Next week I embark on a new adventure in my life, one that will take me farther than I have ever gone to this point, and one that will be exciting and scary at the same time. Next Monday I will begin my new job at Marion Military Institute as the Public Relations Coordinator, but I will also be leaving all of my family and friends in North Alabama to begin what will be an amazing career. Over the next few months it will be up to me to get to know everyone I can in the area while I work with the College to get know me and learn the things I can do for them over the next few years.

As I embark on this incredible journey I will do so looking forward, and keep my eyes on what the future might hold for me. This is a wondrous occasion and I can’t wait to start at MMI next week, and I also can’t wait to start back with social networking and blogging. (More coming soon!)

-Aaron

So originally I had intended on this blog being about the gaming community as a whole, and I was going to talk about the Nintendo Fanboys, and then talk about the “Other” Fanboys, and then last but not least just talk about trolls in general.

But it was then that it hit me that games like Modern Warfare 2 were going to sell 7 million copies on their first day whether I hate that type of game or not. Or that the gaming community as a whole has become nothing but little children that are being force fed garbage time after time and yet they eat it up and are completely blind to the great content that is out there.  I do miss  games like Super Metroid or Duck Tales, but I also look forward to games like Mass Effect and Tales of Graces! With all this being said, let me just say a few words to each member of the gaming community:

“The Others” : I consider these to be the gamers that spend more time on Wii forums but are actually “fanboys” of the 360 or the ps3, and actually dislike the Nintendo Wii for “everything it stands for this generation.” Their statements always start with “looks like crap” when describing a Wii title or “this is why Nintendo has turned their backs on the hardcore, the wii is nothing but a toy.” The only thing I really have to say to these guys is this: You are the ones who forgot what gaming use to be about and it’s about time you grow up and move on. The argument that so many gamers use against the Nintendo Wii is that it has become a gaming console for the “casual,” yet if you actually ask someone to define what casual stands for, you will get as many different definitions as you do people. It’s seriously time we grew up and stopped treating every argument like a 50 pound orangutan throwing feces everywhere, and start realizing that Nintendo is just Nintendo, and there are no words to describe the Wii other than a successful console that could.

“The Ninty Fan” : Okay seriously, if you don’t own stock with Nintendo or if you aren’t the Marketing department of Nintendo; Get the Heck Over Yourselves!! Nintendo can screw up you know? One of the things that makes us human is the fact that we screw up every once in awhile, and I hate admitting it just as much as anyone else, but even Nintendo has their faults and we should embrace these faults and make sure Nintendo understands our complaints so that they can make a better product the next time. And one more thing: learn to fight back. If the 50 pound orangutan is throwing feces at you then it would probably best that you didn’t throw feces back, instead you must evolve and learn to put a cage around the orangutan and slowly drain the oxygen out of the room.

Everyone else: I understand that complaining about Nintendo this generation is the easy thing to do, but since when is having games that allow others to sit down and play with you a bad thing? Since when do we judge a book by the TV it runs on? And since when did the Marketing departments at the big wig studios such as EA stick mind control devices into your skull that told you there really is such a thing as a “hardcore” game, and those are the only games you need to buy? Also why does every game have to sell over 1 million to be successful? Just because a game has to sell a lot on the 360 to be successful does not mean it will have to sell that much on the Nintendo Wii to be successful, the development cost are a whole lot less for the Wii and many games have been successful without having to sell over 300k!

In conclusion: This one was much shorter than my other ones, but I am tired and I almost didn’t even do the part 3 to this one because of the recently events with Dragon Age: Origins and Modern Warfare 2. When games like Modern Warfare 2 sell over 7 million in their first day, while games like Dragon Age: Origins will be lucky if they break the 1 million mark: then I truly believe the gaming industry as a whole has lost it’s own grip on reality. No wonder games on the Wii don’t sell all that great sometimes, it’s not like great games on the other consoles sell as good as the mediocrity  that is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Part 2 can be found at: http://anothertomorrow.net/?p=106

When the Nintendo Wii hit the market is was hard to sort through all of the mini game collections / party games on the system to find the “diamonds in the rough.” But was this the fault of Nintendo? As the years went on the party games began to slow down and almost completely stop, but then Nintendo did something that nobody else saw coming; WiiFit. With the unheard of success of WiiFit the re-insurgence of low quality games hit the market once again with the theme of exercise in attempts to cash in on the popularity of WiiFit. It might come to surprise some of you reading, but my beef is not with the “casual” games that have come to the wii, in fact I would actually say that some of the casual games on the Nintendo Wii have done it 100 times better than a lot of games that were created for the core audience.

