MegaMan1's Xanga

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 01:29:57 GMT

September is coming to a close soon, and I figure that I could easily just wait until October rolls around for another post, but I have so much on my mind that I have decided that I'm going to resume using Xanga for what I originally intended to use it for: a place to release thoughts, emotions, feelings, and most of all, great memories that I don't want to forget.

School has been going okay so far. I haven't had any major exams yet, but they are all looming on the horizon, and my "week of hell" is only one-to-two weeks away. I can't say that I really enjoy any of my classes so far, with the exception of Media Law and Ethics, because I find the law part so fascinating. Most of my days up here are very repetitive and monotonous and I find myself in countless deja vu moments all day long. I need more variety right now, but I'm not sure where to get it from. I suppose that I still feel pretty out of place. It's part of the reason that I took up more intramural sports (which I highlight further down), but I still feel like something is missing. Thankfully, having the Sports Beat four days a week keeps me busy with show prep and going 90 minutes each night, but usually when I'm at my apartment, I just sit and surf the Internet for hours or waste hours at a time on EverQuest. At least there's a new expansion that's less than a month away and that gives me something to look forward to spending some of this free time on.

Intramural Softball has already come and gone this semester, and I was fortunate enough to get a team early, as I was recruited by New/Farris Halls (Honors dorms). The honors dorms actually fielded enough for two teams, and it so happened that we had to play each other in our first official game. I was originally on Team 1, but because there was a surplus of men, I was traded to Team 2 at the last minute to ensure that both teams could play. I was all for that, because I know how much it sucks to be screwed out of playing because people don't have the responsibility to show up. We fell into a 3-0 deficit early on in the first inning, and had silent bats for most of the game, but our offense finally started picking up in the final inning, as we were able to get some hits out of the infield and get some runners on base. I grounded out for my first at bat, but made my second at bat more worthwhile as I batted in the tying run on a miraculous sliding-safe play into first base. My knee is still recovering from the battle scar, and my pants will never recover, but it's the price you have to pay for the game you love. Shortly after my hit, however, we got the third out, so we were unable to go for the walk-off win, but we were able to force extra innings, which I've never seen happen in Intramurals. Just as I imagined, the rules for extra innings are very lame. Each batter gets one pitch--if it's a strike, the batter is out. If it's a ball, the batter not only gets to walk, but gets to take two bases instead of one. And finally, the stupidest rule of all, the first team to score wins automatically, regardless of the home team getting to bat again to save themselves. Unfortunately, we were the home team, and two balls was all it took for NFF Team 1 to take the 4-3 victory. It was certainly a crushing defeat for us, but we felt pretty confident, and we needed the confidence because we faced elimination from the tournament going into game two, which started a mere fifteen minutes after game 1. I have to admit, we were all pretty tired because we exerted so much energy trying to tie things back up in Game 1, most of us were pretty spent for game 2. We ended up playing a group of Graduate Students who looked a lot older than any college student should be. They put up big offense early, and yet again, our bats fell silent, and I think fatigue took over and the Grads cruised to an easy 5-0 shutout victory over us, ending our hopes of a championship run. And just like that, in a matter of hours, an Intramural softball season begins--and quickly ends. Regardless of the outcome, I always enjoy playing because I miss playing baseball so bad. If I could do it all over again, I would have tried so hard to walk on and be part of the Bears team, but I ultimately know that I would not have been considered, not even today, because of my size and weight limitations.

Mark Oliver, Fall 2008: 1-3. 1 RBI. 1 K. .333.

With Softball out of the way, it's time for Intramural Flag Football, which is quite ironic because at the time I am writing this, I am missing our second game of the season because everyone else decided to take the night off from work, and even though I told everyone I needed tonight off, they still left me here to close by myself. That's a whole problem of it's own that I'd rather not get into, but, getting back to football, I did have an awesome time in my Intramural Flag Football debut last week. Again, I'm playing for New/Farris hall, and again, they have fielded two teams and I landed on the 2nd team. Now, I admit, I'm no football expert by any means. Hell, aside from Beaver Bowl, I've never played organized football.. ever. I was hoping I could guise myself against these guys, but they saw right through me and could easily tell that I had no idea what I was doing. Nevertheless, they were cool about it. They stuck me on the defensive line (which is sort of degrading, but at least I had a spot to play). Since I was a newbie, I didn't get a whole lot of play time, but at least I got to learn the ins and outs of how flag football is played and that proved to be beneficial. We ended up losing the game pretty handedly to New/Farris Team 1, 27-0, but I had a lot of fun playing anyway. Even though we lost, our team decided to stay afterwards for nearly two hours and practice, goof off, and have a good time .We even had some random team come up to us and ask us for a scrimmage, which we obliged (although I got 'traded' to their team because they were a man down.) The Intramural Fantasy Football season goes on much longer than any other sport, which is great, because I assume that as the season drags on, more and more people won't be able to show up, which means that I'll be able to get some more play time in. (I hope).

As much as I'd like to, I guess I can't really hide the fact that I've been pretty down lately. I'm not at the point where I'm going to say that I'm depressed, but I definitely don't feel like myself right now. I suppose that part of it is that I get so homesick now and hate being away from Jenn and Michael all week along, especially when I have to stay up here and work, and then I'm away for two gruelsome weeks. I don't want people to get the wrong idea about me because I don't have any time to spend with anyone anymore. I feel like my friends back home have either abandoned me altogether or are slowly phasing me out and I definitely wish I could spend more time with them and especially my wife and son, because Jenn and I need time together right now more than ever. I even feel like I'm falling so far behind in my classes, even though I can check all my grades right now and see that I have all A's so far. There's been so much going on in everyone's lives--not just mine--that is so sad to see, and I suppose it's just a pretty down time for everyone altogether. Between death(s), heartbreak, lies, and deceit, I think that the world itself is stressed out and needing to see some light through the darkness. Time seems to be the enemy. I always tell myself that "it's always darkest just before dawn," but it's been dark for way too damn long, and I'm ready to see a pinch of sunlight.

I haven't gotten deep and philosophical for a while, but I feel like now is as good of a time as any. The other day, I found myself talking to someone I know about married life, and this person's outlook was that marriage is only something you do for about five years or so before you get tired of the person and pick another. Does this bother anyone else? Are people's ideas of marriage really beginning to change that much? I've always seen the sanctity of marriage as sacred and as something that is supposed to last a lifetime, but I suppose that's the old-fashioned way of thinking in 2008. Divorces are so common today that some people don't even think twice before 'upgrading' to the next model. There is one particular situation that has been weighing quite heavily on my mind for a while, and I feel as if I'm on the outside looking in. I am absolutely amazed at how certain people in a relationship can get away with so much and not suffer any reprocussions, yet if the other even thought about copying the same actions, he or she (in this case, he.) would lose everything. It amazes me how many people that I know or that I've seen have multiple partners and love interests, whether they are single or married. And as long as their original partner never finds out, it seems like it's an okay thing to do. Dirty little secrets. And if they do find out, it's so easy to dump one and still have another, while the dumpee reels in confusion, heartbroken and alone. This is absolutely terrible, and it makes me so sick to see so many people lying and cheating, and so many people getting hurt (and even unknowingly getting hurt) by ones that they really truly care about, when they have done nothing wrong; punished for no crime. And things only get worse when there is deceit in a relationship where children are involved. It makes me wonder where people's priorities are sometimes. To make matters even worse, the cheaters--the unfaithful--don't even seem to have any problem rubbing it in to the other person's face. Hell, we are all wasting our time fighting over whether gay marriage is right or not when we should be focusing on what marriage really should be: a loving relationship between two people. To quote a Sum41 song, "Everybody has their problems...but it's a matter of how you solve them." That's what marriage should be. I believe that people deserve second chances, but I also realize that some people may never change. All relationships are in dire need of trust, love, and honesty, and when either of those factors are missing, it can tear anyone's world apart. How can it be so easy to hurt someone, when we've all felt the pain and agony of being hurt ourselves? I wish I had the answer.

Mudvayne has released its first single from its upcoming album, "The New Game." It's called Do What You Do, and it's playing atop the site now. It's very "Fall Into Sleep"ish, but nonetheless a good song. I have high hopes for what this album can bring. I agree that the single could be much heavier, but I'm sure we'll see more of that especially when "Fish out of Water" hits the airwaves (if it does.)

Also, last week, Avenged Sevenfold released their newest album, Diamonds in the Rough, packed with their first DVD of live performances. I definitely must say that A7X is my newest musical interest, and I've taken to them pretty quickly. Their self-titled album from last year really got me pumped up, as well as playing Beast and the Harlot so many times on Guitar Hero 2. The newest album sounds pretty good, though I'm not sure if it's on the same level as their self titled album. Their sound is hardly different from the previous album, which is always fine in my book.

-Mark-

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:44:48 GMT

Roll Call for September! August has come and gone, and the summer is nothing more than a memory now. There’s only one direction to go from here: and that’s to move forward, both physically and emotionally. School is back in session, and for some strange reason, I still feel so out of place now that I’m back in Conway.

