Friday, October 29, 2010

Birthday Week!



Due to this being my birthday week. I took a short break from doing blogs. Of course I will return with some great reviews in the next few days.

Happy Birthday to all the October babies!!!

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Old Favorites Seeing New Light


Ahh, the days of when I was a kid playing Nintendo in my parent's basement. It was so much fun not having a care in the world only to get to the next level in Super Mario Brothers. I recall playing it from when I got home from school to bedtime, until I was able to beat the entire game from level 1 to level 8 with no deaths, a bajillions lives, and under 30 minutes.

Anyway, Super Mario Brothers Crossover is a fan made game, made by Jay Pavilina, via flash reliving all the glory of Super Mario Brothers with a slight twist. Not only can you choose to play Mario, but you can play Link, Bill R., Simon, Mega Man, Samus, or Ryu. Yes, every one of these old protagonists comes with some of their special moves they had in their own video game such as Ryu climbing on walls and shooting shurikens to Bill R. with his gun.

Playing this game with a keyboard takes talent. Talent that I lack. I tried hooking up my game pad to play it but my computer wanted nothing to do with it. So, I stumbled along Crossover with my keyboard, missing many key bricks, and flopped onto the flag pole at the end. Oh how sad of a game play for me. I will come back with vengeance, after my computer and I have a talk, that is, about her not excepting the game pad.

The game is free to play and played online here- Super Mario Brothers Crossover
Forum for this game here- Exploding Rabbit Forum
Game pad use- How To Play Flash Games With Game pad





Who Needs Television When We Have YouTube



Have you ever noticed no matter how many channels your local cable provider or satellite company offers you, it is usually 300 plus channels of crap? Commercials alone kill television. I don't know if we demand too much these days or if television has lost its vibe over the years, but it's not the same as it was when I was younger. Because of the lack of entertainment that television provides for me, I turn to the internet for satisfaction (and no, I don't mean porn...gawd, get your head out of the gutter). That is where YouTube comes in.

On average, I would say I visit the YouTube homepage about five times or more daily. Some may find that excessive, but I am subscribed to more than twenty people on there and they all upload their content at different times of the day. I truly look forward to their shows more so than cable television shows themselves. Not only is it that the entertainment keeps me coming back, it's the interaction they have with their audience. That is something television lacks. It's just not as personal. 


So, my television stays in the off mode more than the on mode minus the time spent playing video games. Cable just can't deliver what the internet can bring into my home or what YouTube can do- hours of entertainment almost 100% commercial free. The best thing about watching the videos on YouTube is that I can watch the videos over and over and over again whenever I want, for however long as I want, so long as the video is viewable to the public. I'd like to see cable or satellite do that......TiVo doesn't count. 


I have been writing this blog going on three days now. I know, it's not that long. I wanted to share some links to people I enjoy watching or had enjoyed in the past. This means I have to bring up YouTube for their links. In doing so, I end up watching videos on YouTube and easily become sidetracked, sorry. Without further ado, here are the links to YouTuber's you should check out.


Makeup/ Beauty Gurus:

Comedy/ Drama/ News:


Saturday, October 23, 2010

Decisions

So, I have decided to make things really easy for me and because I am lazy. I am going to use this blog as my beauty blog, personal blog, etc. I will continue, however, to keep my gaming blog separate. Beauty and life go together, but not every gamer enjoys playing with makeup. That would be creepy, don't ya think?


(I so was going to draw a picture to go with this little tid bit, but I FAILED hard. Maybe later I will edit it and do so.)

Monday, October 18, 2010

The Sims in a Different Light- The Sims Medieval (2011)

About a month ago I came upon this gem when I was searching for something else Sims related. I know I have been on my off game about keeping up to date with my lovely Sims, but not videogames themselves. For some reason, this had slid under my radar. Thankfully, a special someone told me that it was recently announced in August. So, it's not like last years news and I am just now finding out about it. To kick off the announcement of the newest Sims addition, EA Games, in Redwood City, CA had a Medieval Press day, with a jousting tournament and all. What a fun way to promote a game.

