My New Toy: Week 1

Call it an early Christmas present or momentary retail weakness. Regardless, last Friday, I walked into the Best Buy across the street from my office and walked out $300 richer, a shiny new Xbox 360 under my arm. My original Xbox has been thoroughly worn, and the DVD player was starting to choke on me… that combined with a little bit of extra cash prompted the buy.

Thus far, I’m very happy and impressed. I bought the Pro Holiday bundle, which came with Kung Fu Panda and Lego Indiana Jones. Because I bought it on Black Friday, Best Buy threw in Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground and NBA 2K9 for free. I also tacked on Dead Rising for some zombie-massacring fun. Since, I’ve also added Assassin’s Creed, Grand Theft Auto IV and a Nyko charging station.

The system itself: I know it’s got a more powerful system to cool, but I was a little surprised at first how loud it was. Loud enough to make my cat sit up and wonder what the hell was going on. This is very handily solved with the recent addition of full-game hard drive installations. At first, I didn’t notice the change after committing GTA IV to the hard drive, but after paying attention for a minute, it makes a HUGE difference. Less noticeable for gameplay (at least for that title), but the system becomes whisper quiet, which is nice.

The first thing I did was jump on Live (I picked up a 3-month gold membership to test drive the Netflix functionality – it’s awesome), downloaded the New Xbox Experience™®©, and made myself an avatar. It’s cool… it’s not something I see myself spending any huge amount of time on, especially if they do something stupid, like make you pay for new options. A few winter-themed options did pop up free of charge this morning, so hopefully that is the route it will take. I poked around on there for a bit, downloaded a few demos, and browsed the video library. Overall, I’m very pleased with the equipment itself. I take probably a little too much pleasure in the idea that I can just turn on the damn thing with the controller. I know it performs the job of a basic remote control, but it’s not something I’d ever had in a console before, and it’s a nice perk.

Onto specifics:

Netflix: Not a game, but definitely worth mentioning. The Netflix streaming support is probably the item that pushed me toward the Xbox, and prompted me to actually pull the trigger on the thing. In time, I actually suspect my girlfriend will use it more than I do – I work nights, and she watches quite a few “Watch Instantly” things in the browser when I’m not home. Now she can do most of them from the couch, which is cool. I pulled up a couple things just to see how it worked. The verdict is very, very good. The time from selecting “play movie” to the movie actually playing spanned about 30 seconds, max. Compared to something similar, like Amazon Video on Demand on Tivo (which I also use occasionally), it’s a huge step up. The video quality is slightly less awesome, and Netflix’s instant streaming selection is still limited (by time period and recognition, certainly not by volume), but the immediacy and ease of the thing holds it high. I’ve only watched a few TV episodes all the way through, but I got nary a hiccup. It’s really impressive.

LEGO Indiana Jones: Not to go too far in depth into something that everyone probably already knows, but this is also the game I’ve sunk the most time into so far. It’s goofy, it’s fun, it’s cute… The LEGO series has done a remarkable job of playing straight to fans of the franchises they use, satisfying them while at the same time making a very approachable and appealing kid’s game. I’ve currently plowed through Raiders of the Lost Ark, and am on the rope bridge in the final section of Temple of Doom. I’m also the type of person who will go back and unlock every little thing. The game is simple, but that’s not a bad thing. It looks pretty good too, noticeably cleaner that the LEGO Star Wars games I had for my original Xbox. It’s a good one.

Dead Rising: This was the first 360 game I ever played, at a buddy’s place after he got his for Christmas a couple years back. I remember imagining the possibilities it presented, and really, really wanting it. Having it now, it definitely meets those, but there’s one major problem. The text – all the text – is WAY TOO SMALL. As if I didn’t want one already, this game is really making me wish I had a bigger TV (I have a 19” tube). Until I get one or at least get to play it on a bigger one, Dead Rising sessions will probably just consist of running around the mall finding weapons, with no real regard for the missions, since I can’t read what any of them are anyway. At least running around the mall is fun all by itself. The minute I found a hardware store, I knew I was golden.

NBA 2K9: First off, I was shocked to see Best Buy throw this in for free, because it's still a new game, only two months old. I’m not a basketball fan, per se, but living in Boston
during the past year made it pretty hard to ignore (I’m sure people say the same thing about baseball, but being a huge Sox fan, I don’t see that as any sort of intrusion). I was in Vegas during the Conference finals this spring, and spent a good part of my last night there sitting in the sports book at the MGM watching the Celtics-Cavs game. Thanks to that, I do have a decent knowledge of the players. Also, my brother is a huge C’s fan, and he played basketball (and I watched him play) for as long as I can remember, so I have a decent understanding of the game. Which all leads up to this game sucking me in. And I SUCK at it. It’s cool that the control scheme is laid out in a way that gives experienced players a more organic way to use more complicated moves that the computer has traditionally handled… I’m just not nearly good enough to use it. My Celtics are off to a 1-4 start, thanks to the Bucks sucking slightly more than I do.

 Other cool stuff in there, too… the “2K Network” does real-time score updates for the sports world. It’s a system that will probably tempt me to get the next Major League Baseball iteration, even though I have a grudge against 2K for prematurely ending the fantastic MVP Baseball series when they scooped up the exclusive MLB licensing. And the basic controls do make a lot of sense – a lot of games have used the right analog stick as an action control mechanism, and I think using it for shooting in basketball makes the most sense out of any I’ve seen. The game is absolutely fun, even for a non-fan… I’m just not sure I’m patient enough for it.

Assassin’s Creed: I remembered the reviews coming back for
Assassin’s Creed, which was supposed to make a huge addition to the open-world sandbox style that GTA perfected, and they weren’t as glowing as people thought/hoped they would be. The big complaint is that the game is repetitive. And that’s absolutely right. When you’re in Altair’s robes, every mission you do, you will do basically the same things – target your mark, get close to them, hit a button to do something relatively passive. It works, but it gets old pretty quick. Where the game makes up its points, though, is the visuals. You can be frustrated as all hell by the repetition, but climbing to the top of a View Point is the closest thing to breathtaking I’ve ever seen in a video game. It’s very cool. I also like the extent to which they take the open-world idea. It’s similar to GTA: San Andreas, in that if you want to get some where, you better commit to the time it takes to do so. Obviously, the Holy Land becomes a little bit tighter than it actually was, but it takes a couple minutes on horseback to get between cities. A nice touch. Combat is satisfying, as well. The basics are, again, repetitive, but the kill animations are fun to watch, and constantly creative. It’s enough to keep me going.

