Soul Calibur V Launch Trailer

My Favorite Animated Characters

10. FroZone- Samuel L. Jackson

The Incredibles

9. Rex- Wallace Shawm

Toy Story

8. Dug- Bob Peterson

Up

7. Po- Jack Black

Kung Fu Panda

6. Kronk- Patrick Warburton

The Emperor's New Groove

5. Mushu- Eddie Murphy

Mulan

4. Donkey- Eddie Murphy

Shrek

3. Sid- John Leguizamo

Ice Age

2. Crush- Andrew Stanton

Finding Nemo

1. Sokka- Jack De Sena

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Honorable Mentions:

Uncle Iroh- Mako

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Squirt- Nicholas Bird

Finding Nemo

Genie- Robin Williams

Aladdin

My Favorite Actresses

Sandra Bullock

Works I Liked: The Blind Side and The Proposal

Zoey Deschanel

Works I Liked: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Bridge to Terabithia, and New Girl

Evanna Lynch

Works I Liked: Harry Potter

Reese Witherspoon

Works I Liked: Sweet Home Alabama, Walk the Line, and Just Like Heaven

Drew Barrymore

Works I Liked: 50 First Dates, Ever After, and Fever Pitch

Kaley Cuoco

Works I Liked: The Big Bang Theory and 8 Simple Rules

My Favorite Actors, Part II

Tom Cruise

Works I Liked: The Last Samurai, Top Gun, and Rain Man

John Rhys Davies

Works I Liked: Indiana Jones, Sliders, and The Lord of the Rings

Sean Connery

Works I Liked: James Bond, Indiana Jones, and Finding Forrester

Christopher Lee

Works I Liked: The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and The Three Musketeers

Robin Williams

Works I Liked: Patch Adams, Aladdin, and What Dreams May Come

Harrison Ford

Works I Liked: Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and American Graffiti

My Favorite Actors, Part I

Kunal Nayyar

Works I Liked: The Big Bang Theory

Johnny Depp

Works I Liked: Pirates of the Caribbean, Sweeney Todd, and Finding Neverland

Leonardo Di Caprio

Works I Liked: The Man in the Iron Mask, Catch Me If You Can, and Gangs of New York

Tom Hanks

Works I Liked: Cast Away, Forrest Gump, and Catch Me If You Can

George Clooney

Works I Liked: O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Ocean's Eleven, and E/R

Jack Nicholson

Works I Liked: As Good As It Gets, Batman, and The Bucket List

Tales of Mere Existence: Politics

A very interesting video by Levni Yilmaz

Inheritance Review

Inheritance- Christopher Paolini

Just finished this book last week, and I have to say it is Paolini's best book yet. It was a little hard to get through in the first section, but it got exponentially better as it progressed. Am I the only one that doesn't care for Roran? I basically skimmed the chapters focusing on him. I feel like there wasn't a point to pay attention to him, mainly because THE BOOK IS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT ERAGON, not Roran! Anyway... great book, I highly recommend that you start/finish this series!

5 stars out of 5

What I'm Reading- 1/23/12

Man, I haven't done one of these in a long time! Well, here you go!

Soul of the Fire- Terry Goodkind

Continuing on with The Sword of Truth series, and as in past novels, Goodkind takes his sweet time setting the main plot of the book. As much as I love these books, it's like walking through molasses on a cold day trying to get to the "good" parts (which sometimes is a long time/many pages). I really don't know why I'm complaining though, I know I'll love the rest of it, and whatever Goodkind writes in the last half will make up for the first half being a bit boring.

The Crystal Shard- R.A. Salvatore

This one's been on the back-burner for a while. Wanted to read Inheritance and finish Temple of the Winds over Christmas break. It will continue to be on the back-burner because of this next book!

Death of Kings- Bernard Cornwell

I have been waiting for this book for a while, and I'm super excited about it. I love this author, and he is my favorite historical fiction writer (so far). Ordered it on Barnes and Noble at the end of last week and will start reading it as soon as possible!

Keep Calm

Temple of the Winds Review

GO READ THIS BOOK SERIES!!

This is not really a review, but I wanted to tell you guys about this book/series, but I don't want to spoil anything for anyone. Just as a note- this book series should be read my adults only (as in 18 and up) as it deals with some pretty mature issues at times.

I've said this before, but Terry Goodkind is an amazing author. He is very adept at getting you emotionally involved into the characters and the story, and then toying with you the majority of the novel. He builds up the tension and the sense of urgency the whole book, then takes away all hope, and somehow resolves it in the end, making everything better. So amazing! He is one of my favorite authors of all time; right up there with Tolkien, Cornwell, and Crichton! It's a crying shame that Goodind isn't all that popular.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

Advice For Role-Playing Games

Here's a list of some tips, tricks, and observations I've discovered after my experience playing RPG's. Most of these are applicable to RPG video games (most of those related to Skyrim!), but there are also some general role playing tips as well for use in other styles- like Dungeons and Dragons or other d20 systems.

Do's

• Save often!

Save yourself the grief and frustration and save every time you start a quest or enter a dungeon. You don't want to die (or your console freezes) after not saving for 3 hours.

• Watch where you're going

This is especially true for when there are a lot of trees that block your vision. For some reason, being on horseback exacerbates this issue. Basically, what I'm trying to say is be careful when you're exploring. You don't want to run head-long over a cliff!

