Bionicle™ - BZPower News, Reference and Discussion

XP2000 joined BZPower on June 17th, 2006, and has racked up 1888 posts in that time. XP2000's interests include The Challenge - Well, I've decided to take up the challenge EW and Turakii are fighting in; create the longer profile. So, here goes.

The copying - Well, EW has a rather good format, so I thought I copy it. =P Thanks EW! ^^
TV - I enjoy comedies, which are the majority of what I watch. The Daily show and the Colbert report are both favourites. Letterman is another big one, but unless it's a comedian or someone I've heard of, I usually leave for the interviews. Conan O'Brien is fun, and the fact it's on right after Letterman sometimes gets me to stay on for the interviews.

Now, to conserve space to list everything here, I'll be listing the rest of the shows here with a short description.

-Star Trek. Mother of all American Sci-fi.

-Doctor who. The British Star Trek. nuff' said.

-Futurama. It's a sci-fi comedy with both Star Trek and Star Wars references. Whats not to like? =/ Well, except for a few jokes and one or two episodes, but otherwise a great comedy.

-Family guy. There are a bunch of episodes that aren't very good, but enough good ones for me to watch it when nothing else is on.

-Everybody loves Raymond. It's over, but it's still great. Rob always manages to turn things from normal to laughably sad or shockingly funny. ^^

-Seinfeld. A fun little show. Kramer was by far one of the funniest. Too bad he's now considered racist...George's answering machine was great, as were the episodes with Kramer and Newman's harebrained schemes. ^^

-Monty Python. A British show I think was the inspiration for SNL. Great fun, especially the Spanish Inquisition and argument clinic skits. ^^

-SNL. American modern Monty Python. Nuff' said. There are a few jokes that don't roll over well, but most are entertaining, especially digital shorts. Next time your browsing the vid site the forums censor, search "The first person in the history of the world to dance". Before mods come in, it's completely clean, nothing inappropriate.

-You Bet Your Life. Groucho Marx of the Marx brothers hosts a comedic talk show. I couldn't ask for much better of a TV show to watch interviews on...

2,187 characters and EW's eying the prize pie. Not on my watch Star-warsian. =P

Film - I enjoy movies, though the cost of tickets compared to waiting for the DVD has become insane...plus Blu-ray, the now pretty much guaranteed winner of the Hi-def format wars, *Cheers as he's been a Blu-ray supporter all along yet didn't get a blu-ray player as karma would make HD-DVD win* can offer high-quality HD films, especially on a 52-inch 1080P LCD TV. ^_^

-PotC. Great fun, especially with Jack. Best. Pirate. Ever. The first two were better than the final one, but I can't argue with the quality if and when I get the blu-ray version. =P

-Star Wars. King of Sci-fi films. The original trilogy destroys the prequels on most levels, and at least back then you knew almost everything was real. Still, they were good enough to warrant movie tickets.

-Harry Potter. Not as good as the books, but still a nice film series.

-National treasure. Entertaining series, wondering if there going to make a Trilogy out of it.

-Monty Python and the Holy Grail. What happens when you put the crazies in charge of Monty python in directing and acting positions for a budget-comedy. Knights who say Ni! were great, as was the holy hand grenade of Antioch. ^^

-The Marx Brothers films. They were by far the best group of Jewish comedian actors who were also brothers, though I think at the time that was a minority of only The Marx Brothers. Excellent musical comedies, they may be black & White, but you owe yourself a trip to see them.

Music - Not a big fan of Rap, but I like most other genres. Mainly a Rock guy. Don't like heavy metal and death metal though.

-The Beatles. If you like rock and don't like them, you auto-fail. Greatest. Rock. Band. Ever. To think that according to biographies, John George and Paul started out on mail-in offer guitars.

-John Lennon. Still had great stuff until Chapman took the shots. Favourites are "Give Peace a Chance", "Imagine" and "Working Class Hero".

-George Harrison. He played lead for The Beatles for a reason. Go to the vid site censored by the forums and listen to "What is Life", "Crackerbox Palace" and "All Those Years ago".

