The Busy Time of Year

This is always the most difficult time of the year for me to blog. It is extremely busy at my day job so I don't feel like doing anything worthwhile when I get home at night. The video game playing starts to dwindle as does the jdorama watching and everything else. I end up sitting around in front of the television zoning out like some sort of zombie. Hopefully this will only last another couple of weeks then we can get back to normal. Maybe I'll find some interesting television show or movie to write about. Until then, please forgive the lack of updates. We'll be back on schedule as soon as possible.

Music review: BoA - Searching For Truth

Artist: BoAAlbum: Shine We Are! Release date: 12/4/03

Lyrics: * Show me angel, Where are you? (Right) Show me angel, Where are you? (Here) Show me angel, Where are you callin' from? (Waiting for you)

* repeat

Sarang hahn da neun ma leun Noo goo la do sohk sak ee gaet ji mahn Mal ha neun guht mahn eu rohn ma eum ee juhn hae jyuh o ji ah nah Bah la mahn bo ki bo dan nuh ei moh deen gul neu kki go shi puh Nae ga bah lan ee saeng gak dee leun nae yohk shim in ga yo

So eul nae mil uh bwah do da ji ah nah yo Geu juh geu gae kkum il ji la do Na ei sahng eun dan hahn buhn ppoon il tahn ni Na reul ki da ri neun gun Ah peum ee duh la do doo ryuh wuh mal go Ji geum ei neu kkim eul ah nah bo go shi puh yo

** Searching for truth Geu dae neun ji geum uh de ae ees na yo nal bo na yo Searching for truth Geu dae reul whi hae sae sahng ae tae uh na jyo

* repeat

Mahn nam gwah ee byul deel ee Nae gae o buhn ee na ji na ga ya Na reul whi hahn oon myung ei geu dae reul Mahn nal soo ees neun gun ji Cho buhn ei mi soh deel gwah Ddo neun geu ee sahng ei noon moor deel ee Bi rohk nae gae neun ah peum ee la do ki da ril soo ees jyo

Ji geum geu dae reul hyang hae dahl ri go ees jyo Sul reh ee myuh buhk chah o reu neun Na ei ma eum eul neu kkil soo ees na yo Bi rohk kkum eul kkoo deus ee Hwan sahng il ji la do mid go shi puh yo Na ae gae geu dae ga da ga o go ees da go

Searching for truth soom gyuh jin bi mil Juh hyuh jin nal gae neun nae mahm sohk ae Geu dae ga ees jyo bah ro nae kyu tae Ji geum nan ahl soo ees jyo

** repeat

Searching for truth Shin bi hahn bi mil Juh hyuh jin nal gae neun nae mahm sohk ae Searching for truth Geu dae neun ji geum nae nal gae ga dwi uht jyo

Livin\' inside of my heart

* repeat * repeat About the song: This is one of BoA's Korean songs. (She sings in Japanese, Korean and English.) To me, a lot of her songs sound the same. This isn't any different. Don't get me wrong, it's a decent enough song. BoA's voice is strong, as always, and the music rocks. It just sounds like the rest of her songs. I usually end up picking a couple of BoA songs to listen to and this one doesn't make that list.

Game review: Christmasville

Christmasville is another hidden object game on Big Fish Games. The game plays a lot like Paparazzi, except you aren't using a camera. Santa Claus is missing so a Yeti (or Abominable Snowman) comes to you, an ace detective, for help. It is your job to find objects and interview suspects in order to track down the missing Santa before Christmas. Not only will you talk to the Yeti, you'll also talk to an elf, a reindeer and a snowman, among others.

This wasn't a bad game. I played it with my five-year old daughter and we had a lot of fun. There were a couple of mini-games that she had trouble with but that was where I could step in. She pretty much handled the rest of the game on her own. I think the Christmas theme really got her into the game too. So while an adult might find this on the boring side since there isn't a whole lot to differentiate it from any other hidden object game, the kids will enjoy trying to find Santa.

Game review: Mystery in London

When I first read about Mystery in London, I thought it was just another hidden object game. However, it is much better than your typical hidden object game. Instead of just having one screen per location to find your list of objects, the location has multiple screens, giving you a 360 degree view of the room. Of course, this makes the game a little more difficult as you have to remember to look up and down in the room as well as all around you. But if all hidden object games were the same, it would be boring, right?

