Well, I've just noticed I've gotten 100 pageviews. Not much in the long run, but hell, that's plenty for me. In other news, school's become an absolute bitch as summer nears, and the due date of our retarded holocaust projects loom over our shoulder. Seriously, if I were a survivor, I would cry myself to sleep after seeing half of the shit kids turn in. Maybe I should do 'Hitler in abstract' or something obscure so I can mix up this sausage-fest of weeping people hanging onto fences and mauled papier-mâché statues of kids being beaten or something. Not only is it tacky and tasteless, but it just looks like crap.

So I finished a damn fine read. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn is one of the finest books I've ever laid eyes on, despite the subject matter. It follows Ivan Shukhov, a prisoner in a Soviet labor camp, on his daily struggle to make it through life in the harsh, unforgiving steppes. Despite its dark sounding plot and setting, it is suprisingly light-hearted, an delightfully ironic and uplifiting. Be sure to take a look at it when you get the chance.

Moving on to the big screen, we've got Smokin' Aces. A fun movie, with plenty of foul language and violence, but who the hell really cares? Despite how deep it may look on the outside, don't be fooled: there is no fancy graphical editing like I expected, à la 300, or Sin City. The story is intriguing, but mostly crammed into the first and last 10-15 minutes of the film. If you've got a spare hour or two to kill and are looking for some cheap thrills and good laughs, check it out. Otherwise, steer clear.

Nothing's more satisfying than integrating roleplay into a game like Splinter Cell 3: Chaos Theory, which is on par with MGS in terms of 'tactical espionage action' this time, depating from the intense realism presented in the first and second games. Nonetheless, very fun and still very realistic, dotted with fun bouts of movie-like action, drama, and intelligence (these guards walk around in the dark like it's a Sunday afternoon stroll). The coop makes it worth it, and that's why I mentioned RP. Finding a good partner and adding your own dash of realism and storyline/character development makes the game ten times more satisfying.

Until next time, I'm Skip, and you're reading my journal.