The problems I have with the Third Party developers arises when I see games like Dead Space: Extraction and think about what must be going through the heads of the companies behind a game like this. When I look at successful games like The Conduit or “No More Heroes” it purplexes me how Activision and EA haven’t learned from other companies about what is good or bad when it comes to releasing games on the Wii. Let’s look at some of the things that Third Party Developers could do better when it comes to their games on the Nintendo Wii.

1) Where is the Advertising?

Time after time I see games come and go on the Wii that get almost 0 advertisement space (anywhere) and then it also happens to be these exactly same companies that refuse to promote their own product, that complain about the sales time after time. The issue here is actually a complicated one, and will continue until the end of the Nintendo Wii’s life cycle if something doesn’t drastically change. I believe the whole “No money for Advertising on the Wii” mentality started at the beginning, back when Wii Play and Rayman Raving Rabbids where a complete success and all the companies had to do was ride the popularity of the Wii straight to the bank.

Do you remember when you were growing up and everyone always told you that the first impressions where always the most important? Unfortunately I believe that a bunch of lazy developers learned early on that if you selling a game for the Wii could be done with little to no advertising, and yet they never lost this mentality. I’m almost 100% sure that this idea of games selling on the wii with a “Grassroots” technique has carried over into present day on way more than a few games, and can also show why a few games get almost no advertising space even though they could be huge successes.

This is only a piece of the puzzle though and for the other piece of the puzzle I will look at Dead Space: Extraction; the prime example of a game gone terribly wrong when it comes to advertisement. I can remember the first time I learned that Dead Space: Extraction had even been released, it was an interview of EA talking about how horrible the sales had been. I can’t remember everything from my Marketing classes 2 years ago but I do know one thing: if the first time your costumers find out about your product being out, is when you are complaining about the sales of your product, you have done something horribly wrong. The real question really comes down to why EA didn’t Market the game in the first place! While the answer to that question can only truly be answered by EA themselves, I’m sure the Marketing of The Conduit had something to do with their strategy.

For months I have heard numerous people complain about the sales of The Conduit and I’m sure even the people at EA where paying attention to the sales of The Conduit to see how a well advertised game could do on the Wii. The biggest problem with this approach actually arises when you realize that The Conduit ended up selling enough for it’s publisher to be extremely happy with it’s sales and has even warranted a sequel, and the fact that The Conduit was also a new IP while Dead Space was the second game in the series! EA should have marketed the heck out of Dead Space: Extraction, but most importantly they should have actually listened to their player base.

2) Don’t necessarily listen to us 100% of the time, but a bone here and there is actually nice.

This section is very simple: When it seems like almost everyone you talk to is against the idea, don’t expect the game to sell well. This section can actually be about much more than just the Nintendo Wii, but unfortunately it also feels as if 3rd party developers take the install base of the Wii much less serious than the other consoles. When EA told everyone that the Dead Space game on the Wii was going to be an On-rails Shooter there was far more people complaining about the decision than praising EA for their choice. Now that Dead Space: Extraction is out and the sales are far from good, I almost wonder if EA wishes they could go back to early development and change this game to what the gamers wanted, instead of what “they” felt would be better for us.

Another game that disappoints me is the Madden franchise on the Wii which started as my favorite console to play the Madden games on back in 2006. In fact that year Madden ended up selling a lot of copies on the Wii and it was an excellent game that many of my friends and family enjoyed playing. Then it started as a small change here and there, and before we knew it the Madden games had changed completely on the Wii: The players in the game looked horrible, the game started acting more like a party game than a football game, and the advertising / box art became more of a gimmick than anything else. Instead of moving forward with the Madden Franchise on the Wii; EA decided they knew what was best for the Wii players and completely “revamped” something that didn’t need to be changed to begin with. The sales for Madden on the Wii this year were abysmal and I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before EA removes all support for the Nintendo Wii claiming that the owners of the Wii are the problem, which brings me to my third point:

3) Stop blaming the gamers for your mistakes and start looking at what you did to deserve the sales!