GTA IV: I got this on Tuesday, and it has sucked this week away. I’ve tried to play it as this guy living his life, and it makes for a much more
varied gaming session than most other games of the type. First, I’ll do a story mission. Then hang out with a friend. Then maybe take a girl out on a date. Pull in a couple fares as a taxi, go shopping for some new clothes, then another mission. There’s a huge selection of crap to do, and it has kept me very interested. Niko Bellic is by far the most interesting character Rockstar has given us in this series, as he’s the first with a real history to unravel. Whether or not you allow that history to inform decisions you make is obviously your decision, but it makes for some very interesting in-car conversations with those close to Niko. The fact that there are certain people that are closer to Niko than others is a huge accomplishment. There’s a legit bond between him and his cousin, and I find myself taking extra care to call the girl Niko is dating after every couple missions. What Rockstar has put out is a slice-of-life Sims. It’s not as detailed in some areas as the Sims, and much more specific in many areas, but in the Sims, I feel like I’m watching what life could be like. In GTA IV, this IS someone’s life. It’s great.

            The control scheme and interface are fantastic. The cell phone is the best tool they’ve ever given a character – CJ had on in San Andreas, but it was inactive as far as the player was concerned. This is a cell you can use to make plans, get missions, get help and many other useful things. It’s a great addition. The camera angle for driving is a little odd… it’s slightly offset to the driver’s side of a car by default. It works well, but I’ve found myself switching to first person to get a better feel for what’s going on in my immediate vicinity. The high-speed chases that GTA has become famous for are even better than ever – the RAGE engine is probably the best thing to ever happen to vehicle-based games. Traffic acts real, and speed FEELS real. It’s incredible. The combat system is greatly improved, with region-specific aiming working much better, and the cover system making much more sense than the awkward squat-behind-a-box-and-pray system of the previous games. Most impressive to me is the fullness of the minigame system. Bowling, pool and darts all work really well, probably as well as the best web-based or standalone retail title. And they’re fun, which is shocking and new.

            I haven’t touched multiplayer yet, and probably won’t until I beat the single-player… I want to see  where the story leads first. I highly, highly recommend anyone with a 360, PS3 or PC pick up the game and give it a shot, so long as the requisite GTA sex and violence doesn’t bother you. I’m not very far through, but it’s already one of the most interesting and complete gameplay experiences I’ve had in a long time.

I downloaded a couple of demos, to see some of the newer stuff the system had to offer – The Force Unleashed and Mirror’s Edge were most notable. Both were fun, but I feel like Mirror’s Edge is going to get hurt by mission structure. The best thing they could do for that game would be to give you a “free run option,” where you just get into the city and go nuts. The Force Unleashed demo is limited to force grip, push and lightning, but the sheer fun of throwing people around and watching them react to that will go a long way. TFU I will be picking up at some point. Mirror’s Edge…. I think it has to be a little bit cheaper.

One last quick note – I also picked up the Nyko Charge Base, so I wouldn’t be dropping a ton on batteries for the controllers. I only got it yesterday, but thus far it seems great. It’s a smart base, not timer-based, so it will detect when a battery is full and turn off. It looks decent, and contains the controllers when you’re not using them. The only downside is that the lights are REALLY bright, but if that’s my only complaint, life is good.

So far, I’m very pleased with this purchase. Like I said about Dead Rising, the biggest downside is that it makes me want a larger TV even more than I already did. Ah well… one thing at a time…

Left 4 Dead Demo Impressions

This probably would have been more insightful had I posted it when I intended to – before the full game got released – but whatcha gonna do? It’s almost appropriate, actually, since Valve’s first game, Half-Life, turns 10 years old today.

I’m still in more or less the same mindset about Left 4 Dead, which is…

… I’m not convinced yet.

I’m not sold on the game, which is actually a little upsetting to me, because Valve Software  is yet to do wrong by me. I remember basically draining my savings account to pick up the original Half-Life the weekend it came out, and have snapped up every other game Valve has released just as quickly. I was planning on doing the same with Left 4 Dead, but I started getting a little hesitant the more I read about it. I initially had 3 main concerns: 

1)      Graphics

2)      Variability

3)      Single-player

Graphics: … but not in the way you might think. Yes, the Source engine is starting to age, but as far as I am concerned, it’s aging very well. It seems to me that with each new use, (Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode 1, Half-Life 2: Episode 2, Team Fortress 2, Portal and now Left 4 Dead) Valve has found pretty significant ways to squeeze some new life out it. I’m sure it helps that it was developed in-house, since it allows them to tweak and re-tweak it as they build on it. My fear with Left 4 Dead was that they would abandon it and require a dual-core system, as they are starting to become more commonplace – at least in system requirements, if not in home PCs. My PC most definitely does not have one, so I was enthused to see that not only was I not automatically disqualified by my system, but I was pretty well supported. Even though I was basically running it in 800 x 600, I still got a very respectable framerate, and I was very content with the overall look. 

One thing I’ve always thought the Source engine and the guys at Valve do particularly well is texturing. They have a way of making everything look real – not photoreal, but legit and honest – without draining system resources. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure I want my game to look photoreal. What they’ve done in the Half-Life series is still very convincing and makes sense, but still maintains a certain level of fantasy that sort of reminds the player that it’s just a game. I like that. I also appreciate the stylized choice they made with Team Fortress 2. In that case, it immediately erases any nags of “reality” that might drag the game down, and makes it much more welcoming for certain ideas that have become integral to the game – rocket jumping, a double-jumping scout, invisibility – stuff that would have been out of place had they clung to something more grounded and real. 

In the graphics department, Left 4 Dead fits pretty nicely in the Half-Life style. It’s close enough to be convincing, but so close that it’s disturbing or unnatural. It looks good, I can run it and enjoy it on my current system (though nowhere close to maximum settings), and it presents a certain style that is notable artistically and that absolutely fits with the zombie B-movie aesthetic they’re aiming for. 

