The Pork Chop Express

Coming Soon!

2008-07-13T20:37:00.000-07:00

Poker Night!

That's right, I will be working on hosting a poker night here in Seattle. Guy, I know is in, so we only need 3 more people to be sure they can make it regularly to start it up. I'll be posting pics from the night and the rankings from each poker night here on my blog, should be good times!

Aliens vs Predator 3 -WHAT WE NEED!!!

2008-07-13T20:05:00.000-07:00

I got my copy of Aliens vs Predator Requiem. I watched it once then once more. Not that I did not appreciate this sequel fixing the first attempt at pitting these two mammoths together in one film, the problem is that I didn't get what I needed in Alien vs. Predator, the first part of the new saga. What needed to happen can still happen so long as the studio and writers will simply listen to what story I have in mind. I know for a fact, that this is what we, the people of the United States, needed to see in the first film, please make this your third movie. Here it is:

The setting would be one or two years after Alien 3. The idea would be this, From Earth, the Company is hellbent on getting this Alien species for it's bio-weapons division. This in mind, a fleet of Colonial Marines with scientists consisting of 30 ships seek the home world of the Alien species for their purposes and find it. The Predator species, also on the hunt for the ultimate prey finds the home world shortly after the Humans do. In short:

Do not spend more than 15 minutes getting us to the Alien home world.

The 1st major action scene between the Marines and Aliens is good for building great banter the likes of James Cameron's Aliens. Most of those characters can be killed off in some ultra gruesome fashion, however a few will survive and join the returning forces to the planet's surface for more action. The important rules are to not to leave only a few marines alive and a few predators alive or a few aliens alive... the scope is important and you limit it by leaving only a few characters alive. Also, the rating of the film... The features Alien and Predator were forbidden fruit to me as a kid. The gore factor was what made it off limits by my parents and I loved those movies even more once I finally got to see them. Keep it gruesome. Keep the 15 years olds out of the theater. Give me a film with some time, 2 1/2 - 3 hours for this film easy. Give us the combination of (normal, not host modified) Aliens and Predators and Colonial Marines with some new bad ass fire power as well as some of the stuff we know from the movie Aliens. Give us more!

Please give us the Aliens Versus Predator we deserve!

On Hellboy 2: The Golden Army

2008-07-13T19:39:00.000-07:00

The Hellboy sequel delivers a fun time at the cinema. I was a little let down by a few things. First, Hellboy seemed to be a little bit of an ass right from the start. I guess this is the result of what happens when someone who has been living in a bubble for his entire life, gets a love interest who moves in. Romance scenes cause the film to slow a lot. On the other hand, great time for a bathroom break or drink refill.

Great eye candy, fun action sequences, great banter, a musical scene which almost had be loose bladder control, and all in all a good story that kept me interested in the slow moments with the exception being romance moments. Good stuff!

Of Hookshot and Chainsaw

2008-07-11T21:16:00.001-07:00

Welcome to my world! I get home and these are the two extremes I have to deal with. On one hand a gentle game involving swords, fairies, boss battles, bombs, finishing blows, and on the other hand I have Zelda: Twilight Princess. I guess they are both pretty violent.

In Zelda, the game is pretty predictable. It's like the past Zelda games, you have a dungeon with a map, compass, big key, and a new weapon or treasure to help your quest, followed by a boss fight that typically needs the use of the treasure to beat.

Gears of War, doesn't have a past game to fall back on for how to make it work. It is a shooter, but I have to give the creators credit, the writing doesn't suck. It looks great, the story is good, the voices and acting is good on the cut scenes, and the game play maximizes the xbox 360 controller. It is great for multiplayer mode which allows you to tackle harder parts of the campaign with a buddy and much like Halo, you can go online or from the same console and fight against your buddy. The main machine gun has a chain saw on it so when you press the B button, the chain saw cuts the enemy in half for those close encounters.

Going back to Zelda for a minute, a new addition to the game's arsenal I really liked was the Spinner. Yes I have a skateboard. No, I'm terrible at it. But I like the spinner. The spinner is a round disc that lays horizontally above the ground (hovering slightly) with spikes around the edges and link stands on it as it moves around the room like a skateboard. There are not nearly enough places to really use it, but those places you can use it, I loved doing it.

