Top Five

GameSpy has been running a feature on the "Top 25 Xbox Games of All Time". The title is somewhat tongue-in-cheek, since the Xbox has been around less than four years. But it's a pretty good list, even if I disagree with putting "Project Gotham Racing 2" ahead of "Forza Motorsport" (to be fair, one editor says the two titles could easily swap places).

Anyway, they have posted numbers 25-6 on the list, so I thought I'd list what I think the top five will be. This is actually fairly easy since they've already listed 20 awesome titles, so by process of elimination there aren't that many left.

5. "Grand Theft Auto". I'm fairly sure they will pick "GTA: San Andreas" since it is the latest and greatest version. But they might go for the GTA double pack that bundled "GTA 3" and "GTA: Vice City" together for the price of one game. The Xbox version was supposed to be slightly prettier than the PS2 edition (though gorgeous graphics is not the forte of the GTA series) and also had the ability to do custom soundtracks. You know you're in for something special when one of the first missions you are given is to collect hookers off the street and deliver them to the policemen's ball.

4. "Ninja Gaiden". This was supposed to be the ultimate Xbox fighting game. The graphics are apparently stunning, while the gameplay is supposed to be stunningly hard. Someone estimated that only 10 percent of gamers would be able to finish it. I never bought it because it had insufficient numbers of generously endowed females in skimpy clothes beating the crap out of each other. But somehow it won universal acclaim anyway, so it will certainly be in the top five.

3. "Splinter Cell 2". They might give this spot to "Splinter Cell 3", which recently came out with improved graphics, some killer (literally) new moves, and much-coveted co-op play. But I think the series' second title, also called "Pandora Tomorrow" may win it because it was the first to make use of Xbox Live, and it did so in an innovative fashion. Instead of massive, "Halo"-style deathmatches, the versus mode pitted one or two spies against against mercenaries. The spies had night/thermal vision, optical camoflage suits, and gadgets for disabling lasers and cameras. The mercs carried big ol' guns and were equipped with equipment for detecting the operation of electrical gear, motion sensors, and heartbeat detectors. The mercs had to stop the spies from achieving objectives like stealing a hard drive.

2. "Burnout 3". This driving game was acclaimed by everyone including the Pope (John Paul and Benedict, if my Vatican sources are to be believed) for its eye-poppingly good graphics, insane action and over-the-top crashes. GameSpy said earlier this was one of their favorite games of all time, one that gripped all their staffers in a bloodlust, leading them to club each other with rusty garden implements in order for the chance to play this game. It's just that good.

1. "Halo 2". Duh. What else would it be? "Halo" came in at number six, and the sequel improved in every way. Not just by pumping up the graphics, though it certainly did that, but also by including new and better vehicles, the ability to wield two weapons at once (submachine gun and needler is my favorite combo) and the ability to commandeer a vehicle in motion by grabbing on, swinging up, and kicking the driver out. But best of all "Halo 2" tapped Xbox Live to the fullest. Not only did they include a great variety of maps and game modes, they made it easy to stick with the same group of friends as you battled through different maps together. They let players analyze the matches in great detail by included tons of statistics such as number of head shots, etc. Or so I hear. I've never actually played online because I don't have access to Xbox Live in my locale. Nonetheless, "Halo 2" is surely the flagship game for the Xbox, so it will surely come in at number one on this list.

Well, that's it. You heard it here first. Tune in tomorrow to see how many I nailed.

I just ordered some Bullshit

Amazon.com just recommended a book to me called On Bullshit.

Now I know Amazon has collected a lot of information about me, but that's just creepy. Do they know something I don't?

From their review:

"One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit," Harry G. Frankfurt writes, in what must surely be the most eyebrow-raising opener in modern philosophical prose.

And:

It can't be denied; part of the book's charm is the puerile pleasure of reading classic academic discourse punctuated at regular intervals by the word "bullshit."

More:

Bullshitting, as he notes, is not exactly lying, and bullshit remains bullshit whether it's true or false. The difference lies in the bullshitter's complete disregard for whether what he's saying corresponds to facts in the physical
world: he "does not reject the authority of the truth, as the liar does, and oppose himself to it. He pays no attention to it at all. By virtue of this, bullshit is a greater enemy of the truth than lies are."