• Learn a healing spell

I don't care if you're all fired up to play a warrior- you need to be able to heal yourself when you take all of that damage! You don't even need to get more than the basic healing spell (you get one for free with any character in Oblivion and Skyrim). Yeah, you could buy a ton of potions, but I would rather save that money for better weapons, armor, etc. It only depends on your amount of magicka/mana/MP. Trust me!

• Find a good center of operations

By this I mean find a place where you can get as many of your "errands" done at once. In Skyrim for example, I like using Whiterun because my house (where I store all my stuff), the forge, alchemy table, enchantment table, and shops are all relatively close to each other. Makes things run more smoothly, and you can get back to questing sooner.

• Learn crafting skills

While you may think that it's a drag and it's taking experience you can allot elsewhere, crafting your own weapons and  armor (enchanted or otherwise) & potions saves you a lot of money. Plus, you get more of a sense of accomplishment that way. I like to craft, upgrade, and enchant as many of my pieces of gear as possible.

• Find a safe storage spot

At least in The Elder Scrolls game, no chest or barrel is safe to store things in unless it is in a house that you own. Make it a point to save money early on for a house where you can dump all of your unused items. I usually leave all of my crafting items and special weapons and armor (that I'm not currently using) at home. Why waste your precious space on items that you aren't even using?

• Role-play well

This is mainly a D&D tip. Basically,  I believe that you should role-play to the best of your abilities and to the extent of your imagination. Get into your character! The more you invest in a character, the more fun the game becomes. Avoid meta-gaming as much as humanly possible. Try figure out who your character really is before you start playing, and develop it as you play, both character traits and your backstory.

• Figure it out for yourself

Try and figure out puzzles and quests by yourself (at least the first time). Looking at walkthroughs and game guides detracts from the fun of a game. The game developers made the game for you to play, not for you to do what someone else figured out themselves. I only look for help when I cannot figure it out for myself and have tried to multiple times. This goes for cheats too as many of them are overpowered.

• Play with friends

Games with co-op and multiplayer are meant to be played that way! Granted- most RPG's are single player, but you can still play them with a buddy. One person plays while the other person acts as their "spotter" (just think of them as your personal Navi- only less annoying)- helping you with puzzes, riddles, or finding treasure chests that you may have missed. After a while, switch places.

• Play through earlier games in a series

This is especially pertinent now that all of these Elder Scrolls n00bs are getting into Skyrim, but don't want to play Morrowind or Oblivion. They then ask a ton of questions that would have been answered if they had played the earlier games! It helps to fill out your understanding of the story, and gives you hours of enjoyment, and for those of you who actually care- that means more achievements/trophies.

• Use mods!

Sorry console gamers! Unfortunately, you can only mod PC games. For those of you who do play games on your computer, check out mods for your games! It can add lots of gear, sharpen graphics, add companions, etc. I recommend these sites: Skyrim Nexus, Morrowind & Oblivion Nexus, & Dragon Age Nexus.

Don'ts

• Don't be a jack-of-all-trades

I feel like this is a no brainer, but then I see people playing characters like this: "A warrior who uses warhammers and bows, who is kind of sneaky, but can also cast fire spells" (read this in your best SoCal surfer/Bro voice). If you try to be good at everything, you will end up being good at nothing- only mediocre. There are character archetypes for a reason, so stick as closely to one as possible. Now there are cross-classes, so if you want to use those make sure you're not spreading yourself too thin skills-wise.

• Don't forget to keep potions & poisons on hand

They're useful! Use them to as an alternative to healing spells if you must, or if your magic stat (whatever that may be) is depleted. It's a pretty simple concept.

• Don't start killing or stealing from people at low levels!

You will get pwn'd. If you try to be an assassin/thief starting off at level one, the people you're trying to kill will see you and kill you as soon as they get the chance. Hold off on those urges for a while until you level up a bit and can confidently use your skills. The same concept goes for other classes (I have just noticed this more with rogue/thief players)- don't go trying to kill a dragon at level one!

• Don't do every single quest with one character

This is more from a role-playing standpoint. Why on earth would a warrior do Mage Guild quests? Other than the fact that you're just trying to make more money, there doesn't seem to be a point to it. Pick your character archetype and stick with it! If you wanted to do Mage Guild quests, then make a new character that uses magic!

• Don't try and do someone else's job for them

This is also a D&D tip. There are different classes with different specialties/abilities for a reason. If you're a Ranger, you're good at search/spot/survival. If you're a thief, you're good with traps/sneaking/backstabbing. If you're a fighter, you're good at...well, fighting. Don't do someone else's job for them, especially when they're better at it than you are! Half the party doesn't need to search the room for traps, etc. when the right character can do it faster and better (unless they're rolling luck has run out). Stick with what your class is good at, it helps to develop your character anyway.

• Don't take it too seriously!

This is true for any game, but especially games you're playing with other people. Yes it can get stressful at times, and you may fail a lot, or you may not always get what you want but always remember this: IT'S JUST A GAME! You're supposed to have fun! Yes, what just happened might have really sucked, but in the end, it's not that big a deal. Getting too angry only makes you look like a selfish, whiny jerk, and detracts from the fun of the whole party. Learn to go with the flow.

I hope that these were helpful to you. If you have your own tips or opinions on mine, let me know and leave a comment. I'd love to hear your thoughts!