Also, keep hearing from Guy about this SpiderLink, where you get a double Hookshot.

I just gave way, that I haven't beaten the game yet, however, I know what I have left to do and am planning on it this weekend. My tradition is this, every Zelda game I have ever played, I always get to the final dungeon and play it at night with all the lights out. I will do no different for this game. All in all, very enjoyable with the Wii controllers, and new Zelda story, I feel it is a great addition to the Hyrule Universe.

Back To Gears. It's just freakin Great. Yes I have beaten this one. I just haven't played it in a while and started over and it still has me jump from time to time. It's got good spooky moments, great action moments, great dialogue, and graphically amazing to watch. Unfortunately, I have been unable to actually beat this game's final boss on my own. The multiplayer function helps here, so Guy... prepare yourself to get involved and welcomed to the war!

The Latest happenings

2008-07-11T21:01:00.000-07:00

Okay... now we are kind of up-to-date on some minor happenings, let us begin with the latest, greatest and modest from the Emerald City:

First, allow me to introduce you to my next purchase:

The 2008 Honda Rebel.

I need transportation that I can get around on and basically not need to worry about the bus schedule. When I am on Call, I have to sleep at the hospital because I need to be no more than a half hour away once called. I live ten minutes away driving, but the buses do not run all night and it could potentially take me 40 minutes to get there if it did run all night. So, given gas prices and the fact that I don't want to ruin my cool exterior by getting a scooter, this starter motorcycle will work fine.

Elsewhere in the universe, I am making plans to head down to South Florida for MY LITTLE ONE'S 2nd Birthday!!! I'll be in South Florida from the 17th of September to the 21st of September.

My next Blog will feature my recent gaming activity, from Hyrule to E-day. Chainsaws and Hookshots!

But Why Seattle?

2008-07-11T20:25:00.001-07:00

Good GOD! I get this question more than any other question. I was born and raised in Miami, Florida and Coming from the army, I was stationed in Hawaii. The hospital staff in Hawaii were offering me work there, so why come to Seattle? A number of reasons (in no particular order).

1) Beer. A few weeks past there was a brew festival just north of Seattle showcasing local brewers. a few bucks gets you in and a small taster glass and tokens which you had to present to the different brewers. Then, they would fill your taster glass and you would sample the beer. Now, at first it doesn't seem like a lot of beer in this small taster glass because you immediately get back in line for another vendor and try the next beer. Before you know it though, you're standing in line, realizing you are next and you still have a little in your glass, so you shoot it to finish it off fast and get your next sample. By the end of it all, you are doing quite well and got a good glimpse of the northwest breweries that you like now. Never had that in Florida.

2) Okay Beer is a callow reason to move anywhere. How about, The Arts. Music is everywhere. There are people on the streets playing, pubs, everywhere. You can't get away from the music culture in Seattle, and I love music. The museums here have some fantastic art on display that travels the country and while I never went to downtown Miami... (why in the hell would I ever volunteer to go to downtown Miami) maybe these exhibits made it to Miami, but I never felt safe going to see them in Miami. Film Festivals. I saw a David Lynch film premier in Seattle with his Holiness Mister Lynch in attendance for a Q & A. Film houses here play movies like casablanca and have midnight showings of bad Joe Don Baker films. South Florida had the latest new movies guaranteed to cost you $20 or more to get in with popcorn and drink. People also seem to really love their books here.

3) I grew up in the big city. I loved vacationing in the mountains of Colorado. I need to be near the Ocean. I get all of this in this city.

4) State law. I can register with the state and practice my vocation. In Florida it seems like all the hospitals require the certification which costs $500 and is only good for 5 years. Not to mention that the army recruiter lied and said I would be able to sit for the certification based on the credits from the army course. NOPE. The army course was not recognized by the AST, so I have to do so many hours of OJT to qualify to sit for the exam now. Seattle had job opportunities right away and registration with the state only took a couple of weeks, easy math.

5) I know people here. I know some folks in South Florida. I have a daughter in South Florida. However given that fact, I can't do my job there now, and have to live somewhere, I pick somewhere else with family. Seattle works well.

