Pretty much, a leaked video of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 shows a mission where you play as a terrorist and you shoot up a shopping mall. Activision has mentioned that it’s a part of the storyline and that there are forewarnings to this mission, stating that the following scenes might be uneasy to some and that you have the option to skip it. This is the first time I’ve ever seen violence like this in a video game. It’s different compared to shooting strippers and fatalities.

On one hand, I understand the ideal of artistic expression. When it comes to basic storylines, if you want your audience to boo a certain person, you need to have them do bad things to spark that reaction. It’s not easy for a storyteller to have to limit their mindsets when writing. Considering that this game is about “modern warfare” and the story does involve counter-terrorism, what else can you expect? With that said, was this a necessary move for this company?

For me, I’ll say yes. While I do feel a terrorist attack is a little much, I think that if you’re going to be fighting terrorists in a game, you’re going to need to have the main antagonist actually go and pull off a terrorist attack if he wants to get any heat. You can’t write a story about terrorists and not have something like this happen. Is it controversial? Yes, but with a premise like this, I think it was necessary to write something like this into the game.

On the other hand, I do understand that controversy creates cash. Games like Grand Theft Auto and Mortal Kombat wouldn’t be household names if there weren’t people flipping out over what their kids were playing. Controversy creates a high level of attention and can spark interest in gamers, and non-gamers alike. That’s good for business. Though, the easy argument for is, was it necessary for this company? If their intention for this was getting attention, was it necessary?

For me, I say no. The first Modern Warfare game was a pretty excellent game, and I’m definitely not alone when I say this. This game has been out for a few years now, and there are still people playing it. It remains as one of the top games played on Xbox Live. They don’t need something brash like that to get the spotlight, they already have it beaming on them. I could “justify” this if they were a new company and wanted to get their name out there, but it’s not the case here.

Personally, my take on it is that I couldn’t care less. I really couldn’t. I do feel that it wasn’t a necessary move if their aim was to gain notoriety. I also think that artistic expression should never be censored, unless it’s meant to be overly obscene, which in this example isn’t the point. I can imagine a bunch of angry parents using this game as something to blame for their kids actions in the future, but that’s it. Then again, if parents can’t teach their kids right from wrong and have no idea what their kids are playing in the first place, I’m pretty sure a video game isn’t the source of their strife.

Finally, all I ask is that the core gameplay remains and it still stays as a solid game. Considering it’s from Activision and Infinity Ward, I’m pretty sure it’ll be fine.

Even though I’m mercilessly ridiculed for it by my peers, I’m a huge fan of Glee. I don’t exactly know why I like it, since I usually look down on musicals(except the brilliant ones) and I dread the typical TV shows regarding High School students. But it’s so good. Maybe it’s the fact that they cover music that I like and do a pretty damn good job at it. Maybe it’s the fact that I love Mercedes and Kurt’s characters. Maybe I’m smitten with Santana Lopez/Naya Rivera and simply can’t admit it to others. Whatever it is, it’s growing quite a big fan base. And when fan bases get bigger, as does the urge to sell out. Case point, I’m reviewing Glee Gum today.

Glee Gum sells for a dollar and comes in six flavors, peppermint, bubblegum, tangerine, triple berry, spearmint and cinnamon. It’s also made with natural ingredients in cane sugar, rice syrup and a bunch of healthy things that I don’t know anything about. In other words, it’s organic, there’s nothing artificial and has no preservatives. I was surprised, I thought they’d take generic bubblegum, slap a different label on it and sell it at a higher price. Usually when candy or food has some TV show slapped on it, it usually ends up tasting really bad. Don’t believe me? Eat a bowl of Hannah Montana cereal, it’s terrible.(Yes, I’ve had a bowl once)

It’s strange that this gum promotes itself as an all-natural product. I honestly didn’t notice anything different from this gum and a usual pack of chiclets. You get eighteen pieces per box, and the only reason for that is because the pieces are so darn small. I’m not really sure why the pieces are like that, even the suggested serving size is two pieces. Aside from that, flavor lasts about as long as an average piece of gum, stays soft enough for extended chewing and the flavor is decent. Long story short, it’s about as average as gum’ll get. There’s really nothing about this gum that stands out and would make you want to toss your pack of Orbit/Stride/Trident for.

