A Long, Zombieless Weekend

This weekend was very nice. I got to wish my mom a surprise Happy Birthday(which was very fun) and I got to spend a wonderful Valentine's Day with my even more wonderful girlfriend. But even better, is I did not see one zombie. From Friday until today (Monday) I did not see one zombie. Thank You!

But now I am back on the campus of DSU and again in zombie territory. Once again, I am confined to my room unless I want to take the risk of venturing outside. What was once a nice break from my room at the TC has become a very deadly adventure.

I still have not heard the carnage report as of yet of this weekend. Hopefully there are plenty of humans left to keep me sane in the coming week. I can only imagine the swarms of zombies already coming back to campus after this weekend to feed upon the rest of the people that are still alive.

Peace Is But A Memory

Days after Zombie Infection: 3

It is getting harder and harder every minute as humans are being turned into zombies all the time now. It is not an uncommon sight at all to see a horde of zombies ambushing a group of humans or a couple zombies chasing someone down. It is hard for me to say, but we are outnumbered.

I do not think the humans have lost this battle though. We may be outnumbered but we are far from defeated. We will fight these zombies with everything we've got until we can't fight no more.

Today there was a small lull in the action. From sometime around 10am to about 2pm there was no killing. No hunting, no feeding and no ambushing. No one has any idea where this came from but it was a nice distraction from reality. It was a time of peace where everyone could walk freely without fear. But that time ended far to soon.

The killing, fighting, hunting, and feeding have all started again.... We will persevere.

Encounters with the Last Kind

Days after Zombie Infection: 2

I had my first encounter last night. Well I'm not sure if you can call it an encounter, we did not interact at all. It was the first time I had seen a zombie.

I was walking down the street last night and someone started walking towards me a couple blocks down. I couldn't tell if it was a human or zombie so just to be on the safe side, I went to the opposite side of the street and continued to walk. As I got closer I realized it was in fact a zombie.

This zombie was walking fast and looked like it was on some sort of a mission. Probably on a feeding mission. But either way, it was preoccupied and did not even notice me. My heart was racing but I made it home safely without another incident.

I still have not given up. The rest of the survivors have not yet either. We will survive.

Day After Z-Day: I'm Still Alive

Days after Zombie Infection: 1

I have been inside for most of the time since the first zombie was spotted. It's safer inside. I am though finding that maybe I did not ready myself sufficiently. I am going to have to venture out soon for supplies, water, food, ramen, oreos and the like.

Fortunately, it appears that everything still functions properly, electricity, water, internet, phone services. We will be in good shape until those things start failing I think. As long as I can get on Facebook and Twitter I at least won't go insane, and I think there are a lot of other survivors with me on that one.

I am currently listening to Dave Matthews Band, he tends to keep me happy in times like this when I feel all alone. Until 'Gravedigger' comes on. Then I get depressed for a song or so....

My Maverick is slowly becoming my best friend. I don't leave home without it anymore. I think that some people are not taking this infestation serious enough. Some don't have guns at all and talk about "If I saw a zombie I wouldn't run, I'm not going out of my way to stay safe, it's not worth it." That is not a good attitude to have this early on. What happens when your best friend turns? Are you just going to give up? I'm not. You can count on that.

Z-Day Is Coming And There Is Nowhere To Hide

Are you prepared? You know, for the Apocalypse? The Zombie Apocalypse? You better be, it's coming and it is going to be crRRrrrRRaaaAAAaazzzy! So if you're not prepared already like the rest of us, I would check out Zombie Survival and Defense Wiki, you should be able to find what you need to at least stand a chance on there.

But this post isn't really about Z-Day, it's not really about you surviving, it's more about Humans vs. Zombies. It's a game to help get people ready for the Zombie Apocalypse. If you haven't heard about it yet, check out the website and try to find a game going on somewhere in your area.

So DSU just officially started their game of HvZ yesterday. So far, there are at least 70 people signed up to play.

Now I have not been outside a lot yet, but the times I have been out have been super intense. Patient 0 still has not identified themselves yet, so it could still be anyone. With my trusty Maverick at my side though, I will not fear, for I can stun for ten minutes. It is going to get fun and scary the longer we play. I'm excited.

