Soon To Be Classics

New Trek Commercial

2009-02-07T09:27:00.001-08:00

In case you missed it, the new commercial for Star Trek shows a little bit more.

http://www.startrekmovie.com/

Step #1 : Silence Your Critics

2009-02-05T21:35:00.000-08:00

The first step to complete and absolute power is silencing your critics. It goes beyond just outright censorship. It comes in many forms.

First, it comes as impassioned pleas to "come together" and "finally stop the hate and rhetoric ". That generally happens only AFTER your guy gets elected. Before that point, it was perfectly acceptable to spew bile and hatred on TV, in the classroom, and on the street corner.

It also happens in the form of violent removal of legal rights. We're not quite there yet, but I certainly wouldn't put it past some.

And, it comes in a more subtle form as well. It's an age old argument that we all learn on the playground when we're young. Fairness. We have to be fair, right? We share the ball. We take turns on the slide. We break the cookie in half to share it. That's fair? Right? Everything should be 50/50. Split. Equal. Dare I say, social?

My biggest beef with the new political makeup of our country, is this policy of "spreading the wealth". But I'm not talking about money, or food, or jobs. I'm talking about free speech, the free market system and the abomination known as the "Fairness Doctrine".

The long and short of the Fairness Doctrine, is that Talk Radio leans disproportionately to the conservative side. Host like Rush Limbaugh (who I don't listen to), Sean Hannity (ditto), Dennis Prager (who I very much enjoy) and others have the lion's share of the market. Democratic "leadership" in Congress like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, John Kerry, Dick Durbin and of late Senator Debbie Stabenow (D. from Michigan and not-so-coincidentally married to a liberal talk radio host) are pushing to reintroduce the Fairness Doctrine. This doctrine, if passed and reinstated (it was in effect from 1949 to 1987), would force Radio stations to split their airtime equally over competing messaging.

As it has been mentioned by the politicians above in various forms, it would ONLY affect Radio. Not television. Not movies. And not newspapers. I guess if you have a monopoly on the television news and the theaters are filled with hack job movies for your cause, there's no reason to be fair there. But on Radio, where conservative talk beats liberal talk by a 1000 to one, well, there's suddenly a problem.

This leads us to discuss why that is. It's not that conservative talk radio gets any advantage. There are no grants or funding. (Note that our tax dollars pay for NPR which is highly biased the other way.) Radio is supported by advertisers. Advertisers generally support messages they approve of or are at least savvy enough business people to buy ads where people are listening. For some reason, more people like to listen to conservative talk radio than liberal talk radio. I was in radio when Air America went live. Air America was a liberal talk radio network that had hundreds of millions of dollars in private investment behind it. I received numerous calls (as Program Director of an AM station) trying to get me to pick up the feeds. I had built a conservative / slightly moral lineup for my station and politely refused, but said I would watch the ratings and consider adding shows if I needed filler (154 hours to fill each week was a lot!). So what happened? Air America pretty much went to crap. No one listened, ad support and sponsorship dried up. It declared bankruptcy, left a lot of debt, was sold and is sputtering along. It still exists in some form but the fact is, no one wanted to hear that message or didn't want to hear it the way it was presented. That's called the free market system. The market determines what it wants and rejects what it doesn't. It's economic Darwinism. It reminds me of when Bill Maher made the idiotic comment on his show that the 9/11 hijackers were "the real patriots". After his show was canceled, he screamed "censorship!" It wasn't censorship at all. His advertisers, Sears being one of the biggest, was smart enough to realize that America didn't want to hear that garbage and they pulled their ad spend. The network saw the writing on the wall, realized that they were not going to be able to fill the spots in that show and canceled it. Censorship? No, the free market system in action.

So the intention of the Fairness Doctrine is essentially designed to force Air America or whatever gets set up to fill this gap down the throats of American's who rejected it the first time. If a conservative host talks for 4 hours, then under the Fairness Doctrine, a liberal host gets to talk for four hours. Right there, you have a radio station who just lost half of their TSL or time spent listening.

Now, I don't think for one minute that the Fairness Doctrine will pass. There are democrats in Congress that have openly said they wouldn't support this. I'm sure there are a lot of people who want it to pass, but I think just like this moronic, pork-bloated "stimulus package", people will see the legislation for what it truly is. Control. Silencing. Socialism.

I love Radio. It was the most rewarding job of my life and every day a small part of me is sorry I left. But I saw what government intervention has done to an industry that used to be the major source of information and entertainment in the world. Think radio sucks? Think all the stations sound the same? You can thank Bill Clinton for that. Tucked away inside the 1996 Tele-Comm Bill (remember that one? It was guaranteed to lower your cable bill. Did that EVER happen?) there was a provision that loosened ownership restrictions on radio station buyers. This allowed corporate vampires like Clear Channel and CBS to buy up thousands of radio stations, site-unseen, fire over 20,000 personnel, and homogenize the entire industry. Why does every radio station sound alike? Because every 5 stations have the same jocks, liners and music lists. The only real plus here is that these large radio groups are now tanking. The free market system at work, again.

I suppose we'll all see what happens together. But this is certainly an issue I'll watch with great interest. Like I said, this is the first step and a number of the most powerful lawmakers and gleefully waiting to make it happen.

I'm Really Torn Here

2009-01-05T19:48:00.000-08:00

I just don't know what to do.

It dawned on me today that there was a Democrat in the White House for the majority of my Radio career which was certainly helpful in formulating my online personae. It certainly helped that said Democrat was Bill Clinton, which offered a great deal of material with which to build a day's discussion.

I left Radio about a year and a half or so after 9-11 and those last 18 months really didn't involve blue dresses, the definition of the word "is" or anything like that. I was probably doing less opinion and more reporting of the events in the world which seemed uncertain and shaky and oftentimes not very funny.

Now, I no longer have a radio show and it's killing me. The parade of insanity leading up to inauguration day is staggering. I've started and stopped a half dozen blog posts because I myself don't like reading political posts. I had started a lengthy one about today's mind-numbing announcement about Obama's choice for CIA Director. (Please note that this is an issue that Nancy Pelosi and I agree on. That's enough to drop me in a grave already...) I stopped and thought, "Would anyone care to read this?" I'm not sure. The one thing that I noticed years ago, is that no one ever really changes their minds about politics. If you lock 10 people in a room with 5 being Republicans and 5 being Democrats they will emerge in the same numbers no matter how long the door is closed. Hence, why bother?

So, should I post? Or not? If not, I'll continue to (and try to be better at) blogging about important things to me like this note that I saw on NONE of my typical genre sites. Majel Barrett Rodenberry, the "first lady" of Star Trek, passed away in December. I met her in 1993 and she was positively lovely to me. Her last work will be in the upcoming Star Trek film as the voice of the Enterprise computer, a role she played on the original show and several of the movies.

I'm Sure It's Our Fault Too

2009-01-01T06:37:00.000-08:00

If you haven't followed the other side of global warming (the fact that this is one of the coldest years on record) you might have missed that scientists have been tracking the reduction of sunspot activity on the sun. You can read the assessment for 2008 here.

Now I'm sure that somewhere, someone is going to state that the lack of sunspots in 2008 is because I drive a mini-van. Because really, mankind is so powerful that we can affect said activity on an astronomical body millions of times the Earth's mass and 93 million miles away. Isn't the Earth still the center of the Universe?

Happy New Year (and good riddance 2008)

2008-12-31T18:54:00.000-08:00

Whoops. Been a while.

It's New Year's Eve and we officially say goodbye to 2008. It's a silly tradition as very little actually changes aside from the calendar.

Happy New Year all!

And There You Have It

2008-11-05T21:34:00.001-08:00

And So I Face The Final Curtain...

2008-10-26T20:31:00.001-07:00

The End is Near...

On Tuesday, I fly back to Seattle to pack up the rest of the house, close on it with the new buyers, put the family on a plane and hit the highway with the van and the cat. 8 months and 4 days after I left there for Denver, it's finally over.

I'll spend two days driving through three mountain ranges (in late October...can't wait) to get to Denver. I hope the title of this post isn't too prophetic.

My hope is to be here in Denver with them for trick or treat. I'll have to make good time to do it. Wish me luck.

In 8 days we close on the house down here. I probably shouldn't have purchased a house with the uncertainty in EVERYTHING these days but what the hell. There has been no stability in my family for almost a year now. I had to give them something.

Thanks to all of you who have supported me over the last 8 months. I think I'm only coming to terms with how depressed I have really been and hope that it's going to be easy to pull out of.

More details as they become available.

Two Weeks and Counting, Or So...

2008-10-18T07:00:00.001-07:00

The house sale / purchase is moving along swimmingly. We close prior to the end of October in Seattle so that ends our time there, finally. After that, I put the family on a plane while the cat and I drive 19+ hours in the van from Seattle to Denver. That'll be three mountain ranges I have to drive through in November. Whee...

Then, we close here in Denver on the 3rd of November. Assuming all goes well, we take possession that day. The trick though, is we don't get our stuff until Nov. 8th. Kyle had a great suggestion about buying some Nerf hockey sticks and letting the kids go crazy. There won't be anything else to do and they can't break anything.

More updates to come!

An Offer At Last!

2008-10-06T20:49:00.001-07:00

On the worst day in U.S. financial history since the Great Depression, we finally got an offer on the house in Seattle that we're going to accept! Sure, I lost a ton of equity in the house, but that really doesn't matter right now. Within the month, I'll finally have the family with me in Denver.

I'll write more later.

Oh yeah. Puppies.

Pork, Anyone?

2008-10-04T07:07:00.001-07:00

For all of us homeowners who are being raped by the terrible housing market, we'd just like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Congress for passing this marvelous bailout bill which will make everything better, save us from ourselves, and cause choco-mint cookies to fall from the sky like rain.

Now wake up.

Of course, anyone who knows me knows that I sit on one particular side of this fence. In this case though, I throw condemnation to every f'ing Congressman and Congresswoman that used this crisis to add their own "pork" to this bill. The original bailout bill proposed by the Republicans was four pages. The final bill just signed is now over 400. And guess what, very little of this bill now has anything to do with housing, bank bailouts or the mortgage crisis.

Among other things, it includes legislation and/or tax breaks for companies that build race tracks, produce kids wooden arrows ($6 million), Puerto Rican rum producers ($192 million), television producers ($10 million) and American companies operating in Samoa. (Note that on the last one, a major employer in Nancy Pelosi's district is Starkist, who operates a major canning operation in Samoa. I'm sure it's coincidence.)

The bill also contains buried language that allows the IRS to conduct clandestine spying operations on American taxpayers they suspect of cheating on their taxes. The privacy implications have yet to really be realized. Top loading domestic washing machines have also been targeted by this. (Well, it's about time someone did something about those damn things!)

Another interesting note buried in this bill is that credit card companies in 2011 will be forced to send the IRS transaction records so they can search for untaxed transactions. This could open the door to the IRS finally getting their mitts on billions of dollars of currently untaxed Internet transactions going as low as ebay sellers.

There's more. A lot more. 442 pages of more.

Why do politicians (Republicans and Democrats, sorry) do this? When a bill is going through Congress that is of critical importance and likely to pass, it's the best time for them to add a page or twenty for their particular districts and special interest groups. And yes, both sides have special interest groups.

So, $700 Billion in tax dollars later (which a Congressional Watchdog Group says could balloon to over $112 billion when all is said and done), here we are. With a ton of useless legislation, more waste of our money, and these hypocritical politicians pointing to the greed of banks, Wall Street and even us lowly tax payers.
I'm hoping that we get a chance to see the sponsor of every piece of this bill. They should be held up and ridiculed.

The next post will be about puppies. I promise. Unless they were outlawed by this bill, too.

