2005 November

I opened up my Media Center Edition PC this evening and discovered this dialog front and center:

Smart, Microsoft – very smart.

Yeah, I've got an Xbox 360 now. When you first flip through the blades it can be a bit confusing, but I want you to pay particular attention to the Marketplace blade where you can download demos and trailers of games (Xbox Live Arcade) – in particular, the game demo of Geometry Wars. Brad Wilson suggested that we grab it since we didn't have any other games to play last night, and I'm glad that we did. The demo times out after four minutes, but after three minutes, I was ready to purchase the entire game for $5 – an absolute bargain. If this is the quality of game we can expect from Microsoft's Xbox Marketplace, then I may never buy another Xbox DVD as long as I live. Geometry Wars is instantly addictive, although a bit of a challenge to play if you're not keen on the controls. Remember Robotron? It's like that, mixed with Tempest and Asteroids. It's fun to play on your own, but it's even better with friends in the room. I've already scored two achievements (including 'Pacifism') in Geometry Wars… without proving anything! Postulates and theorems have never been so much fun. It's a given. Try it.

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When Ponzi went scuba diving (I'll upload that video soon enough), I decided to go to the very reasonably-priced resort salon and get my hair dyed red. At first, I wasn't sure if I wanted it to be stripped down to a bright orange – but my stylist, Michelle, had red highlights in her hair and loved the color. The entire staff was thrilled to hear that I wanted to dye my whole head red. Such a thing had never been done before at the Grand Wailea salon – and will likely never be done again, though we had much fun in creating this hair-raising masterpiece. It's been years since I last dyed my hair… so I think I'll get into the habit of trying a new (bold) color every so often. For now, it's completely red – for everybody's seasonal enjoyment. When I'm in the sun, my head lights up like a Christmas bulb. In the dark, it's just as vivid. We used a product called “Redlights,” which adds to the hair strands as it strips away the natural color. As the name suggests, it's only available in the red flavor at the moment (and an originating Web site is eluding my grasp). My selected blend is red violet – which has worked out quite wonderfully, even after a few showers. You can see me outside or inside – this isn't a photoshop hair jobbie.

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You might know that I'm a great fan of Arrested Development (though not necessarily of Fox). With the last season's final episode, there were reports that the show had been canceled. Even my friends in Hollywood were mocking my disbelief that such an amazing and original television program was going to be yanked off the air for no GOOD reason. When the Bluth family came back this year, I was elated – and I tuned in for every single show. But this time, the rumors are true – Arrested Development has been canceled. Fox is the one that should be arrested – and Fox's marketing team should be thrown into an asylum. But don't take my word for it – there are others out there who agree. If you want definitive proof that ratings are *WORTHLESS* and that fans are never wrong, look no further than this situation. It's a sin that Arrested Development is going away – it's an an absolute sin for which TV executives will burn in hell. No wonder people hate television anymore… no fzcking wonder.

Read more on Fox TV, Arrested Development, David Cross…

Don't ask me how it happened – but it did. I came home from vacation and found an Xbox 360 on my doorstep (figuratively, not literally). Since I didn't get any games with it, and with the rush of the Thanksgiving holiday, I refrained from setting anything up initially. Plus, I'm still trying to crawl out from underneath a mountain of emails in my inbox. Jake Ludington and Brad Wilson were two of our holiday guests, and I believe that both of them were disappointed that the Xbox 360 was still in its box. Jake suggested that Wal-Mart was open, so we drove down to Renton to pick up a few Xbox 360 necessities… only to discover that the store was closed for the day). Argh! We came home, unpacked Microsoft's shiny new gaming machine, moved the old Xbox out of the way, and fired 'er up. I didn't have a wireless Xbox 360 A/B/G adapter, so we had to string a cable across the house from my router. That allowed me to set up my Xbox Live profile (although it wasn't as easy to do as I thought it would or could be). We explored the system for a little while, noting that we could download high-def trailers of games and upcoming movies (including the one for Narnia). Brad told us about a game that is well on its way to becoming one of my favorite Xbox games of all time – and I'll tell you about it in my next entry, largely because it deserves a “space” of its own.
I'm not running into any weird overheating issues with the Xbox 360 yet. My entertainment area is well ventilated, and I don't typically game for longer than a couple of consecutive hours. I'm what Microsoft now calls a “Recreation” gamer (at least, that's what I've selected for my gamer zone with their Gamer Card profile). I went out today and picked up Ridge Racer 6, based on my wonderful experience with it on the PSP. The Xbox 360 version plays just as well on the big screen as it does on the small one, so I'm looking forward to blasting through the tour and gaining achievements. And speaking of screen, you *MUST* use the Xbox 360 on a HDTV display – no argument. Just played Jake in a quick Call of Duty 2 deathmatch… which was great fun (he found a wireless adapter and extra wireless controller at Fry's for me today). Oh, and Halo 2 – as promised – looks breathtaking on the Xbox 260. Hell, the whole Xbox 360 experience has been breathtaking altogether.

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I've decked my halls with boughs of holly, and took a few of my favorite holiday CDs into the car with me this morning, including A Charlie Brown Christmas, Billboard Christmas Greatest Hits, and Barenaked for the Holidays. I was also chastized for doing something I normally chastize others for doing: I picked up two special CDs at a local Starbucks. Couldn't help it – they had all the holiday songs I liked on 'em. There's Elton John's Christmas Party (with December Will Be Magic Again and Step Into Christmas) and Baby It's Cold Outside. My digital cable tuner is set to 940 for “Sounds of the Seasons” – although I'll be flipping back and forth between it and ABC Family this season. What's your favorite “Christmas” Song?

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Okay, I know I shouldn't have done it – none of us should have done it – but we rushed out across town to hit stores to do a little “late” holiday shopping. It's in full swing, according to the parking lots out there. You should've seen Best Buy! Insanity, to say the least – like this was the first day anybody had ever seen technology? Ponzi, her mom, and her aunt went hunting in the other stores – Macy's, Nordstrom's, Ross, Old Navy, etc. I made a couple of purchases (namely, the Widescreen / Special Edition of 'A Christmas Story'). However, I believe most of my holiday shopping will take place online this year. Parking is always available that way…

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Ponzi did an amazing job today with the Thanksgiving Day meal (as she always seems to do). Everything I put on my plate was worth “seconds” (if only I wasn't already full). Can you guess what any of these items are?

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