Let me tell y'all about Naeemah.

I came across this artist on MySpace, just cruisin around looking for anything on MySpace to do with Phoenixville. Naeemah played on of the Phoenixville summer street fairs. Came across her profile completely by accident.

Being a musician myself, I am always on the lookout for fresh talent to check out. Let me tell you, I was not disappointed. I checked out Naeemah's site, NaeemahRocks.com and downloaded some sample tracks. Nice.

Naeemah's got an alternative rock sound with an edge. Very reminiscent of Tracy Bonham. I actually went on to iTunes and BOUGHT her album. Yes, I BOUGHT it. Now this is me. The guy who has zero compunction about ripping, downloading, burning and sharing music. Screw Lars Ulrich. There is the rare occasion that I will actually pay for an album. Either when I want to show support for a local artist, or I really think that the artist is far beyond talented. The last album I actually bought was The Roots, The Tipping Point. Starting to get the picture? In this situation, both cases were true. I see tons of potential in this artist.

Naeemah, if you should so happen to read this, I would love to meet you and jam with you.

Oh, yeah. And did I mention she is BEEEEEA-U-TI-FULL!!!
Naeemah on WALDOLand Music.

Labels: Music

OK, I had been ever hesitant to write about this subject, but this is enough!

So, as some of you know, I had been seeing this stripper. You will recall reading about it in my December 2006 blog entry titled, "Out with Jade".

God she was amazing. But she drove me frikkin nuts. I knew the risks getting involved with a stripper from the start. I chose to do it anyway as an altruistic gesture. I wanted to help put her life back together. There were many things that (I won't go into detail here, because that's her personal business) she needed help with. She sincerely wanted to get out of the life and become a productive member of society.

The first month together was beautiful. God it was a love fest. We would spend hours just talking. There was this diner that we used to go to every night. We would stay there till 6 in the morning some nights. We would watch movies together and go shopping and act a fool in the Giant together. I was intoxicated by this girl. Everyone said we were such a cute couple.

I had always remained somewhat skeptical about us, though. I mean, what the hell is this fine-ass girl doing with the likes of me? I was always cautious of if she was playing me for my money. So of course, yes, I was giving her money. But money always for a purpose, not to spend frivolously. I helped her get her car fixed. I helped her get an apartment that she could afford. I helped her find a 9-5 gig. I helped her with her child. I "helped" her so much, that I damn near went broke myself. It takes a lot to start a life from scratch. I never ever got the sense that she was actively playing me for my money. I mean, let's be real. There's easier and quicker ways for a stripper to get all my money, you know? I gave a lot of myself so that this girl could have her second chance at a life that everyone dreams about.

OK, so now we're into the second month (February), and I'm effectively living with this girl. This month was a complete mirror image of the first. There was so much that I did for her that went unappreciated. I'll just leave it at that. There were too many things to enumerate. The arguments that made no sense. The needless fights. I had reached my breaking point. I grabbed only the shit that was important to me from her apartment (my laptop, my cell phone, a couple of DVD's) and I was out. I had enough. I didn't even care about the stuff that I left behind. Furniture, TV, Playstation(s). I was that fed up. I couldn't take the emotional roller coaster anymore.

This relationship was bad for me. I was helping her, but way at the expense of myself. There was a saying that I always used to say to her, "If it ain't good for you, and it ain't good to you, there's no reason you should be doing it." I had always used the fact that I was helping her put together a life to keep that from applying to me. I had really lowered my threshold, but there was only so much I could take.

I left that night, and I was alright if I would never see her again. We had a big fight, she threw things, but ultimately, I was gone. Just to mark the date, this was March 3rd. Remember this date.

After a couple of days, she had gotten a hold of a cell phone and started calling me incessantly. I would ignore all calls coming in. She would call me every day about 4 times a day. She would leave me different voicemail messages. Some were "Please come back.", some were "I miss you", some were "I love you", and some were "This is childish how you're not speaking to me". She would even get her friends to call me and leave voicemails. I deleted them. Why? Because in absolutely none of those messages were the words, "I'm sorry."

