Me Being Me Over The Weekend
10/7/2

I�m chewing some freakish watermelon flavored Double Bubble right now and I�m thinking I should have finished my coffee first. Yikes, I think this stuff is 2% ass or something. It has that smell that is the smell to cover up the smells we don�t want to smell. Like chewing on a watermelon skunk.

The skateboard came in Friday and I went to Research Park on Saturday afternoon and found out that I still know how to skateboard. At first I was wobbly like I was when I tried Brad�s board on his birthday, then I got the hang of it.

But for the life of me, when did I become goofy foot. Heck, I might have always been. Honestly, I think that right foot forward should be called normal foot and that left foot forward should be called goofy foot. The whole goofy foot label just nags at me. (Not really.)

So, Aisai got a flu shot on Friday. And, like I did last year, she got flu symptoms over the weekend. Hers lasted a little over a full 24 hrs. When I got mine last year it was nearly a complete 24 hours perfectly. I�ve gotten three flu shots in my life and only gotten �sick� once. The one year that I did skip, two years ago, I got the real flu and I�d rather get the one day light version than have the real deal. (With Jim McNeal?)

Ok, the watermelon flavor is starting to go away. Double Bubble�s real strength lies in it�s ability to be chewed indefinitely. Super Bubble, which starting off too soft since it has too much sugar initially, eventually flavors out and you�re left chewing on the base, which with Super Bubble, has some flavor, and it�s not too good. Double Bubble has little or no flavor when it flavors out. You think it has none, but if you drink a diet drink after chewing just the base for an hour you realize that it has changed what you consider to be a neutral baseline.

Sunday, we had to help at Windor House, the local old folks home where old folks with no money end up. It�s moderately hellish, but I think in the last two years I�ve noticed it�s getting better there. Our church does a little service type thing at 2 p.m. every Sunday. This weekend was the College age or High School. Paul, the high school coordinator, was going to do the song leading and I was going to read a scripture. The only problem was, Paul didn�t show up. So Aisai and I are there, then two other college kids showed up and basically me and the other guy took turns being the song leader. Yes, I lead singing. Me. How freakish is that?

Now, if it wasn�t in an old folks home and there weren�t only about eight people total who could pay attention, then I�d feel very self-conscious. Aisai told me I did ok, but one I started out way too high. Oh, well.

Other than that, it�s been lots of GTA3 over the weekend. I finished the game again. Oddly, I played for the Yakuza for longer and finished the game before I completed all of the Donald Love missions. Now it�s just rounding up cool cars for when I play next time. I have a Banshee (Viper) in Portland (the poor shipping districts, Chinatown, and the Italian area). In Staunton, the middle island which is a commercial and business district, I have a tank (yes, a tank), a Diablo Stallion (a Mustang with flames only found in Portland, I drove it over), and a Mafia Sentinel (A BMW/Mercedes clone with some slight armor and better engine, also only found in Portland). In Shoreside Vale, I only have my bulletproof Patriot (Hummer).

I did the last mission this time remarkably well. I took two tries since I forgot how hard it was. I got killed the first time when too many of the Cartel were shooting their M-16s at me. Dur. I know better than that.

The time I got it, my second try, rather than trying to get a stretch limo to jump down the cliffs (they�re very stable for doing that), I just used a sports car and had to jump off one small cliff at the end on my feet. See, you need to get lots of weapons by finding packages in the game so that you have a lil arsenal at your hideout. I collected all 100 so I have every thing, even the rocket launcher, at my hideout. Once they take the ransom money from you and all your weapons, you have six minutes to blow up the chopper. I run to my hideout, get my guns and the bulletproof hummer, and head to the dam.

At the entrance, hop out across the street and use the rocket launcher to blow the guards and their trucks up. Then cruise down to the hidden sniper rifle, get it, and shoot the Cartel you can see from there. Drive forward until they shoot at you, back up a good 60 feet and then snipe the guys running toward your truck and all others you can see. Repeat. When Maria, or whatever your ex-girlfriend who left you for dead at the beginning was, gets in the chopper, get out of the car and shoot the flatbed semi trying to run you over.

And here�s were I differed from what I knew from winning the game twice before, when she flew over the first time, since I already used the rocket launcher on that flatbed, I just shot her. Ha. I used to fight my way through everyone and then shoot her from the top of the Dam Control Building where the free Rocket Launcher is. I sniped my way up to getting the gal who�s ransomed and won, whoo hoo.

However, if you listen to the dialog during the credits, when the ransomed gal starts complaining about everything, you hear your character shoot her to make her shut up. Very horrific if it wasn�t in the GTA3 world.

GTA: Vice City comes out two weeks from tomorrow. I preordered mine about a month ago.

Tickets for the Atlanta show of Tony Hawk�s Boom Boom Huck Jam go on sale next Saturday. I think it�s either ESPN or ESPN2 which have �The Making of Tony Hawk�s Boom Boom Huck Jam�. Very neat.

October also seems to be shaping up for a good month in movies. Transporter this week, Formula 54 next, and Ghost ship later. I don�t remember what else comes out, but I remember it�s all good dumb fun.