From information I had gathered from several websites, this game will not be your normal Sims played game. You will have your NPC's (non-player character) and the ones you can control. We will still be able to customize our Sims or should I say Hero or Heroine. Yup, that's what they are gonna be...why? Well, the purpose of this game is to build a Kingdom from the ground up. It is your job to quest to gain points to be able to buy additions to create your Kingdom to meet it's aspirations. Ahh, something familiar, aspirations. Now, just because you're building a kingdom, it doesn't make you King or Queen. Remember, you're the hero.


Another thing about this game that I find fascinating is we get to fight! Yes, we get to do our own fighting and not just sit there and watch two Sims tumble around in a cloud of dust. It's not real time fighting like in RPG's or MMO's, but according to PCgamer.com, we get to choose a set of attacks. Hey, it's better than nothing. You still get to equip a sword and swing it.


Just because there are quests in the game doesn't mean you still aren't free to do what you want. Players will still be able to create their soap operas, have tons of babies, etc. Of course this comes with repercussions. If you fail to complete your tasks, you'll be sent to this place called the stock. Here, towns people are able to throw tomatoes at you. If you become a frequent flyer of the stocks, it's gonna be a slow march to your execution. How cool is that?

What is a Sims game without players being able to create custom content for their game? Well, to carry on the age old tradition, players will be able to do just that. The only catch is, we can't change the structure of the buildings. What? I know....I myself enjoy building houses for my Simmies to live in. This was kind of a sad let down, but there's reasons for it, I am sure.

Even though little information is released about this via EA Games website and The Sims Medieval official website, I think I gathered enough of an idea of how this game will be. I certainly cannot wait for the more interactive feel of this. As more information comes out about The Sims Medieval, I will be sure to post about it.



Reference Links:
PCGamer
Kotaku
EA Games Medieval article
The Sims Medieval Official Website
EA Games Medieval Event Photos

Red Dead Redemption Undead Nightmare~ Coming Soon


Have they come back for him? Are the guys that John Marston killed back from the dead with vengeance? No, but that would be a great campaign. The frontier has been zombified. Struck with an undying plague, it's up to John to find the cure.

According to Rockstar Games, there will be new mechanics and weapons, we'll encounter creatures of the unknown, zombie animals, and there will be a new secret location. I wonder if that secret location will be under the graveyard over yonder? I suppose we will wait and see. Priced at $9.99 via PlayStation Network and 800 points at Xbox live, what Red Dead Fan wouldn't be playing this come Halloween.

I personally will give this a go. I loved playing Red Dead Redemption which is strange. I really could careless for western type stuff. I might need to refresh myself with some Red Dead techniques before this pack comes out. I think I still have campaigns left to do anyway.




Rockstar Games- Red Dead Redemption Undead Nightmare Official Site

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Minecraft, The New "It" Game




Minecraft is an indie game I stumbled upon by accident while watching videos on YouTube. A video by Seananners, who I had no clue was at that time, had popped down in the feature section and caught my interest. Upon watching his Minecraft: Episode 1 video, I found myself intrigued by the boxy images streaming before my eyes. Normally I would overlook games that are graphically challenged, such as Minecraft, but there was something about this game that kept me wanting more. I love games that allow me to create and that was most likely the hook, line, sinker for me. Not only that, but Seananner's live commentary is quite entertaining. 




Minecraft is a sandbox game mainly played in the first person. It can be played single and online multi-player. You can play Survival mode or creative mode, online only, with 4 difficulty settings- peaceful (no mobs), easy, normal and hard mode. If playing survival mode, the point is to...well, survive. Players are dropped into a random generated world where they have to mine and create shelter, tools and weapons before nightfall. If you fail at finding shelter, you will find yourself battling skilled skeleton archer's, brain eating zombies, blood sucking spiders and exploding penises (Seananner term FTW). Actually, the exploding penises are called creepers. They explode when next to you if you don't kill it before the fuse ignites the gunpowder filled creeper. And with the name Creeper, that is exactly what they do. They creep up on you. Those darn things have killed me many, many of times, but I got my revenge....mwahahahah!

