Translated thoughts and questions that are running through a North Korean refugee's mind when he is awarded political asylum in the United States, settles down, turns on the television, and the first thing he sees is a Fancy Feast Cat-Food commercial.

I had trouble sleeping last night, my stomach was bothering me, and I tossed and turned a lot. Apparently, once I got to sleep, I was in a weird place, because now my back is killing me. Probably pretty mild as back pain goes, but it's a new sensation for me. Hopefully this will pass by tomorrow.

I saw Kung Fu Hustle yesterday. God of Cookery it is not. But it was modestly entertaining. In some ways to truly enjoy this film requires more knowledge of Hong Kong cinema than I possess, but the film is a good tribute to the talents of its venerable crew, regardless of whether you know who they are. Older, unassuming actors suddenly burst forth into brilliantly coreographed martial art moves, or rip off a shirt to reveal a still-buff physique. This is really their film; Steven Chow's character drives the plot, bringing Pig Sty Alley in conflict with the Axe Gang, but he is not nearly as much the focus of this film than his previous efforts which I have seen. Which is a good thing, for the most part, as his role as the loser with a swollen head (figuratively and, after a run-in with a pair of cobras, literally) isn't as compelling as some of his other films. But his on-screen participation is kept at a nice balance wiht the residents of Pig Sty Alley and the minions of the Axe Gang, discovering they may need to call in greater authority if they are going to crush their rag-tag adversaries. I was slightly disappointed in the film, just because of my high expectations, but I still recommend it. As Stuart Klawans wrote in The Nation (subscription required to read story), at least this film "gives you something to watch, as today's American pop movies seldom do."

Bush looking forward to gay pride festivities. Apparently, while in Galveston, Texas, Bush made some cracks about "Splash Day," a festival he enjoyed as a youth, unaware it has since become an unofficially gay and lesbian event. My favorite quote of the President: "I'm not saying whether I came or not on Splash Day." I don't see how that could possibly be read with any sense of a double entendre.

Still thumbing through the Criterion site...now I see Au hasard Balthazar is coming soon, as well. I saw excerpts from this for a film class some years back, and would love to see it in its entirety.

As I mentioned in my previous post, Criterion just released F For Fake on DVD. While on their website to link to the page regarding that release, I noticed the fantastic news that The Browning Version is coming out in June. I just happened to catch this on television years ago, and was blown away. The professor's retirement speech gave me goosebumps. There's a fairly recent remake (it's based on a play) that actually wasn't too terrible, except that it gets bogged down in the various stories and loses focus (especially when the stories of the students fall into the familiar cliches of English boarding school life). Of course, the main flaw of the remake is that it pales in comparison to the original. The extras don't look too exciting (audio commentary with a film historian, interview with the remake's director), but that's alright, I'm just thrilled to get the film on DVD.

In looking over the extras for The Browning Version, I thought it odd that the director of the remake is included in the extras. It can be interesting, if the directer focuses on the original, and what he loved about it that made him want to remake it (and why he felt it necessary), but I think it's often just about a desperation to find extras to justify the MSRP (thought I doubt that's the case here--Criterion has proven again and again their discs are worth the premium). I bring this up because I just got Shall We Dansu? on DVD (as you might be noticing, my moratorium on purchasing more DVDs until I watch the ones I have isn't working out so great), and while I can't blame them for trying to cash in on the American remake, it seemed like they pushed the envelope, to the point where I would imagine a Richard Gere fan could buy it and reasonably think they were getting the remake. The cover shows two ballroom dancers from the waist down, who look European, not Japanese. And the back cover text has more to say about the remake, and the stars of it, than the movie being sold. And the extras on the disc include a documentary EPK about the remake. Now, I personally think anyone intending to purchase the remake would be lucky to have accidentally bought the Japanese version, but still, it just seemed like misleading marketing.

As I mentioned in my previous post, Criterion just released F For Fake on DVD. While on their website to link to the page regarding that release, I noticed the fantastic news that The Browning Version is coming out in June. I just happened to catch this on television years ago, and was blown away. The professor's retirement speech gave me goosebumps. There's a fairly recent remake (it's based on a play) that actually wasn't too terrible, except that it gets bogged down in the various stories and loses focus (especially when the stories of the students fall into the familiar cliches of English boarding school life). Of course, the main flaw of the remake is that it pales in comparison to the original. The extras don't look too exciting (audio commentary with a film historian, interview with the remake's director), but that's alright, I'm just thrilled to get the film on DVD.

