evanroberts.com

For the last year and a bit, at the recommendation of Owen, I’ve been reading a series known as The Sword of Truth. Written by Terry Goodkind, this is one of the best series of books I have ever read, which may or may not be saying much, as I don’t read books all that often. Even when I do, I take forever to read them, as I usually have something going on, or just don’t have the time to plop down and read my book… and quite honestly, I like savouring the story when I find a good one.

Anyway, there were rumours that Sam Raimi was interested in making a film to do with the Sword of Truth series, and it appears that this is finally coming together. ABC and Disney have become involved, and hope to turn the first book, Wizard’s First Rule, into a 22 hour-long episodes, which is both good and bad in my opinion… good since they’re going to be bringing the story to the screen, and it won’t be crammed into a two hour movie which wouldn’t be able to portray the story properly, but bad since it means that this might be a flop and not go further than a few episodes (like how Firefly was amazing yet Fox canceled it), and also that since this is Disney, and also it’ll be on TV, it won’t be as violent as the books are. I mean, come on… this is taking place in a setting like medieval times, so there would be sword slicing people in half, etc. None of that if this is going to be in prime time TV. Ah well.

Still, Terry Goodkind is excited, and he is going to be completely involved with the project, so that will hopefully mean that he’ll have the power to ensure that the corporate executives don’t fuck up the story TOO much; let’s be honest here, they’re going to insist on some changes.

Personally, I can’t wait to see what happens. Scheduled for this Fall, it should be a hit. Sam Raimi and Terry Goodkind working together? This’ll be awesome.

I wonder whom they’ll cast…

Breakfast

• Two light Babybels
• One banana

Lunch

• Small chicken Caesar salad with real bacon bits - (Dominion - 250g)
• Light Caesar dressing

Snacks

• Two light Babybels

Activity

• Played Ultimate Frisbee against Panic! with the disc-yo and lost 2-19.

Dinner

• 35 Italian style beef meatballs (M&M Meat Shops) coated in Gourmet Spicy Diana Sauce
• One glass of Magnotta Pinotage - South Africa

Snacks

• Finished the rest of the giant box of Nerds

Lunch

• One hot dog with Gourmet Spicy Diana Sauce

Activity

• Rode the bike to Canadian Tire, then to Dominion, and then to Price Chopper, getting the fixings for dinner (8.2km)

Dinner

• Five slices of pork tenderloin butterflied stuffed (ricotta cheese, basil, baby spinach leaves, artichoke hearts, olive oil, salt’n’peppa)
• Small potatoes with onion, dill, and olive oil
• Green peas
• One glass of Wolf Blass Yellow Label Shiraz
• One glass of Magnotta Pinotage - South Africa

Once in a while when I’ve been playing GTA IV for a bit, I’ll opt to use the cheat codes to give myself health and armor, as well as all weapons, and go fucking crazy. Sort of a stress relief, ya know?

I had the game on auto-save, and had been playing out the story for two hours this afternoon when I decided to lay waste to Rockstar’s version of Manhattan. Seeing as how my game had been saved automatically, I figured that I would manually save later, so I gave myself everything, and set to work. I was blowing up cars, bringing down helicopters, and generally raining down pure Armageddon for about an hour, and was going to quit, when I remembered that as I was in a cop car, I could partake in vigilante mode. I selected a crook, and then chased after him as he sped off for his life, and finally brought him down.

As soon as he died, the game auto-saved again.

Two hours of actual story progression, gone.

Fuck.

It’s not really surprising that the game would automatically save after a mini-mission like that, but still, after having cheats enabled, you’d think that Rockstar would have programmed GTA IV to put up a warning stating that the game was about to save and give you the option of not overwriting your previous auto-save which DIDN’T have cheats enabled. Seeing it from the other side, I guess I could have turned off auto-save prior to going on a killing spree, but it just didn’t occur to me.

Ah well. I’ll remember that for next time. It just means that I’ll be playing parts of the story over, and perhaps I’ll do better this time round. Still, that’s pretty fucking irritating.

Breakfast

• Three soft boiled eggs
• A slice of buttered rye toast

Snacks

• One Black Diamond Cheestring - part skim mozzarella

Lunch

• 25 Italian style beef meatballs (M&M Meat Shops) coated in Gourmet Spicy Diana Sauce
• One can of Lipton Brisk iced tea

Snacks

• One Black Diamond Cheestring - part skim mozzarella

Dinner

• Two pints of Keith’s Pale Ale
• One pint of St. Ambrose Pale Ale
• A basket of fries
• Half a giant box of Nerds

…and so now I’ve decided to create a category of “WTF” thanks to this story:

http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/420797

Seriously… what the hell did this guy think was going to happen? That they would just hand over the cash? Was he high? I think so.

Reminds me something I saw on eBay back when the Wii had been out for only a few months and were almost impossible to come by. Some dude was selling a Wii for $1 million USD, and said something along the lines of “Make eBay history! Be the first person to ever pay $1 million for a Wii!”. Now, maybe it’s just me, but I would think that if someone worked hard to earn $1 million, they wouldn’t be stupid enough to pay that much for a console… especially considering that if they WERE a millionaire, they’d probably have connections to ensure that they got one regardless of how scarce they were.

WTF.

