Raaandom Post

AFI's new single is EPIC! IF this is what there new album sounds like, I'm even MORE excited. It's distinctly AFI's sound but there is definitely something new in there, maybe more good guitar stuff, I really don't know?

Just played the Battlefield 1943 demo for the PS3, and it is really, really good. The Frostbite engine is awesome. It was recently delayed, but I'm sure the PC version will be worth the wait...I have tons of other games until then. AND only $15! Niiice.

I've been watching Jericho on CBS.com. I randomly saw a couple episodes on Sy-Fy a while back and was quite impressed. I love the nuclear fallout\post-apocalypic genre, and its definitely an interesting take on it. It shows normal people dealing with the actual situations that would happen directly after an attack. It only had 2(1 1/2) seasons after being canceled, but it will save me until the September TV season starts again.

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Well, FIOS is in...

This one tweet sums it up: http://twitter.com/kstan/status/3544880707



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The TLB TV Fall Preview (coming soon!)

{RAGE, and my current wallpaper.}

So, I'm going to review the TV shows I will be watching this season in the upcoming season, (as well as a tribute to TSCC). Some interesting videos about the recent TF2 update. Pretty impressive, especially the panning in a digital world. Valve never ceases to amaze me.

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The Road Passage.

One of my favorite passages from The Road by Cormac McCarthy:

I don't care. It's meaningless. You can think of me as a faithless slut if you like. I've taken a new lover. He can give me what you cannot.

Death is not a lover.

Oh yes he is.

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Words/Pharses I hate.

• chic
• fab
• "hot mess"

That is all.

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I'm a trend setter.

So my friends decided to start blogs too... So here's a plug:
-->Ted's Blog
-->Nick's Blog

Warehouse 13 tonight too, hopefully its as good as last week's episode. Claudia is, dare I say, growing on me!

And over the past two weeks or so, I became a Browncoat and a huge Dollhouse fan. And even got my brother and his girlfriend started (and finished) on Firefly/Serenity! More on that and the shows that I'll be watching this season in an attempt to heal my wounds of TSCC being canceled... Speaking of Terminator: How can you resist?!

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Zune HD Video

A pretty good one I just found that isn't too popular yet. Camera is still, just not sure exactly how the speed of the browser and such yet.



Planning to pre-order the first day I can at Bestbuy, apparently it's not available for a in-store pre-order just yet... But I'll have a full un-boxing\review up when its released on September 15th.

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Leaving for RIT...

Won't be able to post for 2 days-ish, so I figured I post something quick. I have been watching Firefly lately, finally got around to watching the entire season, (and now going back to watch it with the commentary on), and just as I thought, I became quite addicted. Aside from The Sarah Connor Chronicles, it is one of my all time favorite TV shows... The combination of Science Fiction and Western I would never thought game together, but if you hear Joss Whedon's vision for it in the interviews and such, it makes a lot of sense.

Oh, and I also picked up the season 1 of Dollhouse on DVD. Only really saw the pilot during the season. And since Summer Glau is nearly confirmed to be on season 2, I have to catch up... =D Now that I'm not distracted by the awesome that is The Sarah Connor Chronicles on the same night, I feel i can give it a proper chance. I'm definitely enjoying it more now. And leaving now... more on how awesome Firefly is after I get back.

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Warehouse 13 Episode 5

{Claudia, *insert hip saying here*}

Tonight...! Its the fifth episode. And by the fact that each episode is, more or less, getting better than the one before, it should be the best episode. (Oh don't get me started on the Pilot)
The Synopysis:

A thief steals a sculpture with the help of a Native American artifact, and the investigation leads Pete and Myka to discover a sacred place that they deem worthy of protection. Artie recruits Claudia to the team to protect her from the organization's "consequences" for her actions.

Sounds interesting, except for the fact that I'm not too sure if I can handle Claudia's random "hip" sayings... like "Well, "Serendipity" is my stripper name." and "Chill out, Obi-Wan, okay?" Seriously?! They overdid them a bit in the last episode. And from what it sounds like, she's going to be a normal cast member. Not sure how I feel about that yet...

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Nearly finished.