Okay, they got me. I just added it to my shopping cart.

pain

oh god david where are you its already tuesday and theres no coffee monday and im sitting here waiting and waiting and hitting refresh and my wrist is sore and i think it might be rsi so im going to pop another codeine pill left over from when i had my wisdom teeth out junior year of high school but i dont think its working because my head also hurts and people say i should stop hitting it against the keyboard but thats the only way i know how to make the voices stop but i think what i really need is just another coffee monday okay

But...

But.

Despite the growing list of Republican iniquities, they pale in comparison to the potential impact of the two recent appalling Supreme Court rulings on medical marijuana and eminent domain.

From a Wall Street Journal editorial:

So, in just two weeks, the Supreme Court has rendered two major decisions on the limits of government. In Raich v. Gonzales the Court said there are effectively no limits on what the federal government can do using the Commerce Clause as a justification. In Kelo, it's now ruled that there are effectively no limits on the predations of local governments against private property.

These kinds of judicial encroachments on liberty are precisely why Supreme Court nominations have become such high-stakes battles. If President Bush is truly the "strict constructionist" he professes to be, he will take note of the need to check this disturbing trend should he be presented with a High Court vacancy.

More interesting is that the court split pretty much the same way on both decisions. You had the same lineup of judges ruling against medical marijuana and for expanding the government's power to seize private property and give it to businesses.

Of course we all know that the court's conservative judges had to be behind both of those, right? I mean, what could be more conservative than banning pot and corporate welfare?

What? What's that you say? Liberal judges are behind all this? Say it ain't so!

Yes, in yesterday's eminent domain ruling, justices Breyer, Ginsburg, Kennedy, Souter, and Stevens endorsed the view that a legitimate "public use" of private property (read: your home) includes building a hotel complex and an office for a big corporation. This is because the new project will create jobs and bring in more taxes, you see.

In the medical marijuana ruling two weeks ago, the same judges, plus the conservative Scalia, said that the Constitution's clause about regulating interstate commerce can be applied to marijuana grown by a person for their own use in treating agonizing diseases.

What I find most interesting is Clarence Thomas's vehement dissent in both cases. He is so often painted as an arch-conservative monster when in fact he is a strict constitutionalist who probably does more work than any other justice to try to interpret the original meaning of the text and the founders' intent. I wonder if these two rulings will in any way boost his standing.

Those slimy Republicans

Certain visitors to this site have accused me of being unabashedly pro-Big Business, a flag-waving, muscle car-luvin' gun nut, and a Republican.

I plead guilty on all but the last count.

In the interest of making myself look fairer and more open-minded than I really am, I present this list of stomach-churning shenanigans by the GOP, whose small government, federalist, free market wing appears to be increasingly marginalized:

--Jeb Bush wants to probe the chain of events surrounding Terry Schiavo's coma 15 years ago. More political grandstanding at the expense of Schiavo's former husband.

--A Republican congressman has introduced a Social Security bill that omits personal accounts AND guarantees of long-term viability. Uh, so what's the point?

--President Bush wants to make the Patriot Act permanent. While I think a lot of the handwringing over the act was overly dramatic, I am discomfited at the thought that greater police powers granted during wartime will be here to stay.
--The House just passed an amendment to ban the burning of the American flag. Of course it still has to pass the Senate and three-quarters of the states to take effect, but some of the statements are just incandescently idiotic:

"Ask the men and women who stood on top of the Trade
Center," said Rep. Randy Cunningham, R-Calif. "Ask them and they
will tell you: pass this amendment."

That is pretty much the most shameless bit of political puffery I have seen lately. Unbelievable.

American general or A-Team member?

The commanding general of the U.S. Southern Command is named Bantz J. Craddock.

That is all.

The Great Pumpkin

This could be very good or it could be very bad.

Billy Corgan says he wants to get The Smashing Pumpkins back together.

