Monday, December 25, 2006

Sunday, December 24, 2006

For some reason, The Areas of My Expertise is available for free download on iTunes. Get it while you can.

Merry Christmas!

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Dr. Phil is such a tool:

Okay, Dr. Phil, you've booked the maker of Bumfights on your show. You've shown a 90-second promotional piece for his product, and in the heat of the moment, you have second thoughts, and kick the man off your show. You know what you do next? You don't air the interview! Jesus Christ, man, it's not that hard a concept to grasp. Of course, if you just had the man on to kick him off your show, to make yourself look good, that's another matter. But I don't know if you're that hypocritical. I mean, it's not like CBS uploaded this clip to YouTube themselves, to promote your show...oh, I see...

Notwithstanding the fact that the whole thing seems staged, with the Bumfights dude knowing his role and two security guards straight from central casting ready to escort the fellow off-stage in as camera-friendly a way as possible. I'm not a fan of Dr. Phil, but I must say I expected more of him than this.

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Mallard Fillmore's creator is a big stinking drunk. I'd make a joke, but if I've learned one thing from Fillmore's Ted Kennedy strips, that statement alone is always hilarious.

Sunday, December 03, 2006

Yes, I know, I've been lazy about keeping this site updated. If I didn't pop in occasionally to tell you that someone died, you'd probably think I had. There's a few reasons why I haven't been around too much. There's school, for one. But primarily, I'd say my absence is due to two things. I've been sick for quite a few weeks, a really bad case of the flu over two days or so, and then a low-grade version I've had trouble shaking, and, probably related, a marked deterioration in my chronic insomnia (I'm lucky to fall asleep before 3:00 these days). The result of which is, I've accomplished very little recently. The second reason I've been lax in updating is that most of my time online has been spent nurturing my obsession with the Wii.

Which I now own. I got up a bit before 6:00 this morning, and was at the Target in Grossmont Center around 6:30 or so, where I found no line. I pulled into a space facing the first-floor entrance, where the line-ups for this sort of thing take place, and saw no one in line, which actually worried me a bit, but I saw people in the cars on either side of me, so I rolled down my window to ask one if they were there for the Wii, which of course they were. Then the guy on the other side of me says he was told they don't have the Wii. At first I thought he was trying to fake me out to get me to leave, but it was soon apparent he was telling the truth, but as I was assured they would have 40 or so units, I figured the loading docks guy was simply misinformed. I sat in my car for a few minutes, but apparently my arrival was the tipping point, as a line quickly began to form, with myself in the third position. There were probably ten or so groups in line when it first formed, and about thirty in line around 7:30, when the manager came out and confirmed that they had 42 units. He also confirmed that they had no extra controllers for sale. Which is fine, as I intend to wait for the release of Wii Play, which will come bundled with an extra controller. By 8:00, the line was fairly long, to the point that the people at the end probably went home empty-handed. But within about five minutes, I was walking out with a Wii. I didn't buy any games, as I've ordered Trauma Center and Zelda online, and intend to pick up Rayman Raving Rabbits on my way home from work. Wii Sports should be more than enough entertainment for a week or so, at least, and I do intend to get at least one game off the Virtual Console, just to try it out (probably Sonic the Hedgehog, or possibly Super Mario 64--I can think it over, since it's all moot until I get a wireless network set up).

It is a bit frustrating to wait in line for ninety minutes or so, get my coveted equipment, and then have to set it aside and go to work, but that's life. I'll have time this evening to explore my new best friend--to quote the great man, "Teacher, mother, secret lover." I actually have a little more time than I could normally expect, as we're closing early tonight for our holiday party. I was planning to go, but with the excitement of the Wii, the fact that I got less than three hours sleep (I actually feel quite alert, considering), and seeing as my recent illness would preclude much drinking, I'm skipping it. It's on a boat, which is nice, our last party on the boat was a lot of fun, but it means I can't just pop in for an hour or so, so I'm just skipping out entirely. I'm sure I'll have some Wii-flections for you all soon.

The question is, now that I own a Wii, can I stop pouring over the Wii search results on Google Blog Search, or will I just become even more obsessive and disturbed? I won't share all the articles I found, but I will point to this one, which might just be wishful thinking, but it is definately true that the Wii has the potential to revitalize the adventure genre. The article made me feel all warm and fuzzy just for reminding me of the existence of the Tex Murphy series. My impression is that Max Payne might follow at least in the tone of that series, but since I've never actually gotten around to playing it, I couldn't say for sure. As far as Space Quest is concerned, I loved it as an adolescent, but my revisitation to the series finds that they do not hold up as well as I hoped, at least as far as gameplay. A new iteration of the series could definately work, though.