These are a few of my favorite things... (part I)

There are roughly 54 hours until the annual family feast!  Thanksgiving is upon us and then... well, you know what's next!  I'm more than ready to start decorating and getting full blown into the Christmas season, but first let's soak up Thanksgiving for the next 2 days.  The last couple Thanksgivings have been especially poignant for me personally, but we'll get into that a little later.  For now I want to just touch on two of my favorite charities during the Christmas season...


Toys for Tots - Toys for Tots was started in 1947 by reservist Major William L. Hendricks of the United States Marine Corp. Reserves. It's goal was to provide gifts for children who's parents could not afford them for Christmas.  There's a magic about Christmas to a child that is profound and giving children that gift, I feel, goes beyond simply giving them a shiny gift on Christmas, but helps give them moments of joy and hope in their formative years that will hopefully help them get through the tough times their families are going through.   Being a toy collector, this charity has always struck a chord with me because of my hobby... because at the end of the day, toys are meant to be played with by kids first and foremost! 

Child's Play - Child's Play Charity was started in 2003 by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins, creators of the Penny Arcade webcomic.  The charity has rallied the gamer community and gaming induistry to donate games and toys to childrens' hospitals throughout the world to help improve the lives of sick children. Over the last 7 years they've raised millions for sick children.  If you've got 20 minutes, here's two episodes of the reality series that covered Child's Play:  PATV - Child's Play part 1, PATV - Child's Play part 2.  I highly recommend you find the 20 minutes.  :)  I believe the phrase "laughter is the best medicine" really is true.  Laughter and a positive mental attitude have a profound affect on the body's ability to heal and recover.  Giving children who are battling cancer and other serious and not so serious ailments, toys and games to help them take them minds off of their horrible situations goes a long long way to helping them make full recoveries.  When you're done with the videos, head over to the website and check them out.  

This Thanksgiving, and every Thanksgiving, I am thankful for my health and my family's health and for being in a situation where I can help others in some small way.  :)

Skylanders!

So my sister got me this new game called Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure for the Nintendo Wii for my birthday.  It's a extremely interesting concept, and it's angling to be the next Guitar Hero "big thing!"  The game's concept is simple but ingenious and the game is actually very fun to play! Activision just might have that next big thing on their hands.  The starter set comes with 3 figures, Spyro, Trigger Happy and Gill Grunt, and the "Portal of Power" which is connected via USB to your game system.  You then place the actual figures on the portal and it "transports" the character into the game.  The characters stats, powers, nickname and accessories are all stored in a chip on the figure so you can take your figures to your friends house and have all your information available.   The game plays like the 1985 arcade classic, Gauntlet where you explore, find food and powerups in dungeons and battle hordes of monsters.

Warrior needs food badly!

The guys who wrote Toy Story penned the story for Skylanders and it's very enjoyable with some very funny lines and moments.  I guiltily admit I laughed when a pirate challenged me to a game of cards and said "no one can beat my poop deck!" :P The music is very well done as well as it was composed and orchestrated by Hans Zimmer, of whom I am a big fan.  The Last Samurai, Crimson Tide, Gladiator, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc all have fantastic soundtracks. The game is clearly aimed at the kids ages 7-10 demographic, but it doesn't pander to them or talk down to them as if they're stupid and it's so accessible that adults and more importantly, parents, can enjoy the game too.  Unfortunately my little ones are still too young for video games, but I look forward to playing it with them when they're old enough.  I even put aside a couple figures for them when they're old enough.  Sure I could just break out the figures I have for the game, but there's something special and magical about opening up a brand new toy and it being all yours.  So while the game will be 7 years old by then, they'll at least have a figure or two still brand new to have that experience with.

The only real draw back is that the figures cost $7 a pop and much like Pokemon, there's going to be a "gotta catch em all" mentality.  The game is actually set up so that while you could beat the game with just the 3 starter figures, which represent 3 of the 8 elements in the game, you can access new levels and content in the game by getting figures from the other elements. You don't actually NEED all 32 characters, but having one of each of the 8 elements does open the game up to it's maximum potential.  Of course, you can also achieve this by playing it with your friends, provided they have different figures than you.  Activision went so far as to not include online play for this specific reason, so you need to pack up your toys and head over to your friends house to play, kinda like how we did it as kids. :) Also, for the first time ever, the game is cross platform compatible.  Meaning, your figures will work at your friends house whether he has a Xbox 360, PS3 or Wii.  That in and of itself is revolutionary!

My favorite characters by far are Drobot, a flying cyborg dinosaur, Prism Break, a rock monster with crystals for arms and Boomer, a crazed dynamite throwing troll who decided to switch sides and fight for the good guys. Much of the fun of the game is personalizing the character so they're distinctly yours so my 3 are named....