Another Crazy Plan

2008-10-03T23:56:00.000-07:00

Today was Jameson's 5th birthday. I missed it because I couldn't get up there until next week, after my next product release. I'm sure in 20 years that's going to seem real f**king important.

So I hatched another crazy scheme. There's a house here in Denver we want, but we can't get the albatross in Seattle to sell. So, several hours of no sleep one night, a spreadsheet and the thought "it just might work" and here we go again.

Essentially, I've convinced these people here it would be better to rent me their house until the market stabilizes, then let me buy it. So far, they're on board. We'll see what happens.

Why Obama Will Lose

2008-09-22T06:55:00.000-07:00

I really despise talking politics on my blog. But I just need to point something out. It's not left-leaning or right-leaning, Republican or Democrat. It's a simple statement of my opinion as to why the Dems will lose in November.

Hatred. Pure, mean-spirited hatred.

I have never seen as much as hate from Hollywood (did you watch the Emmys?), talk shows (Jon Stewart of the Daily Show hates Sarah Palin so much he can barely contain himself), and the rest of the media (looking at you Chris Matthews).

Here are two perfect examples.

Sandra Bernhardt warns Sarah Palin she would be gang raped by blacks in Manhattan.

And another...

Saturday Night Live Sketch suggests Sarah Palin's husband has sex with his daughters.

Very classy. Only not so.

I'm sure the first story gave Obama a migrane. The second is just sickening. As a father with a daughter, regardless of the political spotlight, I maintain such an allegation is never funny, even in jest. It's disgusting.

This election has gone so far off the issues it'll never go back. A year from now when we have whichever party in office, we'll all have gotten exactly what we deserve.

The Last Lecture

2008-09-14T22:28:00.001-07:00

I finished reading "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch tonight. I picked this up at the bookstore a couple weeks back when I was searching for something to help me deal with the rapidly declining situation in my life. In case you're unaware, Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. The book is about his "last lecture"; a study not just on achieving childhood dreams, but also about leaving a message to his (very) young children before he died.

The book is something of an owner's manual for life. Living it to the fullest, embracing adversity, and leaving your mark in the ones you leave behind. Because you never know when that might happen. Throughout the book, Pausch never falls victim to maudlin self-pity. The book is full of advice, personal story after story, and obvious love for his family.

The last 10 pages hit me very hard, as he talked about the inevitability of his children growing up without him. The current separation from my kids due to work is certainly nowhere near being dead, but that doesn't make it any easier. My boy got his first "wiggly tooth" yesterday and I had to see it on a webcam. He's scared by this and I'm not there to tell him it's ok. His birthday is Oct. 3 and I will miss it for over a week due to a product release. Halloween (my favorite holiday) is coming, and there's a very real chance I could miss that. No, I'm not dead yet, but it sure feels like it at times.

It's a great book and well worth the read. While in the middle of it, I heard that the Pausch succumbed to his cancer in late July. It certainly changed the tone for me and I spent much more time studying the few photos in the book. This was now the record of a dead man telling a living one how to deal with the worst of situations. One thing that struck me is when he said he was lucky to have gotten cancer instead of being hit by a bus. It gave him time to put into this lecture a (hopefully) lifetime of messages for his family. The bus doesn't give you that option.

My father was diagnosed with cancer in Sept. 1991. He never recovered from the exploratory surgery and languished in a narcotic-induced delirium until he died the following month. Just like that, he was gone. At the end, he made one attempt to tell us that he loved us. He asked all of us to put our hands out and close our eyes. He weakly told us that was going to touch the hand of the one he "loved the most". He then tried to touch all of our hands but didn't have the strength to do it. That's all I got from the end of my father's life. I am sure that Pausch's children will read what he left and appreciate it.

If you want to learn more about the book, you can visit the website at www.lastlecture.com.

Starting Over

2008-08-23T17:19:00.000-07:00

I'm going to take another crack at blogging. I got away from it for a number of reasons; probably none of them very good. I know I have a number of friends that follow it even though they don't often comment. My life is still in a state of turmoil and every once in a while, I get yelled at for not sending an update. We'll try to do better. I do think that it is probably a little therapeutic as well.

I just got off two weeks of travel. A week at Gen Con Indy and then I was misdirected to San Diego for a week there. It really, REALLY messes with your head. Just ask my wife who was forced to deal with several probably insane phone calls over the last couple of days.

Monday is the official 6 month point of this odyssey. I'm still staying with Shocho and LWC and they're wonderfully gracious hosts. I pay my way by doing silly voices for LWC. It's almost literally like singing for your supper, to use a 1930's colloquialism.

For the first time since I left Seattle, we have a family coming back to our house for a second time. They liked it the first time and they're coming back for another look. We're certainly crossing our collective fingers at the moment. Bailey is going back to her previous school which is tough. She said goodbye to her friends at the end of last year because we never dreamed it would go this far. Jameson is just getting bigger every day. I'll have missed one half of his life as a four year old. I'll never get that back but hopefully it will all be for the better.

I'll keep you posted.

Oedipus Rex, He Loved His Mother

2008-07-21T19:15:00.000-07:00

That's the funny thing about prophecy. It usually comes true but never how you expect.

To update my last story, I used the word prophecy relating to my run-in with a kindly, blind woman on a plane that told me quite matter of factly that I would get an offer on my house in a week. I'm actually trying to remember now if that's precisely what she said. That's the funny thing about prophecies. As Oedipus discovered, the devil is in the details.

No, we didn't get an offer on the house. We didn't even have a showing. No movement at all. Nothing. Nada.

But something else really peculiar and potentially and end to a means did happen. I cannot discuss it with you all, unfortunately. But it is hard to not link the two events. :)

To Me

2008-07-14T19:12:00.000-07:00

Today is my birthday. Not a particularly special one. I turned 43. 3 years past 40. 7 more to 50. 11 from the age my dad died. (Sorry, feeling a bit morbid today.)

The family is still split. We have zero movement on the house in Seattle. Bailey sent me a wonderfully scribbled birthday greeting on the MSM Messenger handwriting utility. It's hard to draw with a mouse but she drew a cake, with candles (only 2) and the words "Happy Birthday". The ironic moment of the day was a former website that more than a few times called for my firing when I was with my previous company was the first to wish me a Happy Birthday. I suspect it was an automated email.

So things are not really well. Absence makes the heart go fonder. Extend absences just kill you slowly. I get to spend a couple of days home this weekend. Then I think it's another several weeks before I can go back. I have one more day on my prophecy.

The prophecy, was when I flew from Seattle to Denver last week. I sat next to an older woman that was blind. The flight attendant asked me to help her out, which I did. We got to talking and she started telling me about her faith. She was very sweet and a joy to talk to. I told her about our situation and she said she would pray for me and that she felt God would deliver good news within a week. Tomorrow is the week. We'll see what happens.

The Avengers are Coming

2008-06-12T20:33:00.000-07:00

I have to hand it to Marvel Films, they're doing the summer super-hero movies right.

We all know about the Nick Fury (Samuel Jackson) cameo in Iron Man. Now we have Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) with a cameo in The Incredible Hulk. By the way, that is getting great reviews, surprisingly enough.

Word has now that there have / will be TWO separate Captain America "cameos" this summer. There is apparently a scene that was cut from the Hulk which features the Hulk running into what I'm assuming to be a frozen Captain America in the Arctic. The story is here. The director says the scene will be put on line this week and will be included in the DVD release.

But then Trevor pointed out something to me that I hadn't heard and missed in my two viewings of Iron Man. Check out this YouTube video or the picture below and look whats on Tony Stark's desk in the background.

Is Something Afoot?

2008-05-16T20:45:00.000-07:00

It's rare that I talk about UFO's and whether or not I believe. Of course, UFO's are real as that's just a designation for something that cannot yet be explained. Do I believe in extraterrestrial visitors coming to Earth in their own spacecraft? That's a tough call. There are days I think that the knowledge that we're not alone in the Universe is both exhilarating and frightening all at once. For the record, there is simply no way we're the only life in the Universe. But are they visiting us?

Let's take a quick test. If the U.S. government was aware (or had proof) that we were being visited, would they tell us? Of course not. I think we can all agree on that. But in a world where we are all carrying a cell phone camera in our pocket (except those of us that own a f'ing Blackberry 8830) there's simply no way to continue to cover this up, if they are. If we're truly being visited, sooner or later, some one is going to get proof.

So if you're a government, and you believe that you simply cannot keep the lid on something, how do you soften the blow? In the UFO community, there's a story that 30 years ago, a study was done trying to predict what would happen to society if the existence of extraterristrial life was known. As the story goes, the majority of society would collapse; religion, economics, social strata, etc. Would that really happen? Who knows? I guess it depends upon how our new robotic overlords introduced themselves.

So getting to the point, there were two extraordinary things that happened regarding this subject. First, France and now the British Government began opening their UFO files to the public. Now consider, Russia, Japan, some former Soviet countries and others have done the same. They're basically operating under a "no secrets, we don't know what's going on" attitude. You can read about it here. Be sure and check out this link on the now revealed Rendlesham incident.

The other story, was the Vatican spokesman that came out this last week and said that the existence of aliens fits perfectly well within the Catholic faith. Really.

Does this seem odd to anyone else that suddenly a bunch of governments are a) actually responding to requests for information and b) acknowledging the visitations are possible? (Except ours, of course.)

Or maybe I'm just excited because the X-Files trailer is now online.

A Study In Contrast

2008-05-04T08:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Free Comic Book Day in the U.S. This is a promotion that's a couple of years old and tied (generally) to the May release of whatever the super-hero of the year movie release is. This year, it's Iron Man. Shocho and I went to a local store because I wanted to pick up a copy of the Iron Man HeroClix that I planned for release at this event before I left WizKids.

The promotion works this way. Publishers print up a select number of comics and sell them to retailers through Diamond Comics Distribution at a very cheap rate. Retailers then offer these free to customers who come in. In theory, there's a bunch of advertising outside of the comic industry to get new kids to come in. (First one is fee, kids!) Anyway, the idea is a good one and many stores really do this right.

The store we were at yesterday had the books (41 different titles) in a rack at the front of the store. I glanced over and saw 2 that I'd like to read so I picked those up. Both were books I don't normally buy but these books could possibly cause me to add them to my regular list. There were some younger kids running around who were probably 7-10 years old. And then there was "that guy".

That guy is probably about 40. He pushed his way up to the rack and began shoveling through the books as fast as possible, grabbing one of every title. He didn't stop to look at any of them. If it was a comic, and it was in the rack, he was grabbing it. Next to him, was a young boy holding ONE comic book. The store employee (outweighed by about 8 inches and 150 lbs) said "excuse me sir, but there's a limit of 3 books per person". That guy looked up and said "last year it was 20"!

The mother than said to the young boy, "did you hear that, you can get two more". He was very excited. That Guy began putting back the books he was grabbing but I didn't honestly see if he returned them all.

I'm fairly certain he was going straight home to ebay. There are several auctions right now selling complete collections of the 41 books. Sorry "That Guy" but I don't think your auction is up there.

I love kids, and it was great to see these guys get excited about getting a couple of free comics. I hope they find as much joy in the hobby as I did over the last 35 years and not turn into "That Guy".

I Am Not Iron Man

2008-05-03T07:33:00.000-07:00

But Robert Downey Jr. is, where it counts. At the box office.

Possible spoilers so read at your own peril.

The lovely folks at SOE let us go see Iron Man yesterday during a long lunch at work. This culminates a 9 month anxious wait for this film that started at San Diego Comic Con last year when they trotted out the first film trailer. From a pure marketing standpoint, they did everything right with this film. Show the first stuff to your evangelist crowd. Get them to spread the word to ancillary communities. Don't oversell it in terms of licensing, but do just enough to keep the anticipation high. Toward the end, leak out some key scenes showing not the action so much, but focus on what makes this film work for comic book fans AND otherwise; Robert Downey Jr.