It seems he's serious. Why? Because he took out full-page advertizements in Chicago newspapers saying, "I want my band back, and my songs, and my dreams."

If this results in something like "Gish", this is probably the best thing to happen to mainstream rock since the formation of Audioslave. In retrospect, the Pumpkins were perhaps the best band of the '90s, or at least the most consistently rockingest. "Gish", "Siamese Dream" and "Mellon Collie" were all incredible albums that sound fresh and up-to-date 10 years later.

But if Corgan squeezes out another sonic turd along the lines of "MACHINA", well, at least there's always Jack White to fall back on.

Hot chicks beating the crap out of each other

Good God. A film version of the Xbox fighting game "Dead or Alive" is in the works.

Although it is a decent fighting game with spectacular graphics, "DOA" is known primarily for its cast of outrageously proportioned women performing gravity-defying martial arts moves while clad in sexy outfits.

Oh, and in a totally gratuitous touch, when the girls kick high, you can see their panties.

Given the phenomenal success of previous films based on video games, I'm sure this new production will be a smashing success.

But, the movie has one thing going for it: it will star the creepily exotic Devon Aoki in the main role. Although she looks like a Gray who
hasn't quite gotten accustomed to her human skin, I find Miss Aoki oddly alluring.

Yeah, I might pay to watch her jump around on screen beating the crap out of other chicks. Especially if they give us panty shots. And c'mon, it wouldn't be "DOA" with panty shots, right?

Ahem. I wonder if the sequel will be "DOA XTreme Beach Volleyball?

Giving Coldplay the cold shoulder

This is hilarious. I'm kicking around Amazon, as I'm wont to do given my lack of friends or interesting hobbies, checking out the new Coldplay album. As I scroll down, I see this in the“sponsored links”section:

The Case Against Coldplay.

This turns out to be a New York Times review of the band's new album, and it basically rips them a new one. After setting up the reader with an introductory paragraph of profuse praise, the second paragraph slams down like a rod across the knuckles:

But put them all together and they add up to Coldplay, the most insufferable band of the decade.

Most of the reviewer's complaints revolve around the woebegone crooner Chris Martin, whose vocals are described as "somewhere between a yodel and a hiccup".

[F]rom the beginning, Coldplay has verged on self-parody. When he moans his verses, Mr. Martin can sound so sorry for himself that there's hardly room to sympathize for him, and when he's not mixing metaphors, he fearlessly slings clichés.

I'm sure the band and the label executives are thrilled that this review appears on the Amazon page offering the album for sale. To be dissed by some half-literate playa-hater in the customer reviews section is one thing, but it's gotta sting that every potential buyer of the album has a handy link to “The Case Against Coldplay” displayed so prominently.

Is anyone better than The White Stripes? Seriously?

Okay, all political digs aside, does anyone know if Coldplay is any good? I ask for a couple reasons.

First is that Amazon.com recommends their new album to those who also bought the new White Stripes album.

Second, I had passed along that Rolling Stone review of the new Stripes album to my pal J-Dogg, and his response was:

That review is over the top, and surprising, given Rolling Stone's clout. The White Stripes are not that special, frankly. I think you'll admit that. I can't think of any new band that would justify such a comment from RS.

While J-Dogg is sadly, sadly mistaken about the quality of The White Stripes’music, I did think he probably had a point about the review. How could it be said about any band that they “pitilessly ... keep crushing the other bands out there?

But then I started to try to come up with a modern rock band that is better than the Stripes.

I would like to say Tool, but their last album came out five years ago, and theyve only put out three real studio albums in 15 years, whereas the Stripes have put out five knock-out albums in seven years.

A year or two ago I might have said Ben Harper, but his last two CDs, a gospel album with the Blind Boys of Alabama, and “Diamonds on the Inside”didn't live up to his previous efforts. And now he hasn't done a real“Ben Harper”album for nearly three years.

I dig retro blues-rock duo The Black Keys, but they don't have nearly the range of The White Stripes. They'll have to cut another album or two before I'm ready to elevate them to the pantheon of totally wicked rock gods.