In looking over the extras for The Browning Version, I thought it odd that the director of the remake is included in the extras. It can be interesting, if the directer focuses on the original, and what he loved about it that made him want to remake it (and why he felt it necessary), but I think it's often just about a desperation to find extras to justify the MSRP (thought I doubt that's the case here--Criterion has proven again and again their discs are worth the premium). I bring this up because I just got Shall We Dansu? on DVD (as you might be noticing, my moratorium on purchasing more DVDs until I watch the ones I have isn't working out so great), and while I can't blame them for trying to cash in on the American remake, it seemed like they pushed the envelope, to the point where I would imagine a Richard Gere fan could buy it and reasonably think they were getting the remake. The cover shows two ballroom dancers from the waist down, who look European, not Japanese. And the back cover text has more to say about the remake, and the stars of it, than the movie being sold. And the extras on the disc include a documentary EPK about the remake. Now, I personally think anyone intending to purchase the remake would be lucky to have accidentally bought the Japanese version, but still, it just seemed like misleading marketing.

Slap Happy, a series on lesser-known silent comedy shorts, is availabe on DVD. Vol. 1 is deeply discounted, so you can sample the series. I didn't see any of the half-hour episodes when they aired on PBS, but they are well-reviewed, and are said to focus more on lengthy clips from the movies, rather than long commentaries and talking heads.

Speaking of documentaries, I don't believe I mentioned yet that F For Fake came out on DVD this week. I snapped mine up on Amazon, and am planning on devouring it this weekend (it's a two-disc Criterion Edition, so it's got a lot of extras). I'll give you my verdict once I've watched it.

Idiot spearguns a black sea bass in the La Jolla Underwater Park. I hope they throw the book at him; I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, but to kill a protected fish with a spear gun while in an ecological preserve, claim ignorance both that the fish is protected and that you are in a no-fish area, and to top it all claim you killed the sea bass in self-defense (!!!) is just asinine. The paper has an article on reaction to the killing, as well. "I would imagine that hunting a giant black sea bass would be as challenging as shooting a dairy cow," one diver is quoted as saying.

I completed my paper that was due today without incident. I think I did well, which is unsettling. I've thought I've done poorly on most of the assignments I've turned in yesterday, only to receive good grades, so I am hoping that the pattern will not be mirrored, so that I get bad grades when I think I did well. Time will tell.

I went to "Comedy Night" at Valley View Casino last night. For some reason, I get selective amnesia every time I see a comedy show, and forget the opening acts are always abysmal. And this show was no exception, the first fourty minutes or so were painful. The headliners were pretty okay, though. It was a comedy duo, a blind mexican and a fellow of the Irish persuation. They had a knack for sound effects, and a few great routines, and a lot of servicable jokes. It takes talent to entertain myself pretty well, while keeping the crowd as a whole, made up (like most casino promotional events) largely of people about three times my age, in hysterics. The casino also gave me $20 in free slot play for showing up, which I proceded to lose, along with quite a bit of my own cash. But I've had decent luck lately, so I just gave them back their money.

I then proceeded to Harrah's, and again I essential stiffed them this visit, playing the $30 in free slot play they sent me, and gambling a bit on what was left of that money, but playing for less than five minutes before cashing out $20, without risking any of my own money. I also had a $20 food coupon, so we ate at their newish surfer-themed eatery by the pool area. At first glance it looked a bit pricy, but it wasn't unreasonable at all given the quality of the food, and the sandwiches were only in the $7-$9 range. Not out of line in comparison to the coffee shop there. Service was poor; the waitress was nice, but there was only one, while there were about six hostesses and assorted hangers-on apparently on the clock. Poor management, it seems. The parmesean fries with the sandwich were good, and the chips and salsa and beans they serve are pretty good, the chips fresh and greasy, in a good way. I'd eat there again, on a comp. Paying for food in a casino makes me feel dirty. I just drank water, but noticed the bar drinks were overpriced (and they don't comp liquor in California casinos)--though I was glad to see the drink menu listed prices; I hate the way they never tell you what those pretty fufu girlie drinks cost in most restaurants. Anyway, I had the smoked salmon on flat bread, which I envisioned as a sandwich, but was closer to a pizza. It was real good, but it was late, and I wasn't very hungry, so I ended up taking almost the whole thing home and eating it around two in the morning. I inhaled a bit of parmesan, I think, and started choking, but managed to compose myself in the rest room. In the mirror, I noticed I was sporting an odd look, with both a pronounced five o'clock shadow, and a gash from where I cut myself shaving. I think it worked for me.

