The other day started as any other...I woke up...let the dogs out...got ready for work....and battled rush-hour traffic.  After about an hour at work, me and a couple of other people went outside to smoke.  One dude told me something that would completely change the course of that day and the day to follow.  He told me that at eleven o'clock central time, gamespot.com was going to give away 20,000 copies of the beta version of "Call of Duty 4:  Modern Warfare".  This game was rated as THE top game at the latest E3 convention (a gathering of dorks like me who absolutely love video games).  So a few minutes before eleven, I log into the gamespot site and go to the page where this giveaway is taking place.  From what I read, at eleven o'clock there would be a sign-up form and if you were one of the fortunate 20,000 people to get in, they would email you a key code to enter on Xbox live so you could download the beta version of this game.  Me and two other guys I work with were logged in and constantly hitting "refresh".  I saw the number of users logged in FAR exceeded 20,000, so I knew I would have to enter my information quickly.  I was focused...nothing else mattered.  Bombs could have been going off outside and my concentration would not be broken.  I was honed in on one task - to get a beta copy of this game.  Eleven o'clock hit and my heart-rate picked up as I kept hitting "refresh" on my web browser...yet no entry form appeared.  I kept clicking it over and over for the next several minutes and nothing.  I decided to give up thinking that either all the copies were gone or something was jamming gamespot's servers and creating a problem.  I tried to dismiss this as being no big deal, but I HAD to have a beta copy.  The time was about 11:25 and I decided it was time to go grab some food and pick up the "Heaven and Hell" DVD...which I have an amusing aside for in a minute.  Right before I was about to leave, I decided to click "refresh" one more time, and there it was...the entry form.  I yelled out across the office "KEVIN!!!  I GOT IN!!!"  I wonder what people were thinking about what I yelled, but he knew what I meant and quickly logged into the site for a chance at this precious treasure.  My fingers were shaking as I entered my email address and clicked "yes" to those stupid "do you agree to whatever..." agreements.  As luck would have it, a message appeared saying I needed to add my Xbox Live username to my gamespot account for this to process.  Oh I worked as efficiently navigating to that page and entering my info as someone would who is a master at diffusing bombs as a small bead of sweat ran down my forehead.  And there it was...the "congratulations" message saying the key code had been mailed to my email address I used to log in with.  I quickly went to my email account and the code was there.  Yes, mission accomplished.  Kevin came racing over to my cubicle and was almost out of breath from excitement..."DUDE!  I GOT ONE!"  I told him calmly that I had one as well while I envisioned an evening online battling the other fortunate golden ticket holders...yes I felt like I was part of an elite group...and let's be honest, I was.  Sadly I had agreed previously to work a little late that night, but I could keep telling myself that I was one of the chosen few allowed to play such an incredible game two months before the peons of the general public would have a chance.  I worked until 7:30 that night, and then it was time to go.  I viewed the drivers of the other cars on the road as people lost in the world just wishing they were headed towards a destination as cool as I was...a home with a beta copy of "Call of Duty 4:  Modern Warfare".  I get home and fire up the Xbox 360, get online, enter my key, and the download begins.  I began laughing to myself thinking how millions of people are sitting at home right then just wishing for the chance to play this beta I was about to.  It was going to take a while, so I decided to check out ESPN.  What was just starting?  The new season of "The Contender".  I couldn't believe it.  I never ONCE saw an ad for this, yet I was fortunate enough to run across it.  So while my game was downloading, I watched the best series on TV outside of "South Park".  Oh, the fight was great.  Instead of just winning the boxing match and advancing to the next round, it's a wee bit different this season.  Only the top four winner will advance.  This means that if you win a split decision of 3 rounds to 2, you might not advance because someone else won a decision of 4 rounds to 1.  What this translates to is more exciting matches, because these guys need to score KO's to cement a spot in the next round.  So there I was...watching some great boxing drama while my game was downloading...all the while thinking to myself that not one single person on this planet was being able to experience such an incredible evening as I was.  The show ended, the download completed, and it was time.  I fired up the beta, logged in to a multi-player game, and waited for complete awesomeness to ooze from my 56" hi-def TV.  That's when it all went wrong.  I got logged in and the game started, but there were all these black blocks on my screen...looked like something from an old dot matrix printer.  I figured it was something as simple as loose video cables, so I made sure they were tight and restarted the Xbox 360.  As soon as I hit the "power" button to fire it up, I saw it...the red ring of death!!!!  If you don't know what this is, it's a problem Microsoft had on early shipments of the 360 where, for no reason, the system would just go to crap and the power button was surrounded by red lights which means "this thing is toast".  Only one word can describe how I felt - panic.  Now when I bought the 360 a year and a half ago, I also got Best Buy's replacement plan which meant that if it crapped out in the first year, I could take it to the store and get a brand new one.  