The Useless Trip

United States: IHop's free pancake day!

2012-02-28T16:33:00.000-08:00

Yes.... I didn't know it was possible, but today is National Pancake Day, which is kind of odd, if you think about it. Don't most Americans make pancakes on Sunday mornings? So, why is National Pancake Day shuffled around from year to year, then having the day on a definite Sunday, where everyone would make pancakes on National Pancake day, like on how Thanksgiving is always on a Thursday?

So, in honor of National Pancake Day, I.H.O.P is serving free pancakes for the the entire day. Yeah, can anyone else see the informed homeless coming out of the woodwork to crowd up the diners?

The same thing happened a couple of years ago when Denny's did that promotion of free grand slams. Can anyone remember that? There was a "Black Friday" line out the door of Dennys! Dennys!

Dennys! When I go to Dennys, the restaurant is empty except for a couple of emo teens , with black and pink hair, in the corner, an old couple with a bent back, and a trucker with a worn-out sun-dried cap.

But yeah. What I.H.O.P should do is sell their pancakes at least half price. That way, at least I.H.O.P still gets business, but at the same time, weed out all the people just looking for a free meal, and not willing to pay anything, such as tip, like that one banker did a couple of days ago.

What do you tip?

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For people that always tip 1.5%, listen to The Three Guys One Joystick Podcast.

San Jose: Time Tunnel Toys Super Toy Show

2012-02-27T16:42:00.001-08:00

Ah, what better location to have a toy show then in the sausage capital of the world, San Jose!

But yeah, there is going to be a Toy Show in San Jose on March 10th. It is going to be held at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds. Its going to have a bunch of vintage toys, cards, and antique comics at the toy show. Also, there are going to be guests of honor at the show as well. These guests include Billy Dee Williams and Yvonne Craig.Yeah, that's right, the first black guy in the Star Wars Universe and the first Bat-girl in the 1960's Batman television show. . . . Yeah, . . . .no Star Wars nerds there, . . . nope.

But besides that, its just going to be classic toys, and things from yesteryear. Although, since its stuff from yesterday, its going to be expensive, like $55 for a small toy robot. $55 for a small robot! Unless someone buys that and displays that in their art collection in an extra room, it makes no sense to buy it. At least a video game, which on average, $60, can be replayed over and over as many times as you like to, if you really love the game. Although, when the new Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City comes out, I'll be playing that for one scene in particular. . . over and over again!

So, I'll be giving my money on that video game, rather then buying some robot. But still, its a toy show, and on their blog, The Time Tunnel Toys Super Toy Show, they do show that they sell video games. Although, it might be only video games of yesteryear, like N64 games and PS1 games, not Xbox 360 or PS3, so what's the point! If you do have those systems, then you are a collector, and just keeping them for prosperity purposes, and not for play value. Because, heck, there are no acheivement points on the NES!

Anyway, here's a clip from the Toy Show in previous years.

Question: What's your toy?

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For people that love Star Wars, being squished by fat guys, and wrapped packages, check out The Three Guys One Joystick podcast.

San Ramon: Walmart in San Ramon

2012-02-24T14:23:00.000-08:00

Recently, there has been a lot of controversy about a "Walmart grocery store" moving into the massive space where Nob Hill, and the Chinese Market was on Alcosta, across the parking lot, where the Alcosta blockbuster was a couple of years back.

Now, the controversy is that people around here don't want to deal with anything attached to the Walmart name. Now, I don't know what to make of the Walmart move into the location. I've seen the forums, and I've read both sides of the issue. Some people say that the name Walmart actually degrades a town's reputation, and how awful they treat their employees is legendary. Other people say that it is better having something occupy the space then looking at an empty store front.

I agree with both sides of the coin. True, Walmart is awful when it comes to employee treatment, but who doesn't treat their employees fairly? Look at all the sweat shops across Southeast Asia. Do they treat their employees fairly? No. The equipment that the employees handle are better respected by management then the employees themselves.

At least, with the employees of Walmart, they have the option to go look for another job if they don't like Walmart. I mean, its not like Walmart is saying that you have to work there, its just one out of many jobs that people can pick from where they live. I mean, if they hate it, go do something else. Heck, The Dublin Burger King has a ticket-dispenser application for a job.

But Walmart does bring a sense of unwanted "Hick-ness" to an area.

And that itself is good enough to not have the "Wamart grocery store" in that location. So I see why people are upset. Although, at the same time, I agree with the other person saying that it's better to have something there then having an empty storefront. At least there would be massive foot traffic in that shopping center again,
Another point is that this isn't even a full-fledged Walmart. Its a "Walmart grocery store" It won't have toys, dvds, televisions, and all the important stuff. It will only be cheap food.

Although, since it is Walmart, and no matter what type of Walmart it is, it will always bring the stigma of bring in the people from " People of Walmart" website.

What do you buy at Walmart?

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For people that let they're mullets hang low and wear their self-cut McHammer camouflage pants whenever they are shopping at Walmart, listen to The Three Guys One Joystick Podcast.

United States: Are action figures too expensive

2012-02-23T23:56:00.000-08:00

Are action figures too expensive? That's the question for today. Well, not the question that I post at the end of each blog, but just a random inquiry on the subject. Back in the day, or back in my day, ( Now I sound like an old fart)

but I remember action figures being five dollars, and the most detailed ones, like the ones from the Todd McFarlane company,

were $12 dollars, at the most. Now, action figures are up to $20, while the 4' inch figures are $10. What is going on here? Did we, as geeks and nerds,

decide to buy the action figures based on the character, not on the craftsmanship of the figure itself? That way, companies like Lucas and Hasbro can make sub-standard models and sell them at top dollar? What is with this system? We nerds and geeks should protest, and not buy figures that might be a "collector's item", but buy them because we like the craftsmanship AND the character to justify shelling out the amount of money that the stores are asking for at the time. For instance, the dragon that comes with the "Collector's edition" of skyrim ( even though they made 10,000 units) is worth the price that the company was asking for at the time. The collector's edition of Skyrim was $150, but the dragon itself is worth $60, just by itself. The dragon is made out of metal, crafted with fine detail, and looks cool.

In contrast, any recent action figure in any Target or Walmart DEFINITY looks like it was shipped from China.