How about Beck or Moby? I'm not really into either of those, but I acknowledge their talent, ability to come up with continually fresh material, and their rather high cool factor.

Linkin Park? U2? Gimme a break.

I went on Amazon to see what recommendations popped up for White Stripes fans, and Coldplay was listed. So was the Foo Fighters, Oasis, Wilco and Sleater-Kinney. I was never impressed with the first three on that list, but I haven’t heard any Sleater-Kinney. They any good?

Because after listening to the new White Stripes album all weekend, I'm actually beginning to agree with Rolling Stone. Shudder. But just this once.

White Stripes vs. Coldplay

Heh. After that last post, I thought I'd check out rollingstone.com for their review of the new White Stripes album. Rolling Stone usually annoys the crap out of me, and this review has some eye-rolling lines ("Bad news for Satan: Jack White's mama said knock you out") but they do give props to this hard-rocking, innovative duo.

"[T]he music is so wild, it could make you weep over how pitilessly the Stripes keep crushing the other bands out there."
...
"If you happen to be a rock band, and you don't happen to be either of the White Stripes, it so sucks to be you right now."
...
"The Stripes twist a variety of American music styles to their own emotional purpose, figuring out new ways to howl about their romantic torments. For Jack, this means seething, stripped-down ballads full of piano and marimba."

That's a pretty good two-line description of the album. This album is incredible, but I have yet to tease out all the influences and homages and impressions.

Oh yeah. What's up with my headline? Rolling Stone gave Get Behind Me Satan 4-1/2 stars. The new Coldplay album, whatever the hell it is, got 3 stars.

Are you evil? Probably, according to this guy.

I was browsing some news stories for recent info about The White Stripes, who just put out their fifth awesome album, "Get Behind Me Satan", when I came across this story about Coldplay, whose new album is number one on the British charts.

I know, I know, who cares? No one really, but this precious sentiment from their vocalist caught my eye:

Nevertheless, Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin, who is married to
Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow, has made clear he had little concern about how the band's fortunes affect his label's bottom line.

"I don't really care about EMI," he told Reuters at a recent appearance in Manhattan. "I think shareholders are the great evil of this modern world."

Okay, everyone knows record labels are sleazeball operations, but I guess this guy has to prove that he hasn't sold out by emphasizing that he couldn't give a damn whether the company that took a chance on his band and helped them get to number one goes tits up.

It doesn't even occur to this brave soul that he is in one of the very few industries where not can he get away with publicly saying crap like that. Not only that, it will probably actually help his career.

You think EMI is so bad, Chris, why don't you tell them to piss off so you can do something really bold like come up with a new business model that doesn't let those greedy suits cash in on your hard work? Oh yeah, you won't do that because you wouldn't be banking the huge sackfuls of cash that EMI tosses your way.

At least this bold speaker of uncomfortable truths has the moral courage to point out what is really wrong with society: "Shareholders are the great evil of this modern world."

Right on, dude! That is, like, soooo true!

Not, "The shareholder system has certain shortcomings that I believe are sometimes at odds with moral or ethical behavior." Nope.

Not even, "Shareholders are one of many evils in this modern world." Nope.

And certainly not "Shareholders are part of the greatest economic system ever developed, one that, despite its occasional shortcomings, has proven amazingly adept at spreading prosperity throughout all societies that adopt it." Nope.

Shareholders are the great evil of this modern world. There is simply nothing more depraved in this world than a shareholder.

Mohammad Atta, Robert Mugabe, those committing genocide in Sudan, used car salesmen. All pale in comparison to the retiree in Pensacola who has a few thousand shares in Citigroup and General Motors.

With insightful statements like this, we can of course be assured that Chris is a man who puts his money where his mouth is.

I am confident that he has instructed his financial advisors not to buy a single share of any pubicly held company.

Hasn't he?

Please wait in the lobby, Mr. Chief

The New York Times has a piece, if you're interested in this sort of thing, about the behind-the-scenes negotiations between Microsoft and several studios for a movie based on the hit Xbox game, "Halo".

