This is where is write about my life in general, and talk a lot about what games I'm playing. Another favorite topic is TV, and there's a chance I'll mention something that's happened in an episode that's not aired in your country, so be warned. You can also expect talk on the Philadelphia Eagles, the occasional list, and various humorous tidbits as I deem appropriate.

• 8Feb 10

  Make the Voices Stop!

  As I try to do most Monday and Wednesday mornings, around 5:30 I took the 20 minute walk into town to get coffee, despite the 17°F/-8°C temperature. It's a nice way to get a little extra exercise and enjoy the peaceful early morning. There was an older man by the Starbucks condiment area after I paid, and after I waited around 20 seconds it became clear he'd be slow to leave, so I sidled up to the other half. Then exacty what no one wants to happen happened; he starts chatting immediately. Christ, I just want to put some sugar and cream in my coffee and get home to start my busy day, but he's rambling in a mumbly voice about the Super Bowl (you can see all its ads here) and where he's been, mentioning a long list of places he's stayed during his life, none of which I've heard of until he mentions Byberry... at which point I realize he's naming mental facilities he's been resident of. He then went on to mention that he wishes it were colder, feeling it necessary to share that he feels that way because, "when the voices get too loud I put my head in the freezer." Apparently, he needs to go back to one of the facilities he mentioned!

  Meanwhile, the region is still recovering from the weekend's snowstorm, which at 28.5" was the second-largest in Philadelphia history. That's really saying something for this winter, since the previous second-largest storm happened less than two months ago! It wasn't so bad for where I live, as though I'm only about 25 miles north of Philly, I only had about a foot to shovel. Luckily, both those big storms this winter have been 'backward', as north and west usually get more than the city, but this year it's been Delaware and the Jersey Shore that got hammered even worse. Still, I won't get to rest for long, as they're saying we could get another foot Tuesday into Wednesday.

  I also had my most fun twitter experience yet last night. I put up a #sb44 column to read tweets during the halftime show. They probably ran 6:1 in favor of The Who sucking vs. still rocking (and at any rate kept up the post-Nipplegate trend of halftime performers who have long since passed being relevant, evidenced by a woman tweeting her 13-year-old daughter thought it was "cool" that The Who were "covering" the CSIs' themes). Comments included "Oldest guy on TV today, Daltrey or Vigoda?", "Hey NFL. Next year it would be nice if the halftime act could sing and were still alive," and "This Who set could otherwise be known as Cocoon 3: The Deafening." Someone else said they imagined "many younger people are thinking, "what is this 'pinball' these strange old men are singing about?" Oh, wait, that was me.

  That's all for today. Thanks for reading, everybody!

  • Posted Feb 8, 2010 5:43 am GMT
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• 5Feb 10

  Losing My Religion

  It seems the UK is host to a religious talk show that takes calls and reads e-mails. It also seems pranksters like to trick them (endlessly, it seems, according to YouTube), such as getting this host to read a modified version of the lyrics to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Even when told (you can barely hear it at the 0:44 mark) it's from the show by an off-screen producer, he doesn't seem to get what it means. And it seems they never keep stopping the Fresh Prince pranks! Apparently, even Jimmy Kimmel aired a few of these other night.

  I made a discovery in CoD: Modern Warfare 2 the other day, which is that it's possible to call in a nuke and lose. It was the only one I've called in on the Estate map, and it was with less time left in the game than the nuke takes to detonate, as I'd done once before, but while already winning. Turns out that since the clock ran out, the person one kill ahead of me won the match, even though I got credit for the nuke's kills, and technically finished 'ahead' of him with 35 kills vs. his 29. In better news there, I'm just about to hit 40% accuracy, so that's nice. Other than that, I've also dabbled a bit in Assassin's Creed, which so far looks not terribly challenging and somewhat repetitive. I may have plenty of time to delve deeper tomorrow since we're supposed to get around a foot of snow overnight and into tomorrow afternoon, which would be only the third time (and the first time since '7 that the Philly area's had multiple storms of ten or more inches in a single winter.

  Also, the Winter Olympics start next weekend, and not all network fare is disappearing. Turns out that reality like Survivor and The Amazing Race will stay on, as will some major shows like 24 and Lost. It'll be nice having a mini-break, with some good stuff to tide me over, but not the massive tidal wave of shows I typically deal with. And there's always Criminal Minds reruns on A&E if I need something to watch.

  That's all for today. Have a great weekend, everybody!

  • Posted Feb 5, 2010 2:50 pm GMT
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• 3Feb 10

  Lost Love

  With much hype, Lost kicked off its final season last night, with what looks like might be the final type of "flashes", views of the characters' lives had the Oceanic 815 crash never happened (or maybe that's now 'real' and people on the island are the alternate universe, as you never can tell with this show). ABC, as usual, aired a 'series in review' show beforehand, which after nine months was a huge help, both to refresh my memory and to actually make more sense of stuff that went over my head the first time. It's sad that at this point virtually any ending conceivable will disappoint many, as we all have our own expectations/interpretations, but it looks like it will be a fun ride until the finish.

  Meanwhile, Big Love just keeps steaming along. It really does get better each season. I can still remember thinking the first season was so-so, with more 'look at the wacky polygamists and their crazy ways' plots to hook you than real drama, but that it held much promise, with a host of great, interesting characters to write stories around. And as predicted, it did blossom in the second season. Now, it's actually very much like Dallas in some ways, as nearly everyone (even some of the children) harbor secrets and ulterior motives in much that they do, though often their plans get carried out in slapstick, ill-planned fashion. I still dislike the new opening, and the new Teeny is taking getting used to, but the actual show is a total winner at this point. Even if I didn't watch it live over Desperate Housewives for the simply practical reason that I wouldn't save any time if I DVRed it since HBO has no commercials, I might choose to watch it live simply for being possibly a better show.

  I also hit an eating milestone yesterday: my first trip to a Red Robin. I'd heard good things about them, but for whatever reason, they just have very little SE Pennsylvania presence, and the closest one is a good half-hour away. As it turned out, I had reason to go to a far-off Best Buy for a Life on Mars DVD set that my usual one did not carry, and by chance Red Robin was in the same shopping center. I ended up getting their Whiskey River BBQ burger, basically a bacon cheeseburger with barbecue sauce and onion straws. Pretty good (though the leafy, green lettuce in the picture is limp, white chunks in real-life), and the fact that they have a bar there is a plus, though I opted for a chocolate shake. On the whole, the place seems to fit in the gap between fast food and Friday's/Chili's type places, as while they offer a few more ammenities than McDonalds and their ilk, they clearly focus on burgers and sandwiches rather than the entrees that casual dining chains have as their mainstay. If they were in town I might be a semi-regular, but I doubt I'll be taking the current 30 minute trip to go there again unless I had another reason to be that way.

  That's all for today. Thanks for reading, everybody!

  • Posted Feb 3, 2010 5:31 am GMT
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