But, even I'm guilty of giving into the hype of action figures. Heck, I was going to buy the 4' inch action figures of Assassign's Creed, but then I just decided to save my money, probably for some hambugers.

What's your burger?

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Livermore: East Bay International Jewish Film Festival

2012-02-22T16:16:00.000-08:00

Ha-zah! A local film festival. Not only is it local, but the films deal with Jewish ideals and locations, which is cool. The event is called the " 17th Annual East Bay International Jewish Film Festival." It goes from March 10th to the 18th. The festival itself is going to play in three separate theaters. The first screenings are going to be happening at the CineArts Theater in Pleasant Hill from the 10th to the 15th. The second part of the movie screenings are going to happen at the Orinda Theater from the 16th to the 18th. The other theater, The Vine Cinema in Livermore, are going to show their screenings from the 11th to the 15th.

Although the Vine Theater is not going to play as many films as the other two theaters. The Ciniarts Theater in Pleasent Hill is going to have the majority of the films to show for the festival.
Most of the films on the list are not boring dramas.

For example: One of the films, which is going to be shown on opening night, is "Rabies", a horror movie, which is one of Israel's first attempts at the horror / suspense genre. On the 11th, the film festival is presenting a documentary about Israel's first astronaut. On the 14th there is a documentary on Winston Churchill..

Also, on March 18th, there is a comedy about a Polish cook entering himself as a Sumo Wrestler, with a Japanese Teacher. Here's the preview:

This film festival sounds cool, and each movie is less then an average movie ticket. Some movies are seven dollars while others are ten dollars, which by today's standards, is cheap since a movie ticket now a days is around twelve to thirteen dollars. Ugh!

Have you been to any film festivals?

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If you want to hear people talk about their experiences at adult film festivals, listen to The Three Guys One Joystick Podcast.

L.A : Review of Galifrey Con 2012

2012-02-21T17:09:00.000-08:00

The day is done. People have packed up, put away their sonic screwdrivers, packed away their brown and blue trench coats, and taken off their bow ties and fezs.

     Yep, the end of Galifrey 2012 came to a close on Sunday night.

      For those of you who don't know what Galifrey-con is, it's a convention dedicated to the British science fiction show, Doctor Who. For those of you who don't know, I've explained what the show is about in my last post. In this post, I'll review the convention itself, and the impression that I got from the convention.

      The convention last three days, but my girlfriend and I were there from Saturday and Sunday. From what I gathered, the convention was split up into two groups of people. The first group was a much younger crowd, mainly concerned with the recently revised version of Doctor Who. The second group were a much older crowd, mostly in their 50 and 60's, liking the Doctor Who episodes that occurred between the years of 1962 to 1989.

The convention itself took place at the Marriot LAX hotel. Now, the main part of the convention took place at the bottom floor of the hotel. There was a main hallway, with two smaller hallways extended from it, which branched out, and had a Dealers room, an art auction room, two viewing rooms (one displaying the old series and the other room displaying the new series), and on Saturday, a room to donate blood. Although this seems large, it was a small space for the amount of people that attended the convention. More then 3,000 people showed up at the convention, and even though that seems small, as far as conventions go, it was a nice size Although the problem with the convention itself, was there was no cell phone reception down on the bottom floor. Luckily, there was a patio area where people could sit in plush purple couches, relax and, hopefully, get cell phone reception.
For the amount of people that attended, the Dealer's Hall didn't make sense. The room that the Dealer's hall was in was big enough for a good crowd of people, but it was the way it was organized. 1/4 of the dealer's hall was dedicated to the guests of honor, where they did signings and talked to the fans. While the other 3/4 of the dealer's hall was dedicated to selling the various books, audio dramas, magazines, television seasons, and comics of the Doctor Who Show. I bought a Doctor Who chess set from one of the booths.

But the thing that got to me was the other vendors that was scattered alongside the hallway. Instead of plugging up the hallway, they could of been moved to a long stretch of rooms that connected both of the hallways.
Although, I have to admit, I didn't sense any urgency from anyone in the crowd, or from the convention, itself. Everyone seemed to have a great time, and everyone knew each other, like one big family. This is something that Comic-con has somewhat lost throughout the years,

And the fun didn't end when the convention was over. On Saturday night was the Galifrey masquerade, where people dress up as their favirote Doctor Who characters, and act out skits. There are big lines for any masquerade, no matter what the convention is, so it was no surprise that the line for the masquerade ran although-out the bottom floor, curving into hidden rooms and spaces that were closed during the daytime. But standing in line is never a boring chore for me,

While I was in line, my girlfriend and I were talking to a couple of people that run a podcast. Their podcast is called, " Hoo on Who", a podcast dedicated to reviewing classic Doctor Who episodes. I mentioned the " Three Guys One Joystick" podcast to them, and they said that they heard of them. ( which was an amazing feet in itself!)
So the masquerade went on without a hitch. Some skits were funny, some were "huh", and some were just people that walked on to the stage showing off their costumes. These people that walk onto the stage with their costumes should be banned from the stage, because, we can all see a costume, but the costume truely becomes alive when you play the character in a skit! As shown in this clip:

After the masquerade, there was a comedian, karaoke, and an MST3K version of a classic Doctor Who episode. Saturday was epic, for such a small venue. On Sunday, it was less of a crowd, but during the closing ceremonies, the manager of the whole event mentioned that some of the portion of the tickets go to a charity called "Students Run L.A" Its a charity that focuses on high school students graduating high school, by having them learn the discipline of running a marathon. It got somewhat emotional for him, but then, he buckled up, and said that next year, there is going to be a bigger rooster of guests for the convention. Can't wait!

What is your favirote convention?

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Los Angeales: Doctor Who Convention

2012-02-17T17:00:00.000-08:00

From today to Sunday, the longest running Doctor Who convention will be held at the LAX Marriot. For those who don't know what " Doctor Who" is; its a show on British television that has, on and off, has been going on the BBC for fifty years. 50 years! Yeah, sure there are some years where the show was off, but ever since 2005, the show has been revitalized for a modern audience, and ever since then, the popularity of the show has gotten so big that's its one of BBC's top shows.
The show revolves around this alien that travels with a human, or humans, around time and space in his time machine, or more specifically, his T.A.R.D.I.S, (Time And Relative Dimension In Space). The Aliens and human (s) have many adventures, and encounter many creatures along the way on their journey, and solves problems along the way. Not in the Scooby Doo sense,

but the alien solves problems with his mind, wher-as, its opposite from how Americans solve their problems.