Goodluck to all those out there playing HvZ, and goodluck to all of you unprepared citizens, for when the zombies come, they show no mercy.

Swag

How's it going?!?

Ya, me too. Well I just thought I would let everyone know I am going to be blogging a little more. I've got a couple of ideas that I'm going to be implementing in the next couple weeks here. Just trying to make a little extra money here and there.

First, I know that no one wants to hear this, but I'm going to be doing some reviews and things on the blog here. Try to make some extra money. You know, just doing the college kid thing and trying to make it all work.

Second, I've got some things that I will probably be putting on eBay. I'll make sure that those get up on here too, it won't be much, but that will all be up.

I've also started up a CafePress store, SunSchrein's Shop. I've got some really simple designs that I wouldn't mind having in shirts. Some things that I can't believe that I haven't seen yet.

So I guess this is just kind of a little update, and I will be doing this a little bit more regularly.

Wondering What To Do: We'll Just Have To Wait And See

I am starting to wonder, how many times will it take before I actually start using and writing in the blog on a regular basis. That and when will I use my website for something regular and productive. I should really do something with it because I'm paying for it. Hmmmm... If anyone has any good ideas I am definitely open. Right now it's here: DevonSchreiner.com.

I actually have kind of a good story though. Yesterday Kevin and I took a nice trip to Sioux Falls with two lovely Russian foreign exchange students. It was really fun and interesting even though half the time we couldn't understand each other. We went to the mall, Guitar Center, Last Stop CD Shop and even to the Falls Park. Fun day.

So other than that I'm not sure what to do. I'll probably (or hopefully) just start posting a bunch of random stuff like this because I don't really know what else to do. I'll try to keep it a little interesting though, unlike this post...

News: The Next Fad

I'd like to start with a question today. (I've probably done that before but this time I'm stating it so you're ready.) Why do you pay attention to the news today?

Just like everything else in this world, news has become a thing of fads and trends that really doesn't provide anything of content. All there is on TV, Newspapers, Magazines, News Websites, and Social Network Sites is fad news stories that spike people's interest for a couple days, then we completely forget about them.

Take Michael Jackson's death. Here is the Google Trend's for Michael Jackson over the last 12 months.

All of a sudden, Michael dies and everyone buys and listens to his music. Why? His music isn't any better now that he is dead. It's always been there and it's not going to go for a while. But guess what. All 12 million people that downloaded Thriller on iTunes the Thursday he died because they 'Love Michael Jackson and love his music and want to remember him forever!' have already forgotten about him. Everybody left Billie Jean, Thriller, and Smooth Criminal on repeat all day long Friday, then let the songs get lost in their immense library to not be listened to again.

This is only one example of many. All of the celebrity deaths lately, (Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Billy Mays, Steve McNair) The protests in Iran, Air France, any of these ring a bell?

Why are these news fads becoming more prevalent? Why do people have to get so passionate about breaking news and then just forget about it the next day? If anyone has any insight on this, it would be great if you could share it.

The Devon Schreiner Concert Calendar

Tonight marks the start of the tour of concerts and festivals that I have planned for this year. I think there is a pretty good line-up already.

Tonight, at Nutty's North in Sioux Falls, Saving Abel is playing. Opening for them tonight is Pop Evil, Monty Are 1, and Taddy Porter. This should be a pretty good concert. If anyone wants to go, the tickets are very reasonably priced too.

Also, at the end of July, Dave Matthews Band is headlining The 10K Lakes Festival. They play on Saturday night along with the hundreds of other bands playing that couple of days. Now, I am not sure if this is going to work or not, but I'm hoping it will. DMB is playing on Saturday night and there is a concert in Brookings on Sunday night. Staind, Shinedown, Halestorm, and Chevelle. I would like to go to this one too, but that may be a lot for one weekend, we'll see.

Other Concerts that are on the radar but not confirmed yet would include Journey in Sioux Falls on July 19th, and you can't forget about Alice Cooper and Big and Rich at the Sioux Empire Fair. Then you can't forget Aerosmith, Saving Abel, Hinder, The Guess Who, Buckcherry, Tesla and a few other good ones out at Sturgis this year.