My class schedule has been a lot different this year, with 3 classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and even though I’m only taking fifteen hours, I guess it’s the difficulty of the classes I’m in that makes me feel so bogged down. Nevertheless, it's time for first impressions! I always believe that first impressions are a big deal, so here are my first impressions of my classes for this semester:

T/TH 9:25-10:40 Rhetoric and Communication
In my last post, I chronicled all the troubles I had with my class schedule, and the reason I ended up in this class--one of the hardest electives in the Writing program. Margaret Morgan was really helpful to me though, and explained the class to me (though I still may not have understood it) and I joined up. The class itself is really hard. It deals with the philosophy behind writing systems and rhetoric, and many times I’ll sit in class and try to pay complete attention to what is going on, but I still can’t figure it out. At this point, I’m more about survival than perfection, as I’m going to have to learn on the fly for this one.

T/TH 10:50-12:05 Media Law and Ethics

The only thing that sucks about this class so far is that I only have ten minutes to get there from Thompson Hall. Other than that, I’m having a hard time figuring out why people say it’s one of the hardest classes in the Broadcast Journalism major. If I had to pick a class that I could say I enjoyed, this is probably the only one. I’m no expert on law or ethics, but I feel like I’m learning a lot from Stephen Ralph. I hear his tests are bitches though, so I’m making sure not to get too comfortable just yet. Danner Rogers is in here, as well as a few other people that apparently know me (but I don’t know them), so having familiar faces also helps the situation.

T/TH 2:40-3:55 Principles of Online Journalism

I took this class for one reason, and one reason only: Levi begged me to. I suppose it also fulfills my final elective for Broadcast Journalism, but I was just going to coast through my major by taking something easy like Media History. Nevertheless, this class will probably help me down the road on my resume, so I’m making sure to pay attention. Class so far has been really easy (and borderline boring), but I’ve taken Katherine Noyes before (for Beginning Reporting) and she was an exceptionally easy grader and a fun, quirky teacher to be around. We have to contribute to a blog biweekly as well as edit Wikipedia entries. This class could have some potential for fun.

MWF 10:00-10:50 World Languages

My final GenEd class at UCA comes in the form of Tim Thornes’ World Languages class. I decided to enroll because I really enjoyed my Intro to Linguistics course and figured that this was “pre Intro to Linguistics” so it wouldn’t be too bad. Unfortunately, Thornes seems to treat it like Advanced Linguistics, which sucks for me, but I’m not too worried since most other people in this class are Freshman, and they probably don’t know what’s going on either, right? I’ve already tried to get on Thornes’ good side, as nobody participates in class anyway.

MW 3:00-4:15 Writing for New Technologies

I had to do it sooner or later. New Tech is by far, the hardest class in the entire Writing minor (although I’m in a Writing Major now). Francie Bolter is, to put it plainly, a bitch. However, I can tell that she’s a very smart woman, and hates dealing with ignorance. I feel dumb in her class, though, because I ask so many questions and nobody else seems to. We’re going to be doing a lot of Web design in this class, and it’s been nearly 8 years since I’ve done anything with HTML and I’ve never used programs like FrontPage or nVu before, so this will be another class where I’ll need to learn software extremely fast. The class does have an all-star cast, however: Brown Hoyt, Bill Acklin, the Van Scyoc twins, Alli Hogue, Tommy Montgomery, and even that annoying Tim Wistrand kid from back in Critical Thinking. I can’t help but feel that I’m in for a wild, bumpy ride, in this class.

Work has been going pretty well so far. No longer is working at KUCA a “leisure activity,” and now we’re all kinda forced to do real work instead of sit around on the clock all day. Last Thursday, the 2008 season began for UCA football, and I’m in charge of recording the game, cutting and editing clips, and piecing them together for Levi and Steve O as they host the post game wrap up show. I like doing that because I need more practice with the software.

The Sports Beat is nearing a big milestone: its 100^th episode. I wish that we could think of a clever way to celebrate (the 100^th edition airs this Thursday) but I don’t have any ideas in mind. We’ve introduced a new segment to the end of the show titled “Face Off” where Levi and I have to disagree on a debatable sports topic. It’s really fun, even if I have to lie about how I truly feel about something. It’s like high school debate team, in a way, and I think I’ve won the most Face Offs so far since we’ve begun.

Michael had his 5-month “birthday” last week and I’m so proud of the progress that he’s making. I had a lot of fun seeing him this weekend and I missed him a ton, because it was the longest that I had ever been away from him. I think we bonded a lot over the weekend. Jennifer, he, and I went and took some family portraits on Monday, which I thought was a great way for us all to spend some time together. In the end, I suppose you could say the outing was a little pricey, but I believe that it was all worth it.

So what’s to come for September?

Avenged Sevenfold will be releasing their new DVD “Live at the LBC” as well as a new CD titled “Diamonds in the Rough” on September 16. It will feature remixes of “Afterlife” and “Almost Easy,” as well as a few covers and some songs that didn’t make the final cut on their current album. I’m excited for the DVD, because I missed seeing them live earlier this year (but I’m glad I did because I didn’t miss the birth of my son) and this will be a way to see what they would have sounded like live.

Also, I’m expecting Mudvayne to finally release the full version of the song they’ve been previewing on their MySpace all summer. I was a little unsettled (as I’m sure other fans were) that the whole “It’s coming.. August 26” never amounted to anything, but I’ll still try to hang in there and wait for more news to come.

In the gaming world, September’s biggest release has to be Spore. Spore could quite possibly be the most creative and innovative game released this decade, and has had huge support ever since its ideal conception in 2005. Hell, even Robin Williams thinks it’s the best video game ever. I’m thinking of picking it up and giving it a try (and yes, hype may have something to do with that decision) but I’m not sure how soon I want to add it to my collection. I’m trying to limit myself from having too many games to play at once. With the newest EverQuest expansion about 1.5 months away, my main focus has been grinding levels and AA points until October 21.

Dear God the only thing I ask of you is
To hold her when I'm not around,
When I'm much too far away
We all need the person who can be true to you
I left her when I found her
And now I wish I'd stayed
'Cause I'm lonely and I'm tired
I'm missing you again oh no
Once again

~Avenged Sevenfold, Dear God

GAME OF THE MONTH: AUGUST

Mario Super Sluggers

RUNNER UP:

Madden NFL 2009

-Mark-

Monday, August 25, 2008

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 03:46:33 GMT

Roll Call for August! Yes, look, don't tell me that August is almost over. I know that already. Listen, it's always better to do something late than never, right? Well here's the latest that's been going on in the world of Mark.

Summer is officially over. To be honest, everything happened so fast that I feel as if I really got jipped out of a summer vacation. I worked my ass off with two jobs and although I had some fun and made a lot of money, I feel as if I missed out on some of the more important things in my life right now. It definitely was not one of my better summer vacations, and I hope one day to forget 90% of it. That's not to say it was a total bust, though. I had a blast watching my son grow and learn new things. Michael is nearly five months old now, and he is getting more and more exciting to watch every day. We finally got our vehicle situation straightened out, as I took the Rodeo and Jennifer and I picked out a 2005 Ford Escape for her. I have to admit, she looks good in it. One of the hardest things for me to do right now is head back to school at a time where Michael is growing and learning at such a fast rate, and I hate being away from Jennifer for any period of time. Thankfully, things are getting much better now, and I'm really starting to feel better about everything. I missed being at UCA all summer long, but now that I'm here, I miss beind at home.

School is back in session, needless to say. After waiting all summer long for UCA Housing to put me somewhere, I finally found a home in a place called St. James Park. It's technically on-campus housing, although it's nowhere near campus at all. Regardless, the living conditions here are quite nice, as it is a brand new apartment with tons of space. I do have a room mate, his name is Eric, and he is a graduate student from the University of Tennessee-Martin. He's pretty cool so far; he keeps to himself for the most part, which is ideal to me because I like to do the same. Unfortunately, we didn't have cable or Internet for a full week after we moved in, but now we're all good to go and things are starting to feel "homey" around here.

Classes have been going awful as well. I don't know if it's just because I've been out of the school "loop" for four months, but I feel really lost here. Somehow, I accidentally signed up for a course for education majors, even though the class is called "Writing Theory" and is placed under the "Writing" section on the classes list. This sparked complete panic, and seeing as I didn't find this out until after I had the class Friday, everything else is already filled, with the exception of the classes that nobody would want to take if someone paid them. Thus, I had to enroll in a total shit elective, Rhetoric and Composition, which deals with the philosophy of writng structures.. or something. I spent all day Saturday reading the first chapter in our book trying to decipher the jibberish and I'm determined to kick rhetoric's ass.. rhetorically. I'll provide my trademark "first impressions" segment after tomorrow, seeing as how I haven't actually been in all my classes yet. Even though I'm only in fifteen hours this semester, it all feels like I'm taking 23. I suppose it's because I'm down to the hardest of classes left to graduate. I'm almost at the end of my college career here at UCA, and with only two semesters left to go, I'm vowing to take advantage of everything that I may not have thought of during my previous years. I've signed up for virtually every intramural sport for the fall, just because I can, and I'm also planning to make regular stops at the HPER center between classes.

