Y hallo thar

Basically I'm abandoning ship and going on a three-week trip in the wild
woooooooooooooo

This consists of kayaking and hiking and all that jazz. It's for an outdoor ed credit and I'm doing it with a friend, so it should be pretty damn fun. I hope. We're not even a camping family so I hope I manage to survive the wild. I don't look forward to hanging out with a group of guys who haven't had showers in weeks, but it should be fun nonetheless.

I'll be active again in like three weeks, not that I've been doing much of anything on GameSpot these days. Too much summer fun to be had. I'm sure winter will rejuvinate the ol' gamer in me.

God, my blog posts aredull.

I'm really tired and packing for tomorrow morning, hence how incomprehensible this is. But if I managed to spell incomprehensible right (maybe I didn't) then I can't be too bad, no?

So, buh-bye.

Just thought I'd pop in and say hi. I haven't been overly active on here for the past few months, simply because I just haven't been gaming. I haven't quit at all (details further on) but this past while has been busy and stressful and I just moved on to other hobbies for a period.

Nothing life-changing has happened to me, but I'm somehow always doing something. I've been babysitting a lot to make tons of money, been hanging out with friends a lot and having a good time, working out and playinglots of sports, playing tons of piano, and I've got a girlfriend now which definitely eats up time. And I was shocked to find out that she's a gamer! Her and her friends all love playing Mario Tennis, Katamari and the like, even though they're the complete anti-nerds who a guy would never pin as a video game player. So, excited about that. (About the girlfriend, not the gamingness. I'm not that nerdy.)

Plus, as some of you know, my Xbox 360 died. Not in the usual over-heating, red lights of death sort of way. Basically, my dog had to go to the bathroom and we weren't around to let him outside. Fill in the blanks from there. But I sent it in after de-smellifying it and they didn't seem to notice that it was dog piss that killed the console, so they sent me a new one with full apologies. Some may say that it was bad of me for tricking Microsoft into giving me a new one, but:

a) I'd bought the console less than two months prior and I was not going to pay another 600 for a new one. I'm a high school student, I'm not made of money! And
b) They're a pretty huge, multi-billion dollar corporation. They can take the blow.

As for what I've been up to in life, music has been a huge hobby of mine lately. I've been collecting and downloading tons of new music and I've gone from about 800 to 2500 songs on my iTunes in school year of 2006/2007. I've been listening to lots of rock, alternative, electronic, ambient, post-rock and some jazz.

Seeing as I have summer now and don't intend to get a job until fall, I'll probably be around here more often to rant in the forums and discuss games. Which brings me to my next point, I am actually gaming again. I didn't touch a console for months this spring, but I've played about six or seven hours of Call of Duty 3 in the last two days and I'll be picking up Gears of War and another controller ASAP. And if I ever get around to hooking up on Xbox Live, I'll make it public for anyone interested.

So how's everyone been? I hope I wasn't missed too much.

So, I finally beat Resident Evil 4.  Man, what a freaking amazing game.  Seriously, it's just all that I'm thinking about.    If you haven't played it, and I imagine you all have, then go and buy it immediately.  There's just... it's just so amazing.  My review is here.

So, yeah, this is pretty much a shameless self-plug for a review, but it's a big day!  I haven't written a review I think in a little over a year so I'm probably rusty.  Tell me what you think!

...Right over the forums.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

I'm a little suspicious I have to say.  8.8 just seems low.  But I can judge for myself hopefully within a week.

I'm going on vacation again!  This time to a much less exciting place, but a great place nonetheless:  Maine!  Every year we visit our family friends' cottage which is on a nice quiet beach in Maine.  It's a great time to read on the beach  (I'll be reading parts II-V in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, which I seem to recall GGG is a big fan of.  ) and just relax. 

Out of curiosity do any of you live in Maine?  For some reason I want to say Robbie does (who's not even on my friend's list I just realized   I wonder if he remembers me ) but I'm not sure.

Aaanyways, I'll be leaving early tomorrow so we can finish the drive, so you'll be Freude-less for another week and a half to two weeks, depending.  Don't miss me too much. 

Continue to have a great summer everyone. 

Oh yeah, and y'know how I promised you Europe pictures?  Well I don't know where the camera is so I promise I'll do that when I get back from Maine.  And if I don't it means I forgot, so somebody remind me please!