All-in-all, that looks like a good summer to me. Let's see how many I actually get to.

Washing Trailers Is Not Fun

I really hate washing out trailers. It's not a fun thing to do. Climb back 53 feet into the back of the trailer with the pressure washer and start spraying until everything starts flying. You get completely soaked and covered in everything that was in the trailer.

Today was not a fun day. We had to spray out a trailer that kept leaking crap out of the walls as soon as we would spray it out. I sprayed and squeegeed the trailer out for almost 2 hours before the guy from Tennessee was happy.

Which leads me into another great story. This guy from Tennessee pulls his truck into to get the trailer washed. I don't know what made him harder to understand, the fact that he had such a heavy accent or that he didn't have any teeth. So not only can I not understand this guy, I can't understand him for the 2 hours that I'm spraying out his trailer and he's trying to talk to me and tell me what to do.... Awesome.

But I guess this is what I'm getting paid to do, so I better do it with a smile. I tried, but it was hard... Oh well. Better luck next time.

Transformers 2: Almost Perfect in the Eyes of Devon

I went to see the fabled "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" the other day. I was ready for this movie to absolutely suck no matter what anyone says about it. The first one was pretty good and I figured there was no way for these guys to make another one that was anywhere near being called good.

First thing I noticed, it got a little bit long for me. It could have ended about a half hour sooner and I would have been fine with it. I don't need hours and hours of a movie to make me happy.

The next thing that I didn't really like about the movie was the amount of swearing it had. I do not remember the first movie having this much swearing in it. I thought that was a really stupid move on their part. You don't need swearing in a movie to make it good or cool. I felt like I was being vocally assaulted by a group of middle school boys that just heard a new swear word from a video on the internet and think they are cool for using it. It was a little bit much for me.

Another thing that I really didn't care for was I thought they were trying to be way to funny in parts that didn't need it. Like who were those two mentally retarded Autobots that they decided to put in the movie? Those two were definitely not necessary and I could have done without them. And how about when the giant, construction bot is climbing the pyramid and we get a nice gander at his 'wrecking balls'? That was also a quick little shot I didn't need to see.

One of the other things that kind of bugged me was Sam's roommate Leo....There's not much else to say than the fact that he bugged me. Sorry.

How about those action packed battles though. They were awesome right? Except for the fact that they were so cluttered, everything was moving so fast and the camera was shaking so bad that you couldn't tell what was going on. I think that's why everyone is so in awe about how awesome the battle scenes are, because obviously if you can't tell what's going on, it must be amazing. Just take my advice, watch the movie again and see if you can actually tell what is going on in during the battle scenes. Is that his leg or his head?

All-in-all, I thought it was a lot better than it was going to be. Good second try Michael. Maybe the third time will be the charm and it will be perfect. But until it is, I'm going to keep pointing out the flaws.

Two Thumbs 'Up'?

I think when there is so much hype for a movie that everyone has seen it and everyone knows what its about, I start to form an opinion already. For some reason, it seems like no matter if people really like it or people really hate it, if its a big movie, I tend to pick the opposite opinion than everyone else.

So right off the bat, I didn't like 'Up' because everyone else did like it. It's also a Disney movie which makes me less likely to like the movie because I'm not a seven years old anymore. So 'Up' already had a couple of strikes against it before I walked into the theater.

I just want to say up front, I thought the movie was very illogical, irrational and highly improbable. Let's start with the easy one, Carl floated his house away with baloons....really? If that was anywhere near possible, somebody probably would have done it by now. But sadly, it isn't possible, don't try it. And especially don't try to steer it with the curtains....

Then there's the dogs with the talking collars and the crazy bird that is similar to the Road Runner but is faster and can teleport.... I'm not going to go on though, you've seen the movie, you know how out there it is.

But alas, I am onto my second year of college and probably just can't appreciate the masterpiece of a children's movie that this is. I guess when you look at Disney's greatest classics, there isn't much more sense. The Jungle Book, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Shrek, the list goes on. So all in all, it's another great, off the wall, crazy Disney movie.