So what's to come for August? (Or what's left of it). Plenty! Tuesday, August 26th, Mudvayne has an extra special surprise planned for their fans, which I'm assuming comes in the form of their first single off their upcoming album "The New Game" (November release). Also on Tuesday, Mario Super Sluggers slams its way to the Wii as the much-anticipated sequel to Mario Superstar Baseball.

The newest EverQuest expansion, Seeds of Destruction, is set to drop on October 21. While I don't really feel like there's a lot of new content being offered, there is a level cap increase to 85, which means that I need to get both Moocow and Callipso prepped to make the jump. I have some time though, and even though I craved EQ all summer long (solely because I didn't have it), I'm not exactly jumping all over it now that I have the opportunity to. I think I'll just take my time with it this time, instead of trying to rush through the levels like I did before.

I apologize for such a short update. It doesn't really sum up everything that has happened since my last post, but it's all that I have time to churn out for now. Look for more, frequent posts soon!

GAME OF THE MONTH: JULY

Soul Calibur IV

RUNNER UP:

NCAA Football 09

-Mark-

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:24:40 GMT

Roll Call for July! The summer is rolling right along, and unfortunately, before we know it, it's all going to be over and it will be time to return to school! I still only have internet access from the radio station, and with my internship ending next week.. well.. you can put two and two together. You think I'm late making Xanga posts now? You may have to wait until September for the next one.. Who knows!

The search for a new car is going horribly. Not only are there too many differing opinions telling me what I should do, but I still haven't really found anything that I like. Now, I do know what I want to do, and yes, it took me some time to figure it out, but I feel pretty comfortable with it now, and kinda wish that some people would back off a little bit so Jenn and I can do this. I appreciate everyone else's help and advice, don't get me wrong, but I feel like Jennifer on this one: I'd rather just have the two of us make the decision together and if we make a mistake, that's fine, but I feel that it's something that the two of us should try doing for ourselves, and see how that works. We're not the biggest car experts by any means, but we're also not totally incompetent either. Regardless of which car we choose, we're not going to make a move that's going to get us into huge financial trouble.

To be honest, things have been a little rough lately, but you know, relationships have those times, and I believe that true love can overcome any obstacle, and I have a beautiful wife and baby boy that I love spending time with, and I'd spend every second of my day with them if I could, except with two jobs right now, I barely get to see either of them. Nevertheless, I will try to make things better. You do it because you care, and when you truly care for someone from the bottom of your heart, I think that is doing something for all the right reasons. Being in love with someone you truly care about is the greatest feeling in the world, and it's something that everyone should experience. There's nothing greater. On the contrary, being in love with someone that doesn't love you in return can be the most crushing blow to a loving heart. The three biggest qualities in any relationship are happiness, honesty, and communication. The two of us have been so stressed out lately that I think we take it out on each other sometimes, and that's not fair at all, but I am keeping my head high and looking ahead, and I see brighter, happier days together for the three of us. I love you Jenn!

Speaking of Jenn, my baby bear has been working pretty hard herself, and she finally rewarded herself a little bit by buying herself a new bowling ball. It's really nice looking, and I can tell that she really loves it. She's moving up from a 10lb ball to a 12lb ball, which takes some getting used to, but I feel that once she gets the hang of throwing her new 12 pounder, she'll be even better than she is now (and she's already creaming me when we play together!). She's been participating in a bowling league once a week, and I really think that it lifts her spirits and gives her some time away, because God knows that everyone deserves that once in a while. I hear that there are a lot of opportunities and scholarships out there for excellent bowlers, and I think that her hard work will be paying off soon if she keeps up the good work.

I'm still waiting to hear about where I'm going to be living for the next semester at UCA. I've been getting the run around for quite some time now, but I'm so sick of waiting that I think I won't complain where I'm put as long as it's a place to stay. (That's right, I may stoop so low as to accept a DORM)

With being so busy lately, I have to apologize to everyone for not being able to spend more time with everybody, but I did get the chance to hang out with Nathan at his place for a little bit. We played Call of Duty 4 on his PS3, and I'm still trying to figure out which version I like better, PS3 or 360. The PS3 played pretty nicely, and I know that Jenn mentioned getting one (since Kingdom Hearts 3 will eventually hit the console) so we may get one a ways down the road. We'll see.

So what's to come for July? Well, Independence Day has already come and gone, but we do have a few birthdays coming up in the month which should be pretty exciting, My grandmother is turning 80 this month, and I know that a lot of the "Chicago people" will be down here to celebrate, and that also means that Michael will get to meet a lot of new (and interesting) people in our extended family! Also, Jennifer's mom has a birthday this month, as well as Jesse (finally) turning 21 towards the end of the month.

Gaming wise, July means that NCAA Football 2009 will be coming out, and unfortunately, Michael C. will not be around to play once I return to Conway in August. Final Fantasy IV will also hit the DS towards the middle of the month, and Soul Calibur IV will drop near the end of the month. I haven't been doing much gaming myself, but when I do find time to kill, I'm playing Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King. I think everyone's on a Final Fantasy kick, am I right?

In music news, although Michelle Branch is still working on her new album, Everything Comes and Goes, we're not going to hear anything from it anytime soon. I'm guessing that there was a delay of some sort, and now the album could be pushed back to the beginning of next year. I also have to report that although the album is a solo album, it's still being reported as a country album.

GAME OF THE MONTH: JUNE

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift

RUNNER UP:

Spore Creature Creator

-Mark-

Thursday, June 05, 2008

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:51:03 GMT

Roll Call for June! How's everyone's summer going so far? Mine has been pretty hectic, as I'm always busy with something going on and there's hardly much time for myself (or for me to spend with Jenn and Michael) anymore. I'm writing this post from the confines of the KLAZ control room, simply because I have no other computer where I can make a post. Consider yourself lucky that I really feel the need for a post, because it would be so easy to skip out at this point!

Well, the final verdict is that I'm never going to be able to use my laptop anymore. My insurance company "told" me that the unit was a total loss and sent me a check instead of the computer. Originally, they told me they were sending me the check so I could fix the LCD screen, but when the check came and not the computer, I grew concerned. Unfortunately, the insurance company told me they were keeping the laptop and I could use the check to buy a new one. It would have been nice if they had told me that they were going to keep it before they sent me the check, because I was never told to back up any information because they initially said I would be getting the laptop back. So now I lose all of my UCA school files, years worth of music, photos, EQ screenshots, and most importantly, my book that I've been working on for a year now. I'm very unhappy with the Safeware Insurance company and I vow never to use them again and recommend to all my readers to stray away from using them. The only good news that comes out of this is that I can get something a lot better at a cheaper price now. I'm losing a lot of good stuff, but I do get to upgrade to something way better.

The good news is that working at KLAZ has been fantastic so far. I'm loving it. I'm doing on-air work for KBHS AM1420 country from 10-2 every day and creating commercials and things for all the stations, as well as learning the mechanics, sales, and other stuff around the station. The bad news is that I'm not being paid a cent for any of it. That's right! All work and no pay makes ME a dull boy. Because Jenn, Michael, and I cannot survive with no income from my part, it was time to take a new step and go get another job. I filled out many applications and got no responses and was really feeling like the weight was tightening on my shoulders even more, but Jenn's dad has bailed me out and given me a job working in the parking garage parking cars at the Arlington Hotel. I kinda told myself I'd never work at a hotel (since my grandmother operated one for decades), but in times like these, you have to put personal preferences aside for what matters most. I actually start today in about two hours, so we'll see how everything goes. I'm really nervous because it's a fast paced job, and if you don't know what you're doing to begin with, theoretically it will be almost impossible getting into the swing of things. I just pray that I can jump right into the position and not have to waste too much of my time and everyone else's time trying to train me. At least this way I'll be getting paychecks and I have the opportunity to earn some tips on the side.

Jenn got her old job back at Central Bowling Lanes and I can tell that she loves being back. I think that having the job may make her feel more "like herself," which is great because she's been through so much lately that she needs a nice easy job where she knows everyone. I'm very proud of her and all the recovery she's went through over the past couple of months, from enduring child birth, a stubborn gall bladder, and braving many sleeping nights with me and Michael. I know she'll read this, so I better put in that I still owe her dinner at the Olive Garden because that's definitely our favorite place to eat out, and hey, doesn't she deserve it? A beautiful woman such as herself deserves a nice meal every once in a while, right?