 "Gorignak"                        "Dinosaucer"                        "Evil"         

According to my system, I've already racked up 23 hours of game time, no small feat when you've got two one year olds that demand your play time when you get home from work, and most of that time playing it multiplayer either with my brother-in-law, my brother or my best friend.  I'm still trying to get my wife to play! :P  Needless to say, I'm pretty hooked and so are most of my friends and well, most of the country.  Skylander displays at Wal-Marts, TRU's and Gamestops are usually pillaged with pegs left barren and tumbleweed rolling by so it looks like it's well on it's way to becoming this years Furby, Tickle Me Elmo and Tamagachi (wow, that brings back retail memories).  The big difference, in my opinion, is that this concept has the potential to have staying power like Pokemon.  The concept can be applied to other properties like, case in point, Pokemon so I really don't see this game, or this concept fading away after the Christmas season.  So if you decide to pick up the game, there's an active Portal of Power on my end table, so come on over! :)

Thank you for my Freedom!

My sincerest thank you to every man and woman who has served in the military for this country, past and present.  Your service and sacrifice can never be repaid, we can only hope that we make the most of the freedoms we enjoy because of you.   So when you see a vet, thank them.  Thank them today on Veterans day, but also thank them every day.  Stop them on the street and just say thank you.  They deserve it.

What is drain for two?

So what does "Drain for Two" mean?  Well, for that we have to first define it's origin.  The term comes from Star Wars: Customizable Card Game, a game I started playing back in high school.  SWCCG for short, is a strategy card game that uses the Star Wars license, which I am, in no small part, a fan of having grown up in the 80s.  The game requires forward thinking, strong decision making skills, resource management and the ability to adapt well to situations on the fly.  It also encourages counting cards, which proves to be an invaluable skill for the game and for your brain if you can get it down.  It's a really great game created during the 90's when games were increasingly complex and strategic before the 2000's hit and things swung the other way to the simplistic random chance games.   Anywho, when trying to come up with a name for the blog, I had just gotten back into playing the game with my friends so it was suddenly very relevant to me.  During the game, you use one of the game mechanics called force draining to deplete your opponent of his "force" and as with anything in this world that sees enough distribution and circulation, it develops it's own phrases, acronyms, caveats, etc.  This game was no different and "drain for two" was force draining for two force.  Simple.

I liked having this name for the blog because firstly, it tied me into something that has been a very important part of my life for the last 16 years. Not just because of the game itself, which is still incredibly fun and challenging and I'm really happy to be playing it again, but because that game introduced me to my best friend who has become like my 3rd brother, a friendship that has helped define me as a person.  It introduced me to my core group of closest friends, who I've shared almost as many laughs and memories with as I have with my family. It allowed us all to go on several amazing road trips across the country together.  It introduced me to an incredible group of people and places along the way and make for a plethora of fond and not so fond memories (a bowl of sugar in your hair at 3am while you're asleep on an Atlanta diner table not being one of them...).  It prompted me to learn about web development for this hobby which in turn helped me land my first real job.  It challenged me to be a better writer and sparked my love of graphic design.  It gateway'ed me into this wonderful hobby of gaming and helped expand my critical and creative thinking.  It connected me with one of the most influential things in my formative years besides my parents, siblings and God... Star Wars and allowed me to meet and chat with many of it's actors and actresses.  Most of which were extremely wonderful, down to earth people who you could just sit and chat with all day if allowed.  Especially Mr. Jeremy Bulloch, the man behind the mask of my favorite character growing up, Boba Fett... and boy is that is a story for another time!  Most importantly, it's how I met my lovely wife and mother of my children (which is a pretty good story in it's own right, but that's for another post...), which segues into the second reason I liked the name...  So this card game that I discovered in 1995 during an after school trip with some buddies down to the local comic book store, Jim Hanley's Universe on New Dorp Lane, pulling a Han Solo rare in my very first pack, was the catalyst for a seemingly endless list of life experiences and friendships that I wouldn't trade for the world.

The second reason I liked the name is because I am the proud father of the most amazing pair of twins this side of Mos Eisley. They are my little miracles and are my pride and joy.  They are draining and taxing and wear you down... especially when your night owl daughter never wants to go to sleep because she's too busy saying "HI!" and waving at you at 11:20pm and the only way to get her to go to sleep and stay asleep is to rock her and have her spread out on the bed pushing mommy and daddy to the edges... a habit, I really need to nip in the bud soon. Or your son who is finally sleeping hears you come home and is now transformed into a giggling bouncing bundle of sugar high that wants to throw his baseball to you and use you as his personal jungle gym. Yet, they have the uncanny ability to restore all that drained energy with a one excited look at seeing you walk through the front door, faces beaming with smiles and joy at seeing their daddy.  It's one of the absolute greatest emotional surges I've ever felt in my 33 years on this spinning rock, and it never grows old.  I've always wanted to be a dad since I was young, but nothing in the world prepares you, or shows you just how amazing (and tiring) the experience really is.  They are my little drain for two, but I wouldn't trade them for the world either!

So that's what a drain for two is, so until next time...  The force is with you. ;)

My SWCCG / Star Wars Autograph collection