Call of Duty: World at War - Map Pack 2

Call of Duty: World at War Headquarters

I've been playing the Call of Duty: World at War - Map Pack 2 steadily since its release and June 11 and I have one word that sums up the experience: WOW! The World at War team has hit another homerun with this release. Each multiplayer map, Bonzai, Corrosion, and Sub Pens lends itself well to intense Team Deathmatch and Team Objective map types. Multiple levels add to the strategic element by requiring teams to focus on various sight lines and flank. Simple focus on North, South, East, and West will quickly find you in respawn limbo watching the other team rack up points. To win on these maps, you must pay additional attention to opponents that are above and below. This is especially evident on the Banzai map, which finds both teams fighting for ground amongst a wooden train bridge that spans a waterfall source ravine, sorrounded by a tunnel network and opposing hut filled camps. Each map is a delight suited to run 'n gunners, snipers, and strategic geniuses alike. As an added bonus, the developers have added double experience points from June 11 through June 16.

Criterion thinks if you've maxed out the 360, you're not trying hard enough

Criterion thinks if you've maxed out the 360, you're not trying hard enough

One has to wonder if EA Europe received any financial consideration that would have prompted them to state publicly that the Xbox 360 is maxed out while the Playstation 3 is not. Kudos to Criterion for releasing a statement that contradicts the public belief of their parent company. Software publishers and developers should focus on producing the best possible product for multiple consoles and PC to improve the earnings potential for its stock holders.

What do you think?

Why Do I Write?

I found an old journal today. I wasn't looking for it, truth be told. I happened to by looking for the AV cable that would allow me to connect my Sony DV camera to the TV. As I began my search, it dawned on me that for all of its technological brilliance, Sony can be extremely short-sided with its reliance on proprietary cables and technology-Betamax anyone? It was during my search that I found the journal hidden in a random box of cables in the garage. Am I the only one that has 5 or 6 different versions of the same type of cables and only 1 version of the one that I need and can't seem to find? WTF!

Anyway, this newly rediscovered journal contains an interesting selection of poems, brief stories, and novel ideas written sporadically from 1998 through 2004. Some were written during times of stress; others during times of comical whimsy. All were written with the same inate, died in the wool, love of writing.

Faithful Servant

On Monday, October 6th, I returned from my trip to my mother's home town of Kansas City, Kansas. The trip was to celebrate the 90th birthday of my grandfather, Reverend Russell W. Davis Sr, a man who has been a faithful servant of the Lord for 80 years of his life. Below are the words of tribute that I delivered during the Sunday afternoon service at the church that he founded in 1971, Christ's Church of the Jesus Hour.

My earliest memories are of traveling to Kansa with my family to visit grandma and grandpa. This was exciting because it would mean a long cross-country journey by car, but at the end I would see the family that I was not fortunate enough to see everyday back at home (in NYC). As a child, grandpa was just grandpa. I mean, I knew he was, as my cousin Tyke once said "a preacher man", but what does that mean to a child? To me it meant, here was this wise man, a father who had--with his wife by his side--raised his children in Christ. My grandfather, the Reverend Russell W. Davis, has been a faithful servant on the Lord's team for 80 years. Not eith hours, eight days, or eight years, but eight decades. Today, Grandpa has reached the 90th anniversary of his birth. I'm not the best with math, but I'm pretty certain that he's been serving the lord for almost 90% of his life. Now I'm just about 35 years old and there have been plenty of times that I have walked and stumbled and gotten up again. Grandpa has remained the same in his steadfast love and service of the Lord. He has shown me how to live in the world and not be of the world. Through his faithful service of the Lord, he has been the type of father that all men should strive to be. My children will be raised in Christ because that is what has been passed to me from Grandpa to my parents and now together with my wife. I am thankful that I learned to love the Lord through the consistent teachings of his faithful servant, my grandpa, Reverend Russell W. Davis, Sr.

Life A-chord-ing to my Acoustic Guitar

I've been taking guitar lessons for around three months now and at still can't believe how much fun I am having. I don't know that many songs, but the techniques and theories I am learning are bound to take me beyond a simple hobby. It is getting easier and easier to learn and play chords as my fingers get stronger. I look forward-f/s the day when Is can serenade my wife. I sang at her wedding and she his been waiting eight years for an encore.

Cast the First Stone

With the general election approximately 2 months away, it took an act of God (Gustav) to curtail what was gearing up to be another week of political punditry and partisanship. Now we are left with the Republican National Convention lite, when, only days before in the wake of the Rocky Mountain High of the Democratic National Convention, the GOP was ready for a Twin City brawl. Word started to slowly (as if that's possible in the internet age) spread that the daughter of Governer Palin is 5 months pregnant (guess abstinance is only as affective as the actual abstinance) forcing the Veep nominee to release a public statement regarding what should be a personal family matter. It's really a shame that people take politics and religion so personally, because there's no way to actually have a civil debate without name callling and proverberal eye gouging. I don't have anything personal against Governer Palin, I just don't like the look the forms in the eyes of self-righteous zealots when they disagree with you and firmly believe that their god would view you as a sinner. Let's hope that all of the talking heads in the media focus on the issues and candidates on hand and leave the Family Matters to the Urkels and the TGI Fridays of the world.

Don't Wake Me I'm Dreaming

How can I put into words, the joy, the hope, the excitement that I felt watch Barack Obama officially accept the Democratic nomination for President of the United States of America? My grandparent grew up during segregation and the oppression of Jim Crow laws in the southern United States. My parents came of age during the height of the civil rights movement in the 50's and 60's. In fact, growing up in Kansas City, Kansas, my mother, along with her brother and sisters experience first hand, the fear and anxiety of going to school before and after desegregation. I can't imagine not having the right to vote, or not being able to go to a restaurant, or drink from a particular water fountain. How fortunate we are to live in the United States of America.

There are many places in this world where people continue to be oppressed and abused, and forgotten. I don't know if Senator Obama will win, although I plan to vote for him, I only hope that if he does lose, it will only because of the issues and the belief of my fellow countrymen and women that Senator McCain is the right man for the job. As an African-American man I am proud of Barack Obama's accomplishments. As a citizen of these glorious United States of America, I am even prouder that perhaps this time, we will judged for what we do, and not what we look like.

God Bless America, land that I love

Things to do in Denver....

So far, I don't know what to think about the news coverage of the DNC. I flipped between FOX News, CNN, and MSNBC. Fox News seemed to be outwardly pro-Republican and extremely critical, while CNN and MSNBC seen be overly critical because they didn't want to appear biased. Aside from Jack Cafferty (who is clearly pro-Democrat and anti-Republican), the rest of the talking heads are going out of their way to appear objective, and in doing so, they each come across as disingenuous. I can't wait until all of the pomp and circumstance of each party's convention is complete and we get back to the actual issues.