Last Friday, Jenn and I traveled to the Wal-Mart in Hot Springs Village to participate in the town's first big Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournament! I was able to play around in the first statewide tournament on the eve of the game's release, but now I've had a lot more practice and was very excited about testing the competition around Hot Springs. What made things even better was that the tournament was hosted by our very own AKA Yoshi! Jesse did a really great job setting up the tournament and picking the settings. I'm really proud of him. It's very hard to do all of that by yourself (and I offered some help--though I probably offered too much help every now and then--it was his show to run and I may have accidentally stolen the limelight once or twice). I decided to go with the Wiimote+Nunchuk as a control combo, because after practicing so long, it just feels natural to me. I was still stuck between Pikachu and Captain Olimar, but the Pokemon prevailed, and Pikachu propelled me deep into the tournament, where I would eventually lose to a tag-team combo of the infamous Link and Samus from the Melee tournament at the Albert Pike Wal-Mart oh.. six years ago? I was pretty pissed to see them back, because they were pretty cheap, but I laughed as they both were defeated by a 14-year-old boy using Olimar. It really was priceless. I ended up finishing in 6th place out of about 24 entrants, which isn't so bad I suppose. Jennifer didn't do that bad either, using Marth, she lost out shortly before I did, but not before many entrants were eliminated from the tournament. Overall, I think we both felt good about the tournament and if we practice a little more, we just may end up winning the next one!

So what's to come for June? The highly anticipated fourth album from Disturbed, "Indestructible" hit stores Tuesday, June 3rd, and even though I already got the CD (Dylan made me a copy so I didn't have to spend any money), I have yet to listen to it. I've listened to a handful of the songs online, but I haven't had the opportunity to listen to the album in its entirety. I was so sure that I'd be able to this morning on the way to work, but I accidentally left my CD player inside the house. Oh well.

Speaking of Disturbed, I never got to share with you my concert experience at EdgeFest! Yes, I know that it all happened in April, but with no laptop, I cannot upload any pictures to show you all the fun, sorry! Edge Fest turned out to be quite amazing, as Nathan, Stos, and I journed to the North Shore River Walk in Little Rock, walked nearly a mile and a half to the back of the line and made our way into the show. I didn't run into that many people that I knew, Just Matt and Tabitha Goins, but that was okay. Black Stone Cherry hit the stage first, but as an opening act, I don't think they were that good, and hardly got any recognition from the crowd, who were too busy playing with inflatable beach balls and tossing them all throughout the crowd. When Five Finger Death Punch hit the stage, everything changed. For a newer band, these guys were good, and they brought the energy an opening band is supposed to have, especially to a big music festival as Edge Fest. Nathan and I were both pretty impressed, and I believe that Nathan already went and picked up their CD. I had seen Saliva once before, back when they headlined the show at Henderson State University. They were a lot better back then, as it seemed the lead singer was just not "trying" very hard. Usually if someone's really singing and rocking out, you can see their body straining, but it looked as if he was almost lip syncing this time around. I'm not much of a Saliva fan to begin with, but I was disappointed with their performance. Sevendust hit the stage next, and I really didn't like them very much (probably because I've never heard any of their stuff). It's very rare to see a rock/metal band with a black lead singer, but Sevendust tried to deliver (and I'd say they did a good job based on the crowd's attentiveness), but as I said, they just weren't my cup of tea.

And then, the fun began.

Disturbed's Set List:
1 Prayer
2 Liberate
3 Perfect Insanity
4 Just Stop
5 Deify
6 Voices
7 Hell
8 10,000 Fists
9 Stupify
10 Land of Confusion
11 The Game
12 Inside the Fire
13 Stricken
14 Down with the Sickness

Seeing David Draiman on stage is almost like having a religious experience. I know that probably sounds really bad, but that's the only way to describe it. He has this aura around him that just reeks awesomeness. The way he speaks and carries himself sends chills down your spine. Disturbed played an amazing show, from start to finish, and I was very impressed. As a whole, the concert may not have been the best I've ever been to, but Disturbed may have been the best act that I've seen live. The only suggestions to the set list I had were to get rid of "Deify," "The Game," and "Land of Confusion," (even though it's a past single). I dunno, I would have rather heard "Fear," "Remember," and "Darkness," but I'll certainly live. There are some Youtube videos of some of the performances that I'll have to upload for you to see. Overall, for my first concert in over a year, I have to say that I picked a good one. I would definitely say that I've satisfied my need for live music this year (but I'm still crossing my fingers for Mudvayne, Michael Jackson, Michelle Branch, or Chimaira).

In gaming news, the biggest release of this month hits the Nintendo DS in the form of Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift. I've been playing its GBA predecessor like crazy recently, and I'm really stoked for new adventures in the world of Ivalice. The only part I don't like is that the characters have to change (but that's very typical for Final Fantasy games) and that it's rumored that I cannot rename the characters that want to join my party (so I get stuck with people named 'Yolando' etc.). I can easily put that past me and I'm patiently counting down the days until the 24th.

When I'm taking a break from Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, I've been playing Wii Fitt (occassionally--we bought it but it's losing its luster the longer we have it), The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past on GBA (which I can say I've finally beaten), and our newest addiction, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life As A King. MLAAK is a "Wii Ware" title that we could download off of the Wii Shop channel for a certain number of Wii points and plays like a city-building simulation game with Final Fantasy RPG elements. It's a very innovative touch to the world of Final Fantasy and though I can't guarantee that everyone will love how it plays, I know that me and Jenn can't get enough of it. To make things better, Nintendo will be releasing new downloadable content for the game on a bi-weekly basis so the game will never get too monotonous. Rock on!

GAME OF THE MONTH: MAY

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King

RUNNER UP:

Wii Fit

P.S. A Special Happy Birthday to Sasha!

-Mark-

Friday, May 16, 2008

Fri, 16 May 2008 22:55:33 GMT

Roll Call for May! Summer has officially begun and the break couldn't have come at any better of a time. I do realize that I am very behind on this post, but I have a couple of good excuses this time around and still resolve to make posts in a more timely manner.

First off the bottom half of the LCD screen on my laptop has shorted out which spells NO EverQuest for me this summer (unless of course it gets fixed), but more importantly, almost no way to have a daily attempt at Internet, and therefore, Xanga posts. I have to use the Internet from mom's house (which I'm thankful that she has it installed, because sometimes dial-up is just too slow once you're so used to using cable. It's an addiction, it really is.) to do most anything, so it means limited time for anything online. In a way, it's giving me more fresh air and making me do things that I've been putting off for a while (like getting my car fixed) but I am missing EQ quite a bit. Nevertheless, the laptop is in the shop right now to see if it's fixable. If not, I fear that I will lose a gigantic library of music, as well as a detailed direct archive of all my UCA schoolwork since freshman year, as well as many documents that were backed up from when I had my two desktop PCs.

I've also been pretty sick as of late, and am really just recovering from a nasty cold that had me down for about a week. It came with the strangest symptoms too: I had really bad joint pain (especially in my knees and shoulders) and a continuous nauseated feeling and no appetite. Going to the doctor was really a waste of $45 since they ended up telling me stuff that I already knew, so I just had to commit to bedrest for a few days and now I'm feeling fine.

Unfortunately, two people that are not feeling so fine are my wife and my mom. For her very first mother's day, I had to take Jennifer to the Emergency Room, where she was later admitted for having gall bladder troubles. I feel so bad for her because she had such a rotten mother's day (especially for her first one ever), but I promised her that I would make it up to her for her next mother's day so she can really enjoy it. We ended up staying in the hospital for three days or so while she had her gall bladder removed. Now she's home, but very fragile and slowly regaining her strength. The really bad thing about her being in a weakened state is that our anniversary is coming up shortly and I don't want it to be ruined because of her condition too. I'll go into that a little bit later.

Mom hasn't had things any better either as she has had to undergo "re-surgery" on her surgically repaired left eye. I honestly can't think of many things worse than not being able to see. Your eyes are your window to the world, and without them, I imagine that the world can be a very scary place. The surgery had to be split into two segments carried out over two days (day one: cut/drain eye ; day two: operate) and she's pretty sick over the whole ordeal. I'm actually over here right now taking care of her and letting her rest up a bit. Hell, she's done it for me all those years that I was sick as a kid, I figure it's the only way I can repay her, especially since I didn't really get her much for mother's day.

May means that school is out (I actually finished on the 30th of April) and grades are back! I really feel like I lucked out this time, because, well, just being honest, I slacked off a little bit there on the home stretch and accidentally forgot to turn in a 100 point project in one of my classes. It's not like the 4.0 GPA matters that much to me anymore (unless, of course, I can use grade forgiveness to retake Psychology), but it is something that I do like to try to attain (for my personal reasons).

