Well, the clever fellow claiming to be me has finally come out of the closet, so to speak. I won't bother printing his entire letter as he goes into insulting the site and whatnot, and with the present state of GWX and its utter mismanagement, I'm hardly in the mood to defend the travesty that this site has become. Suffice it to say that he is obviously quite pleased with his little ruse. One hand on the keyboard, the other in his pants, I'm sure. Here's a snippet of his rant:
John, you took the bait line and sinker with that one. I could've written more, maybe in two weeks, and I guarantee you would've used it as another article... I'm not sure what the point of 'Cooking with John is" other then to blatantly and incompletley hand out unrelated topics on your mind.
Will Walton
Will, after all this time, someone has hit the nail on the head and uncovered the mystery: there is no point to this column. I can't believe you figured it out, Will. I'm surprised it took so long. After all, I never let on that this was just a public forum for the ranting of myself and the readers, did I?
Let's see, I believe in the very first entry made on 12/9/02 I wrote:
Basically, this feature is a forum for me to say whatever the hell I want to say about whatever the hell I want to talk about...I'm also going to be including reader letters to some extent...The main difference is that letters covered here can be whatever you want to talk about; not necessarily gaming. Feel free to send in links, news tidbits, and scraps of info pertaining to whatever is on your mind or whatever you find interesting. I'll be sure to post anything that tickles my fancy.
I know that may be hard to understand, but I thought I made it fairly clear and have been reiterating that point nearly each week for the past year and change.
Well, you evil genius you, I guess you've worked your way into yet another CWJ entry. Diabolical, considering I print every letter I receive.
I know I shouldn't be wasting my time with this clown, but the superiority complex that the anonymous internet provides never ceases to amuse me. Have fun lording over the chat rooms and message boards, pal. You're no doubt my intellectual superior. Congratulations.
Hi. I have searched all over my island to find DDmax2! It is always 'sold out' or ' we don't have it'. I first seen it into my brothers game book. I love dance machines and when i heard you can get it on playstation2 I've been calling every game store I can think of. I can't find it here in newfoundland (were I live) but I was wondering if you had a # from Canada or even the states where I could find one of those games. I live in canada so it would be easier for me to order one from there but I would LOVE if you could give me a #of a store that carries DDmax2 from either Canada or America.
Much appreciated, Anonymous
Well, Anonymous, might I suggest National Console Support? They usually have just about everything I need. For your coveted DDR Max 2, click here.
Well, it seems that I've written myself a letter again. Isn't the anonymity of the form letter below beautiful?
Your Name: John Luedtke E-mail Address: john@gamingworldx
Your letter: Well, since I watch Homestarrunner stuff, I don't really really have my own freedom of opinion anymore. I can't even come to a decisive conclusion about my own feelings about Nader coming into the election.
Maybe if I thought about what I was writing for once. Hmmm, It seems like he joined because Bush and Kerry are too similar and he is an extreme. The only problem is, now the votes for the democrats are going to be split, while Bush will have full votes.
Wow, now that I think about it, it sounds familiar.
Well, John, disregarding the jibberish of your first paragraph for just a moment, I'm not sure that Kerry and Bush really are all that similar. Sure, they're similar in that they're both politicians, which almost by definition means they're corrupt whores who suck millions of dollars of campaign "contributions" (payoffs) from special interests and corporations. However, how similar are their politics, really? I'm too lazy to go on a fact-finding mission for "myself", but I'm not convinced they are all that similar.
Will the democratic - or liberal - vote be split? Only time will tell, but I don't tend to think so. It seems that many who vehemently opposed Bush but voted for Nader may not take that risk this time based largely upon what happened in Florida.
But again, I'm no political analyst. These are just my own assertations. Thanks for writing, John. You're a clever fellow, though not nearly as clever as you used to be.
Mike also would like to talk Nader:
Ralph Nader? I think he's a great guy, and I would love to vote for him, and he's the perfect example of why the two party system is outdated. But... Bush needs to go. I really liked Howard Dean, and I wish he would have won, but at this point I will vote for any Democrat, even Al Sharpton, just to get Bush out. Sorry Ralph.
On a related note, though off topic, why does no one hold Bush or his administration accountable? Clinton got impeached by the House for getting a blow job and lying about it, but Bush? Nothing? At the very least the Iraq farce is enough. Grrrrrrrr, he makes me so mad. This is why you don't talk about politics right?
Let me just add as a last point, everyone vote Democratic this year. The may be the lesser of two evils, but at this point the future of America is at stake. If Bush win another term in office America as we know it is over. If you don't believe that I can give you any number of reasons, but I'll stop for now.
Mike's first paragraph pretty much illustrates the point I was trying to make. Those who oppose Bush and lean towards Nader will probably vote for Kerry "just to be safe".
Regarding your second paragraph, Mike, I share the same feelings as you there. Not to get too heavy handed in my politics, a year ago we were told that Saddam was an imminent threat to the U.S. and had enough WMDs to really mess with us and the world. A year later, we get an "Oops! We were wrong! But hey, he was a bad guy that needed to be taken out, so let us off the hook." Sorry Dubya, I'm not buying it. We look like vigilante warmongers to most of the world and I feel like the country needs to make a statement to the world by electing somebody else the next time around.
My two cents.
