The Menu Options Have Changed

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...

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

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

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...

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

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

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

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

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

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.