Make sure you check out my website, DevonSchreiner.com, and Kevin Loker and I's new podcast, HeyTalkTo.Me.

Winning The Lottery Would Suck

Congratulations to Neal Wanless for winning his 232.1 million dollars. He is one of the luckiest people in the world right now. I am definitely jealous. You can check out a local story from the Daily Republic here.

There are a couple things I am not jealous of though. When you actually look at it, Neal will only be taking away 88.5 million dollars from the 232.1 million that he 'won'. While 88.5 million is still an unimaginably enormous amount of money, it is only 38.1% of the original amount of money that he 'won'. What is that crap? You just won a lot of money! But we are even going to give you half of it! .....What?

That's fine, whatever, he is still a very lucky guy, now with a lot of money. I was reading this other article from the Daily Republic about how big lottery winners are isolated and their life will never be the same. It says that the winner has to become a different person, figure out how they are going to use and protect their money and find a way to stay in contact with their friends and other relationships they have. This doesn't sound like as much fun to me as just spending all that money however you want.

All in all, I think winning the lottery probably isn't as easy as it should be or seems. But I think, if given the chance, I would take that much money. If anyone has a lot of money that they just want to get rid of, it's to much of a burden for them, I will take it from you. Neal, if you don't want that burden on your shoulders, I would lift it from you and carry it myself. Let me know if ever need to get rid of it.

Also, make sure you check out the podcast if you haven't, we had a great interview with Superintendent Joe Graves about the local elections here in Mitchell. You can find that at HeyTalkTo.Me. Also look around either Thursday or Friday for another episode. Should be a good time.

Thanks

Hey everyone that's reading my blog, I know there are so many of you. But that's ok, I'm not writing this blog for you, it's completely for me. If you are actually reading this that's cool, I love feedback, and you should definitely keep reading when I do update and tell your friends. And to the rest of my non-existent readers, I hate you....

Well, sorry about that, I'm not really sure what happened there. But I just wanted to let everyone know that I finally wrote and recorded my second song. You can find "Thanks" and my first song "My Real World" at my website, DevonSchreiner.com. I also appreciate feedback on my music and everything I do, I always love getting better at things I do.

To tell you the truth, I wasn't planning on recording this song. I just wanted to write it out because I had it running around in my head. I wrote it out, it kind of sounded stupid but it worked and I had a melody that I thought I could put to it. I went into the radio station to record it, 8 hours later I walked out with an almost finished recording of it. I was very happy with it and actually surprised at how it sounded. I went back the next day, did some minor tweaking here and there and this is the song you are now listening to.

If you have any feedback at all either leave a comment or let me know on facebook or email me at devvon@gmail.com or something. Just let me know. Thanks. Here are the lyrics if anyone cares.

Looking back on the days I spent,
Just a few seconds seems longer than them.
There's only one thing, I need to say to you,
And that's thanks for bringing me back, back from the blue.

I gotta thank you for the laughter,
It's almost ridiculous enough.
I would bet you a million dollars,
I can't say this enough.
Thanks, Thank you for the laughter.
Thanks, Thank you for the good times.
Thanks, Thanks for bringing me back.
Thanks, Thank God for you.

That one word sums up what needs to be said,
To you and to all those that revealed this path to me.
Appreciation dawns to little to late,
I pray I don't die such a horrible fate.

I gotta thank you for the laughter,
It's almost ridiculous enough.
I would bet you a million dollars,
I can't say this enough.
Thanks, Thank you for the laughter.
Thanks, Thank you for the good times.
Thanks, Thanks for bringing me back.
Thanks, Thank God for you.

And there's one that I can't,
Forget to thank enough.
The one that changed my life,
In more ways than one.
I'm glad you let me down,
Thanks for breaking my heart.
Wounds heal stronger when they've been torn apart.

Thanks, Thanks, Thanks, Thanks.

I gotta thank you for the laughter,
It's almost ridiculous enough.
I would bet you a million dollars,
I can't say this enough.
Thanks, Thank you for the laughter.
Thanks, Thank you for the good times.
Thanks, Thanks for bringing me back.
Thanks, Thank God for you.

