I just took a poop so huge I'm pretty sure my bathroom smells like France.

That is all.

I would like to have a wonderful excuse set up for as to why I haven't drawn anything in a week. I'm not going to lie to you: I have an excellent one. You see, about a week ago I had learned that the meteor that had killed the dinosaurs was not a meteor, but in fact an ancient and terrible Dark God, Cher'Guul, brother-god to Shub-Niggurath, mother of a thousand and one abominations.

It seems that an ancient race lived on Earth, and was quite expansive. They used the dinosaurs to help run the tools. In fact, the Brontosaurus could have well been the first animal mas-produced for meat, IE, Brontoburgers. When Cher'Guul landed, he destroyed any and all traces of their ancient civilization, save one.

When humanity was but a savage species, one of them found a device. That simple device was simply instructions on how to farm and cultivate the land for our own need. That simple act lead to the eventual rise of civilization as we know it.

Long story short, the nuclear explosions from WWII stirred Cher'Guul, and I was the only one to stop him. THAT, my friends, is why I haven't drawn anything in a week. It certainly isn't because I'm lazy and I've been playing KOTOR.

I know today is when Metal Gear Solid 4 came out, but seeing as how I'm a game and a half behind, I haven't picked it up yet, and I won't pick it up until I beat 2 and 3. What I have picked up that is revolving around the number four, however, is the Edition of Dungeons and Dragons.

Overall, I like Fourth Edition. I especially like the way the books have been put together, it seems much more organized, although I always thought the way the books for 3 and 3.5e were a cluttered mess. The fact that they include epic rules is a nice inclusion. However, I do have a few general complaints.

First off, the offing of some pretty core classes until next year, when Player's Handbook II comes out. There is zero, absolutely zero, reason to not include the Barbarian, Sorcerer, Bard, Monk, and Druid in the book. It's rediculous, and those are some of the best classes... except for maybe Bard. These exclusions, these pointless cuts, are just a money grubbing ploy in my eye. While I do like the fact they're spreading the classes out, it's an outrage that they don't have the Sorcerer and Druids in, as they have been around since 1e.

Second off, the simplification. Now, I'm all for D&D being simplified. It needed it, and badly. My group was so used to playing such a complex RPG that when we had decided to start playing a game of Vampire: The Masquerade, we were dumbfounded at how simple the rules were. We simply could not figure the tiny beast out, for we were so used to so many more complicated procedures. However, the hulking behemoth that is D&D has been TOO simplified.

The spell list is virtually nonexsistant, instead you are given lists of at will, encounter, and daily powers. While you are constantly swapping them out and you no longer have a super long list, it severely limits your choices outside of battle. This I don't like, as it seems to make the game more focused towards hack-and-slashers, and part of the D&D experience has always been about every aspect of the game, and not just the battles.

On the plus side, Paladins no longer have to be Lawful Good, so thumbs up to that.

In one week, the fourth edition of Dungeons and Dragons is released, and the world shall know weather it is made or broken. Until very, very recently, from what I was hearing, the game had been made too simple. Too easy. Too mundane. That some of the very aspects and staples of D&D were being ripped away from it's grand release, only to be held back, forced to wait in a dark and lonely place while fans make horrible, fan-based rules for them in the meantime. To not include the Monk in the first Player's Handbook of the series is madness, so imagine what it would be not to include the Sorcerer.

At first I shunned this Edition, for it's simplicity, for it's failure to deliver, for it's rather blase take on the most popular Pencil and Paper RPG in the world. However, I have recently seen a post by Gabe of Penny Arcade. He, Tycho, and Kris Straub from PVP all sat down with one of Wizard's R&D people and played a game. They recorded it, and are releasing parts of their sessions in weekly podcasts. When I heard them play, a veteran, an amateur, and a total newbie, all catching onto the game fast, having fun, and learning of the new rules together, I took it upon myself to read more about this new Edition that I am to learn. I must say, I am quite pleased at how some things are looking.

One of my favorite things about D&D is character creation. No two characters are truly the same. You have limitless possibilities on what to do, how to do it, and why you should do it. Evil Clerics, Good Warlocks, a Sorcerer looking to obtain true apathy, it's amazing. They have added two new races, both of which look awesome and fun to play. There are the Dragonborn, who seem to make quite the good tank, and there are the Tiefling, who have replaced the Gnomes (who are now a monster class) as the pure spellcast it seems. Both have amazing racial abilities on paper, and now there is not a single race I would NOT consider playing. I had always felt that Gnomes were a little on the weak side, and I'm glad to see that Tieflings are an excellent replacement.

I have already pre-ordered my core rulebooks, and I hope to roll something within the next ten days.

Speaking of which, me and Kuberr are going to play a game of D&D with modern elements soon, so hopefully some comics will come of it. I'm going to go full steam ahead with my weaker variant of the Illithid race, as I am a complete and total Lovecraft whore.

In a time where music is an expensive hobby, even as a fleeting pass time to just listen to, it is no wonder that so many people illegally download it. At it's cheapest, an album is $9.99 on the internet, and even more for a hard CD. I am one of those hippie people, who say music is an art form, and like all art, should be enjoyed free, or at least cheap. A dollar for a single song is not cheap, my friends. Far from it. It is highway robbery, much like the outrageous price for a movie ticket. Even at a cheap, bad quality theater, a movie will run you Five-Fifty for a matinee, before snacks. Art should be enjoyed free of cost, or at least at an affordable price.

While I am a heavy supporter of the "Music should be free" movement, there is a band who has gotten, and will continue to get, my money for their excellent rocking. I am talking of the Protomen , and as their name suggests, they are a band who have something to do with the Megaman games of old. Games which we, the gamers, filled with our childhood, countless afternoons spent yelling at the TV Screen because we can't get the pattern of that damn Yellow Demon down. This, however, is not a simple cover band, remaking Megaman music with guitars, drums, and synth machines like so many countless other bands. Oh no, they are of a higher caliber. They are a rock opera band.

They have the best re-imagined story to the Megaman games I've ever seen... excuse me, heard. Take a listen to the Flash song in the entrance to their actual site, and realize that is the worst song on the album. No, I'm not shitting you, every passing song gets better and better, music, story, and lyrics wise. It is an album worth buying, and I do not say that about many albums. As a person who enjoys a good play now and again, I know that act I is always the weakest and slowest paced act, and as such, the next two albums should not only knock my socks off, but shred them to a fine powder. Act II is, from what I gathered, supposed to come out either late this year or early next year, and you can bet that I will be buying that faster then a fat kid buys a Snickers bar.

In other news, I have been playing quite a bit of Bioshock lately. I have made several attempts to explore the underwater city of Rapture, only to be pulled away by the lure of other games, the most recent of which was Okami (not the Wii version, the PS2 version which had been sitting on my shelf for months without having been beaten yet). Well, I am now done with the majority of the game, and it is quite excellent. I would not say it was the best game of 2007, however it was still deserving of the nomination. This is saying quite alot, as oddly enough, 2007 was quite a good year for games. However, back to the matter at hand, I can not bring myself to kill the Little Sisters in the game. These girls are not only still children, not even being thought of being visited by the puberty fairy for another few years, but they are cursed. To kill them would require only the most heartless of heartless monsters, and while I have made D&D characters who have committed patricide, enjoy torturing people for funsies, eating human flesh, and general fuckery, I am not so heartless as to murder a little girl who was forced to carry out a most heinous act. As such, I am sure to get the "good" ending, as I think I only have five more to meet and I will not falter in my task of saving them.