But it was well over a year.  A dude I work with had this happen a couple of months ago, and when he shipped his off to Microsoft to get fixed, it took about three weeks to get it back.  Well that is just unacceptable to me...I had to have one NOW!!!  I mean I had downloaded the beta of what will probably be the most incredible videogame this year...and I would have to wait three weeks to bask in it's awesomeness???  No way, not this guy.  So quickly I concocted a scheme.  I would go buy another the next day after work, ship mine off to get repaired...then when mine came back I'd sell it to someone for about $50 less than the cost.  Hey, $50 seemed like a small price to pay for instant gratification.  For some reason I got online to see if maybe other people were having quicker turnaround times on repairs, and I saw a thread about Best Buy's TWO year replacement plan.  Did I get a two year plan?  I wasn't sure...so there I am on a work night tearing through my hall closet at midnight looking for my receipt.  I found it, and yes...it was a two year plan!  I could sleep easy.  After work the next day I went and swapped it out, kept my original hard drive, and was able to enjoy the beta of Call of Duty 4....which I have been playing HOURS of.  I really had to laugh at myself after I got the new one all hooked up because of the stress and panic I experienced the night before...as in I'm a dork...but then again it's nice to have my life simple enough to where something like my Xbox 360 going out is a catastrophic event...hahaha.  Seriously, if I had to go three weeks without videogames while at home, I would go nuts.  Oh sure, laugh at me all you want, but YOU didn't get a copy of "Call of Duty 4" to beta test...HAHAHA!!!  Admit it, if you had a chance to play as a Marine Force Recon soldier against 15 other people on a huge map reminiscent of something from "Blackhawk Down" to see how many kills you can get in 15 minutes, you know you'd be all over it...you can admit it...it's ok...haha.

Ok, the bit about the "Heaven and Hell" DVD.  In case you didn't know, the version of Black Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio did a tour earlier this year, and called the band "Heaven and Hell"...a name of a Black Sabbath album.  Why?  From my understanding, Sharon Osbourne has rights to the name "Black Sabbath", so they couldn't use it unless Ozzy was involved.  Anyway, they played tunes from the Dio era of Sabbath and graced all of us who couldn't see them live with a concert DVD.  I logged into Yahoo at work to check some emails, and one of the entertainment news clips on the front page was about the release of the DVD, so I clicked on it.  It was some bimbo newscaster trying to do a report on this monumental event, and I couldn't help but laugh at her ignorance.  First off, she mentions the DVD of a Black Sabbath reunion with "relative newcomer" Dio.  Relative newcomer???  The guy is in his 60's and replaced Ozzy decades ago...not to mention his successful solo career in the 80's with some kickass tunes done with Rainbow in the 70's.  Relative newcomer my ass.  As if that wasn't bad enough, she refers to bassist Geezer Butler as Terrance Butler.  I am a HUGE fan of Sabbath and have rarely heard him called Terrance.  It's usually only when songwriting credits are mentioned or something like that...not in casual talk of the band.  And to top it all off, she calls Tony Iommi "Tony Lammi"...I don't know if that's how she would spell it, but that's how she said it.  I guess the capital letter "I" looked like and "L" in her teleprompter and she didn't feel the need to spend five seconds to confirm that was his last name.  And I wonder why I hate the media...hahaha.  I mean come on...it's friggin Black Sabbath here...the ones who STARTED heavy metal!!!  But I guess such an immature form of music was beneath her so what did she care.  The funny thing is, people will remember Sabbath for YEARS to come, and she will fade into oblivion.  AND she wasn't even hot!  Anyway, while watching the DVD I kept thinking about what this bimbo had to say about this incredible band, and then it hit me - people refuse to learn from the past.  Bear with me for a second.  I'm sure you've heard the quote about those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and I really believe that.  This ties in directly to the crap being passed off as metal today.  I'm being serious!   Instead of getting inspiration from such awesomeness as Sabbath or Iron Maiden or Motorhead, bands today would rather emulate what they see on "Headbanger's Ball" on MTV 2.  The great metal bands have two simple yet crucial ingredients that is SO lacking in today's version of metal.  They are powerful riffs and dynamics...that's it.  Maybe because it's so simple bands can't grasp it thinking they have to follow some pattern of technical wizardry.  Screw all that...people LOVE hard rocking tunes and don't give a crap about how slick production quality is or having one dude in the band growl while the other wails out some whiny "harmony".  Write some monster riffs that people can actually remember!  And when it comes to dynamics...I'm not talking about layers of crap with 5 different guitar parts and harmonies to show everyone how "artistic" with your music you are.  What I mean is that you write one song where the main riff is based off pounding out something with an "E" chord as the base and have some kind of driving rhythm, then make the next song based on a "D" and slow it down a little but keep it heavy.  It's such a simple formula, but sadly too many of today's "metal" bands are WAY too concerned with wearing eyeliner to appeal to the goth crowd.  Then they need the haircut with the long bangs yet somewhat short in the back...and of course the soulpatch under the lower lip.  A few random piercings in the face don't hurt either... I mean if a band on MTV 2 did it, then by all means it must be the "in" thing.  