Tristition

I wouldn’t believe it if I didn’t see it with my own eyes, but parading down the sidewalk at work today was a couple walking their pet llamas as if they were dogs.

It all started when I was on my lunch at the Stevens Mill Harris Teeter, store 39. I saw out of the corner of my eye what I thought were llamas. Convinced that I was suddenly and miraculously higher than the sky, I did a doubletake. Sure enough, there they were: two llamas enjoying a cool Fall day in the Harris Teeter parking lot, led by their owners.

Being the outgoing person that I am, I stomed out of my truck (forgetting to lock my doors) and approached the couple. They were on a stroll through the area, visiting from a company named Carolina Llamas. The gentleman gave me a brief history of llamas and their domestication as pets and then held my iPhone for me as I posed for a picture with the male llama.

What an eventful day at work. My managers thought I was crazy when I told them that I got my picture taken with a llama, but were convinced otherwise when I showed them my newly updated wallpaper on my iPhone (replacing my old Obama ‘08 wallpaper, which I’ll probably end up reverting back to in a day or two).  Boy, what an eventful day of work at Harris Teeter.

Imagine pulling into the local gas station you’ve frequented for years when your tank reaches the point of “E”, only to discover that they’re completely out of all grades of gas.  I know what you’re thinking: it’s just an isolated issue at Gate on Lawyers Road; surely the Exxon On the Run down Idlewild Road has gas.  Wrong.  Now imagine every gas station in a 50-75 mile radius without gasoline of any grade.  It’s a scary thought, but it was just another September ‘08 day in Charlotte, North Carolina.

There wasn’t much explanation to it either.  Some believe that because of a shortage of gasoline due to a Texas pipeline shutdown, the local media blew the epidemic out of proportion, scaring everyone into rushing to the gas station and topping off.  This was exactly the case.  While I was on “E”, waiting in line at the only gas station in the area with gas, so too were dozens and dozens of others who, in the midst of a gas shortage crisis, “needed” to top off their tanks.

Though I am still curious as to why just a few parts of the East Coast were affected by this shortage, I’m just happy it’s done and over with.  Just a few weeks ago, Charlotte made national use by providing the most expensive gas in the entire United States at the time.  Gas has not run out since early this month and gas prices are plumeting faster than I’ve ever witnessed.  I went for a drive late last night, and I was pleased to see the price of regular unleaded gaoline at just $2.86.  We can only hope it decreases further, or at least stay where it’s at.

Over the last two months, I’ve had absolutely no free time at all to sit down and type articles for my news blog, but now I feel I finally can find the time to redeem myself.

With time, I feel Tristition will make a strong comeback.  Tell all your friends about my blog, flood your favorite blogs or forums with links to your favorite posts, and check back daily for new articles!

I don’t get paid to publish my college-level articles on this website.  I rely on ad revenue to pay for server upkeep and hardware expenses.  If you ever come across an ad that interests you, clicking it will help cover some of those rising costs.

At the DreamHack computer festival held in Jönköping, Sweden this week, Ubisoft Montreal demonstrated over 20 minutes of Far Cry 2 gameplay, a first-person shooter for the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 that is set to be released in retail stores in the Fall of 2008.

The setting has relocated from a tropical island to Africa.  The new “fully open world” is said to be 50 square kilometers, bigger than even Oblivion.

With the added wind system, even trees sway slightly from side to side.

There are a total of nine available characters to play as in the game.

Louis-Pierre Pharand of Ubisoft who demonstrated the Crysis-killer claims that Far Cry 2’s graphics are “pixel perfect.”

Alliances can be formed with the remaining eight characters, Ubisoft refers to them as “buddies.”

1 minute of gameplay is equal to 5 minutes of real time.  This clock can even be fast forwarded to allow the player to carry out their missions in night or day.

The ‘Intelligent Roadside System’ marks in red the roads that need to be taken to move forward through a mission, but as Pharand explains it, “You don’t have to follow them, it’s an open world; you do the fuck you want!”

Landmarks such as vehicles and towers can be easily marked on your map by using the binoculars.

About half-way into the demo, Windows reported that the game crashed, believe it or not.  Pharand calms the audience by reassuring them that “shit happens.”

Over 30 weapons are offered in the succession to the Original Farcry which can also jam, just as in real life.

Players can transition among three different environments including jungles, the savanna, and the desert.

Ubisoft estimates at least 50 hours of total gameplay to complete over 100 missions, not counting the time the player can take to locate diamonds in the open world that can be traded for improved weapons.

The rumored JC Penny commercial at hand shows two teens training to ’speed dress’ in order to get away with having sex in the basement in the event that the girl’s mother pops in to check on things.

JC Penney’s chief marketing officer told the Wall Street Journal, “It’s obviously inappropriate and nothing we would ever condone. We’re very disappointed that our logo and brand position were used in that way.”