I personally play single player and switch between peaceful and normal or hard mode, depending on what my purpose is for that time. I have yet to truly create anything worth showing off, but many others have. It's unbelievable what creativity and imagination's people have. It just makes you want to play the game that much more. Of course the ones that only create usually play online and have all materials at their disposal. I like mining my own. In doing so, it sets me out on an adventure to explore and discover untouched caves and hidden dungeons with treasures. Fair warning though, getting lost and unable to find your home base or respawn point is very easy to do. The world seems to go on forever, plenty of drops and turns in caves, and everything looks similar, it's hard to find your way back if you don't prepare and plan ahead of time. If you do find yourself lost above ground, look to the sky. The sun and moon rises on the east and sets to the west. Your spawn point is usually due north. I don't know if the world is a huge circle but if it is, you will eventually get back to your spawn point. If you aren't really carrying anything you find valuable, kill yourself and you will respawn where you started from. Either that, or you can make a compass. The needle points to your spawn point. If your lost under ground, God help ya! I have been there and it's the most frustrating thing ever. Best advice I got on how to get out of that type of situation...dig straight up until you hit the main land.


The bright colors of the original Minecraft textures were starting to give me headaches. So, I downloaded a skin texture pack for a more appealing look and less headache inducing. This texture pack is called The Painterly Pack (as seen in these photos posted). I love how I can pick and choose which modded textures I want from this pack. They even have a Halloween pack for the holiday season. My favorite part about this pack though, are the reskinned farm animals. I chose the "special needs" animal for amusement (see photo below). There are many other texture mods out there. You can view many via YouTube if you type in "Minecraft texture pack." Creators also list them via Minecraft Community Forum here. There are other player mods that I have yet to play around with. One of the most popular mods are reskinning the avatar. I personally haven't reskinned mine. I see no point in it since I rarely ever see my avatar anyway. Plus, I haven't found one I really like yet. I have thought about making my own avatar and texture pack but I am not sure I want to commit to it. It would most likely be too overwhelming for me, especially if I have to fix them with every update or so. Too much work for me, heh.



Minecraft is currently in alpha state. The game can be purchased via Paypal and downloaded via the main site- Minecraft.net. It's about $13 and some change in USD. I can't recall the exact amount at the moment. The price will be doubled once out of alpha stage into beta. So, it is wise to purchase the game now before the price change. Once the game is purchased all updates and extensions will be free from that day forward. Pretty great deal if you ask me.

Is Minecraft for you? I don't know. If you need quests and other goals in a game to enjoy it, then Minecraft probably isn't for you. If you don't mind that the only current goal is to survive, then jump in this sandbox and build your castle today!


Important Links:

Minepedia  (Minecraft Wiki- very useful. Has a full list of craft recipes)
Seananners (watch his Minecraft episodes. The boy's got skills. In his latest episode he does a 360 jump shot killing a chicken)

NYX Jumbo Pencils- My Thoughts

I've been using NYX Jumbo Pencils for about 8- 10 months now. I think they are decent for what I use them for.

Pros:

  • can use alone or in conjunction with eyeshadow
  • can make some eye shadows stand out more if used as a base
  • glides on with ease
  • tons of colors to choose from
  • great price



Cons:
  • can crease if you apply a lot on
  • can be greasy on lid if no eye primer is applied
  • no store close to me sells NYX products (I've read you can buy them at Ulta, not sure though)


These are the colors I personally own myself. I purchased these earlier this year when NYXcosmetics.com was having a huge blowout sale on their eye shadows and pigments. These are cheaper via Amazon though with better customer service and much faster shipping.