I don’t think I need to say anything about this, I’m pretty sure it speaks for itself.

4) Stop trying to create gimmick games, and give us something new!

“Madden, Dead Space: Extraction, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Soul Caliber: Legends, and Dead Rising: Chop Til You Drop”

What do all of these games have in common? Well if you guessed that all of them where all created under the impression that they would sell because they put a little bit of “Nintendo Wii waggle” into the game, or because another game in the same genre did incredibly well so they were trying to create the exact same gimmick, then you were correct.

It almost feels like some of the big Western Developers simply look at the Nintendo Wii as a console full of nothing but trash, and therefore deserves more trash and not a single quality game. A lot of people try to discredit others by saying that the Wii is underpowered and that the wii isn’t capable of games like Mass Effect in quality. This is completely untrue when all you have to do is look at the incredibly quality of Nintendo games that have come out this generation or even look at an incredible game such as Muramasa: The Demon Blade by a small Indie company, which looks and plays better than most games created by development teams with ten times the money.

I constantly read articles about companies complaining about the “quality” of the Nintendo Wii and how they refuse to create good games for the system. Companies such as Infinity Ward are usually the first ones to take a shot at the Wii when they get a chance. The only response I can give for companies like Infinity Ward or Valve is that I think they could produce an excellent experience on the Wii, and by not doing so, they are hurting themselves by limiting their own potential this generation. Step out from your little shell and see how great a game created by your development team could be on a system like the Wii, and you might just be surprised by the sales figures at the end of the day, just look at Treyarch.

5) In Conclusion

I would just like to say that the Nintendo Wii has a chance to immerse the gamer deeper into your game than you have ever been able to do to this point on a home gaming console. Nintendo has done an incredible job to this point at producing one triple A title after another since the release of the Wii 3 years ago, but Nintendo cannot keep the gamer satisfied 365 days a year for how ever many years the Nintendo Wii will be around. Wouldn’t it be a great concept if companies actually created incredible games for the wii that actually had big development budgets and even bigger marketing budgets?

I don’t know what the Third Party Developers are so afraid of, but game like Monster Hunter Tri are already proving that a game with a big budget on the Wii can sell Millions. It’s funny how when you set out to create a game that the gamers want, instead of following everyone else, you find yourself in a nice place. We don’t want more games on the wii, we just want more Quality Games on the Wii, that’s all we ask, and that’s all we want. Stop using the Wii user base for your own experiments so you can give the quality titles to everyone else but us, we would like you to give us some quality titles as well!

Part 1 can be found at: http://anothertomorrow.net/?p=85

Part 3 can be found at: http://anothertomorrow.net/?p=142

Three and a half years ago the gaming community was changed completely with the unveiling of the little white box known as the Nintendo Wii. Everyone was talking about it during E3 and it was apparent from Nintendo’s standpoint that the Wii might actually be able to carry them out of the mudslide they found themselves in with every new generation of home gaming consoles. Part 1 of this 3 part series will talk about the things that Nintendo has done wrong and / or right during this generation of gaming, and even where they might need to go next. (In Part 2 I will talk about Third Party Developers, and in Part 3 I will talk about the gaming community as a whole.) So without further a-due I give to you: Exploring the Nintendo Wii (Part1 of 3) -

Ever since I was 6 years old I was trained, just like so many other gamer my age, to look forward to the next Mario game, or to save up for the Nintendo console first, and then worry about the other consoles as you either 1) get more money or 2) they come down in price. At least that was what I always thought, and it wasn’t until I got into college that I learned the shocking truth; the number of Nintendo console buyers was decreasing exponentially over the period of Nintendo’s life and 3rd party developers were running away from Nintendo like they where the black plague after the whole N64 vs Ps1 fiasco. (Yes the Gamecube came out right as I was starting college) With the success of the Nintendo DS it was only a matter of time before Nintendo used what they had learned from their hand-held systems and translated these ideas to their home console market. The biggest problem that Nintendo faces today is that they aren’t evolving from the success of the wii, and with it they might just find themselves in Sony’s shoes 5 years from now. Let me explain:

1) Nintendo: Why does it seem that you could care less about anybody but yourself?