Variability: I’m honestly a little torn over this one. On the one hand, there’s something to be said for putting everyone on a very level playing field – everyone can do the same stuff, the only difference to be had is based on a decision you make about what weapon to carry. It’s almost a nice change from something like Team Fortress 2, where there is (or should be) a ton of strategy involved in choosing a class.  On the other hand, I can only assume that in a zombie apocalypse that certain people would survive for certain reasons, and that not all of those reasons would be the same. So to have the four characters pretty much identical beyond the model, voice and attitude (none of which are controllable by the player) seems a little short-sighted to me. That being said, I don’t really know how to rectify the situation without getting into the class balancing issues – something Valve has started addressing with the class updates in TF2. The class element brings a degree of uniqueness to each session – you can choose your class based on how you feel like playing the game that particular day. Now, because I’ve only played the demo, I can’t speak to the Versus mode, which sounds like it has a little more variation thanks to the boss zombies. That may very well take care of my reservations, but I haven’t seen it. I can certainly see both sides of the fence on this one, but I think I fall on the side of customization, which isn’t where Valve was going for this one. 

Single-player: I love single-player games. For awhile growing up, I didn’t have an internet connection that could really support decent online multiplayer, and in college I couldn’t afford to pay for an Xbox Live subscription, so I really came to appreciate a well-executed single-player game. Valve has most certainly championed that, taking the shooter genre to levels it had not previously seen with the Half-Life universe. I’m sure a little bit of it has to do with the fact that in most multiplayer games… I get my ass handed to me. I’m not bad, I’m just nowhere near as good as the people who really know these games and dominate the servers. I’ve never snubbed multiplayer – Battle.net, Team Fortress Classic and now TF2 have constantly grabbed gaming hours – but in most cases I’ve never even considered multiplayer until I beat the crap out of the single-player campaign. For me, it’s like an extended training ground. And to that extent, Left 4 Dead works. Playing the bots offline definitely gets you comfortable and prepared for the online play. Heck, more than that – because switching to online co-op adds other thinking humans to your team, multiplayer becomes easier on paper. What is disappointing for me is that lack of difference. There’s nothing unique or more in-depth about the single-player campaign in this one. 

Admittedly, that’s by design. Valve made it very clear what they were making. It was designed as a co-op game, with single player as an option for those who want a break from other people. I get that. But I think there are ways they could have gone that could have made the game a little bit deeper, and filled in some of the gaps in the game’s background story (again, I realize it was designed to function as four different “movie” campaigns. I’m just tossing around some ideas). What about giving each character a personalized “origin story” of sorts? Show Louis fighting his way out of his overrun office building; we could find Francis with his back to the wall as his favorite dive bar is surrounded by the newly-infected; Zoey could have a whole campus to get through in order to connect with the others; Bill might have been at the local veteran’s hospital – or holed up in his basement gun room – when the disaster hit. They each find their way to a common point, thus begins the No Mercy campaign. There’s also, I think, a good opening for some sort of Sole Survivor mode. Expanding it beyond a time trial should be left to better minds than me, but if you look at something like Dead Rising, there’s certainly an appeal to being the only one left and surviving by any means necessary. 

I don’t think the demo really showcases everything Left 4 Dead has to offer, nor should it. It’s a demo. But there are certain sections that aren’t clear to me – I’m still a little fuzzy on the AI Director – outside of triggering the horde in different places at different times, I didn’t notice any real change in gameplay in my dozen online sessions. I think a taste of Versus mode would have been very helpful, at least for me, to see some of the variability I was looking for in play styles. Some sort of preview - maybe not necessarily playable, but something - of the other three campaigns would have been nice to see what you’re in for with the full version. But it’s not like they can shove everything into a single demonstration, because there’s no surprises left for the buyers. 

In the end, there’s no doubt that Left 4 Dead is a good, fun game. The first horde rush two minutes into the demo will tell you that. I just wonder about its longevity. I also wonder if its longevity as a whole would be vastly different than its longevity with me specifically. Maybe I went in looking for something too specific from the game, but the fact is I didn’t quite find what I was looking for, and if I’m going to drop $50 on a game, I really would like to know that I’m getting something with a little staying power. I pre-ordered Half-Life 2 and beat it in the first weekend. I still play through it once every couple months. I don’t see the depth in Left 4 Dead that excites me. And because of that, I’ll definitely be waiting for price cuts. 

Don’t get me wrong… Left 4 Dead will make a lot of people very happy. I just won’t be one of them. At least not yet. 

Hate in Post-Election America

There was going to be backlash. Whichever way the vote went last night, there was no possible outcome that was going to make everyone happy. Despite the electoral college landslide, President-Elect Obama will enter a country more ideologically divided than any other time in recent history. This election, these campaigns and these candidates brought out the absolute worst in people, both intentionally and not. Both campaigns have slung accusations at each other that have been misleading at best and outright lies at worst. A sample:

-         Barack Obama was born in Hawaii in 1961. Hawaii became a US state in 1959. As far as the law is concerned, via the 14^th Amendment of the Constitution, that makes him a natural-born citizen, and eligible to hold the office of the presidency, despite his father being a Kenyan citizen. Not often mentioned during this campaign was John McCain’s citizenship status, which could just as easily been the subject of partisan screaming. McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone in 1936 when it was under US control. Why wasn’t this brought up? Because it does not affect his citizenship. A law passed in 1937 and legally applied to all prior births in the US-controlled area granted citizenship to anyone born there, not to mention the fact that both of McCain’s parents were citizens, granting him citizenship that way. Neither one is an issue.

 -         Barack Obama is not a Muslim. Nor does it matter if he is a Muslim. We all know when and why Muslim became a dirty word in this country, and it’s painfully unfair to all Muslim-Americans who want the exact same things that anyone else does. Like anything else – conservatives, liberals, Democrats, Republicans, members of every possible religious faith, Red Sox fans and Yankees fans – the craziest members are the ones that find the reason and means to shout louder than everyone else, and ruin it for the rest of us. This country has a long history rooted in religion, but not just one. The Pilgrims, the founders of this country we all take such great pride in? They left England because the Church of England had an interpretation of the Bible that they found far too lenient. From them Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson and others all left Massachusetts for religious intolerance to form Rhode Island. Utah was founded when Mormon pioneers fled religious intolerance in the Midwest. All these groups have now reconciled and integrated back into the rest of the country. When are we going to allow Muslims to do the same? 

