6:07 PM  
While you wait for City of Heroes, come play the public beta of Toon Town with me. As per usual (and despite my bunny appearance), I am Monkey.

Speaking of Toon Town, don't forget to be checking out CRADDICKWATCH! on a regular basis, kids. You can even become a contributor yourself if you like. And don't forget to buy something from the Craddickwatch Store while you're at it--because the only thing cooler to have on a T-shirt than an obscure logo is the face of someone you may not even know.

3:36 PM  
A few days ago at a local coffee shop (no, Mom, I wasn't drinking coffee; ask again later) something happened to me for the first time in a couple years (no, lewd friends, not that; ask again later): in my change I received a dollar bill stamped with "www.wheresgeorge.com". Pretty cool--I haven't seen one in quite a while. So I dutifully entered it into the database, then sent it on its way to Seattle with Jon.

The whole thing inspired me to create a few of my traditional Where's George bills: the address written on both sides, and Groucho glasses drawn onto our Esteemed President. They have now been sent out into circulation--watch for them!

3:06 PM  
For those who read this page but still don't read Penny Arcade, here are links to previews of two upcoming superhero games, City of Heroes and Freedom Force. You can play Freedom Force on your own, but if you're thinking about playing City of Heroes, let me know--I'm putting together a superteam...

6:17 PM  
I know what you're wondering: is Mr. Pibb available in your part of the U.S.? Wonder no more:

1:43 PM  
Hey, Jon--time to take some time off and join these guys down in line, or you'll never get a seat--they're already waiting....

7:28 PM  
Ahoy! Animal snack mascots off the port bow!

6:05 PM  
Links page updated and fixed, minor tweaks elsewhere. Can you spot them all?

5:51 PM  
A new month, new reccomendations in the sidebar.

I remember really enjoying Around the World in Eighty Days when my dad read it to me as a kid, but it wasn't until college that I rediscovered Jules Verne with The Mysterious Island and fell in love all over again. Verne's castaways make Robinson Crusoe and the Swiss Family Robinson look like savages as (thanks to landing on the world's tightest concentration of a wide variety of natural and mineral resources) they reconstruct civilization from scratch, a process described by Verne in incredible detail. Verne doesn't just say "they cleared the rocks that were damming the stream"--he describes how they gather all the neccesary materials to make dynamite from scratch, including the construction of the neccesary tools, laboratories and workshops. Toss in a surprise reappearance by a character from another Verne novel (to say which would spoil the surprise), and while it's not one of Verne's best books, it's still one of my favorites.

It took two Spiders to bring together me and one of the best albums I've picked up in the last five years, Running Jumping Standing Still. It was Spider Robinson who clued me in to this fantastic folk-rock-blues album by Spider John Koerner and Willie Murphy. Normally I'm not a big folk fan, but something about this album draws you in, starting with the rollicking "Red Palace", followed by probably one of the greatest songs ever recorded, "I Ain't Blue", and on through the rest of a terrific album. Sadly nothing Koerner has recorded since is up to quite the same level (though some of his album titles--Stargeezer, Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Been etc.--come close), but this record/CD/8-track is well worth laying a few hard-earned dollars down on the counter of the company store. I know I've found a truly great album when I can listen to it in my car and I'm never tempted to punch past a song. This is one of those albums.

Please, enjoy.

4:22 PM  
I've been so busy updating CRADDICKWATCH! that it's taken me all day to get here. But fear not, Dear Readers, I have goodness to share: found Engrish, from the pack of the package for A4 Tech's Optical Great Eye 2-Wheel Mouse:

(Gotta love how most of their awards are from Turkey and Poland...)

7:40 PM  
Just wanted to quickly announce my newest blog, CRADDICKWATCH!, tracking the doings of Humanhead programmer Mike Craddick. If you'd like to be part of the team--maybe you'd just like to be able to post your thoughts on world events as they affect Craddick, or Love@AOL ads of women you think would be good for him--just drop me an email.

4:31 PM  
The Future is here--a Heat-Sensing Lie-Detecting SuperCamera!

2:40 PM  
I now fully expect every who has ever pissed and moaned about how awful it must be to live in the Midwest for the winter to begin doing the same about the Southeast. Break out your snow chains, Georgia peaches--I wore short sleeves to work today! Mwahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

12:51 PM  
I will post now in anticipation that work will be getting busy very soon. Gotta love deadlines.

The New Year's party went well. A good time with good folks, some hanging out in the living room talking and others entrenched in the bedroom playing Tricky--the most action that room has seen in a while, sadly. Good food, too, if I may say so: pretty much everything I cooked up came out quite well (the corn and shrimp chowder being a particular hit) except for the chocolate-covered bananas, and I blame that on the crappy kit I used. Next time I'll just buy the raw materials and make it myself.

Picked up the first season Twin Peaks DVD set last week, and I am digging deep into its goodness. It's disappointing that the pilot isn't included (for legal reasons, I believe), but a quick trip down to Four Star will solve that problem (as well as my now burning need to see seasons two and three; why don't they release the whole series at once?)

Of course, I've saved my Best Buy gift certificate for Friday, when the Buckaroo Banzai DVD hits the shelves...

11:16 AM  
I promised I wouldn't cross-post the links, but please, go to Memepool and follow their link to the hacked Washington National Cathedral site. Funny awaits.

10:58 AM  
Lest I again be taken to task for not updating, I just wanted to stop in and say hi before I go home and begin cooking for tonight's New Year's Festivities. I can't wait; I love--love--cooking, and living alone it's all too rare that I get a chance to really kick out the jams. Well tonight's the night, baby.

Some quick items:

* For those who didn't see the news, Blogger was hacked. Doesn't look like any real measures need to be taken, but I thought I'd spread the news, just in case.

* JP remembers his dreams with a frightening clarity.

* Time to cry for Argentina. When even your playboy interim president jumps ship, you're in trouble. I do, however, hope the plans for their new currency go through, if only because it's so much fun to say "Argentino." (please, check out that link if only for the picture of Santa most of the way down the page.

* Making a guest appearance on my cam, it's Jon (and my friend, Scott, I guess), visiting from the misty barrens of the northwest!

* Even if you don't read Blue's News, you still might be interested in this link they posted to a Flash-powered redux of Pitfall.

Okay, time to go cook. See you in the Year of the Palindrome, foolio.

1:55 PM  
How about that: one of my questions was answered on TMOL. It doesn't really add any relevance to my life, sadly--I already knew that there was a difference--but I thought up the question and suspected it was something they would answer. So I guess I did it just to get that mark up on the tally board (Question answered on TMOL: check.) Gosh, that's kinda sad, isn't it?

Thanks for stopping by for my self-therapy session. See you tomorrow.