Honestly, the only one I use over and over again and would repurchase is Milk. I could do without the others. I use Milk as a base color under some of my lighter shadows to make them pop more, but I have to apply a good shadow primer first prior to using Milk. It's a grease stick, I won't lie. They are all grease sticks for me. If you have oily lids, stay clear from this product. Your eye shadow would be sliding down your cheek by the end of the day. With that said, I do have oily lids myself, but I have experimented with NYX Jumbo Pencils enough to have them work for me. That is if I am only going out for a short period of time. Otherwise, I don't bother. I use the slightest amount, but enough to make a difference. It's not going to be the same for everyone. Just gotta see what works best for yourself. 

What I do is put a little on a clean finger and lightly glide and tap it on. If you load this product on your lid, it will set into wrinkles, if you have any, and will crease. These are well pigmented so it's not like you need to put on a lot anyway. Blending is not a problem as they do blend well. Again, cause this product tends to be on the greasier side, it is best to set it with a powder for longevity. 

I really, really wanted to love this product after watching the countless YouTube beauty guru videos using them, but I can't. Like I said before I would only purchase the Milk one again for the reason stated above. If you can get your hands on one of these, try it. You might like it. They aren't terrible, they just aren't great.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Late Blog Day

Today is gonna be one of  those late blog days. There will be a make up product review coming up. I have taken photos of swatches, but not sure how they turned out yet. I have yet to look at them. I just have been busy doing things today and just got around to them. The only problem now is I have a prior engagement that I have to get to. Well, Not like I have to leave my house and rush o get there. All I have to do is launch my game, LOL....which, I will one day review on my gaming blog in the near future. In the mean time, this nerdy chic needs to split and go heal some people. Cya after gaming time!

Friday, October 15, 2010

Nail Product I Swear By

For as long as I can remember, I have had horrible nails. They chip, they break, they crack, they're dry and worst of all, they have ridges. I have done the fake nail bit to mask the unsightly ridges, but that gets too costly and quite unsanitary, especially in the healthcare field. I've buffed my already brittle nails to hid them and that does nothing but cause more damage. It didn't matter how many coats of polish I applied, those damn ridges remained. It's not a health condition, I already looked into it. I was just blessed with overly texturized nails....yay! I thought I was stuck with these freak of nature nails forever. Then one day while I browsing through my subscription videos on Youtube, I saw it. I saw the product that was to change my nails life as I know it. Thank you MissChievous! For those that don't know, MissChievous is a well know beauty guru on YouTube. She does makeup and nail tutorials, discusses beauty products such as make up, skin care, nail care, etc. Very, very talented free lance makeup artist.

I don't know if she had featured it in any of her previous videos, but all I know is I saw it that glorious day. The product was Nail Tek Foundation II Ridge Filling Base. I don't recall if that was the exact item she used, but I know it was that brand and she said it was a ridge filler. That is all I needed to hear her say. My little fingers went to typing, searching as to where I can purchase such a product. As usual, Amazon.com had it and at a decent price too. I click "Add to Cart" quantity 2, and patiently waited for it to be delivered to my doorstep.

Nail Tek Foundation II Description: (via Nail Tek website)
Nail Tek Foundation fills unsightly ridges and nail damage while strengthening the natural nail. This unique base coat is a special blend of strengtheners, conditioners, micro-fibers, and natural fillers. Foundation smoothes uneven nail surfaces while helping to grow healthy, beautiful nails. 

I have been using this product now for over six months as a base coat for my polish or by itself. When using it as a base coat, it makes my polish last all week long without chipping, probably longer, but I can't vouch for that. I change nail polish colors at least once a week if and when I do where polish. When used alone, the lasting duration is the same and again, no chipping. It also leaves a matte finish which is quite nice. I like to wear it as is often. I get impatient waiting on my nails to dry, lol. Anyway, that is besides the point. The main purpose of my purchase was to fill my ugly ridgy nails. That it does and does it well. My nails look smooth and when polish is applied on top of it, I now have a nice smooth even finish. I have also noticed that my nails are stronger since using this nail foundation. My nails still have their moments though of being chipped or dry when the product is not in use, but I figure better nail care is needed for that.