Well... I finally got around to updating things a bit around here. It's pretty much the final design at this point, except for adding a few more links to things and such. I have to work with the colors of the text a bit more. I think the logo came out pretty good (seen above). I was just staring at t l b together before I had the logo up there, and it just kinda came to me. Let me know what you think in the comments... thanks.

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New Design

Still figuring out what design to use, if things don't look right, that's why.

Twitter fame.

http://twitter.com/peterrojas/status/2532591864

Yeah... I'm just that cool. I could go on and on how I freaked out about getting a @reply from one of my technology role models who i uberly look up to... but i won't. And after re-reading my @reply, I did sound a bit obnoxious... =P

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thesixtyone

http://www.thesixtyone.com/

Awesome music site with tons of less popular and indie bands...
Oh and say "kstan" recommended you.

Happy 4th all!

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New Hacky Sack!

It's multi-colored!
Buy it here: http://worldfootbag.com/catalog2/show/8141

It has tons of pop! Ball bearings and sand inside.

Firefox 3.5 is Out!

Firefox 3.5 is out! I didn't download any of the RCs for it so this is my first look:

I can't say I see too much of a difference but here are some things i noticed:

• Less empty space between bookmark icons, which means a LOT more space for icons:

• A bluer default theme (for Windows 7 at least)
• A slightly different icon... which looks much better large but smaller, almost looks like it has jagged edges on the right side with his tail. They tried to make the actual fox look 3D I believe.
• There is a small new tab button next to the tabs... I personally don't like it, similar to IE. I'm wondering if they did it to make IE users feel more comfortable with tabs in Firefox? If anyone finds a way to get rid of it... let me know.
• A new engine (or whatever its called) that enables webpages to play free, open formats without using a plugin, like ogg with out installing a plugin.....
  

....What I do not really understand about this is if Internet Explorer is going to enable it. I'm a fan of open formats, of course, but do we really need something different that will not be compatable in other web browsers? This probably won't be a problem, but IE is going to have to adopt it if a lot of websites start using ogg and the other open formats. IE has Silverlight and Firefox has this? Just get along... and let BOTH browsers use each others technologies! I mean we have not has this problem since the whole IE vs. Netscape ordeal, and now its coming back because of IE and Netscape's open source son? I really hope history does not repeat.

Overall, feeling it so far. Although good, Firefox 3 was a bit glitchy on my computer at times, and I hope this will clear things up a bit.

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Oh, The Hazards of Love... Reviewed

How I found The Decemberists, (a bit of background info):
So, one day, I was putting books away at the library, cause that's what i do. And, I saw some biography book on Indie Rock. I opened it up and randomly came to a page with a picture of a five piece band of four guys and one lady playing some less than normal instruments. I came home, looked their videos up on youtube, and downloaded their music. I downloaded their latest album: "The Hazards of Love" and fell in love with it.

{that's some awesome vine typography there, thanks wikipedia!}

I think the best way to describe it is being a rock/folk opera. The entire album is based around one story. Apparently, the story goes (according to ole' Wikipedia):

The Hazards of Love centers around a love story, similar to the use of recurring stories in a woman named Margaret (voiced by Stark) falls in love with a shape-shifting boreal forest (Taiga) dweller named William (voiced by Meloy). A jealous forest queen (voiced by Worden), the villainous Rake (also voiced by Meloy) and an ensemble of recurring characters bring conflict to the album's story arc.

I'm the kind of guy that likes to listen to entire albums all the way through, in lossless, with my Sennheiser HD 280 headphones on, in some kind of musical bliss. You hear everything that the artist meant to be heard, and (somethings that probably were not mean to be heard.) It takes some patience to not just skip a track when you don't like the beginning, but the album was put in that order for a reason. Anyway, this album is PERFECT for doing that. In fact, the order of it is one of the major aspects that makes it so good. The story goes back and forth between different characters in this so-called rock opera and makes for an awesome experience.