Let me explain some of this, because it makes me sound like a dick for not speaking to her. This girl never took responsibility for her own actions. It was never her own fault. It was always someone else's. This girl had never developed an emotional maturity past age 16. Everything I tried to do for her, she reacted like a 16-year old. She rebelled against everything that would have made sense to an adult. In this role, I became Daddy, the father that she never had. First, I'm not anybody's daddy. Second I'm certainly not a grown woman's daddy. The only thing that she understands is to be treated like a 16-year old, so that's what I did. I never picked up the phone when she called. Not once.

I figured she'd get the hint that I was through after a while. I wanted nothing further to do with her. I genuinely didn't care that she didn't have money, or that her rent was due. Yes, I felt guilty, but I could not sacrifice any more of myself. She had blown a good thing.

So this calling every day thing went on for about another month. That takes us through the end of March. There were times when I wouldn't receive a call for a couple of days and I though she got the hint. No such luck.

So now it's April and the call frequency had gotten smaller, but nevertheless, SHE'S STILL CALLING! Now she only calls on the weekends. Oy vey! I can't take any more of this. I changed my cell phone number. That should put an end to it.

You would think. Evidently she got a hold of my home phone number, which I didn't even have a land line when I was seeing her. I guess I should have made the number unpublished when I signed up for service with Verizon. Not ten days after I change my cell phone number, I get a voicemail on my home phone. Guess who.

So now we're up to May. She's taken only to calling around the 1st of the month. Gee, I wonder why. The money well has dried up. Bear in mind, I haven't seen or spoken to her since the night I left...in March! Around June 1st, when she called, I had developed a theory. Let's see if she only calls around the 1st of the month. Sure enough...

I get a call this morning at 6AM! I recognize the number on the caller ID. It's her! I hear the voicemail. "Oh, hey. It's me. Just wanted to see if you were up. Call me. Bye"

Un-fucking-believable!

All casual and shit. Just like, "Hey". Do you believe this bullshit!?!?

That was the last straw. I don't need this bullshit. Especially with my father in the hospital and shit. I'm changing my home phone number, and having it unlisted just as soon as I pay my bill. I can't believe how long this has gone on. It's damn near JULY! Why doesn't this girl get the message? It's like every time I start thinking about moving on with my life and going out again, dammit, she shows back up. I can't have her looming over my head anymore. I have to excise her entirely from my life.

Some would say, you play with fire, you're going to get burned. I had always kept the hope that I could change her because she wanted to be changed. I see now that there's just no hope for her. I wish there was something more I could do for her, but there's little I can do other than making sure she sees a mental health professional.

I would like to personally thank bloggers Mike I. and Derrick W. for their advice and their experiences in this type of situation. They, among others, warned me. Even though I knew what I was getting into, avoiding getting played, I got played in other ways.

My mother has a saying, "Sometimes, the juice ain't worth the squeeze."
My father has a saying, "Sometimes, the fucking you're getting, ain't worth the fucking you're getting."

Labels: Dating, Hot Bitches, Rants, Strip clubs

So I picked up Guitar Hero II for the XBox 360 on Saturday. Damn, that's fun! Hours upon hours of gameplay in HD. :)

I played for about 6 hours on Saturday and another 4 on Sunday. I've already completed the game on Easy and nearing completion on Medium difficulty. I've been shredding my face off.

I know I look like a 'tard with that little itty bitty guitar, but the game is way too fun for me to care. I'm jumping around and doing all kind of tricks and stuff :D (tee hee!) Occasionally I catch myself messing up on songs I know by heart, because I know what the guitaist is doing in the actual song is contradictory or not applicable to playing the game. Dude, the guitar is not real! D'uh :)

I just wish there were more songs though, dude. Or some way to get some more other than through XBox Live. Like I know if they released some sort of API through Microsoft XNA for creating songs, I'd be all on top of that! Come on, how hard could it be? You get an audio file and, I don't know, some XML file that indicates tempo changes and note indications, upload it to some server, and there you go! Your own custom Guitar Hero II tracks. Rock your face off!

