On June 19th, my Xbox Live account expired, and the automatic renewal didn’t go through. Turns out, I had an OLD credit card still on file with them and they attempted to charge it, which obviously failed. I’d been playing “inFamous” for the PS3 a lot as of late, so this didn’t really concern me until I realised it’d been a while since I’d picked on a few annoying kids in “GTA IV”, and needed to get some stress relief. Last night I sorted out the credit card issue, and the new one was billed, but I still couldn’t get connected to Xbox Live.

Fast forward to this morning, I decided to do something about it, and called their support line. They gave me some ports to open on the router, which didn’t make sense to me as I tried to connect with DMZ enabled, but lo and behold, the opened ports fixed the issue, and I was able to connect again. So, naturally, I decided to load up GTA IV, and find some people to play against, hoping that I’d come across a whiny foul-mouthed brat to select as my target.

Didn’t take long at all.

In GTA IV, my favourite gaming mode is “free mode”, as you can do whatever the hell you want. No missions, no story, just you, vehicles, weapons, and a bunch of other like-minded individuals running around and fucking things up. Great fun. However, there are times when you have some jackasses that like to screw around with other people, yet if you pick on them they complain. The main issue I have with the Xbox Live service is that there is NO WAY to turn off the voice chat by default. Personally, I’d rather not hear them at all, and it’s too much of a pain in the ass to mute everyone. So, I tend to seek out the loudest and foul-mouthed brat in the game session, and only blow the shit out of him.

Today, my target was a little snot called “DOA by HiKoO”. His voice sounded familiar (and by “familiar” I mean shrill and one possibly belonging to a fat kid), and the language coming from this dude was amazing. Within two minutes of joining, he was calling someone a “n*gger”, which is usually an indication of two things to me:

1. He is located in the United States, as that seems to be the most popular curse word to call someone. Never mind calling someone an “asshole” or “fucktard”… he went straight for the race card.
2. He will whine if I target only him, as his only skill is cursing.

So, I proceeded to do just that. I went to the airport, got a chopper, and as soon as I saw him running around, I landed on him, naturally killing him. My assumptions were right, as he went on a HUGE rant of how I was a n*gger, and that everyone should kick me out of the game. This didn’t stop me, as I kept up the abuse, blowing him up (when you’re in the chopper, you get an unlimited supply of rocket ammo), and even another dude called “xCCWx BATISTA” joined in on the fun. Within five minutes of me picking on “DOA by HiKoO”, he left the game. I played a little bit longer in that game session, but then decided to go follow my new “friend”. 

During the signing in process of a game, the voice chat usually starts up about 10 seconds before the game, and he was already saying “Fuck you, Dysantic, you n*gger! Go away!”. Awwww… the love. Making me want to “play” even more. Molly came into the room at that point wondering what the noise was about, so I filled her in, and she sat down to watch for a bit. During that little match, I ran him over, and then also got a chopper to start blowing him up again, but some of his other pals decided to band together, and instead of battling me, they kicked me from the game. I couldn’t stop laughing.

So, “DOA by HiKoO”, you are my new “friend” on Xbox Live. I can’t wait to battle against you again… even if it is a one-sided battle. Your cursing is an indication of your ignorance, and if nothing else, that is the message I hope to hammer home to you. Besides, I’m bored, and I need a hobby. You should feel honoured!  

The recent Friday Five questions on their site have sucked lately, so Molly offered to send some my way:

If you were to live in a province you’ve never been to, which would you pick?

Well, the only provinces I haven’t been to are New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador. I’ve also never been to the three territories up North (Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut), but don’t think I’ll ever make the trip. So, out of all of those, I’d perhaps like to check out Nova Scotia. Seems like a fun place from what I’ve heard.

If you were to invent anything, what would it be?

An anti-gravity device. I think it’d be pretty neat, fairly useful in every day life, and probably get my name into the history books. The only problem is that I don’t have a firm grasp of theoretical physics. Maybe I could take a summer school course?