-         John McCain is not George W. Bush. He earned his maverick status through the early and mid-90s, breaking with his party and building a reputation for work across party lines. More recently in his career, he has moved into a more traditional conservative position, even boasting about 90% agreement with the Bush Administration. These two claims proved difficult if not impossible to reconcile. 

-         Barack Obama is not a socialist. Or a Marxist. Or a communist. The tax reform he’s proposing does something that has significant precedent in the US. Because of the massive economic struggle America now faces, the market is reacting by raising the prices on a lot of goods, causing the basic cost of living to rise. Average wages, however, have not risen at the same rate, creating a pretty clear discrepancy and issue. Obama’s plan does “spread the wealth” to a certain extent, but the increases to individuals making over $250,000 a year should not be anything that creates the sort of pinch those making significantly less than that are starting to feel. The basic premise behind the tax changes is that for those Americans who have been able to realize their American Dream and become profitable because of it, they will now be called to give something back to those who are still struggling to do so. Considering that many of the people in those upper echelons who will get a tax increase made their money providing goods and services to those who will get the decrease (meaning the lower group gave the wealth to the upper group), this doesn’t really seem like all that radical an idea. It’s also no designed to “level the playing field.” No single tax break, unless it was truly extreme, would ever be able to moderate the wealth of citizens across the board. That would be dangerous, outrageous and would never, ever get through any governing body. 

-         Barack Obama is as much a terrorist or terrorist sympathizer as John McCain. Bill Ayers, Rashid Khalidi, Jeremiah Wright, Charles Keating, John Hagee, Sarah Palin, Tony Rezko.. Everyone has skeletons. Some of them are not nearly as big a deal as anyone thinks, and neither candidate is as close to any of them as the other would have you believe. 

What has been most disturbing to me is that since the numbers started coming in, the outpouring of hate has been tremendous. I thought it reached a fever pitch somewhere in late September, when the crap being shouted at rallies for either side was stepping way over the line. The one rational thing it tells us is how painfully divided this country is. You need look no further than McCain’s own supporters booing him when he announced he had called to congratulate Obama; posts on forums all over the web are starting to bring out the crazies (Fox News wins the award for the first mainstream website to have a commenter suggest that the President-Elect ought to share something else in common with JFK… I’m sure you can figure out what). There is no doubt that Barack Obama has his work cut out for him starting January 21^st, but look at it this way. In 20 months, a little more than a year and a half, he won over half the country. He now has four years to win over the other half. 

Here’s hoping… good luck.

VOTE!

It doesn't matter who for. Just vote. When our country works, this is why. Every vote that lifts a candidate nearer to elected office really only means one thing: that candidate works for one more person. By casting your vote for John McCain, Barack Obama or any of the third party candidates, you claim your little piece of ownership in this government.

Our system, flawed though it is, is designed to allow us more control than any other country on earth. It gives us each a voice. Use yours.

JD Drew: Great man? Or GREATEST man?

OK, I certainly didn't expect that.

Drew's 2-run homer (courtesy ESPN.com)

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I've certainly been holding out more hope than some of my friends and family this week, but going into last night, the situation certainly looked grim for the Red Sox. Heck, halfway through the game things looked pretty grim. But once again, the Sox proved that when their back is against the wall, they play better baseball and get more ridiculous luck than any other team. Ever. My fear, of course, is that they've somehow conditioned themselves to ONLY win in this manner, which will make every playoff run incredibly painful. But heck, if that's what it takes...

There's an argument that this was due. David Ortiz has had his worst playoff performance since emerging as Big Papi in 2003. He's hitting .167 in the postseason this year, compared to a .387 mark through the first two rounds of the playoffs last year. Last night's giant home run was his first of the 2008 postseason. JD Drew, the guy who picked up Ortiz's slack when Ortiz was out healing his wrist this summer, was certainly doing decently in this off-season, but hadn't shown the Papi-like knack for clutch hitting that he started showing in last year's playoffs. And Dustin Pedroia, the guy who started the scoring last night with a perfect RBI single, has been really the only Red Sox player to be consistently hot through the ALCS... it was only a matter of time before the rest of the team started bringing him around.

I make no illusion that I might be able to call this series right now. The ball is still in the court of the Rays, but last night the Sox demonstrated that calling them out of the playoffs is premature unless the World Series has already started without them. If nothing else, it guarantees an interesting 2009 campaign. The Rays, no doubt, are gonna be good, probably great. B.J. Upton and Evan Longoria are poised to become the next big superstar 1-2 punch in the majors. I think the Rays will replace the Yankees as the team for whom Sox fans will always keep an eye out.

When I left work last night around 10:15, it was 7-0 Tampa Bay. By the time I got home and turned on the TV, the 7th inning had just ended, and the Sox had brought the game back into questionable territory at 7-4. I think my neighbors hate me for the noise I was making for that hour last night. One thing's for sure... I need to find a way to swap my night shift tomorrow for the day shift. There's not a chance in hell I'm missing this.

New review: Religulous

Saw the Bill Maher documentary last night... my review is up over on the movie blog and at HBS. However, the review format isn't really the best way to get out a lot of what I felt about the movie, so expect to see something more in depth up here in the next day or so.

Presidential Debate #2

I’ve not yet done a political post, not because I haven’t had things to say, but I do feel like it’s something that needs to be handled with a certain amount of care. This blog’s readership is too small to really matter, but… I don’t want to play myself off as a partisan hack. That being said, I’m a 23-year old recent college grad living in Massachusetts making less than $50K a year… I don’t think it’s hard to figure out who I’m behind.

Last night’s debate was, I thought, much more evenly matched than the first one (all things considered, I thought Obama trounced McCain in #1). McCain’s campaign has turned up the volume on attacks against Obama, truthful or not, and the Obama campaign has done a decent job of keeping pace and attacking in their own right, but the change was largely McCain’s. Going into last night, the format didn’t really lend itself to maintaining the sort of attacks McCain had been using… or so I thought. Though McCain was certainly the more aggressive of the two in his language and approach to questions of record and judgment, Obama certainly didn’t take any of it sitting down.

