Video Games:

• FullMetal Alchemist 2: Curse of the Crimson Elixer -- You control young alchemist Edward Elric on his quest for the philosopher's stone and to unravel the mystery of the crimson elixer. Accompanied by the computer-controled Alphonse Elric, the fighting in this game is quite a lot of fun. You run around punching/slashing/stabbing/bonking various enemies with your learned alchemy techniques as well as different items that you can transmute from things lying around on the ground. Al is not as much help as he could be, but he does the best he can. I have a few major complaints with the game though: 1. The beautiful towns and caves and other stages are rife with invisible walls. The programmers made some great landscapes, only to prevent you from exploring them AT ALL. With no exploration, you are forced to follow a very specific path, which is very uninteresting sometimes. The only way the game has secrets is for you to walk backwards to points in the path that you have already passed. This is really a drag. 2.  You cannot talk to the people you see in towns. You only talk when you run into one of the game's many cutscenes, which are nice but sometimes drag on too long. The game features the voice actors from the English version of the anime series, which is nice if you like the series (I still can't stand how Roy's voice sounds in English; it's sooo much different). The story line starts out about the same as the series, with obnoxious Rose and getting beat up by Scar and all that, but it branches off onto a plot line that is totally new, which is nice for a little change from the anime. Overall: It's got a fun beat-people-up-for-hours battle system, but it's way too straightforward of a game, with no room for exploration or sidequests or anything. I'd wait until it drops in price before buying it (unless you just can't wait to watch the English episodes 28 and 29 that come with it!).
• Final Fantasy 8 -- I finally beat this game after probably a year and a half spent on it. I have around 115 hours on the game, and I still didn't do everything (damn that Card Queen quest!). It's a really fun and extensive video game, and I recommend it to anyone who likes RPGs at all. The junctioning system would have been difficult to figure out without someone explaining it to me, but once I knew what I was doing the game became very easy; I never had a problem with any of the enemies or bosses that are required to fight. One of the best parts of this game is the card game (I don't remember it's official name). The card game is nearly addicting, and it could almost make a game of its own. The graphics weren't real great, but who really cares about graphics anyway? Overall: Not my favorite RPG, but it's up there. A game everyone should play.
• Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap -- A quality game for anybody who likes Link to the Past, Wind Waker, or any of the other Zelda games for that matter. Same basic Zelda gameplay with a few new items and as many sidequests as a gameboy can handle. I'm still trying to get all the figurines. Overall: Another good game in the Zelda series.

Music:

• Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son -- This is my sixth Maiden album, and my least favorite so far. It is still a decent cd, and it's fun to listen to, just like any Iron Maiden, but it doesn't measure up to the brilliance of the other Maiden cds I own (from best to not-as-best: Piece of Mind, Number Of the Beast, Brave New World, Poweslave, Killers).
• Sepultura - Chaos A.D. -- This is one of the heaviest albums I own (well, one of the heaviest that I can stand to listen to; Josh did give me that shitty grindcore Deeds cd...). I don't like much death metal, so Sepultura is my heavy thrash, which is close enough to death metal for me, fix. There are some very good songs on here, songs that are even better than Roots Bloody Roots, which was previously my favorite Sepultura song. The Hunt is particularly one of my favorites.
• Suicidal Tendencies - Lights, Camera, Revolution -- I enjoy Suicidal Tendencies, although I think they could have channelled more of their energy into some better songwriting instead of into their constant anger. Well, maybe their specific appeal lies more in the anger anyway.
• Less Than Jake - Losing Streak -- Yeah, I'm a Less Than Jake fan. This album is much more ska and less pop than Anthem. It's heavier on the horns, although maybe not as catchy. I'm undecided about which album is better.

There's not really a pancake...