Idol Thoughts – Top 13: Michael Jackson Week
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Posted on March 12th, 2009 by
I happened upon a few popular polls regarding American Idol contestants over the last few days that had me predicting something for tonight. When asked who was there favorite, it wasn’t any of the anointed ones – not Danny or Adam or Lil; it wasn’t the obvious judge -picks of Jasmine or Megan. It was Anoop … the one they grudgingly let on to the Wild Card round add-ons, and have been obviously annoyed with since day one. So it was obvious they would be overly harsh with him. Another poll talked about ‘most over-rated’ and guess who won THAT title? Jasmine – one of the judges pet projects. So it was clear that they would be very careful about what they said to her so she would sail through. That doesn’t sound fair? Well, it is a fact of life made more obvious than ever this year because this … is American Idol Season 8!
This Week in Games: March 8 – 14
Posted on March 8th, 2009 by
Wait a second here … after three weeks in a row, I’m beginning to think that the game industry is starting to ‘get it’ and spread their releases around the year more! Well, whether or not it is true (I still expect a fall deluge), this is yet another week of strong releases. The XBOX360 and PS3 get the hotly anticipated and highly controversial Resident Evil 5 while the PSP gets Mana Khemia: Student Alliance, the Wii gets MadWorld, and there is a decent list for every other platform. Well, except that there looks to be a massive amount of ‘shovelware’ for the Wii and DS. Check out the list! more…
Preview – Neverwinter Nights 2: Mysteries of Westgate
Posted on March 8th, 2009 by
One of the greatest things about the original Neverwinter Nights was the ability to craft your own complete role-playing adventures with relative ease. This has led to a large body of modules that rival commercial games, and was eventually exploited by Atari in the form of several ‘Premium Modules’. Neverwinter Nights 2 also features a large module toolset, though it is more cumbersome to use, was released in a less than optimal state, and has taken longer for developers to craft new modules with. Very soon, though, the first official ‘Adventure Pack’ will be released – Mysteries of Westgate from Ossian Studios. I will be reviewing that module later, but had a few thoughts on it – and also wanted to highlight the impending release. more…
Granny Rides the Hog
Posted on March 7th, 2009 by
I read the news today, oh boy. Lots of bad stuff going on, had me a bit down, until I saw this. Look folks, if my heart attack has taught me one thing it’s that memories trump money. And that you need to help a cool thing happen – and it’s always worth it.
The Characters of Street Fighter IV
Posted on March 7th, 2009 by
One of the reasons why Street Fighter has such staying power is the characters. They’re just a lot of fun! That’s why they’re in movies and comic books and toys and such. So I figured I’d take a quick look at the fighters in SFIV.
Idol Thoughts – Wild Card Night!
Posted on March 5th, 2009 by
My judge-manipulation-meter is totally pegged and my cynicism is so great it feels like it is leaking out of my ears. That is because we are at the point in the show where the judges and producers, having failed through manipulation of songs and arrangement and coaching and order and commentary to place all of their personal pet-choices … now get to trot them out once more mixed in with some second-chance cannon fodder before picking who they wanted anyway. That is because this … is American Idol!
Idol Thoughts: Top 36 Part 3
Posted on March 5th, 2009 by
All I could think after last week was … is this actually going to happen; are we going to really watch this show this week after the last two weeks went from terrible to brutal? Well, since I’m writing this I guess you have your answer! Tuesday night we were back to our usual time slot, but the rest of the show – from limited time in the ‘red room’ to highlighting family members in the audience – remained pretty much the same. Once again, the odds were stacked against each contestant as the majority were performing for the final time on the Idol stage. And once again what the judges said seemed more in sync with some pre-scribed notes than what was actually happening on stage, but that isn’t surprising, because this … is American Idol!
A Childhood without Television
Posted on March 4th, 2009 by
Another computer? Another computer. See that tiny thing to the right? That’s the Dell Studio Hybrid. That’s a tiny PC. And buying one is going to save me over $1000 a year. I have a big screen LCD in my living room and my basement office. During my long heart attack recovery (also known as 2008) I spent most of my time gaming downstairs. Computer gaming, Xbox 360 gaming, watching TV (Hulu.com), watching movies and reading the Internet. Cable TV became something Linda would have on upstairs, but I realized, almost everything she watched could be seen on the Internet. I have so many computers and online devices, I have a nice Wifi Network, and I’m paying for Road Runner Turbo. “Linda,” I said gently (such things must be handled gently). “How about we cancel cable TV?”
Idol Thoughts: Top 36 Part 2
Posted on March 1st, 2009 by
Another week, another three hours resulting in three more finalists making it to the top 12. Things were done a bit differently this time – performance night was moved to Wednesday due to the Presidential address, which puts off my schedule as well! Also, the overall format changed to include less interaction with the families of the singers – rather than sitting in the ‘red room’ (red because of the Coca Cola stuff plastered everywhere), they sat in the audience and glared at Simon whenever he said anything bad about their son or daughter or wife or friend. Which was often. Because this … is American Idol!
Meet Melodie
Posted on February 26th, 2009 by
Meet Melodie (it’s video and you will need sound). She’s 1-year old and I’m worried she might start her own blog and put me out of business! The video shows a familiar scene. A daughter, sippy cup, bib, a father, and flash cards. Video game character flash cards. Now, is this the right thing to teach? Wouldn’t numbers be better? My answer is “not really.” Why?
