Thomas H. Chapin IV Musings and General Nonsense

Memorial Weekend

Well, I figure I better post this before the the details of this weekend fade from my mind, blurry as they were... You know how time flies? Yeah, well it really flew this weekend.

Technically, I had a four day weekend. I was sick on Friday and didn't go in to work, and I didn't have to work on Monday because of Memorial Day. But somehow it seemed more like just one, single day.

In between all the various little projects that I had to accomplish this weekend (cleaning my apartment, fixing *more* problems with my computer, etc...), there were a couple of highlights:

1. I saw the movie, "Edward Scissorhands" with Johnny Depp. Not much to say about this movie besides the fact that it was very weird.

2. I saw the movie "Final Cut" with Robin Williams, an intruiging movie about what could happen if we had recording devices implanted in our heads as babies and then others could view our lives when we died. Or something like that. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364343/

3. One of Samantha's best friends from Oklahoma came into town (along with her mother) and we all went to Applebees and had dinner. They had steak and shrimp, while Samantha and I split a Santa Fe Chicken Salad. Yum. After that, Samantha showed them her apartment. Then they all came and looked at mine. Random musing of the moment: I found out from them that Turner Falls is way over-hyped and sometimes the line of cars is backed all the way up to the highway. However, if Samantha and I ever decide to visit it, we can just call her friend (whose dad works there) and we can get in for free!

4. I discovered a new computer game. It is called "Far Cry" and it has thoroughly pleased me. Now, before I say anything else, let me just say this. I am *VERY* picky about my computer games and I have an extremely high standard. I have not been captivated by a single player game even once in the past three years. Every now and then you may catch me playing a game here and there with friends. But never will you see me playing a computer game off by myself, going level through level. I have always found this type of gameplay to be boring, repetitive, and altogether mundane. However, this game has accomplished the seemingly impossible. Amazing, life-like graphics combine with realistic physics and gameplay. You are put in an immersive world and given objectives. How you complete the objective doesn't really matter. You can drive a vehicle into the enemy territory, guns blazing. Or you can sneak through the grass on your stomach and snipe at enemies undetected. Or let's say you have to get from the top of a mountain to a lighthouse on the other side of the beach. You can go down the side of the mountain and creep across the beaches, encountering enemies. Or you could take a hang-glider and drop grenades on the enemies as you fly over them. Either way, you get the objective accomplished. It's very rich. And I must say it's one of the best games I've ever played. Word of warning: Don't even think about playing this game unless you have one of the latest video cards for your computer!

5. I went to a concert for Joe Nichols and Reba McEntire at the Choctaw Coliseum with Samantha and Leeann (One of our friends from the Baptist Student Ministry at Grayson who's like 38 and has a wheelchair because she's unable to walk. She's really sweet and lots of fun and she bought us tickets!). Now, first of all, if you know anything about me you know that I hate country music. However, I discovered that I somehow knew some of the songs the artists were singing (although I have no idea how) so it wasn't that bad. I actually enjoyed myself! Of course, most of the time I was oohing and aahhing over the special effects and stage lighting and wondering how they did it. The whole stage was literally lighting up like a giant tv screen. Even the ground that the singers were walking on! Best I can figure, it was all back-lit from underneath the stage or something. But I don't know for sure. Hmm...