I would make songs like:

• Alice Cooper - I Wanna Rock!
• AC/DC - Back In Black
• Metallica - Enter Sandman
• Billy Idol - White Wedding
• Cheap Trick - I Want You To Want Me
• Black Crowes Hard To Handle
• Blink 182 - The Rock Show
• Fuel - Jesus Or A Gun
• Generation X - Ready, Steady, Go!
• Guns N' Roses - Welcome to the Jungle
• Kiss - Detroit Rock City
• Lit - Ziplock
• Lit - My Own Worst Enemy
• Living Colour - Cult of Personality
• Mighty Mighty Bosstones - You Gotta Go!
• Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Allow Them
• Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out
• The Mooney Suzuki - Alive & Amplified
• Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Train
• P.O.D. - Boom
• Presidents of the United States of America - Cleveland Rocks!
• Rage Against the Machine - Testify
• Rage Against the Machine - Sleep Now In The Fire
• Ram Jam - Black Betty
• Soundgarden - Superunknown
• Van Halen - Right Now
• Stone Temple Pilots - Vasoline
• Sugar Ray - Mean Machine
• Velvet Revlover - Slither
• ZZ Top - Sharp Dressed Man

Of course, I'm sure they had to contend with licensing and royalties, etc. But if it's for your own personal amusement, who cares?

Oh well. Maybe in Guitar Hero III. But for now, Bang Your Head! Hey, post a comment and let me konw what songs YOU would want to have in Guitar Hero.

Labels: Games, Music, Programming

Non-Techies need not read further

Hmmm...

I've been building a VB.Net library for reading ID3 tags out of MP3 files. I'm wondering if I find a version 2 tag, should I completely discount the information found in the version 1 tag?

Should I treat it as "Highest Version Wins", or should I do a type of merge, where if artist is not found in version 2, use the one found in version 1?

Please comment if you have some input.
Thanks :)

Labels: Music, Programming, Technology, Web Development

You know, I found this game in a pawn shop in Norristown a few years ago and never actually played it. Hey it was like $2.

I recently dusted off the old GameCube and hooked it up to the HD so I decided to give it a whirl. Here's my review.

I have been playing Star Wars: Rogue Squadron since its inception on the Nintendo N64. Rogue Squadron II was the sole motivating factor for me purchasing a GameCube. I saw the graphics on that thing and nearly grizzed my pants. I used to play that game religiously. I would leave it on during the day while I was at work so I could come home and jump right back into gameplay. So you can imagine the expectations I had for Rogue Squdron III: Rebel Strike.

All I have to say is...

...ehh

That's right, a resounding indifference. Where to begin? OK, let's start with gameplay.

The flight controls are relatively similar to the previous version. Not much is different. They've made spaceflight a touch smoother, but not so the average gamer would notice. For example, the A-Wings, although there are very few missions featuring them are much easier to control at both low and high speeds. Switching to and from bombing mode in the Y-Wings is not quite so jarring as the last version. Finally, the 3rd-person POV camera no longer zooms so far out when you're being chased that you lose sight of the craft you're controlling, allowing you to focus on actually avoiding being hit instead of on repositioning the camera.

The HUD (heads-up display) has some improvements and some drawbacks as well. One improvement is adding pitch indicators on the radar. The previous game's 3-D model left something to be desired in terms of which way to go when interpreting the radar during gameplay. Having a 2-D radar in a 3-D game presented kind of a problem when the only other visual indicators you have for acquiring a target were usually the black backdrop of space and a starfix. "Which way is up?", literally. I can't imagine how actual astronauts orient themselves. A drawback in the new HUD is adding the acquisition marker into the field of vision. When new objectives are discovered, the marker appears in the center of the screen, not long enough to interpret which way the game intends for you to go. After a few seconds it moves to its usual place on the radar screen. Simply put, it's just frigging distracting. Sometimes during gameplay the targeting reticule actually gets in the way of seeing what's right in front of you.