Pretty much, for a dollar, it’s about what you’d expect. If you want something to freshen your breath or something to chew on, I’d go for a pack of Orbit. But if you want to spark a conversation with others about your favorite musical comedy, you’re better off with this. Otherwise, I can’t imagine why you’d choose this over something else.

Score: 6/10
Price: $0.99 for eighteen pieces
Pros: All natural gum, starting conversations with friends.
Cons: You can get much better gum for the money you’re paying.

So I had an 11:45 appointment at UCR today. I arrive on UCR’s campus at 11:10. I buy a parking permit and I fiddle around in Lot 30 trying to find a parking spot. Naturally at that hour, parking is terrible. 11:45, I give up and I end up parking by the Science Library. After all of my business was finished on campus, I rush back to my car, positive that there’s a ticket waiting for me. To no surprise, there was one and I get irritated. It’s not like I didn’t know I couldn’t park there, I just didn’t have much of a choice. And I think a lot of other students felt the same way, since I wasn’t the only one driving around Lot 30 looking for a parking spot.

Parking has always been a problem at UCR for as long as I can recall, but what the hell is UCR doing with their budget? Was that new commons really necessary when there are other lecture halls literally falling apart? Why does this campus continue to build more buildings and not address that problem with parking? Why are buildings being taken down when there’s still a lot of campus-owned land that could be used? Why would you announce that there are more and more students coming into this campus in student newsletters and not find a way to accomdate them for parking? That is absolutely unacceptable for any student. We shouldn’t have to compromise so much for something as simple as parking.

UCR already has a bad academic reputation for being on the bottom rung compared to other UC Schools. It’s definitely not seen in the same regard as UCLA and Berkeley. Anyone that tells you otherwise is brainwashed. That’s nothing that you shouldn’t already know. But when you have students and faculty walking out and having protests on campus regarding increased tuition, lack of financial aid, and faculty getting their pay cut, I think it’s safe to say that they’re not happy on a bunch of other fronts. Hey UCR, if you want to make your school look better off, I’d probably look into trying to appease your students and your faculty. Without them, your school can’t flourish and continue.

I love Street Fighter IV. It’s a great example of what a fighting game should be, attractive, a good AI, a semi-balanced roster, and most especially the fact that it’s easy to pick up and next to impossible to fully master. There’s a reason why Street Fighter still remains as one of the more iconic names in Video Games. If you haven’t heard yet, their newest reiteration, Super Street Fighter IV is planned for a Spring 2010 release. New characters, some character balancing tweaks and online mode is going to be altered a bit. Yay?

Part of me is stoked. I’d like to see some heavy balancing on the game roster. Online mode is usually plagued with people who choose high-tiered Shotos(Ryu, Ken, Akuma, Gouken, Sagat, etc.) and I’d love to use Rose(my favorite character) and actually have a chance. Also, I’d love to see an online mode where I could host a party. I play this game quite a bit with my friends, and we have quite a few epic fights. It’d be nice if others could get in on the fun. Though, I don’t see what’s so difficult about having a party system. HD Remix and Marvel vs. Capcom 2 use the same party system, and I hardly had any problems.

Part of me is pretty irritated too. They’ve decided to not make this a DLC expansion and instead, make it a standalone title. While they HAVE announced that the game will be released at a cheaper price, that just doesn’t seem acceptable to me. Unless they decide to do what Sega did a few years ago and release Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution at $20, I can’t help but prepare to cringe when I see the more than likely price tag of $30-40 dollars when I pick it up in a few months. I can’t say too much though, because I’m not sure of the actual pricing of this game. But if it goes $20 and lower, I’m for it. $20+, I’m ranting.

