There are a few things I need to blog about, but haven't. In no particular order...

• Episode III (which was great)


• Hooper and giving him a smidge more responsibility


• Neighbors and their wrong-ness


• Republic Commando game review


• New computer possibilities (it's a new Cold War, baby!)


• Arizonification

Might have some time later. We'll see what I get to.

Have you ever...
( ) smoked a cigarette
( ) smoked a cigar
( ) made out with a member of the same sex
( ) crashed a friend's car
( ) stolen a car
(x) been in love
(x) been dumped
(x) shoplifted (but not since I was a little kid)
( ) been fired
( ) been in a fist fight
( ) snuck out of your parent's house
(x) had feelings for someone who didn't have them back
( ) been arrested
( ) made out with a stranger
(x) gone on a blind date
(x) lied to a friend
( ) had a crush on a teacher
(x) skipped school (if college counts as "school", then yes; otherwise, no)
( ) slept with a co-worker
( ) seen someone die
( ) had a crush on one of your internet friends
( ) been to Canada
( ) been to Mexico
(x) been on a plane
( ) thrown up in a bar
( ) purposely set a part of yourself on fire
( ) eaten Sushi
( ) been snowboarding
( ) met someone in person from the internet
( ) been moshing at a concert
( ) been in an abusive relationship
( ) taken painkillers
(x) laid on your back and watched cloud shapes go by
(x) made a snow angel
( ) had a tea party
(x) flown a kite
(x) built a sand castle
( ) gone puddle jumping
( ) played dress up
(x) jumped into a pile of leaves
(x) gone sledding
(x) cheated while playing a game
(x) been lonely
(x) fallen asleep at work/school (at least, I don't think I ever have)
( ) used a fake ID
(x) watched the sun set
( ) felt an earthquake
(x) touched a snake
(x) slept beneath the stars
(x) been tickled
(x) been robbed
(x) been misunderstood
(x) pet a reindeer/goat
(x) won a contest
(x) run a red light
( ) been suspended from school
(x) been in a car accident
( ) had braces
(x) felt like an outcast
( ) eaten a whole pint of ice cream in one night
(x) had déjà vu
( ) danced in the moonlight
(x) hated the way you look
( ) witnessed a crime
( ) pole-danced
(x) questioned your heart
( ) been obsessed with post-it notes
(x) squished barefoot through the mud
(x) been lost
(x) been to the opposite side of the country country
(x) swam in the ocean (stuck my foot in anyways)
(x) had déjà vu
(x) felt like dying
( ) cried yourself to sleep
(x) played cops and robbers (probably)
( ) recently colored with crayons/colored pencils/markers
( ) sung karaoke
(x) paid for a meal with only coins
(x) done something you told yourself you wouldn't
(x) made prank phone calls
( ) laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
(x) caught a snowflake on your tongue
( ) danced in the rain
(x) written a letter to Santa Claus
(x) been kissed under a mistletoe
(x) watched the sun set with someone you care about
(x) blown bubbles
( ) made a bonfire on the beach
( ) crashed a party
(x) gone rollerskating
(x) had a wish come true
( ) worn pearls
( ) jumped off a bridge
( ) screamed "penis" in class
( ) ate dog/cat food
( ) told a complete stranger you loved them
( ) kissed a mirror
(x) sung in the shower
( ) had a dream that you married someone
( ) glued your hand to something
( ) got your tongue stuck to a flag pole
( ) kissed a fish
( ) worn the opposite sex's clothes
( ) been a cheerleader
(x) screamed at the top of your lungs
( ) done a one-handed cartwheel
( ) talked on the phone for more than 6 hours (what a nightmare that would be)
(x) stayed up all night
( ) not taken a shower for a week
(x) picked and eaten an apple right off the tree
(x) climbed a tree
( ) had a tree house
( ) been scared to watch scary movies alone
( ) believed in ghosts
( ) had more then 30 pairs of shoes
( ) worn a really ugly outfit to school just to see what others would say
( ) gone streaking
(x) played ding-dong-ditch
(x) played chicken (or equivalent)
(x) been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on (been push-er and push-ee)
( ) been told you're hot by a complete stranger
(x) broken a bone
(x) been easily amused
( ) caught a fish then eaten it
( ) made porn
( ) caught a butterfly
(x) laughed so hard you cried
( ) cried so much you laughed
( ) mooned/flashed someone
( ) had someone moon/flash you
( ) cheated on a test
( ) had a Britney Spears CD (oh my goodness, no!)
(x) forgotten someone's name
( ) slept naked
( ) French-braided someone's hair
( ) gone skinny dipping in a pool
( ) been kicked out of your house
( ) run away from home