Last time, we read a letter from Brian and I made an off-the-cuff remark about his email address. Apparently he took offense:
I made this e-mail address a long time ago...and actually I don't really think Blink 182 is that bad (many punk fans in the forums hate them, and they have every right to). I don't really listen to them much anymore but they're fun to listen to. Green Day is my favorite band ever... to say the least. I like AFI almost as much as Green Day, but like I said, this e-mail address is old and known so I keep on using it. I listen to a lot more bands that are more underground now. Anyway... see ya.
I didn't mean to piss you off, man. My problem with bands like Blink 182 and other so called "punk" bands, is that they take the rebellious spirit right out of punk. I mean, I saw Blink 182 on the cover of Cosmo Girl, for Christ's sake. Right now, Sid Vicious is rolling over in his grave. And every time I hear a song from one of those groups, all I hear is the soundtrack to the next episode of The OC. All bubblegum nursery rhymes and no anger or substance.
But hey, whatever does it for you.
I kind of went off on Comcast the other day. Alessandro can relate:
Ciao John, i smiled bitterly while reading your Comcast incident, because i've endured a similiar experience with my ISP.
Seems like 10.000 miles of distance don't divide assholes between the US and Italy.
I upgraded my phone line last june, but i had to wait almost three months just for the "cable guy" to come and install the new hardware, only to watch the idiot go away "because my phone setup ain't supported". Obviously, it was him that wasn't supported by a brain. Another two months of waiting, and my new line finally was on.
Rather than monopoly, i'd put the blame on ineptitude: we've got (in Italy) a choice of 5-6 isp's, and they all suck miserably.
Keep on cooking aleZ
Alez, I wouldn't have minded so much if I would have had a choice. Unfortunately, in my location it's their way or the highway. Luckily, my internet and cable is up and running and life is back to normal.
Now to the subject of today's entry. I was flipping through the channels last night and noticed that every major news station (CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, etc.) had wall-to-wall coverage of Mel Gibson's new flick. At first I was dumbfounded. Is it really that big of a story? A movie about Jesus? But then I thought of how sensitive religion is in this country. How one person's take on the crucifiction of Jesus has the potential to really stir the pot. I haven't seen the movie yet, but plan to in the coming days.
In the meantime, if you've seen the movie, or have thoughts about it, please write in and share your opinions. I wouldn't mind entertaining this subject for a bit.
And finally, I'd like to turn your attention to this story. Please read/watch it and bow your head for this poor guy. Not only was he humiliated in front of 15,000+ people, but now his story is all over the world for everyone to see.
Ok, so from time to time I get a bit crazy. The stress of moving into a new house coupled with the most horrible customer service I have experienced in ages may have sent me over the top.
One of you clever readers has sent me a letter from myself:
Your Name:: John Luedtke
E-mail Address: john@gamingworldx
Your letter: I'm over reacting!
Ok, so maybe I did overreact a tad. But the only thing that frustrates me as much as faulty technology is faulty customer service.
Brian (who apparently likes psuedo punk bands, judging from his "GreenBlinkNOFX" email address) writes:
I have Comcast too... but I've never had any problems with them. As a matter of fact, Comcast is now one of the faster cable internet services around (depending on your location). I heard that they have crappy customer support though. Are you sure you can't get DSL service where you live? It sounds like your local Comcast is pretty shitty... good luck. Brian
Well Brian, the latest in this story is after another 45 minute romp with the customer support line, I finally have internet access at home. My biggest complaint here is that with that other company that I had for nearly six years, I never had a single problem. I've been with Comcast for less than 24 hours and they've sent me into fits of rage.
I'd also like to know what you guys think of Ralph Nader. He's announced his candidacy for this year's presidential election and I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. Let me say that I think he's a hell of a guy and probably the most respectable of all the candidates, but I haven't quite figured out why he's running; even after reading this. So please write in with your thoughts. Maybe - if only for a moment - we can turn the conversation away from my hysterical temper tantrums and towards something of a bit more meaning. And in the meantime, I'll try to find some ritalin.
Anyone looking for an example of how monopolies and limited choices is a bad idea need look no further than our cable/internet options. When moving this last week, I learned that our only option for cable and high speed internet was Comcast, the mega corporation, which has made recent headlines for attempting a hostile takeover of Disney.
At 4:30, our cable guy "Herman" [Name changed to protect the stupid] showed up. He then spent the next two hours complaining about having to be there and how much of a pain in the ass his job was. After tracking mud throughout our new house and leaving yards of cable wire draped from one end of each room to the other, he went on his merry little way, without setting up the internet and telling me that the fuzziness of the cable television picture was the fault of my brand new 36" Toshiba television.
My first objective was to get the internet up and running so I could do some freaking work. Three hours and two calls to Comcast customer "service" later, still no internet. Their solution: call tomorrow if it still doesn't work.
Objective two: attempt to watch television on my fuzzy TV. No luck. The thing was unwatchable, forcing me to make yet another call to Comcast customer "service". Their solution: unplug it and plug it back in again. When that didn't work, they assumed I was an idiot who obviously didn't know how to operate a television set, although I had used Time Warner Cable for six years in my prior house without a single issue. So because I'm too stupid to use a television, they're sending another highly skilled Comcast cable guy to show me the ins and outs of operating a remote control.
What's my only other option? Go without. Who needs options when an enormous corporate conglomerate will gladly force their pulsing purple rod of ineptitude straight up my ass and do it all with a smile knowing that it's their way or the highway?
