Time for party hats?
ABC News: Gates Announces End to Army Stop-Loss
This is easily the best news I've read since President Obama took office. Though the article says stop-loss will be phased out over the span of two years, this gives me a huge amount of hope that I won't be stuck on the next bullet train to hell. Stop-loss is a despicable practice that turns volunteers into conscripts and I am undescribably happy to know it will finally end a nightmare that has affected countless lives.
Under the Sea
I wasn't officially hyped about the Bioshock sequel until I saw this. Now I want to demand a release date.
This also suggests to me a proper sequel, rather than the prequel that was tossed about when the words "Bioshock 2" were officially uttered.
Brazil
I've had this movie in the queue for quite a while but tonight I finally got around to watching it. To put it lightly, it's amazing. It may be close to two and a half hours long but I never noticed. The Wikipedia page sums it up nicely but it can't come close to touching on how well done this movie is. One of the ways I knew this was how I couldn't tell what year the movie was made by those tell-tale signs of age nearly every film carries. Everything in it is familiar but it has a very distinct style to it, like the computers that function more like typewriters with screens and how flex duct is absolutely everywhere. It takes place in "the future" but nothing insanely sci-fi marrs it, no lasers, no holograms, no space ships. It's probably as close as I've seen to a movie that could define "timeless". The ending is genuine and traumatic. I was fortunate (or smart) enough to not have it spoiled for me (despite the movie being highly praised and older than my sister) so I'll simply say that when it got to that point, I almost felt ill.
Go rent Brazil. Or download it. Or god forbid buy it.
Days are Numbered
Yep. It's that close. In less than 30 days I'll be sitting at home playing video games with my awesome wife instead of sitting here playing video games while listening to my asshole roommate yell at his apparently not awesome wife. I've sent one box of stuff home, I'm packing the second, and the rest of it will be stuffed in duffle bags to be thrown in a shipping container. The strange part is that everything is still so vague that it feels like it's farther away than it should be. It feels like it's still three months away rather than one.
In other awesome news, both Ben Folds and Bayside released new albums this week and they're both rather awesome and make up for past discretions. Life is looking pretty good for a change!
Wacky misadventures
I've been home for two weeks. I've already gone to Springfield and back. I had a ton of fun with all my friends which serves to remind me how much I miss them. I'm sitting in my own house with my computer and my cat and I'm chugging a Yoohoo. I saw Iron Man and it was awesome. I played Rock Band and it was awesome. I bought a Wii and No More Heroes and it's awesome. I saved a broken external hard drive and that was awesome. I cleaned my gutters with a robot and that was awesome. I mowed my lawn with my riding lawnmower and it was awesome. I got to watch The Office season 4 with Katie and it was awesome. I went to Knight's with Jim and Matt and got a sunburn and it was awesome. Katie and I ate at the thai place in Nashville that makes pad see-ew right and it was awesome. I got to see Mom and Frank and they bought me and my friends dinner probably 5 of the 7 nights and that's awesome. We had a pool party at Jim's parents' place and then Matt's parents' place and it was awesome. We had a party with a 40" pizza at my parents' place and it was awesome. I'll probably do more awesome stuff or remember more awesome stuff but it's going to be totally lame when I have to go back to Iraq and I can't wait until this Army shit is all over with.