Yeah, I decided to have a New Year's Eve party, at my house no less. I invited a large number of people, but I expect most of them already have plans, so not too many people should be showing up. No, it's a good thing. My house isn't very big, and it's not really designed to host other people. However, I had no plans, and I figured some other people didn't have plans, so it's a party for people who slacked and didn't make plans ahead of time. Hence the last-minute nature of it.

So, if you know me, and you're in the area, and you have no plans for New Year's Eve, send me an email and I'll send you an invitation. This goes especially for anyone who's changed their email address in the past year, like a couple girls I know whose email addresses bounced when I sent the invite out. *glares*   But, anyway, it's a pretty open party. Like I said, not too many people, so don't worry about not fitting in.

I'll let you know how the party went later, k?

Why do you have to give your name at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting?

Update: Well, no one told me yet, but I thought, "Maybe they're giving fake names." That makes sense.

So I've been playing this F.E.A.R. game for the past few days. I've heard it's quite scary. I'll let you know when I get to a scary part. So far it's just been "Go into slow-motion, shoot those guys in the head." and a lot of walking around. Now, the slow-motion shooting guys in the head is pretty cool, and I could stand for more of that. Oh, it doesn't sound like much, but when you do it, it's actually quite cool. The walking around isn't so great, though, and there's quite a bit of that.

Also, every now and then (more towards the beginning), you'll get a picture of a zombie flashing up onto your screen for a second. You're just walking along and then, BAM!, there's a zombie picture, and then almost as quickly as it came, it's gone. Fortunately, they really tone that down after a short while, because it's kinda annoying. I think it's supposed to be scary, but when you see it, all you're thinking is "Let's get to the slow-motion shooting guys in the head! I don't care about stupid zombies!" Also, occasionally you'll see a guy walking past, who then disintegrates. What's annoying about this is that it doesn't look like a ghost or zombie, so you think it's someone you've gotta shoot, and you often waste bullets on him. The little girl is better, because when you see her, you know there's no point in shooting at her, because it's a little girl. She usually runs around, but sometimes she just stands there. Either way, you never mistake her for one of the guys you have to shoot at.

But, as I said, I haven't gotten to the scary parts, yet. The cyber ninja guys freaked me out, though. They're not so much scary, they're just, well, "Oh, a small room with nothing in... Whoa! A guy just appeared and he's jumping at me! And he's kicking my head in! Ah! He's gone invivisble again! Ah! He's kicking my head in again." They move really fast. The first time one decloaked while jumping off the wall, I jumped. I certainly wasn't expecting that. That's the closest the game's gotten to scary so far, though. The dream sequences are kinda annoying, because you never know if you're supposed to shoot things or not, and you really expend ammo when you shoot at things in your dreams. Makes you wonder about the mental stability of this character you're piloting. I don't think I'd trust him with a gun.

There is one gem about the game that you don't even need the game for. Rooster Teeth (of Red vs Blue fame) made a 4-part series of shorts that can be watched on F.E.A.R.'s website. Just go to Enter The Website, then to the gallery link, the videos link, and click on the numbers under P.A.N.I.C.S. (People Acting Normal In Crazy-ass Situations). Even if you never plan on playing the game, they're worth checking out.

Update: Here's a better link to the P.A.N.I.C.S. videos. It's Rooster Teeth's site for them. Their episode 1 link actually works. Won't get you the outtakes unless you're a sponsor, though, but the F.E.A.R. site has it (they just labeled it as if it's episode 5).