I will say my favorite tracks on the album are (right now, it changes often when i here new things): The Hazards of Love 1, Won't Want for Love, The Wanting Comes in Waves/Repaid, Annan Water. I had a hard time picking those even, because the level of effort is quite high on ALL the songs. The Hazards of Love 1 sets the tone for the entire album with some great lyrics in it, my favorite being "Oh the hazards of love, You'll learn soon enough the prettiest whistles won't wrestle the thistles undone." Won't Want for Love has an awesome beat and expertly introduces the female vocalist. The Wanting Comes in Waves is a perfectly done dialogue between two characters in two different songs that complement each other perfectly. Annan Water is one of the many songs on the album that truly shows the power of Colin Meloy's vocals.

Another awesome aspect of the album, and the The Decemberists for that matter, is the instruments. Everything from organs to electrical guitars to synthesisers really bring out the retro/rock/folk sound I think they were going for. And the steel guitar used in The Hazards of Love 4 is perfect. It adds that perfect country love song sound which was perfect for the final song.

If i had to pick one that would be done differently it would probably be "The Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge!)" because of the children singing. Not that its a bad song, its just that the beginning starts off really, really awesome-like... and then its children singing. Although the combination of errie guitar squeaks and children's voices match The Decemberists style perfectly, it is probably one of the only low points of the entire album though. But even so, I still respect the creative idea.

Random tidbit: If you are still a bit skeptical... I was looking through WWE magazine (yes, the wrestling one...) as I was putting it away and I was surprised to see that they reviewed The Hazards of Love. Even they liked it, giving it a 4/5 stars! I thought they were too wrapped up in their "badass-ness" and fake wrestling to enjoy good music, but I was apparently wrong... =P

If you're already a fan of The Decemberists, definitely check out this album. It's definitely the most replayable of all of them. Whether its the best or not is a bit hard to compare because of the change in format (this album being more than just a "collection" of songs). Meloy truely succeeds at the "rock opera" idea he was going for.

If you absolutely hate The Decemberists, it wouldn't hurt to listen too, but there is nothing too too different in their sound to change your opinion.

If you have never heard of The Decemberists, I give it my highest recommendation.
Check it out now!

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Margot and the Nuclear So and So's

Awesome band.

Possibly one of my all time favorite music videos:




(Windows 7 is STILL awesome!)

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Windows 7 RC1

Installed it today. Awesome. More to come...
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Ohemgi.

Well, so its been hell lately. Ridiculously amount of homework, all rolled up into tons of *ahem* drama, and other crazy things. Finals end 23rd... so after that you can expect exciting posts about:

• My Discovery of Indie Rock.
• Zune HD
• Windows 7 \ RC 1 (which i'm installing today!)
• The many summer movies I've seen... and a cameo of Bawls!
• Fallout 3 Expansions
• All the games i hope to complete over the summer.
• Other various PC games.
• Helping old people use computers stories!
  
• "Kevin's a girl?!" not me...
  
• And more!

Exciting, am i right? Hoping to post regularly, but if I don't every day, have some caffeine and get ova' it! I would be, but i'm busy and don't always feeling like writing stuffs. But i do enjoy it, really! And whenever i read my old posts it makes me realize that, when i do write posts, they are done quite well with just the right amount of "Kevin wit." Not to sound conceited... at all, or anything. =P

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Zune HD is sexy.

{soo hot.}

Why I'm excited for it? Well:

• It's uber sexy.
• Its a touch screen.
• Web Browser.
• HD Radio, apparently!?
• It's Zune, which includes all "The Social" stuff.
• OLED Screen\HD Resolution.
• Nvidia Tegra graphics chip to support:
• XBox Live Arcade Games... But do I need an XBox for that?

I honestly don't think I can ask for much more...? But, I'll believe it when i see it.
Can't wait to get BACK in The Social!

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Lights Out And Recurrent Love Themes.

{Lights Out, the CD i discuss.... duh.}

Lights Out, an awesome CD by Sugarcult. If you look in the book you'll find this. It connects all the lyrics in the song to one underlying theme. I love when bands do this, just adds so much depth to the music. Felt it was worth blogging about. If you have the CD, read this and then give it another listen from beginning to finish, you'll probably like it even more.

Lights Out and Recurrent Love Themes:

Lights Out… I want my entertainment

I went everything. Love is a product, Sex

Is the currency- the chemicals complete.