But there are a bunch of things that pissed me off. Like these:

1. ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTION! I think over the course of all 3 debates, maybe 6 questions have been properly answered, and at least three of those answers came from Joe Biden, a VP candidate. The best question of all three debates was submitted via the internet last night, when someone asked if health care was a privilege, a right or a responsibility. Credit to Obama for answering the question (a right)… before he went three questions back and continued a political attack on Obama. McCain gave about half an answer, saying it was a responsibility, though he never specified WHOSE responsibility it was. Again, he then charged right back into an argument that had dominated the three previous questions. The best answer of all three debates goes to Obama, who finally answered a point-blank question: Someone in the audience asked what benefits he might see from the bailout package. Obama gave a fairly thorough explanation (though somewhat oversimplified) that if these companies went under, there were some ramifications which involved payrolls not being met. The details weren’t perfect, but the idea of how such a massive economic failure would affect people not involved in the stock market or mortgage industry had yet to be addressed. It was good to hear someone offer up some explanation as to why every citizen ought to be funding this thing when a fairly small percentage is actually involved. This is the area of Obama’s style that I am least happy with – he can’t simply answer a question, so to hear him doing so was greatly appreciated.
   


2. Answer ONLY the damn question. I get it. These guys were instructed by their campaigns to take all of the shots that have found their way into your most recent stump speeches. But especially in this format, where the questions are coming directly from voters – meaning this is what we ACTUALLY WANT TO KNOW – do us a favor and stay on topic. If they have a zinger that actually relates to the question, go for it, but there was one point when both candidates felt a need to clarify tax policy and take shots at the other’s policy exaggerations from three questions previous. It ends up shortchanging the next few questions, and reduces their “intimate interactions with the voters” to live-action campaign ads. Both candidates were guilty of it. Some credit to Tom Brokaw for repeatedly reminding the candidates about time and subject restraints, but I do wish they’d give the moderator the ability to blatantly confront a candidate when he’s going off on something completely unrelated to the question. Of course, if that were the case, Sarah Palin would have been shut down for the entire ninety minutes last week.


3. The catchphrases of this campaign must be stopped. In no particular order, the words or phrases I’m looking forward to never having to hear/hear about again after November 5^th:

1. Wall Street vs. Main Street
2. “My friends”
3. Lipstick/pig/lipstick on a pig/etc.
4. Maverick
5. Scranton, PA
6. “That’s more of the same”
7. “That’s not change we can believe in”
8. Joe Six-Pack
9. Pork-barrel
10. Commander-in-chief test
11. Sarah Palin (OK, that was cheap. But good god… even if McCain wins, can we send her back to Alaska?)

In 10 easy phrases, I daresay I summarized 80% of every speech that has been given by any of the four candidates for president or vice president in the last month and a half.

Early returns from the debate showed Obama winning, which I mostly agree with. I think the fact that McCain was able to be somewhat effective with his attacks without losing his temper was key. There were points when he went to far – referring to Obama as “That one” in one of his responses. If he had let any more disdain like that show through, I think it would have hurt him quite a bit, but he kept his cool.

Ultimately, I think it’s an easier road right now for Obama. He’s the one people are getting to know, without having to fight off previously held opinions (those established or promoted by his opponents notwithstanding). McCain would normally have the advantage of being the established candidate that people were already comfortable with, but the fact that he’s campaigning on a platform filled with things he’s changed his position on isn’t going to do him any favors. Interestingly, that’s actually working against him on two levels – stuff on which he legitimately was a maverick or on which he broke with his party, which got him points with independents, he’s now toeing the party line on. Other things (and in some cases the SAME things) on which he’s agreed with Republicans he’s now needed to back away from in order to attract those independents. It’s something of a mess, and something Obama doesn’t have to deal with because he hasn’t been on the national scene for very long, for better or for worse.

One more month to watch these two fight it out. Regardless of who wins, what everyone – candidate, Congress and constituents – all need to realize is that come January 21^st, there’s a ton of work to do.

Red Sox, Bill Simmons, Manny Ramirez and the first game of the playoffs

In early August, I wrote a rambling piece about the Manny Ramirez trade. It clocked in at about 1700 words and I think did a pretty good job of expressing my feelings on the whole thing. Now ESPN Sports Guy Bill Simmons, formerly known as the Boston Sports Guy, has outdone me 5 to 1. While half of this city ate the bull they were fed and said good riddance to Manny, there’s still a good portion of people – Simmons and my brother included – who aren’t exactly pleased with the trade. One game into the 2008 playoffs, I can’t say I blame them.

Simmons hits it on the head in a few different places – that Scott Boras is quite possibly the real villain in all of this is probably the most impossible to prove and still the most likely. Like he said, the man wasn’t getting paid unless Manny signed a new contract somewhere, and Scott Boras always gets paid. That despite all the crap that was piled on top of Manny in his last few months, I still can’t root against him or wish that the guy does poorly. But most importantly, Simmons is right that Manny’s good moments over seven-plus seasons greatly outweigh the bad, and no one is taking that away from us.

Going into the Red Sox division series with the Angels, who were by far the best team in baseball (to be fair, their division sucked, ours did not), it’s difficult not to wish for the comfort of Manny hitting behind David Ortiz. Instead, we get Manny’s replacement Jason Bay hitting behind a barely-recovered J.D. Drew… hitting behind Kevin Youkilis… hitting behind Big Papi. It just doesn’t have the one-two punch we’ve enjoyed for the last couple years, nor does it instill the same sort of fear in opposing pitchers that the Dynamic Dominican Duo were so good at exploiting. To be fair to the rest of the team, the Sox have had a different feel to them all season – Ortiz wasn’t the monster he’d been in previous seasons (Manny’s absence behind him during the last few months probably impacted this a bit, but not enough to make up the difference); Drew, after erasing any doubts about him in the last year and a half, went down for the stretch and I’m sure caused some grumbles last night; Mike Lowell’s similar absence in September was definitely felt, and the Coco Crisp/Jacoby Ellsbury lampoon in center field was not nearly as effective as many would have hoped. On the bright side, Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia are fighting each other for MVP candidacy, and I don’t think anyone in April would have guessed that Jon Lester would start Game 1 of the playoffs and kind of beat up on the best team in the league like he did last night. It’s a different team than it has been in the last couple or four years, and to Boston fans, that’s scary. Because the last four years (re: 2004 & 2007) were the best years EVER.