-Paul McCartney. The only remaining member of The Bealtes currently recording, which is why Ringo isn't here. Don't own any of his CD's(Last CD's I bought were Beatles, so I didn't get any of his stuff then), but I've heard him via radio and like what I've heard.

- And yes, I KNOW it's cheap to list The Beatles and right after them list all their band members for their solo careers.

-The Eagles. A nice little band. Not extremely well known, probably best-known song is "Hotel California".

-Lynyrd Skynyrd. Fun lyrics, great guitar music, and the Free Bird solo is penultimate. You CANNOT defeat that solo.

-Weird Al Yankovic. Like comedy and music of many genres? This guy is what you want. Plus the facts he wears kinky outfits onstage and is a complete nerd only adds to my like for him more.

-Rolling Stones. Great little British classic rock band. Fav songs would be "Gimme Shelter", "(I Can't Get No)Satisfaction", "Paint it, Black" and "Jumpin' Jack Flash". Still don't get how a tongue corresponds with a rolling stone...

-Green Day. Excellent alternative rock(Don't consider them punk,) band. Personal favourites are American I.diot and Wake Me Up When September Ends. Also the fact their only three helps keep my mind set that it doesn't matter that my band is short a member or two. Though we have two guitars, they have a guitar and a bass...

-Led Zeppelin. Like Deep Purple, pioneers of the hard rock genre. From gentle and soft on songs like "Since I've Been Lovin' You", to full-on hard rock teetering on other genres with songs such as "Communication Breakdown" and "Rock & Roll". Much like Queen, it was less a centered group, such as with The Beatles(vocals) and Lynyrd Skynyrd(guitars), it really couldn't happened with anyone other than the four in it who were in it though. Jimmy Page is easily the most famous member of it however.

-The All-American Rejects. You remember, the guys who wrote the 2006 Bionicle song, "Move Along"? Turns out a lot of their stuff is good.

-Linkin Park. Only heard a few songs via radio, but I like what I've heard.

-U2. Same story as Linkin Park.

-The Who. Fun old band from around the time of the rolling stones and the Beatles, plus some of the first artists to throw in comedy. Favourite songs are "I can see for miles" and "Pinball Wizard". Promise if I manage to make it big and have a lot of money, once I track it down, I'll give ya'll some pics of the SG Pete threw to the crowd at Woodstock(One of the few guitars of his to reach the audience in one piece).

-Alice Cooper. Only have one single(As Brian May said, still amazing these things still exist. iTunes is killing the single, which is a shame because I love those 1-to-4 track CD's. Great ways to try new artists. =( ), but I like what I have.

-Kaiser Chiefs. Same story as Alice Cooper.

-The Killers. Same as AC.

-Muse. Same story, I have a lot of musicians I like because of it actually.

-Eric Johnson. Not a bad thing, especially since it helps beat EW and Turakii, really sad their going away though.

-The Arrows. Really the only situation I can say the following with a straight face, besides their reluctance to have The Beatles.

-Guns N' Roses. DA** YOU iTUNES!

-Nena. Although it is a sweet music organization tool, and since I don't have time to do that, so I like it.

-Santana. By the way, did I mention I actually have singles from all these bands I've been having this conversation with and the ones after this one, plus I actually like sed bands?

-Scorpions. I'd end it here, but I have one more group before I get to groups/musicians I either have real albums of or listen to on the vid site the forums censor for a reason B6 PM'd me after I asked even though I still think that's a bit much.

-Foghat. There we go.

-Cream. Probably one of Clapton's best era's, during his time in the three-man supergroup with Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce, he recorded Blues-Rock classics like "Sunshine of Your Love", "Crossroads", "White Room" and "Badge". Also turns out with my current guitar stuff I can replicate his sound from then nearly exactly. ^^

-Queen. Shame Freddie Mercury died, he was an incredible singer. Nowhere as hear as good a guitarist as May though, probably a good thing he was the singer mainly. Speaking of Brian May, he rules. ^^ Plus his signature AC30 embodies something I agree with; "why the he** do amps have all these knobs with obscure meanings you need to either consult the manual of be a devotee to the company to know what they do? Even a gain knob isn't needed, especially if you have an effects unit, just give it one volume knob and be done with it". "I Want it All", "Killer Queen", "The Show Must Go on"Another one Bites the Dust", "Bohemian Rhapsody" and practically every song they wrote are full of win, go check them out. They are literally the worlds most successful band for a reason.