Repeat until end.

Thanks.

Busy, Busy, Busy....

Busy, Busy, Busy....

Why is everything so busy all the time? I was really hoping that when summer hit everything and everyone would slow down and there would be some time to relax. I finally move home from school only to start working.

I am now working full time out at Steve's Repair and Shag. Now, this is actually really fun. I've never done anything like this and I am definitely learning a lot about trucks and about being a mechanic. These are good life skills here.

I am also still working at the Q107/KORN Radio stations. I linked the websites, they are finally up, but still definitely under construction. We are working as fast and hard as we can to get those up and fully functional.

And why not continue with school while I'm out of school? I am taking a Speech and Advanced Composition online this summer to hopefully get ahead in school. I think this was a mistake, I'm not really liking school during the summer.

Also, I've been doing a couple of websites lately. The websites listed above are all mine while I also just agreed to create the Holy Family Catholic Church Website here in Mitchell. Websites are fun. I've got a couple.

Back From Tour

3/15/09

If you haven't checked out my new website yet, do it. DevonSchreiner.com.

I am finally back from tour with the Chamber Singers, what a blast that was. Now I get to work. So the Chamber Singers, after tour, get the weekend off before starting classes again. I got to work all weekend.... yay. But that is OK I guess, I am not opposed to making more money.

Also if you care, I just put up a new website for the local music shop here in Mitchell, Paulson's Music Center. If you want to check the website out, you can do that at PaulsonsMusic.com. It is still not very far along but you can get the general idea of what it is going to look like. All feedback is appreciated on things like that too.

I was thinking about bringing back Our Perspective, the radio podcast Kevin and I started a while ago and then let drop. But then I figured I can't even keep stuff like this up-to-date very well, how would I keep a podcast up-to-date? So maybe we will look into that issue again this summer or something. But chances are I will be just as busy this summer, but who knows.

My Specialty

Well, I decided its been a long time since I blogged....again....but more importantly, its been a long time since I've given my perspective on anything. Whether you are looking for it here on my blog or from the podcast, it hasn't been coming. I feel bad, I feel like I am not doing my job, and I apologize.

So I thought I would start off with something easy for me at least, how about video games. Yup, that's one of the things I know best especially since coming to college. I have recently picked up a lot of new, old, and interesting games. I am going to start off with Fallout 3.

Now I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I first got it, but as soon as I started playing, it seemed just like home. If you have ever played The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, this game will seem familiar to you as well. Ok, I'm not going to lie, the games are almost identical. Now some may ask if that is a good or a bad thing. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure. But for people that liked Oblivion, it can't be a completely bad thing.

There are a few differences between the games. Fallout is based on a post-apocalyptic present where you have to escape the vault and fight some crazy mutant beings. There is also a sort of combo thing you can do now. You regenerate attack points and can use them against the mutants. It is fairly entertaining. But I would say if you are in the market for a good, single player RPG, Fallout is the game you should check out.

I've also recently just picked up Dead Space. Now this game to me was pretty creepy. Now I haven't got into the game very far at all, but already, it seems almost predictable. Like you know where the monsters are going to come from next. But maybe thats just me. Also I thought that the controls were a little sluggish. Again, that could be me or my computer. But not a bad game to check out either.

Almost a month ago now I ordered an original NES of off eBay. It finally showed up with two controllers, the gun and Super Mario/Duck Hunt. I was so excited. I had also picked up Contra, Kirby's Adventure, Yoshi, and Kung Fu, so I didn't get bored right away. So there in the nostalgic corner, I have a couple more games now.

And last but not least, I picked up a couple of games for the PS2 that I have been wanting for a long time. Shadow of the Colossus and The Bully. Both very fun and entertaining games. I would recommend Shadow of the Colossus of The Bully though.

Well there is my little ramble for the day on my new and favorite video games. If you want to check out my newest website that I have built for my fraternity, Phi Kappa Theta, check it out here and let me know what you think. Also if you like my blog or if you don't, or you want to see us get Our Perspective going again, let me know, leave a comment or email me at devvon@gmail.com. Thanks for reading.