So as to the film itself. It was incredible. Or is that Invicible? Time will tell. This is a super-hero movie that does what the successful comic book films have done in the past. Take the source material seriously. Steer clear of Camp Road and you'll have the die hard comic fans on board. Then flesh it out and make it a good film and the rest will come.

The cast was great. Downey Jr. cannot be praised enough for showing two sides of Tony Stark. Gwenneth Paltrow looked simply amazing in this film. Jeff Bridges looked so unlike Jeff Bridges you almost forgot who he was. Terence Howard did a great job as Rhodes but I would have liked to seen more out of the ups and downs of their friendship.

The CG was flawless. There was not a single point in the film where I was pulled out of the story. In fact, I had a hard time discerning where live film and CG crossed. That's good, because as the Director, Jon Favreau said in many interviews, if the armor doesn't work, neither does this film.

This is a great popcorn movie, but not for the kids. I was kind of hoping I could take my 4 year old but no dice. There are some scenes that are a little intense and let's just say the 50-year old comic book moratorium on how to deal with bad guys is "overlooked" in this film. Nuff said.

For the non-comic geeks, there were a handful of nods to you in this picture. I'm sure I missed one or two but here's a list.
- The bad guys in Afghanistan are a terrorist group called the "10 rings" (Mandarin, anyone?)
- SHIELD makes their presence known. (It made me laugh that they changed the acronym so the "H" is "homeland".)
- Rhodey looking at the silver armor and saying "Next time baby." (In the comics, he dons a suit of armor and becomes "War Machine".)
- The end. Stay past the credits. Trust me.
- The press conference scene has been done at least twice in the last 10 years in the comics.

I'm sure I might have missed one or two.

I give this film an enthusiastic 9 out of 10. There's just not much else they could have done better except for the turning point at the end. It was just a little thin. Maybe more Gwenneth. :) All in all, a great first effort for Marvel's new "Marvel Studios" imprint. Early numbers are saying this will hit about $40 million this weekend, making it the first blockbuster of the year, the biggest opening for the cast involved, and a good start for what's going to be an amazing summer.

Also, be sure and catch "The Hulk" in a couple of weeks if you're a fan of this film. You were warned.

Whatever Happened to Biff Tanner?

2008-04-27T19:08:00.001-07:00

He's singing. Check it out.

Straight Through The Heart

2008-04-19T06:43:00.000-07:00

So most of you know that I have been separated from the family since the end of February while we wait for our house to sell. Friends make things easier but it's still brutally hard. I got to see them last weekend but I don't have any PTO time built up so any day I take off I have to take unpaid. That sucks.

I find out yesterday, that this coming Friday is the "Father Daughter Dance" at Bailey's school. Why don't you just plunge a foot long knife right through my chest. No, really. Right here. Don't miss any major arteries, please.

If you're not a guy with a daughter, you probably don't really know how this gets you. Last year, I took Bailey (who was 5 at the time) on a "date". We got all dressed up, had a very nice restaurant lunch, and then went to see "The Nutcracker". She loved it. To me, it's one of the major memories of my life. Last month, I missed her first school play. You know, the one where she dresses up like something and has one line? That still haunts me and will probably continue to do so into my babbling, drooling, elderly years.

I currently looking for a way to get home for this dance. The wife thinks it's stupid and a waste of money. She doesn't get it. 10 years from now I won't give a flying frak about the money. My co-worker Tom and I were discussing potential losses in our real estate holdings and he quite wisely said "...about money? Yeah, I might lose some, but I can always make more."

Here's Your Fifth Cylon

2008-04-06T22:12:00.001-07:00

Laura Roslyn will be the fifth Cylon. Bet me.

Why? There were a few clues in this last week's episode and prior. The big one was the fact that Lucy Lawless' Number Three recognized one of the last five and pretty much apologized to the hooded figure. I take that to mean the shit that they gave Roslyn. Also, when Roslyn confronted Six in the brig, Six said "the five are close". Duh. That's the writers being coy.

Lastly, I have always hated Roslyn's character. Without doubt, she is the most smug and arrogant character on the show. No one will care that she ends up being the final Cylon.

Thoughts?

Oops

2008-03-27T06:25:00.001-07:00

My update post is below my States post. I just love Blogger. :)

States Update

2008-03-22T18:38:00.001-07:00

create your own visited states map

Just figured I'd update this and give everyone else a chance. Now that I'm in CO, I'll be picking up another 4 fairly quick.

Updates! Stop yelling at me!

2008-03-21T07:03:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been so long to update. I finally have a laptop again (Dell XPS M1330!) and I can post pretty much whenever. I guess I should do that, huh?

The new job is pretty good. I've been to San Diego for meetings twice and it was gorgeous both times I was there. Work is very different from the last job and it's going to take the usual time to settle into it.

We managed to get webcams set up on both end of the family (Denver and Seattle) so I can see each other and chat. It's fun, but unless you have a really good mic / speaker setup, it can degenerate into echo's and feedback very fast.

Still haven't sold the house in Seattle yet. We've been on the market for about a month but no takers. Not much traffic either. Maybe today...

There's a lot of really great houses here in the Denver area, and the prices are steadily falling. Sooner or later I'll get to pick one of them out. That'll be a good day.

So that's all for now. Sorry to those of you that have been waiting for an update. I'll be better, I promise. :)

The Three Amigos

2008-03-07T08:52:00.000-08:00

Do NOT cheat and use IMDB.

Who are these three actors? Look close, all may not be as it seems.

Oh And Now He IS Magic

2008-03-02T08:17:00.000-08:00

I had really promised myself to not talk about politics on the blog. Mainly, it's because the conservative side of the ticket is so f'ing boring at this point. However, I do find it my duty to present this picture showing Barrack Obama casting magic spells on an airplane, clearly in violation of FAA regulations.

On an entirely unrelated note, at roughly the same time, Hillary Clinton gained 400 pounds and turned into a newt.

Petrificus Totalus, indeed.

How Do Wagons Work??

2008-02-25T20:46:00.000-08:00

I can never remember. If you give up an addiction, are you going "on the wagon"? Does that mean you've left your substance of choice (alcohol, cigarettes, illegal drugs, products hawked by Billy Mays on late night cable) behind and joining the circus of "clean" people? Or, are you going "off the wagon" because the wagon is full of bleary eyed, medical marijuana induced hippies that's plunging over a cliff into Hell?

Why you ask?

Because I'm staying at Shocho's place for a bit while I start the new job. I'm currently writing this in his basement (or "man cave" as he called it and I want one) while he and LWC play a certain online MMORPG that I've been clean from for about 9 months. I hear them talking about quests, noobs, drops, and such and my hands are shaking. I hear the sounds of battle and the grunts of something called a grim totem as they're slaying them left and right. I'm starting to sweat. My credit card is calling from my wallet, begging for release and telling me it has nothing to do with a f'ing wagon.

This might be a good time to begin chain smoking.

The First Day Of School

2008-02-25T06:29:00.000-08:00

The only thing I'm missing is my Spider-Man lunchbox.

Today is the first day of my new job here in Denver. Chuck and Cheryl picked me up from the airport yesterday, took me out to a lovely dinner (Chili's, of course - it's a Company thing), and I bought my new clothes for the first day. I did notice this morning that I forgot to bring a pen (or pencil). This is 2008, of course, so perhaps that won't be necessary. I hope the new kids like me. I wonder what time recess is.

On the homefront, we had two showings of the house on Saturday but we won't know until Thursday what the comments were. We made a mistake in packing because we put my bearcat scanner away. My wife asked why that was a mistake and I told her that since we still have a baby monitor running, we could just tune it to the same frequency, go one street over and listen to what the people viewing our house are saying.

So I believe the quest for a house here begins tonight but I haven't talked to the realtor yet.

Stay tuned.

Ben Franklin Originals...very rare

2008-02-20T21:14:00.000-08:00

In between lugging loads of furniture out of the house, I managed to get my eyes checked today.

For the...first time...ever.

I guess the BMV eye machine doesn't count. No, the wife and I had a couple of hundred bucks in a flexible spending account to burn by the end of the week. Just in case you don't know what that is, it's pre-tax money you can spend on medical expenses. So Jen went last week and got her glasses yesterday. Heh. Four eyes.

Today, I had to get the air blown into my eyes. Not as bad as I expected. Got the exam and the itchy eye drops that make you look like a wide-eyed salmon for the rest of the day. Oh yeah, and with my pupils the size of hubcaps, the f'ing sun came out in Seattle. Tell me THAT isn't karma.

The reason I went in, I told them, is not that I'm having problems with my eyes. Rather, my former company and every other company in the world has begun lowering the font point of all of their text. TCG cards are nefariously guilty of this crime. Further, the ink in several books that I bought years ago was apparently bad as it's causing the typeface to shrink. Doctor Wong just laughed and proceeded to strap strange apparati to my head.

It turns out, that entering my 40's, my eyes are getting just a tad blurry on stuff right in front of me. I suggested it would be easier and cheaper to just step back. Not so, I'm told. (By the way, NEVER tell an optometrist you spend 10+ hours a day looking at a computer. It's roughly the equivalent of eating a box of oreos before getting your teeth cleaned.

Anyway, I'm just a hair over the line on need a prescription for reading. My far sight is spectacular but reading tiny text is a bit difficult. So I have to get glasses, just for those occasions when I read something more meaty than a comic book. (heh heh...) While being fitted, "Debra" asked if I could pick out my frames or whether or not I needed the wife there. After staring at her dumbfounded for a moment, she said that "many men aren't permitted to pick them out themselves." I promptly picked the most obnoxious pair I could find. I'll show her.

I wanted a pair of Ben Franklin originals, but that just got me a funny stare.

Maybe I should have waited for Jen.

Congrats to Blu-ray

2008-02-18T07:23:00.000-08:00

And just like that, Toshiba's HD format is dead.

From ICV2.com:

The next generation DVD format war is over. In the wake of the decision by Wal-Mart, which accounts for roughly 37% of the U.S. DVD market, to carry Blu-ray disks exclusively starting in June, a Toshiba source told Reuters on Saturday that it was ending support for the HD high definition format.

The decision was driven by both retail and supplier losses for HD. Target had already gone to Blu-ray, while Best Buy was now recommending Blu-ray as its "preferred format" and NetFlix had decided to go completely Blu-ray.

Blu-ray was also winning on the supply side--Warner Bros., which had been supporting both formats, had decided to go to Blu-ray only, leaving Paramount, Universal and Dreamworks as the only major studios still supporting HD DVD. But given its immense power in the retail DVD market, it was the decision by Wal-Mart that likely spelled the end of the format war, which has slowed the progress of next generation DVD sales.

As recently as December (see "Both HD Formats Are Here to Stay") it appeared that the two formats would likely be able to continue to co-exist, but the very slow growth in sales of high definition DVDs and players demonstrated conclusively that consumers were going to sit on the sidelines until the format war was over. Add in the difficulty of supporting two formats at retail and it's obvious that there were plenty of incentives for Warner Bros., Wal-Mart, Best Buy and Target to make the market-altering decisions that they did. With sales of regular DVDs leveling off in 2007 and the number of new high definition TVs soaring, the studios are looking to the hi-def arena for growth in the lucrative home video market, so getting over the troublesome two-format hurdle was imperative.

It still remains to be seen if the consumers will find the qualitative difference between regular DVDs and hi-def Blu-ray disks compelling enough to spring for the higher cost Blu-ray players and disks, but it will certainly now be easier for consumers to invest in the hi-def format, since they can be fairly certain that the Blu-ray format won't be going the way of Super-VHS. The studios and the mass market retailers won't be happy if the high definition DVD doesn't expand beyond its current status as a niche market for well-heeled early adopters, but that is the scenario which would probably provide the most opportunity for independent retailers.

