well, it's Monday.

I don't mean to detract from poll-happy Josey Wales' post about the pressing beer issue. But I had some time last night after being betrayed by Squatting Bear, Josey Wales, and Tilla all in one night. But I won't bore you with a post about that, although it was very frustrating. Instead, I finished campaign. The last level was probably one of the best in any video game, and you could easily make an entire game out of it. The actual ending was pretty lame if you ask me. All I will tell you is that I guarantee Halo 4 will have a similar beginning tutorial as Halo 1 had.

After I finished campaign, I went to the theatre to watch some game footage. Then an idea came to me. What if you took a few screenshots from a couple angles and pieced them together. You could definitely make it 3D. Anyway I decided to try it out real quick before I went to bed and this is what I came up with.

It's Dammer getting his ass blown away by a 'nade in Guardian. Click on the image to see it. Obviously it's not great as it is a major pain in the ass to upload the image, unhook my xbox, go online to bungie.net and then piece it together. But it's a start and I have some good ideas for the future.


Or if you prefer, you can bust out those old 3D glasses and click on this one.

Two shitty Halo players find love
I also came across this post last night. To be honest if I was going to ask someone to marry me during Halo, I would probably just betray them and hump their corpse. But I am old fashioned.

How could you marry a girl with a lousy .82 social Kill/Death ratio? Oh, probably because he has a just as bad .82 ranked K/D. Another thing that's fishy about this, as her screen shots of the "Marry Me?" event is different than his. In her picks the M in 'Me' is made out of covenant rifles, and in his it's made out of snipers. I am going on record in saying this is a major publicity stunt and I will only believe it if they have their wedding on top or red base at Valhalla on Xbox Live.

KofC Theme Song Information
So I narrowed my choices down to two songs. Unky has emailed me the mp3 of his choice, but I am still waiting on everyone else's (besides Josey, and Pablito). I am super pumped about this so please send me some songs asap.

I realize it's about 10:30am and thus will not hear from Squatting Bear for another 3-5 hours, but the rest of you have no excuse.

Rock Band Watch
Less than 180 hours until Rock Band. It's a drum off!

K of C Likes Beer, But Not Empty

You voted and the votes are in. It was a close race but imported beer was victorious. It a surprising turn of events, Keystone Light and Coors Light two old staples for K of C members, were defeated. K of C members have fancy tastes preferring imported beers to the best domestics the USA can offer, i.e. Keystone and Coors, brewed a mile above sea level, and with an amazing frost brewed liner to keep beer cold.

Some how only two good men voted for empty, shocking and reveling, but true. For all of you close followers of the K of C blog rest assured a new drinking poll will appear later today.


Final unrelated note, The amazing and super talented Bret Michaels and Poison will be performing on new year’s eve. Tickets include a night of solid rock and all the booze you can drink, I plan on being in attendance, I hope other K of C members will be joining.

Friday, November 9, 2007

Daymonster to Enter Pinewood Derby

As many of you may know the company I work for often has competitions and get together events on a weekly basis. Next Friday is no different. Apparently for the past twelve years they have been having a classic Pinewood Derby race in the office. We pick up one of six different kits and we can modify them except for certain aspects (rules will be posted below)

Here is my car kit I picked up.


The kit comes with a wooden block, four wheels,two axels, some metal weights and various accessories. The accessories include like some fake pipes and decals. I do not plan on using the stupid decals and stuff.

Here is my simple vision for what it will be like.

Essentially I am going with the KofC colors and possibly the crest (which might draw some interesting looks from people at work). Pretty much the same body style as the kit as I don't feel like sanding and for 40 feet I don't think aerodynamics will play a key role. (plus my wind tunnel is on the fritz again) Feel free to discuss/criticize my theory in the comment section.

What I think will have the biggest impact on The Daymonster Car's success will be the weighting and the calibration of the wheels. I plan on putting the weights as low as possible near the back of the car, while maintaining enough clearance on the track to roll smoothly. Also I need the wheels and center of gravity to be perfectly straight as to keep The Daymonster Car from going side to side or rubbing against the track walls.

Here is a crude drawing of my weighting plans.

So that's basically my car idea. Any tips would be great. Especially where I can find dry graphite lubricant for the axles and wheels.

Here are the basic rules for the cars:

1. Maximum car size, including wheels, is 7" long, 2 ¾" wide.
2. Minimum care width between wheels is 1 ¾".
3. Minimum clearance between car and track is 3/8".
4. Maximum car weight is 5 ounces (142 grams). Metal or wood may be added.
5. No wheel bearings, bushings, springs, starting devices, loose or moving weights or parts are allowed.

Cars that do not meet specifications may be disqualified. Wheels and axles should be the same on all cars in the race. For further details, a rulebook is available for your viewing pleasure.

There are a bunch of other competitors in this and some of them are engineers and physicists. One of the consultants is having some people from Motorola help him. While this probably means I am not going to win, it also makes it that much sweeter if I beat the odds and pull out a victory.

