Great Ideas, Great Expectations

Almost everyone you know has a great idea. Scratch that, everyone you know has a great idea. There's so many great ideas floating around that I could probably go up to any ten people and make millions using just one of their ideas. Not me per se, but somebody who's motivated. For example, I have a great idea for a pizza parlor/Chippendale club called Pizza My Ass. Maybe that's not the best example.
The point is, we've all got great ideas in our heads. Some of us have tons of ideas, others only have one that they've been cultivating for a long time. In reality, very few people will actually take their good idea and do something with it. That's what it all boils down to though, if you let your great idea sit idle in your head, then nothings ever going to come of it. That book isn't going to write itself. That Windows-killing OS isn't going to program itself. Neither is that awesome game you've been working on since you were 12. Your business idea isn't going to take itself to the bank to get a loan, and your revolutionary invention won't market itself.

Nope, that's all stuff you have to do. Unless you get someone else to do it, but where's the fun in that?

On a side note: if you have any unused great ideas laying around, send them to me!

It's a Poké, Poké World

I was pretty young when the first Pokémon games, Red and Blue, were released in the US. I was living in Hawaii at the time, and must have been around 7 or 8 years old when they came out. I still remember the great times I had with the original Blue version, and lamented that I didn't have any friends to trade with (more about this later). So when the remakes of the classic Silver and Gold versions, Soulsilver and Heartgold respectively, were released, I had to pick up one of them. I went with Soulsiver, out of aesthetics more than anything else, as I find silver the more appealing color.

After about 160 hours of playtime, I can say with some certainty that the Pokémon craze is still alive and kicking, even (especially?) among people my age. In fact, I've traded more with Soulsiver than I ever did with Red or Blue. The wi-fi connection certainly helps, who wants to spring for a link cable?

What is it about Pokémon that makes it so much of a joy to play? Part of it is the nostalgia. Playing the games takes me back to a simpler time in my life, back when there were only 151 Pokémon and the only one you couldn't catch with time and patience (and a few friends) was Mew. Nowadays, there are several Pokémon you can't catch unless you were around for the rare event giveaways (or have an Action Replay handy), and the total count is 493. Still, the nostalgia is there. Seeing some of my favorite Pokémon re-imagined with better graphics and high-quality sprites is pretty cool. My favorite Pokémon, by the way, is Scyther.

A lot of people complain that each game is the same. You start out, are given a choice between a fire, water, or grass-type Pokémon to start. You battle 8 gym leaders, an evil crime syndicate, and eventually beat the elite four and your rival. Also, you're ten. Along the way you can play the slots (no longer in HG or SS), catch legendary Pokémon, and solve a few puzzles. Why would they change that? That's what made Pokémon popular in the first place. If it ain't broke, don't fix it I always say, and in this case it ain't broke.

I mean, can you imagine if Pokémon was changed from a top-down RPG with turn based battles into free roaming sandbox game where you battle trainers and wild Pokémon in fierce no-holds-barred matches, where guns are commonplace and the world is populated by people in fear of their lives due to an evil crime syndicate working it's way to the highest levels of government; and it's up to you as a semi-retired Pokémon trainer to take them down the only way you know how, by battling Pokémon? Hold on, I have to go make some phone calls.

Greetings from Afghanistan!

While this isn't my first post from Afghanistan (it's the third, for those of you keeping track), it's the first one where I tell you all about me and my awesome life here in "The Stan".

I'll be the first to say that The Stan is a really beautiful country. The mountains here rival any you'll find in the States, and that's saying something because I lived in Colorado Springs for a few months. The people here are as friendly as you'll ever find, provided they're not shooting at you of course!

As for the climate, being that the end of the summer is rapidly approaching, it's generally pretty hot. Probably about as hot as Texas. I really have no idea what the humidity is, but I do get kind of sweaty from time to time. I'm built like a polar bear though, so I sweat more than most people anyways.

I'm sure everyone's wondering about my daily life here. There's not that much to say: I wake up, I go to work for around 12 hours, and then I go to sleep. I try to squeeze in some blogging/internet time, some gym time, and some eating time around all that. If you've never worked a 12 hour shift, then know that it's not the most pleasant experience in the world. I really feel for those of you who work two jobs or double shifts. Allowing approximately 8 hours for sleep, I would get about 4 hours of free time outside of my shift in a perfect world. Allowing for some worldly imperfections, it's closer to 3 and a half hours.

So what exactly do I do here? I'm glad you asked. I'd love to tell you, but I'm not sure whether or not I'd get in trouble. I probably shouldn't risk it.

And what about those MREs you've heard so much about, mostly in the form of a comedic reference to their in-edibility? MREs, or Meals Ready to Eat are the cased/bagged food they hand out to disaster victims like those affected by Hurricane Katrina. Additionally they give them to soldiers for their high calorie content (around 1250 per meal) and compact design. They're chock full of nutrition and you can generally get by on one a day if need be. While a lot of people will tell you that they make up for in constipation what they lack in taste, I'm actually pretty fond of them. Some of the better ones are Chili and Macaroni, Maple Sausage, Tuna, and Beef Ravioli. For a complete list of MREs along with some handy other information (and helpful photos!) check out the Wikipedia entry on MREs. Don't fret though, they have a DFAC (Dining FACility, colloquially called a chow hall) here, so MREs aren't all I eat. Sometimes they even have ice cream! Yum!

I think that about wraps it up for my spiel on The Stan, but if you have any additional questions feel free to ask them in the comments. I'll do my best to answer them with my limited internet capabilities.

A Template for All Seasons

I've always personally been a fan of the light text on the dark background. In my opinion, it's easier on the eyes and makes a blog stand out. I'm interested in knowing what my now reasonably sized viewer count thinks is best (I'm almost in the double digits, just 9 more to go!).

So I'm offering the chance to my readers to help come up with some ideas. I'm willing to part with the light text dark background if it's more appealing. If you've got any ideas, let me know in the comments.

New Layout, New Posts Coming Soon!

Greetings from Afghanistan! Or as we call it here, "The Stan". I've resolved to start blogging again, since it will give me something to do and a way to share my experiences with the world. Granted, I'm a bit of a "Fobbit", so I won't have too much to talk about.

In other news, I plan to update the layout at some point, which will probably involve changing to color scheme to make everything easier to read. After that, it will be back to trawling the web for readers, and dredging up new content (hooray for maritime metaphors! (hooray for alliteration!))

I hope to see everyone back here real soon!