Nov 6
Lineage of Fallout!
Undoubtedly, the releases of Fallout 1 and 2 were just the harbingers of its current predecessor. Bethesda, the creators of the Elderscrolls series, hit the mark when they created this massive shooter. Those who remember Oblivion will reminisce in the familiar concepts of movement and fighting styles, but will be delighted with the addition of the V.A.T.S. system. VATS, giving the player the ability to freeze time briefly to asses their plan of attack, is useful in determining week spots, percentage of possible attacks, and different limb layouts. It truly gives one time to make an informed decision of fight or flight.
The story takes place, post-nuclear world war, in which the player grows up in an underground vault. This vault contains part of the surviving human race that were saved from the radiation of the war. Events happen which lead you out of the vault into the wastelands near real-world Washington D.C. After leaving the vault, the immense detail and immerse size of the world map will totally amaze you.
Overall, after only play about 5-10 hours, I see this game winning quite a few awards in the upcoming months!
Sep 12
Update central!
It has been a while but I finally got some time to blog! Everything is good in the Ratliff clan, other than a few medical things going on here and there… It was just my Birthday and I had a blast! I was able to get all the parts that I needed to finish up my computer!
Specs:
Core 2 Quad 2.4Ghz
680i Nvidia’s Nforce motherboard
4GB RAM
512 Mb Nvidia Geforce 9600 GT
500 GB HDD
Masscool Heat Sink
Thermaltake Case and HDD Cooler
8 fans total! (Surprisingly quiet)
All good in the neighborhood!
Charlie and Marbles are now safe now that we found out that they were not causing Angel’s respiratory problems…. I was looking forward to having some Chinese ! Oh well, later!
Jun 9
Beach Bummed
Back and Burnt!
The weekend was great! Three days away from reality is always welcome: next time I’m taking off more than just one day. The beach music festival was in town while we were there, but 98 degree days were rough! The weather was soooo hot that you could feel the heat coming up through the beach towel. We did have a chance to do some driving and explore the area a little bit.
Oh by the way, $3.85 at the beach; $3.99 in Raleigh? I hate it with a passion! I’m still only putting $20 in it at a time, but I’m just visiting the pump more often (sigh). Oh well, were back in Raleigh and things are back to normal, kinda 
….
Later!!
Jun 2
Looking forward to the Weekend
Well, I’m about to get my pasty butt out to the beach to get fried! Not to worry, the wifey has been going to the tanning bed for the past month, so I’ll just look like the yin to her yang….
Well, either way, the man is going to be taking care of and we’re getting out of Raleigh for 3 whole days!!! It don’t get any better than that. This week will probably drag out, but it’s coming!
May 28
Animal Control
Cavities!!!
I cannot believe what Angel told me today! Charlie and Marbles both, I’m saying both, have cavities! WTF? Sorry, I have had dogs since I was young and never once needed a trip to the dentist! Apparently, Charlie’s molars are 2x the normal size of a chihuahua, and Marbs has an upper gum infection of sorts.
Kung fu wise: Been a good week for martial arts. Oh, and lets get one thing straight: a push up consists of arms shoulders length apart, body straight (no butt in the air), all the way to the floor (no touch), and all the way back up. Anything else is cheating. Seriously.
Work: still enjoying WCSO, well most everything: if you know me, you know my complaints
not particularly looking forward to the weekend though (on call)
All is well in the realm of Ratliff for the most part!
Yes it seems you have a problem in here
May 12
Blah blah blah…
Last week was fun: work, house, animals, the works… I purchased the complete classic The Chronicles of Narnia and started reading. This weekend Prince Caspian is out and Me and the Girl is goin out to see it! (anyone wanna go??)…
House is up for sell if any interests are out there. Send me an email:Click Here…
Marbs and Charlie are still messing up the house as usual: meaning I have to go and paint the door trimmings and the bottoms of our doors cuz the little man can’t control his chew! The girl only messes up the couch with her back claws grrrrrr…..
Newaz, off to Narnia, peace.
May 3
Kaze???
Well I know that I had a good time tonight at Kaze’s Jap Steakhouse, despite the initial lack of hotwings . I think that the night was a little short though seeing as I kinda wanted to go and see the new Ironman Flick. Next time we all go out, we gotta stay out longer! I do wish that we had got the more talented chef, but we all know who’s fault that is (rhymes with pasha)… the night is still young though, and I gotta find something to do!
Apr 23
Soreness Abounds
I am now getting over the initial shock of exercising on a weekly basis! (Thank God)… I work knife drills last night such as defense and counter attack. Once again, there were no belts in my range at the end of the night (they had to leave “early”) so I ended up playing free flow knives with 2 upper belts. I held my own needless to say, but still felt like a rag doll in the end
Apr 16
Looking forward to the weekend!
This weekend looks like it goina be great with the newest martial arts film The Forbidden Kingdom to be released. Jackie Chan, who inspired me to begin in Kung Fu, is actually teaming up with another of the greatest artists Jet Li for the first time in either of their careers! The combined experience between the two is nearly a century of knowledge, and possibly one of the most professional actors/athletes combination ever in Kung Fu film history. Needless to say, I am excited for the weekend!
You Tube: The Forbidden Kingdom
Apr 14
Updates to Kung Fu
I lie not to you when I say being out of Martial Arts for any period of time and then trying to jump right back in is a tedious process… updates for those who don’t know my history:
1. Started Tae Kwon Do at 17 and continued for a few years.
2. Researched and discovered Kung Fu (origins of Jackie Chan, Jet Li, etc…) and have taken it for 2 years now (pending a 2 year break from getting married and switching jobs)
Kung Fu has a few different styles such as wushu and facets of the monks, but the style which I train is Sil-Lum based on the 5 animal styles. So far I have concentrated on learning the Crane Form (swooping motions and take downs) which is more defensive. When I tested I went to yellow belt and started the Tiger form (offensive).
Needless to say, my getting back into the groove has been tedious, but I think that I’m finally back on track.
