Justin Thorn

So Many Games So Little Time

The weather is cooling, the leaves have changed colors, there is less daylight and the holidays are right around the corner. You know what that means. Gaming season is here. Everyone is familiar with the blockbuster movie season that typically starts in May around Memorial Day weekend. From that point through July 4th most of the major blockbuster films of the year are released. Why is that? I don't know but that is just the way things are and the way they have been for as long as I can remember. As long as the movie studios continue to rake in the dough with these business practices I'm sure that release cycle will continue for years to come. For those of us who are gamers we know the video game industry works very similar. From mid-October through December many of the years biggest games crowd the store shelves at once. The problem with this is games take much more time to play than a watching a movie and they cost much more money. For this reason many games get overlooked temporarily or sometimes forever. There should be a better system for releasing games.

The Blog Is Back Baby!

Its been a very long time since I have made a blog post. In fact it has been 5 months since my last post. Since then the site slowly started falling apart. Over the years I have leapfrogged from one free blogging service to the next. The last one I was using went under and closed up shop leaving my blog out in the cold. I guess you "get what you pay for". Rather than quickly jumping to another free service and risk the same fate I chose to take a few months off and search for a better solution. Thanks to Wordpress I have finally found that solution. Let me take you on a quick tour of all the powerful new features of my new site.

Pepperdog Tricks

Teaching pepperdog new tricks with food.

Beach, BBQs and Birthdays

A few weeks ago we took our first trip of the season to the beach. We stayed in Atlantic Beach for the night. After some delicious seafood at The Sanitary restaurant we took the dog for a walk on the beach before calling it a night. This was Peppers first experience with the beach. She wasn’t sure what to think at first. The next day we spent a few hours enjoying the sun. The water was way too cold to get in. We learned that Pepper is not very fond of the waves at the ocean. Not sure if she is scared of the sound or the way it moves or both. Nevertheless she still enjoyed digging tons of holes in the sand and then laying in them to stay cool. That black fur gets hot in the sun pretty quickly. The main purpose of the beach trip was to visit Lauren’s grandparents who live in that area. It had been a while since we had payed them a visit. After spending a couple hours visiting with them it was time to head home.

Scan My Photos

A few weeks ago I realized Mothers Day was around the corner. I decided to get serious about finding a way to scan all these photos and turn them into a Mothers Day gift this year. After more research I ran across this company simply named ScanMyPhotos.com While their website design was not very impressive their resume was. They had been around since 1990 (yes before digital photos existed) and they had glowing reviews from reliable sources like David Pogue at the NY Times. What really sold it was their ultra cheap $0.03 per scan price. I decided to give them a go. I followd the instructions and shipped the photos out the week before Mothers Day. I paid a little extra for shipping to CA since I was short on time. 2 days later my photos arrived at their headquarters as I received a confirmation email from them. Before I left work that same day I received another email that my photos were done scanning and the whole package with digital photos were being shipped back to me. I got them before the weekend and just in time for Mothers Day. Total cost under $100 including shipping. Needless to say when I shared this gift with mom and pulled up all the photos on the computer she was blown away. I highly recommend them to anyone interested in saving their photos.

Welcome To Charleston Ya’ll

Every year for our anniversary Lauren and I decide to celebrate with a 3-day mini vacation. Last year we took a trip to Ocracoke Island. This year Charleston, SC was our choice for our 2nd anniversary. This was my first trip to the city after wanting to visit it for years. Lauren had been there before a couple times. We reserved a hotel in North Charleston and got a great deal since we booked a couple months early. After making the long 4.5 hour drive from my office we crashed and prepared for our weekend ahead. We decided not to make any formal itinerary which helped us to relax even more. No need to worry about sticking to a strict schedule the next few days. We just came and went as we pleased and it worked out very well.

Two Year Anniversary

I could not have said it better myself so I will let Lauren’s post speak for itself. I am truly blessed to have such a wonderful wife and a wonderful life together! Happy Anniversary sweetheart.

Pearl Jam Legacy

Growing up as a teen of the early 90s I quickly became a fan of the new sounds coming from Seattle. Bands like Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains and one that is still with us today… Pearl Jam. While their music has changed with the times over the years Pearl Jam is still by far one of my favorite bands of all times. I have all their studio albums and most of their B-sides and live material. I have been to several of their concerts as they have passed near here. When I heard that they were celebrating their 20th anniversary I felt really old but also psyched in what was to come

“Brawl Street” Cramer vs Stewart

The saga continues. Representing the CNBC network Jim Cramer agreed to appear on the Daily Show Thursday night. Jon Stewart completely drilled Cramer for “playing games” with peoples 401k and other longterm investments in order to fund Wall Streets greed in backroom business practices. Stewart continues to press Cramer beyond the point of uncomfortable with a series of clips from an unaired Cramer interview in 2006 admitting to his own shady business practices. One of the most serious interviews I have seen from Stewart in a long time. If looks could kill… If this embedded video cuts short you can watch the entire uncensored video at The Daily Show.

NCAA Expands March Madness To 4096 Teams

var fbShare = {url: 'http://jeromeshome.com/2009/03/11/ncaa-expands-march-madness-to-4096-teams/',size:'large'} The parody entertainment company The Onion produces another great video today just in time for March Madness. This is really funny stuff.