So I had an okay time. Knowing I had a paper to write when I got home put a bit of a damper on things, especially when I sat through awful comedians, thinking about more productive uses of my time. But I got home right at midnight, and had made good progress on my paper that afternoon, so I was done around 1:30. Then I couldn't sleep, because I was hungry, and later I couldn't sleep because I'd just downed a bunch of fish. So I tried to sleep in, but then got woke up twice, once by a phone call telling me the mayor of San Diego resigned, and once by my mother, who apparently felt I would want to be woken for such news. But I'm feeling pretty frisky this morning, rested and ready to face another day.

I'm a bit squeezed for time today. I'm supposed to go to "Comedy Night" at Valley View Casino after work tonight, and then on Friday, the professor reminded my film class we have a paper due Monday, which I had thought was due Friday. And, of course, my vow that I would finish the paper Saturday came to naught. Though I did take copious notes on the scene I'm writing about (in Aguirre, where the Emperor feasts while the rest of the crew starve, and then he orders the horse overboard), so hopefully I can finish, or at least make decent progress, on the paper at work today (it's a bit too early, and I'm still a bit too asleep to start the paper now, hence this posting--call it a warm-up). And if I don't, and I have to miss Comedy Night, I think I'll live (though I was planning on eating their excellent buffet while I was up there, and was looking forward to that--and the free slot play they were giving me for attending their event).

I haven't been sleeping well. I'm tempted to go see the school shrink so I can get some Ambien--it didn't do too much the last time I tried it, but it did help short-term, and I think that's all I need. My running milage is beginning to build again, and that should help my sleep. But in the mean time, I've felt like crap this week, and had some headaches earlier in the week that kept me home from school Wednesday (though I managed to go to the movies later that day, so it couldn't have been too bad). On Thursday, I had trouble sleeping, then overslept, then hit traffic, so I was about fourty minutes late for work. Then I got yelled at by the operations manager for leaving a door open I shouldn't have, and then was short counting out at the end of the day. And I had almost called in sick, but decided I could make it, since it would reflect badly on me calling in sick twice in about three weeks. But in retrospect, I'm sure I'd have been better off if I weren't there.

Last weekend, I saw some Gilbert and Sullivan operettas (well, actually only one was from their pairing; the other was by Stephenson and Sullivan) up at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido. I enjoyed The Zoo very much, and Trial by Jury was okay, though there wasn't a whole lot to it. It was my first time seeing a performance in their main theatre, and I was impressed, though the stairs were confusing, and I couldn't figure out how to get up or down from the balcony without the elevators. I wouldn't want to be there in a fire.

I saw Sin City this week, as well. I was disappointed. Something about watching a movie that is a recreation of a comic book, that itself draws on noir and pulp fiction conventions, that felt like watching a copy of a copy of a copy. It had it's moments, but for the most part, I was rather bored.

The new MST3K boxed set came out this week, as did season one of The Bob Newhart Show. Very exciting, both of them. Despite my professed lack of time, I managed to watch The Killer Shrews from MST3K vol. 7, along with some bonus shorts (where we learn never to wish for a world with no springs, lest a satanic spring just might make our dream come true), as well as some funny Bob Newhart epsidoes (I especially liked the one where Bob speaks at a third-grade career day, asking the children, "Do you really know yourselves?"). Good stuff. And I finally got Matango, Attack of the Mushroom People, which is almost as good as promised. And the interview with the special effects man on the film reveals the film was instrumental in the invention of styrofoam.