As a Public Relations Professional I am utterly appalled by the way your present yourself to everyone else in the world. Over the last 3 years you have gone from best in show to laughable at E3, you have shown a lack of support for 3rd party software, and you have even become reclusive in the information you present to the public.

Let’s start with E3, the pinnacle of all things Video Games in the world, and most importantly one of the only mediums Nintendo announces new games at. 3 years ago Nintendo came away with almost every “best in show” award and wowed everyone with a constant stream of reveals and insights into their new console that would ultimately become the most sought after gaming console of this generation. Every year since then Nintendo has failed in the presentation department of E3, between a lackluster and completely laughable 2008 showing to the slow paced and “more sales figures than video games” approach of 2009. It’s because of these presentations that little by little Nintendo is becoming what I would consider the little black sheep of the gaming industry, and gamers everywhere are even starting to feel embarrassed that they actually own a Nintendo Wii! 3 Years ago when I was standing in front of the Video Game store waiting for the shipment of the Wiis to arrive; and I was proud of the hardware I was about to buy! Nowadays I’m still very proud of my Wii and the games that I own for it, but there is a slight bit of dread that comes with the Nintendo Wii every time I see “party” games outselling great Third Party games or Nintendo themselves marketing one of their mini game, games, to the general public and completely forgetting about other titles such as the “Metroid Prime Trilogy”.

Dear Nintendo:   We all know you have made a lot of money this generation and all we ask is that you help out your Third Party developers a bit more, and start paying attention to the core gamers who have stuck with you since the NES days. I know it might seem like we left you years ago, but the Gamecube still sold over 20 million units, and we were still here holding your hand as you made it back to the top. We don’t want the Third Party Developers to leave you again, we like having games like “The Crystal Bearers” and “Epic Mickey” on the wii and we want these games to stay.

So I guess what we the gamer are trying to say is – help your Third Party Developers a bit more, so that we (your core fans) don’t find ourselves stuck in another Gamecube Generation once the Wii has run it’s course. I want to see franchises like Mass Effect or Metal Gear Solid to find a home in a Nintendo Console, and I want to see you succeed, but if you keep up your current approach to the Nintendo Wii, you might just find yourself in Sega’s shoes after your next Generation.

2) Transparency

Ok Reggie I’m calling you out! Every year you say you read what the players want from forums and other mediums, and year after year it seems as if you fall farther and farther away from reality. Every word out of your mouth has to go through my “Spin Filter” because it seems as if everything you say isn’t completely the truth, or you seriously don’t care about anything but the money anymore. I believe it was Iwata who said recently that he feels that Nintendo failed when it comes to First Party games and getting them out in order to sell more Wiis. I believe the problem Nintendo is facing right now is a Marketing Division in the United States that doesn’t understand what the Gamers want, and any time they do open their mouth it almost seems as if they aren’t listening at all! Here’s an excellent idea that might just blow your mind: Step aside Reggie and Cammie, and let the younger generation present your vision and goals from now on. The gaming industry as a whole seems to be forgetting what we enjoy seeing at things like E3 or Nintendo Press Conferences, Energetic individuals who truly care about the gamer and the community they are presenting too!

Every year I watch the Nintendo presence at Media Conferences, and year after year I think about how so many of my friends could do so much better than the Reggie / Cammie duo. Somewhere along the line it feels like you lost your gamer mentality Reggie, and we as gamers can feel it every time a camera is placed in front of you, or whenever you have one on one interviews with others. I want the old Nintendo back where you walked out on stage and everyone cheered because “Our Hero the Regginator” has returned to us and is going to prove once again why Nintendo is the stuff of dreams! Nowadays it seems as if  Miyamoto is the only one with that power anymore and we must wait on him to ever hear something that isn’t chalk full of “media spin”.

Stop acting defensive and tell us what you know – Work with the gamers to create a Nintendo that can rival the SNES days – Listen to what we have to say because this might surprise you, but we actually know what we are talking about sometimes. Show us more transparency in the decisions of Nintendo of America, and listen to us when we might just say something that you don’t like because farther down the line it might come in handy to know how we feel!

3) In Conclusion

With success comes a lot of criticism, and for the most part it seems that a lot of people dislike the name Nintendo this generation. The truth is, the wii is successful because Nintendo has done more things right than wrong this generation; but just because you are successful does not mean you can’t learn from your mistakes and get better. The Wii has really brought a lot of niche developers to it’s doorstep, and with it a lot of great games that I couldn’t have enjoyed had you gone a different route this generation. The Wii is a great console, and with the Christmas Holidays and 2010 looking like the best years for the Nintendo Wii, I am excited about the future of this console!