ABC News: 'The Riddler' Frank Gorshin Dies at 72

:(

His Riddler was classic. Always seemed like a nice man, too.

Peter Gammons was talking about Kerry Wood and his future yesterday. Knowing Kerry would is about my same age, I did some quick mental math on how long it would be until he was 32. I figure 2007. Oops.

Not only am I not worried about turning 30, I thought I already WAS 30.

If you haven't seen The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou you're really missing you. It's a great movie.

It's not slapstick comedy, or what I like to call 'stupid funny'. If you liked 'Rushmore' or 'The Royal Tenenbaums' then you'll probably like this movie. Even if you didn't like them, give it a chance.

CNN.com - Forecasters predict active hurricane season - May 16, 2005

oh happy day.

So many Season Passes getting deleted from the Tivo recently...

• JAG


• Amazing Race 7


• Star Trek: Enterprise(more on this later)


• Survivor: Palau


• Everybody Loves Raymond(finale tonight)

Of course, Amazing Race and Survivor will go back on their for their next iterations, but they'll have different titles in the Tivo so that'll be a new Season Pass. Strangely, The Apprentice doesn't change its title with each new season Tivo-wise, but whatever.

Quick Thoughts on Tom's Survivor win: Good. He deserved it.

Uh...has The SportsGuy fallen down a manhole or something? Yeah, I know he had a kid, but *still*.

I'm sure Shell is going ballistic...

And there was much rejoicing!

I like Thursdays because so many blogs are filled with bitzing and moaning about whoever was knocked from American Idol the previous night.

It's funny, because not only do I not know whoever it was, I don't care.

Horse Swimming?

Shell, you gots to get in on that!

As I've played 3 new games in the past few weeks, I thought I might post what I thought about them.

The first one is Lego Star Wars, for PC. This game is actually a lot of fun. Though it's aimed at kids (you can't die, etc...) it's actually very enjoyable. You play through Episodes I, II, and III with about 6 'missions' for each one of the films. You can play one or two player...if you're only playing one player the other character just kind of follows you around. They will battle a little but they never seem to really kill anything. The characters you're giving for the mission are appropriate to the portion of the film you're supposed to be experiencing. Episode I opens with Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon, for example.

At least one of the mission is a 'vehicle' type mission where you pilot a pod racer (for TPM), a Republic Gunship (for AotC), and Anakin's Jedi Starfighter (for Rots). The other missions are standard adventure/fighting missions. Your goal is to complete the stage while collecting little multi-colored LEGO studs. The more studs you get leads you to collect a certain piece of a LEGO vehicle, one per level.One neat thing about this game is that you can play each mission as either story mode (regular game) or 'freeplay' where you can choose to play as a bunch of different characters that you've unlocked throughout your playing.

There's a lot of replay value due to the secrets and mini-kits you can collect throughout each level. These will let you unlock secret characters and levels in the game.

It's a fun game. Great for kids I'd bet. Graphics are superb.

WGN-TV Chicago | WGN Sports Cubs Baseball Blog: "OK, we finally won a game - what do we do now? First, come back in off the ledge. "

Ah, the ledge. Every Cub fan's favorite destination.

Kudos to Big Z for giving the Cubs a great win yesterday!

ChicagoSports.com - Hairy situation keeps getting worse for Cubs: "Greg Maddux and Mark Prior refused to let Wood or anyone else cut their hair Saturday, so there isn't complete unity in the pitching ranks. And don't count on Baker getting his head shaved either.
"

That must be why they lost yesterday! :)

Uh...the shaved head thing didn't work for them.