.
The Alien is called by his human travelers " The Doctor". Now, since the show has been going on for fifty years now, BBC couldn't have the same actors playing the part. So, this is the genius of the show. It's written in the show that when the Doctor is close to death, he "regenerates" into a different form. Therefore, for the past fifty years, ten actors had the pleasure of calling themselves "The Doctor". Right now, Matt Smith is playing the 11th Doctor,

, while David Tennet played the 10th Doctor,

, and Christopher Ecceston as the 9th Doctor,

and so on. And I know that I said ten people have had the opportunity to call themselves the doctor, and there is 11 doctors, but for some unknown reason, there was never an actor that played the 7th doctor.
Back to the convention. It last for three days, and since it takes place in L.A, celebrities have taken note of the convention, and of the show itself. Chris Hardwick is an avid Doctor Who fanatic, and also has the website The Nerdist, which tells about all the Nerd and Geek stuff happening around the world, much how this blog does, but on a much larger scale. Craig Ferguson, who hosts the "Late, Late Show" is also a Doctor Who fan and nerd. Here is a clip of Craig Ferguson, Chris Hardwick, and scenes from the previous Galifray Con.

Have you seen Doctor Who?

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For people that sonic their screwdrivers to porn, listen to The Three Guys One Joystick Podcast.

Dublin: Gamestop closing!

2012-02-16T16:26:00.000-08:00

Its a sad day. Now, its not end-of-the-world sad or depressing or anything of that measure,

, but its still sad to think about it. The Dublin Gamestop in Hacienda is closing! Well, not closing, per-say, but they're having a "moving sale". I talked to one of the employees that worked there, and she said that their store is "merging" with the other Dublin Gamestop, which lays next to the Dublin Target. As the employee was talking, she even put her fingers in quotation marks,

when she said "merging". Then she proceeded to tell me that was the technical term for it. She said basically that all of the games, displays, etc, are being moved to the Dublin Gamestop. While the employees that work at that Gamestop are kind of screwed out of a job. Well, . . . not really, because they can transfer to other stores. The employee that I was talking to wanted to transfer to the Danville Store, but here's the thing. If this Gamestop is closing, why transfer to another Gamestop in this economy?

And, I know that the economy is getting better, but at a snail's pace.

, but everyone is looking for work now. I've seen people get desperate, and take in jobs that they don't want to take, just because they need to pay the bills. So, The Danville Gamestop must be filled to the brim with people working there, so if she begins to work there, then people's hours are going to get cut, or the manager has to cut the new hire, which would really suck.

Anyway, . . . what was I talking about. . . oh yeah. . . Gamestop. So, The Dublin Gamestop in Hacienda will be open until their last day on Saturday, when they will close their doors for the last time. So, to "honor" their customers, they are having a 20% percent off sale on all of their products. Plus, they are giving away 20% percent off coupons to their customers to use at their other stores.

Ohhhhh....20% percent off! I'm shivering with excitement! Well, not really. Even though 20% percent off is better then no deal, it still seems like this offer was made by the corporate offices, and not by the district manager instead. The Dublin Gamestop is a big store, and to move all that product from one store to the other store will be a pain.

If I was the district manager, I would have everything be marked off by 40% percent. Then, at least, I know my store will be half full by the end of the week, it would be easier to move product from one store to the other, and then would be less to cram into the other store. But, yet I'm not from corporate, so I bet a Bill Lumburg was in charge of that decision to only have a sale at 20% off.

Question: Have you seen Office Space?

For people that don't want to work on Saturdays, . . . and on Sundays. . . .or just don't want to work. . . listen to The Three Guys One Joystick Podcast.

San Ramon: Cafe Attila Review

2012-02-15T16:12:00.000-08:00

Coffee. The lifeblood of America. Screw tea. Americans have been on coffee since the colonist threw those boxes of tea into the Boston Harbor all those years ago.

But coffee is really important to people in the Tri-Valley. Think about it. In San Ramon, there are 3 Peets coffee, 3 Starbucks ( excluding the starbucks in safeway), Half Beans coffee house along san ramon valley blvd, and Mcdonalds that advertises its coffee in massive banners along san ramon valley blvd.

But there is another place, that also serves great coffee, and with that, homemade cakes,
with lunches, and mini-snacks (which are kinda of expensive,), such as the chocolate pyrimid cakes.

This place is called Cafe' Attila: Cake Studio. This place is located at 2211B San Ramon Valley Blvd. in San Ramon. Inside, it has spacious seating. The yellowish decor with the Italian portraits remind you of a small European cafe nestled alongside a river in France, Beliegm, or Italy. Maybe, not Germany, because then it would be made of concerte, grey, and remind someone of a 1940's german noir film.

But Cafe Attila has better and stronger expresso, and its around the same price as you would get at Starbucks. I ordered a triple expresso, ( that's why there are typing errors, because of the shaking hands)

and it was $2.75. That's a great price, plus you feel the expresso going through your veins, like speed, without the nasty side effects.

As I mentioned before, the mini-snacks are expensive. Each of their mini-snacks are $5. $5! For a
mini snack. If I want to pay that much for a snack that expensive, it better have some achoholic
or caffeineded kick to it that makes me say" woah, this was worth $5." Much like that $5 shake from Pulp Fiction ( I love that movie)

That's the only bad side of this place. Well, not really. There are a couple of other drawbacks as well. For one, there is no wi-fi! Damn it! Khannnnnn!

No Wi-Fi! A coffee shop with no wi-fi! Ugh! But in their defense, they are an independent coffee / cake house, so pinching pennies is great for them, but I think if you're a coffee shop, you need Wi-Fi in this day and age.

Also, on the negetive side, they play jazz music. I hate Jazz Music! Ugh. I mean, its no so bad.
Its just piano jazz, and not that stupid trumput jazz. That urks my tail feathers!