If you were to name a new constellation, what would you name it?

I’d name it “the constellation Evan”. Has a nice ring to it, and could potentially be the best constellation in the sky.

What is the best meal you have ever had?

A New York peppercorn steak, with a baked potato, from The Keg. Love it!

What is your earliest happy memory?

Coming down stairs one morning as a child and finding my Duplo Lego blocks stacked from the floor to the ceiling in an enormous tower. I was in awe. However, when I touched it, it came crashing down and woke my Father up. He came rushing down to the living room to see what happened, saw me standing in a pile of Duplo Lego blocks, smiled, and said “So, you found that, eh?”.

Every year, during the first warm summer thunderstorm, I’ll stand out in the rain and get drenched. It’s something of a ritual for me. The only downside is that the air conditioning is usually on when I come back inside. Still, I love it. Even in the city, I find it refreshing.

This is just awesome. I had no idea that gas stations in Lithuania are able to sell booze! Who had the crazy idea that, with drunk driving being a serious problem in our society, it would be okay for a gas station to also sell booze!? That makes no sense to me at all. Sure, it’s convenient, but you have to consider that there are going to be a bunch of people who would take advantage of that for the wrong reasons.

Well, it seems that the Lithuanian government has smartened up a bit, and decided to tackle the problem. As of this past January, they have banned gas stations from selling booze at night. Yes, you read that correctly… they can still sell booze during the day… just not at night. According to StatoilHydro, the company running the gas stations, this is eating into their profits, and they’re not happy with that:

OSLO (Reuters) – Norwegian oil and gas group StatoilHydro is trying to reverse a ban on the sale of alcohol at petrol stations in Lithuania, claiming it may lead to massive lay-offs, daily Dagens Naeringsliv said on Wednesday.

The ban on selling alcohol at night came into effect on January 1, after which the number of accidents linked to alcohol have dropped by 45 percent in January-May compared with the same period last year, the paper said, quoting police data.

- read more from the source -

Wow. I love that statistic though: a 45% drop in alcohol-related accidents. Those are some heartless bastards at StatoilHydro if they’re only concerned about their profit margin.

Thanks to Ted for letting me know about this insanity!

I’m tired of constantly hearing about the seal culling that goes on in Canada, and how the animal rights activists are calling it a senseless slaughter. The number of seals culled is regulated, which is obvious given the amount of news coverage this issue has generated on the subject, and while I don’t have any need for seal products, there apparently is a business for this harvest.

How is this any different than cows being bred for the sole purpose of being later turned into the steak and burgers that I love to devour? I’m sure that there could be more humane methods to kill the seals, just as I’m sure there are more humane methods in killing the cows and other animals we eat. For example, that video of Sarah Palin at a turkey farm last year prior to the American Thanksgiving… that turkey was twitching for a while after it’s neck had been snapped… are we sure that it was fully dead as soon as the gruesome event took place? Maybe there was some extra seconds of it suffering, which wouldn’t be thought of for a second as you popped that sucker into the oven complete with breaded stuffing. Personally, I think it’s because the seals look oh-so-cute that people have a major issue with it. The culling process is just the icing on the cake.

The latest ballyhoo on this issue was the recent vote by the E.U. to ban the import of seal products from Canada, calling the seal hunt “inherently inhumane”. They may have a point, but it’s not like all members of the E.U. have clean hands, as noted in this editorial cartoon by Bruce MacKinnon (artizans.com) I happened across this morning:

Naturally, two wrongs don’t make a right, but before you start accusing a country of “inherently inhumane” animal practices, it might be best to ensure that you don’t have some of your own within your “union”.

In contrast, I’d say that bullfighting is much more barbaric, as the bull’s pain and suffering is part of the main event. Who would pay money to watch someone club a seal to death? There are certainly people who pay money to watch a bull be stabbed multiple times, mocked as it tries to kill those giving it pain, and in the end, be brutally murdered.

But let’s not think about that.