What A Day

2008-02-15T22:34:00.001-08:00

Today was my final day at work. I got in about 7:40 to be greeted by my cube covered in balloons and confetti.

Throughout the day, I received some lovely gifts, lots of "we'll miss yous" and yes, some more snubbing. We had a great lunch in my honor with some very nice things said by both of my bosses. There were literally so many moments today worth noting, it's hard to remember them all. The best part of the day was that I pulled off securing a MAJOR promotion with one of our licensors that I was told I wouldn't be able to do. These guys liked my promotion so much I was able to pretty much put it to bed by lunchtime. Everyone seemed surprised that I was still working up to my last day. That's how I roll baby. :)

After work, the company President took me out for a drink. We talked business and we talked about other stuff. He's a genuinely nice guy and one that I hate disappointing.

After that, the rest of us joined up at this Chinese restaurant-bar. The group there was just about perfect. There's one or two people that I wish would have come, but pretty much the crowd there was right. At one point, at a lull in the conversation, Rollie told me to entertain the crowd. So I asked everyone to share their favorite memories of me. That was a hoot. It's fun to learn how other people see you.

Leaving was tough. Especially saying goodbye to Rollie. He's pretty much been my go to guy since coming here. I don't think they realize how solid he is. I'm not sure he does either. It's so rare you meet someone in this life that you really trust to watch your back.

So the next chapter begins. The realtor rescheduled and will be here tomorrow. The POD is here so we begin loading it tomorrow. In just over 1 week, I hit the road for the next phase of life.

But that's next week. Today, was a pretty good day.

The Mad Dash

2008-02-11T20:56:00.000-08:00

Today is Monday. The last Monday at work, at least in this job. In two Monday's I report to my new job provided I can get my Grand Am through the mountain passes that have received a record eleventy-billion inches of snow this year. (Yes, that is a number because numbers are infinite so sooner or later "eleventy" comes up.)

I've received some incredibly flattering emails from various levels of customers. Many I have know for years, others for just my last couple. Consider I've been involved in the hobby gaming industry since 1995 in one form or another. On the other hand, some of the forums are filled with the most incredible hatred and bile directed toward me than I have ever seen. This must be what it's like to be in politics.

Right now, we're in the mad dash to get the house ready. The realty agent is coming over tomorrow. We'll call her Donna, as in Prima. Her introductory packet contains 14 photos of her (5 full body shots) and not one photo of a house. That would be like a sausage ad showing only pictures of the grinder and nothing of the meat. Well, it's sort of like that. Really. Did you know eleventy might not be a real number?

Anyway, "Donna" (according to her bio) is the most successful real estate agent in our neighborhood which I believer her translation of "neighborhood" is "all of creation". She is REALLY impressed with herself. For some reason, this is putting heightened pressure on us. We have two kids, which means our house looks roughly like one of those houses they used to test atomic bombs in the desert, but in mid blast. We have a LOT of work to do. Booger removal from the wall next to J's bed is next on the list.

Thank God It's Tuesday

2008-02-05T17:43:00.000-08:00

I'm glad Monday is over.

I officially gave my notice to WizKids yesterday and told them that I would be accepting the offer from Sony Online Entertainment. I will be working as a Brand Manager for the San Diego Office, but will be embedded in Denver. Most everyone took it very professionally. There's a couple of people that appear to be snubbing me in the hallway, and have yet to say a word to me since I sent the email. People react to things in different ways, I suppose. My departure will certainly pile more work on the backs of folks that are already busy, and I do feel horribly guilty about that, but it was really something I did for my family.

The family and I are very excited about the move. Denver has 300 days of sunshine a year. (I think that's a guarantee.) The job is great money, houses are MUCH cheaper there, and the traffic is not as bad. We can finally get a big yard for the kids and I think in the melee of talking to them we promised them a dog.

The details are still being hashed out and now we have the horrible task of moving, trying to sell a house, buy a house, get two cars 1000 miles, etc. Gimmie another deep breath, folks.

Take A Deep Breath Folks

2008-02-03T16:47:00.000-08:00

I hate New Year's resolutions. You'll never keep them because oftentimes you set unrealistic goals for the wrong reason. For example, people who have heart attacks will generally become very weight conscious after that attack and trim down. To start that regiment because it's tradition tied to the calendar date is silly. Hence, I don't make them.

I did, however, do something a little different this year. On New Year's this year, I took stock of how our family did in 2007. And found that it really sucked. Two days into the year I was diagnosed with a skin cancer. Not a big deal, no, but the "c" word is not something you want to hear when you're starting the new year. Mom's health was a huge issue this year. Work got harder and harder. While still fun and rewarding, it just became so difficult to repeat the previous year's success. The traffic is getting worse, not better. They're saying that in 10 years, my one hour commute will be 3 hours. The house is expensive and mom's condition has really hit us hard in the wallet. Jen of course despises the weather here, and I have to say that the last two years have been so ridiculously bad (supposedly the worst two on record), that I have to agree. The worst part though, was watching Bailey and Jameson. I think the weather is affecting both of them. It ALWAYS rains. The yard (small as it is) is always wet and muddy. It smells of wet leaves and moss here. Most of the time, they either can't go out or I just don't want them to. They stand at the window and ask "why does it rain here all of the time". Coming from Virginia Beach, VA, they know there's something better.

Incidentally, I really don't want to hear "you have to just suck it up and deal with it" from lifetime Seattle-ites anymore.

So I made my non-resolution. I decided that I was going to improve my family's situation this year. That's exactly how I worded it. I wasn't going to necessarily look for something else. But, if something came up, I would give it a look.

Interestingly enough, something did come up. And it looks to be very, very good. It also definitely fits the bill of improving my family's situation. I'll be a little vague right now, but starting tomorrow, things are going to happen very, VERY fast.

Take a deep breath everyone, because I'm going to need it.

Take Off, Eh?

2008-02-02T18:12:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure what was funnier. The situation that led to me finding this little gem on YouTube, or the fact that I watched with a Canadian.

Enjoy.

Galaxy's End

2008-01-26T16:14:00.000-08:00

The kids and I finished Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii today. It came down to a desperate battle with Bowser at the spot of creation of his new galaxy. On the line was the lovely and perilous Peach as well as the fate of all creation.

Once Bowser finally fell, there was a pretty long ending sequence, which in my own mind, I described as "Crisis on Mario Earths". Forgive me if you don't get the reference.

Once the credits began to roll, the kids actually broke into applause. It was as if we had just sat through a long but immensely satisfying movie. Something we started almost a month ago was finally done, and the three of us did every bit of it together.

I might have mentioned earlier about the the second player control as the "star bit collector". Whereas my 4 and 6 year old couldn't possibly do the platform play of player one, they were completely involved as player two. I found the following bit from an interview with Nintendo President Satoru Iwata:

What I originally had in mind, were situations like where a parent would be sitting by their child, and say, the mother would assist her child playing. I also think it would be great if the opposite happens. The mother would control Mario, and her child would assist his mother saying “Mom, there’s a bad guy over here!” A parent and child playing a game as they help each other, was something that I wanted to bring to a reality for a long time, and with Super Mario Galaxy,

I would like to think he succeeded. We had a blast as a family. It's nice to see that Nintendo, as a company, had the forsight to allow so diverse an age range to participate.

Much Ado About Nothing

2008-01-24T20:31:00.000-08:00

Superherohype.com touted an interview with Jessica Alba on the following:

- Her role in Sin City 2!!!!

- Fantastic Four 3!!!

- And a possible Dark Angel Movie!?!?!!

Here is he exact interview.

Did she actually even say anything??

Mario For the Whole Family

2008-01-22T19:37:00.000-08:00

The kids and I have been having a blast playing Super Mario Galaxy on our Wii. J got it for Christmas and we very quickly discovered it was way to hard for him. So, I've been having to play through the game while they watch and participate by being by "star grabber". This means one of the kids has the second remote and moves their cursor over various "star bits" that litter the game worlds. It's very ingenious on the part of Nintendo because, whether intended or not, gives the kids the opportunity to "play" a very difficult platform game.

B, to her credit, has become amazingly adept at figuring out how to do things in the game when her stupid old man can't figure it out. She's had one or two flashes of brilliance that have really floored me.

So far, my favorite part of SMG is the music. The track here, shown in the recording studio, is from the Gusty Garden Galaxy. It has a very Spanish feel to it and is fun to listen to. I offer it for your enjoyment as well.

By the way, we got 5 gold stars tonight so we rock. :)

The Future Begins

2008-01-22T06:38:00.000-08:00

In case you missed it, here's the teaser for J.J. Abrams' STAR TREK feature.

Not A Bucket List

2008-01-17T08:36:00.000-08:00

This wasn't sparked by the recent film, but rather a co-worker who is attending a Duke game as part of his list. It got me thinking and I found this interesting list.

A lot of items on the list are time dependent and some are just matters of luck, so I almost disqualify them. (Catching a ball at a MLB game, for instance.)

Still, I scored 40. Maybe I'll work up my own list.

#99 is the best, by the way.

Finally A Nice Day

2008-01-13T20:22:00.000-08:00

After three solid weeks of rain (pretty much night and day) the clouds broke and we had a nice day. Besides getting some yard work done, seeing the Colts lose, and taking the kids to the park, the highlight was when I stepped outside tonight, looked up, and saw Mars shining a very bright, but deep red. Very nice.

It gave me chance to pull out Google Earth and use the Star View portion. If you haven't done it yet, give it a download.

The Next Chapter

2008-01-09T22:44:00.000-08:00

We got the diagnosis for mom yesterday. The neurologist confirmed she has Alzheimer's Disease. Based on the tissue lost revealed in the Petscan, she's had it for maybe 2 years. She hadn't really been responsive to much during these visits and tests. I always tried to make sure she understood what was going on and why we were there without pushing her. She never really reacted to much of anything. Until yesterday. She almost broke down crying in the doctor's office. To make matters worse, I had always told mom that we were doing this to make her feel better. I asked the doctor if today was a baseline, would she ever feel better once we started her on the medication. His reply was "no, it will only slow the disease." I feel like I lied to her all these months by giving her false hope.

I think she truly believes she's going to die and that she'll spend the rest of her days in confused pain. She might be right. I really don't know.

Now, we have to figure out what to do next. She's started the meds so we'll see what the side effects are. I suppose I need to call the Alzheimer's Association to get help. I hate asking anyone for help. But I really just don't know what to expect. I've read some stuff online but honestly, after a while it begins to read like worthless platitudes. Mom seems to have aged about 20 years in the last 12 months.

What's really funny is how my sister reacted when I told her we were getting tests for Alzheimer's. She seemed more concerned that my dad had Parkinson's Disease and mom might have Alzheimer's. "With both parents having neurological disorders, that means there's a better chance we might get that, you know." What a way to put yourself first. I guess a crisis shows your true character.

Sooner or later there's going to be a point where she doesn't recognize her grandchildren. The kids don't know anything is wrong. For some reason, Bailey made the strangest comment last night. Out of the blue, she said "...there's no last winter with Grandma, is there daddy?" I had no idea how to reply. Maybe she's smarter than her stupid old man thinks she is.

So there's the update. I'll write more as I know it.

And Speaking of Iron Man

2008-01-06T00:18:00.000-08:00

Here's something fun from Marvel's new kid-based website.

Trailer

The actual website is Marvelkids.com.

Death to the Graphic Novels and Collected Editions?