But all and all, Cafe Attila is a great place to support local maket, sit with friends, have great expresso, and possibly, order a cake, because these cakes are no lie!

                                                                              Question:
                                                            What type of cake do you like?
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For people that always have octo-expressoes, listen to The Three Guys One Joystick podcast.

Oakley: Cheaper Tires then Costco

2012-02-14T16:35:00.000-08:00

Tires can be expensive. I mean, expensive! I thought tires were only rubber, metal, and air, but since everyone needs them for their car, the prices are through the roof. For example, I went to Costco, and a set of four tires was $758. That's more then half a grand! I realize the importance of tires, but that can't be right. I felt like I was the South Park Version of Indiana Jones, while Costco was George Lucus.

So, I was asking around where to get good tires, and one of my co-workers suggested this place in Oakley. She said that when she gets a set of tires from this one place, they cost her only $200, compared to the $789 dollars at Costco. Now, I didn't get the name from her, ( or I just forgot it), so I did some research. There are two places in Oakley that sell tires. One place is called Cutino's Tire Center, and the other one is Les Schwab Tire Center. I looked on Yelp, and it seems that Les Schwab has more customer satisfaction remarks then Cutino's Tire Center. Anyway, Cutino's sounds like a store front for the mafia.

The only problem is that my co-workers tires could be cheaper, because its a different model then my car, but hopefully, my car's tires aren't that much more expensive then Costco. Hopefully, . . . because traveling to Oakley is not my idea of fun, except looking for good prices, like going to Walmart on a Sunday morning.

Do you watch South Park?

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Pleasent Hill: Best Buy much better then Gamestop!

2012-02-13T16:35:00.000-08:00

Ok. In the past, I've mocked Best Buy's game program, saying that they don't really have any good deals for their game program. Wellllll. . . . . . .that's not true. I mean, in the sense that I only knew half of their program. Well, maybe not half, but I mocked it, before I knew about all the options and good deals that they have over there.And for that, I'm sorry.
For example, I said a couple of weeks ago about how GameStop had the Limited Collector's edition of Skyrim for $100. Well, I went over to the Pleasant Hill Best Buy with my girlfriend, and we went over to the Game Informationer desk in the store. As she was pre-ordering some games, . . . (sigh). . . I noticed a couple of Limited Edition Skyrim boxes underneath the desk.

I asked the employee behind the desk how much was the Collector's Edition boxes. He remarked that the Collector's Editions of Skyrim were $60. $60! That's the price of the game! Originally, the set was $150, now its marked down 60% percent off! The collection includes an artbook, a cool dragon statue ( although the base of the statue is plastic, but the dragon itself is made out of metal), a behind the scenes dvd, the game, and a map. Afterwards, when I opened the box, I checked out the art book. The art book is a leather-bound book, coffee table book, and each picture grabs your attention to how much detail they put into the game. The art book and the dragon statue itself is worth $60!

I asked the employee why was the collector's edition marked down so low? He responded that, even though its a great game, technically, it came out in early November, and that they have to make room for new stock coming into their building.

So, as my girlfriend was done with her transactions, we kept on talking with the employee. He remarked that Best Buy gives more credit towards buy-back games then Gamestop. In order to prove this, he pointed out the Best Buy Gaming Application on his phone. He continued on saying that the Best Buy Gaming Application, which can be downloaded for free for Iphone and Android, can scan a bar code on any games, and tell someone how much credit they would get from Best Buy.

He proceeded to grab a random game, show how easy it is to scan the game, and respond back with a buy-back price. He said that Best Buy takes all the systems, plus the almost dead PSP, with its games. Now, as far as I can tell, Gamestop doesn't even take PSP games anymore. Plus, he said that the credit that someone gets from their games can be used towards anything in the store; Ipods, Ipads, even that Blue Ray copy of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic: Volume 1 that everyone wants to get, . . . well. . . Comic Con chicks and the people from The Three Guys One Joystick Podcast ( they have marathons of it).

Do you love Best Buy?

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Mountian View: Computer History Muesum

2012-02-11T00:14:00.000-08:00

So, today was a great day. Plenty of sun. Nice spring weather in the month of Feburary. Plently of people biking and walking outside of office buildings and what not. And what do I do. I joined up with the people ( if you can call them that) from The Three Guys One Joystick podcast , and another friend of mine, and we all did what most geeks would do on a glorious day like today, go to the Computer History Muesum in Mountian View.

Now, the Computer History Muesum is a great place to go for a day. It reminded me of the Louve in France, on how there are so many things to look at all around the place, that you can easily spend a couple of days analyzing each computer artifact.

Unlike the Louve, there are arrows on the floor showing where the next exhibit is in the muesum. But these arrows are seldomly placed in the muesum, unlike Ikea, where the store makes sure that someone doesn't get lost by placing arrows every step of the way.

Once inside the Computer History Muesum, one walks towards the cashier counter. Now, as far as muesums go, this place knows its auidence. Someone can purchase one of three tickets. There are the regular tickets, $20, which are called the " Geek pass." Then, there is the "Super Geek Pass", where you get admission to the muesum, a button, and a t-shirt, for $25. Then there is the "Uber Geek Pass" where you get the button, t-shirt, admission, and a coffee table book about the various collections in the muesum, which, I think is $40. I went for the middle pass, because at least the t-shirt is practical, and I know that the book would just collect dust.

So, as someone enters the main portion of the muesum, they are greeted by a massive counting machine that was designed by someone in the 1800's! Holy crap!

Now, this machine was at least six feet tall, and all the gears were operational. Then, as one walks by it, they are shown, in each different room, a different era in the age of computers. One room would show massive tube-operated 1950's computers, while other rooms would show 1970's Nasa computer, while there was one other room dedicated to the age of video games, such as paying tribute to games like Pong and Pac-Man.

And there was another room dedicated to robots. Robots! For example, I learned today from the muesum that the term "robots" is a ( I think) Latin term (robota) meaning slave labor. And back in the 1920's, there was a science fiction film that had "robots" obeying humans, until the robots rebeled, and killed their human masters. So, before T2, before 2001, there were robots trying to kill humans. Cool!

But, by and by, The Computer History Muesum is definity a great place to visit, especially if you like vintage technology. All of us were really impressed that we plan on going again, . . .maybe after we go to the Cartoon Muesum in S.F, and the Disney Muesum.