Undergraduate Course work
CRN	Subject	Course	Section	Course Title	Campus	Final Grade	Attempted	Earned	GPA Hours	Quality Points
20124	ENGL	2305	0	WORLD LITERATURE I	Main	A	3.000	3.000	3.000	12.000
22124	MCOM	3308	0	NEWS EDITING	Main	A	3.000	3.000	3.000	12.000
22236	MCOM	4391	0	TPCS IN MCOM: Sports Reporting	Main	A	3.000	3.000	3.000	12.000
22580	WRTG	3300	0	CREATIVE WRITING	Main	A	3.000	3.000	3.000	12.000
22585	WRTG	3300	0	CREATIVE WRITING	Main	A	3.000	3.000	3.000	12.000

Undergraduate Summary
	Attempted	Earned	GPA Hours	Quality Points	GPA
Current Term:	15.000	15.000	15.000	60.000	4.000
Cumulative:	99.000	99.000	99.000	393.000	3.970
Transfer:	12.000	12.000	0.000	0.000	0.000
Overall:	111.000	111.000	99.000	393.000	3.970

I start work at KLAZ 105.9 FM once again on Monday, and I'll be going through my internship procedures for my graduation requirement at UCA. I think that they're going to have me doing everything, from being "front desk bitch" to billing, audio production, and, of course, on-air duty. Rumor has it that I'm replacing Blake Townshend for the "High 5 at 9" and I hope it's true, because I've been telling everyone it's true. Growing up, I remember that Dylan and I always listened to the "High 5 at 9" every single night and dreamed about doing it one day. Now, here I stand, with a very good chance to do it. I never would have dreamed that I'd actually get the chance to do it, but if I pull a quote from Angels in the Outfield, "It can happen, right?"

So what's to come for May? The real question is this: since it's the middle of the month, what hasn't happened already? Well to start things off, Jennifer and I will be celebrating our one year anniversary this upcoming Sunday (which is two days from when I'm writing this)! I can't believe that we've really only known each other for only two years, but so much has already happened for us and I think it is safe to say that we are really gracious and lucky for the kind of relationship we have and will continue to have for many years to come. Having Michael in our lives will only strengthen our bond as a family, and I'm looking forward to many more May 18ths with the one woman who finally gave me a chance. It is really unfortunate that she has had so much bad luck lately because the two of us had plans that have fallen through because of her surgery and recovery time. Nevertheless, I feel as if I can make it a special day and night for us without getting too fancy. When you're in love, there's always time to figure it out! I love you Jennifer, thank you for everything that we have together and I hope that our love will carry us through forever and ever.

Also scheduled for May is Nathan's 23rd birthday and a Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournament up in Hot Springs Village at Wal-Mart, hosted by our very own AKA YOSHI! In his first official tournament hosting spot, Jesse will try to pull off the first big Brawl tournament in the state since the game released. I have high hopes for him, because he knows what he would want in a tournament, and he knows what we would want in a tournament, so it may be safe to say that Eric, Nathan, Jenn, and I would have the upper hand when it comes to the competition. Now the real question is this: do I use Pikachu or do I use Pikmin & Olimar? Decisions, decisions.

Since I haven't had any EQ capabilities, I've been playing Brawl and Mario Kart Wii every chance I get, but I'm almost to the point where I'm burned out on both of those (which isn't good because of the upcoming Brawl tournament). So to cool down some, I've been playing the hell out of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. With the sequel: FFTA2: Grimoire of the Rift set to come out next month, I figured that I'd try to 100% the game while I was waiting. I'm telling you, FFTA is one of the best games ever made because it has the most replay value out of any game I've ever played that isn't strictly multiplayer--ala Halo, Goldeneye, Mario Kart, Smash, etc--with the possible exception of Pokemon Red/Blue. I'm not too much of a Final Fantasy buff, I mean, I love the games, but they're not my favorite franchise or anything, but playing FFTA really makes me want to pick up the GBA/DS remakes of the first six Final Fantasy games.

GAME OF THE MONTH: APRIL

Grand Theft Auto IV

RUNNER UP:

Mario Kart Wii

-Mark-

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:07:14 GMT

Roll Call for April!

Michael Alexander Oliver was born March 28, 2008 at 4:52 p.m. in Hot Springs. He was 6 pounds 1 ounce, and obviously had a full head of hair. Jennifer and I are very excited to finally have him here—and even though he was three weeks early, all it took was a week’s worth of oxygen for him to be able to come home. We all love him very much!

Yes, I know what day it is, and I haven’t had a post for April yet. I really do have a good excuse though: my laptop has been on the fritz lately and I haven’t been able to load Xanga. (For some reason, the bottom third of my monitor is shorting out, which includes the start button, taskbar, and other things, so it’s very hard to maneuver websites now.) Nevertheless, I’ll never leave you without an update, so here we go.. the extended version!

March was colossal. That’s all you can say about it. Wow. A baby shower, a 21^st birthday, and a baby: that could be an awesome title to a movie one day. Super Smash Bros. Brawl came out on the 10^th and the big celebration party was immense (though not as immense as Halo 2 or 3’s party). Also, I had my first trip out of the state of Arkansas in 10 years as I traveled with Steve Owens to Huntsville, Texas to broadcast three UCA baseball games. There was also a Halo 3 doubles tournament thrown in there, as well as an Avenged Sevenfold concert (though I missed it on the account of Michael being born—which is completely fine with me, it rained all day anyway).

Now it’s time for April. Let’s catch you up:

My mom is finally home from the Arkansas State Hospital. After being out of action since August, she finally can return to a “free life,” away from police/state custody. Everyone (well, almost everyone) was really happy to see her return, and we all wish her the best on her recovery (and hope that she doesn’t stray from her recovery).

All I know is that September doesn’t have to be so alone at the house any more. If I could get her a medal to wear around her neck, I would. She has been the best watchdog that I have ever known, and to stick around, basically by herself, for that many months with minimal human interaction shows extreme loyalty. I love that pup.

Last Sunday was Dylan’s 24^th birthday party and we all had a really great time. It was also sort of a celebration for my mom’s return, and she was very happy to see all of us (well most of us) reunited as a family again. After dinner, all of us kids, (which involves me, Jennifer, Natasha, Dylan, Malachi, and Zach) went outside and played around with a magnifying glass, burning ants and stuff. Childlike, but fun!

Last week, there was a big Guitar Hero 3 tournament over in McCastlain Hall. Yes, I went. Now you may ask why, and that’s okay, because I’m terrible at Guitar Hero 3 (let alone any Guitar Hero game now) and my spirits have been dashed ever since the horrendous defeat at the Cortex many months ago. Still, I went. The tournament wasn’t publicized very much, and the only way I found out about the tournament was a flyer on the 4^th Floor of Irby—the teacher’s offices. Nobody would go up there and read a flyer, come on! Either way, I stole the flyer so nobody else could find it. Of course, there are going to be door prizes given away, which is always a plus, and for the people that lose out early, they had Nintendo 64s and Super Nintendos hooked up for people to reminisce on while the true Guitar Heroes carry on through the fire and flames. The tournament wasn’t a complete bust for me: I placed ninth out of 16, and breaking the top 10 is always a plus, no matter how many people entered. The competition, to be honest, wasn’t all that great, but there were a select few that were dominant and they really grabbed the top spots easily.

More great news for me: I was browsing Facebook at about 2:30 last week and stumbled across some guys that need one more man for their Intramural Softball team. I’ve been so bummed lately because I hadn’t found a team for two semesters in a row now, and though it may sound stupid, it really hits me hard when I have to walk to my car every night after work and see the lights and hear the sounds of the stadium where everyone else is playing softball and I’m not. There was only one catch to being on the team: I had to be the catcher. I’ve played every position on the baseball diamond except catcher, and even though it’s intramural softball and the catcher hardly does anything, I’m still nervous about it. It’s never a big deal when you’re batting, but when you’re the catcher, you have to always worry about the batter swinging too hard and hitting you in the face. Maybe it’s not that bad, I’m not sure. Nevertheless, I suited up and took the field on Monday at 10 p.m. for “El Diablo!” These guys are good. I mean, really good. They were undefeated going into the game, and we were playing the only other team in our division that was supposed to be any good. Needless to say, we had no problem dealing with them as we ran away with a 14-3 victory. I went 1-3 with 2 RBI which I consider to be a good outing since I’ve been on a yearlong hiatus from any kind of baseball or softball. So now, going into the playoffs, we remain undefeated, and not only get a bye to the second round, but get to face off against one of the weaker teams (out of whichever teams win) in the entire league in the semifinals. We play again Sunday April 20 bright and early at 11 a.m. This time, Jennifer gets to come up and watch me play and she an actually see me get a good hit for her, rather than just hearing it over the phone.

Last Friday, for my Sports Reporting class, I had to cover a high school baseball game, so what better place to pick than my hometown Mountain Pine Red Devils? That’s right, for the first time since I graduated, I attended a Red Devils game, and to my surprise, more people recognized me than I thought would. I really felt at home again. All I did was walk to the concession stand and everyone started giving me shout outs. Wow. Jennifer got to come with me too and experience baseball from a 5-2A standpoint and I actually feel like she had a lot of fun. The Red Devils had brand new jerseys and batting helmets, and they looked really good, which made me jealous, but it also opened up the possibility of me getting my old jersey from out of the archives. That was exciting. I need to look into it more because I have to have that jersey. It means that much to me. Afterwards, Jenn and I had a very nice dinner at the Olive Garden and migrated to Eric’s to play Brawl with Jesse!