You're not the only one. Beauty lies in the

Ignorant, with the lies and cover ups

Loves and thieves - we all cheat if we

Can't win. You should have kept your distance

You made a mistake. Love is wasted on the young.

Making arrangements to burn it to the ground.

Lights Out… if you would be my new escape.

We're starting something beautiful, with no romance,

Sex without a catch. Love that won't hit back.

Sacred in the moment. Vacant like an

Empty statement. As if words could make it right,

Nothing's making sense. I get closer with the

Silent treatment. We walked into this

There's nothing no turning back. It's alive and breathing

The rhythm of sin- the friction of skin.

You and I cannot escape this. Detonate +run.

It's going to explode. It's going to explode

Lights Out… turn it off and walk away.

I'm reading between the lines, the distance

between the sheets. Broken lovers under the

Covers. All of the nice tries -- access denied.

I don't want to do this all alone. I can't

Live this way forever. To own a heart that breaks

Alone. Damaged by habits - beating lonely. No one

Gets out. Somebody save me. This could be perfect.

Lights out… this is the last goodbye. We have arrived, <3.

Oh and Happy one year anniversary blog!

I'll try to be on here more... so much has happened since i last blogged its ridiculous.

Maybe a new, updated design too! ohemgi!

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Happy Feb!

I'm quite excited! New shows coming back this week... like tonight's 3D Chuck! Hope you all caught it... Burnout Paradise (for PC) on Thursday! New The Office on Thursday! And Fallout 3's expansion: Operation Anchorage was released! I (finally) finished Fallout 3. The ending was quite intense! Although, probably not as good as Portal... but what can be better than *The* Portal! I still can't get the radio signal for the expansion though... : (

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F.E.A.R. 2 Demo is Out!

It came out yesterday... Seriously go and download it!
The graphics are insane... everything is so detailed. And, it's pretty damn scary... I'll admit, I jumped a few times... and I'm not even finished with the demo.

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Real life Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device

{http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/21/replica-portal-gun-is-an-absolute-triumph/}

oh em gi. That is awesome. I don't even have words to describe...
Fringe was mind blowing yesterday... if you missed it, catch it online! Olivia is such a badass in this ep...

Awesome movie poster font...

Awesome movie poster font.

It's sweet... Using it now for my project...
That, and new Fringe tonight! Get up on that!


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My theory of way slacker.com is awesome...

It's called radio. So that typical, "OMG I love this song! And its playing on the radio" scenario always makes your favorite song sound better on the radio. So.... because your favorite songs play on slacker "radio," it makes them sound even better... eh!


Though, there has been more ads on slacker recently, and i'm not feeling them... But free is free.

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2 Racing Games

http://news.bigdownload.com/2009/01/16/burnout-paradise-pc-gets-final-release-date/
Burnout PC! Feb 5 09! Yeeess!

And... not to release for a while: http://news.bigdownload.com/2009/01/16/fuel-trailer-races-across-the-wasteland

looks siick!

Random Zodiac Reading from Adagio...

I got a free sample of Scorpio Tea at Adagio and it said:

You are the investigators of the zodiac. 'I DESIRE' is the motto for Scorpio. You are intensely emotional and strongly aware of the darker side of human nature. You don't live on the surface of life, but experience it at its deepest levels. You possess an iron will, a strong ego and a unique personal magnetism. You make a loyal friend and a passionate lover.

Yep, that's me....The actual tea has mango, and chocolate chips! Crazy!
My tea should be coming in this week, I'll have a review for it soon after...

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Windows 7 Beta

I installed on my laptop and i'll have more information to come... but if I had to pick 4 words to sum it up it would be somewhere around the lines of: "Oh my god! Awesome"

Oh! And check out my tea that's down and to your left.

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Quake Live

Got an invite for Quake Live. Pure amazingness. Works awesomely, in a browser\fullscreen. Looks good, with good frame rate. I'm just trying to figure out how so much awesomeness can be fit into a browser!

Begin Transmission...

Thought this was interesting... http://begintransmission.afireinside.net/

Just a warning if you watch the videos... some of them are quite scary.

The Force Unleashed.

If you have a console, buy it!

http://www.lucasarts.com/games/theforceunleashed/