It's more than a feeling

As per usual, the weekend ruled. It was very eventful, and I had a lot of fun. Similar to last weekend, instead of going into storytelling mode (which seemingly ends up making it sound pretty boring) I'm going to give a Cliff's Notes version, followed up by expanding a bit on some subjects. So why did this weekend rule?

• Battlestar Galactica rocked
• Red Robin - predictably delicious, but I don't know why
• Pool at Anchorage Billiards Palace
• Breakfast with parents at Snow City
• Playing basketball with Colver
• Finishing two books
• Best Pad Thai ever - made by yours truly
• Tons and tons of food at McGinley's
• The crazy run down the corridor from Bernie's to Sub Zero with Jason and Jon
• Dancing like an idiot at Platinum Jaxx
• Slow Mo Rollers
• McDonalds at 3 am
• Proof that I will not in fact collapse into an insular shell when Amy moves

Now THAT is a bulleted list! 13 bullets, how about that? It was a great weekend, and those are just the base details. Now one thing is missing from that, and that was one of the best two hour rock sessions in the history of Rock Band. Given that we were missing our lead singer Amy and that we had an overabundance of people (in the rock rotation were myself, Jon, Jason, Hannah, and Julie), the whole situation was set up to be a failure of rock. The odds on us properly managing the situation with no one getting bored and everyone having maximum fun was definitely on the low side.

Jon on guitar, Jason on drums and vocals (mic hanging like a boxing announcer), myself on bass

However, we proved once again that we are in fact supreme rock gods, as we took the difficulties the situation provided and ran with them. We innovated, as instead of having set positions throughout the night, everyone was alternating. I played drums, bass, guitar and sang, - and well! I beat two songs on hard on drums, which isn't bad because I never play them. We tried three person bands - with Jason singing and drumming on "Say It Ain't So" by Weezer and myself playing lead guitar and doing vocals on "Sabotage" by Beastie Boys (over 90% on guitar AND vocals, with the levels being expert and medium respectively). Plus, Hannah totally rocked the vocals with a rousing rendition of "El Scorcho" by Weezer - Rivers Cuomo, eat your heart out.

Myself rocking the guitar and vocals on "Sabotage"

On top of that, we went on Xbox Live and challenged people to rock offs, with Jason and myself taking wins on drums and guitar respectively, although Jon lost his matchups as I believe he may have been playing Slash and Eddie Van Halen on Xbox Live. We represented our current band (the Rusty Doorknobs) very well online though, as we rocked very hard.

Rock Band is really an abnormal video game. It's the type of game that is massively entertaining for everyone, and it is pretty much the best way to prepare for a great night on the town. Who doesn't want to go out feeling like a rock star, really? It's a great sensation, and last night it worked incredibly well as it put everyone in a great mood - during an especially tight performance of Boston's classic "More than a Feeling" you could literally feel the mood, it was as if there was a buzz in the air from the fun generated by this game. Afterwards, I looked around grinning, and then someone chimed in with "man, this is going to be a good night."

It was, and I can at least partially thank the geniuses at Harmonix for that. I think at this point I can safely say that Rock Band is one of my favorite games ever, and I'm sure there are a few people who were playing last night that would certainly agree with me on that.