Profound: There is always room for...

The philosophy professor stood before his class with some items on the table in front of him. When the class began, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks about 2" in diameter.

He then asked the students if the jar was full. 

They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full. 

They agreed it was.

The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

He then asked once more if the jar was full. 

The students responded with an unanimous yes.

The professor then produced two cans of beer from under the table and proceeded to pour their entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the grains of sand.

The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The rocks are the important things -- your family, your spouse, your health, your children -- things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

"The pebbles are the other things that matter, like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else, the small stuff.

"If you put the sand into the jar first there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal.

"Take care of the rocks first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and asked, "What does the beer represent?"

The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of beers."

Posted via email from partha's posterous

Bulletstorm: Oh boy what a ride!!

We just got our Xbox into the home. It was won while we were attending a Dubai GeekFest at the Shelter. The sponsors: Microsoft. So yeah - you get the picture :)

We were looking around for good deals on games and I was asking around to see if I could lay my hands on a few games for a couple of days. Suddenly I see EA Middle East tweeting about Bulletstorm - and I am now inquisitive! After some give and take, they decide to surprise me and give me a copy!!

That weekend - I was bulletstorming my way through the XBOX - wondering why the system was reacting so slowly to my every command - such was my impatience ;). I loved EVERY bit of that game! The way the game is played - key strokes in particular is pretty standard; its the gameplay and the story line that BLEW my mind! I was taken away by the detailing in the game! The characters have their own - for want of a better word - characteristics (I KNOW, creative! - LOL)!! 

I really loved how engrossing it was. Before I knew it - I had invested my entire weekend into the game and there was not an ounce of regret - in fact you could have probably heard a few growls from my family members who wanted the TV for some regular watching!! :P 

My favorite bit? Trying to get a Bulletstorm Skill Shot out of killing every dead island inhabitant - and each boss I trumped resulted in loud and exultant rejoicing on my part! My favorite gun is the Sniper gun!! WICKED Skill Shots out of that. The Plasma Leash has some cool applications as well! My least favorite guns (still trying to figure out how to use the damn things) the Chain Grenadier and the Bouncing Bomber!

The game cover still proudly sits on my XBox waiting to be loaded into the system (it was momentarily replaced by Fight Night Champion) as I have to yet complete the game!

PS: I have a few more games to review - have completed them a LONG time ago :P just being lazy I suppose!

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Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days

I have been playing a few games in the past 2 - 3 months. One of these were given to me by the good folks at PC World ME. When I got Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days, I had no idea what I was getting into. The game seemed interesting. Kane & Lynch (the first one) was decent - so I am told but I was not sure. It was pegged to be like any other RPG FPS. So when I popped it into the console, I was a little apprehensive.

When it loaded up, it looked very plain. nothing fancy. A layered story line that allows multiple restarts from a checkpoint, and not very creative gameplay made for a short fix on the XBOX for me. I could not change my character, but moving through the timeline opened up a world of gun options. Unfortunately, that did not do it for me. I found the game play and the story line to be quite lame. 

I still continued to play through nearly 2 levels of the game and found it quite repetitive (reload gun, sneak up on bad guys, shoot said bad guys, walk away). Each checkpoint took about 2 tries, since the AI was pretty slick and made completing it a little hard.

Anyway, here is the link to the video preview of what you can get if you decide to play it:

Posted via email from partha's posterous