Wow, looks like some of the Cubs shaved their heads before today's game. Probably trying to break their losing streak. Hopefully it works.

Anyway.

Got a nice surprise on Tuesday. Court said she'd stopped at Sam's after work and needed me to get some stuff out of the trunk for her. When I went out there, I saw a brand new Xbox. She'd bought it for me in anticipation of Thursday's release of the Episode III game, which for some reason wasn't put out for PC. It was a great surprise.

The next day, Court said she'd stopped by EB Games. She got me HALO and then showed me the receipt. She'd also pre-ordered the Episode III game for me! I wasn't planning on getting it right away (mostly due to time constraints and stuff) but it was so sweet of her to do that. I have a great wife.

CNN.com - The real Paris Hilton - May 5, 2005: "Q: What did you want to be when you were a little girl?

HILTON: A veterinarian, but then I realized I could just buy a bunch of animals."


I weep for the present.

I forgot to mention...last Saturday we went to the last night of 'Mardi Gras' at Universal Studios. They've had bands performing each Saturday night for the last month. Bands like 'KC and the Sunshine Band, Jason Mraz, Huey Lewis and the News' and all that. We actually went there a few weeks back for KC but the band's start time kept getting pushed back so we just left.

Anyway. Last Saturday the band was 'Hootie and the Blowfish'. Now, I'm no real fan of live music. I know some people are (like my sister) but I just can't get into it. The speakers and amps and whatever the bands usually have sound like crap to me with distortion and everything. I'm just not a big fan. I wasn't gonna miss a chance to see Hootie though, particularly for free when it's actually one of the four bands in history I'd pay to see.

They played about a dozen songs. 'Hold my hand', 'Let her cry', 'Only wanna be with you', all their good 'classics'. They played some new stuff too which I thought was good and they also mentioned they had an album out in August so I'll probably pick that up. I did get a shirt. I had to support Darius since he's a big TK fan. He was even on the show when Tony played his celebrity golf tournament a few weeks back.

All in all, it was a good show. They speakers and all that sounded like crap at times but the band was worth it.

(now if I could only find my old hootie CD)

WRATH
1. Whom did you last get angry with? probably Court
2. What is your weapon of choice? stunning wit
3. Would you hit a member of the opposite sex? psht, I don't ever hit anybody.
4. How about of the same sex? If I felt they deserved it.
5. Who was the last person who got really angry at you? probably Court
6. What is your pet peeve? People that just don't think.
7. Do you keep grudges, or can you let them go easily? I keep some.

SLOTH
1. What is one thing you're supposed to do daily that you haven't done in a while? floss
2. What is the latest you've ever woken up? 1pm probably.
3. Name a person you've been meaning to contact, but haven't? been meaning to write my Grandpa a letter and send him some pictures. He just called the other day.
4. What is the last lame excuse you made? "I forgot."
5. Have you ever watched an infomercial all the way through (one of the long ones...)? Hell yes. "Magic Bullet"..."Food Dehydrator"..."Dick Butkis grill"...
6. When was the last time you got a good workout in? Today. I even walked the dog when I got home even though I was tired as hell.
7. How many times did you hit the snooze button on your alarm clock today? Three

GLUTTONY
1. What is your overpriced yuppie beverage of choice? Starbucks carmel apple cider
2. Meat eaters: white meat or dark meat? White. Dark is gross.
3. What is the greatest amount of alcohol you've had in one sitting/outing/event? Probably three beers. I really don't drink.
4. Have you ever used a professional diet company? I do slimfast.
5. Do you have an issue with your weight? yeah, definitely
6. Do you prefer sweets, salty foods, or spicy foods? salty I'd say.
7. Have you ever looked at a small pet or child and thought, "LUNCH!"? hell no.

