Monday, March 17, 2014

Arizona 2014!

So I just got back from Arizona and it was really interesting.  It exceeded my expectations (of which were very low).  It didn't help that the state was in the news with proposing some controversial laws.  I just found out that there was something with Arizona and MLK.  So lets start this out by my revelation that for whatever reason, they rent tons of cars in Arizona or Phoenix for that matter.  They have a mall-like building with over a dozen car rental companies and a massive parking structure.  On top of that the fuckers tax you an incredible 50% in fees.  Whoa.  So we got our white Chevy Cruise.  I didn't like it enough to take a photo of it.
I racked up 800 miles in the Chevy and it got 28mpg.  
It was not a fast car by any means but it had an mp3 playing cd player!  
Thankfully I was prepared with my totally 80's jams and didn't hear any commercials!  

So a couple of hours later we got into Sedona from Phoenix.  
It is a trip that the mountains are vertical and red!  

So we are on the way to our hotel.  Funny name of it.  
It sounded more of like a Disneyland ride or something.

We got some lunch and we had a kickass view.  You can see people walking up there like ants.  This hotel was right in the rocks.  For better or worse there is ZERO cell phone signal.  There was wifi though.  

I was wanted to rent Anchorman 2 but the asshole hotel wanted to charge $17 plus tax?  WTF?

There are tons of trails at the hotel and you can see from this one.  The hotel really blends into the scenery.  Actually all of the buildings in the entire city blend into the scenery with the southwest theme.

Even the McDonalds went Southwest.  No golden arches but turquoise instead?  
Sorry for the blurred photo.  

Here is a picture of Sedona.  It is really a small town.  No Costco here!

Next day, the Grand Canyon!

Here is a cool panoramic picture of the Grand Canyon!

This place really does look nothing of this Earth.  It looks like you are on a different planet.

Here is a cool artistic picture.



Coins kill?  I don't know about that....

Check out the people at the top right.


So when you are in Arizona you see these signs on lots of stores.  I started wondering what the deal was and apparently you can take your weapon ANYWHERE there is no sign.  Period.  And this includes BARS.  



Thursday, March 13, 2014

In Memorandum Xbox 360 April 29, 2008- February 28, 2014

So last week we had some epic rain here in sunny Los Angeles.  Shit like this doesn't happen for years and last week was terrible.  We had these 2 torrents and I had the biggest leaks I have ever seen in one of my units.  I swear to you it seemed like there was a hole in the roof and a waterfall was coming inside.
Actually the entire week was horrible.  My car's power steering decided to take a vacation on Friday in the middle of the workday.  Meanwhile, I salvaged what work I could accomplish and get home.  I was actually pretty proud of myself for going to the gym and being strong enough to steer the car.  That itself was a small feat.  After I got home and decided to play some GTA and kill some people and was welcomed by this.

I have only read and heard about the legendary Red Ring of Death and what do you know Friday comes and I want to kill some people and this shit happens.  So no more GTA?  I just don't know at this time.  I actually purchased GTA IV when the game came out April 29, 2008 at midnight.  Actually, I was in line for the game and purchased it without the console because I wanted to make sure I get my copy.  The next day (actually it was the same day just later on) I purchased my Xbox360.  I had the computer version of GTA San Andreas on my desktop and that game was incredibly compelling.  That game initially came out in October 2004 for consoles but they eventually released it for PC 9 months later!  By then most people played and beaten the game, but that was ok because I was able to make changes to the game!  I posted cool pictures of the things I changed.

So here is my copy of GTA V.  So far the most compelling game I have ever played.  I purchased it when on release date of September 17 2013.  I didn't stand in line at night like I did with GTA IV, but I did go to the crappy Best Buy when they opened @ 10 am.  Funny, I saw all kinds of people buying the game, old and young.  I was driving today and the song came on that was on the video game and thought to myself of the last consumer product I have wanted to this degree that I could afford that gave me immense satisfaction like this.  My car or my house is the only thing that came into my mind.  You know, I have to make a point to say that Rockstar, the people that make these games, truly mastered the art of making video games.  You see lots of other companies that are under pressure to crank out half baked products and piss off hoards of loyal fans.  Software companies that I have grown up playing their video games are now hated.  When I mean hated, they rank up there as the most hated corporations because of the shit they try to pull.  Electronic Arts is one of the worst offenders pissing people off like corporations that steal and destroy the environment. Anyways, I digress.  What I was getting at was that I think that people should pay more attention to what these guys are doing: making a superior products and people will buy it.  Simple eh?

You get this letter from your therapist when you beat the game.  This was at 2:12am...December 12th.  I didn't play it consistently but I would play a couple of times a week.  Here are some pictures of the gameplay

What you are looking at is a fully customized Suburban, but in the background you will see Myagis!  I must have paid their rent several times from the sheer amount of money I have spent at this venue partying with my people.  The place is actually at 8225 W Sunset and closed in 2011.  Now it is a Pink Taco.  Jeez.  At least I can see it forever in GTA V!!!

They have the Interstate 4, not 5 but 4.  I can't tell you how many months of my lifetime being on the goddam 5 Freeway.

What you are looking at here is one of the 3 main characters, Michael, and that is his fighter jet (which is stolen) parked in his aircraft hanger which was paid for.  I must have died 20 times to get that jet.  It does kick ass!!


You can buy properties, cars (or steal cars), airplanes (or steal them), and tanks as well.  


This is Michael's garage with his amazing collection of autos.  Note the Bugatti Veyron in the back.

Here is some original artwork from GTA V.  Looks like the parking garage for the Santa Monica Place parking garage.




GTA IV San Andreas

Hey everyone!  Just about everyone I know of has finally beat GTA V already, but I was going through my desktop and noted some old photos of GTA IV San Andreas!  These photos are unique because I was able to customize some elements of the game because I had the game installed on my PC computer.

I changed the cars mostly.  You would be surprised how many high end cars were rolling around the game. Here is a Ferrari Enzo.

Here is a BMW M5 aka E60.  Looks pretty good.

Interior is correct. Note the SMG.

It did NOT sounds like an M5 though...in fact none of these cars sounded like they were supposed to.



Here is a Ferrari 575 M Superamerica, in the Ghetto.  
Yup.  You will never see that in real life.

The interior looks pretty good.


The details are there.

Aston Martin Vanquish and Gallardo.

Here is a Gallardo and Ferrari F360 Challenge Stradale.

So I landed a sea plan on the strip and took a picture of Elvis in Las Vegas.

I landed on top of Treasure Island and took a picture of the Mirage.

Here is my collection of aircraft.  All correct.

Here is my customized Learjet.  Normally they are grey!

Here is the side view.  Very pimp indeed.