On Tuesday, I had to get dressed up and travel to Little Rock for a “personal interview” with the committee for the Jim Elder Good Sport Scholarship fund. To my surprise, even though Levi was turned down, I was chosen as one of the three finalists for the $3,500 scholarship. Wow! I was so surprised, but also very scared. Basically, I had to prove to a committee that I was better than three other Mass Communication majors that obviously are very qualified as well. I went down to Little Rock early, and I met another one of the finalists, named Caroline from UALR. She was really nice and we talked for a while before she was called back. I ran my thoughts through my head while she was being interviewed and when she finally came out, it was my turn. Going in and sitting down, the very first things that were asked to me were, “So, Mr. Oliver is Psychology your favorite subject?” (Because it’s my only B at UCA) and “Where in the world did ‘MasterMooCow’ come from?” They were all very nice and I spent a lot of my time talking about personal experiences and how living with a wife and newborn child has been. Between all of the normal, personal questions, they decided to throw a curveball into the mix when they asked me how to calculate earned run average (ERA) out of the blue. I have to say, they really stunned me and even though I know how to do it, I couldn’t think of it when I was sitting in that chair. Embarassing! I really thought that I blew the interview based on that one question. No lie. After the interview was over, I headed back home, thinking that I blew a chance at getting $3,500 dollars for school and all I had to do was answer one simple baseball question.

The following day, the e-mail came.

From: Susan Elder

To: Moocow Milkblaster

Mark,

Congratulations! You have been chosen as one of two Jim Elder Good Sport Fund scholarship winners. And since tuition rates are rising, we’re changing the amount of the scholarship from $3,000 to $3,500. This will be credited to your account at UCA late this summer for the Fall 08 term.

We all enjoyed meeting you very much, and we admire your determination to succeed. We look forward to following your career with great interest, and we are sure that your attitude and sense of humor will always work well for you. We also hope that you will keep us up on your activities and whereabouts as you begin your professional career.

Susan Elder

Next Tuesday, Levi, RJ, and I will be part of UCA’s annual “Bear Sports in Review.” Bear Sports in Review is an ESPN Sports Center-esque show featured on Channel 6 that summarizes all of the action of UCA sports throughout the whole year. RJ and I will be hosting the baseball segment and I’m pretty excited about it. I’m going to start working hard on gathering stats so I can sound somewhat coherent when doing the show.

I've been playing a hell of a lot of EverQuest lately to pass the time of the lonely last weeks of the semester and me and Team Slithinknott have been busting ass all over the Secrets of Faydwer expansion. Callipso is close to level 80 (and he may actually reach 80 tonight, depending on what kind of force we get). Today is patch day and the new change to AA experience has went in, making it super easy to gain AA points (which is great for me because I'm very far behind). Also, all of the key/flag requirements to most older zones have been removed. That's right, from Veeshan's Peak to Deathknell, all flags have been removed and now entrance to these zones is based on level requirements. Amazing. I'll finally get to go to some of the zones that I never had a chance to raid and visit during EQ's prime.

So what’s to come for April? Gamewise, the big dogs this month are Grand Theft Auto IV and Mario Kart Wii. I won’t have the cash to pick up Mario Kart when it’s released, but that’s okay with me. I have a hunch that it will actually give Brawl a run for its money. The inclusion of online 12-cart races and online battle mode make this game very desirable.

Saturday, April 26, Disturbed will be coming to town as they co-headline Edge Fest 2008 with Kid Rock. Disturbed has a lot of new stuff out now from their upcoming album and I’m really enjoying what I’m hearing so far. I’ve always said that I thought that Disturbed would be one of the best bands to see play live, and I’ll finally get to know if I’m right or not come Saturday. I’m super excited. Nathan has tickets too, and I think Eric is trying to pick some up as well. It’ll kinda be a “guys day out,” and I can’t wait to see David Draiman hit the stage. The warm-up bands aren’t really that bad either: Black-Stone Cherry, Five Finger Death Punch, Saliva, and Sevendust. As soon as Disturbed’s set ends, I can peace out, and get out of there before Kid Rock even hits the stage. Is this the concert of the year? I say yes. Is this the concert of the past three years? Most likely. Disturbed is that big.

t.A.T.u., is scheduled to release their newest album, Waste Management sometime around the end of the month. I’m a bit worried about this release as there is still no official release date on the CD. Chances are that it will be pushed back, but as of right now, it’s scheduled for an April release. I can’t wait to hear some of the stuff in English, because it sounds really good in Russian—I just can’t understand the words.

GAME OF THE MONTH: MARCH

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

RUNNER UP:

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

-Mark-

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 01:19:58 GMT

Happy (Belated) Birthday to Me! I’m 21! Wow, isn’t it amazing how the years begin to fly by? Well, as I sit here writing this Xanga post (for the 2^nd time, but who’s counting?) it is Easter Sunday on Spring Break and I am hanging out in Hot Springs and really enjoying myself because I haven’t been home in what seems like forever. This afternoon, we all met at the lake house and had birthday celebrations for Lee, Sara, and myself, as well as hiding Easter eggs for Zach and Malachi. It was a lot of fun, and I was very happy to see my family again.

A lot has happened so far this month that I need to catch you up on, so be prepared for a gigantic Xanga post; perhaps the biggest one ever? Why don’t we just start in chronological order, shall we?

March 10, 2008 was a very big day for Jennifer and me because it was the day of Michael’s Baby Shower! Isn’t it crazy to believe that he’s almost here already? Wow! Well, I was really excited about the gathering, even though I knew I would be the only male around that day (which didn’t bother me any—it was the same way at our wedding shower!). We held the shower at Mt. Tabor Community Church, which is also the church that the two of us were married in. The theme of our party was in Winnie the Pooh, and the entire place was littered with stuffed animals, figurines, and the big centerpiece: a 1,000-piece photo mosaic puzzle of Winnie the Pooh that Jennifer worked really hard on creating. Everyone loved it, and I have to say that she did an amazing job on the project. I suppose this means that I have to make amends with her by getting her the other 1,000-piece puzzle that she wants, because she has proved to me that she can tackle the project if she puts her mind to it.

I’m pretty sure that my son owns more clothes than I do, but that’s ok with me. We got so many different things from everyone at the shower, and I’m glad Jennifer is working as hard as she is, or else I would probably get lost in the mounds of clothes and items that we have and the items that we still need. I can’t even begin to list all the different things that we received at the shower, but we basically got everything we needed other than a car seat and not very many duplicates at all which is really nice. I had a really great time and it was very nice to see all of our family members come and spend some time together.

Shortly after the baby shower, I found myself on the road back to Conway, as I had to be at the midnight release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl at Gamestop to film for Channel 6. The release party was not half as big as the one for Halo 3 was, but it was still pretty fun; as there was a Brawl tournament that went down to keep everyone busy while they waited in the blistering cold temperatures. The winner of the tournament would have the opportunity to advance to round two as Nintendo was trying to find the ultimate brawler in the entire country! I was lucky enough to be able to enter, and I chose King Dedede and had to face off against someone with Lucas. The hard thing about the tournament is that the matchers were only 60 seconds long and took place on Final Destination. The level didn’t bother me much, but you had to choose a character that could even get a KO in one minute! Dedede is very powerful, so I decided to use him and the two of us ended up trading lives just before time ran out, sending us into Super Sudden Death. To be honest, I would have won, had it not have been for an explosive item capsule that he hit me with. Nevertheless, we went to Sudden Death and I tried to throw a Waddle Dee at Lucas, but it came up just short and he pounded me with PK Thunder. Match over. Unfortunately, I lost, but it was still pretty fun to get to play the game (even though I had played it two nights before, courtesy of my favorite GameStop employee!). I finally got my game at the stroke of midnight (I was 8^th in line), and made it home to play a little bit. However, I was so cold from standing outside for 3.5 hours that I could barely move my hands and decided to start the unlocking grind the following day.

I played Brawl nonstop the following day, defeating the SubSpace Emissary in a little over seven hours (when it seems to take most others close to ten hours. The gameplay for the campaign is a little monotonous and repetitive at times, but the storyline, cutscenes, and various character combinations seem to make up for it. Playing through the campaign unlocks every character in the game except for Jigglypuff and Toon Link, so it really paid to play the campaign first. By the end of the day, I had all the characters unlocked and all of the levels including one (which I unlocked shortly thereafter). I felt a little bad for plowing through the content (as I always seem to do with games I really want to play), but I wanted to get everything out of the way so I could start playing online and have all options open to me.

Eric, Jesse, and I have been playing online matches for a few hours every night and trying to find out which characters we like the most/least, as well as trying to determine our main characters for this third installment in the Smash Bros. series. Nathan also took advantage of some days off to come up to Conway and try his hand at the game. I would say that he really likes Ike, even though he’s still very attuned to Samus and her Zero Suit counterpart. Eric seems to like Pit and Snake, while Jesse has been playing Metaknight almost religiously. So far, I’m really liking King Dedede, although I’ve been working with Captain Olimar a lot lately. Yoshi is still very solid, and while Pikachu has gotten so much better, Peach has gotten a hell of a lot worse, and I’m afraid that I won’t play her much anymore because Nintendo swung the nerf bat at her. Other fun characters that I like to play around with are Wolf and Wario.