LUST
1. How many people have you seen naked (not counting movies/family)? not sure
2. How many people have seen YOU naked (not counting physicians/family)? wha?
3. Have you ever caught yourself staring at the chest/crotch of a member of your gender of choice during a normal conversation? Yes
4. Have you "done it"? Yes.
5. What is your favourite body part on a person of your gender of choice? chest I'd say. heh heh
6. Have you ever been propositioned by a prostitute? No
7. Have you ever had to get tested for an STD or pregnancy? No

GREED
1. How many credit cards do you own? 3
2. What's your guilty pleasure store? Circuit City (because Best Buy can stick it)
3. If you had $1 million, what would you do with it? Buy a house for half that price.
4. Would you rather be rich or famous? Rich. (already am)
5. Would you accept a boring job if it meant you would make megabucks? heck yeah
6. Have you ever stolen anything? long long time ago
7. How many MP3s are on your hard drive? At least 866.

PRIDE
1. What's one thing you have done that you're most proud of? Passing that damn CISSP test
2. What's one thing you have done that your parents are most proud of? I could tie my shoes and my Mom would be proud of me.
3. What's one thing would you like to accomplish in your life? There's a lot of things. Play piano, learn sign language...
4. Do you get annoyed by coming in second place? Yeah, I'd say so.
5. Have you ever entered a contest of skill, knowing you were of much higher skill than all the other competitors? Yes
6. Have you ever cheated on something to get a higher score? Yes.
7. What did you do today that you're proud of? Busted my ass working out and still walked the dog twice even though I was damn tired.

ENVY
1. What item (or person) of your friends would you most want to have for your own? I think I have the coolest stuff of anybody I know personally, sadly.
2. Who would you want to go on "Trading Spaces" with? Chris, so I could turn his house all roman bath house as a joke on him.
3. If you could be anyone else in the world, who would you be? Superman. I'd say Batman, but he had to see his parents killed.
4. Have you ever been cheated on? No.
5. Have you ever wished you had a physical feature different from your own? I wish my hair regular instead of a little wavy like it is.
6. What inborn trait do you see in others that you wish you had for yourself? ability to relax
7. Do you wish you'd come up with this survey? no

Toon Zone - Your Source for Toon News!: "Sci Fi Wire reports that Sam Raimi, who is currently in preproduction on Spider-Man 3, let slip that Sony is planning three more Spider-Man films and that he would consider directing all of them. "

That's good news.

I also noticed that the Smallville 90-minute finale (May 18th) will feature 10 minutes of 'Batman Begins'. That's one movie I can't wait to see.

from the 'no duh' file...

American Cities That Best Fit You:

75% Chicago

60% Philadelphia

60% Portland

55% Los Angeles

55% New York City

Which American Cities Best Fit You?

Ok, I just watched the season premiere of 'Family Guy'...in the middle of the episode, Flint from GI JOE pops of out a stall in a bathroom where some underaged kids are drinking and gives an anti-drinking spiel and they do the whole 'and now we know/knowing is half the battle/GI JOE!' thing. It was hilarious. They used the same guy as the voice of Flint too. heh heh heh

Toon Zone - Your Source for Toon News!: "He mentions that the script is not yet done and that filming commences in December. He also says that 'everyone will be satisfied' on the voice acting decisions for the beloved Autobots and Decepticons."

Boy, I hope he gets Frank Welker and Peter Cullen to reprise their CLASSIC roles...

CNN.com - Charges not ruled out for runaway bride - May 1, 2005

This woman should face charges. Her 'getaway' was totally pre-meditated considering she bought that bus ticket and all that.

Over the weekend I saw John Walsh being interviewed by Anderson Cooper. John Walsh was advocating how there are so many missing people (particularly women) lost/abducted/etc that you just don't hear about and how there are only some that actually get out into the press sphere and that maybe that will help finding this woman. John Walsh, whose own son was abducted and killed.

How do you think he feels today? This woman should be in the slammer.

Some dope parked their BMW at the end of our 'street' where you're not supposed to park. When I was taking Hooper for a walk around the pond I noticed the windows were opened.

GEE, I SURE HOPE IT DOES NOT RAIN.

(and it looks like it might, too. double drat.)