I was sick for most of last week so that torpedoed any post-con entries I would have made or any other plans I had. Like some entries for our Nonfiction Blog, which unfortunately were also shot in the head by the website being down or slow. I've got a post about the Nonfiction comics panel from Saturday to make, and dammit I'm going to do it, given that I dragged my ass in Saturday morning to attend the panel. Subway service was shite that morning, partly because of all the construction they're doing. And by the way, the dead pigeons are still there, but you can't see them due to all the dust dropped on the tracks; it's the same color.

Let's see... while I was sick I did catch up on TV, so we now have plenty of space on the DVR and I have Netflix to return after like, three months. The recent demise of Kim's Video got me thinking about my own rental history, and what movies I've watched, and how I kind of miss the days of the "Blockbuster night."

Been playing a lot of Animal Crossing, which is the same stupid game but I can't stop and the fact that heehaw_tng is playing too makes it more fun. We also have Wii Fit which tells me I'm fat and means it (but I have great balance) and I bought Ian Retro Game Challenge for Valentine's Day because I care for him aaaaaaand because I wanted to check it out but not actually play it.

God, I'm boring.

I hate to link dump, but I'm going to link dump. I also hate posting two lists in a row, but I'm going to post two lists in a row.

Some of this stuff was already posted on Twitter, so sorry for the repeats.

For corneredangel, mostly: Where's an Egg? is incredibly bizarre, full of intentionally bad Russian, and is actually kind of fun (and one of my favorite games from the Videlectrix oeuvre).

For tricianna and gmonger, mostly: Unfiction is actually covering 39 Clues.

corneredangel and heehaw_tng: The character list for this fan project brawler is insane (click on "cards").

Tags: animal crossing, lists, video games

This is very lovely and sweet: I wish I were the Moon.

Please give it a try and see if you can get all the endings.

To follow up on this post:

I get GamePolitics and Jeremy Parish's blog fed directly into my friends page (so these are the only sites I see every entry of). I occasionally check Joystiq and Kotaku for news, and I've really started taking a shine to Offworld, BoingBoing's newish video games blog. (I'm finding that their spin-off blogs are far less annoying than the main blog, proving Warren Ellis right: BoingBoing could really just sink into the ocean and no one would care.)

Based on people's answers to that last post as well as my own suggestions, I chucked the following sites into Google Reader:

In order of likeliness to achieve, from most to least.

To finish:

Sort of following up on my last post, but more of a technical nature.

Is there an RSS reader that can take several RSS feeds, aggregate them into one, then sort by topic/tag... not topics or tags *I* assign, but rather based on what the posts are originally tagged with?

To explain:

I decide I want to read Joystiq and Kotaku (both video game blogs, for the people who didn't read the last post). I would like a reader that downloads the posts from both, then sorts them into folders based on the tags assigned by the original bloggers/website. Like all posts tagged "Wii" would go in one folder, "PS3" could have another folder, "Final Fantasy" in another, maybe a folder for "Halo" or "Guitar Hero."

Kind of like Google News Alerts, except I want to be able to browse the categories so if I feel like reading all the posts on Rolando I can in one shot instead of having to do a manual search or creating a separate alert.

Where do you get your console/computer gaming news? Name the magazine or website.

(Choosing to keep this as freeform as possible, as I suspect that the answers, if any, will surprise me.)

Attended Video Games Live on Saturday with heehaw_tng, corneredangel, and tricianna. You know, it's that series of orchestral video game concerts created by Tommy Tallarico. Yes, the Electric Playground guy.

I have a somewhat irrational hate of Tommy Tallarico, but I didn't let that stop me from at least giving this whole thing a shot. Anna was all, "Why do you hate him so much?" By the end of the concert though, all became clear! I spent a good portion of the concert pointing my invisible remote at the stage, desperately trying to 30-second-skip.

I made a point out of dressing somewhat nice, at least respectable. I figured there would be hordes of geeks in t-shirts and of course, the obligatory cosplayers. So I did the whole shirt-and-slacks thing, though after walking a block from home I had to run back and change because the damn khakis were sliding down my ass. So I did black jeans instead. My companions were dressed similar, and it was gratifying and delicious.

Tonight, we were no mere nerds! We were intellectual and hip. We had dinner in Park Slope beforehand. We were wanky and catty and judgmental. It was delicious (and moist)! Dare I say it? For all my bitterness and posturing, I secretly yearn to be a hipster, and so I cosplay as one.

And once we entered the Beacon Theater there she was, Carmen Sandiego! Along with Princess Peach, Dr. Mario, and Waluigi. And they all proceeded to get very, very drunk. Maybe they needed to get drunk to feel better about the fact that they wore costumes to an event where they would spend most of it sitting in the dark, where no one could see that they were wearing costumes.