The addition of speeder bikes into the game is a great improvement. In the last game, I loved those missions that required you to Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive, & Dodge. Now try that at full throttle through the forest of Endor with Scout Troopers all over your ass. Beautiful! They also added using captured Imperial AT-ST's and AT-AT's for some extra firepower and kick-assitude.

What was entirely a pilot game, now includes several 3rd-person shooter segments. 3PS missions include landing your craft and fighting on foot, rescue missions, and infiltration. In my opinion LucasArts could have left this out of the game entirely. The graphics blow and the combat is cheesy. The camera somtimes shifts to an angle which makes it impossible to see which way you are going or which way you are supposed to go. If I'm supposed to move forward, why is the camera directly above my head, looking down so that I can't see what's in front of me? And trust me, the radar doesn't help. If the camera is overhead and my character is facing southwest, and my objective is to the east, which way to I move the stick? Sometimes you have to jump on what's called an E-Web gun (which by the way is a stupid name for a gun). You have to constantly fight with this gun to aim it. Like it's spring-loaded and constantly trying to center itself. Gawd. My advice is just get through these missions as fast as possible. There aren't many and they're relatively easy, thankfully.

The storyline of the game is convoluded and unclear. In the previous game, you played missions chronlogically between Episodes IV and VI. When you finished one mission, you progressed to the next mission in the sequence. In this one, there is a selection of the next mission, ultimately choosing the character's storyline. If you don't know this, it is not obvious until you have completed the game in one possible storyline and you're left wondering why there aren't more levels. There are, you just missed them.

Overall, the game is too easy. I shouldn't have been able to beat the game in under a day of gameplay, even if I didn't know what I was doing from the last game. I would have wished for more missions for more gameplay.

This game rates a C--, 2 stars out of 5. Positives are additional levels, improved flight controls, new story, and new vehicles. Negatives are the 3rd-person shooter, limited gamplay time, and decreased 3-D logic. If you're a fanboy, go buy this game, but don't pay retail. (That is, if you're even still playing the GameCube) I'm sure you could find this game in a pawn shop or yrad sale or used bin somewhere.

Here is another review of this game.

Labels: Games, Rants, Star Wars

After spending the last month or two upgrading the infrastructure/architecture of my sites which include waldoland.com and robertmayo.com, I've finally reached the point where I can officially say I'm at a stable release point. .Net 2.0: code complete! Woo Hoo!

As some of you may know, I've been working feverishly on new content and features for my site. I had spent so much time coding, that I forgot to have fun on the site. Of course for me, coding is fun so, there you have it. Here's a sneak peek at some of the new features forthcoming.

• Hottie of the week

  Every week I'm going to post about who is the hottest little number in music, movies, & television. You can check out a brief bio, vote and rate the hottie.

• Drunk movie of the week

  Everyone needs to know what the best movie to watch on a Friday night when you're drunk is.

• MP3 Library

  I'm going to list EVERY track in my vast MP3 collection. Guests will be able to browse and search the tracks in my collection. Registered users will be able to build personal playlists of tracks which I might compile for them.

• Surveys

  I frequently see surveys out there, for example on MySpace, which are just fun to read. I've decided I'm going to take some of them and share with the world. A preview of one of my favorite surveys is here.

• Polls

  I'm going to put up opinion polls, shooting for about one a week. Topics would range from personal experiences to the latest trends in media, fashion, & entertainment.

• Reviews

  I'm going to give my reviews of the latest movies, music, & video games I've acquired. People need to know if things are a good buy or not.

Labels: Hot Bitches, Movies, Music, Web Development

Built more shit for my mother again this weekend. This time, some wooden bookshelves that weighed 210 lbs. each. I only got around to two of them. They were heavy fuckers. It was 10 at night before I realized I was only done 2 of the 3. It was too late to be building and hammering and shit.

Btw, evidently there is cause for driving a screw with a hammer. Sorry Latotya ;)
I got tired of putting the backing on those bookshelves with a screwdriver. It would have taken twice as long to screw all 50 of those screws in than it did actually assembling the shelves. So I said vaughiddt and started pounding away.

Labels: Household