6) People here are cool. A guy on the street had a sign that read, "I need money, family was killed by ninjas". Forget the bad Japanese grammar issue of ninja not having an "s" when in it's plural form, this guy was being at least creative when it came to panhandling. Another said "I won't lie, I just want money for beer". Truth works. I hooked him up with a fiver. A guy rides the bus with me every morning has a pink fixation. He has a pink coat, pink jeans, and long hair colored pink. he wears a hat much like that of the mad hatter. I have met The Guth and Spiz. I have met a surgeon whom when finished with surgery began performing yoga poses. He later retired and begin instructing yoga (In Wallingford!). I have met people that look and act like Hollywood actors and actresses almost dead on and completely unintentional.

7) Coffee.

Say no more, there's evil afoot!

What is it that I do again?

2008-07-11T19:57:00.001-07:00

This is the Hospital where I work at.

Swedish Medical Center has a few campuses from Downtown to this perfect sized hospital in Ballard.

I work in surgery as a Surgical Technologist. You know what this is. You've seen this character in the movies or TV. I'm the guy that when the surgeon comes into the operating room puts the sterile gown and gloves on the doctor. I'm also the guy that passes the instrumentation to the surgeon while they operate. The job is far more that just that, but I was giving you a point of reference. I have been specializing in orthopedic surgery which for those that don't know means surgery on bones and joints. I have been working on total joint replacements for the

hip and knee and am feeling more and more confident in what I am doing. Ortho Surgery is kind of tricky and the surgeons can also be very picky, and quick to replace the surg. tech. in the event they get pissed off, so the fact that I'm even in a room working in ortho is a big deal, the fact that I'm getting confident must mean I have shown potential and may have found a very nice comfort zone to settle down in.

Where I live now? I live in a neighborhood known as Wallingford. Guy misses his old Wallingford apartment from when he first moved up here. I loved the area, particularly the fact that there is a great main street running up and down Wallingford, full of shops and diners and the main drag leads me straight to work without any bus transfers. I also love the Irish Pub in the picture above, Murphy's.

The exact place I live is a Mother-in-law apartment. The converted basement of a house just a couple of blocks away from the main drag. It's got a bedroom, living room, kitchen, and a bathroom. All in all, it's comfortable. The house above is rented to a preschool. I sometimes have to deal with kids screaming and running around on my ceiling, but they leave at night and are not there on the weekends, so I have peace and quit when I typically need it. All else, there is Murphy's Irish Pub.

Cheers.

Moving On...

2008-07-11T19:44:00.000-07:00

Honestly, at first there was chaos. Getting into a set of variables making the day work all while having a good time.

There was a great place to check out on the weekends where I had been to on my trips out to see Guy and Val before. Lots of fun stuff and it was at the heart of downtown, Pike's Place Market:

This place has everything from the coffee Guy got me hooked on (unavailable most stores in Seattle), to fried chicken livers. There is a magic shop, comic book shop, and every kind of fresh produce including a kind of purple potato. The first Starbucks is also right 'round the corner. It's a fun time out when in Seattle and even today months and months later, I still find the need to head down there and grab my coffee and mojo from the latin grocery store and get some fresh produce for the kitchen.

While all of that is fine and dandy (yes at the same time), the downtown area surrounding Pike's Place Market is easy to navigate and of course I almost forgot to mention how great the public transportation is.

# 1

2008-07-11T19:34:00.000-07:00

Genesis - (Hebrew) - In the Beginning.

Well, I made it to Seattle. I am also about 8 months late in posting a blog about it. So I'm going to start simple and try to play catch up for the past 8 months that I've been here and bring the chronicle up-to date.

First, life north of Seattle (Everett, with Guy and Val):

Wake up at 4am.

Go to the bus stop bound for downtown.

Catch a transfer bus to Ballard from downtown.

Arrive in Ballard, go to work by 7am.

Leave work when finished, catch bus to downtown around 3:45pm

Catch a transfer from downtown to Everett and arrive around 5pm.

Eat dinner around 6pm.

Go To sleep by 8:30pm and repeat.

That pretty much sums that up. The weekends were good, but the distance thing with transit sucked during the week.

That would cover the first few months. November '07 to around February '08