I think it’s still going to take some getting used to. This series with the Angels will be the first real test. I doubt we’re going to see seven innings from Dice-K tomorrow, and with Josh Beckett’s oblique still a question mark for Sunday, these coming games have the potential to expose the soft underbelly that is the Red Sox middle relief. We’ve still got to get comfortable with the “get on base by any means necessary” strategy from Youkilis and Pedroia – even though they’ve been doing it for a few years now – because it’s not the baseball-destroying postseason fireworks we’ve come to expect. We’ve gotta trust the young guys. Papelbon, Pedroia and Lowrie help – Buccholz, Hansen, Delcarmen (and ultimately Ellsbury, I think… at least for this season) don’t. The team is still gluing together the consistency they’re going to need if they’re going to go back-to-back.

I’m still not sure on the Sox chances in this series. I'll admit, I like them more now than I did 24 hours ago, but again, the Angels are the best team in the MLB this season. One interesting point – the Angels won the season series against the Sox 8-1. The last time the two teams played was July 30^th. Manny Ramirez was traded to the Dodgers on July 31^st. Will this matter? I don’t know. You can be sure that if the Sox win the series, someone will claim that it does. I’d rather be able to chalk it up to a team that finally meshed, finally hit their stride together and finally got all of the vital components healthy and focused. But I don’t think we’d ever really know.

The one thing I do know? If the Red Sox make it to the World Series, I want to play the Cubs. If the Red Sox DON’T make it to the World Series, I want the Dodgers to. I still like Manny, and have no ill will toward the guy. But I don’t want to play him. Say what you will about Manny’s somewhat-suspicious resurgence after the trade. I’m willing to believe that he was just in a better mood and more focused because of it, not that he was actively holding anything back. But I don’t want to play a streaking Manny Ramirez (which he will most certainly be, if the Dodgers make it that far. No one else is going to carry that team through the playoffs like that), and I don’t want to find out if Manny can be vindictive.

On a related note, the final thing that Simmons nailed in his piece: for the love of Ted Williams, let the Dodgers step up and re-sign Manny. Because if they don’t, the Yankees will. Hank is just crazy enough to push for it. And psychological damage of seeing Manny in pinstripes aside, I don’t want to play in Manny’s division. The emergent Rays are bad enough. Them plus a resurgent Yankees thanks to Manny’s power? I’m just not ready for that.

Hah! Take that!

A new post! On the OTHER blog!

Review of Eagle Eye is up. Enjoy, either at the movie blog or at Hollywood Bitchslap/eFilmCritic

Dennis Lehane

The girl and I went to a book signing last night with bestselling local guy Dennis Lehane. 

At this point, most people know him as the guy who wrote Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone. I got to know him a couple years ago, flying back from Florida after a visit to family down there. I stopped in the airport bookstore and picked up Sacred, which features the same characters from Gone Baby Gone. It was a great read, one that I very nearly finished on the plane trip from Florida to Maine, but I didn’t think too much of it after that. 

Flash forward a few years later, and my current girlfriend sort of reintroduced me to Lehane, because she and her father both love his books. The Kenzie-Gennaro detective novels are great – they are really great portraits of Boston, both in description and attitude. Getting to hear Lehane talk about those characters, however briefly, was a real treat. 

He was promoting his new book, The Given Day, which revolves around the 1919 Boston Police union strike, walkoff and riots, along with the events that led up to them. I haven’t yet read the book (still working through Michael Chabon’s The Yiddish Policemen’s Union), but after the reading last night, my interest is certainly piqued. After reading a short chapter, Lehane took about a dozen questions from the audience, mostly revolving around his writing process and the experience of watching his work get translated to the big screen. It was a fun talk, and if he’s coming anywhere near you, it’s worth it. (Dennis Lehane’s tour schedule)

After the talk at the Coolidge Corner Theater, we all went across the street and got in line for the signing. I had picked up the book before the talk, so we jumped right in line. It was actually the perfect wait – the line was definitely moving, so he was getting through people, but it was moving at such a pace that made it clear that he was taking a minute to talk to everyone when they got to the table. When we reached the front, I had the opportunity to ask him about the film rights to the new book, which I had seen a report on. It’s a particularly perfect storm for me, because not only is Lehane a favorite of mine, but the director currently attached to the project is Sam Raimi, hands down my favorite. Lehane said that was the current situation, which he was pleased with, because he loved A Simple Plan (as do I… sadly underrated, somewhat forgotten movie of Raimi’s. Surprising since it picked up two Oscar noms). Sadly, Lehane said he didn’t have an awful lot of input on the director besides standing off to the side and giving the thumbs up. We’ll see how it goes. 

All in all, a good night. If you like Lehane, or you’re a historical fiction junkie (as I am becoming), he’s definitely worth a listen. 

Zune 3.0 Update

Months back, I got a first-generation 30GB Microsoft Zune through club.live.com. It’s Microsoft’s casual game site, designed solely to promote the Live search engine. Play the games, get the tickets, get free crap. There’s one particular game that I can blow through in about 2 minutes and get 25 tickets. After many months of doing this, I cashed in and got the Zune. The price was definitely right, and it’s a nice little device. Certainly removes any need for me to get an iPod, which I really, really don’t want anyway.

Microsoft just released a software and firmware upgrade on Tuesday, and all around, this should be what allows Microsoft to take a small chunk out of the Apple iPod armor. A lot of it is optimized and improved if you have a Zune pass ($15 for unlimited song access as long as you have a pass), but the functionality is there for everyone.

On the firmware front…

• Games. It’s a small touch, and it drains the battery life with new speed and efficiency, but I have a 25-40 minute commute on a bus or train to work. Zoning out with music on and playing poker is fantastic.
• Clock. It’s a tiny little digital thing in the upper right corner, but it was sorely needed.
• Device-based song buying. I don’t have a Zune pass, but this update is increasingly making me feel that it might be worthwhile. If you do, there’s now a couple different ways you can find some new music. The first, most direct way is to search for it by name. That’s what the Marketplace button allows you to do. You can also browse top song and album lists, and download straight to the player. You can also tag songs for download if you happen to hear something you like on the player’s FM tuner. I’ve read this doesn’t work quite as well as one would hope, mostly because the formatting isn’t perfect on station tags, but the idea is a great one. Radio is still how most people discover new music, and this lets people immediately tag songs they like to be added to their collection.