-Jimi Hendrix/Jimi Hendrix Experience. Broke barriers for psychedelia and blues-rock to be combined. Many say he was the first hard rock artist, I tend to agree. "Purple Haze", "Hey Joe" and "Are You Experienced?", the latter also being the album all three are on, are good songs, as was his interpretation of the American national anthem.

-Nickelback. One of the few modern groups I like, although not my fav, though I'd go see them if they were touring and stopped here. Good message in a hard-hitting form factor, plus they manage to have the lead guitar heard along with the rhythm guitar through some songs rather than the usual doubling up on rhythm except for select parts. Vocalist/rhythm guitars has a somewhat scratchy voice, but he does have good taste in guitars, and the voice kinda helps drive the message home IMO.

- AC/DC. Australia's musical pride, they created hard Rock for the genre it is today. Highway to He** and Back in Black are not only some of their best albums, but also some of their best songs.

- The Police. Unless you consider The Beatles pop rather than rock, these guys are probably tying Elton John for the title of the best of pop acts, and with pop music being how it is today, it doesn't seem they'll be losing that tie anytime soon.

- Elton John. Master of the ivory keys. Just when I thought a piano could only be rock-ified by Queen and The Beatles, Elton proved that incorrect. Do yourself a favour and at least get his song "Rocketman".

-Grateful Dead. Excellent lighthearted band. Fun to listen to when tense or sleepy.

-The Ramones. The original punk band. Not a huge fan, but they have some listen-worthy songs.

-Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble. Guys like Muddy Waters and BB King invented blues and electric blues in the 40's and 50's Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and the many groups they were in invented blues-rock in the 60's. Blues took a bad hit in the 70's where it fell in favour of hard rock and hair metal, the latter of which is a genre I despise. Then Stevie came along and revived the blues in the 80's. Sadly he died in a plane crash in 1990. R.I.P SRV.

-Eric Clapton. Called god for a reason. He's not a technique-centric guitarist like people such as Steve Vai and Joe Satriani, but he's very soulful; could probably write an emotional song that uses one note. A legend for a good reason.

-Deep Purple. One of hard rock's pioneers, and a good thing too; Jon Lord is an incredibly keyboardist, and Ritchie Blackmore's guitar playing is underrated on it.

-The Doors. Personally I think their the best US band of the 1960's. It's truly a shame Jim Morrison died so early-on into his career.

-Tom Petty and the heartbreakers. I really had never heard of them until the SuperBowl. Turns out I had heard their stuff on the radio, but it was one of those tracks where it's the middle song of three so the DJ doesn't tell you what song it is. Turns out I had liked them but never knew it. Weird, eh?

-The Capitol Steps. GREAT Political satire band. Live shows are always fun. ^^

-Then there are the unknown Japanese people who put together the JRock, JPop and synthesizer music I listen to.

12,367 characters. I WILL defeat you AND Turakii EW. =P

Guitar - I play, and am personally either a PRS, SG or telecaster man. I'm currently attempting to assemble a new blues-rock/hard rock band after beign kicked out of my old one.

Art - Well, my tablet fell out of my laptop case and took a painful fall down a set of steep metal stairs, opening and spewing computer bits, so I've kinda been hunting for a new one. >< Any recommendations would be appreciated. =)

Foodstuffs - I'll eat almost anything Italian or Mexican. American cuisine isn't really very healthy(Or tasty IMO), so I usually go out of my homeland for food.

Tech - I am a tech guy. Give me a laptop from a major brand, I could probably give you it's base configuration. MP3 players I'm not as wise about. In a few words: Get an iPod Classic or Touch. If you ever get a Mac it's compatible, you can get up to 160GB on the Classic, and the touch has Multi-touch and interwebs, plus a 32GB capacity made from flash memory. Nuff' said.