Console video games have grown to the point where downloadable content and game updates are pretty common. If we’re getting an update for the game, there’s no reason why this shouldn’t be DLC. According to producer Yoshinori Ono, many changes make it “too extensive to release as DLC”. Too extensive? Have you seen the DLC for GTA4? It’s a massive file that gives you a new storyline, new gameplay features, and new music and it was released as DLC. How is that any different than what Super Street Fighter IV is offering?

While I am glad that there’s going to be some new edits to Street Fighter IV, I’m also saddened at what feels like them selling out. Had this been a few years ago, I would have been fine with it. But times are different now. Get to steppin’ Capcom.

And please don’t release a Super Street Fighter IV Turbo game in 2011. I’d like to think you guys learned from Street Fighter II.

**EDIT** - It’s going to end up being forty dollars and it’s coming out in March 23, 2010. Fuck me.

I’ve always liked drinking juice. From a glass in the morning with breakfast, to mixing it with Vodka at a party, you really can’t go wrong with Juice. Today, I’m reviewing Strawberry Lemonade from Perricone Farms. Like I’ve said before, I’m always up for supporting the locals and it isn’t any different here. Perricone Farms resides in Beaumont, California, which is a skip and a jump away from Riverside(where I currently live) so it’s about as local as it can get.

I was a little wary of this juice prior to drinking it. For eleven dollars, you’re getting twelve 8 oz. pouches of juice. That equates to about ninety-two cents per pouch. That can be a little much considering that’s around a third of a typical carafe of juice. That can also mean that it’s eleven dollars for three quarts. Then again, these drinks are advertised as fresh and don’t have any additives or preservatives, so that type of price should be expected.

I’m glad to say that Perricone Farms hits one out of the park with this. This is seriously some kick ass juice. The flavor of the strawberries tastes really fresh and mixes great with the lemonade. Even with the sweet flavor from the strawberries, you can still easily taste the fresh lemons at the same time. Neither of the flavors are losing out to the other, which I love. It’s fresh and it tastes great. What more could you need? Awesome.

The only thing that I had a problem with was the packaging. I was stuck between either twelve packs of one flavor or four packs of three flavors(Strawberry Lemonade, Apple and Tangerine). They also had Orange juice, and I was kinda sour(ugh, terrible pun) that the variety pack didn’t include it. I would have rather they packaged it in three packs of four flavors. Also, I would have preferred a larger container, but they didn’t have that either.

Quick Note: after checking their website, they will be delivering gallon jugs sometime down the line. Yay.

All in all, this is some great, fresh tasting stuff. Most of the juices that I like are usually are made with Florida grown fruit, so it’s pretty cool that a local company in California is able to make something as great tasting as this. You can complain about the price, but it’s clearly not meant to compete with the usual stuff you’d find in a supermarket. Take a taste and you’ll see why. Definitely reccomend it.

www.perriconejuices.com

Score: 9.15/10 (It would have been a 9.75 if it was a little bit cheaper)
Price: $10.99 for twelve pouches.
Pros: Awesome fresh taste, Flavors didn’t lose out to eachother, It’s local!
Cons: There’s no getting around that high price, Variety pack lacked variety.

I’m all for local places to eat. Franchises are becoming more and more ubiquitous within my area that it’s becoming something of a rarity to find anywhere local to eat. Mom and Pop places are becoming that much harder to find nowadays and honestly that’s a bit sad. There’s something about Mom and Pop places that just make you wanna go back or make it a regular place to eat. Whether it be the friendly environment, the higher quality food, or just the satisfaction of helping your common man out.

Today, I’m reviewing an Italian sub from On The Corner. On The Corner is a small little place by Van Buren and King. It’s a nice, quaint little place with a really friendly staff. For around 7.50(I don’t remember the exact price, forgot to ask for a receipt), you get a well sized sandwich with your traditional Italian meats(Salami, Capicolla, etc.) and your choice of a side. I was initially going to go with Macaroni salad, but I chose Watermelon simply because I’ve never heard of a sandwich place, or any place that offers watermelon as a side dish. Pretty cool, I can dig that.