But I've rambled on enough. I should try to get started on my paper, now that my coffee's kicked in.

Weekend Stubble links to some interesting articles regarding The Covent Garden Ladies and other works from the "dirty desk."

I went to The Boardwalk to play The Sopranos pinball again, and it was gone. Elvis was back in its place. Which is okay, Elvis is fun, but I was sad to see Sopranos gone. I'm hoping it just required repairs, but that is odd, considering it is a new game. Perhaps it's subject matter and language didn't fit the family atmosphere (though it has a cleaner language setting than the one they had the machine set on). Anyway, I hope it resurfaces. It was an easy game, at least on the settings on which I played it, but fun.

While there, I had their pizza buffet for the first time. Not bad at all. $4.95 doesn't include your drink, but you get four tokens (a $0.66 value, since I was there on a six-tokens-for-a-buck day). And the food wasn't bad. The pizza, while not as cheesy as the usual pizza they sell by the slice, didn't skimp on the cheese as much as other pizza buffets. And while the salad bar was only slightly more impressive than other pizza buffets (meaning they had both iceberg and romain lettuce, and a few vegetable toppings as well), they also had lasagna and spaghetti, as well as breadsticks and garlic bread. The lasagna seemed to have been sitting awhile, and I got there in the first hour or so of the buffet. But it wasn't bad, and they stamp your hand so you can leave and play in the arcade, and then go back for more pizza (or pudding for dessert). I wouldn't go out of my way to eat there, but if I was already there for the pinball, and craved greasy food, it's a very good deal, and hard to resist.

Tanner's doing okay. No repeats of the fit he had the other day. So hopefully we can put that behind us. Me, I feel a bit crappy. Having trouble sleeping, and hit with a headache and earache yesterday. Got a decent run in yesterday, though. Hopefully if I can keep that up, and build up enough milege to run strong in the Race for Literacy 8K (I'd like to know the story why "Dr. Seuss" got dropped from the name), that should show in an improvement in my sleep habits.

I'm in the midst of a 10-day free trial of GameBlast at Shockwave.com, which I guess the Adobe/Macromedia merger means I'm an investor in, as well (I also recently learned my Adobe stock ownership means I have an extremely small stake in Salon.com, to which I subscribe). They recently started offering Oasis, a game I grew fairly addicted to during its beta testing period. Unfortuantely, I've cooled on it a bit while waiting for it to be released. But it's still a fun game, and worth a try (I recommend the 10-day free trial, though that requires a credit card number...the no-strings-attached one hour of free play is okay, but I think it takes a good twenty or thirty minutes just to get the basics down). For games of this caliber, Oasis is a very complex and involving game, yet still simple enough to reward the intermittent game play associated with these cheap downloadable games. I haven't found any other games that really grab me, so I don't think I'll stay with a paid subscription when my free trial runs out, though I might just for one month, to get a discount on purchasing a unlimited license to Oasis. Jewel Quest and Diner Dash are fun, though I think Diner Dash's appeal is wearing off, especially once you figure out that earning a high score requires a formulaic strategy that is pretty simple (and boring) to implement. The poker game is pretty easy to beat, as well. But there are a lot of games to explore, and if I didn't think I waste enough time as it is, I might consider a membership at less than $10 a month.

The Mutts website has a decent Mother's Day offer. Purchase the limited edition Mother's Day print for $150 and get free stationary, or purchase the basic edition for $35, and get a button. The way the offer is worded, it appeared that you get the stationary with either purchase, which would have been fantastic, but that is not the case. So now I'm not certain if that's what I'll get my mom, since $35 for a comic strip I don't believe she is aware of might be an odd gift. But it is a sweet strip. And speaking of sweet strips....

Adobe to buy Macromedia. I read the headlines yesterday, and found the news (as the owner of a small position in Adobe) exciting. When I first purchased Adobe, I compared them to Macromedia, their main competitor, and found them both to be solid companies. Over the last few years, they seem to have become slightly less competitive, as Adobe trounced them on the graphic design front, and Macromedia came to focus (as near as I figure, not having really followed the company) on developing Flash. Still, the merger makes a lot of sense to me, in that they still complement each other well, giving Adobe a chance to combine the best of both their programs (and set aside the legal bickering that has occured between the two), and expand into more areas that supplement their existing product line (the scuttlebutt is this merger is a move to capitalize on the foothold Flash has gained in the portable device market).