On the software side:

• MixView. The big addition is MixView, which presents a graphical take on song and artist relationships. It’s a lot of fun to use, and if you have a Zune pass, it can be a great way to quickly expand your collection. Starting on any artist, song, album or Zune user, related items pop up around that item. These can be other songs by the same artist, artists who influenced that artists, artists who are influenced by that artist, etc. It lets you pretty quickly jump from point to point and find new stuff fast. I guess it is comparable to Genius, which shipped with the new version of iTunes (which I am yet to use, because I kind of hate iTunes*), and that the general consensus is that Genius has a slightly more standardized recommendation engine – more consistent quality recommendations – while MixView combines some quality, some boneheaded, and some mind-blowing recommendations. And MixView is prettier.
• Channels and Picks. Recommendation-based content that you can subscribe to in order to find new stuff. I think one is for podcasts, which I may try out, but the other is for songs, and only works with a pass.

Despite the renewed focus on a pass, the new stuff is definitely worthwhile. The pass really is a good deal, too, if you can spend an hour or so a month finding new music you want. There have been rumors about an iTunes subscription system for awhile now; I’m shocked they haven’t pulled the trigger on it yet. I do understand the aversion to music subscriptions, but I think there is a market for people who will spend a little bit of time finding new stuff they like, new releases and old. I’m not quite at the point where I would do it (I have enough auto-charging subscription services in Netflix and Tivo), but I definitely think it would be worth the money.

* I do. I hate iTunes. It has become something that I begrudgingly use, because of all the instant-access music stores – iTunes, Rhapsody, Amazon, etc. – it has the best selection by far. But it’s just such a pain in the ass. If you’re an Apple person, it’s fine. The songs you download from iTunes will play perfectly well on your iPod, iPhone, iMac, iDock and fit perfectly into your little iLife. But I'm not. I have a PC and a Zune, cause the price was a helluva lot closer to right on those, and I wanted a larger selection of software (yes, I admit it. That means games). So if I use iTunes, which I inevitably have to every so often, I immediately burn and re-rip whatever it is I bought. Again, pain in the ass. The beauty of MP3s was that it seemed like we had finally hit a nice, decent-quality universal format that everyone could agree on. Then Apple had to mess it up. Granted, other people have jumped on the DRM bandwagon since, but Apple’s iTunes DRM was the one that really forced people to accept this as a standard. 

Bruce Campbell in the New York Times

Not sure how he pulled this one, but Bruce Campbell got a short profile in last Friday's New York Times. Blame his new stint on Burn Notice for the attention, but I don't think any fans are going to complain. It's short and sweet, but writer Joe Rhodes does nail one or two points on why people, myself included, like the guy. Specifically:

Mr. Campbell, with his masculine looks and comedic inclinations, seemed poised for a traditional Hollywood action-hero career. He moved to Los Angeles in 1988, did his share of TV drama guest shots, and had recurring roles on “Xena” and “Hercules” and his own series on Fox in 1993, “The Adventures of Briscoe County Jr.” But he was always just a little too twisted to be a leading man.

“I’m not interested in playing the straightforward square-jawed type. I never was,” he said. “I’d be doing soap operas and hourlong dramas right now if I was really into that. But I was always looking for stuff that was more off-kilter.”

For the rest of the piece, head over here: Bruce Campbell's Prime-Time Moment

On a related note for any Bruce fans who might stumble across this blog because I just typed his name, check his website for the city closest to you that he'll be bringing My Name is Bruce. Like he says, "Low-budget movies aren't released; they escape."

A Very Cool Day

So because my company spends money to advertise, we occasionally get invited to events put on by media outlets as a sort of "thank you." Granted, they have to get fairly far down the list of advertisers to get to us, but every so often...

The Boston Globe had an event this afternoon. Softball at Fenway Park. My boss is nice enough to offer some of the baseball-themed events to me, so here's a taste. They had a miniature diamond set up in the outfield - no way we were getting on the infield. Afterwards, a mini tour of the park - box seats for some team history, press box for a rundown of the park's history, and monster seats for... well... to sit in the monster seats. One hour, and the three best seats I'll ever have. Afterwards, some free ballpark food at the Absolut lounge, and thus concluded my Fenway adventure.

Create a Free Slideshow

Not shown - my one at-bat in the softball game. I had a bat. I hit a ball. I reached a base. I can now forever say that I got a base hit at Fenway Park. A-MA-ZING.

The Manny Debate

Figured I'd return from a nearly 9 month vacation to throw out a couple thoughts on the Sox. Fair warning... this ended up as much longer than I thought it would.

At this point, anyone who knows what a baseball looks like is probably aware that the Boston Red Sox shipped Manny across the country to the LA Dodgers this week, thus ending 7+ years of unpredictability and varied levels of Boston-based discontent for one of the best hitters who ever lived. Manny leaves with two World Series rings, a World Series MVP, and lots of memories, though not all of them are about him playing great baseball.

In return, the Sox wind up with former Pittsburgh Pirate Jason Bay. There's more to this deal - Boston also sent Craig Hansen and Brandon Moss to Pittsburgh, while the Dodgers sent Andy LaRoche and Bryan Morris to Pittsburgh as well. But I'm in Boston, so I'm gonna look at the impact of the two big pieces - Manny and Jason Bay.

I will say from the start that, given my choice on the matter, Manny wouldn't have gone anywhere. Attitude issues aside, the man is a threat to beat the leather off of a baseball every time he steps in to bat. I have no reason to believe that this would have changed over the next two months had Manny stayed in Boston. But Theo Epstein does not (yet) ask my opinion about roster moves and adjustments, so Manny was sent packing.

Over his tenure as The Powers That Be at Fenway Park, Epstein has gotten more right than he has wrong. Bronson Arroyo for Willy Mo Pena? Wrong. Edgar Renteria? Wrong. Kevin Cash over Dougie Mirabelli... ugh. Even Coco Crisp and the offensive black hole that is Julio Lugo... wrong. But on the other side... Pedroia. Youkilis. Papelbon. Ellsbury. Lester. Buchholz (despite current struggles). Drew (even though we all hated him until the World Series last year). Dice-K. Okajima. Potential in Masterson and Lowrie.