RPGs - I am an active RPer in both real life and BZP. DnD, D20 modern, you name it, I may have played it.

New Yorker - Indeed I am Jewish. =P Please, don't send me any PM's or leave comments trying to convert me, criticize me for my ethnicity, as they'll be deleted as soon as an admin sees them to have reason to administer punishment. I respect you may not be American, but I am, and as it says in the constitution, I am free to practice whatever religion I want however I feel.

Also, as I seem to, so far as I know, be BZP's only Jewish member, I'd like to claim the title of BZP's official crazy, bagel-affciciando, Jewish-humour spreading, wise-racking, advice giving Jewish guy, And yes, I have no problem with anyone making Jew jokes, contrary to how some other Jewish folks feel. Just don't go to extremes.

Gaming - Yes, I game. And I pawn. =P

-Star Wars. Quite possibly a rarity, a film saga who's games don't suck.

-Guitar Hero. Best Rhythm game. DDR is just too embarrassing. >< Still, I wish it was more realistic...a LP controller has 5 usable frets. A real LP has 22 frets and six strings. Just hurry up and put out the Beatles theme game just like you plan to with Aerosmith and I'll shut up about the non-realistic controller. Also, continue putting songs I really like such as "More Than a Feeling", "Killer Queen" and "Crossroads" on the DS versions, and make sure to have good character customization on Guitar Hero IV! ^^

-Classic games. I enjoy them. Some are bad, but who can say honestly that they hate Pac-man? =?

-Metroid. Nothing compares to Halo, but it's as close as Nintendo fanboys get...and others who don't have a 360. T_T

-LoZ. Fighting with Final Fantasy for best RPG series. Twilight princess looks beautiful, but the gameplay in Ocarina of time is by far the best in the series...just give it a wiimote version...

-Final Fantasy. Square Enix's LoZ. VII rocked, sadly though the PS3 vid was only presentational. =(

-Custom Robo. Short storyline, but the multiplayer rocks. Gamecube version wasn't very good if you didn't have anyone to play, but the DS version fixed that with online. ^^

-Mario Kart. Excellent racing series.

-Rise of Nations. One of the greatest RTSG's ever.

-Rock Band. I don't own it, but I've played it, and I'd like to take a moment to say it's awesome, and I will go to the Harmonix building and take hostages if the Wii version doesn't have at least instrument/outfit customization like Guitar Hero, and maybe the sandbox-style band world tour mode.

-Super Smash Bros. Got a Wii? Get Brawl. It's an awesome game. Melee managed to remain a great game when you want to play with friends in the same room all the way up to Brawl's release. Brawl improves on melee in almost every way(Roy and Marth are the same, no complaining. They brought some of the more popular stages back, and Mewtwo and Lucario=the new mewtwo. As for Roy, he and Marth are virtually the same. Just use Marth), plus the Subspace emissary basically offers a full-single-player of drop-in drop-out co-op game as well as an awesome multiplayer experience in Brawl mode. Now one word and an abbreviation to describe my playing style: Marth FTW! ^^

~~Tribute to Beliwa~~

-The member known as Beliwa died on the night of January 27-28th, 2008, at age 17. He was an excellent RPer, a skilled Game Master, a good artist, and likely many more things which we will never know; he will be missed. I was fortunate enough to be a player in one of his RPGs, and I know firsthand when I compliment his skill, I am correct, as I do with his art, which I was a bit of a fan of.

-May he be remembered, and may his death serve as both a reminder of how beautiful life truly is, and how quickly and suddenly it can be taken away. Live for the present, look to the future, remember the past and regret nothing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~R.I.P Beliwa~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~August 2nd, 1991-January 27/28th~~~~~~~~~~
~An artist, a RPer and a Game Master of much skill, he will be both missed and remembered.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, that's 17,471 characters. EW, beaten, Turakii still targeted, about 5,000 away if I'm correct., and location is described as Why do you want to know? That disturbs me a bit., and last visit was on February 8th, 2010.

XP2000 next celebrates a birthday on October 10.