And this is followed by songs that are WAY too compressed to where even if there were some cool riffs, it all sounds like a wall of noise with these stupid harmonies.  Even the dudes nowadays with the growling vocals have NO dynamics to them at all...it's all monotone.  At least make an effort to hit some kind of pitch.  The last great metal band was Pantera...and they were successful due to MONSTER riffs and Phil Anselmo's vocal range even when screaming.  Each song had a different vibe to it.  Not all of them were timeless hits, but they had plenty of them that are easily remembered.  Now there have been some bands we've had gigs with that really seemed to "get it" when it comes to metal...and I hesitate to name names in fear of leaving someone out....but if after a gig I've come up and complimented the show then I meant it...I don't just toss that around to be nice.  Like a gig we had a couple of months ago with Piranah...I loved the set...it was great.  They are a really good band and I can't wait to jam with them again when we both open for Overkill next month.  In fact, that was probably one of my favorite shows.  There was one band called "A Thousand Eyes" made up of some pretty young guys...but they gave me hope for the future of metal...haha.  I swear, compared to most of the crap bands we've gigged with that are supposed to be just oh so good...Piranah and A Thousand Eyes blew them all away because they sounded like they actually put a little THOUGHT into what they wrote.  Oh, and I can't leave out Disarray either...we've played with them a couple of times and I really dig their stuff.  But like I said, if after we play a gig and I compliment you then I really dug it.  This is by no means me being some arrogant jerk...I just hate paying someone a compliment only to be "nice"...I only want to do it when I mean it.  And remember, we're playing at The Gibson Showcase this coming Saturday!  The show starts at 8:30.  I think I read Mindset Defect is playing also which would be cool because I've had a good time the couple of shows we've done with them.  So be there...this Saturday the 22nd at The Gibson Showcase at Opry Mills Mall!!!

Seeing how it was such a nice day this past Saturday, I decided to take Vic and Jessi to the dog park.  Man it was a great day...something like 70 degrees and low humidity.  Remember last time I wrote about going and it looked like the Lilith Fair was going on?  This time was the complete opposite.  I swear, it was like every hottie in Nashville with a dog was at the park I went to.  The ones who bring a book I never even think about talking to because I kinda take that as a sign of "leave me alone".  Now it's not like I approach all these women there at all...but if an opportunity arises, I'll strike up a conversation.  After all, we already like dogs so there's something in common.  However, because it's near Vandy the types of people there are...well...a little snobbish sometimes.  So I get there and let Vic and Jessi run free...and for some reason both of them ran up to this little puppy and started sniffing all over it.  Then the puppy started to snap at Vic and before he could do anything, I grabbed his collar just in case.  He was being cool, and then the puppy started warming up to him...it was quite a sight.  Anyway, this incredible blonde comes over and the puppy is hers.  Does she say something about how funny it looks that my dog which is probably 100 pounds heavier is playing nice with this puppy?  Nope...she just comes over and grabs the dog and says something like "I need to get you away from them".  After that I regretted making sure Vic didn't user her dog as a chew toy...haha.  I'm kidding!  Honestly though, I couldn't believe the attitude.  Next up was this GORGEOUS brunette who's dog seemed to like both Vic and Jessi.  They're running around and pawing at each other...just being playful...and then they stopped for a second and she was walking over.  Now sometimes I've had people just be polite and say something about my dogs and what a great looking dog Vic is or how cute Jessi is, but this girl didn't.  She walked over and all I said was something like "they all really seem to be getting along pretty well", and she looked at me, didn't say anything, then called to her dog and walked off with it.  I swear, you would have thought I had said something like "Hey baby, what do you say I get you to bark like a dog for me?"  No big deal, I don't go to "pick up chicks" anyway.  Vic and Jessi get so excited to go.  Seriously, they'll see me getting the blue blanket out of the trunk to lay over the backseat and start getting worked up because they know they get to go somewhere.  Then when I go into the garage, both of them are jumping around.  It's gotten to the point where all I have to do is say "dog park" and they both run towards the back door waiting to go out.  And when I reach for their leashes, holy crap they start going nuts.  It still drives me nuts about how people won't clean up their dog's crap.  They have these baggies and trash cans all over to clean up when your dog takes a dump, and it never fails how someone will be keeping an eye on their dog, but then all of the sudden become "distracted" when their dog is relieving itself so they don't see it happen.  That laziness pisses me off almost as much as when people don't take a few seconds to put their grocery cart in one of the cart racks at the grocery store parking lot.  They'll park it on a curb or something, like they're at least TRYING to be responsible, but they're just lazy and self-important who can't be inconvenienced with putting their cart away.  That whole "someone else will do it for me" mentality really pisses me off.  But hey, I do have the new "Resident Evil" movie to look forward to this FRIDAY!!!!!  Ah....my sweet Mila killing zombies...I can't wait.  I love her.

Wow...no politics or anything this time!  Ok...Al Gore is still an idiot...there you go...hahaha!