A funny thing happened a week and a half ago. Well, sorta funny. Julie's computer became cranky and refused to boot. After spending a few hours goofing with it to no avail, she asked about the cost of upgrading. Well, given the prices of full systems today (getting a p4 complete for under $1000), I told her it really wasn't worth upgrading individual components anymore, unless you were the overclocker/game geek type that needs have 100fps at the highest resolution. To make a long story short, we all ended up with new computers (me, Julie and both kids). Sound insane? It is. I ended up getting a dream machine (p4/1.8 with a GeForce4/4600 and lotsa other goodies), and she received my "old" P4 machine with a GeForce 3/ti500, which is by no means a slow dog. Lance ended up with HER old machine (which I managed to get running using some older hardware), which is a P3.. and Sarah got Lance's old P3 as well. So, for just under $1500, everyone got an upgrade. Kinda neat..

No, I haven't seen Episode II yet. No, I haven't even seen Spiderman. We're hoping to buzz out this week and see them both (well at least I hope to). I haven't really been playing anything lately either, just some Final Fantasy X on our shiny, new ($299) PS2.. Yeah, thanks Sony. Prices are now $199 for the PS2.. I should have known. Heck, you can even pick up a Gamecube for $150 now. That's insane. The fact that the XBox didn't sell as MS had hoped, has caused everyone to enter a price war, which is ALWAYS good for us gamers! Now, if they would just include more than ONE controller and maybe a damn memory card in the initial box, and we could call it a deal. The PS2 ended up costing $500 after everything was purchased (one game, one controller, an S-video cable and switchbox, and a memory card). Sigh.. Oh, that S-video switchbox comes in handy. I got sick of swapping cables when I wanted to watch a DVD or play one of the two gaming systems hooked up using s-video. I'm an ultra geek and really can't skimp on things like that.. what's the point of NOT using optical sound and s-video if your hardware supports it, right? Hee hee

Does anyone actually read this besides me? Do I care? If I updated this more often I could almost consider it a life journal.. Hey, that's a thought.

I don't think there's anything new and exciting in the music scene. I may have passed up the opportunity to hit ProgPower in Atlanta. I am not sure yet, I haven't checked the site to see if tickets are gone. It's a long shot, but a lot of my favorite bands are there, including a rare East appearance of Devin Townsend (the guy always tours the west coast and Japan), and the first ever show in the US for Blind Guardian, a most-excellent fantasy-metal band from Germany. We're still deciding whether or not we want to spend a day sitting in the grass at Blossom for Ozzfest. Yes, very cool show, but hanging out in the lawn for 15 hours? Hmm.. The Euro Ozzfest is basically the same, but two really awesome bands from northern Europe will be there, which was a total shock to me - After Forever (the grunting vocalist left the band) and Within Temptation. Wowzers.. I think that would tip my decision if they came to the US show for sure. Half the bands at Ozzfest I have never heard of (and maybe don't want to). I am turning into a grumpy old metal fan that sticks to his 5 best groups.. hehe

Welp, time to hit the sack.. it's 3:00am and even though I couldn't sleep two hours ago, I think I can now.. bye!