I always find it amusing, and also somewhat irritating, how there are those that have nothing else to do with their time than complain about things… more often than not just to hear their own voice within the media. The Grand Theft Auto series has been a constant target by those individuals ever since GTA3, and perhaps even before that, although I don’t think GTA or GTA2 were on their radar back then.

Essentially, the GTA series give you the ability to do anything you want. There are set missions that you have to go through to progress and eventually complete the game, but outside of those missions, you are free to interact with the world you are in as you wish. You have the ability and the CHOICE to go on a rampage and murder as many people as you want, just like you have the CHOICE to be a lunatic in the real world and go on a murderous rampage. You have the CHOICE to go to a hooker for her services, just like in real life. You have the CHOICE to go to a store and buy clothes, just like in real life. You have the CHOICE of going to a diner, ordering some food, and then shooting everyone in the establishment, just like in real life.

…I’m going to stop this aspect of the rant as the word “choice” has been written so many times that the word is starting to lose meaning to me…

Anyway, with a “sandbox” game like GTA IV, you have the ability to interact with the environment any way you wish. The media, and other organisation, tend to focus on how you can do these things, and how THAT is wrong. Well, yes, they are right… it IS wrong to do them, but you don’t HAVE to do them, just like in real life. For example, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), is causing a stir because in one aspect of the game you can take friends out to go drinking, and if you choose to do so instead of hailing a cab (which Niko suggests), you can attempt to drive. You don’t HAVE to, but you can, just like in real life. MADD even goes so far as to try to shame Rockstar into pulling the game from store shelves:

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ju16X_-nwrLKNTDz01XO2wzB_e3AD90CH47G0

That’s just bullshit. There is NOT a mission in the game that specifically encourages drunk driving, but because you can do it in the game they are offended? Get off your high horse, MADD. You are doing good things in the real world, but stick to the real world, and leave the virtual worlds alone… UNLESS you are going to go after ALL the movies and TV shows that have ever had drunk driving in them, and issue the same shaming tactics upon them.

As well, the whole big “issue” with hiring a hooker in the game, having sex with her, and then killing her afterwards for her money. I’m going to use the word again: that is a CHOICE that you have in the game, just like you would in real life. There isn’t a mission in the game that says you have to go to a hooker, or even kill her afterwards to get your money back, but you can if you are demented enough. The same thing happens in real life ALL THE TIME. Why do you think some prostitutes keep tabs on each other? It takes a certain level of person to use their services anyway.

The end result? If you don’t like the game, don’t play it, and shut the fuck up. If you don’t want your kids to play the game, then don’t let them, and shut the fuck up. If you only want to hear your opinion voiced within the media (Jack Thompson), or are using the controversy surrounding the game to gain votes (Hillary Clinton), get a fucking life, and shut the fuck up.

GTA IV is rated “M” for “Mature”. How about all of you act the same?

Breakfast

• One banana

Snacks

• Three hard boiled eggs

Lunch

• Miso soup
• 12 pieces of sashimi
• Six pieces of a spicy tuna roll
• Kikkoman soy sauce - red cap

Snacks

• Large bowl of buttered and salted air-popped Orville Redenbacher’s popcorn
• One can of 7up

So, here we are, one month after I started my diet, which isn’t really a diet… more of a lifestyle change… and I’m about 16lbs lighter. I’m still amazed at how easy this was, and also the rapid results thus far. Obviously, I know that from here on in it’ll be slow going, but still, the rapid loss of weight is in itself motivation to continue.

Other sources of motivation have been Molly and my friends. Without their support, and their stories of what they’ve done in the past and are still doing to maintain a healthy lifestyle, this would have been all the more difficult. Molly and I cook at home a LOT more than we used to, and have discovered new dishes that taste amazing, and we find more every day that we’d like to try.

The increased activity in my life is also a major contributor. Soon I’ll be playing Ultimate Frisbee again. In the meantime, I’ve taken to riding my bike to and from work, which not only saves me the cost of a monthly pass for the TTC, but also allows me to explore the city a bit more. In the past, I’ve always seen cars and bikes and modes of transportation; I only used them when I had a reason to go from point A to point B. I didn’t see the allure of simply just going out and walking or riding around the city… what was the point? I didn’t need to go anywhere, so why bother? Since riding my bike around, I have discovered something a lot of you already knew: its FUN to explore the city. Kind of liberating in a way.

Also, I was just recently advised of this dude:

http://www.johnstonefitness.com/

This guy started out just like I did; sick of what he saw in the mirror, and decided to do something about it. He weighed 220lbs, complete with gut. Over the course of his routine to get back into shape, he tracked what he ate, when he worked out, and even took pictures of himself. I’m pretty much doing all that on my site, except the pictures (who needs to see another picture of a fat man on the ‘net?), and I’m also not going to the extra trouble of listing all the calories and other nutritional value of the food I eat, but it’s still kinda neat to know that I’m not the only one who has had this idea.

In the end, thank you all for your support. You all rock!

Breakfast

• One banana

Lunch

• Three hard boiled eggs

Snacks

• Five spoonfuls of raw honey

Activity

• Rode the bike to M&M Meat Shops and back to pick up dinner (5.6km)

Dinner

• Wild Pacific salmon fillet in roasted garlic and herb sauce - (M&M Meat Shops - 142g)
• Wild Pacific salmon fillet in a creamy dill sauce - (M&M Meat Shops - 142g)
• Veggies (red pepper, green pepper, yellow pepper, asparagus, red onion, zucchini, thyme, dill, olive oil)