One day we will all look back at how the wii changed gaming as we know it, but how much is Nintendo willing work towards a  change in their own egotistical mentality?

Part 2 is up at: http://anothertomorrow.net/?p=106

“It’s 8:30pm and cold outside, my heart is pounding, my legs are burning, and my feet are moving without an end in sight. 1 mile, 2miles the time between each increasing with each step, and my head is filled with thoughts of 3 years prior when I use to be able to run 4 miles without skipping a beat.” It’s only after the run that I realize that I actually broke 3.1 miles in only 9 days. The decision to run came after a trip with my family to a local restaurant where I realized I had consumed more than 900 calories in one sitting and I had almost no physical activity to account for such a huge meal. Now for those of you that actually know me, you also know that I am in no way “big” by any stretch of the imagination, but 3 years ago I could have run a 5k in less than 18 Minutes and I had let myself digress to someone who would rather sit on my computer for hours and hours rather than exercise. To run again was an easy decision, in order to run I didn’t need any equipment nor did I need any formal training past the knowledge I had acquired 3 years prior when I was running 5 miles every other day. Let me begin with the first day:

(As a disclaimer I would like to say that “From the Couch to 5k” program by Cool Running says over and over again that you should not push yourself to reach 5k as quick as I did. In fact almost every trainer would have chastised me for the speed in which I made it to 5k due to having not run for over 3 years. Over the last 2 days I have been icing my calve muscle because I believe I have overdone it slightly, and therefore would once again recommend that you do not go from the couch to 5k in 9 days, it can be very dangerous for your body and can actually cause major problems down the line if you do not know exactly what you are doing)

Day 1 – Day 9: One of the biggest things I had going for me when I first started 2 weeks ago was a mindset that only comes from a veteran runner, the ability to tune out the pain and keep running until your physical body send the danger command. It was actually an interesting experience on the first day when I realized I couldn’t run anymore and had barely even scratched the surface of what I would have been able to do 3 years before. One big change I made this time around compared to 3 years before was the fact that I made the commitment to run every day instead of taking the “every other day” approach I had used back then. One of the key reasons for this decision was the fact that 3 years ago I was also lifting weights and other physical activities that kept my body in a constant state of exhaustion that would have hurt my running more than anything; had I run every day back then. This time around I was going to only run, or at least only run until I was able to get back into good shape and got my “Body Fat Percentage” back under 17%. (considered to be the average for someone that is “fit”)

One big thing I would like to point out is that I had run previously, and I still believe that the reason I was able to do everything I have done up to this point was because I have run before and there is still a part of me that remembers what it was like back then. From day 4 to day 7 I set the rule that I wanted to run for at least 12 minutes which ended up being a huge benefit for me when I ran for 15 minutes on the 7th day which allowed me to increase the amount of time I wanted to run on the 8th day.

On the 8th day I decided to run as far as my body would allow and so I set off with this goal in mind and kept running until I truly felt I couldn’t run anymore, which ended up putting me right at 2.7 miles with a time of 23 minutes. On the 8th day my mind was filled with questions regarding how far I was running, I ended up adding .5 miles to the run simply because I got close to the “end” of my run and looked ahead at a fork in the road, and decided to take the “long way back.” In hind site it was probably that decision that pushed my body farther than it needed to be pushed and ultimately caused me to have unneeded days of rest, but it did allow for day 9 to happen, the day I reached 5k once again!

The difference between a person who never runs and someone who can run 10 miles is their ability to control their own bodies, and almost nothing else. Sure you have to get in shape in order to run 10 miles at a time, but I have learned that if you are able to control your mind during a run you will be able to do more than you ever thought possible. I can remember when I was young there was a Reading Rainbow that interviewed a marathon runner who simply said that he can run 20+ miles because he is able to look past the pain and anything else around him and focus on the goal at hand. In order to get up out of our chairs and unhealthy lifestyles we must look ahead and set some goals and then set out to complete those goals no matter how hard it may be.