As for the taste, it was really delicious. There’s nothing overly fancy about the sandwich, it’s pretty much good meat, fresh veggies and good cheese on a fresh piece of bread. It’s what a good sandwich should be, nothing more, nothing less. You also get a pretty good portion of meat, especially when you compare it to places like Subway or Quizno’s where it’s next to impossible to even taste the meats because they put so little in it. I’m usually really critical about meat portions in a sandwich, since almost all the time, it’s what makes a sandwich good or decent. This place had just about enough for me to say it’s good.

In a saturated market where the standard for a large deli-style sandwich is five dollars, On The Corner does stick out a bit with that price tag. Though, don’t let that stray you away from this place. You’re getting a lot more for your buck here. Usually, I like to try to support local businesses just to help the locals out. In this case, I’m just going with it because it’s that much better than the other sandwich places within the area. Awesome grub, I’m definitely coming back soon.

On The Corner: Sandwiches and More
16781 Van Buren Blvd
Riverside, CA 92504-5798
(951) 780-4494

Score: 9/10
Price: $7.50-ish?
Pros: Great portions, fresh taste, lovely staff, watermelon as a side dish!
Cons: Price might be too high for some, others may say that it lacks something to make it unique.

Lately, it seems like a burger has to come with some sort of strange and different ingredient for it to be acceptable to the common mouth. The last few fast food burgers that I’ve had have been drowned in jalapenos, grilled pineapples, mushrooms, bourbon sauce, pastrami and all sorts of other left-field style ingredients. So many of which, that you stop caring about the piece of ground beef in front of you and start caring more about what the mystery ingredient is this time. Hamburger patties are slowly but surely becoming a sideshow to the usual burger. It’s sad and a bit ironic when you think about it.

Enter the Big Carl from Carl’s Jr. Pretty much it’s a sandwich with two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce on a sesame seed bun. Judging by the name and the poorly renditioned jingle, it’s Carl’s Jr’s answer to the Big Mac, and what an answer it is. First off, it’s 45% bigger than a Big Mac(I took that stat from the fellas at eatyournomnoms). That’s pretty great considering how effin’ tiny Big Mac’s have become lately. Also, it costs $2.49, which is about a dollar less than a usual Big Mac, pending where you live. In times like this, getting a big burger for that price is great.

Taking a bite into this burger makes you realize what made Carl’s Jr. so successful, their charbroiled patties. I thought the patties were going to be really small considering the price, but it wasn’t, it’s the patties on their usual burgers. Also, there isn’t any other type of overbearing flavor on this burger to distract you from the meat in this sandwich, and that’s a good thing considering how good it tastes. Prior to buying the sandwich, I feared that the sauce would be too strong and would ruin the burger. But no, the special sauce in the burger complimented the sandwich pretty well, it wasn’t an overbearing flavor like it is on a Big Mac, but more of that faint, sweet taste. Nice.

I think what I love so much about this burger is not what’s in it, but more of what it is. It’s the essence as to what a good burger should be, a large sandwich with lots of meat. Nothing more, nothing less. No gimmicks necessary. Awesome.

If it isn’t obvious, I really, really like this burger. It’s filling, it tastes great, and it’s pretty damn cheap for $2.50 when you’re in a world where a typical big burger costs you upwards of four dollars. The only thing that’s unsettling about this burger is that mine came in a “Promo Wrapper”. That means it might go away soon. And that’ll get me quite irritated. I really hope this stays as a staple on the menu, they’d be fools to take this off. It’s really about as brilliant as a sandwich can get at a fast food joint. Definitely reccomending this to anyone who likes burgers. Stop reading this and eat one, or two.

Score: 9.75/10
Price: $2.49
Pros: It’s a big burger, awesome taste, reasonably priced, pretty filling as well.
Cons: Might be too basic for some, lacks a commercial with a hot girl eating it.

Has anyone seen this yet? It’s the Forest AC system. It’s like an air conditioner, except you can control how humid it is, the aroma, etc. Pretty much you can create whatever type of environment within your car.