2008-01-05T14:52:00.000-08:00

I was in Borders today and stumbled upon a couple of amazing products. There several DVDs, each one containing the last 100 issues (up to April 2007) of:

The Amazing Spider-Man
Ghost Rider
Fantastic Four
The Incredible Hulk
The Avengers

Each was over 3000 PDF pages of comics...for $10.99 each.

100 issues takes you back to Spring of 1999 so that makes each separate issue price around $2.75. That's a helluva deal. I almost bought them but I thought I'll check online to see if I can get a better price. Interestingly enough, I cannot find them on Border's site or Amazon.com. However, I DID find this jewel:

The Collected Civil War is 199 issues of Marvel Comics. It's all of the various threads and tie-ins to last year's monumental Civil War storyline. And it's $50. That's less than one tenth what buying the series would have cost you. I would assume it's in order too, which is also pretty amazing.

Comet Tuttle

2008-01-05T09:56:00.000-08:00

For you Astronomy buffs and fans of me. Comet Tuttle approaches!

By the way, in full disclosure regarding the attached photo, I don't think Comet Tuttle will end all life on Earth but "Namesake of the harbinger of Death" would be bitchin' on my resume!

The RIAA Has Now Lost It's Mind

2007-12-30T18:53:00.000-08:00

Guess what folks? According to the Recording Industry Association of America, if you go to a record store, purchase a CD AT FULL MSRP and copy those to your PC (or by default, iPod) you are breaking the law and they will come after you.

Note: The guilty party is NOT sharing these files. They are merely transferring it to their personal computer. Period. If you have no Internet connection, and copy a disc to your PC, you're a filthy, thieving criminal.

Read the article here.

What I'm Playing

2007-12-30T09:02:00.000-08:00

I spent a long time tooling around Azeroth with my Night Elf Druid in World of Warcraft, the online MMORPG. One of my justifications is that I wasn't spending $50 a month on a NEW game for either my PC or Xbox and playing a game that I enjoyed steadily for $14 per month.

Now that I'm almost 8 months "clean" from WoW, I have begun enjoying the diversity of other games. As I said a few entries back, we hit the Wii jackpot at Christmas. Medal of Honor 2 : Heroes is a great shooter which I can only play at night because my four year old is very curious about why I'm shooting people. If any of you have it, and the Wii, let's hook up for some games. The Wii multiplayer lobbies are very slick and best of all, free! If you see "Mkae", that's me.

I've been spending a lot of time on QQ Games, the free online game service from America Online. All you need is a free AIM account and the downloadable client. I literally log about an hour a day playing these very addicting games. Look for "Radioman" in the lobbies, mostly in "Treasure Hunter".

The kids are totally addicted to Mario Party 8 which I have to admit got old very fast for me. It has received glowing reviews and as far as bang for your buck goes, it's king. Over 50 mini-games means that you pay about $1 each. Not too bad. J has become quite the Mario fan so I downloaded Donkey Kong (yes, the original) on the impressive Wii store channel so he could see and play the first iteration of the character. On a side note, I quickly blew through the first three boards only to be completely astounded that there were ONLY THREE BOARDS. Wow, things were different in the 80's.

The biggie though, is Super Mario Galaxy. Oh my God. I've played platformers before but to be honest, I have never been a huge fan. I played the first Super Mario Brothers but not owning a Nintendo for a long time, I missed the rest of the series. My preference was the Sega Genesis' Sonic the Hedgehog, which is now incorporated into the Nintendo camp.

Back on topic, this game is stunning. The storyline revolves around Peach (the Lois Lane of the Nintendo universe) getting kidnapped by floating Pirate ships and taken to another galaxy. Mario then travels to this cosmic observatory and meets the mysterious Rosalina who sets him on the quest to explore galaxy after galaxy to find Peach and collect "star bits" along the way. Each galaxy features it's own set of physics, life forms, and challenges. The visuals are absolutely stunning and the game play is outrageously fun. We've gone through about three galaxies (each has 3 challenges) and have rarely used the same technique against the indigenous life forms and bosses. I think that the Wii has found it's "killer app" with this one folks.

Up next, we're looking at picking up "Mario vs. Sonic at the Olympics" and there's a Star Trek game called "Conquest" that hasn't gotten bad reviews. We'll see. The biggie though comes later this year when Star Wars : Force Unleashed hits the Wii. That'll be a Day One purchase, I think.

Hancock

2007-12-29T09:53:00.000-08:00

I just found this today. If you haven't seen the trailer for Wil Smith's July 2008 "dramedy", check out the trailer here. It looks pretty damn funny but you know how trailers can be.

Repeating History, Hulk Style

2007-12-27T17:42:00.000-08:00

Here's an image from the new film, "The Incredible Hulk" starring Edward Norton as Bruce Banner, the scientist who eventually becomes the rampaging beast we know and love as "Hulk".

Two things about this picture struck me. First, is the striking similarity between this and the 1970's version. Remember how Bill Bixby sat in a similar machine that projected a target on his forehead?

The second thing that struck me is that ANYTHING that EVER projects a target on your forehead is probably NOT a good thing.

A Lot Of Nintendo

2007-12-26T08:21:00.001-08:00

It was reported on this morning's news that while they had them in stock, Amazon.com was selling 17 Nintendo DS video game units PER SECOND. Further, the Nintendo Wii was the top Christmas toy for two years running. Despite not getting a DS this year (although I didn't really ask for one but figured my odds were good with that sales velocity) I find this a pretty fascinating exercise in Brand mechanics.

When the Wii was announced a couple years back, a colleague and I got into a heated debate. He posited that the Wii would fail because technically, it lacks the computing and graphics capabilities of the XBox 360 and the PS3. It's built on the core engine of the Nintendo Gamecube, a competent but aging system that failed against the original XBox and PS2. I argued that the Wii would be a success because they were trying something different. At the time, we didn't know that families, the elderly and very young children would actually take to it. What was apparent though is that Microsoft and Sony are just further narrowing their consumer base.

When you continually separate your audience into the haves and have nots (choice of playing their good Xbox games as opposed to getting the better Xbox 360 games) you're going to lose market share, UNLESS you take share from the competition. So Sony and Microsoft control pieces of the overall pie and the knife lines are shifting back and forth. What Ninento did was exactly what they did back in the 80's when they released the Gameboy. They increased the accessibility of their product. The market share of video gaming is big, yes. But there's a much bigger market out there that includes groups that are further being disenfranchised by the cost and complexity of video games. With the Wii remote and Nunchuka and games that require real motion over button mashing, more people are willing to try video games and (almost more importantly) in groups. This is something that's a huge after-thought to Xbox and Playstation.

Now, I'm not saying that the video gaming industry is in trouble. It clearly isn't. Xbox 360 had a great year led by the marketing juggernaut of Halo 3. The PS3 did not have a good year, with no killer app, a too high price point, and Sony's planting of their flag in the Blue-Ray vs. HD battle (which is still undecided who will win). The industry is still roughly on par with the movie industry and will only continue to grow as video gaming is quickly becoming the home entertainment choice. What Nintendo did was start with the question that every Brand Manager should. "What does the customer want?" Sure, there are lots of customers who want the better graphics and such, but the much larger and unsolicited group is saying "I would like to be able to play video games."

I think the Wii and the DS is going to greatly change how the world looks at video games. My kids (4 and 6 years of age) couldn't play even the easiest Xbox games I could find. They didn't understand pushing buttons to make things happen like driving cars, moving characters, etc. With the Wii, they have now been introduced to video games at a much younger age then they normally would have. One day they will no doubt outgrow the Wii or the DS and want more, but they will have had a much smoother introduction to the entire genre.

Now if only I could get my DS...

Christmas 2007, R.I.P.

2007-12-25T16:18:00.000-08:00

I sit huddled in a dark corner away from the battle. Desperately scrawling memories to record before they're lost in a haze of food, alcohol and the crush of cardboard and paper. Across the room, I see heaps of bodies surrounded by the ordinance of the day. Each pile a battle unto itself. Moans can be heard from corner from those still hanging onto a thread of consciousness. "They don't have long," I think to myself. Smoke wafts up from a lilac scented candle and it's flame flickers in the eyes of the in-laws whose only recourse is to wait silently for the end to come. Someone is piling the bodies in large piles. Webkins here. Star Wars action figures over there. Somewhere, Dora the Explorer is saying how wonderful it is to be a fucking Mexican mermaid.

Christmas...has ended.

It started with torture as Christmas did in my youth. My Dad would always wait until we were ready to open presents before "remembering" to charge his flash. It was a 3 hour charge, even though he was only going to take 5 pictures. He'd excuse himself for a smoke and 17 cups of Sanka. Today, my daughter (who is NEVER up early) was up and raring to go. She had to wait for my son (who NEVER sleeps late) to wake up. He was sleeping off a handful of grape flavored generic Tylenol for his fever. Or to be honest, it could have been a handful of Sweet Tarts. It was dark last night.

Once he finally awoke, the carnage began as they dug into the 10 presents EACH that Santa Claus brought them. Apparently, no other children got anything because these two got it all.

Around 11am, the two families of in-laws came over to join the festivities. They brought with them roughly 1000 decibels of children. The noise ordinance sign posted at the front of my in-law's condo development was weeping.

The mother-in-law trotted out some amazing food as always, but the sister-in-laws brought a bountiful harvest as well. D brought the show-stopper though, in the form of a mini-weenie, smothered in barbecue sauce and wrapped in...wait for it...bacon. This is the point in the pig's life when we're just fucking with it. "Look, not only are we going to hack you up to make mini weenies (Sorry, corn dog line over there) but then we're going to take another strip of your ass and wrap it around the mini weenie. And just in case that tastes like shit, we're going to soak it in a red sauce. Next!"

We hit the Wii jackpot, with a whopping 6 games. Including the game my boy has been crying for over the last 3 months; Super Mario Galaxy. This is a game that is rated E for everyone, but every reviewer pretty much agrees that if you haven't played every single platform game in existence, this one is going to kill you. My boy is 4.

I got my token custom made calendar that contained every picture my four year old hates, especially the one of his butt crack. That made him VERY happy. And by VERY, I mean not so much. Speaking of crack, this is the second year running that my brother in law decided to show us his ass. Last year, it was at the bowling alley, in the middle of the lane. In public. This year, we just got the pressed ham on the sliding glass door. Dear God, pass the Windex please.

It wouldn't be Christmas without injuries and the last two days accounted for several. The Father-in-law fell in the driveway and split his head open. My son fell and somehow (and how shit like this happens is beyond me) managed to wedge his hand into this folding Hot Wheels contraption. The only way he figured he was getting out, is by folding the thing up with his hand inside. He's now black and blue.

My biggest annoyance of the weekend was when all of the kids got Webkinz. I had oh so hoped to spare my children this descent into Hell to no avail. My wife (who continues to forget I have a programming degree) pushes me into getting all of the kids signed up for their WebKinz account IN THE MIDDLE OF CHRISTMAS DAY. If any of you know anything about servers go back and read that last sentence again. There was 16 million of these damn things opened on Christmas. You'll have better luck getting Hannah Montana tickets via Ticketron on fucking dial-up. As I expected, it was a total cluster. Seeing "Our Servers are screwed to hell. Please come back later." 50 times was very pleasant.

The big challenge now, is to try and get all of this stuff back home with us. The wife kept saying we are taking back less than we brought (consider that I was last to pack and could only bring enough cloths, not shoes, for a couple of days). I think we're completely screwed and the only way we're getting everything home is with a large blender.

But it is done. It was good to see the in-laws and the associated nieces and nephews, in-laws and outsiders (that's what the three of us who married in call ourselves). My family had no traditions around Christmas. Santa usually brought one present and the folks got us two, maybe three. We never did stockings, rarely did dinner, and never went to church. This family has so many traditions (like moonings) that you need a program to stay ahead of the game. Maybe that's what I'll do for next year.

