Found In the Woods

The first ever official Camp Bennett paintball war was held last weekend, and a great time was had by all. Over the last couple months, Kevin and his crew of diligent workers/volunteers have been clearing brush, building structures, planning games and organizing to put together one kick-ass paintball field. Some of us have been researching gear, finding deals and looking up info on how to play. Marcus even bought an authentic AK-47 paintball gun!

Most of us are very new to the game, so it was much of a learning experience. I think we still have a long way to go in order to figure out some good techniques, tactics and games to play that aren’t just hide & seek or capture the flag. The group played hard, got muddy and had a blast. No serious injuries, and plenty of war stories to tell. Upcoming games are going to be more intense as we all get the hang of this exhilarating sport.

I just learned, or rather admitted to (I’ve been in denial these last few weeks, really) the fact that my nUsed Mac PowerBook G4 (1.5 GHz PPC G4, 2 GB DDR SDRAM, Mac OS X 10.5.5) will not be allowed to run the new Warcraft expansion, Wrath of the Lich King. Apparently us G4 processors aren’t good enough for Arthas and his scourge. Well, HARUMPH!

PC:
• Windows XP SP3 or Vista SP1 (Windows 2000 no longer supported)
• Pentium 4 1.3 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 1.5 GHz (up from 800 MHz Intel/AMD). Dual-core recommended.
• RAM: 512 MB/1 GB for Vista, same as before. 1 GB/2 GB recommended.
• Video: GPU with hardware transform and lighting and 32 MB VRAM, same as before. Recommended 128 MB VRAM.

Mac:
• Mac OS X 10.4.11 (10.3 no longer supported)
• PowerPC G5 1.6 GHz or Intel Core Duo. G4s are no longer supported. Intel 1.8 GHz recommended.
• RAM: 1 GB, up from 512 MB. 2 GB recommended.
• Video: Hardware transform and lighting, 64 MB VRAM. 128 MB VRAM recommended.

Wow it’s been a long time since my last post. I’ll try to do better to keep up with all my loyal listeners and fans-a-plenty. I’ve been pretty wrapped up in WoW raiding and prepping/leveling for Wrath of the Lich King. My online mind has been elsewhere. I just learned that November is NaBloPoMo (http://www.nablopomo.com/) so I’ll do my best to contribute; probably a lot of WoW content as I truck it up to Northrend at midnight tonite!

I’m not a huge car nut, but I do like cars. I enjoy driving tremendously – I spent a good amount of time in my car. Currently I’m driving an ’03 VW Jetta Wagon GS 1.8t. This thing has been a fun car to own; it’s zippy, has ok space, decent fuel econ for a sporty car (~24 MPG for last year, which is on target as-advertised), and I can haul stuff in the back if need be. (Trust me, I’ve hauled a myriad amount of things in this puppy) So why would I think of getting a new car? Well, I like to dream, and think about the future. The what-if’s. So here, without TOO much ado, is my current list of cars that I’m considering for my next car purchase. MIND YOU, this will be no time soon. I’m hoping to get a least another 4-5 years out of my Jetta Wagon, and yes, I know, car models will change, disappear and reappear over time, so I will have to reevaluate again. BUT, let’s say I was buying today; this is my top six wishlist:

BMW 535xi Sports Wagon
base MSRP $54,400 (~58,765 with options)
3.0-liter, turbocharged inline 6-cylinder engine
300 horsepower
xDrive, intelligent all-wheel-drive
EPA Est. MPG 24 mpg hwy

GMC Sierra 1500 Crew Cab 4WD
base MSRP $31,345.00 (~$39,525 with options)
Vortec 4.8L V8 with 295 hp and 305 lb.-ft. of torque
EPA Est. MPG 15 city/20 hwy

GMC Acadia SLT AWD
base MSRP $30,470 (~$39,400 with options)
3.6L Variable Valve Timing V6 MPFI 275 hp, 251 lb.-ft. of torque
EPA Est. MPG 16 city/24 hwy

Subaru Outback 2.5 XT Limited
base MSRP $21,995 (~$33,844 with options)
243-hp turbocharged SUBARU BOXER engine, 241 lb-ft of torque at 3,600 rpm
EPA Est. MPG 18 city/24 hwy

VW Passat Wagon VR6 4Motion
base MSRP $25,200 (~$39,934 with options)
VR6 V6 280 hp, 265 lb.-ft. of torque
EPA Est. MPG 23 city/32 hwy

Audi S4 Avant
base MSRP $ (~$54,185 with options)
S4 Avant 4.2 quattro 340 HP tiptronic, 302 lb.-ft. of torque
EPA Est. MPG 15 city/20 hwy

An old standard fav of mine, Matthew Sweet, has an upcoming album release; Sunshine Lies, due Aug 26, 2008. From the sound of the three samples on the site, he’s still got that fun, intense, melodic structure to his songwriting and sound. I always enjoyed the moody, bouncy melodies and clever harmonies, always well placed, he injects into his songs.

I became a fan of his when I heard Girlfriend on MTV (as so many other people) which caused me to go out and buy the single. Fell in love with his work and got to be an even bigger fan in college with his release of Altered Beast and 100% Fun. Even when he went off on a tangent and formed Blue Sky on Mars I followed. Thanks to him, my ears were nearly blown out at a small club show at the Stone Baloon in Newark, DE. They had a getup for a much larger venue, where the stage at the SB was merely a small platform in a bar. He pretty much faded off my radar at that point, as did his commercial success. I picked up a few oddities on OiNKs over the years, but that’s about it until today when I was reminded of him by a good friend.

Check out the album, samples and his pottery for sale (!!!) on his official site: http://www.matthewsweet.com

I found this video via a story on BoingBoing and enjoyed it tremendously.

Got a letter last week from VW proclaiming that I have paid off my loan from them. The Jetta Wagon is 100% paid off. HUZZAH!

Mom finally traded in the old wagon for a new Forester. The wagon treated us well; a few cross country trips, up and down the east coast too many times to count, to the mall and back again, through piles of leaves and occasionally cross country. TBC. A few accidents. I learned to drive in that car. I loved that car. I will miss it. 250,000+ miles, you did us well. RIP.

This blew my mind. How wild is this?