I am sure, like every other thing out there in the consumer world, there is another product out there similar to this. It may work just as well, better or worse. Who knows. This is the only product I have tried and I am very satisfied with it.

I wish I had a camera capable of taking decent close up shots of my nails. I would show you the before and after photos. A better camera is on my wish list. I am sure that is where it will stay too. Oh well. I will get one one day.

I give this product: *****

Day 2 of My so called Blog

I had all intentions of posting a blog today about a beauty product I'm loving and recommend or about a current game. I totally mismanaged my time and got side tracked. I was taking pictures of the game for my post when friends came along and asked for assistance. So, I guess tomorrow with be a double post from me. One of a beauty product and one of a game. Heck, I have two games I want to post about. I have so much on my to-do-list for the weekend it's insane. I know I am not gonna get it done.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

In the Beginning

So, blogging has been around for what, years and years and here, in late 2010, I actually decide to start one. Yes, I am a late bloomer, but bloomed I have (in more ways than one, but anyways....).

I did have a MySpace page way back when it was popular, but now it lives in the memory of cache. I believe I deleted it earlier this year only to regret it later. Why? Because I failed to copy some of the blogs that I did post that actually had meaning. One, being the memorial post to my beloved father and two, my Sims 2: Seasons review. Pfft...a video game review...what? Everyone has one of those, right? Yeah well many people do, but that review was or rather still is special to me because that video game, expansion pack (xp) to be exact, gave me the opportunity of a lifetime. I was chosen to view the xp prior to release at the EA Games Redwood City, CA campus. For once I was envied by many people and felt important. I've never had that and it felt good. It's was better than winning the Power Ball or Mega Millions. Any  idiot can win the lotto, but aren't "chosen" to have an all expense paid trip to San Fransisco, CA to view a video game. I know, I'm a dork and proud to be one. Well, like all good things, MySpace came to an end for me. Life started becoming too real and I had moved on to better social networks. Adios MySpace! Hello Facebook!

I wouldn't necessarily call Facebook a better social network. I should say it's more of an adult like social network. OMG...ick that sounds wrong. Hmm...umm..not adult like XXX adult, hehe. Adult like more grown up....mature, that's the word I was looking for. Although MySpace has it's good points, Facebook is the new "it"  fad. (Eeew, do people still use the word "fad"? It sounds so '80's. God I'm old, LOL!) I had actually had a Facebook page during my MySpace years, but I never used it and it wasn't as "cool" to have one back then. The upside to having Facebook- it reconnected me with friends from the past and my family that I dearly miss. It gives me the chance to be in their everyday life without being there. The down side to Facebook, they keep changing their stupid navigation system and their privacy shit. Stop touching them Facebook! Every other month I am having to go back and make sure my privacy settings are where they should be. It's a pain and very unnecessary thing to do. But Facebook insists they have to please their users and fuck things up over and over again. Will Facebook last? For now. In the mean time, Twitter, wanna connect me with the rest of the world?

Like blogging, I joined Twitter well after it started. I still don't use it often nor do I have many followers. I am sure that is one of the main reasons I don't use it but also due to the fact that I already connect with the people I want to connect with via Facebook. So, what does Twitter have to offer me? Recently, I decided to watch Twitter and see the tweets scroll down. I saw what I was missing. I was missing opportunities to win free stuff, chat live with internet celebs, etc.  I joined my first live chat room last Friday as we, the interwebs, watched a Massively.com employee play Aion, a MMO. It was fun and interesting to see what went on during this live event. I can see me using Twitter more often now. Maybe not so much to communicate with others, but to allow others to show me their world at that moment. It's like a news feed of pointless, but interesting shit. I like it. Maybe one day I will have followers that want to read my pointless shit as it happens. We will see.