Liam Neeson is not afraid of you and he will beat your ass.

Liam Neeson's new movie Taken almost makes up for his voicing the Jesus allegory lion in that Narnia bullshit. Great film, quite action-packed and very visceral in its direction. It really deserves to be seen in theaters, not only for the superb fights and car chases, but for the larger-than-life Neesonian drama.

Don't be fooled by his smiling eyes. This mother will eat you.

Soon as I get home from the movie, it was totally ROCK BAND TIME! Who else here has a love/hate relationship with Rock Band and/or Microsoft? Personally, I don't regret either the purchase of Rock Band 1 or 2, nor the 360, but I've had to deal with plenty of bullshit. Probably not as much as some others, but a lot.

My Xbox is now on its fourth refurbishment, and the guys at MS are kindly sending me a new one. Still, four is overkill, and even they admitted that. What kills me is the frequency of problems that not just I but everyone has with the 360. I know only one person who has had no refurbishments. The people I know that own PS3- no problems. My PS2 still works. Hell, my Genesis, though finicky, still fuckin' works. But my original Xbox, and now my 360, both died constantly. I don't want to have to buy a PS3, but I'm tired of sending that shit in.

Let's talk Rock Band. I'm a drummer and guitarist in-game, and I do like the Rock Band 2 drums overall. They feel great, they're quieter, all that shit. But what the hell, I've had to send mine in three times, and once I just ended up buying an extra set. I've had three kick pedals break on me, one RB1, two RB2. (Damn you, Next To You. Damn you.) I eventually just bought an all-metal pedal, expensive, but worth it. No dropped notes, no more playing in my socks. Still, I don't see why the hinge wasn't reinforced on the RB2 pedal. I mean, there was a metal plate, but that just kept the pedal itself from snapping in half. The real problem was still and remains the hinge of the pedal.

I think what we have here is a failure to communicate.

But, that's not my problem anymore. Now I've got my badass metal pedal... which cost another 70 bones. But no worries. No sirree, the only thing left for me to do is to enjoy the game.... and get back over a hundred dollars they charged me mistakenly. ARGH. (Which is now done and took two seconds, honestly not a big deal.)

Listen though. Once all is said and done, and it's all over with, it's been worth all the hassle and bullshit. 360 is a great system, Rock Band is a great game. I just wish it were simpler sometimes, that things could just work right the first time and as intended.

What the fuck ever. Go see Taken. Then go watch Weekend. For no reason.