Question: What muesum do you like to visit?

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San Fransico: Over-obsesive fandom

2012-02-09T16:31:00.000-08:00

Fandom is a great thing. It makes people be creative in many ways that they're wouldn't ordinarily do in the first place. For example, for San Diego Comic Con, and other media-related conventions, people will make and dress up as their favorite character from a movie or television show, so other people, who have a similar passion, will stop and recognize the hard work and effort that the person put into their costume, and also see their character come to life.

And these type of fandoms are healthy, . . . well except for people that take their fandom too literally.. Case in Point. There is a new show called, Alcatraz. It deals with a bunch of prisoners disappearing from the island in 1962, and re-appearing right now. This show is created by J.J Abrams, the same person that brought the television show, Lost. Here's the trailer:

Now, here's the thing. I talked to one of the Alcatraz tour guides yesterday, and he explained that some people, who have seen the show, are jumping over gates, and ducking under "Do not Cross" yellow tape, in order to see the "secret locations" from the show. Apparently, the tour guide said, that in the show, there is a secret room where there are a bunch of hidden documents. Now, these same people, that are jumping over fences, have found out where the location where the film crew filmed the outside scenes of this "secret room".

Now, Alcatraz personal are doing their best to keep these obsessive fans from hurting themselves, by putting more safeguards around areas, and in a blatant attempt to knock people to their senses, have posted a sign stating that the show is fake.

Although, I think this is a frugal attempt. Alcatraz has to remember that Americans can't read "good". The movie, "Zoolander" says it all.

Question: Have you been to Alcatraz?

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United States- Redbox great for J-fighting games, awful for J-RPG's.

2012-02-08T17:10:00.000-08:00

Well, yesterday I tried out Red Box for the first time. I gotta admit. The simplicity of renting a movie or a game from the kiosk is so simple, a Redneck baby can operate it:

      Although, I do praise the genius of Netflix,there are some things that Netflix can not do from time to time, like deliver games instantly. Now, I know that there is Gamefly, but come on, what gamer is going to wait a couple of days for their game, especially when its an old game, when they can get it at Gamestop for cheap.
     Now, some games deserve to be in Red Box, and some games should never be in RedBox. For example, J-fighting and J-RPG's, or Japanese Fighting Games and Japanese Role Playing Games.
     Japanese Fighting Games, or any fighting game, for that matter are a perfect match. The reason being is that someone can beat the campaign mode of any fighting game in a short amount of time, and return it the next day, for only $2.
    Such was the case for Soul Caliber V. I rented it from Red-box, beat the campaign, and returned it the next day. This was a great deal, instead of paying $60 dollars for a game. And the thing is that Ezio from Assassin's Creed was in the game, but he didn't serve any purpose being in the game. He was only there for fan service.

Now, having Japanese Role Playing Games, such as Final Fantasy XIII-2, ( or something like that) should not be included in the Red Box. Its torturous, cruel and unusual punishment to have a game that takes, at least, 20 HOURS to beat and put it in RedBox, where each night is a $2.00 charge. Someone might as well wait for the game to be $20 bucks, and buy it then, because at least they own it, instead of giving Red-Box continuous money every night.

What do you do with your money?

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Pleasenton- PS Vita review

2012-02-07T16:27:00.000-08:00

Finally, I saw the PS Vita in the flesh, . . . well, not in the flesh, because that would be like that portable game console from the Judd Law movie, Existanze.

But at the Pleasenton Gamestop in the mall, they had a full working PS Vita with a bunch of demos downloaded into it. The PS Vita has two analog sticks, a directional pad, buttons, touch screen, touch pad on the back of the PS Vita, and will be able to play PS3 games, and connect with other people online who play on the PS3.
Although, the one thing that Sony needs to get through their head is that Americans don't like complicated items, when it comes to their entertainment. With the two analog sticks, a direction pad, buttons, touch screen, and the such, it was hard to know what button to push, and what stick to move, and I didn't even play a demo on the system. I mean, come on, with so many buttons and sticks, does Sony think that we have six fingers, like the guy who killed that one guy's father in Princess Bride?

There is a reason why the Kinect is outselling the Playsation Move 5 to 1. Because Kinect has no controller, no complicated buttons, no nothing, just your body. Now, what Sony should of done is spent that money elsewhere, like doing more research on how to make the installing times for their PS3 games go faster, instead of waiting ten minutes for the game to load and then install into your console.

Its all about simplicity. Why would someone pay more for a portable device ( which is more expensive then a PS3 ) and games that are going to be $40 a piece, when people can buy a game for a couple of bucks on their smart phone?
That's the problem with portable gaming devices now. Back in the golden age of video gaming, with Mario, The Legend of Zelda,

and all the other classics, there was no such thing as smart phones, Itouches, or Ipad. Although Nintendo did come out with the Game Boy, the first portable-easy-to-use gaming device that parents bought left and right for their children to play on long car trips. This was great for everyone, because it gave the parents a brake from hearing from their children on car trips, " Are we there yet?"

Now, I've seen a bunch of children, not more then six years old, hurdled around an Ipad.

So, what's the reason for buying the PS Vita, again? What do you think? Are portable gaming devices outdated in a world when games can be downloaded into our phones? Post comments below in the box.

San Ramon: Hung's Kitchen's Secret Bowl ; Voddo Donuts Vegan Donuts

2012-02-06T16:35:00.000-08:00

Hung's Kitchen ( . . . hehehe), located by Club Sport, on Bollinger, in San Ramon, doesn't have that much foot traffic. Heck, it doesn't have a good location. But what it does have is great authentic Chinese food. Sure, it has "Americanize Chinese Food"

for the weekday lunch specials, but in order to truly experience original Chinese food, notice what the Chinese patrons are having for lunch or dinner. They have some great dishes that aren't ( or maybe they are, but maybe its hard to recognize) on the menu. For example: the other day, I went to Hung's Kitchen with a friend for lunch. The waiter came by, and asked us what we wanted to eat. My friend ordered some sweet and sour pork. On the other hand, I told the waiter that I want the " big bowl with the thick noodles, with the black stuff that you plop in the bowl."