March 16, 2008 marked the second time in my life that I had ever exited the state of Arkansas. I was invited to Huntsville, Texas by the radio station to go and do color commentary for my first trio of baseball games with Steve Owens! Wow! I was very excited about the trip, as it would be the only real Spring Break vacation I’ve had in many years. I skipped my second class on that Thursday (yes, Mark skipped a class! Don’t faint, okay?) and Steve O and I hit the road in UCA’s very own 1989 Chrysler Shadow! There really is no need for excitement, as it was probably the biggest piece-of-crap car that I’ve ever ridden in, but at least it got us to and from our location, right? The trip down to Huntsville took around 7.5 hours, but the time seemed to go pretty quickly with all of the sights, sounds, and smells we endured en route to our destination. We also had a GPS system with us that we’ll call “Garmin” that provided no help to us at all, as it wanted us to turn down these strange roads in the ghetto, thus prolonging our trip even longer! As we passed through Texarkana, Arkansas, I remember the awful smell that hit us, as the whole town smells like waste, and from now on, I’ll remember to bring a gas mask if I ever have to travel through that town again.

My first steps in the Lone Star State happened to be in a huge dirt patch in the parking lot of Whataburger in Marshall, Texas. Whataburger is a fast food hamburger chain that’s almost exclusive to Texas, and it should not be confused with “Whattaburger” (2 Ts) in Russellville, Arkansas, because they are not the same place at all. I ordered a “Whatachicken” which turned out to be the best chicken sandwich I had ever eaten from a restaurant before, but I underwent much scrutiny for the rest of the weekend because apparently I was suppose to order a “Whataburger” and not a “Whatachicken” for my first time at the restaurant. Oops!

It took us about an hour driving through Texas before we saw our first cow. Unfortunately, it was just a normal cow and not one of the fabled longhorn cattle. Against popular opinion, the parts of Texas that we drove through (basically down the eastern border) were mostly forest and not so much flatlands. We saw a lot of interesting sights along the way, including bars with giant holes in the walls (used for entrances no doubt), horribly-misspelled businesses (The “Waush Haus,” a coin-operated laundry), and even a mysterious forest fire out in the middle of nowhere (that Steve O still believes the KKK had some involvement in). When we finally arrived in Hunstville, Garmin (the GPS) took us to a closed Shipley’s Donuts in the middle of the ghetto instead of taking us to our hotel, which was slightly more irritating than comical. We decided to scrap the GPS and use our eyes to find the place, and shortly after, we found ourselves nestled in at the La Quinta inn, conveniently located across the street from the Texas State Penitentiary. How lovely?

For the next three days, our day consisted of waking up, going to find food, and spending most of the remainder of the day at Don Sanders Stadium, home of the Sam Houston State University Bearkats. The stadium was huge and very visually pleasing. One look at the place made me finally realize how shitty UCA’s field really is. We really need a lot of work on our stadium if we are ever going to stop being the laughing stock of Division 1 baseball. Steve O and I had our very own announcing booth and throughout the weekend, I slowly became immersed in the world of baseball broadcasting (which is really what I want to do when I get out of college.) I did play by play and color commentary for a UCA basketball game a few months ago, but only for one half, and never as long as these three baseball games were. It was an amazing experience, and if anyone missed hearing it online, I’d be more than happy to burn the games onto a CD for all to listen to. Who knows, I may be famous one day! We ended up losing all three games, and Steve O was pretty depressed the entire weekend because of it, but I still kept my head up high because I was having fun doing what I wanted to do and getting to see a new part of the country that I had never even thought I’d ever get to see before.

One funny experience that I took from Texas was the fact that pizza subs are nonexistent at Subways. That’s right, when I went into Subway and asked for a foot long pizza sub, the lady behind the counter dropped her jaw and was like “huh?” I said “Yes, one foot long pizza sub please!” and then she leaned over the counter, looked me straight in the eye and said, “Sir, we don’t have any pizza subs here. You must not be from around here, are you?” And then I gave up and had to settle for something else on the menu. I can’t specifically remember what I got, but it wasn’t that good. Apparently pizza subs aren’t on the menu in many places, so beware if you’re traveling and want to pick one up!

Before I knew it, my first trip to Texas was over, and Steve O and I were on the long car ride home. We stopped through Nacogdoches, Texas on the way home and I got to browse past the campus of Stephen F. Austin University, and eat at a place called “Raising Cain’s” which had really good chicken, but gave both of us the shits by the time we reached Marshall once again. Overall, it was a pretty good trip, and definitely something I’ll remember for the rest of my life. So without further ado, here’s some of the better pictures from the trip!

The "Brown" lake outside of Huntsville. Yes, there is no blue in the water, it's all brown!

The hotel room, from the inside. At least Steve O's bed is halfway made.

Steve Owens in action!

Me in action!

Traveling through Nacogdoches.

For the first time in my entire life, I had to go to school on my birthday. Usually my birthday falls on Spring Break and I get a “week-long celebration” but that did not turn out to be the case this time around. To be quite honest, Tuesday the 18^th was a pretty miserable day. As I’ve mentioned, I had to go to class, and once I got done with classes I had to go straight to work. Did I forget to mention that it rained? And as you know by now, when it rains in Conway, it floods. After work, as Levi and I were leaving, we noticed the large puddles of water gathering in the hallways as we were leaving. The ceilings were leaking, and that was just the beginning of our problems. The next morning, parts of the ceiling had caved in and created more water damage, and the production room began to reek of mold and mildew (and still does almost a week later). I don’t know how we’re ever going to fix that problem, but it is torture being down there now. I think I’ll call it “The Great Radio Station Flood of 2008” (and let’s hope that there won’t be a ’09 version either!). And last, but not least, I was all by myself for my birthday, and that’s one thing I would never wish on anybody. I don’t really even care about the whole “being 21” thing because alcohol doesn’t appeal to me in the slightest bit, but the thing that depressed me the most of all was that I couldn’t really see or be with any of my loved ones. Being alone on my birthday really dampened the mood (no pun intended) to say the least.

But let’s get back on track here. My birthday wasn’t all bad, because there were two things that brightened the day for me. For starters, at work, UCA won an extra innings ballgame against the #8 team in the nation: Ole Miss! I couldn’t believe it either. UCA played a very close game and came through to win it in the tenth inning! It was UCA’s biggest victory in any sport, hands down and it will be a very memorable ballgame because it was played and won on my birthday! How neat is that?

Another good thing about my birthday was that the Student Activities Board was holding a Halo 3 tournament on the second floor of the student center that night. I hadn’t played Halo 3 in a while, and I’ve really packed up my Xbox 360 for a while, but I figured I would go ahead and test the competition anyway (because there wasn’t anything better to do anyway.) When I arrived, I tried to register, but I learned that the tournament was for 2-man teams only, and I was but one man. I was bummed, because it was more bad news for an already shitty day, but I decided to wait around until the tournament began to see if someone would come straggling in and need a teammate. And just my luck, right before they called attendance, some free agent came walking in and I was redeemed! I didn’t care who he was or how good he was, because I was desperate and I would have taken the first person that walked through the door and wanted to play because I wanted to play! And I also thought that in the worst-case scenario, I would just follow him and have his back if he was awful.

So the tournament began, and we didn’t have to play for a long while (since we were the last team to enter), which was good because a lot of good competition was eliminated early on. It turned out that my teammate really hadn’t played Halo 3 much, but he knew the controls from playing Halo 1 and 2 a lot. Basically, I knew that it was going to be a long shot, and I tried to explain all the maps to him beforehand, but it was a futile effort. I do feel as if he got the idea down somewhat, which I have to give him credit for, but overall his skills just couldn’t compare to the rest of the people who have been playing a lot like I have. We ended up losing the first round in two games in a best 2-of-3 style, but the scores were 25-19 and 25-16. Not exactly blow outs, but not Ws either. Regardless of how my teammate did, I was very glad to have him, because without him, I wouldn’t have been able to enter the tournament and play at all. I was definitely rusty, but I had a blast just being there with the atmosphere; the people that love videogames, and just doing something I enjoyed on my birthday. After all, it was raining like balls outside, what else was there to do? We ended up finishing 9^th of 19, which really isn’t even half bad. After all, it’s considered a top ten finish still, right? :p

Well, I knew it was only a matter of time before I’d be back on EverQuest again, but I did need a slight break from the game to say the least. Now, Nathan and I have been playing on a nightly basis, leveling our alts up and having a lot of fun as he’s been playing Nabr (currently 59 Druid) and I’ve been leveling Zaser (currently 61 Necromancer) and have been soloing in the Planes of Power. Necromancers are so powerful after 60, it’s insane, but I love it, and I feel that before too long, Zaser is going to be passing up both Bakkup and Taiden and break the level 70 barrier in no time. We’ve been trying to get Andrew and David playing again, but they’ve been so busy with whatever they have going on that they haven’t been able to. I’m really not sure what Andrew’s deal is right now, but I’m sure that he’ll have to figure things out on his own. If he strays down the wrong path, which seems to be a matter of time at this rate, I just hope that he can find a way to back himself out of a hole before he gets in too deep.