Day 10+ : Since running 5k I have had a few problems with the muscles in my legs which have caused me to either 1) rest a day when I felt I should be running or 2) Ended up not running more than I had to. I don’t regret going from my couch to a 5k in 9 days, in fact it has pushed me to get even better as time goes on, but I do believe over the next few weeks I will be in a constant fight with my own body as it tries to catch up to my strenuous workout I have thrust upon it

On my 11th day of running (yesterday) I was able to run 3miles but realized once I had stopped that my right foot was numb from a short supply of blood and was slightly nervous about the situation because my calve muscles have been in “recovery” for the last 3 days, but it ended up that my right shoe was tied a bit to tight cause an inadequate amount of blood to get to my foot by the end of the long run. If you would like to know more about how to make running and working out fun and an active part of your lifestyle just ask and I will be more than happy to help. Keep up your exercising and until next time, Chao!

P.S – Doing what I did can also be very bad for your heart, and can cause heart attacks.. once again: Don’t Do It!

On Wednesday, October the 21st 2009 I walked into one of the local stores in Florence, Alabama and left with the movie “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” from my local Redbox Kiosk. This may not seem like a big deal to some but the problem happens to be much deeper than it appears, let me explain: 1) I had rented my copy of “Transformers 2″ online at Redbox.com. 2) Although I had already rented the DVD online I still ended up having to wait behind 3 other people who took over 5 minutes each. 3) They were taking so long because all 3 of them came for a copy of “Transformers 2″ and ended up leaving with another movie, or no movie at all because I more than likely had rented the last copy of “Transformers 2″ online just 30 minutes prior to this moment in time. With that being said I will now begin Part 2 of “Redbox Etiquette” :

3) Look Ahead – For almost everything we do in life we have to stand in line, and the same holds true when you want to rent a DVD from Redbox. When you are standing in line at the Redbox Kiosk with the intent of walking home with a DVD all you need to do is simply “look ahead.” This can be as simple as looking at all of the movies your kiosk has featured on it’s side, or you could even glance at the Redbox screen while the person ahead of you browsing through the DVDs. This can give you an idea about what is available in the Kiosk and most importantly it can cut the amount of time you spend browsing through the movie titles in half or more! You can usually see the screen from a good distance away (I can usually see the movie selections 3-4 people back) so take the time you spend in line and use it to your advantage!

4) The Blockbuster Mentality – Ok let’s go back 2 years, and think about how renting DVDs use to be and then look at how some of us can’t shake the old “gatherer” mentality. When I spent $5 on a movie I took my time and made sure I got a movie that was worth the $5, because if I’m going to spend as much money on a movie as I did my dinner tonight, I’m going to make sure the movie is worth that money. I would walk around rental stores from 15 minutes to 45 minutes depending on how many “new” movies had come out since the last time I was there. This is no longer that case boys and girls, we are renting our DVDs from Redbox and it only cost us $1! Time after time I hear people complain about the 1 person who stands at the Redbox kiosk for 15 minutes while the line of 10 people behind him keeps growing and growing. In 15 minutes I could have searched every movie in the Kiosk’s inventory 9 times over and by the time they finally leave with their 1 obscure movie I’m almost positive they have as well! Let’s lose the gathering mentality and learn to quickly rent our DVDs once we are standing in front of the Redbox Kiosk, that way everyone can enjoy the “Redbox Experience” with much more ease.

Ground Rules:

1) As a rule it should take no more than 4 minutes per movie.

2) Use the online service! (There is a reason the website is plastered everywhere on the kiosk, and it ask you for your e-mail!)

3) Show some respect to those that are returning DVDs.

4) Enjoy movies you would have never considered before Redbox.

In Conclusion – Over the last 5 months I have seen movies I would have never even considered before Redbox came to my town. It’s amazing what kind of movies you can find when you start letting yourself enjoy every movie in your local Redbox. Just because a movie looks like it wont be good, doesn’t mean it’s not a great movie and at $1 a night it’s worth a shot. Over and over I have been able to cut down on the amount of time I spent at the Redbox Kiosk because I go with 1 movie in mind, the 1 movie is out of stock, and I just revert to “the next movie that sparks even slight interest I will rent” mentality. Surprisingly the movies that I rent on the fly have ended up being more memorable to me than the ones I “pick” before I leave my home. Renting with Redbox makes renting DVDs fun again and with over 15,000 locations, it keeps getting easier and easier to enjoy a Redbox near you.