The waiter knew what I wanted, and he was so joyous, that he brought an egg roll for us. Although, in truth, I don't know why he put an egg roll on the table. And why, since it was my friend and I, that he only put one eggroll on the table. All I know is that we didn't order it, and he delivered it. Maybe the restraunt had extra eggrolls. I don't know.

So, the waiter brought out a big bowl with noodles,and a side bowl with a bunch of stuff covered in a black sauce. The portions were really big, and could easily feed 2 to 3 people. And here is the good thing about the dish, it was a moderate price, around $11. I wish I could of saved some of it, but that day, I was really hungry..

I was informed over the weekend that Voodoo Donuts, the nearest one in San Jose, has Vegan donuts.

Now, I don't know what constitutes a vegan donut. But what I do know is that Voodoo Donuts do make great and unusual donuts, and they are great tasting, too. Last time I went to Voodoo Donuts in San Jose, I ordered a donut with strawberry topping, with a sliced strawberries on top of it, with a powered candy stick on top of it. And it was good. For more info about Voodoo donuts, click here for the link.

Here's one of their commericials:

Question: What's your favorite donut?

San Ramon: Tae Kwon Do Discount

2012-02-03T16:38:00.000-08:00

If someone grew up in the 80's, its more then likely that they wanted to, at some time in their childhood, wanted to be like Daniel-son from the ORIGINAL Karate Kid movie. ( Screw the remake!) Everyone wanted to do that famous kick that he does in the movie,

and do karate. Even if people haven't grown up in the 80's, they still know that kick. Since then, Karate, and all forms of martial arts training have skyrocketed in popularity.
    Now, people that grew up in the 80's have children of their own now., and that passion to learn karate, plus all the benefits that come with it, such as discipline and honor, is still there. Therefore, martial arts schools are opening up everywhere in the United States, and that includes the Tri-Valley.
     Since the Tri-Valley is an expensive place to live, and to set-up a business, its nice to know that one of these martial arts schools offers a special discount.
     The "Black Tiger ( not to be mixed up with Black Dynamite)

Tae Kwon Do Martial Arts School", located at 500 Bollinger Canyon Way, in San Ramon, is offering a beginner's special. For a limited time, for two weeks of classes, the price is $39, and that includes a free uniform. This is a great deal, if people want to dip their feet in trying out Tae Kwon Do without committing to it.

Question: Do you do any martial arts training?

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San Ramon: $1.75 for Dry Cleaning ; Capcom stabbing themselves

2012-02-02T17:11:00.000-08:00

It came to my attention by a co-worker that not all good things have to be expensive. And not all cheap things have to be . . . cheap.

But some things, are great, a good deal, and can impress people at the same time. Example, Park Avenue Cleaners, on San Ramon Valley Blvd., next door to Erik's Delicafe, and across the parking lot from Crow Canyon Cinemas, has a really good deal.
According to my co-worker, he got his nice-collared shirt dry cleaned for $$1.75. That's a really good deal. Someone can't even get a Thai hooker for that cheap.

So, Capcom vs. Tekken is coming out this fall. Capcom vs. Tekken is the newest game in a series of fighting games of called the " Capcom vs." series. Well, in case you haven't heard yet, in the latest incarnation of the fighting franchise, they will have guest fighters such as Mega Man and Pac-Man. Now, people ought to question on how the game company plans on having their mascot, Pac-Man, in a fighting game. Well, they are giving him cartoony arms and legs, and a giant robot for him to command, which is kind of cool.
Although, there is massive fan backlash on the character of Mega Man. The reason being is that last year, the creator of the Mega-Man character left Capcom, and with that, took the beloved blue guy, with him. Capcom was upset with him, so much so, that they acted like a teenager on P.M.S

and not quietly let the issue go, but they added "Mega Man" to the rooster of fighters. What I mean is that, they took the original character design from the first Mega Man cover,

instead of what fans know and love,

and put him into the "Capcom vs. Tekken" game. Take a look:

Oh . . . Capcom. . .

Alamo: Open house for Music Lessons ; Facebook trouble

2012-02-01T16:59:00.000-08:00

This Saturday, the music store, " Music and Beyond", in Alamo, is hosting an open house for all of those people that want to learn how to play some sort of instrument. They teach, from what the flyer says, Violin, viola, cello, flute, trumpet, trombone, guitar, piano, drums, saxophone, and the clarinet. This sounds like one more instrument, and they could do their own orchastra flash mob.

The open house is from 10 am to 6pm, so basically, its an all day event. They offer private and semi-private lessons. Unfortunately, I will not be attending this event, but I've been meaning to learn how to play guitar, so I'm glad that I saw this advertisement.

     Ah. . . Facebook. Facebook this and Facebook that. Now, I've heard on the news about something else about Facebook. The ads on the right side of the Facebook page are going to get a lot smarter. With Facebook, and its countless members, it seems that not many people, percentage wise, are clicking on those advertisements. That is how Facebook makes it main source of income is through those advertisements. Companies pay Facebook to display ads on someone's facebook page, by scanning either the cookies on the computer or by looking at certain details on your computer. Example: If someone has on their profile that they live in Texas, own a ranch, then Facebook would show ads dealing with ranch equipment and other miscellaneous items.
    But what if, that Texas ranch owner's wife died. Afterwards, he would be distraught and depressed . Facebook would only know immediate details, but not build up a base on that profile dealing with what that person is going through in the long term.
     Well, Facebook, and advertisers are almost on the way to solving the problem. Within the near future, advertisers will be able to track what a person is doing in the long-term, and plan their advertising based on major events that would happen around that person's life, like a loved one dying.

Question: What do you think of death?

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Dublin : Soul Caliber V ; Looney Tunes on Clearence

2012-01-31T15:07:00.000-08:00

It's Tuesday, and that means that the new dvds and video game day. So, of course, I went to Best Buy, because I had a gift card, and wanted to see what was new this week. So, of course, I was patrolling the isles of the Dublin Best Buy. when I saw it. "It" being the Collector's Edition of Soul Caliber V.

I almost got it on the spot. But after a while of holding it, I checked out the back of the box. It comes with a 100 page art book, the soundtrack of the game, DLC content, and, of course, the game itself. Now, all of this is $80. Now, that is kind of expensive for a collector's edition of a fighting game, compared to the collector's edition of Skyrim, where it comes with a very detailed dragon statue.

