Half-Life 2: Episode One came out on the 1st. I bought it finally yesterday. Another 19.95 blown on episodic content. I’m still not certain how I feel about this stuff. I do think that Half-Life and Sin are doing it better than Oblivion.

I’m only maybe into the game ten minutes or so. Right off the bat you notice that the game is a little more polished than Half-Life 2. The characters act better. Or seem more life like. Not sure yet. Features included in this episode:

• An all-new episode for one of the best-selling action games of all time.
• Discover what’s become of City 17, Dr. Breen, and the G-Man.
• Incredibly advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI (Artificial intelligence)).
• Highly detailed environments, featuring High Dynamic Range lighting, provide amazing gameplay settings.
• Digital Actors: The most sophisticated in-game characters ever witnessed.
• Physical Gameplay: Objects obey the laws of gravity, friction, and buoyancy.
• Design Team Commentary Mode.
• Also includes two multiplayer games: Half-Life 2 Deathmatch and Half-Life Deathmatch: SourceTM.
• Half-Life 2 not required to play.

For only being ten minutes into it I think the game is worth it. Which even after finishing Sin Episode 1, I still can’t say that. If you liked Half-Life 2 grab this first in a series of episodes. I wonder though about this episodic delivery of content.

A Politics Test. Not that I consider myself political. But it’s one of those things I wonder about. If six pages of questions can accurately tell what my political beliefs are. This is me:

You are a Social Liberal (68% permissive) and an Economic Liberal (21% permissive). You are best described as a Strong Democrat. You exhibit a very well-developed sense of Right and Wrong and believe in economic fairness.

So Strong Democrat it is. Gawain is a dirty Socialist by comparison.

This entry is a log as it happens of my night of “work”:

• 10:53 pm-Typing this as I get dressed for work. Running late as usual. Must leave by 10:55pm or I will be late.
• 10:56 pm-Leaving for work. Going to be late again. Of course if I hadn’t typed this I would have been on time.
• 10:58 pm-Actually pull out of drive way.
• 11:05 pm-Punch in at work.
• 11:14 pm-Publish this entry
• 11:22 pm-Gather the folders of the desk clerks who worked today. Tossed aside until I pull their paper work later on.
• 11:24 pm-Printed House Count Report, Cancellation/Denials Report, Credit Limit Exception Report, Daily Activity Report, and the No Show Report. All of these reports go to the Sheriff.
• 11:26 pm-Turned first only walk in away. They didn’t like the rate of 79.00 plus tax. It’s a shame I don’t haggle with these assholes.
• 11:30 pm-Started to count my cash drawer.
• 11:37 pm-Finished counting the cash drawer, one phone call interrupted me.
• 11:43 pm-Call from above some sort of crazy stalker bitch. Guest requested she be told they are taking no more calls. Usual kind of thing for the clientele of this hotel.
• 11:47 pm-Took paper work out of folders so I can start to balance the credit cards.
• 11:51 pm-Took reports printed earlier and use them to balance credit cards now that the paper work is all sorted.
• 11:53 pm-Credit cards balanced. I take all the paper work and folders and chuck them aside till later.
• 11:57 pm-Time to disconnect the shitty cendant provided isp so I can hook up the good charter provided wireless isp.
• 12:02 am-The wireless bridge finally resolves the ip address and I’m on the good net!
• 12:03 am-Boot up Trillian.
• 12:13 am-Preparing for actual audit done by computer. I print a Guest Name List and the Clean and Vacant Room List.
• 12:16 am-Room and Tax posted by the computer.
• 12:18 am-Cashier Closeout completed.
• 12:19 am-Began Close Day.
• 12:21 am-Fired up Dark Age of Camelot. Playing a Bonedancer on Midgard/Lancelot.
• 12:27 am-Gawain finally logs on to aim.
• 12:31 am-Corrected my retarded typo. It’s a Bonedancer not a Bonelord.
• 12:36 am-Close Day is complete.
• 1:27 am-Asshole Redneck Guest doesn’t understand english. Wanted his clothes which were dry cleaned. The phrase “I do not have your clothes here, please check your room” is to much for his redneck mind to handle.
• 1:42 am-Logged out of Dark Age of Camelot, for now.
• 2:05 am-Gawain logged off. No one to entertain me now.
• 4:05 am-Printed miscellaneous reports.
• 5:26 am-Transmitted the credit card batch
• 5:45 am-Took all of the reports and paperwork and tossed it in back on one of the desks like I always do.
• 5:55 am-Logged out of Trillian.
• 6:00 am-One long god damn hour to go.
• 6:11 am-Why isn’t it 7:00 am yet? This thought goes through my head until I leave the hotel.
• 6:25 am-Time to unhook the good internet and plug back in that shitty cendant provided isp.
• 6:50 am-Ten minutes to go. Here ten minutes equals an eternity
• 6:55 am-Five minutes to go. A pattern emerges?
• 6:56 am-Four minutes to go.
• 6:57 am-Three minutes to go.
• 6:58 am-Two.
• 6:59 am-One. Hurray first shift is here!
• 7:00 am-Take me home Jesus!
• 7:12 am-Home and I wonder did I punch out? Don’t really care. I’m home.

And that is my usual night.

This would be a sure sign of the end of the world:

You can make your own here.

Good riddance Rose:

Billie Piper says: “Rose and I have gone on the most incredible journey with Russell T Davies and the cast and crew of Doctor Who over the past two years.

“It has been an amazing adventure, and I can confirm it comes to an end, for now at least, as series two climaxes.

Honestly now if this means no more Jackie Tyler as well I’ll be happy as can be. Rose and her mum have got to be the worst thing about the new Doctor Who. It’s almost as if these two bitches have become the center focus. Now Doctor Who can get back to the way it used to be.

I’m playing Dark Age of Camelot still. So last time I wrote about DAoC I was a dirty Mid like Gawain. Well I’ve jumped ship and deleted my two mids. I’m now an Alb again:

Which was something I didn’t want to do. Not really at least. Believe or not I miss my dirty mids. But as much as I hate starting over there is no way I’m deleting again to go back to the Mid side of Lamorak. I still miss my horse.

Those British lads at the Something Awful Forum are indicating this new episode of Doctor Who is very bad:

I’m in the process of downloading it right now. The SA goons are usually right on the money about this stuff. I’m really beginning to loose hope for the future of Doctor Who.

Edit
So it was really fucking bad. So bad it made you want to just shut it off. Once again one of the SA Forum goons sums it up best:

You know, this wouldn’t have been that terrible as an edition of Confidential, or something I could ignore like the Attack of the Grask or whatever. But it was an official episode of the show. Part clip show, part side story, part fan fiction. All rolled up together in a gigantic ball of extreme suck by that fat, narcissistic, pop-media manwhore, that ignorant, demented, brainless, pile of catfucking shit, Russell T. Davies.

At this point it really does seem like Davies has become the Berman and Bragga of Doctor Who. So sad.