Theo knows how to separate out the good from the bad. The trade of Nomar Garciaparra in 2004 was a gut-wrenching, heart-breaking affair... but ultimately, it was the right move. It dropped pressure in the clubhouse, and let the team get back to being that... a team. From Theo's perspective, he had the very daunting task of looking at this one player, a player who had for years been the face and heart of the team, and saying whether or not that was worth keeping him around if his play was suffering. Weighing Nomar's value as a symbol or character against Nomar's actual value at shortstop and in a batting lineup... I don't think I could have made that call. But he did. And four years later, the Red Sox have 2 world titles. After a lackluster stint with the Cubs, Nomar only played in 62 games for the Dodgers in 2005. This year, he's played in only 27 of their 99 games. And his numbers have never touched those of the late '90s. Love the guy, but the Sox dodged a bullet. (Keep in mind, this isn't Nomar's fault. Something happened when he was hit on the wrist in late 1999, and the most dominant shortstop in the game never got back to that level. Had Al Reyes never thrown that pitch, Nomar might never have changed from the next Ted Williams.)

Pedro went a similar route. Apparent bad blood between the two sides, with repeated claims that Pedro had been disrespected by the management. This was again, sad as it was, a player in decline. He, like Nomar was absolutely stunning at the turn of the century. 23 wins, 313 strikeouts in 1999. Won Cy Young, finished 2nd in MVP voting. Similar numbers in 2000, an off, injury-shortened year in 2001, back to good old Pedro in 2002 and 2003. The Grady Incident in the ALCS was the killer. One inning too many. That was how close Pedro came to deleting the Red Sox ugly history. Pedro's number in 2004 were by no means bad, but they lacked the dominance that he had shown previously. Once again, Theo had to look at this guy, weigh the emotional value vs. the baseball value. Once again, baseball value had to win. And once again, Theo was right. Pedro declined his offered contract from the Sox... he seemed insulted by the contract offered. He signed with the Mets, had one good season in 2005- good for that Pedro, but mediocre for Pedro the Baseball God. Fro 2006 to the present, he is 15-11 in 38 games, mostly because he hasn't been able to get through the last two years without a significant injury. Another potential catastrophe avoided.

Incidents since have been smaller. Johnny Damon was a textbook example of Theo's negotiating process, which is setting a value on a player and not going over that value. The Yankees apparently valued Damon more than the Sox did. What really seemed to lower Damon's value in Theo's eyes - and what the Yanks didn't see coming - was that Damon's speed and versatility were on their last legs. He by no means done as a player, or as a good player, but the attributes that made him unique and attractive to the Sox were on the outs. On a side note, the personality lobotomy he apparently had to endure when he shaved his facial hair - a requirement of joining the Yankees - didn't help him on any fronts either.

Curt Schilling is another chapter that is still being finished. Controversy arose that Schilling knew he wasn't healthy prior to the Sox signing him to a one-year deal for 2008. Schill hasn't thrown a pitch in a regular season game this year. At this point, it's really just his word against his, and it could very well never get conclusively resolved. Personally... it doesn't seem like Schilling's style. On top of that, I think the Sox were right to sign him to the deal, if only to get the guarantee that Curt will retire with the Sox. He's a definite Hall of Famer, and if that $8M guarantees that he ends his career here, where he made such a profound impact, so be it.

All that leads me to Manny. In 7 1/2 seasons with the Sox, Manny belted 294 home runs, averaging just over 39 a season. His other offensive numbers are equally impressive. Every Boston year but last year, Manny earned a Silver Slugger award. But that's the trick. Last year. Last year, his HR production dropped to 20 from 35 in 2006, which itself had dropped from 45 in 2005. RBIs dropped similarly. Once again, he's still one of the best hitters in the game, but that doesn't mean quite as much as it did two or four years ago.

Bottom line, really, is that Manny is getting old(er). He turned 36 in May, and his numbers are doing what you would expect from any slugger in his mid-30s. He's still more than capable, and if the game is on the line and Manny's at bat, Dodgers fans can feel good, because they have a chance to win it. But the Red Sox have made it clear over the past couple years that they will do whatever they need to do in order to contend. At the end of this year, the club held a $20M option on Manny. $20M for a 36/37 year old slugger in decline to play on the Sox in 2009. Because it is Manny, this isn't necessarily a bad deal. Like I said, every at bat is a potential screamer over the wall. But with Jason Bay, the Sox get a guy with numbers not too far off from Manny. They have him next year for $7.5M (the last year of the deal he signed with the Pirates before 2006). And all of that is in a guy 6 years younger than Manny. If Bay can hold his numbers on the pace he's on now, the deal is worthwhile. If he improves, and Manny at all continues his current decline this year or into next year, the trade was a steal. Unfortunately, I really don't think we'll know the final outcome until the end of the regular season at the earliest.

What has become somewhat bittersweet about being a Red Sox fan is that the vast resources at Theo Epstein's disposal allow him to always get the best of the best. Trust me, I am in no way complaining that the Sox have the money to get anyone they want. It's great when those players are at the top of their game. What makes it difficult, and what Theo is apparently better than I am at dealing with, is the attachment. As fans, it is sometimes difficult to take a player that is beloved and recognize that it is time to move on. Nomar and Pedro are prime examples of this. Fan favorites doesn't cover it. They were icons. Despite that, Theo recognized that as good as they were, it had reached the point where he could put together a better team without them. He did it. He made the tough call. He took some heat for it at the time, but history has proven him correct. Will it with Manny? I don't know. But I trust him.

To a certain extent, I almost hope that this is a "bad" trade. Not that Jason Bay falters, but that Manny rebounds and puts up numbers in LA that are so stellar they remind us of Manny in 2001-2004. Because great as he is, he doesn't have much time left where he has a chance at those numbers. I hope he tears up the NL West just like he did the AL East. (I can say that with some confidence, since the chance that any team from the NL West would be meeting the Red Sox or any team from the AL in the 2008 World Series are very slim. I doubt even Manny at his best can handle that burden.) I hope he gets the deal he wants from someone at the end of the year, even if it won't be the Red Sox. Ultimately, I find that I can wish Manny well and send him on his way with no ill will, despite all the controversy, because like so many of the great players who have come and gone through Fenway Park, I know that we had him at his best.

Thanks, Manny. Good luck.