I still haven't really crunched any numbers or anything to determine if the price is reasonable, though at a quick glance nothing looks awry. When I first heard the news, my first response was, how much is the stock up on this? Instead, I find it was down almost 10%. I considered buying more, but relented, until I had time to look at the deal more closely. So, of course, it shoots up about 7% today. Which led to some nice "wisdom" out of wall street journalism. The 10% fall yesterday showed the market didn't like the merger (didn't see much word why--though I suspsect it's more a concern over "diworseification" rather than valuation), while today's 7% run-up suddenly represents a complete reversal, and now wall street loves the news. Just as if yesterday never happened. I own stock in a company that makes a treatment for blindness, so I guess I should applaude this myopia. I just wish I bought more stock in Adobe this morning, with the money I collected for selling Intuit (at virtually a wash...I believe I made a $14.00 profit, after holding it two years). I ended up investing in my old standby the eye drug company, QLT, Inc., which is down 20% since I bought back it (after realizing a nice profit selling it a year or so before). And as long as I'm rambling on about my stock investments, I should mention (I don't think I have before), I sold Atari at a 90% profit, after holding it less than six months. Too bad I didn't take my profits elsewhere, I've been taking a bit of a beating lately.

House OKs Family Copyright Bill. Thank God we won't have to worry about being confronted with Kate Winslet's breasts without our consent. The bill also creates tough criminal penalties for surreptitiously filming movies in movie theaters. Also, on a more useful and hopeful note, the U.S. Copyright Office is taking comments regarding solutions to the problem of orphan copyrights.

Tanner had some sort of seizure last night around midnight. Or maybe it was more of a muscle spasm. He couldn't take more than a step or two without falling against the wall. He didn't seem completely out of it, but I suppose he was shaking and twitching enough to constitute a seizure. So I had to bring him to the emergency pet clinic, which did some blood work and examined him and found nothing wrong. Hopefully, it was a one-time thing. They sent out some blood work, because his platelet count was low, but they apparently were having problems with their machine, and consider that the likely culprit. Tanner has been behaving a bit strange lately, nothing major, but I'm hoping nothing is wrong.

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America is now only $100 at Amazon. It's not eligible for free shipping, though. I don't really feel like blowing $100 on it, but it's more tempting than when it was $150, which was itself a good price. I think I'll try reading it in the school library's special collections.

DVD Savant recently posted great reviews of The Mysterians and Matango: Attack of the Mushroom People, both of which I will be picking up shortly. One of those reviews, incidentally, led me to a very interesting review of the film Giants and Toys, which is compared to both The Apartment and The Sweet Smell of Success, which definately piques my interest.

I attended the Padres game Saturday night, my first trip to Petco Park. I was a guest of Valley View Casino, viewing the game from their suite. Which meant to go to the game downtown, I had to leave my home in La Mesa and go to Escondido, and let them shuttle be to the stadium and back, which meant I'd be doing a lot of sitting in cars. So we had to leave around 2:00 for the 7:05 game. First we swung by Harrah's, where I had a coupon for $30 in slot play, which I quickly cashed out at $50, and left. I didn't give them much action, which is okay, they still send me good offers after I periodically stiff them, and when I do give them heavy action, my offers don't really noticably improve (they don't reward their table players very well--one reason I'm dreading their takeover of Caesars).

When I arrived at Valley View, I tried to ascertain where exactly I checked in for the Padres game, but no one seemed to know. Someone sent me to the special events center, but there was only a gruff security guard there, who wasn't much help. Eventually, someone was able to tell me I just had to check in right on the bus, around 4:15-4:30. So I gambled for thirty minutes or so, won a small amount of money, and then went to find the bus. The driver confirmed we were at the right place, and we got on the bus to wait. The whole thing was poorly executed, as we were told very little, and the bus ended up leaving at 5:00, so they could have gotten another 40 minutes or so of gambling out of me, if they'd better informed us of what was going on. It was fine by me, kept me from losing money, and I had already understood the day would involve lots of time on a bus. But it seems poor planning on their part, given their own best interests. It was also odd that our escorts for the evening weren't casino hosts, but rather just employees who wanted to see the game. They were good people, though. The drive to Petco Park wasn't bad at all, it only took an hour or so, and we were there.