So, the art book from the Soul Caliber V collector's edition is cool, but not $80 cool. The only thing that would be of interest would be the soundtrack, and I could buy the best songs from iTunes, and take out the rest, therefore saving me some money. And the DLC is just the extra character that they include with the regular edition of the game, so I decided to go with the regular version of the game. Here's the trailer again to show how cool Ezio from Assassin's Creed is in the game.

Also, I went to the Downtown Livermore Walmart beforehand, and I went in the Dvd section. I noticed when I saw the New Release Endcap, I looked up and I saw a clearance dvd that was a really good deal for an animation collector. On clearance, they had all the Looney Tunes Dvds, all in one box set, for $90. This includes all the cartoons, commentaries, behind the scenes, and what not. And the thing is, a couple of years ago, one of those box sets was $50. Now, all five of them are on clearance from Walmart for $80. Although, I only saw one copy, but I'm sure that there are more clearance copies of the Looney Tunes Dvd around the store, but I was rushed for time at the moment.

Question: What your favorite cartoon?

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Walnut Creek: Restraunt review of Kacha Thai Bistro ; Free Burger King Onion Rings

2012-01-30T16:45:00.000-08:00

I went with my girlfriend to see the new Underworld movie at the Walnut Creek Movie theaters. Afterwards, we decided to go get some dinner, before calling it a night. We agreed to go to Kacha Thai Bistro, which is located at 1665 Mt. Diablo Blvd. in Walnut Creek. We peeked at the menu, and it wasn't horribly expensive, but it wasn't like Denny's "2, 4, 6, 8" special.

It seemed like each plate was around $10 dollars. Although, the entree's could of been a little bit bigger for the price. Maybe they spent the extra money that they saved on having more portions on the rows of liquer that people see as they peer through the window.

Although, with a single Thai Ice Tea, and with two plates of Thai food, the total came to $31 dollars, and that is including 20% tip. Everything else was good, the atmosphere, the lighting ( although it was kind of dark inside), and the service itself was fast. I was surprised how fast I was served my Thai Ice Tea. Its like they have a vat of the stuff in the back, like on how Mexican restaurants have mounds of salsa, and Olive Garden has mountains of bread sticks and salads.

Speaking of food, Burger King are offering free onion rings this weekend; February , fourth to the sixth. Now, the advertisement didn't say why Burger King was offering Onion Rings. There was no special occasion attached to the advertisement, like Burger King's anniversary, or anything of that nature.

And I don't know if someone has to buy a hambuger to get the free onion rings, or any other requirements that customers have to do in order to get the free onion rings. Though that would be cool if people can just demand onion rings without buying anything,

. . . .or maybe not.

Question: What fast food place do you like?

If you want to hear people that held up a McDonalds with a trench coat and a carrot, listen to The Three Guys One Joystick Podcast.

Danville: Wizzbangz Burger's shake special ; PSP Vita on display at Dublin Gamestop

2012-01-27T16:36:00.000-08:00

WizzBangz Burgers in Danville is one of those places where someone goes to, because they FEEL like they need a burger. Unlike Burger King and McDonalds, where the consumption of the beef product is only sustenance until dinner time, WizzBangz Burgers makes you feel like your burger means something, like on how chicks think astrology means something, but none of the hogwash attached to it.

But yeah,k their burgers mean business, and yet simple. Their restaurant in Danville is simple, yet its decked out with posters of different automobiles, and the television is tuned to the car channel. But besides that, they are having a special on their Pumpkin Shakes. For $3, someone can get a pumpkin shake. " Not a $5 dollar shake", but a $3 dollar shake.

The reason for such a low price on a shake is that the owners said that they have a lot of pumpkin ice cream left, and their isn't that much demand for the Pumpkin flavor after the holidays. Screw that! I don't care if the flavor is seasonal or not, next time I'm there, I'm ordering my $3 pumpkin shake!

Anyway, one of my co-workers informed me that the PlayStation Vita is now being displayed at the Dublin Gamestop. Now, I don't know if this applies with all Gamestops, so I'm nlot going to post bogus information.

So what's up with the Vita, or the Vel-Vita, one of the two?

Well, its the next-generation portable device that is being made by PlayStation. Now, how many portable consoles has Sony made so far? They made the PS Go, which took a massive belly-flop on the market.

But I can't blame them. Nintendo has come out with a version of the DS, it seems, every year for the past five years. So its all fair. But the PSP is still a good system, despite being around five year old.
Although, I think X-Box is playing it smart by not making its own portable device. With mobilie gaming on the rise, why carry a "brick"

of plastic, when someone has their smart phone, which can play a lot of similar games, for a fraction of the price. Although, I can see the point that people don't want to waste their battery life on their phones. I mean, what if they need to call someone in an emergency, and there phone is dead. That would suck.

Question: Do you hate your cell phone's battery life?

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Plesenton: Review of F.Y.E's last day ; Review of Blockbuster sale

2012-01-26T17:00:00.000-08:00

For the past couple of weeks, I've been ranting about F.Y.E going out of business. Well, technically, they're not going out of business, but just that they didn't renew their lease at the Stoneridge Mall. All the other F.Y.E stores are staying in business around the Bay Area ( but I presume that they are not going to stay there for long. ).
So, today was their final day. The final countdown.

(Sorry, had to put that in). Anyway, I went to check out if their discounts were better then a couple of days ago. To put it simply, no. Well, that's not technically true. I checked out the Blue Rays dvds and the regular dvd's, and the only difference between today and a couple of days ago was 80% off on selected Blue Ray dvds. . Now granted, some of those movies were B rated horror movies such as Dracula 2000.

Although, to give this movie credit, it did have a good plot twist at the end. And "The Others" with Nicole Kidman was also 80% off, which was the best movie which was stickered at 80% off. Very good movie, and plus it has Nicole Kidman, so that's a plus in itself.

All the other Blue Ray DVDs, music cd's, and regular DVDs were still 50% off. Although, I rummaged throughout the soundtrack cd section of the store, and there were some rare cd's on sale. One such cd was the "The Transformers" ( Not Bayformers!) movie soundtrack from the 80's. I though they discontinued that soundtrack, and to see it on the shelves was a treasure in itself. Also, they had the Gears of War 3 and Halo ODST soundtracks as well.