But this isn’t the first of JC Penney’s commercials that have sparked controversy. Epoch Films directed a commercial in which a mother awoken to what unsuspecting viewers thought was some sort of evacuation or terrorist attack. The mother then wakes up her girls to flee her house. After repeated questions from her children as to what was going on, the mother told them in a panic, “We’re going to the After-Thanksgiving JC Penney Sale.”

In an interview with Fox’s Sean Hannity, Senator John McCain commented on how it felt to be a prisoner of war.  John McCain replied that he “didn’t love America.”

From Fox Attacks:

HANNITY: You spent two years of this five-and-a-half-year period in solitary confinement. What does that do to a person, to spend that much time in solitary confinement?

MCCAIN: I think it makes you a better person. Obviously, it makes you love America. I really didn’t love America until I was deprived of her company.

Fox News must have saw this as something that could harm McCain’s campaign, so they did what any conservative news channel would and censored the Senator’s comments on their website in the transcript of his interview.

Is it just me, or is everything John McCain says on Fox News altered to mold him into what Fox feels is the ideal candidate for president? I predict that even after (and if) Barack Obama wins the presidential election, Fox News will continue to smite him and boast of the “abilities” of John McCain.

On June 25th, the flying giant American Airlines will unveil their new WiFi service in one unspecified round-trip flight.

The new in-flight WiFi service is set to be powered by Aircell.  The service will be free to fliers during the test run, but is projected to cost $12.95 for trips lasting longer than three hours and $9.95 for flights under three.

AA will employ the use of Gogo to “prioritize the flow of data so that passengers downloading movies or large documents won’t prevent other passengers from getting their email.”  This system will make it so that connected users downloading large files won’t bog the entire network and take away from those users performing small tasks, such as sending an email.

More test flights making use of the new in-flight wireless network are also planned, however specific flights have not been announced.

Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol told Fox News Sunday that President George W. Bush is more likely to bomb Iran if he begins to feel that Senator Barack Obama will win the 2008 presidential election.

According to the Huffington Post:

However, “if the president thought John McCain was going to be the next president, he would think it more appropriate to let the next president make that decision than do it on his way out,” Kristol said, reinforcing the fact that McCain is offering a third Bush term on Iran.

“I do wonder with Senator Obama, if President Bush thinks Senator Obama’s going to win, does he somehow think — does he worry that Obama won’t follow through on that policy,” Kristol added. Host Chris Wallace then asked if Kristol was suggesting that Bush might “launch a military strike” before or after the election.

When an unsuspecting employee tries to order some new hardware for his company’s Dell computer, the Dell technical support representative directed him to a phone sex hotline.  The support representative had accidentally “transposed two numbers”.

I always had a gut feeling that Dell had a dirty side. I guess the computer manufacturer decided that sex sells better than computers.

eScala, sometimes referred to as just Scala, is an electric string quartet band, and the best of its kind I’ve ever heard.  In 2008, they were featured on several episodes of Britain’s Got Talent broadcasted on British television.  I’d like to add that there have been few bands that have stood to bring tears to my eyes; eScala is one of the few.  Their songs are profound, powerful, and intense–so much so, they bring a deep level of emotion to classical music, with a modern, electric twist.

From eScala’s official website:

Victoria Lyon (Violin)

Victoria, a child prodigy in her day, is a highly gifted violinist. She graduated from The Royal College of Music in 2006. Victoria has toured with Simply Red and War Of The Worlds amongst others. Victoria has gained loads of experience in a very short space of time. Victoria loves all styles of music, including pop, rock, funk and classical. She has recently performed with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra as well. As well as playing violin, Victoria enjoys sport and travelling.

Chantal Leverton (Viola)

Chantal studied at The Royal Academy of Music. She was recently invited to perform on solo viola in Dubai for the launch of the new Baldessarini Boutique and was featured in the Middle East OK Magazine. She has performed with major pop artists including Blue, Aled Jones and War of The Worlds. She has performed in world famous venues including The Royal Albert Hall, Birmingham Symphony Hall, Barbican and many more. She has many other interests including art, sport and film.

Nastasya Hodges (Cello)

Cellist Nastasya Hodges graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2004 and enjoys a diverse and exciting career spanning a whole range of musical styles. Trained as a classical musician, Tas has performed with the prestigious London Symphony Orchestra. She was also on the War of the Worlds tour in 2006 and recently she has recorded with the Arctic Monkeys. She has been a member of ‘The Heritage Orchestra’ recording their first album in Abbey Road which released on the 14th August 2006. She has performed at the Montreaux and the London Jazz festivals. Her passion is music and languages - she speaks four!

Izzy Johnston (Violin)

Izzy comes from a highly musical family and is one of the top young performers in the country. Having recently performed a solo performance at The Royal Albert Hall with her brother Magnus, Izzy Johnston has proved to be extremely talented in all areas of music. She has even been known to dabble in a bit of acting from time to time, one achievement standing out, where she was invited to South Africa to feature in a Persil Advertisement!