In music news, Michelle Branch has popped back onto the music scene to announce that she will be returning to the studio to record her third album! (Yes and Jessica Harp will be nowhere on it, we presume.) It has been confirmed to be a solo album, which probably brightened my face like a Christmas tree, but to be serious; I’m extremely excited about it because I feared that there would be a lack of good music coming out this year, since a lot of good stuff has come out over the past two years.

Disturbed is also making more music news, as they are not only co-headlining Edge Fest this year with Kid Rock, but they are also going to be the main act at this year’s Beale Street Music Festival at Memphis in May! Although it would be another great opportunity to see the band, I’m not interested in going to Memphis in May, because it basically sounds like the modern-day Woodstock, and apparently things get a little too crazy up there. It’s good music, but I don’t think it’s worth the risk. Regardless, I’m excited about seeing Disturbed at Edge Fest (and let’s not forget Avenged Sevenfold one week from today!). Disturbed’s newest album, “Indestructable” has been pushed back, however, and will now release on June 3, 2008, instead of mid May. Disturbed's newest single, Inside the Fire has also debuted on the radio airwaves, so tune in and check it out! If you can't wait that long, you can check it out atop the site!

Metroid Metal has also emerged from hibernation, as the latest track, coming from Metroid Prime 3, has hit the Internet. It's called "Theme and Bryyo." It's ok, but not as good as the past few songs have been. I guess the ongoing trend with Metroid Metal music is to listen to it a few days to become attuned to the new sound. Nevertheless, you can go to www.metroidmetal.com and download it for yourself!

-Mark-

Friday, March 07, 2008

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 03:25:16 GMT

Roll Call for March! Prepare for chaos! Prepare for madness! March is here, and it just may end up being the busiest month of the entire year! Let's investigate!

The weather in Arkansas has been so insane lately. As I'm writing this, Conway is being pelted with the biggest snowflakes I've seen in a long time. Do I need to remind Mother Earth that it's March the 6th? I think we're all a little baffled by the way the weather has been. It was hotter than hell on Sunday (ouch, that's a really bad pun), it poured like balls on Monday (my backpack still isn't dried out completely), and it snowed on Tuesday. Now we're expected to get six inches of snow, and I can only pray that school is closed tomorrow. I suppose it wouldn't matter, I'd be stuck here with nothing to do but maybe walk to the radio station. I just hope that the snow melts in time to go back to Hot Springs for the baby shower. We'll just have to play the waiting game for now.

In the sporting world, the start of baseball season is only weeks away! Spring training has begun, and Levi, Michael, and I have been extremely excited about the season to come. Can the Chicago Cubs win it all before they cross the century mark since they won a title last? Can the Red Sox be stopped? What about the Tigers? Angels? Will Roger Clemens or Barry Bonds play again? So many questions are out there, waiting to be answered.

With all the construction going on with the new Student Center addition, the radio station has really become Ground Zero. I'm not really sure what the construction workers are doing, but large rocks keep crashing into the ceiling and we're just wondering how long it will be before the ceiling caves in, crushing whoever is running the board with big boulders. So, needless to say, we've been a little cautious down there lately, suspending all apps board shifts (and we do our show still, but rather cautiously), and limiting any hours I can get, which equals no money being made. Oh well. These things happen. Yesterday, Monty and I trekked out to the old AM tower behind the Physical Plant and was cleaning out the storage trailer and dragging things back to the station. It was a pretty nice day, a kind of "mechanical hay ride" as I got to ride around campus in the back of his truck. Sometimes the little things are so neat.

I've been spending a lot of time over at Michael's apartment lately playing NCAA 07 Football, Guitar Hero 2, and the like. The other day, the two of us went on a crazy adventure to a land that I haven't been to in a very long time: the Little Rock Zoo. Yes it's true, I don't remember ever going to the zoo! We saw primates of all kinds, giraffes, elephants, bears, warthogs, bald eagles, sheep, ducks, and even more rare animals such as the wombat, giant turtle, red panda, ocelot, and capybara! The funniest thing about the whole day was that neither of us knew when the zoo actually closed, so when we went to leave at 5:45 PM, to our surprise, the zoo was already closed and the front gate was locked up. We were trapped! Wouldn't that be something to sleep with the animals at the zoo? Well, luckily for us, one of the trainers was still in the park and escorted us out before we were cited for trespassing (lol). Nevertheless, it was an amazing experience and I cannot wait to go back and hang with my homies in the zoo again!

So what's to come for March? Well how much time do you have? I suppose I shall backtrack one day and state that yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of my engagement to Jennifer. Of course, I suppose it's not as important anymore since there is a much bigger and better anniversary to come in just a little over two months.

March 8th: Even though baby Michael isn't even here, he probably owns more clothes than I do. True story. Well, just in case he doesn't we're going to make sure we fix that as we hold his baby shower down in Hot Springs. I think Jenn is worried that I'll feel out of place because I'll be the only male present, but I don't think it'll be so bad. Bring on the presents!

March 9th: The most anticipated videogame of the year hits store shelves as Super Smash Bros. Brawl makes its appearance! We'll finally get to battle it out with the likes of Sonic, Diddy Kong, Wario, and even Solid Snake! With so much information packed into one game disc, the possibilities are endless with this title. I can guarantee that we'll be playing this game religiously for years to come. GameStop here in Conway is holding a special midnight release party for the game (as well as taking part in a nationwide Brawl tournament the same night) that I'll have the opportunity to film for Channel 6. With my XBOX Live turned off, me and Jesse will probably be playing this every free chance we get. Finally! A real reason to have a Wii!

March 12th: EverQuest will kick off its 9th year anniversary celebration with the release of the Fabled Planes of Power! Unfortunately, I've lost a lot of interest in the game now, but I may still pop on every few days to see if I can get a chance at a fabled mob in one of the best storylines in gaming history. I'm not sure why I'm so turned off to the game right now, but perhaps I'm more focused on Smash than MMORPGs right now. I'm sure I'll be missing it before I know it.

March 13th-16th: How is it that I'm almost 21 and have only physically stepped foot in two states? This just won't do. Thanks to the graciousness of KUCA, I will be crossing the border into Texas for the very first time as I'll be traveling with Steve Owens and the UCA Bears Baseball team to Huntsville Texas to take on Sam Houston State in the first trio of Southland conference games for the 2008 season! I'm very excited to be doing live color commentary for my first college baseball game! I'll be sure to take thousands of pictures for everyone to see! Everyone else thinks I'm making a big deal about Texas when it's really nothing, but I could hardly care. It's a new exciting adventure in my life, and it sucks that there are no spring training games going on in Texas or else I'd totally be there. Maybe we'll get some free time and swing over to Dallas or Houston to catch an NBA game.. Hmm..

March 18th: My 21st Birthday! Unfortunately, it's on a Tuesday, which means that for the first time in my student career, I'll have to go to school on my birthday! Rats! I suppose on the plus side, UCA is hosting a Halo 3 tournament that night, but I'm not sure if I'll compete. It's one thing if I was supremely good, but if I lost, I wouldn't want that memory haunting me on such a big birthday! And no, I won't be going out and getting drunk. Sorry.

March 30th: Can you taste it? It's the Taste of Chaos baby! That's right, Avenged Sevenfold will be headlining a concert in Little Rock to cap off the month. I've been on a huge A7X kick lately, so I'd definitely love to go hear them do a live show. Of course, I don't know anything about any of their opening bands, but that doesn't matter to me. Can you believe it will be the first concert I've been to in a year? Isn't that sick?

In music news, and in a complete error on my part, I never listened to the entire list of bands to play at EdgeFest. Boy, was I surprised when I finally got confirmation that Disturbed would be making an appearance at EdgeFest this year? Wow! I called it! I never thought in a million years that I'd get a chance to see one of the best metal bands do a live show! I'm so excited! Joining them (the final list) is Black Stone Cherry, Five Finger Death Punch, Saliva, Sevendust, and the main act (don't ask me why) Kid Rock. I picked up my ticket the second it went on sale and I'm ecstatic. This will be the concert of the year by far. It could be the concert of the decade, but I'm not calling it that just yet. I don't even care which songs they play, the energy from any of their songs will be more than enough for me and everyone else to rock out to! Disturbed is also releasing a new album in May titled "Indestructable." Their first single is set to appear any day now, and another song on the album "Perfect Insanity" will be playing on the site as of tomorrow (Friday the 7th). Check back for that one!

Also, t.A.T.u. has announced that their third English album, titled "Waste Management," will be hitting stores very soon. The first single, Beily Plaschick, obviously in Russian, (translates to "White Robe") will be on the radio airwaves within the month. The album's release date isn't finalized yet either, but many sources point to a release in mid-to-late April! How awesome is that?

GAME OF THE MONTH: FEBRUARY

Devil May Cry 4

RUNNER UP:

Dynasty Warriors 6

-Mark-