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Eleven and one half hours. That’s how long I celebrated St. Pat’s (read: all aspects of my self-destructive behavior) last night. Kudos to Lisa for being there and sober for the entire damn thing. I mean, you out-lasted sixteen people who came and left over the night. Krieky.

There’s nothing left upstairs. I wish I could claim some belfry bats, but I’m afraid they’ve all gotten themselves shot out of the sky by a more advanced technology. Jess has detailed our media consumption over the last few days; now add to this my as-of-last-week-rekindled interest in an extremely out of print college textbook anthology of science fiction stories which has withstood my flirtations for the last decade or so, about five hours of interminable presentations-turned-seminar in the last couple days, and the creeping feeling that the story concept that came to mind between Scrubs and Boston Legal has been irrevocably erased, and you can imagine the precise consistency of mush my brain has reduced itself to.

So what to do? A little word sandwich ought to hit the spot.

Dear videogame creators:

Please create more situations in which players on the same team can physically interact. Of note: in X-men Legends, where, for example, Storm can pick up characters and fly him around. This adds a new element to a game, and not just a co-operative play element. It gives the players opportunity to bug the hell out of each other.

The prime example is the fastball special, a move in which Colossus picks Wolverine up and hurls him towards the enemy. This ability was meant to be used for attack, but is far more entertaining when used for multiplayer annoyance. Bored with saving civilian mutants from Sentinels? Why not chase Wolverine around and throw him against things? The verbal ping-pong game of “get-back-here-you-little” versus “would-you-stop-it” adds new interactivity. Colossus getting out of hand? Take Jean airborne and try to catch Colossus, creating a game of dog-and-cat-and-mouse. Great fun for all players.

An old laptop appeared under my desk today, it being my responsibility to retire it apparently. I booted up the old dodger, and heard this sound. I wouldn’t have thought Windows 98 sounds were old enough to rate as Geek Nostalgia, but between my laughter and my associate’s baffled questioning as to just what I could possibly be doing, it appears I was incorrect.

Too much? I don’t think so. Can you imagine living in a culture where videogames were so prevalent that this commerical would make sense to enough people to merit airtime? I can. I would call it the United Republic of B A Start readers.

Goblet of Fire comes out on DVD Tuesday. I’m hoping for some deleted scenes featuring the World Cup. The theatrical release of the movie alluded to professional-level quidditch without showing any action. I know it wouldn’t have advanced the plot at all in an already lengthy movie, but two fewer minutes of prom replaced by two minutes of awesome would have been an improvement.

Dude at work likes Battlestar Galactica, as do I. As we stood outside of my boss’s office with three other co-workers, he asks me, sheepish and furtive: “Did you see BSG on Sunday?”

Difficult sitcheeation. I don’t want to blow this guy off. I also don’t want to be that guy who watches Battlestar Galactica, and have to launch into a soliloquoy about how no, it’s not the one from the seventies, yes, it’s very good, no, there is no robot dog.

I risked it, discussing the show in broad terms and quickly changing the subject. Come on, man; discussing the finer points of the rebirth of the two Cylons who have played major roles in the conflict? That’s cube-talk.

How important is an apostrophe, you ask? Allow me to display.

“Know that thing you’re borrowing? Can we use it next week? We’ll give it back!”

vs.

“Know that thing you’re borrowing? Can we use it next week? Well give it back!”

This is why people get fired over emails.

Her Worshipfulness muddled through the weekend a weakened state. Wrapped in a cocoon of archaic blanket, she sat in the Playstation room coughing and watching me play X-men: Legends, the poor dear. She held up well, with one exception: every time Emma Frost appeared, she wheezed insults at the screen, making some very bold statements about her promiscuity. You see, HW had read that Emma broke up the long-standing relationship between Cyclops and Jean Grey, and this was simply more than she could forgive.

Damn Marvel — soap operas with superpowers. You just don’t have these problems with the JLA.

Ages ago — around twelve years now — I went to Canada with some friends. As we sat around a table of pub grub, one guy (who happens to be the most intellectual person I have ever known) asked a question which kicked off a long string of discussions over many bar nights: if you were an X-man, who would you be? This developed into a more subtle dual question: which X-man are you most like, and if you had your choice, which X-man would you be?

The Mad Lib nature of this query became something of an obsession for some, and over years we drove it into the ground. “If you were a piece of cutlery…” etc. Nonetheless, the original question remains pure and untouched.

In personality, I’d say I’m most like Beast. You know, the geek one who talks alot. Whose power? Longshot, who possesses limitless luck. Sure, he’s a wacko who comes from another dimension, but still.