Anyway, I also checked out the sale at the Blockbuster on First Street. ( Finally.. . . ) On the front windows, they were advertising that everything in the store was 50%, which includes their movies and games. When I went in, the store was as barren as the Montana landscape.

They only had three used games on sale; a Transformers game, and two copies of Kinect Adventures. There were two rows of Previously viewed Blue Ray movies that were all on sale for $6. There were some good movies to get in that section, like the Blue Ray copy of Fantasia. They were also selling miscellaneous nick-knacks on a single table, while there were a candy stand behind it. Other then that, there were nothing really on the floor. Well, they did have regular dvds covering the walls, but who wants regular dvd's, except old people who can't tell the difference, anyway?

But, all and all, the sale was a good place to get some movies. Although, that will be the last time that I'll go to that Blockbuster. Although, if they start pricing their Blue Ray Dvd's to $3, then mayyybbbeee. I swing on by that location. Although, the one thing that Blockbuster doesn't have that F.Y.E had was anime dvd's on sale.

Question: What type of sales do you like?

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For people that watch anime all day long, listen to The Three Guys One Joystick Podcast.

San Ramon: Better then Ezra in San Ramon ; Chopped up body Parts

2012-01-25T13:20:00.000-08:00

Sometimes San Ramon gets some great bands playing in our city. Last year, ( or was it two years ago) rumor has it that the Beastie Boys played at the Shaboom night club, which is across the street from the McDonalds on San Ramon Valley Blvd. I asked the person that told me this, " Why would Beastie Boys play at a night club like Shabooms, where the clientele are in their 40's to 50's. From what I remember is that the person responded, " Beastie Boys are getting old.". Oh.

So, its no surprise that the music band, Better then Ezra, is going to perform at the San Ramon Performance Center on Friday, April 20th, at 8:00 pm. I'm sure many people have heard their songs, but just can't place the songs with the band. I know I can't for the life of me. According to the San Ramon Performance Arts 2011-2012 Season Pamphlet, Better then Ezra has been around since the early 90's. That's twenty years of shows that they have been doing, and they also have a foundation that helps to rebuild the South from Hurricane Katrina. Although, its cool that they are coming to play at the new Performance Arts center then a tiny nightclub. Here's Better then Ezra on David Letterman.. Enjoy:

I got told by my co-worker that they found some human body parts by the Hollywood Sign. It happened a week before Last Tuesday when some lady, and her mother were walking some dogs, when one of the dogs ran away, and then came back, with a severed head in its mouth. The dog dropped it in front of their owners, and, at first, the owners thought it was a prop, but then they discovered it was a fresh severed human head. How do mistake a Hollywood dummy head from a severed human head. Well, for one, the dog wouldn't pick up plastic in its mouth. And of course, the amount of coagulated blood spilling from the head. Yep, no dummy head there.
But of course, since it was near Brad Pitt's house, so there were a lot more people investigating this case, because it got national attention. According to the local news channel, there were more then 120 investigators searching the grounds of where the body parts were found. Of course, someone has to wonder how many paparazzi were hounding around for some clue that linked the chopped up corpse to Brad Pitt. Then he would truely be like his character from Kalifornia.

Question: What do you think happened to the body?

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If you want to listen to people that have a dismembered member", listen to The Three Guys One Joystick Podcast.

Plesenton: FYE's last day Thursday ; We're living in 1984

2012-01-24T13:59:00.000-08:00

So, I went to the Stoneridge Mall again to check on the sale status at F.Y.E. As the same as the last time, the sales are still 50% on many of the Dvd's and Blue Ray Dvd's. Although, I did some checking around the store about the other massive discounts that they are offering on their other products. I checked out the other side of the store, to where they have all the pop-culture merchandise on display. All those items were 60% to 80% off. Although, someone has to be a hardcore fanatic

of a franchise in order to buy those items.
For example, the two major franchises that they had on display was Sonic the Hedgehog and Nightmare Before Christmas. They had Sonic the Hedgehog backpacks, belts, even wall stickers.

While for The Nightmare Before Christmas Section, they had a Jack Skeleton backpack, and a spiked belt with Jack Skeletons' face on it. A spiked belt? Only punks and emo-teens can wear such a thing and get away with it. I mean, isn't that going against the message of punks and emo-teens. I mean, with the punk, it would be like, " Yeah, man, down with the establishment, except don't mess with my Nightmare before Christmas Spiked belt ( Nightmare Before Christmas being a product of the Disney corporation). With the emo-teen, it would be like, " Yeah, life sucks. . . .I hate life. . . . for entertainment, I'm going to cut my wrist, and watch it bleed all over my Nightmare Before Christmas belt, because . . . .life sucks, and Jack Skeleton knows that life sucks ( even though Jack Skeleton is still a product of Disney, and Disney claims that their parks are the "Happiest Place on Earth." ) Yeah, makes sense.

        So, everyone is talking about privacy and limiting the amount of information that the government, or some other agency should have on a given person. And although, they have a valid point in saying that the government should not know what you're doing all the time; the idea of privicy had ended some time ago, with the age of the cellphone. According to the news, Phone companies can track your movements with your cellphone, and the police can ask the phone companies for those records at any time, and its not illegal.
       Now, some police around the Bay Area have installed special cameras on their cars that can read any license plate on the road. So while the police are driving, they can track cars in a computer, and then the computer gives a detailed report about the driver, and if the police officer sees that the driver has a criminal record, then they will pull over the driver.
    Overall, this is a good system, but its kind of scary that not only people can track us through the cell phone, but now, we are being scanned by the police. Even though, I'm glad that they are catching more people this way, but at what cost?
    And although what he did was horrible beyond comprehension, Bin-Laden had one thing going for him. He did things the old fashion way in order to not get caught by the world's government. He posted messages through VHS tape, had no cellphone, or any electronic devices, and did everything through networks of people. And us, Americans, had trouble finding him for a good ten years.

Question: Where were you on 9-11?

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And even though these people always have their razor blades close by when their partners complain to them, check out the The Three Guys One Joystick Podcast.