Merry Christmas To All

2007-12-24T19:38:00.001-08:00

It's Christmas Eve and I've already caught a glove full of vomit.

Ok, that wasn't necessarily how I planned on penning this entry but that's what's top of mind right now. Jameson came down with a 101 degree fever on the way to dinner tonight so things are a little quieter than they might otherwise be. He's been kind of cranky this year anyway and I'm not sure he's getting the whole "Santa Claus" thing, even at 4. Bailey is into it and grilling me for information about Christmas physics. She's going to be tough.

For all of you that still read, I hope you have a wonderful Christmas.

Interesting

2007-12-22T18:31:00.000-08:00

For those of you who were with me at The Company, here's an interesting link.

Flying Late

2007-12-19T09:20:00.000-08:00

We flew to the Twin Cities on Monday night to spend time with the wife's family. They're pretty good people so it's not a big deal. My family is so fragmented and so lacking in holiday tradition that it seems I have spent most of my life drafting onto other family's celebrations. Back in Newark, I actually spent two Christmas Days at the Mayor's house!

We flew a red eye so the kids would sleep. That worked fine but I couldn't sleep. Thus, I totally crashed about 8am for 4 hours. I'm still having trouble adjusting. I hate flying East, I really do.

My Christmas Wish To You All

2007-12-16T17:05:00.000-08:00

In case I don't get the chance, I would like to say Merry Christmas to my past friends. The following video nicely sums up how sad it makes me that I won't see you all this holiday season.

What A Great Sunday

2007-12-16T13:12:00.000-08:00

- Cleveland defies the critics and gets the job done in the snow (my favorite type of game to watch).

- New England proves the talent is on the field, not behind the video camera.

- And Pittsburgh goes down in flames. Woot!

Now if Miami can finally pull out a win against Baltimore, it'll be a perfect day. Oh yeah, and Favre passes Marino for the most passing yards in the NFL, which is also cool. I'm not a huge Packer fan, but how can you not like Favre?

Mentos and Coke = Insanity

2007-12-15T14:33:00.001-08:00

My wife put two large rolls of Mentos (The Fresh Maker!) in front of me yesterday. Eyes slightly wide, she described something she had seen about what happens when you put Mentos in a 2-litre of Diet Coke. If you don't know, here's a great video showing you the result.

An Update from Home

2007-12-09T20:10:00.000-08:00

Well, here's where we stand with mom now.

We've had a number of tests done from an MRI, Petscan, blood work, etc. We were supposed to get the diagnosis on Friday but there was a mixup with the appointment and we missed it. I'll have to try to get it on Monday over the phone as mom is now back east visiting my sister. From all appearances, it's Alzheimers Disease. The word has been used a few times and she's been oddly quiet about it. I tried to talk to her about it the other day and I'm sure she understands that anything is wrong. "Just getting old," she keeps saying.

We had a very small Christmas get together last night with some friends of Jen. Mom came over and gave the kids their presents (which they loved). We gave her a digital photo frame that I filled with pics of the kids, my dad (who's deceased 16 years now), some old family photos, etc. I used to think those things were the stupidest idea ever, but since mom now can barely operate a phone it was the perfect gift. She looked horrible throughout the evening and I put her to bed early as we had a very early flight to get her on this morning.

So she is out with Lori for the holidays. She hasn't seen her daughter in 2 and a half years so this will be good. I'm not sure what medication she'll be on, but as I see how she has withered in the last several months, I can't help but think the worst. She recognizes us fully and doesn't really have trouble with daily tasks but she gets confused easily, especially anything involving her finances. I think I'll have to take that over when she returns just to keep her from getting into trouble.

If you haven't had to go through this, it's pretty much exactly how you see it on television. Except, it's longer than an hour. It's every day, every hour, every minute. It's late night calls, panic and confusion, paranoia, and patience. Once we get the diagnosis, I'll probably have to call one of the associations. I have no one to talk to about this, literally.

I lost my dad in 1991 when he was only 54 years old. Mom is 74 and looks like she's 100. Last year, she looked like she was 73. I handled dad's death very badly. I got the call at 6am right after I had started my morning radio show. I did 4 hours of show without thinking about it because there was no one to come in and fill in for me. Then, I had to handle all of the arrangements. Then I sort of just shut down that part of my brain for a bit. Then 2 months later, I broke out in shingles on my back because I had bottled up the pressure so badly. That's what I feel like now. I'm handling everything and I have to be the one to make sure she gets the care she needs. Sooner or later, the pressure valve is going to blow.

Bleh. I really wish it wasn't Christmas. I was at the mall today with the kids and aside from their excitement, there's nothing appealing about any of this.

Rambling mode off.

What Is Seen Cannot Be Unseen

2007-12-06T20:23:00.000-08:00

We got into a discussion at the office the other day about bad movies. The question became, "...what movie would you 'unsee' if you could?" Meaning, if you could completely forget ever seeing a film, which would it be?

For me (and this will probably be unpopular amongst my blogging friends) the movie I would unsee is "Seven". I walked out of that film feeling I just dropped $6 to see the culmination of an author and filmmaker's drunken bet to see how depraved they could possibly get and have the movie get past the ratings board. It was nothing but the glorification of sadism and cruelty much in the same vein as the "Saw" films.

Oddly enough, another film I wish I could unsee is Death Wish. Although the movie was pretty much a joke, there's a rape scene in there (The victim was Marina Sirtis who went on to play Deanna Troi on Star Trek: The Next Generation.) that bothered me for a long time.

So what is burned into your brains my blogging friends?

100 Greatest Video Games

2007-12-02T18:31:00.001-08:00

I love lists. Now that we're in the twilight of 2007, you're likely to be bombarded by them. IGN.com has posted one that is near and dear to my blog reader's hearts.

IGN's Top 100 Video Games

In case you were wondering, here is my list:

100. Archon (This game introduced me to controller smashing frustration.)
98. Quake II
88. Star Wars (Arcade)
83. World of Warcraft
81. Space Invaders
72. Mechwarrior
68. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
66. Burnout 3: Takedown (Best driving game EVER!)
62. Wolfenstein 3D
51. Sonic the Hedgehog
32. Halo
27. Star Wars : KOTOR
19. DOOM
13. Ms. Pac Man
12. Star Wars : TIE Fighter
11. Starcraft
2. Tetris
1. Super Mario Brothers

I think Pac Man is a notable omission from the list, even though Ms. Pac Man represents the line. Further, I think Dance Dance Revolution certainly deserves a slot since it, like Pac Man, broke the mold on video game consumers. Halo 2? Until Halo 3, this title holds the single day sales record in all of entertainment history including movies and books. Lastly, where is Zork? Gary Kasparov Chess? What else is missing my fellow bloggers?

My list would have been significantly better if I had bought into the Zelda, Final Fantasy and Mario lines as they represent a HUGE portion of this list. I was also hurt by never owning a PS2 as many of the key games for that system made this list (Grand Theft Auto, anyone?)

Your thoughts and lists?

Go Elf Yourself

2007-12-01T11:04:00.000-08:00

Ok, I admit that I am a sucker for silly web applications as long as they make my kids laugh. This is a cute app that you can do with yourself, family or office workers that you want to make look ridiculous.

Elf Yourself here.

It Must Be Picture Day

2007-11-27T19:56:00.001-08:00

And check this one out too. It's awesome and sad, all at once.

TV Guide Scoops Everyone on Spock

2007-11-27T19:52:00.000-08:00

Check out this image. Not the best photo in the world and certainly not what the studio would have intended, but it's a first. Filming for Star Trek has begun so expect to see this stuff coming more and more often.

Top 50 Fictional Weapons

2007-11-25T14:37:00.001-08:00

Ok, this entry is very high on the geek meter so run if you feel inclined.

Toyfare Magazine's latest issue lists the Top 50 Fictional Weapons. You can find the entire article here.

So what's missing? Right off the bat, where's The One Ring?

What else didn't make the list?

Holidays Can Kill

2007-11-23T20:35:00.000-08:00

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone. We went to a friend's house instead of hosting at our own, as is our preference. Dinner was ok. I actually didn't overeat and was oddly hungry around bedtime. I even avoided the deadly food coma and felt pretty good driving home.

For Friday, I had a ton to do. The weather here in the Upper NW was actually decent, for a change, so I thought I would get a head start on the outside lights. We began decorating inside for Christmas so I had to rearrange the living room furniture. The centerpiece of our front room is a beautiful, three sided front window. It's absolutely perfect for a tree and oddly enough, we haven't put a tree there in the two years since we've been here. So, I moved the piano. I moved the couch. I moved the loveseat. I then crawled under the house and carried the Christmas tree up and into the living room. I bent down to pick up the tree and...

Snap.

Out went my back. I let out a scream (or four) and hit the floor. It literally took me 45 minutes to get to the point that I could even move. Unable to even stand, I had to crawl to the couch. Somehow, the phrase "I've fallen and I can't get up" no longer seemed so funny.

I have been on my back most of the day taking pain relievers and wearing a heat belt of some kind. This is without question the worst pain I have ever felt in my life. I'm up and around now, but it's still pretty unbearable.

Man, getting old sucks.

How To Never Get Lucky At The Movies

2007-11-21T13:38:00.000-08:00

This guy built a home theater room too look like the Enterprise.

Set phasers on stunned, Mr. Sulu.

Hottest Commercial Ever

2007-11-18T15:45:00.000-08:00

And it doesn't even show any skin. Man o man.

It's Just Not Christmas

2007-11-18T15:07:00.000-08:00

Until some politically correct m f'er has to ruin it.

If you're familiar with this story, new Santas are being instructed to say "ha ha ha" instead of "ho ho ho" because the latter is derogatory to women, much in the way this picture I so deliberately placed here is.

Trust me, there were worse (or better, depending upon your point of view) pictures I could have posted.

Read the story here. Ha ha ha indeed.

Going Hollywood - TV Guide Was There!

2007-11-15T07:39:00.000-08:00

And I didn't see them.

The new TV Guide has a full page article about the upcoming NUMB3RS episode that I have been telling you about. In it, they picture a lot of the costumed folks that we worked with along with the show stars, Wil Wheaton, AND, Christopher Lloyd! Christopher Lloyd??? I had no idea that he was in the episode at all. Him, I would have taken the chance to shake hands with but he never shot on the set we were on. Much disappointment.

And yes, I'll wrap this thread up by the weekend. :)

Miis for the Making

2007-11-14T19:01:00.001-08:00

Making Miis is one of the best about the Wii. I found this code today. Give it a whirl and see if you can create your own image. Check out the link here.

Wii Love Mario

2007-11-11T17:58:00.000-08:00

We're getting into Mario pretty heavily now. :)

Going Hollywood - Day 2 - Can I Go Home Yet?

2007-11-10T08:19:00.000-08:00

Continuing my misadventures in Hollywood.

After lunch (which actually turned out to be just a snack) we went back over to the set. Unfortunately, we ended up sitting outside for a VERY long time. From that point on, we ended up being called back in in shifts. Jeff would come out, say "I need 10 people" and start pulling people at random. Now, you would think that the people who do this for a "living" would want camera time. Literally, as the day wore on, many people did not want to be picked. People would hide behind pillars or just generally make themselves less conspicuous when Jeff came looking for people. I remember a trio of Asian girls sitting on a planter in front of me when Jeff came out to pick folks. When he tapped these three, one of the girls (who was busy texting on her phone) said "FUCK!" quite obviously when she was picked.

Henry and I were both dragging hard. From this point, we were done with the crime scene and had moved on to the milling. We milled for hours. And hours. Walking around pretending to be interested in what was at the con. It was so surreal. Imagine being filmed pretending to do what you do for a living. Yep, that kind of weird.

