Opening Up

It isn't that you dont understand how you feel, or what your feeling, but its often how you communicate that message to people. Opening up to someone isn't easy, not to mention the fact that all you need sometimes is not for someone to understand what you are going through, but to allow you to get whats bothering you off your chest.

The complexity of Depression is such that its very much a illness that isn't consistent from one person to the next which is probably why its on those things that becomes a difficult solution for people within inner circles of sufferers only because there isn't a blanket rule to treating the issue. Some people, like myself its exercise or making jokes at my own expense, for others it might be just wanting to be heard, some others need time alone.

For people that have known me,  Depression has been one of my biggest issues for many years. Its been a major reason why I've had to quit jobs, move away from home, lost friends and mostly doubt myself and live a life of exclusion and nil confidence in fear that I would never quite be good enough. Even at 28, i still have the odd day where it hits me hard and really does a number on me.

For people that dont know me so well, they often probably see a guy who has a real zest for wanting to make people laugh and enjoy themselves and I guess that's probably the biggest mask alot of people put on on the basis that its easier to pretend to be that way, without having the uncomfortable questioning about why things are they way they are.

 It was probably at its worst at two points in my lifetime. When i was about 13, fresh into high school and I really struggled with the battles of having to make friends. my body changing and not being able to understand my thought process. The other time being late last year, when a collection of issues resulted in a relationship breakdown and at the time losing everything that i had spent a long time building up. I guess for me, last year was a realization that, no matter how old i get, this is who I am, and unless i learn better to deal with that fact, things wont ever change.

I'm lucky, I've had enough support in my life to keep myself here. Some people aren't. It breaks my heart hearing people that are suffering or have gone to the last resort of suicide because they feel trapped in a cycle they cant get out of. I hate hearing the 'selfish' blame game i hear all the time because that is just a cop out misunderstanding.

I've always said this and it will always remain the same, I'll always have an ear for someone who ever wants it. I'll always have time for anyone who ever wants to speak. I refuse to let others suffer the silent pain I know too well. 

A quick thanks to anyone and everyone that has and will continue to support me from now until the end. I hope this inspires others to speak up and let it off their chest. I hope this allows people that may not suffer to understand how it may not be easy to just 'speak' or 'get over it; and how sometimes just lending an ear may be just be the thing that helps save a life.

PS3 Ratings and Feedback Part 2 - Fight Night Champion

I'm back with installment two of my PS3 Rating Blog. This week im looking at 'Fight Night Champion'. Throughout the years, EA has released a ton of fighting titles. I was feeling a tad lazy and scored this off the PS Store for $49.95. I didn't have huge expectations for this game, but boy did it deliver! Everything is spot on. The graphics are unreal, the game modes are perfect. Possibly the only thing i oppose to is the payment for items, but that's me i suppose!

Alright going through the game modes....

Champion Mode: Follow the career of "Andre Bishop" as he goes through trials and tribulations in his life in an attempt to become the Heavyweight champion. Its actually a pretty good story, great graphics as i said, though you must win and for most of the time it is way, way too easy. Doesn't really get hard til the final fight but that really takes it out of you!

Legacy Mode: Much like career mode, but with a twist. Say you create yourself as a heavyweight. You not only get to pit yourself against the current greats, you get to match yourself against guys like Ali, Frazier, Foreman and much more! It isn't a pushover, even at the bottom rung. Really pushes you to the limit. You cant go swinging hard cause the AI is extremely intelligent. So you really have to fight with your head, which is a massive improvement from other fight night titles where you could make it to the top by throwing stupid ass hay-makers. This version is much more physically and technically sound compared to the older versions.

Online content: Good but really frustrating. People go on there, try and smash you in round one, if that doesnt work, they usually give up and quit, but that isnt the game fault. The mix between server speed, performance and graphics is sublime. not something games often get right, and often something EA gets wrong at times.

Positives:

Stick control has got a major upgrade and no disadvantage if you dont have the dexterity to use the right stick, they have incorporated the different punches on the four buttons (triangle, circle, square, X).

Graphics as i said, sublime!

Negatives: They removed the Hay maker from the game! WHY OH WHY! Best punch ever is gone!