As if drunken nerds weren't bad enough, Tommy Tallarico (and yes, I will write it out every time because it's just so fun to say, even in my head) told the audience to make noise whenever there was something they liked. So now we have drunk, LOUD nerds. Basically, it was like a big frat party. Maybe they shouldn't have bothered with the music and just set up Halo match on the big screen, since people were reacting more to the images displayed than to the music itself.

This was a constant problem, as there were moments where you couldn't hear the music. There were a few pieces where they didn't have game footage - presumably because they couldn't get permission or it was too graphic (Medal of Honor, Final Fantasy, and Kingdom Hearts) - and those were probably the least rowdy of the performances. Well, actually, Final Fantasy was still rowdy, because it's Final Fantasy and people actually recognize that music.

During Metal of Honor they showed historical war footage, and Princess Peach babbled something about respectability and how fake it was and then someone screamed for her to shut up. And what did she say? Oh, come on, this is classic... "You shut up!"

Somewhere, Shigeru Miyamoto is crying.

In the end, I couldn't help but compare the whole thing to the Final Fantasy: More Friends concert I attended in '05, and find it wanting. And I hate Tommy Tallarico even more now. The showboating! The time-wasting! The posturing! The "I grew up in New York... I used to spend all my summers here!"

Hmmm. Still had fun, though.

Still scanning in documents like whoa. So I give you the program to my elementary/junior high's spring musicale, starring Sonic and Tails.

Can anyone recommend a good book reader for the Nintendo DS? I'm Googling but no one seems to be satisfied with what's out there. Some of the ones I've found (but haven't tried yet) are DSlibris, ReadMore, and DS Reader. I think I'd prefer something where you turn the DS sideways like a book; feels more natural.

(I don't usually post links, but this one just begs for show-and-tell.)

http://kotaku.com/350532/win-imagine-babies-from-girl-gamer-mag

The second issue of Girl Gamer mag in the UK not only has a cover story on Cooking Mama 2, but they're giving away copies of Imagine: Babiez. With a pink DS!

Oh joy, my womb can hardly contain the excitement! You know, like the dinner scene from the original Alien.

I wouldn't call myself a feminist or anything, but...

That Guitar Hero III commercial where the guy is playing the game when suddenly Slash climbs out of his skin and takes over? Annoys the fuck out of me. Not because of Slash, or the music, or the game. It's not a bad commercial at all.

No, it's the fact that the only women in the commercial are some girl grooving along on the couch and another girl sitting at a table in the background. She's the fucking girlfriend who has nothing better to do than to watch her boyfriend play Guitar Hero. That is lame, lame, lame.

Girls play Guitar Hero too. The makers of the fucking game know this, so they make female avatars available. Why won't the advertising firm get a clue?

Starting from the last week of September:

Tuesday, got an e-mail about a release party for the Dethklok album, Dethalbum. heehaw_tng came along with me to a bar near Chinatown. I really liked the bar a lot, but the party was kind of a fizzle, since they didn't show the season premiere like they said they would and the free DVDs and t-shirts they were supposed to have never arrived (so the promotions guy said). However, there was free beer and we both got deluxe copies of the new CD. The album has its bright spots, but I am disappointed that they seem to have rerecorded "Thunderhorse."

Last night, went to dinner with tom_kiper. I might grow to like Korean, if I get enough exposure.

Today, whether we realized it or not, is some kind of geek holiday. Halo 3 comes out at midnight, I fully expect lots of people to call in sick (or take a personal day). I went over to the Best Buy near the office, which apparently is the northeast HQ for the release. The first guy on line has been there since 6pm. Yesterday. As of 6pm today the line wasn't that long... yet. There was AV equipment up the yin yang all down the block, including a giant screen, presumably because later on it's going to be hawt.

G4 is also at the store, we saw Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb prepping for camera. Their hair is hideous. I also think there were some people from Microsoft there, but I didn't recognize any faces. I know Fahey from Kotaku is floating around somewhere, too.

I briefly thought about hanging around, because it's a geek event and I'm a geek, but then, there's nothing for me in it. I'm not a Halo fan.

Besides, I got me some Heroes tonight!

Posting this link for gmonger:

http://blog.wired.com/games/2007/02/japanonly_games.html

Sweet.

Fun with bad translations, courtesy of Joystiq, Media Create, and Google translation. Guess the game!

1. PS2: Gland [sehuto] automatic [sanandoreasu]
   
2. DS: [doragonkuesutomonsutazujiyoka]
   
3. DS: Sangokushi great war DS
   
4. DS: [pikurosu] DS
   
5. DS: Mysterious thief [wario] the seven
   
6. Wii: New Wii pack
   
7. PS2: The [pa] [chi] it is densely the [sonatapachi] [tsu] [te] [chi] [yo] of the winter it is [ma] [ge] expert 10
   
8. DS: Tohoku University future technology collaborative research center Kawasima Riyuuta professor supervision DS training of the adult who more forges the brain
   
9. DS: New sou perm Rio brothers
   
10. DS: Sensible power training DS of the adult who supervision Japanese sensible power official approval association after so long a time cannot be heard in the person
    