This was my first visit to Petco Park, and I was adequately impressed with the facility. Not a great deal of charm, necessarily, but at least it's more personable than the old stadium. The cheap seats look pretty crappy, but the park seating doesn't seem like a bad deal. $5 gets you standing-room admission, and the mound behind center field offers a decent view. For families, especially, it's a decent deal. I'd do that rather than pay double or triple that for the cheaper seats in the stadium.

But of course, I didn't have to make such decisions, because I had access to a suite. Valley View's premiere suite is on the plaza level, just behind home place, on the first base side. It looked to be about the nicest suite besides the owner's (I assume that is his immediately behind home plate). The view of the game is phenomenal. Looking in the fridge, there was beer and wine, and mixers, so I figured their must be liquor somewhere, but didn't see any. But I started looking for a corkscrew for the wine, and in the process, discovered a well-stocked liquor cabinet. So I mixed myself a screwdriver and got some food. I was excited about the prospect of the skybox food, but was a bit disappointed. They had chicken and beef kabobs, which weren't bad, but which were a bit cold. The chicken breasts were also cold, and almost inedible. So that was disappointing, but they did have the traditional ballpark food, which wasn't bad. Hot dogs and polish sausage, cracker jacks. I got my fill mostly by chowing down on the chips and seven-layer dip (much better than nachos). So if I was a bit disappointed, I didn't go hungry. And when you consider ballpark prices, I really ate like a king (I later learned my ticket would have given me access to the Omni Hotel Premiere Club, which looked to have good food, though that food isn't complimentary). The nicest aspect of watching the game from the suite, though, was something very dear to my heart--a private restroom. No more peeing in a trough for me (I never went in the public restrooms, but I sincerely hope the trough is no longer a staple of stadium men's room design). An especially nice enhancement to the free liquor.

I belive the suite's intended capacity is about 20 people, but the 21 in our group were a bit cramped. I think the problem was everyone was watching the game. I would think in many groups, there are the die-hards out watching the game in the seats, and others lounging on the couch, watching the plasma screen instead. But with everyone outside, it was cramped, and since we were the last to grab seats, we were stuck on stools in the aisle. But it wasn't a bad vantage, anyway. And the game was good, more competitive than the 11-5 final score suggests (probably one of the higher scoring games at Petco). I watched the last few innings from the couch, once the game looked pretty much done. The plasma screen TV really is amazingly clear. It will be exciting when they are more affordable. After the game, we ran up to the third level to watch the fireworks, which were pretty good. But apparently no one else cared, because they were all on the bus, waiting for us. Serves them right, for hogging the best seats. The drive back wasn't bad, either, we got back just after 11:00. I gambled, lost a bit and won it back, and ended up leaving a modest winner, after playing with one of the worst blackjack players I've seen. He'd hit a hard seventeen against a three, but stay on twelve against a ten. No reason to it. But no matter. I won some cash, saw a good baseball game, and had a more luxurious experience than I'm used to at sporting events. Valley View seems aware of their limitations compared to the more swank casinos around town, and seems to do a good job compensating, with a fabulous buffet, good comps, and unique experiences like their skybox. I didn't gamble a great deal (mostly because the game took so much time, and they had me stuck on the bus so long before we left), but I hopefully played enough that they'll still send me invites to events like this one.

4.0 quake hit near El Cajon last night. I could barely get to sleep last night, then this starts jerking my bed around around four in the morning. Somewhat unusual to have an earthquake originate this close to the city itself. They usually seem to be way out in the desert, or somewhere in the ocean.

The Museum of Modern Art in NYC is in the midst of a Christopher Guest exhibition. Damn you lucky east coast bastards!

