Just when I think April 1st on Slashdot couldn't possibly get any gayer, they up the ante again. If it wasn't so terribly fucking retarded I would be impressed.

It lets you know who is a normal person and who is a cunt. Not that normal people must like sports; they just don't shit all over anybody who does. Aside from religion I don't think there is a more hostile topic here.

The controls are somewhat awkward (Xbox 360), but it's playable; I might have to turn up sensitivity. The general gameplay is pretty much what you expect from Max Payne, but the problem with this installment (and indeed a problem with many games today) is that it's really more of a movie than a game. I will say that the transition between cutscenes and gameplay is pretty seamless which helps, but it's hard to get into the game when you've got 4 or 5 minutes of cutscenes for every 2 or 3 minutes of action; more than once I've yelled at my TV to "COME ON"; especially when the majority of the cutscenes have these ridiculous stylish affects applied to them that makes it a pain to watch.

This past weekend I finally got into Eastbound and Down; just finished the series finale a few minutes ago. Truly one of the more absurd shows I've ever seen; I thought it ended perfectly. Then I go to Google something and apparently earlier today they announced there would be another season. Now I have to wait a whole year for that; fuck that noise.

My problem with Walmart is more practical than philosophical. It's the fucking SKUs. I buy a certain brand/package of soap at the supermarket I typically shop at. I bought the exact same thing from Walmart earlier today. Or so I thought. What I get from the supermarket - 6 bars, each 4.2 oz. What I got from Walmart - 6 bars, each 4.0 oz. In the grand scheme of things 1.2 oz spread across 6 bars of soap is not a big deal, but when you're talking about the volume of products Walmart sells it adds up. This is why I NEVER buy anything important (e.g. electronics) at Walmart; odds are it's gimped in some fashion in order to shave a few pennies here and there.

...but I'm really digging the Nexus 7. My one minor quibble would be the lack of a SD card slot, but for the price and features I think I can overlook it.

I lasted just over 20 minutes before I couldn't take it anymore. I skipped through to various parts of the movie just to make sure I wasn't missing anything. I like to think I give every movie a fair shake, but this is one of only a handful of movies in my entire life that I just gave up on. Seriously, what the fuck?

I don't know if Rize of the Fenix is "better" than Tenacious D's debut album, but I don't know that it isn't, either. It has the same sense of humor and sound of rock. The only thing I'm disappointed with is the length; it is 10 minutes shorter than the debut album, which itself was on the short side at 51 minutes. It's definitely more mature musically, but I'm not sure if any of the songs are classics. "The Ballad of Hollywood Jack and the Rage Kage" along with "39" are the standouts; I'm also quite fond of Senorita and Roadie. There are only two skits here and I didn't much care for one of them ("Classical Teacher"); what their debut album lacked in musicality was made up for with the abundance of skits. Of course I may be a bit biased as I've listed to their debut album at least 100 times; I'll need more time before I have a better feel for it. Still, it's definitely worth picking up if you're a fan of The D.

Compared to the previous episode, the season finale of Game of Thrones was anti-climactic as fuck. Almost nothing happened; felt a lot like a filler episode. Last episode had more of a finale feel to it while this one was more about resolving a few small things and setting up next season. I'm guessing what we see in the final seconds has some significant implications in regards to the books, but as someone who's never read them it didn't do a whole lot for me.

I've been recording Game of Thrones this season; just started watching today in preparation for the season finale tomorrow. I intended to split it over the course of two days but it's just so fucking compelling that I couldn't help but go all the way today. Seriously, this is some good shit. Peter Dinklage is clearly the star of the show; I love the scenes with him and Lena Heady or any of the members of the council (particularly the eunuch). Lots of tension is the last couple of episodes; can't wait for the finale.

Every time I go to the theater and have a "meh" experience, I tell myself next time it won't be like that. I'm always wrong. The movie itself was good, but the patrons are a bother. Some guy behind me loudly clearing his throat every few minutes. Candy wrappers crackling almost the whole time. People laughing loudly. People talking. But the worst is the couple directly next to me with their two small kids; oldest must have been 6 or 7 and youngest was 3 or 4. Guy had to take his kids to the bathroom every 20 minutes or so; I am not exaggerating. Youngest kid also talked loudly a few times. Honestly, why do people bring little kids to the theaters? The 6 or 7 year old is borderline, but 3 or 4 year old is a joke. Anyway. The movie itself was pretty good. I find it hard to judge cleanly given all the ridiculous hype surrounding it. It has a run time of almost 2.5 hours but it certainly didn't feel that long; the pace of the movie is pretty even throughout. Good job all around. I will say the film was a bit action heavy for my taste, but that's the kind of movie it is. The action was quite good, and there was a good mix of well-timed comedy (mostly one liners). The only real complaint I have is that Black Widow and Hawkeye are ridiculously underpowered compared to the others; at times it felt like nobody really knew what to do with them. The big finale starts and they're sort of relegated to the sideline or put on mop up duty while the heavy hitters do all the real work. I absolutely loved the extended screen time Samuel L. Jackson got here compared to his previous roles in the Marvel films (which were really just cameos); it's never a bad move to give that bad-ass motherfucker more scenes. Iron Man is of course the alpha dog, though Thor and Hulk have their moments (and Captain America to a lesser extent). I wasn't really sure what to expect, but looking back on the previous movies it had a very similar feel. Personally I'm much more looking forward to Nolan's Batman finale; those movies have been far more dramatic and intelligent than the recent Marvel ones. Sadly I'll most likely forgo seeing it in the theater due to the spate of less than stellar experiences I've had the last couple of outings.

For as cool as (most of) the original X-Men trilogy is, I've got to say First Class is by far the best of the series. While the trilogy does explore the differing ideologies somewhat, most of the time is devoted to kick-ass fights. First Class has its fair share of action of course, but the far more interesting aspect is the development of the split between Magneto and Xavier. Naturally there are parallels to various struggles between different groups of humans, which of course proves Magneto's point; ultimately I think his stance is the only tenable one.

I've had Beautiful Boy in my Netflix queue forever; finally got it this weekend and gave it a watch. I knew nothing about it other than the main cast and the description on Netflix. Even before I saw the film it was off to a good start; for my money Maria Bello is one of the most beautiful women in the world (suck it, Angelina Jolie). Then as the movie progresses who has a small role? Not only Alan Tudyk, but also Moon Bloodgood; phenomenal. The cherry on top? The very minor role of hotel manager is played by Meatloaf. My God, it's full of win. The acting all around is superb and the story is moving if perhaps a bit cliche at times. Why can't more movies be like this? Last time a movie got me like this it was Trucker (Nathan Fillion + Michelle Monaghan for the win), coincidentally another small independent film.

The typical Slashdotter will lose his fucking shit if you mention Ron Paul in a negative way.

All I had left was the Master Predator challenge. Police Brutality is pretty easy; Natural Selection slightly less so. End of the Line is the one that gave me problems. It took me 20+ minutes to stealth the shit out of it, but I finally did it. The only achievement I've got left is the one to use every move/gadget in a single combo; my problem with that is that there's so many fucking attacks that it's hard to keep track of which ones you've used and which ones you haven't. Also haven't done any of the achievements for the DLC; none of the characters (especially Catwoman) have anywhere near the same utility as Batman which makes it so much more of a grind. I can live without doing those.