Justin Germino Ramblings

I used to be a big fan of Gamma World back in the early 1990’s and role played with my brother and friends for countless hours in the post apocalyptic wastelands of future America.

Some of my fondest memories involved a party of adventures mostly made up of pure strain humans investigating a crashed ship wreckage only to find mutated sentient chickens attacking the local community.

Some of the mutation powers you could get as a character were quite incredible and probably the best factor of the game was that it was much more liberal in terms of what you can or can’t do rather than being as rigid as the Dungeons and Dragons system at the time.

There is something about the Post Apocalyptic genre that makes it incredibly fun to role play and there is a reason Fallout 3 and other games in the same genre are popular.  Role playing in a genre where you are gritty human or hybrid human or animal mutations with modern weaponry and personalities fighting against famine, disease and the chaos of a world going to hell is inviting.  There are fewer lawful good heroes and far more flawed heroes which made it seem all the more real.

So when I saw that there is a new Gamma World based on 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons rules, except it is a self contained rule set I was intrigued enough to read all about it.  This would be the ideal gaming setup and scenario for older teenagers and adults, but alas my kids are a little too young for a post apocalyptic setting and all the grittiness that comes with it.

Gamma World 4th Edition looks like it has some great rules and the fact that it uses some cards for randomness in characters and abilities looks like an even bigger plus.  At its price it is 1/3th the cost of a total Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition setup and is a fully inclusive boxed set for those who are tired of Elves, Dwarves and Orcs and want to role play in a world more like Fallout or The Book of Eli.

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-Justin Germino

So this weekend I decided to pick up an Xbox360 with Kinect after reading some good reviews about the technology and being impressed overall with what I have read.  I picked up the MotionSports game and played it in addition to the Kinect Adventures that comes with the Bundle.  The Xbox360 came with a 250gb hard drive with the Kinect in a nice package.

I must say that I am very impressed with the Kinect technology and will be doing a very thorough review for DragonBlogger.com in the near future, in the meantime I can tell you that the Xbox360 with Kinect doesn’t feel like the Wii at all.  Your feet, hands, head and body are recognized and used as the controller.  In some games you literally have to bounce balls off your head, body, fists or feet.  The Kinect system recognizes you as well.

You can use the Kinect as a voice activated controller for the Xbox360 and by saying “Xbox Play Disc” you can command your device to load the game you have in the drive.

So far my only disappointment is that some of the games have trouble recognizing motion when you move quickly, the MotionSports boxing game for instance doesn’t let you throw punches quickly as it can only pick up relatively slow and wide motion punching.  It does know uppercuts, jabs and blocking but this game doesn’t recognize dodging by tilting.  The Kinect Adventures games however seem much more responsive and the game called 20,000 Leaks you have to use your four limbs plus head to plug up holes in a glass room to avoid it being flooded with water.  This is incredibly accurate and the Kinect not only understands each limb but also can accurately show how much closer or further you move from the controller so you get a true sense of depth perception.

So far, for those who haven’t tried the Kinect Motion Control system for the Xbox360 you really have to try it to believe it.  The limited games for it and the lack of quality games (except for family and party stuff) are it’s only limitation now but the technology is truly amazing.  The camera itself is a little on the lower resolution side and could have been higher quality, I mean if you are taking pictures of yourself to post on Xbox Live or in game you could at least have a higher resolution shot.

One other thing is that the Xbox 360 is very sensitive to your surroundings, it can recognize obstacles like chairs and furniture blocking, there should be a way to select and “block out” objects it detects in its vision.  Kind of like create a “green screen” behind you even though there are objects.

Overall, I am highly impressed with the Kinect Motion Control technology for the Xbox360 and recommend you check it out for yourself.

-Justin Germino

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I had to dig a trench and repair about 12′ of 1/2" landscaping tube after my Boston Terrier had tore out so many 1/4" drip lines that I could no longer plug the holes of the master pipe.  He also dug the tube up and had it on the surface.  So as I spent about 2 hours digging a new trench that was nearly 1.5 feet deep I somehow uncovered a slew of lizards that were nesting in tunnels right up against my house (figures they would be where the water was leaking from the drip).

These little gecko’s were very sluggish from the morning cool air, and I took them and put them on my fake grass patch in the yard.  They couldn’t walk through the grass quickly so the kids just kept wrangling them up and putting them back in the center of the fake grass.

My kids had a blast setting up plastic army men and having the lizards be props in their war games.  The lizards were released unharmed back into my bushes in my yard after about two hours.  In total there were four lizards found and they appeared to all be the same species. 

-Justin Germino

Wild camels once roamed the deserts of Arizona and the Southwest!  Did you know this?  I had read a fascinating article by Clay Thompson in the AZ Republic last week about the importance of the Camel and how the Civil War is probably the reason why there aren’t wild camels and domesticated camels in wide spread use today in the United States.

Apparently back in 1855 Jefferson Davis pitched an idea to bring dromedary camels to the United States and there was even a Camel Military Corps established for this.  33 Camels were originally transported to the United States and they began to fascinate the U.S. with their unique characteristics.

For one, Camels can travel far longer and carry heavier loads than horses could.  Camels could forage from the weeds and desert plants without needing to eat the high quality grains that people had to feed horses.  Camels could also cross rivers and streams that would frighten or drown horses.

