Wii Had A Good Day

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

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

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

756.

Nuff said.

Selling Out

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

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.