Putting SC4 through it's paces is a curious task. On one hand, it's only been a few years since I played a SoulCalibur game, but on the other, SC3 was an abomination, and I find I have a hard time remembering which characters were in SC3 (Zasalamel and Tira for sure; was dog-faced Setsuka in it, and was her face like a dog before?) and which are new. Mostly I've been dinking around trying to rack up achievement points, though my wife knocked out a bunch I wasn't looking forward to yesterday afternoon, and now I can focus on racking up dough.

I'm also considering trying to flesh out the custom character roster with builds inspired by Geroge R R Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, which I'm pretty sure leaves me as a lost cause. I liked the series well enough the first time out, but now I'm wholeheartedly addicted to the brutal and savage, yet so effortlessly interconnected, 7 Kingdoms and beyond. There really isn't a better fantasy story that I've ever read. Ever.

Other than that, I went to K-Mart last night looking for a few thigs and found they had some portable iPod Speakers and travel packs super cheap; as an example, I picked up an iStation, which runs for something like $50 at Amazon, for $6, and now have something that's far more serviceable and of greater use to listen to at work; simply the range of sound that powered speakers offer will make my music listening much more rewarding.

On that topic, of late I've been listening to the new Bodies of Water, which I love as a kind of community gospel revival indie beast that echoes faintly of Most Serene Republic and Arcade Fire's Funeral but is mostly just transfixing, and the same stuff as before (Hold Steady, Tapes 'n Tapes) with a few new ones (Jack Johnson's latest, Live's Throwing Copper and Secret Samadhi, the two albums by them I've always thoguht were decent). So much new music means that isntead of running out of eMusic DLs this month, I'm actually coming out a bit ahead, so I may use this to pick up some choice classical tracks that I always consider but never get around to. Or maybe I should work on that 50-album "Saved for Later" bmonster I've created.

The Angels are playing awesome baseball and summer, which hasn't been terrible out here in Iowa, should be breaking in just a matter of weeks before giving away to the beauty of fall (I try not to think about winter, especially after last year, our 4th-snowiest on record - that's a lot of shovelling).

I'm still knocking around a few ideas for actual concentrated blog posts of a topical nature , but I thought I'd throw something up in the interim. Hope August is treating you well.

I haven't maintained a journal in quite a long time, but I plan on ramping one up here again, as far as I'm able, in the time to come. This will be strictly non-personal stuff (as an older gentleman closer to 30 than 20 I suddenly value my privacy much more than I previously did), but I miss the good old blog rolls of days gone by.

I did see Batman on Monday, and while I was a bit let down by it (I expected a tighter, mroe harrowing picture, not the sprawling saga we received), in retrospect I enjoy it more and can't wait for it on DVD.

Probably the last movie I'll see in theatres until next year. Kind of disappointing.

Listening to the new Hold Steady. Trying to compare it against The Constantine's Kensington Heights for most earnest rock album of the year.

And Beast with a Billion Backs > Bender's Big Score.

Just playing Crisis Core (getting tired of it), Persona 3 FES, and Smash Bros. Brawl, of late.

Thought I'd give this site a passing glance and not get too involved, and then spent 45 minutes before work today adding new stuff. God, this is addictive.