Groupon Review: Air-soft at Xtreme Action Sports

Location: Xtreme Action Sports

Address:  153 Washington St.

                   East Walpole, MA 02032

                   (508) 850-9899

                   www.xapb.com

With a few day's before the Groupon expired Dan and I travelled to East Walpole to Xtreme Action Sports.  Our Groupon's were for paint ball but we were offered the option of playing air-soft or a combination of both instead.  We selected to play air-soft. Our Groupon provided for a Basic Rental Package and three hours of  play in their 13,000 sqft facility for each of us. The deal included a gun, unlimited air, a mask, neck guard, vest, and 400 rounds of ammunition. The playing field included rooms and hallways. Some are staged as office and warehouse space and others left empty.

We arrived at 11:30 as suggested when I called for reservations and wore long sleeve shirts and pants. After a quick 15 minute safety and training lesson we joined a group who had already been playing. They alternate the air-soft and paintball in the play field to give the players an opportunity to rest and to provide both options the ability to play in all 13,000 sqft. There was equal number of players for each game type when we arrived.

During each  of the matches there were two referee's administering play and they were friendly and fair.  They relied on the players to be honest when shot and they provided safe passage out of the game.They also offered options for play such as capture the flag, free for all and team play.

The number of players' was unfortunately low and at one point it was just Dan and I. The first group had been playing since 10:00 and was finished playing by 12:30.  The next group didn't arrive until 1:00. Dan and I made the best of it and played one on one. When the second group arrive the level of play improved.

The facility was clean and neat and the employees were professional and polite. They were very safety conscious and constantly reminded everyone of the safety policies and procedures. Play was fair and the players evenly split up. This is a facility and a game type that is only best with a large group. Dan and I both enjoyed our experience and would recommend this facility to others.

Movie Review – The Crazies

Movie: The Crazies (2010)

Rating: êêê

In the town of Ogden Marsh, Iowa, Sherriff David Dutton (Timothy Olyphant), enjoys a baseball game. His deputy, Russell (Joe Anderson), spots a local resident, entering the outfield holding a shotgun. David is forced to shoot and kill the unresponsive local. David and his wife Judy (Radha Mitchell), the community doctor, begin to notice other town residents exhibiting bizarre behavior. The next night, a local farmer burns his house down with his wife and son trapped inside, killing them.

While investigating the discovery of a pilot's body in a swamp, David and Russell discover a cargo plane submerged under the water. Communication services are lost, and that evening soldiers wearing hazmat suits arrive to take all residents to quarantine at the high school. Everyone is examined for symptoms of infection. Judy does not pass the examination as a result of a fever brought on by her pregnancy and is separated from David. She tries to explain but is sedated anyway. She wakes strapped to a gurney as the perimeter of the facility is breached by the infected. The military personnel evacuate, leaving Judy and others behind. David is nearing evacuation, but escapes and rejoins Russell in town on a mission to save his wife. They rescue Judy and her medical assistant, Becca (Daniele Panabaker) from an infected citizen whom is killing those in the infirmary with a pitchfork.

Now they know they need to get out of town. Unable to locate a working vehicle they head out on foot. They encounter Becca's boyfriend, Scotty, when they pass through his farm. Soldiers raid the farm, shooting Scotty and his mother, and burn the bodies. The group repairs a patrol car the sheriff has hidden in his garage, and before getting on the road find themselves facing the family of the resident he shoot on the field. Once on the road they are spotted by an attack helicopter. In an attempt to hide they drive into a car wash for cover only to discover it is operated by infected employees who attack them and pull Becca from the car. Racing to try to rescue her as she is hung from the garage they temporarily abandon the car none to soon as the helicopter destroys the car in a precision military strike.

Now on foot they disable a passing government SUV with a police spike strip. The Driver a government agent reveals the cargo of the downed plane contained a biological weapon being sent to Texas to be destroyed is designed to de-stabilize the population. Russell shoots the agent and is confronted by David and Judy about his increasingly erratic behavior.

Russell realizes he is infected and after being disarmed, begs to go on with Judy and David, later dying while distracting soldiers at a road blockade, so Judy and David can sneak past.

By nightfall David and Judy arrive at the truck stop where the uninfected residents were evacuated too, only to find it not only abandoned but that everyone was burned to death. They discover a government radio in the debris left behind. Suddenly they realize they are being hunted by three infected people and only narrowly managed to escape in a semitruck. As they drive away from town they hear the countdown on the radio. As the countdown reaches 0 the town of Ogden March is eradicated by a nuclear explosion which flips their truck.

Back on foot the couple head towards the next big town or Cedar Rapids. As the couple walk towards Cedar Rapids, a view from a military satellite highlights the city, and the words "initiate containment protocol" appear, signifying another containment attempt since David and Judy are unknowngly infected by the virus.

In the closing credits, a news clip from Cedar Rapids Channel 9 is shown in which the newscaster reports that a huge explosion originating from the Dakon Petrol chemical plant started a massive fire in Ogden Marsh, "with eyewitness reports of a 400-foot fireball that lit up the sky." He goes on to report a second explosion at a nearby truck fueling station, alluding to the truck stop. He says a perimeter has been set and civilians are not being allowed into the area. After that, the news clip cuts to a soldier with his rifle brandished, then to a snarling crazy, and finally simply the words "Signal Lost," strongly implying that the much larger city of Cedar Rapids was infected after the events of the film.

Task 96 - Mountain Bike 10 Times

(96) Go mountain biking 10 times (3/10)

Location:    Newton,MA / Watertown, MA

Distance:   3.31 Miles

Time:          19  minutes 46 Seconds

After going home to Dan's the weekend before with the goal of bringing his mountain bike to Newton I was excited to go for a ride together tonight.

With rain in the forecast and it already starting  to sprinkle we decided to go for a quick bike ride and get back before it started to come down hard. I had admittedly planned out a short ride along the Charles River before hand and knew where I wanted to go. While the path I planned was all street we discovered a dirt path that seemed to go along the river and decided to give it a try. We learned that the path was actually part of the Charles River Reservation and lead to the Dealtry Memorial Pool in Watertown, MA. there were several boardwalks that extended out into the river providing everyone beautiful views of the river and an amazing bridge that crossed just before the Watertown Dam

Sadly some people are slobs and there was a significant amount of trash littering the boardwalks. It's really a shame that people not only trash something intended for everyone's enjoyment but that they are polluting nature.