By 7pm, we started talking with some of the other extras about celebrating freedom at our hotel. Consider that everyone but Henry and I lived locally so the idea of just popping over the Marriott for a few drinks was kind of strange to them. We pointed out that this is what you do at a con but mostly got blank looks. Jeff started letting people go in shifts but Henry and I kept getting picked. By the time we were released at 9:42pm, Henry and I limped back to our hotel. Had one drink and crashed.

And we still had to report for Day 3.

Go With A Smile

2007-11-04T08:31:00.000-08:00

In case you missed this, here's another picture of Heath Ledger as The Joker (yes, the "T" is capitalized) in the upcoming Chris Nolan Batman film, "The Dark Knight". I'm still not sure how I feel about Ledger as I have never been a fan but Nolan's first film was tremendous (the first half moreso than the latter) so I'm anxiously awaiting this one.

Going Hollywood - Day 2 - Showtime!

2007-10-29T20:21:00.000-07:00

We reported to the set at 7:30am last Wednesday for the first day of shooting the tv show NUMB3RS on the set of the mythical "AltCon 9 - Los Angeles". I actually own the shirt, suckers. We followed the signs, asked directions and ended up in a room full of roughly 100 other folks. It gets pretty strange from here. As we looked around, we saw people dressed as barbarians, aliens, samurai, and a LOT of people dressed in Star Trek costumes. (Note: NUMB3RS is owned by Paramount. That means at least the Trek costumes were authentic.)

We were asked if we had checked in and reported we had not. We made our way to wardrobe to meet "Fuller". We're not sure if this was his name or his job. The latter possibility made me cringe thinking what costume we might be pried into. Fortunately, he looked at our company polos and decided there was nothing he could do to make us look any geekier. We were sent back to "holding".

Once we got back, we immediately met Natalie, a lovely young woman wearing a Star Trek uniform who was sitting at our table. She is a "theatre person" and is only doing this because she's a Trekker that wanted to wear an original costume. A handful of other people sat down around us and we got to know a lot of these folks. Most seemed to have the same story. They do this 5-7 days a week. The pay sucks but you generally get fed three meals per day (Note: The alarms should have gone off right there.) and you get camera time.

After breakfast, the Assistant Director, Jeff, came to greet us. Jeff was the kind of guy who looked like he would be very mean but instead treated us like he was the coolest camp counselor ever. He gave us some instructions and tried to prepare us for the grind ahead. Most notably, we were not supposed to touch ANY of the props on the table. Meaning, I couldn't even touch my own stuff.

We got the first call to the set around 9am. Henry and I trudged down to "Alt Con 9", the fake comic con. It looked really good, but not really quite like a con. I assumed it would look great on camera so I didn't really say anything. It's very hard to do a con without any of the big licenses showing. They got very lucky that Dan Brereton (creator of Nocturnals) was on board as he supplied them with a shit load of art assets. That stuff looked really cool and was hanging everywhere.

We then spent the next 5 hours staging and rehearsing a shooting. Holy crap is that hard work. Henry and I assumed we'd be in the booth but instead we ended up as extras walking through the convention when the crime (it's a crime show, you know) occurs. My first Hollywood experience required me to hit the deck, look afraid, scream, and cower in fear. Pretty much the same act I do during financial analysis meetings.

Just prior to the beginning of shooting, Wil Wheaton came up to me while I was standing in the booth waiting for shooting to begin. We're not supposed to talk to the actors but Wil heard that WizKids was there and being the game geek he is, had to check it out. He asked me "Are you really from WizKids or are you just an extra? " I told him I was and we began a 20 minute conversation on gaming. He's a big fan of Pirates and HorrorClix. I gave him my card and invited him to send me an email and I'd hook him up with a care package of swag. He grinned and went off.

We finally got a break for lunch. It was well after noon, was getting very hot (it was already over 90) and my knees were starting to complain loudly. We sat down, took 1 bite of a sandwhich and Jeff came in yelling for us all to return to the set.

Yep, Day 2 was a long one. Continued tomorrow.

Going Hollywood - Day 1 Setup

2007-10-27T17:57:00.000-07:00

Henry and I flew into Los Angeles late on Monday night. We could see the fires from the plane coming in, but other than that it was an uneventful travel day. Tuesday was setup day when the fake convention (dubbed "Alt Con 9 - Los Angeles") was going to come to life.

The next morning, we hopped in a cab and made our way to the Los Angeles Studio Center lot. One problem though, is that if you ask an LA cabbie to take you anywhere but the airport or the hotel, they don't have a frickin' clue where they are going. This moron couldn't get us anywhere near where we had to go and we were almost late.

When we finally arrived, we were greeted by Katherine, the Production Director (?) who was in charge of getting the set constructed. Our product had arrived and after warding off her staff who was drooling over the case of Pirates, we went downstairs to see "Alt Con". The actual set was the lobby of the building that they use as the lobby to FBI headquarters. Obviously, they have to disguise it as much as possible so the room was filled with banners, booths, and hand constructed sci-fi and comic elements. There was almost no licensed properties, as the majors didn't want to play ball. However, Wizard of the Coast, Dark Horse and a couple of artists as well as us had sent elements down. We were the only company to send staff and we were, quite frankly, treated like stars because of it.

Before we began, we got to tour the sets for NUMB3RS. This included the FBI cubicles, interrogation rooms, and the school and home sets. Hollywood is clever folks, they can fool you in ways you couldn't imagine. What's really cool, is that with the cameras becoming smaller the sets were more or less full sets with either no open "4th wall" or the ability to pull one back. When we were in the offices and the house, it was like we were in these places no matter which way you looked (except for up).

We returned to the con and were given the choice of where to put our booth. Having cleverly read the script the previous night, I knew where a lot of the action was going to take place so I picked what should be a good spot. We won't know until the air date in November for sure.

We got set up after a couple of hours, and left with seemingly very little else done. We both wondered how they were going to pull this off. I went back to my hotel, did email for a couple of hours ventured out into downtown LA for dinner (by the way, downtown LA closes at 6pm. Thank God for Qdoba!) I didn't get much sleep and that was definitely something that I would regret the next day.

Going Hollywood

2007-10-26T22:04:00.000-07:00

This post is going to take me at least a week's worth of entries to tell, and to be honest, I'm not sure how much I can say. No one told me NOT to say anything, but I think that there are some things I should leave out for a time.

Last week, we got a call at work that Paramount Studios was putting together a mock comic book convention for the Friday night drama, "NUMB3RS". They were looking for props from vendors in our industry. We opted to do more than just send product, but Henry and I flew down to Los Angeles (amidst the fires) to set up and help out.

What happened from that point, is a bizarre tale of something I never thought I would be involved in in this lifetime. Mkae goes Hollywood.

There's Always Next Year

2007-10-21T20:50:00.000-07:00

The mating call of a Cleveland sports fan. I don't think any other city's sports franchises try harder to make it to the big dance and then so mind-boggingly screw it up more than ours. I actually turned off the TV tonight during the eighth inning between Cleveland and Boston. I scolded myself for being a fair-weather fan and turned the TV back on to see that Boston scored two more runs. Now I'm just watching the mercy killing.

Perfect way to cap an already shitty day. But, there's always next year.

Full Power on the Bullshit Detector

2007-10-20T19:19:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't heard about it, Bill Maher had to help security remove an unruly, shouting, conspiracy theorist from the audience of a taping of his HBO show the other night. The full report of what happened can be read here.

So why am I declaring b.s.? A couple of reasons:

1) It's Hollywood, an industry that thrives on people doing just what I'm doing now. Talking about them and their narcissistic and desperate ploys for attention.
2) Maher, a narcissist in his own right, stands up and yells to security "Do I have to come down there and kick his ass?" Seriously. The host of a show would simply not do that. Ever. Plus, he really needs better writers.
3) With the high-powered guests that Maher has, it took security how long to get to this guy?
4) The protesters were also screaming about 9-11 conspiracies which makes them hecklers that NO ONE in the audience is going to defend when the host comes heroically running into the audience.

Maybe this whole thing is just symbolic of the impending Writer's Guild strike. They've run short of material already to make us think nonsense like this is real life.

Bring On #1

2007-10-13T19:18:00.000-07:00

What a day for football.

I got a chance to watch #1 LSU let their unbeaten record (and thusly, the #1 ranking) slip away to a determined, if not flawed, Kentucky. It was a game that went into triple overtime and it was a real heart stopper. Of course, I could care less for either team and have never watched either play, but when Ohio State is #3 behind LSU, and OSU handily beat Kent State today, an LSU loss is a very nice thing indeed.

At this moment, California (#2) is about to be defeated by Oregon State. Of course, it's all up to the voters, but Ohio State should end up as the number one college football team in the country after tomorrow's sportswriters voting.

Now if the Indians can hold it together against Boston. :)

It's Good! No...wait!

2007-10-10T06:58:00.000-07:00

The last second, bullshit, sideline time out calls a second before a team kicks a field goal has got to stop. I'm not just complaining because it was used against the Browns this year, but it's happened several times this season against different teams.

If you're not familiar with it, it's referred to as "icing the kicker". The opposing coach times his "time out call" so it happens just seconds before the center snaps to the holder. Neither team is looking at the sidelines at this time. This usually means that the play goes off and the kick is made. Only the officials (usually one) know the call was even made. Excited fans are then disappointed to see that, no, it wasn't a good kick, because the asshole coach called a timeout. The whole play comes back. I'm not certain, but I believe that if the opposing coach has enough timeouts, he can continue to do this.

This is possible because of an NFL rules change that allows the timeout call to be made in this fashion. It is legal to do this but it just adds an irritating, gaming, aspect to the game. If you look at the number of games that are won or lost each year by a field goal, this is only going to increase in use.

Football is an awesome game. I love watching it but the bullshit rulings by the NFL are really souring the entire experience.

Chuck Gets Lost

2007-10-06T08:32:00.000-07:00

Did anyone else catch the subtle "Lost" reference on Chuck last week?

Also, there was a very lame Battlestar Galactica reference on Bionic Woman. (The old 'TV set playing the show's creator's OTHER series' gag. Bleh.)

And We're Back...

2007-10-05T06:57:00.000-07:00

Ok, first, sorry for freaking everyone out. I think I'm far enough out from this situation to take a moment to write about it.

For the last 20 years, I have been taking care of my mom. She has either lived with me, my family, or in very close proximity. She's into her 70's now and her health is in serious decline. Recently, the situation became quite incendiary with flashes of paranoia, accusations, and just generally strange behavior. We're having her evaluated for a number of things, including (at the doctor's request) Parkinson's disease. (On a side note, my dad had that before he died.)

It became necessary to move mom into a facility better suited for her. So, we sought out and found an assisted living facility nearby. There was a ton of family strife and the damage done between mom's children is permanent. Literally, I will never speak with my sister again because of this issue. Ever.

So mom is in a place right now where there is a nurse on staff 24 hours, lots of people her age and she's having a ball. It was still incredibly difficult and we're certainly not through the worst of it yet as we await diagnosis after diagnosis. Note that this isn't a nursing home. Rather, it's an apartment with a watchful eye and nightly bingo matches.

Work has been about the hardest it has ever been and the 8 month rainy season has started with literally 3 weeks of straight rain.

That's it in a nutshell.

The Menu Options Have Changed

2007-09-26T15:43:00.000-07:00

To the small handful of people that have been awaiting emails from me, let me put you on hold for a just a little longer. Things have been really bad over the last week here at the homestead. I'm not ignoring the emails you've sent. Rather, I'm just trying to get to a point where I can tell the story thus far.

Bleh. Do me a favor? Someone take me down long before I grow old. Seriously. I don't ever want my kids to go through this.