Steve Wynn head-hunting from his old company. You can see the Wynn Casino Super Bowl ad on ifilm. It helps if you've been to Vegas in the last year or two, and can appreciate just how high up he is in the ad (even if he is securely bolted to his position. I must admit, I am tempted to shell out the major coin to stay there. The Salon Suite looks incredible, and while I may not be used to paying $850 a night (the current rate for some nights in September, which seems to be about how far ahead you have to book those rooms), it's hardly unprecedented, especially for a hotel of that luxury. I somehow doubt I'll be earning many comps there, though.

The Boardwalk in El Cajon now has The Sopranos pinball. I managed to play for close to ninety two tokens, and finally had to leave with two credits on the machine. Helps that I hit the special twice. Also helped that I earned the high score twice, earning two free games. And as is usually the case when they get a new game in, the score requirement for a free game was quite low. And being one of the first players to take a run at it, I managed to get the "grand champion," #1, and #4 rankings on the high score list (probably won't last long, though I still have a high score on the Elvis pinball).

The game is pretty fun. The eight-ramp set-up seemed a bit simple, but after playing awhile it's a bit more complicated than it looks. Not a great deal more, but requires just enough strategy to keep things interesting. I found the game a bit too easy, especially the safe shot, which is pretty easy to make over and over again, quickly getting promoted up to "underboss." In this, my very first playing session, I very nearly completed the game, just needing to complete one more episode to light everything to begin "boss" mode. It usually takes me a long time to get close to the "wizard mode," and for many games I've played a lot I never had (I don't claim to be a pinball genius, just slightly more skilled--or at least more persistent--than the average player...but much like with my bowling ability, I'm wildly inconsistent). I don't know if they have the game set on an easy mode, or if it's just not that challenging. I guess the latter, since the game has an "adult language mode" (not on at the family arcade I was playing at), and they no doubt assume a fair number of players will be tore up. But even if the game isn't perfect, and could be more challenging, I found my initial exposure to the game very fun (I doubt it will have a great deal of replay value).

Pinball News, as usual, has a nice, in-depth review of The Sopranos pinball. A brief comment in that review led me to seek out this look back at Medieval Madness, which confirms that Miss Tina Fey of SNL fame provided some of the voices for that game (along with other members of Second City). Learn something new every day.

The hunt is on for non-violent nursery rhymes. If Nick, Jr. is so concerned about not scarring children for life, they should do something about those freakish puppets on Lazy Town. Something about that show freaks me out.

I found myself thinking about Paul Reubens tonight (wondering when the special edition Pee-Wee's Playhosue DVDs are coming), which led me to think of his TV show based on You Don't Know Jack, which led me to decide to play a game of the old computer game. Turns out they apparently don't work on Windows XP, so that was out, but I did find that Jellyvision is still selling the game, and they are apparently remastered to work with XP. They even came out with a new volume of Jack last year. The price seems a bit high for the old games, but I might pick up the new one.

Some interesting factoids regarding the darker history of the papacy. I'd heard a bit about "Saint Joan," it was interesting to learn the history that might have inspired the legend. (It's also amusing to pull up some of the websites still purporting Pope John Paul II to be the anti-christ...and who will no doubt put forth new suspects with equal confidence in short order)

I hesitate to give away too much information about my screenplay-in-progress, tenetively titled Canine Cum Laude (sampling of significant dialogue: "There's nothing in the school charter that says a dog can't matriculate."), but today's events suggest a natural sequel (after I relocate the first film to, say, Notre Dame). Tentative title: Ponifex Caninus ("Nothing in the canon law says a dog can't be the Holy Father"). It would make The Pope Must Die(t) look like The Agony and the Ecstacy. Of course, it would be a francise-killer (where do you take the beloved dog--beagle, of course--once he's the infallible instrument of God?), so I'll have to figure out what the second act of the trilogy would be (astronaut? au pair?). Perhaps the dog becomes a crusty old dean himself, hypocritically keeping another dog out of the university, until befriending a street-smart bitch who reminds him of his roots. Man, once I actually put pen to paper, I think I'll have a mega-smash. Jerry Bruckheimer, watch out!

I enjoyed today's Mutts comic strip. Very touching.

Mitch Hedberg, dead at 37. Very sad. I feel real awful I missed him last time he was in town.