Having been off work for the past week, I've had more time to be a little prolific with blog posting. I also had some time to do some reading and video game playing. I finally finished reading Marley & Me, a book about a hyper and destructive lab. The book was a gift from my mother in law last December. Having a dog that's half lab myself (the other half is Sharpei) that acts similar I found the story very relatible. The book followed the story of a news paper columnist and his wife building a family and choosing a dog as part of that. The couple had fond memories of obedient dogs from their childhood. What they chose would turn out to be an uncontrollable Lab, hyperactive, undisciplined and very destructive. While my dog, Dixie, was never quite as crazy as Marley (Marley was able to break out of metal crates, drag heavy furniture he was tied to, destroy drywall) there were definite similarities. Reading the book gave me an appreciation of my crazy dog.
Dixie is somewhat large but not as big as a regular Lab. We got her in 1999 and was named after the Jeep that Daisy Duke drove in the original Dukes of Hazzard TV series. Over time, she has garnered a number of nicknames, like "Doodle", "Suede Face" and "Major Hoolihan". There are other nicknames, but they are meant in fun (like "Bucket Head"). She has been very energetic for years though she is slowing down a little bit now. Like Marley, Dixie is a beloved member of the family and is the undisputed princess of the household. She is friendly, but not cuddly and is very clingy to people. Also like Marley, Dixie becomes destructive when left alone as Dixie has eaten parts or all of trunks, blankets and walls. She is very stubborn and is difficult to discipline. But, despite her faults she is very loveable and has more friends in the neighborhood than me or my wife. She's nuts, but she's ours!
Another gift I've recently had time to invest in is PS2's Rainbow Six Lockdown. A gift from my cousin, Rainbow Six is part of the Tom Clancy series of video games. The game is about being a sniper and/or operative in a anti-terrorism task force. It gives fairly realistic game play and gives a variety of missions in the infiltrate and shoot 'em up mode. It is intense but fun to play and the AI is unusually clever for the enemy agents compared to most games.
After playing this game for a while, I came to a conclusion: It's a REAL good thing I never went into the military. I get killed so often in this game I spend half of my game play time saving and re-loading just to make progress on the various levels. My character is always in critical condition, I try to sneak up on the enemy while the Commander screams "You're losing blood Alpha 2!!!" on the comlink. I accidentally shoot my own team members and drop grenades on civilians. This adds up to a simple math equation: Me + Gun = Bad.
In other Journey news, it seems Jon Cain of Journey has clarified the reason for dropping Jeff Scott Soto is so they can sound more like their classic material. So much for creative reinvention, Soto sounded very Steve Perry live so it must be that old "creative differences" that got in the way. Here's to hoping Kevin Chalfant gets his shot!
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