Lt. Edward Beale during a camel expedition even wrote the president the value of the camel and the U.S. sent for 1,000 camels from the middle east.  Unfortunately the Civil War erupted and effort to establish and put Camels into widespread use fell by the wayside, many of the camels were turned loose for one reason or another and at first they started thriving as wild camels in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and the other Southwest regions.  Humans eventually started killing them off however, and the last wild camel in Arizona was shot in 1893 by a farmer who found it grazing on his garden.

So, though camels were not a native species to the Arizona desert because of the habitat similarity to Africa they would have thrived and fit into society very well hear had they been given a chance.

-Justin Germino

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Last weekend while in San Diego or more specifically Mission Beach I had the pleasure of dining at Joe’s Crab Shack and was really impressed with the bucket o’ shellfish that was served to me for lunch that day.  

At first I saw this imperial stuffed Dungeness crab on the menu and was very temped to order it.

My wife and I decided to order the Samuel Adams steamed shellfish which included Snow Crab Legs, Clams, Lobster Claws, Andouille Sausage, Corn and Potatoes.  The smell alone set my tummy grumbling and the flavor of all the food was outstanding.

Let’s just say that I was a happy camper with Joe’s Crab Shack and although it isn’t a cheap lunch it is definitely a fantastic lunch.

-Justin Germino

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of printinghq for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

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This type of effective marketing is essential when you run business whether it is a blog or a brick and mortar business and you need to have marketing tools both online and offline to help raise public awareness about your product or brand.

-Justin Germino

I was shocked at how much snow was piled up on the sides of the roads and hills along the I-8 between Yuma and San Diego.  There were hundreds of cars parked along the sides of the roads as people were getting out to touch and play in the snow.  Snow here in the Southwest is like a rare beast and when it falls it disrupts traffic as onlookers can’t believe it and must interact with it.

This made for some good pictures and I took some here which you can see below, but also delayed traffic and made a 5.5 hour trip take almost seven hours to get back to home from San Diego.  We actually passed somebody in a truck who had loaded the back of their truck bed with snow, seriously they filled their entire bed with snow and were transporting it.

Anyway, here are some pictures of the snow fall in the hills outside of San Diego heading east on I-8 toward El Centro.

-Justin Germino

Read in the Casa Grande Dispatch the other day that Intel is investing 5 Billion dollars to build the worlds most advanced memory chip fabrication plant here in Chandler Arizona.  This plant is scheduled to be completed in 2013 and will bring thousands of jobs in both construction and manufacturing/engineering.  This is good news for the Arizona community and Intel has a long history with building facilities in Arizona due to the weather, and tax incentives the state provides.

What is interesting is the sophistication level of the plant which will churn out chips designed for technologies 4+ years from now and one can only imagine how small and compact memory chips will become and the types of fabrication methods employed at building them.

So as an Arizona resident I am certainly happy that Intel has chosen Arizona as the destination for its next memory chip manufacturing plant this will certainly help the local economy for years to come as not only do those people get employed but eat, buy homes, shop and spend money in the local economy.

Chandler is also a beautiful place to live and is located close enough to Tempe, Phoenix and other major destinations so that you are just a quick drive away from just about any activity or major restaurant you could want!

-Justin Germino

So last weekend my wife and I drove out to the Canyon Club in Agoura Hills, CA to see John Pinette do his live standup show.  John Pinette rocked and is a funny individual but the dinner portion of the Canyon Club wasn’t very well thought out.

The problems started when you realize they cram 12 people side by side in tables meant for 10 people.  This is compounded when one fellow who was on the husky side complained about the tight squeeze and was so large he needed two chairs worth of room.  This caused him to pull a chair out which threw off the server who couldn’t “adjust” to the fact that the table needed 1 less person and more room between people.

The show required you to order dinner to get a table and decent seats, so I ordered the Thai BBQ Salmon and my wife ordered the Prime Rib. The food itself wasn’t so bad actually, but for a total price of over $110.00 with no alcohol ordered it was a very expensive price to pay for the service that would follow.

The first order of business was ordering beverages which included 2 hot tea’s, unfortunately they didn’t understand the word “hot” and two barely room temperature waters were brought out with tea bags in them that could never steep due to the lack of water temperature.  The fifteen minute delay to place the dinner order was no picnic either, top this off with the fact that some dining individuals waited over 1.5 hours to receive their entrée!  Yes, they actually ordered their meal at 6:15 and didn’t receive their meal until the show started at 8pm. 

Pretty much the whole table was upset and had some sort of service problems, it was compounded when my wife was about to reach for the salt and pepper only to have a waiter whisk it away to give it to another table.  Apparently, they only have 1 salt and pepper vials and they are shared between 80 people and 4 tables.

So despite the fact that the standup of John Pinette was excellent and the food was okay (no great, but not bad) I can’t say I recommend a meal at the Canyon Club prior to a show except that it is the only way you can get a table to see the show or else you are stuck with standing room only in the back.

-Justin Germino

The local Arizona rock band Razer will be playing tonight at The Clubhouse opening for In This Moment who is on a tour.  Razer is a heavier rock band with a unique sound that complement the strong and raspy vocals of Chris Powers the lead singer.

My wife and I became fans of the band years ago and have attended nearly every single one of their shows here in the valley, they recently toured with Fozzie and appeared in New York and Texas venues.

You can see the video’s for one of their most popular songs Superpaun right here:

-Justin Germino