Rating: Out of all the things above i will have to give this a 8/10
The graphics are awesome, while there are a couple of letdowns, its nothing major, but if you have the spare dough, i suggest you go and buy it! Cost me $50 from the Playstation Store, probably less in store (dont ask me where though! haha)

Anyways, signing off for another week. Next time i will be Reviewing 'NBA 2k12'. Hope you can all join me then!

PS3 Ratings and feedback: Part 1 - Need for Speed - The Run

Ok, so i got a PS3 for my 21st. It's been about a week since and im up to 5 games (got two with the console), 3 remotes (one died, got one with the console), a 5 port USB hub, a turtle beach headphone and mic set, a Bluetooth earphone/speaker and a 2 controller charging deck, so i decided while i got some time, i might do some PS Review. Welcome to 'The Morrison effect's" PS3 games, parts and everything in between review series! Today im gonna review "Need 4 Speed: The Run". Over the years i have had the Xbox, pc and a PS quite some time ago and anything to do with or affiliated with 'Need4Speed' i have convinced myself i needed to assotain and buy. I had great expectations about this game but i was really disappointed by it. It took me just over 2 hours to complete the campaign, which i may add, is a little substantially different (but i will touch on that later) to previous versions of the game. The online gaming is pretty average. The connection is slow. EA in the past has wanted to flex its online server muscles but it really is listening itself down with this 'Autolog' crap. Alright, now too go into a bit more depth.



The Campaign

For many of N4S' series the campaign was upgrading the car, driving it, earning cash, rinse and repeat. The game play here is basic as you will get,. You play a person who escapes the mob, his only way to get out is to win a 250 car race from LA to New York. It offers out of the car action where you need to react by pressing buttons according to whats happening (e.g for running rapidly pressing X, kicking, pressing square etc.) which has brought much criticism but i like it, its something different and adds a different dimension then just driving all the time.

The race is dissected into 10 stages, mixed up with combinations of challenges to keep you thinking. The cops are pesky as all hell and you have to deal with the mob.



Criticism : My criticism isn't the out of the car action, its just it took me 150minutes to complete, and if you pay $88 for a game, i should expect more for my money. As i said, the net connection is grainy. It can be great for moments, then its just its clogged, so i dont think i will be touching the online play much i dont think until EA improves their servers.



What i loved: Very realistic damage wise. The damage you gain takes a toll, you can't rely on side rails to hold you up (because really, if a car is going 280km/h and runs into it, cya later car). I also think they have worked the difficulty levels wonderfully. Sometimes you find, easy is too easy, medium is hard and expert is just insane, but they have worked it well. I think the way it gets more difficult towards the end, is a bonus, keeps you well motivated to improve





Rating and Why?

6/10. I expected more from 'EA' and 'N4S', but that's the price of reputation....oh and the price, wasn't worth the $88 i paid for it, Defs worth buying but not for that much! Campaign too short, Multplayer servers too unreliable. I did enjoy the game, so it is still a pass....but not the best out there!



Until next week, im out! Leave a comment! Let me know what i should review next!



~Jimmy

Harden up Cleveland (and Dan Gilbert)!

So i watched LeBron James' decision the other night on ESPN. I watched the aftermath, the ecstasy of the Miami fans and the Heartbreak of the Cleveland fans. Seriously though Cleveland, harden up yeah?

Lebron James played 7 hard years for your Cavs, turning them into a 11 win season team to a dual 60 season win side and yet you have nothing to give him except abuse. I can tell you know, why would a professional sports player continually play for a side that cant push itself over the top and win the title no matter how much their owner buys players. Jordan had Pippen, James had Williams who every time entered the playoff's seemed to choke at the thought of playing in a important match that leads to something great.

You make comparisons to Kobe and MJ. As i said MJ had Pippen, Rodman and several other all star caliber players during his time in Chi-town. Kobe has had Shaq in his prime (also won D-Wade a title in 2006), Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Fisher, basically players that have all been there done that (besides Pau who they needed to win one in the first place). Think about it though, Jordan left to play BASEBALL and only came back because he was almost guaranteed a championship with the roster that was compiled around him when he made his return. How was his legacy not a slightly tarnished one? (Not having a stab at MJ at all!)

You blame James for the 1 hour prime time special, dont go blaming him, blame ESPN and the media. they create the hype. Imagine if there wasnt this hype? Do you really think a player getting payed 15-20million a year isnt gonna get his ego a kick if someone asks him for a 1hr TV special?