11. DS: With it is and how it hits the forest
    
12. PS2: Secret of prince [dokidokisabaibaru] seashore of tennis
    
13. XB360: Idling master (limited edition it includes)
    
14. DS: [mariokato] DS
    
15. DS: DS training of the adult who forges the Tohoku University future technology collaborative research center Kawasima Riyuuta professor supervision brain
    
16. PS2: [shiyainingu] [huosuikusa]
    
17. DS: [esute] IQ [sapuri] DS inside brain
    
18. Wii: [meidoinwario] which threatens
    
19. PS2: Dragon shadow spelling
    
20. PS2: Don't you think? the [pi] it does! So and others the [tsu] [ku] it does, (limited edition it includes)
    
21. DS: [pu] [pu]!
    
22. DS: Foppish witch love and very the ~DS collection ~ (bundled edition it includes)
    
23. DS: Heisei board of education DS ETC [bandainamukogemusu]
    
24. DS: With respect to [kabii] going/participating of star! [dorotsuchie] group
    
25. PS2: As though dragon (PlayStation 2 the Best)
    
26. DS: Room DS2 of tea dog
    
27. Wii: Being excited track/truck
    
28. DS: [jiyanpuaruteimetsutosutazu]
    
29. DS: DS? Mountain method electric brain repetition it increases, ## hundred which it increases the calculation which it increases
    
30. DS: [baiohazadodetsudorisairensu] Best Price!
    

In case you thought I wasn't doing anything with my life...

...well, actually, I have. It's funny how most of my recent posts have been about television and stuff. Which is usually because the TV happens to be on when I'm at my computer. And then I go out, and when I get back home I usually would rather do something else other than write about what I just did. Never enough time.

(And now I'm thinking of that episode of Twilight Zone, for the title of it: "Time Enough At Last.")

So, the weekend.

Friday:

Nothing much, really. Saw Ian on Thursday, so Friday was more alone time. Played Xenosaga II for a bit, though "play" is really a misnomer, I mostly just moved the plot along. I realize I now have something like 6 RPGs to get through (Suikoden Tactics, Suikoden V, Baten Kaitos, Final Fantasy XII, KOTOR II, Xenosaga III). It's a bit depressing, but I suppose now is as good a time as any, since there's usually a lull in the release of games when a new system is introduced (though with the PS3 doing as badly as it seems to be, there's a chance the PS2 won't slow down for a while).

Saturday:

Woke up later than I wanted to. Strung out an ethernet cord from my room so my parents could connect directly to the router, since the wireless card in their comp appears to be shit. It was not as big a drama as my brother acted like it was going to be, which is why I did my room myself and let him take care of the rest of the distace to their room. Now they have consistent Internet, so my dad can enjoy YouTube or something.

My dad decided to make hamburgers, which he tends to just decide on his own. That usually means that he always manages to make hamburgers when I'm going out, and then gets mad that I'm going out. I decided I was in no particular hurry, so I stuck around to eat and Ian came over for a little bit before we finally went to the city.

The intention was to hit up some stores that I had gift cards to, but we arrived way too late for Best Buy. At Toys 'R' Us I bought two games (Trace Memory, which was $10, and Touch Detective for Ian's birthday), and Ian bought New Super Mario Bros.. We bought movie tickets, then headed to Virgin Megastore to kill time. And that was effctive, since they're doing the whole $10 sale again, and most stuff in the bins is actually good.

I bought Postal Service, GNR Greatest Hits, and Jay Z's Black Album. The latter of which always bothered me because it's actually called "The Black Album."

Saw Pan's Labyrinth, which I enjoyed except for one thing I will not divulge since it's a spoiler. But it's a bleak, vaguely creepy, magical little film. In Spanish. I was surprised to see subtitles, but then I felt silly for not expecting subtitles. Like, the director is Spanish, the movie was made in Spain, the movie is about Spanish history.

After the film we went back to the store, then home.

( The best day of all )

I need to get to work on this shopping thing already. I'll probably be ordering crap off Amazon or the like, just to avoid stores. Not that it'll work. But I'll make my list and figure out who's getting what later tonight, hopefully.

I updated my Amazon Wish List, trimming it down and redoing the priorities. Honestly, after the loot garnered from my birthday, I'm a bit backlogged right now. So I marked down a lot of the books and some of the DVDs. But I don't mind getting them, I'll catch up eventually.

Things I would like (mostly aimed at parental units and other familial beings):

Extra Wiimotes and Nunchuks
Logitech wireless PS2 controllers
Extra Wavebird controller

Gift cards for Target (especially the light-up Wii one), Circuit City, Toys 'R' Us

(Oh, and BTW, I posted my Wii Code on my LJ, under the links)

Because I said I would link this:

http://www.blipfestival.org/

I was thinking of going Saturday, to check out the screening of 8 Bit (which I've been wanting to see for a while).

Let me know what you're planning to do, maybe we can make an outing of it.