Hotel Reservations

The holidays are always a time for traveling. While it may be cheaper to stay with family members, it's not always the most comfortable situation. Then you have the problem of trying to make Hotel Reservations that aren't going to cost you an arm and a leg. Luckily, you can compare hotel rates at HotelReservations.com. I love being able to check out a bunch of hotels at once. It saves me a ton of time and everyone could use some good time-savers! This post is sponsored

Game review: Fairway Solitaire

With the weather getting colder around here, I've been dreaming of warmer weather as I wrap myself in a blanket to play some games. Fairway Solitaire is a golf-themed card game, which isn't really solitaire. The goal of the game is to empty the spread by choosing cards one higher or lower than the card on top of the discard deck. For example, if a 5 is on the discard deck, you can play either a 4 or a 6 from the spread in front of you. If you don't have either of those, you will need to flip another card from the hidden deck onto the discard pile. When the spread has cleared, you won but you don't necessarily need to clear the spread in order to pass the level. That depends on how many points you rack up clearing cards.

That sounds really difficult, doesn't it? It's not though. It's not a particularly interesting game either. The golf aspect makes it a little different but it's still basically counting. I found myself getting aggravated when I'd get a bunch of cards in the discard pile that I couldn't play on. Then I couldn't clear the spread because the cards I needed wouldn't show up! It's a good game for when you're really bored and you're tired of playing regular solitaire. Otherwise, you're likely to get bored rather quickly.

Game review: Home Sweet Home

Earlier this month, I talked about a fashion designer game. Well, now there is an interior decorating game called Home Sweet Home. As a brand new decorator, it is your job to design the client's room while keeping their tastes in mind. This game is a lot more open-ended than Fashion Fits! was. Here you only get a few hints about your client's tastes and the rest is up to you. You pick out all of the furniture and accessories for the room. There is a happiness meter that you need to fill in order to keep your client happy but otherwise, as long as you stay within your budget, it's all up to you.

I found the game to be very fun. A lot of time management games get boring because they tell you exactly what to do. Exactly what shirt the customer wants, exactly what color, exactly everything. This opens it up to your imagination. You even get your own house to decorate however you want. If you enjoy decorating, this game is definitely for you.

America's Most Smartest Model - THE FINALE!

There were some extremely high winds in my area of the US yesterday. They ended up knocking out the power to the building where the server for The Geek Within lives. I apologize that the site was down and I hope the storm has passed so I don't have to worry about it anymore. Now onto the good stuff! When we last saw our contestants - Andre and VJ - the boys were informed that they would have to make PowerPoint presentations explaining why they should be America's Most Smartest Model. The preview for this week's episode showed Andre with a little something hidden up his sleeve. But first we start off seeing VJ diligently plugging away on his presentation with the expert he was given. Then we switch over to Andre. The idea he had was brilliant. Since Andre doesn't speak English very well and knew that he couldn't beat VJ in a presentation, he called up ex-contestant Pickle to present for him. It definitely was a stroke of genius.

For their presentations, VJ did very well. I now believe that he would make a very good con artist. He looks good and he knows how to spew complete crap without cracking. Pickle did very well speaking for Andre but then Andre made the mistake of opening his big mouth. He said something along the lines of "gay, black, white or fat....those things you can change." I simply shook my head and wondered why he didn't stick with shutting up. He pretty much ruined Pickle's entire speech in one sentence.

Ben Stein and Mary Alice Stephenson each brought in two guest judges to help them choose. The two smart judges liked VJ but preferred Andre. One of the fashion judges preferred Andre and one preferred VJ. So they brought the boys back out to do a sort of debate, where Andre screwed up again. He can't seem to focus on anything beyond VJ cheating. Ironically, VJ thought Andre was a coward for bringing out Pickle to speak for him.

When it came down to it, Ben and Mary Alice chose VJ as America's Most Smartest Model. I disagree with their decision but it wasn't a surprise to me. It was obvious from the beginning that Mary Alice liked VJ the most and that Ben had very little say in many of the decisions. I do believe that VJ cheated every step of the way. It's not "thinking outside the box" to call up your friend to do research for you since you don't have the ability to do the research yourself. It's not "creative" to copy the exact poses that your competition does just because they make it look good. And I really think the judges made a bad choice.