Here are some of the names of the cars I am competing against. GRRL power, B Sizzle Crash, Mystery Car, Shadow and The 'Mag' Mile.

Thoughts on design, physics, chances of victory, etc.?
________________________________________


Also, on a completely unrelated topic, I made this lame video today during work. Keep in mind I made it with MS Paint and Windows Movie Maker. I wanted the person with the guitar to be Master Chief but I haven't gotten that far yet. I think the concept could be funny but it's tough to do. Not a bad box image though eh?


Official KofC Song Information

As you can see I am a genius and got this to work, and it works so beautifully. I need to have the mp3 of the songs that we want to vote on. So please send them to me so we can get the poll going for over the weekend. This might be a little ambitious.

Here are a couple examples of some songs and their streaming audio. Just click on the play arrow (If you have stupid IE, you might have to click twice).

Power Station - We Fight For Love: (This Song Rocks!)









Some other random song I had on my work computer:







Thursday, November 8, 2007

Knights of Cydonia: Get to Know 'Em (Squatting Bear)

Although Squatting Bear can be quite elusive (read: lazy). He by far had the quickest turn around of interview questions of any KofC interviewees. Which we can only assume that he had a few minutes while the oven was preheating (which we all agreed is a big myth). Here is the interview.

Name: Peter Christensen (AKA: Squatting Bear, SB, Bumbass)

Age: 22

How many hours a day do you sleep/hibernate?
I'd say I average about 10 hours of sleep per day. Though some days it can be up to 12-14 hours.

If you could go out drinking with any 3 people, alive or dead, who would they be?
Any 3 members of the Luther drinking team, watching Beerfest, chugging boots.

Same question, replace drinking with poker:
Indian poker in the basement featuring MC, Unky Warthog, and Dane Christensen.

Halo 1, 2, or 3?
Tough one, I really do enjoy Halo 3. I'll have to go Halo 1, then 3, then far behind is 2.

Preferred Halo 3 weapon?
Turret.

Least favorite weapon?
Brute Shot. There are worse weapons, but I'm not tempted to pick them up like I am with the Brute Shot. Also the Spartan Laser, I think I have like 3 lifetime kills with the laser.

Preferred Halo 3 vehicle?
Ghost, hands down.

Least favorite vehicle?
Banshee. It's really annoying when the opposing team gets it.

Best Halo memory?
10 hour halo 2 game mentioned in Puyo's interview. Communicating with other teams during freshmen year of college via the message board outside the cafeteria because there was no other way to find out who they were.

Worst?
Getting plasma pistoled-battle rifled in Halo 2.

As the only brother duo in the KofC, is there any chance Dane might join the ranks?
Seems unlikely, DC is a busy man with work, poker, and a gf. Never say never though.

What did you miss most while on your death bed at the hospital? Poker, KofC or Rose?
KofC, no doubt. [Editor's Note: Lies.]

What happened more often in college? Attending class, waking up before noon, or being sober past 8 on a Fri/Sat night?
Well, none of these happened often, that's for sure. I guess I did occasionally have to go to class to turn in a paper or take a test though, whereas I was never up before noon or sober on a weekend.

What is your general diet?
I only eat the good foods. I eagerly await the day when it is finally revealed that vegetables are in fact poisonous, as I have known for many years.

Squatting Bear (right) and Josey Wales arguing about who will be calling Domino's
What is your favorite beverage?
Redbull.

What is your favorite pop/soda? (Redbull is not pop/soda)
All the novelty mountain dews are delicious, I rank them: GameFuel, PitchBlack, LiveWire, CodeRed [Editor's Note: Where is Blue Shock, Baja Blast, and Pitch Black II in these rankings?]

What is your best drinking accomplishment?
I'm a proud member of the sub 5:00 boot club. I was the second man to achieve this, behind the legendary Josey Wales. Also that one summer me and Sven owned pretty hard at beer pong a couple nights a week.

How many times did you have to watch Rounders to acquire your poker skills?
I had watched Rounders 10 times, but on the 11th time, things just clicked, and then I got all the monies.

How much would you have to be paid to work at a regular job in an office?
I would work a typical office job for $300/hr, I think. I've never had a real job so I don't know for sure how bad it would be, but I fear the worst. However for $300/hr I would at least attempt the job, I would not even try for anything less.

What would you rather have, Hovercraft, Personal Helicopter, Non-Broken Marlboro Mini Dirt bike?
Tempting to go with the hovercraft, but I gotta stick with the personal helicopter, otherwise known as the air scooter. I will one day acquire said vehicle, mark my words.

What is the best part about living with Josey?
Drinking and Halo teammate just feet away.

Worst?
He doesn't drink or play Halo anymore.

What size and type of TV do you play on?
65" Mitsubishi 1080P DLP.

What are your halo 3 strengths?
I own in the ghost, and unselfishness, as I usually leave the good weapons for others to take!

Weaknesses?
Endurance while playing, sometimes get impatient.

What activity do you prefer, baking, knitting, or scrap booking?
Baking, obviously.