Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

Perhaps “Overly Sensitive” Is Better

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On April 10, 2013

In Fulmination, Soapbox

gus_facepalmI’m a big fan of country music. I’ve attended more country music concerts then I have any other genre of music. I think one of the best artists in the industry is Brad Paisley and I still believe that. Which is why I think this brouhaha over his latest duet with LL Cool J is just ridiculous. If you have followed Brad Paisley’s career in any capacity then you know that he is known for making witty and clever songs. He’s never made a song where he’s intentionally berating or bashing anyone of any race, creed, gender, etc with the possible exception of “rednecks”.

The fact that people latch onto the term “racist” and yet nobody gives a rip about the abundant use of the word “redneck” just shows how obtuse and single-minded people are. Maybe “overly sensitive” isn’t the correct description either. Perhaps “Abundantly Stupid” is a more fitting description of how myopic society has become. It’s also entirely possible that trolls have gone main stream and just like to pick little fights because (to steal a quote from The Dark Knight) “some men, just want to watch the world burn.” I think political correctness has changed from a righteous cause to an excuse to stir up petty arguments.

I’m sure this whole ordeal has already blown over, and I’m posting a day too late but its aggravating how utterly foolish people have become. By the way, I picked up Brad Paisley’s, now infamous, new album last night on iTunes. It’s called Wheelhouse for those that want to support a great artist! It’s an excellent album!

/end soapbox

The MMO Times: Blizzcon is Back!

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On April 6, 2013

In Gaming, MMO Times, MMORPG

mmotimesheaderIssue 70: A moment of silence for the loss of LucasArts … as Disney continues its effort to deconstruct my childhood. I’ve covered this topic in a separate post so lets focus on more fitting and jovial topics. So whether you are plundering The Throne of Thunder or questing in Cairo, here is some news for you while waiting for queues or maintenance to complete.

There is some exciting news regarding Blizzcon which I know we are all pumped for its return. Actually there is more Blizzard news too, regarding their secret new project. More features coming to Age of Wushu (theoretically), more Neverwinter beta news; I mean after a slow trickle of news post-PAX East, its good to finally have several topics to read about. Enjoy!

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Biggs On: Star Wars vs Star Trek

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On April 6, 2013

In Biggs On, General Cogitation

Star-Trek-Enterprise-vs-Star-WarsOne of the biggest causes of nerd quarrels is the debate about which franchise is better; Star Wars or Star Trek. While from a fictional perspective these two are vastly different, they do have at least one thing in common. You can not deny that both have extremely loyal fans (some probably border on creepy). Personally, I’m probably a Star Wars nerd and a Star Trek fan.

I’ve loved the Star Wars movies (all of them) since the first time that I saw them. I’ve seen the movies enough times that I can probably recite just about every line. I’ve purchased a years wages worth of collectibles. I’m probably borderline obsessive. The amount of useless minutia I know about the Star Wars movies and universe would paint me in a pretty pathetic light, whereas what I know about the Star Trek movies probably isn’t any more then what I might know about any other movie.

There is no doubt that I do love Star Wars far more than Star Trek and while I will defend the former as the better franchise I admit there is something the Star Trek universe is far better at. The stars from the popular movies and TV series are probably some of the most sociable celebrities on the Internet. You can expect a joke or witty post from George Takei on a fairly regular basis on Facebook. You will see tweets from William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Brent Spiner, Jeri Ryan, and more quite frequently. These folks are often the highlight of my day.

I have to admit, these folks really give the Star Trek name a sense of community. I really wish the Star Wars fans had the same kind of extraordinary ambassadors. Most of the time Star Wars fans are bashing George Lucas (who, despite his faults, is responsible for creating the films and they wouldn’t exist without him) or criticizing one another because they did, or did not, like the prequels.

We definitely need more Shatner’s, Takei’s, Ryan’s, Nimoy’s, Wheatons, etc who are not afraid to connect with their fans. These folks were already icons but by sharing their nerdy enthusiasm I think it further enriches the community. My only ask of these wonderful people is that they never stop what they are doing both socially and professionally. All of you, even those I failed to mention, enrich our culture and our lives.

If Mr. Nimoy would allow me a small liberty I bestow the appropriate blessing, with all sincerity, to “Live Long and Prosper”.

Mickey Mouse is Dead to Me!

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On April 3, 2013

In Fulmination, Soapbox

mickey-mouse-dead-mouse-trap-disneyI started by giving Disney the benefit of the doubt when we all heard about its acquisition of everything Star Wars. The latest news has me wondering if my trust was misplaced.

If you haven’t heard yet, Disney is shutting down the LucasArts division, thereby throwing 150 programmers into unemployment. If that wasn’t tragic enough, all those great Star Wars titles are now a thing of the past, any projects that were in the works (ex: Star Wars 1313) has been canceled, and it leaves me wondering what will happen to existing titles that relied on the LucasArts backing?

This isn’t the first victim of Disney’s chopping block; remember they are ending the Clone Wars series. It’s ironic that the company that is responsible for creating childhood memories, is slowly dismantling mine! I’m now legitimately concerned about SWTOR because I was just starting to get back into that game. The Clone Wars series was highly successful so obviously how well a product is doing doesn’t mean its safe from Disney executives. The tumultuous start of SWTOR might be a blemish Disney doesn’t want to salvage especially now that LucasArts is gone.

I’m angry that all those programmers that developed so many great titles are just cast aside like dirty laundry. I certainly hope it was an issue of redundancy that often accompanies the purchase of another large corporation. As far as the titles are concerned I hope that Disney will absorb them into their collective of video game media and try to keep those titles alive and functioning.

Disney is doing the gamer and Star Wars community a huge disservice. I hope they plan to make it up to all of us but it damn well better be something extraordinary! Something akin to the invention of Mountain Dew and Cheetos!

/end rant

The MMO Times: OMG! Change Your Profile Image!

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On March 29, 2013

In Gaming, MMO Times, MMORPG

mmotimesheaderIssue 69: PAX East is over and thus the news slows down. I mean all the great new information was already unveiled last weekend so there isn’t much to talk about that will usurp all the residual buzz. I tried to put together a few articles for your Easter weekend.

The first SWTOR expansion has an official release date (and don’t forget that this weekend is another double XP weekend), a new Turbine title related to the DC Universe, Runescape 3 and Neverwinter news and more! Check it out!

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Book Review: A Storm of Swords

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On March 28, 2013

In Book Review

A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire, #3)A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin

My [rating: 5]
Click here to see this review on Goodreads.

The best book of the series (so far). Obviously I have two more to go (for now) but of the three I have read thus far, this is my favorite. It seems like the 1k+ pages moved quickly as new twists and surprises were unveiled.

The epilogue of this book has me reaching for book 4 almost immediately. It leaves you with so many things to wonder, none of which I want to mention specifically because I don’t want this review to contain any spoilers. I know these books are long but if you are still reading your way through the first two, I encourage you to keep going because book three changes the story quite a bit!

View all my reviews

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