Part of me thinks that’s cool and very futuristic. Now you don’t have to rely on a Boyz II Men album to create a certain ambiance in your car.

Part of me thinks that would add that much more weight to your car. Cars are getting heavier and heavier with all of the new safety ish in there.

Part of me thinks wonders how many hundreds, or possibly thousands this will cost as an add on for a car.

Then you wonder why you’d want your car to be humid in the first place, and you wonder why you can’t just get an air freshener.

Brilliant job, Nissan. Usually when I want an utterly pointless accessory on a car, I don’t think of Nissan.

I’m not gonna lie, I love Yoshinoya. I’ve loved them ever since I was a kid. I love how they can take a piece of cheap beef that’s next to impossible to cook with and make something absolutely delicious out of it. I also love how they always give great coupons in the mail. Anyway, they have some new items on their menu and I was a little wary when I saw their new BBQ Plates, since the food seemed a little too complex for something as simple as Yoshinoya’s Beef Bowls.

For $6.25, you get fried rice, chow mein, a slab of Korean short ribs, a slab of barbecue chicken and a side salad. The portions are a little smaller than I would have liked, but since you’re getting so many things to eat, you’ll still be full at the end of your meal. I was pleased to see that the salad came with Italian dressing over Ranch dressing. Ranch is a lovely dressing, but at the same time, it tends to make everything else you eat a bit ranchy. That’s just me though.

Everything on the plate was pretty good, the short ribs were pretty well marinated and tender. The chicken was a bit dry, but not dry enough to overpower the nice grilled taste. The fried rice and chow mein were a bit dull, flavor-wise, but ranked pretty average to me compared to other fast food places that offer this. I’ll put it a smidge over average because despite the slight blandness of the noodles and rice, it was also lacking any grease. Find me a plate of fried noodles without grease around here and I’ll eat my words.

Despite the simplicity of the flavors, I found that it was still a pretty satisfying meal. Considering that massive plate of food costed only $6.25, I’ll  forgive them if the non-protein parts of the meal weren’t as good as they could be. Also, I feel if the plate had all sorts of tantalizing flavors and what not, I probably wouldn’t like it as much. Why you ask? It’s because I feel that Yoshinoya’s charm is in it’s simplicity. I’d hate to order something off their menu that didn’t flow with that charm. And I’m glad to say this plate easily flows with their rest of the menu.

If that didn’t make sense, imagine how weird it would be to order a Double Cheeseburger from a Starbucks.

Finally, would I reccomend it? Yes and No. It’s a great meal for someone who doesn’t care for a beef bowl. But I usually don’t go to Yoshinoya wanting a BBQ Plate, I go there wanting a Beef Bowl. As good as my food was, I haven’t craved it anywhere near as much as I would a Combo Bowl there. In other words, it’s great, but it’s hard to bring yourself to want one when you’re standing in front of the register. Feel like something different? Get this.

Score: 7.75/10 (Would have been a 7.5 if it was greasier)
Price: 6.25
Pros: Lots of food, short ribs and chicken were excellent, not as greasy as I thought it would be.
Cons: A bit pricey compared to the other meals on their menu, non-meat items were a bit on the dull side.

It really hits me hard because he was truly a remarkable Professor. Usually when you take assorted elective classes during your first few years of College, you tend to blow them off as joke classes. I wasn’t any different with this class at first.

Then you hear him talk about Literature.

He taught Literature with such a passion that you couldn’t help but want to prod more into his lecture. You left his classes with a sudden urge to learn more. Not for class, for yourself. For me, I found myself doing the assigned reading because it interested me, not because it was an assignment.

Considering that I was a slacker student at the time, you find me another Professor of his caliber who could inspire students like he did.

Professor Elliott was one of the few Professors that I had at UCR that really made me want to work my absolute best. Not just in his class, but for the rest of my years there and because of it, I truly feel that I stand here as a better person because of him.

For that, I thank you. You’ve truly left an impact on this world and set an exceptionally high benchmark for future and current Professors to match. Rest in peace, my friend. You will truly be missed.