Random fact:  Maine is closer to Bermuda than Florida is! 

Well I just got back from Europe and I'm majorly jet lagged.  25 sleepless hours on planes with loud little children, an enormously long lay-over in Vienna and getting stressed because I almost lost my birth certificate... but that's not to say it wasn't the BEST TRIP EVER!!!

Let's start with each place I went to, shall we?

Munich

I had a lay over in Germany so we took the train into town and it was beautiful!  It was all old-meets-new, like Rome fused with Toronto or something.  I really want to go back to Germany to get more of a taste.  And, also, not to sound like some sort of chauvinistic pig or nuthin', but Germany has the most attractive women in existence... except for our female GameSpot forumers of course  .  At least every other woman in her twenties in Germany is a jaw-dropper.     My brother had a blast! 

Rome

Unfortunately because of the lay-over and delays we only got two nights here but it was probably more walking combined than the rest of the trip.  Aside from being a little dirty, Rome is amazing and beautiful.  And seeing things like the Pantheon, Colosseum, etc. are actually all really amazing in person.  I highly recommend this one.

Pisa

We then took a train up to Pisa and it was lots of fun.  If you want to see a real Italian town, just wander through the streets away from the tower and it's really neat.  We stopped at a fruit market and grabbed some little paninis at a local store.  It was really neat.  Plus we got the necessary leaning up against the tower photos. 

Florence

Beautiful.  The best place in Europe that I saw to shop and eat.  And everything is stunningly beautiful.  PLUS I was there when Italy won the World Cup  (what are the odds, eh?) and EVERYONE was screaming and cheering and drinking.  Even the cops were honking their horns around in excitement!  Seriously, not a person in the city was silent and it went on for hours!  But it was fantastic.  I have a video of it that I'll post later if I find out how.

Ama (Winery)

Next we stayed at a nice little winery.  It was right in the heart of Tuscany, and me and my family stayed in a sixteenth century village of about twenty people that sat atop a hill surrounded by grape vines.  That is Tuscany at its most beautiful.  Just sitting on the porch with my parents drinking a glass of wine (which was apparently quite good since it was one of the winery's best... but then again I still can't seem to enjoy the taste of wine ) seeing the sun go down was amazing.

And I did I mention that it's hot in Tuscany.  It got up to forty-one celcius one day!

Montpellier

Then we drove all the way to the other side of France.  It was beautiful contryside.  And there's only one thing I will say about France.  The people were easily the nicest and friendliest.  I was shocked!    I've heard never-ending stories about their smugness and hatred towards Americans (which they, for the most part, assumed we were).  But they were amazing!  And I think part of this is because me and my family tried to communicate in French.  Since you have to take French in Canada up 'till grade nine my whole family has some ability, and they really appreciate when you try and speak their language.  They laugh and help you along, and all of a sudden they're a million times nicer to you.  It was great! 

Barcelona

Barcelona is amazing.  It's also probably the most crowded city I've ever been to.  Holy smokes, a Japanese tour bus let off every two or three square feet! 

But things like the Sagrada Familia and Gaudi Park are truly spectacular.  Go now!

Nice

Finally, our bittersweet last stop where everyone in my family decided 'Screw culture, let's tan!'    So we lay on the rooftop deck and pool and picked up some nice rays for our return home. 

It really was the trip of a lifetime and I won't hesitate for a second to go back.  I really recommend that any of you who haven't seen Europe should try and go.  Whether it be with family, friends, just as long as you're with good people and you're seeing and doing awesome things. 

And finally I'd like to thank everyone for their posts in the last entry, but especially GGG.  This is where the I Heart GGG Edition part comes in. 

Your advice was awesome!  We basically only stood up to get gelato and often our breakfasts and stuff were just picking up a few croissants at a bakery.  I also persuaded my parents to let us go to Gaudi Park, and everyone loved it.  It was beautiful! 

Except I couldn't get to Assissi or the Barcelona Hard Rock Café in the end, but thank you so much anyways!  You made my trip several notches better. 

P.S.  If I missed any big gaming news (I'm all caught up on international news though.  Very sad about Lebanon and more earthquakes and tsunamis.  ) could you please inform me in your comments.    Thanks a lot!