What were you thinking when you write that letter Gilbert? All your doing is shifting the blame for your incompetence to build a championship team around Lebron. You knew 2 years ago when teams started clearing room that it was championship or bust. You tried, you failed, your fault. You mentioned that Lebron was the self titled 'King'? I believe that was your management to try to get crowds into the 'Q'. How can you say he gave up? Then again, if your down 3-2 and the rest of your roster is crap, are you really gonna put up big numbers 28 extra games on end? I'm telling you, no player can carry his side and the fact you blame him for giving up is despicable because not too many players would bother.



Cleveland Fans. You have a right to feel upset about this, no doubt, but this is professional sports, people come, people go, that crap happens, harden up. The reason you have trouble winning is because you have incompetent management running your organizations. Seriously though, every player to come through Ohio isnt gonna sign with the Cavs. Lebron only,you could say,'choose' the cavs was because of the draft, no other reason. I bet if he had a choice he wouldn't have had choose the cavs in the first place, so be grateful that he stayed in your city for the 7 years and boosted the economy and so on.

As far as i see, LBJ, D-Wade and Bosh have a few titles in them. For Cleveland, the rebuilding starts but there is no reason why they can't make the playoffs this year, they still have a quality roster, just not a championship winning one.



For now, this is the Morrison Effect and thanks for reading, please pass it on if you enjoyed this article!

F1 for Dummies

Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1, and currently officially referred to as the FIA Formula One World Championship,[2] is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA)

With Mark Webber leading the F1 Championship and aiming to be the first champion the Morrison Effect has sat down to write a 'Dummies Guide for F1' for the readers

Part 1 - Teams: The Formula 1 grid consists of 12 teams, each with 4 drivers (2 Main + 1 Test + 1 Youth). To run a Formula 1 team, you need to put a bid into the FIA of about $500million and for yearly costs your looking at $2billion to at least be competitive. The teams for 2010 are Mercedes, Mclaren Mercedes, Red Bull, Torro Rosso, Force India, Ferrari, Lotus, Virgin Racing, HRT, Williams, BMW Sauber and Renault.

Part 2 - The Races & Points: The races go all over the world, starting in round 1 in Bahrain to round 19 where it heads back to the middle east to Abu Dhabi. In 2010 the point scoring is much like the MotoGP. Below is how each place is scored.
1st 25
2nd 18
3rd 15
4th 12
5th 10
6th 8
7th 6
8th 4
9th 2
10th 1
The Driver with the most points at the end of the championship wins the Drivers championship and the constructor (Fancy name for team!) with the most points (accumulated by adding the drivers from each team) wins the constructors championship.

Part 3- Winter testing: This is done in the Off season (between the last race of the season and first race of the next) as it cannot at any time be done during the regular season, making it critical to do so.

Part 4: Friday/Saturday Practice: This is where teams check the setup for race day and add parts for qualifying. This is also the only time where teams are aloud to add more parts to the car.

Part 5: Qualifying: This is where the drivers aim to get 'pole position', or in normal words, get put in the grid position from where they will start from in the Race. Rumors once surfaced that this was decided on the Friday night in a strip club, but such activity hasn't be heard of in years. There are 3 stages of Qualifying. Stage 1 goes for 20 minutes and only the fastest 17 cars get through to the 2nd Stage. The second stage goes for 15 minutes and the top 10 from this stage go in a 10 minute shootout to grab 'pole position'.

Part 6 - The Race: There isn't much to say about the race other than the cars go round and round the track for a total distance of 300km (give or take 10km). There are some regulations though. Each driver much use a Softer, option tire (Has a very noticeable green ring surrounding the outside of the wheel) and the Harder compound tire of the two that Bridgestone, the tire supplier brings to the venue. There is no refueling the car during the race so the race strategy most used by drivers is how well trained the pit crew is trained in changing the tires quickly.

Part 7 - Warning Flags: There are several flags that occur during a race.

Black Flag - Disqualification, usually given by disregarding rules or by having an unsafe race car

Blue Flag: Must let car pass as it is faster (lapped cars only)

Yellow with Red vertical stripes: Oil/Debris/Slippery Course

Yellow: Can be given as a full course caution or part course where they may be imminent danger for any driver.

Black and white flag: Unsportsmanlike behaviour - usually ends up in a pit lane penalty where the driver will have to complete a lap of the pit lane before re-entering the race.