Part 1 of “Redbox Etiquette” can be found here: Redbox Etiquette (Part 1)

For those of you that don’t know what “Redbox” is, let me explain: In the south east and other parts of the United States a new way to rent DVDs has gained popularity very quickly, I would even gander to say quicker than Netflix ever did. It’s a very simple system and even my Grandmom has started using it, there is a kiosk of DVDs which looks like a big Vending Machine. But the biggest things that defines the Redbox system is the cost and the online system, you can browse all of the Videos in every Kiosk at Redbox.com and then Rent the videos online with the cost of renting @ $1 a night with 0 contract. You can rent a DVD for 1 night and return it the next day and it will cost you $1 and nothing more, no hidden fees and no hidden agenda by Redbox. At $1 dollar a rental I have watched a plethora of DVDs that I would have never watched back in the $5 rental days. After numerous rentals and standing in line time after time I feel as if there was a need for something on “Redbox Etiquette”  before the number of Redbox users skyrockets beyond it’s already massive base. Let’s begin:

1) People Returning DVDs and you aren’t 100% sure what DVD you are going to get this time – What do most people do? If you guessed they completely ignore the person returning the DVD then you are correct, and most people might say that they got there first so it’s only proper, I have a problem when the person returning the DVD is either a) obviously in a hurry b) cutting it close to 9:00pm – I have seen someone returning a DVD who got in line at 8:38pm (the DVDs are due by 9:00pm) and have to stand in line until after 9:00, to which they walk away having payed for another night or c) Family, Family Family – If it’s obvious the group standing behind you isn’t happy, the baby is screaming and needs to get home, the mom is flustered, I beg of you, Please Let Them Return The DVD!!! Returning a DVD takes all over 30 Seconds, and it’s only right to think about those standing in line.  Let’s show respect to our fellow man, and actually look out for one another instead of having our blinders on and forget about everyone else around us.

2) Redbox.com – There is a website and every kiosk is connected to their servers, you can browse the titles in the kiosk and you can even rent them online. I cannot stress enough how much people need to start using the online part of Redbox, and it’s even more of an issue if you want to rent a DVD that has been released in the last 2 weeks. You can go online and click on the Movie you want to watch and actually “check up” on all of the kiosk in your area to make sure they have that Movie in stock. The system used when you rent online is also a time saver because you don’t even have to go into the menu system of the kiosk itself, you just click a big button on the front menu and swipe your card and out comes your movie. On a final note, when you rent a DVD online the Kiosk automatically removes the movie you rented from the list of available movies. This means you will always be able to get the movie you picked, no matter what!

Part 2 of “Redbox Etiquette”: Redbox Etiquette (Part 2)

Yesterday I decided I was going to go to every organization in the Florence / Muscle Shoals area and apply at every single place I could possibly find. Needless to say the day started out excellent with at trip across town by foot, as I ran for the 6th time in 7 days! I’m hoping to get up to 5 miles a day, but we’ll just have to wait and see how long that takes.

The next part of my day consisted of me getting ready to talk to the companies around town. I put on a nice button up shirt and some slacks and finished out a few applications I already had. I drove to the local Toyota dealership where I proceeded to fill out the application and turn it back into the lady at the front desk, at which point I also realized that I had locked my keys in my car.

I’m sure locking your keys in your car right after applying for a job and then the company you applied to bailing you out and getting into your doors unlocked is a great “first impression” but at least I got to know more than just the secretary right? I finally got back into my car and started driving back to Florence when I noticed an Enterprise Rent-A-Car and decided to stop in and talk to the Manager there.

Unfortunately the Manager mentioned that he had been trying to get the corporate managers to give him an opening for another position but it didn’t seem likely for awhile. Although in the process I did learn that he was very good to his employees and treated them with great respect and felt that his high volume of sales was even more proof of why you treat your employees with respect.

As I was driving once again back to the Florence area my phone rang, and I did not recognize the number that was calling me so I answered it and it was the District Manager at the Enterprise in Chattanooga, TN and gave me a short phone interview and asked me to come in for a full interview next Monday! After 4 months of searching for a job I finally got my first interview next Monday! I ended up going grocery shopping, cooking dinner for Erica and then watching Heroes.