And There It Is...

2007-09-15T23:36:00.001-07:00

If anyone reading this is fucking stupid enough to believe that gasoline is $3.00 per gallon because of a) over consumption, b) refinery capacity, or c) hurricanes, I respectfully submit this photograph of ONE of the giant, palm-tree shaped, man-made islands in Dubai, Saudi Arabia.

Please think of the poor, starving Opec nations next time you fill up.

Those Were the Days

2007-09-15T00:14:00.000-07:00

I was browsing though Shocho's images on his blog and came across this picture of our very early adventuring days in World of Warcraft. The conversation pretty much says it all, but what caught my attention was that this pic was taken on March 20, 2005. That was 2 years, 1 job, and half a world away.

Sigh. I miss those days.

Top 100 Games

2007-09-08T09:00:00.000-07:00

The now deceased Inquest Magazine just published their list of the top 100 games. This is a wide-ranging list, including card games, board games, miniatures games and role-playing games. I've played a handful (haven't bothered to count yet) and worked on a smaller amount. It does give me a great swelling of pride to see that the current Brand I'm working on is #3.

Here's the list.

These Are (Sort of) The Voyages...

2007-09-06T20:01:00.000-07:00

Well, the first story rumor of the next Star Trek film as been revealed and it's...interesting. I am inclined to believe some of this, as some things that are confirmed now make sense.

First, Sylar from Heroes has been cast to play Spock. Great job on JJ Abrams part as that will help get street cred from the fan base. You've just turned a legion of Heroes fans into Trek fans.

Second, Leonard Nimoy has been confirmed as being in the film AS SPOCK. Ok, that set up an obvious flashback storyline.

The rumor though, is much more interesting. According to a report on G4 today, the plot is as follows:

1) A Romulan Emperor (rumored: Russell Crowe) gains access to time travel technology.
2) He (or his agents) go back in time to prevent Kirk from either being born OR rising to his position as Captain of the Enterprise, thus solidifying the Romulan domination of the galaxy.
3) The elder Spock (Nimoy) is somehow put into a position of maintaining the proper flow of the space-time continuum.

So this could be a half-baked Internet plot but a few things do work. First, Spock was last seen on Romulus. This film could then fit perfectly with the continuity previously established. The Romulans mucking around with time travel could alter things just enough that the reboot of the universe still fits.

Enjoy Your iPhone, Suckers

2007-09-06T00:45:00.000-07:00

Here's positive proof why you should NEVER buy the first release of any electronic device. Not only was the iPhone plagued with issues when it released, what, 3 months ago, but it was also ridiculously expensive for a damned cell phone. Imagine the shock and horror that it is now suddenly $200 cheaper AND one model has already been discontinued. Read the full story here.

One guy in our office who just had to rush out and get one on the first day of release was bemoaning all day how his wife was going to kill him.

T-Minus 20 and Counting

2007-09-05T21:26:00.001-07:00

Halo 3 hits on Sept. 25th. As one of my brands is a licensee (and quite frankly, the hottest licensee for Halo) it's going to be a big day for me.

And I just wanted to post a cool pic. The blog was looking a little dry.

Booyah!

It's Going By Fast

2007-09-05T20:49:00.000-07:00

My boy goes to pre-school tomorrow. He'll be 4 next month. I oftentimes wish he'd just stop growing right now so I never have to give him up. I cannot imagine what people's lives are like when they choose to not have children. Sports cars instead of mini-vans, leather sofa vs. milk stained, dinners and movies out vs. wishing they would just finally go to sleep already.

You folks have absolutely no idea what you're missing.

My wife sent me an email from a teacher today saying my daughter was very bright and considerate. She had to take money to school to buy her lunch and was very methodical and direct with the directions we gave her. She's 6 going on 12.

Sorry for the rambling post, but it keeps me from going upstairs and waking them up for another goodnight hug. I guess I should get those in while they still let me.

Cover Your Ass

2007-09-04T21:42:00.000-07:00

When I went from Radio to the gaming industry in 2005, one thing that struck me as funny was the office mentality that everything had to be covered in email. Even if the person you were conversing with was in the next office (or cubical), you should send an email.

"That's ridiculous", I said. "They're right next to me."

"Cover your ass", my boss said.

And boy, was she ever right.

So on Friday, I get a really sanctimonious email from someone in the office that I wouldn't expect this kind of treatment out of. He (and another person copied on the email) pretty much blast me for bad communication (that's the buzz phrase in our office when someone wants to put you down second only to "you don't prepare far enough in advance"), wasting company time and money.

Wow. This pissed me off, just a bit. In fact, it pretty much ruined my entire f'ing weekend (aside from the Anthrax). I wrote several emails but didn't send any of them. Probably a REALLY good thing I didn't.

Then I got to thinking. I started searching my old emails and lo and behold, I find an email from April 2007 that not only was this person copied on but the specific email called them out BY NAME asking them for their input and to make sure they were prepared for the procedures that were coming.

So the email I finally sent, included a copy of that email and a polite message stating that I didn't see how I was wasting time and money.

An hour later, I get an email asking if I considered the first email an attack. No, do you think? They went back and re-read it and said that they could see why I might think it was, even though it wasn't. They did finally apologize profusely when I saw them at lunch.

Cover your ass, indeed.

Down for the count

2007-09-01T20:51:00.001-07:00

I don't ever want to spend a day like yesterday again.

The bug that my kids and wife brought back from Minnesota hit me like a hammer on Thursday morning, and while I slogged through work on Friday, by evening I was feeling pretty bad. "Not to worry", I thought. "I usually blow through colds in a day."

Not this time.

Friday, I could barely get out of bed. Literally. Stuffy nose, fever, vertigo, migranes, shakes, chills, you name it. I think it was either the flu or anthrax. At one point (which was roughly 6pm) my wife bursts into the room and asks how I could still be asleep.

Today was only slightly better. The headache and stuffiness was mostly gone but I still can't fill my lungs. I've had little taste for eating so that's actually ok.

The upside to the whole thing was that I was able to catch a couple of movies on TNT and AMC. These included True Lies (love that one), Godzilla (meh, the beginning was fun), Unbreakable (STILL the best "superhero" movie of all time) and some others.

But, I lost two days of a four day weekend by staying in bed. Of course, being at the brink of exhaustion over the last several months due to work might have been partially responsible for my condition. I won't admit that to the wife though.

Wii Had A Good Day

2007-08-29T19:19:00.000-07:00

Today was the company picnic and I arrived in a horrible mood. Work has been really brutal of late and there's probably more pressure than anytime in my adult career. It took forever to get to the park and the kids were driving me crazy. Jen was sick and really didn't want to be there so that didn't help.

Once we got there, the food was ok and the office divided up in the pretty usual groups. After a couple of hours, the raffle tickets were passed out. We do a pretty standard prize mix at our office consisting of an iPod Nano, a portable DVD player and a Wii.

Our Marketing Director gave me my ticket and then one for Bailey and one for Jameson. I asked why they get one and she replied "why not?". Ok, more chances for the Wii, I guess.

When it came time for the drawing, my boss called out the number for the iPod. My daughter was the winner!! Sweet! I had been wanting to get one and just got one handed to me. Not the Wii, but hey, I'll take it.

Then the Portable DVD player went to Justin. Awesome. Not sure if he needed it, but it's fun to win.

Finally, we came down to the Wii. Joe then read my ticket number. Oh man, was I gonna hear about this for months. Everyone already growned and started yelling it was rigged.

So I got my Wii and iPod and looked at them and realized this wasn't right. I told my wife what I was going to do and I think she's still mad at me. I turned around and announced that I was putting the iPod back in so someone else had a chance to win. My boss asked if I was sure (perhaps thinking I was an idiot) and I said "yeah, it's not right to take 2 of the 3 prizes". We redrew and Becky won the iPod.

We've been playing with the Wii for the past couple of hours and it's awesome for the kids. I have an Xbox but it just frustrates them. This is perfect, except I desperately need more controllers. :)

Updating the List

2007-08-20T19:47:00.001-07:00

create your own personalized map of the USA

Thanks to Shocho, I'm updating my list of the states I have visited. I picked up Texas a couple of months back. I'm getting close!

Best Movie Trailer Ever

2007-08-12T09:01:00.000-07:00

And I have no idea what the name of the film is. Apparently though, neither does anyone else. There's a ton of speculation online as to what this is all about.

Check out the trailer here. And...wait for it.

Cheaters Sometimes Prosper

2007-08-08T07:04:00.000-07:00

756.

Nuff said.

Selling Out

2007-08-07T18:44:00.000-07:00

So here's the rub. I have an account on a popular MMORPG that I have let lapse and don't really have the time or desire (although sometimes I get the urge to "grind" for a bit) to continue. I'm really jonesing for an XBox 360 due to the imminent release of Halo 3. So the other day, a co-worker of mine found out I have a level 61 and level 55 that I'm not using. He's offered to purchase this account from me. Ok, this could be a good way toward my 360 (or at least a Wii).

My question: How much is a 54 Rogue and 62 Druid with a handful of purples worth?

Surviving Comic Con

2007-08-05T14:49:00.000-07:00

I can finally discuss it.

After having returned nearly a week ago, my brain is finally to the point where I can share my experiences at the largest 4-day geek fest in the history of the Universe; San Diego Comic Con.

I was there in the capacity of representing my company and particularly my two brands, HeroClix and Halo ActionClix. As simple as that may sound, the event and the weeks leading up to it were fraught with anxiety, bad planning, late deadlines, pissing off at least two major licensors, some death-defying stupidity, and a helluva lotta luck. All in all, it was a great show for us.

Notable Highlights:

- Going an entire day not eating until a two-hour old In-And-Out burger was delivered to me by my comrades at 11pm. The burger was great, the fries not so much.
- Having Gene Simmons walk into my booth looking for me and standing my ground. One of his camera men tried to push me aside as they poured in. I told him it was my booth and I wasn't to be pushed.
- Bumping into Stan Lee and Len Wein in the elevator. Very cool. We also had dinner at the table next to Marvin Hamlisch, but I'll admit that I wasn't the one who realized this.
- The booth for Grindhouse. Dear God in Heaven. Someone is going to Hell for this. I'm not sure who, but I doubt it will be me..
- Whipping several hundred people into a frenzy as I prepared to reveal our Halo 3 Scarab "miniature". Security was fighting through the crowd to shut me down as I pulled the cloth. Booyah!
- HOSTING only the second panel I'd ever been to at Comic Con. It featured us, Topps, and Marvel. No one else had the emcee experience to do it. Of course, I thought it was going to be a meeting room. What I didn't expect was a thousand-plus full house ballroom. Good thing I'm not afraid of public speaking.
- At the same panel, someone asking Brian Michael Bendis is he was going to "make Master Chief a Skrull as well". Priceless.
- Seeing Trevor, Jason, Justin B., Mike, Dan, Scott, Evan and Kyle. As bad as our experiences were at "the Company", it's always great to see these guys, competitors or no. Trevor, you owe me about 2 dragons worth of 24 cards, you know. ;)

I also got lots of swag. I brought back a bunch of Superman toys for the boy, some Bella Sara cards for my baby (thanks Sean!) and some really nice artwork from David Finch, Ryan Sook and Leniel Yu. My desk is brimming with Captain America goodness right now.

The Iron Man trailer was just outstanding as was the casting announcement for the upcoming Star Trek film for 2008. By the way, I got to see the last 20 minutes or so of Superman Doomsday. Whoa. Very vicious but very cool. Not for the kids though. Everyone really seemed to bring their "A" game to the show. If you're a fan of the geeky, fanboy stuff that permeates the industry I work in, this is going to be a very good year if Comic Con is any indication.