Black with Orange Circle: indicates that a car is being summoned to the pits due to mechanical problems that are interfering with the race, such as an oil, water, or fuel leak.

Red Flag: Given to stop a session. Used when a severe accident has occurred or to temporarily stop a race nearing the end of a race. This is usually done when a collision requiring cleanup would otherwise extend the caution period to take longer than the amount of race laps available to finish the race, when a fuel spill occurs on the circuit, or to maximize safety team work. During such a red-flag period, cars are directed to stop in line at a specific point on the track, usually directly opposite to the incident.

Checked Flag: Finished race....obviously!

Thats about it for my F1 basics, i hope you all have a much better understanding, and GO MARK!

Take your pick - Personality or Looks?

Through my 19 years of living on this diabolical planet, i have never had a relationship as far as friends with a female. This is in part because perhaps i dont live up to some girls standards and in part to the fact as that i have never been confident, nor to i think im honestly that attracive. This is what this blog is about, do females set their relationships based on how boys look, or is linked to how personable the

I usually go clubbing and funnily enough its the bloke that is out there and pretty wild that gets the girl, also the one with hardly a personality but is all brawn rather than having some brains. While you see all the girl's that get picked up are usually blonde haired, size 2 or something incredibly stupid like that, and quite frankly, dont give a stuff if they look like something the belongs in a back alley of Kings Cross. That is what i really get infuriated about. There seems to be a distinct lack of girls/young women out there that would rather care about their appearance rather then showing they have a bit more of a package by acting mature and having a personality.

I guess the same could be said about blokes. Ask yourself this. How many blokes treat a girl you know like shit because he is good looking and can get away with it cause the girl will just come scrambling back. It shows a lack of faith, a lack of brains and complete stupidity by both groups. I think i have had 3 girls commit suicide that i know because of stupid acts by irresponsible males and i have had to go through the pain of knowing that i was the last person to talk to them and not knowing i cant help stop it.


You have to remember in 50 years time when you 60-70, are you going to be relying on someone's looks or on someone's personality? Sure, Hugh Heffner does it, and many rather rich people but they can buy that sort of attention (which clearly isn't good attention).


For a guy like me, i like a solid personality, can have fun, yeah sure, i like looks, but thats nothing to me because love doesn't exist outside the skin, merely it is how the person behaves. Im not trying to get brownie points by writing this, but just like my other blogs, just an expression of self.

Anyways, im off for another week or so, until next time keep it real, comment me, give me some feedback, would love to hear it. Links for my facebook and so on are to the left of the page.

'R' for Responsible

RSA. Responsible Service of Alcohol it stands for in theory. But does it really mean that there is going to be a Responsible service of alcohol by the bar staff? On too many occasions do i go out to clubs and pubs and see a lack of this. While the government is trying to prevent drunken behavior and the cost of medical fee's on ongoing health issues caused by excessive service and drinking alcohol. While i have done my RSA, i haven't got myself a job in bar work yet, so i probably don't fully understand how hard it must be to identify a drunken person and limit their drinks, but in theory it doesn't seem that hard. If you get the right training you shouldn't have too much issue identifying this. It almost seems that the 'R' stands for 'Ridiculous'. Many a time i have felt like im heading over the limit, even in quiet circumstances, yet the Bar Staff are more than willing to serve me an extra schooner. I suppose the underlying factor in all of this is money. If the owner can find a way to grab more money of consumers, they i suppose he/she can train their staff that way. I have only ever seen 4 or 5 people get kicked out for being too drunk only when they start a fight or make a ruckus, which leads me back to not serving a person for being too drunk. I think i have been only told off twice, and both times it has been by security, rather than the actual staff that employed exclusively by the pub/club. Not too long ago those who wanted to get a water to slow their drinking rate had to go up to the bar to get water. For me, it was another temptation to buy another drink. Nowadays, clubs like Northies and Fusions (both at cronulla) now have jugs of water on the bench, which is easily accessible and reduces the temptation of drinking more alcohol. While these clubs are leading the way, many other places are very slow in making this a regular occurrence. I like this move, as i said, it's leading the way and its putting 'Responsible' back into the RSA.
Well thats it for now. Feel free to contact me via email, facebook or msn. Until next time, stay safe and i hope you all give me some feedback/comments.