To finish everything off last night I fixed up my website to be just my blog, and I finally installed Snow Leopard on my Laptop! Needless to say it was a very good day, and hopefully things keep getting better from here.

Now if any of you have been following my status updates on facebook recently you would have noticed a huge theme (also known as) Owl City Songs! I seriously don’t know how I fell into this “trend” but I have to say, the guys voice is intoxicating, and I should probably start an Owl Cityaholics Anonymous or something.. cause WOW this guy is growing in popularity very very quick. The thing is he deserves it, this is some of the best music I have heard in over 10 years! I have listened to all 19 of his songs at least 10 times EACH over the last 3 days, that’s just crazy for me. I seriously don’t know what it is with the music but it’s just great, between the awesome melodies and the perfect use of the synthesizer I just don’t know. Then you add all of this information together and also realize that he’s on tour with Relient K and a christian artist himself, it’s like a match made in heaven.

Anyways.. I guess this is just a fanboy blog if I don’t mention some of the songs I have, and what makes them so amazing:

Cave In : “Tie my handlebars to the stars so I stay on track” “I’ve had just about enough of quote diamonds in the rough” These are just snippets of this song.. and let me tell you, this guy is hard to figure out I’ll give him that much. His lyrics are either genius or incredibly retarded.. and I’m not 100% sure which one it is. This song is talking about that part in our lives were we realize “I really have to stop looking at the pie in the sky” and we start living our life for what we have and making the best out of it. (at least that’s what it means to me) This one is for anyone who is hung up on past relationships and he’s just saying “It’s time to move on, there is much better to come.”

Hello Seattle: “Hello Seattle, I am an old lighthouse, Throwing beams of bright lights, Red in the morning, blue in the evening sun, Taking heed for everyone” and “Take me above your light, Carry me through the night” This song is great at showing how much someone can mean to us in our own life, be it God or just that special someone. The whole song talks about Seattle, telling Seattle that no matter what there is a part of him that is always finding his way right back to Seattle, and then it ends with the person finally realizing how important the narrator is, and beckening for them to help them and carry them into hope. I love it

Now the next question is.. what should my third song be? It’s too bad NOBODY is going to actually read this.. otherwise I would ask people to comment about which song to.. oh I don’t know, talk about next..?

Fireflies (duh hehe): “You would not believe your eyes, If ten million fireflies Lit up the world as I fell asleep” Fireflies!! Or should I say everything that makes you comfortable in your present life? “Cause I get a thousand hugs, From ten thousand lightning bugs, As they try to teach me how to dance.” I can remember when I first left Huntsville it was such an intense moment, these were the people that have been my friends for so long! I have so many memories here, why am I leaving!?! I can even remember a tear or two were shed as well, but what happened? “To ten million fireflies, I’m weird ’cause I hate good-byes, I got misty eyes as they said farewell, But I’ll know where several are, If my dreams get real bizarre, ‘Cause I saved a few and I keep them in a jar.” That’s right, I moved on and I learned a new life, but that doesn’t mean I enjoyed the goodbye! How do we make it when we leave our lives behind? How do we work again after we have lost someone we love, or when our lives drastically change? I think it’s amazing because somehow we find a way to remember the past, and if things get really bad we just look inside our jar, where we stored a few of our 10 Million fireflies!

Ok seriously, after watching so many people on both sides of this issue I have beef to pay with both sides of the issue, why is everyone making such a big deal about BHO getting the Nobel Peace Price? The award has been a joke for 15 years now.. and nether side should care as much as they do.

@ Conservatives – just stop it already, haven’t you learned anything over the last 9 months? Something like this is going to cause even more of a rift in congress and cause President Obama to get even LESS done than he already has.

@ Liberals – Seriously.. trying to even respond to the conservatives is pointless. If anything you guys should be trying your best to distance yourselves from this whole thing, because like I said above.. something like this will probably only lessen the President’s chance of getting things through.. which still dumbfounds me.

Ok So what? The President got a Nobel Peace Prize – Let’s move on from this and actually pray that something is done over the course of the next 3 years which proves the Nobel Committee wasn’t wrong!

(if you read the statement delivered by the Committee I felt that they were giving the Prize to him because of his attitude towards global relations, and his “hopeful” future to create peace.. so let’s hope they aren’t wrong and just maybe he will prove them correct?)