I love this imagery:

The process began at about 11:30 a.m. on Monday when several actors dressed as the Master Chief, a green-helmeted warrior from Halo, walked into the lobbies of several Hollywood studios, scripts in hand. Microsoft had taken the unusual step of paying Alex Garland, the writer of the horror film "28 Days Later" and a Creative Artists client, about $1 million to write a script faithful to the Halo universe.

Studio executives were asked to read it while the Master Chiefs waited in the lobbies. At Paramount, one studio executive said, the Master Chief held his helmet in his lap because he was hot.

Now, right there, Microsoft is guilty of not preserving the integrity of the "Halo" universe.

I'm sorry, but Master Chief does not wait in the freakin' lobby for a coiffed movie exec to read his script.

The real Master Chief would roll up in his indestructable Warthog war buggy, leap out with a Covenant needler in one hand, a submachine gun in the other, and enter a short but fruitful period of "intense negotations".

Cambodia

You ever think about which jobs would be just really sucky to have? Probably your list includes things like restroom attendant, garbage man, fry cook.

But spare a thought for the plight of the Cambodian soldier.

From a Xinhua report today (no link, I saw the story at work and can't find it online):

PHNOM PENH, June 10 (Xinhua) -- A new campaign was launched by Cambodia's Ministry of Defense to encourage soldiers to drink less booze in an effort to stem the spread of HIV/AIDS, local media reported Friday.

The Model Man Campaign, sponsored by the ministry and NGO Family Health International (FHI), has already started in Kompong Speu province and is slated to begin in Kompong Cham province on June 13, The Cambodia Daily reported.

Model Man, eh? What sorts of manly activities will they use to entice these hardened warriors away from the sauce?

Over three months, soldiers will participate in plays, quizzes
and sporting events aimed at showing them why they should not
drink so much.

Riiiiight.

Take a gander at what Cambodian's highly disciplined corps of crack troops usually does in its spare time:

According to a recently released FHI study, 75 percent of 135 surveyed soldiers had sex with sex workers after a night of drinking. "Condoms are seldom used," the report said.

.

Let's see, get drunk and screw a Cambodian hooker, OR go on a quiz show.

"I'll take 'On the Wagon' for 500 riel, Alex".

"This is what you won't be getting from now on."

"Uh, what is 'laid', Alex?"

"Correct!"

But here's the real kicker of the story. Check out this amazing quote:

"We drink until we get drunk, fall down and the dog licks our drunken mouths," the report quoted one soldier as saying. "Every time I drink alcohol, I want sex immediately," another was quoted as saying.

Good God.

"The dog licks our drunken mouths."

Sorry

It has come to my attention that, in the words of JDogg, never one to shy away from speaking his mind, LMNOP has been "weak" as of late.

I admit the truth of this. It is undeniable. Yet there are reasons for this.

First, I'll fall back on the excuse that everybody does: work has been busy. As in, "May I have another bowl of porridge, sir?" busy. Yet I have confidence that the scars will, given enough time, heal properly.

Second, I've been really excited about a new project David is working on (you have to read the comments to get the gist of it). This could be my big break-through, so I kind of want to focus on it for now.

Third, there is something that has taken over my life and slowly but surely leached all productivity and responsiveness out of my overwhelmed mind. No, it's not The Mayor's site.

It's this.

Now, I like video games. I like to play them. All kinds. But I especially like driving games. But until now I've been able to keep a pretty tight lid on my affinity for digital crack. I usually max out after about an hour of playing one game.

"Forza Motorsport" is an exception. Probably because it is an exceptionally good game. I have eight other driving games for the Xbox, from arcade racers like "Burnout 3" to more realistic ones like "Sega GT". "Forza" kicks all their asses eight ways to Sunday. It's the Dodge Viper to everyone else's Geo Metro.

Okay, that's unfair to titles like "Project Gotham Racing 2" and "Burnout 3", which are excellent games in their own right.

But "Forza" bolts on an intercooled turbocharger and takes the gameplay to a whole 'nuther level.

I won't go into all the geeky ways that "Forza" makes me giddy. But the level of detail and realism in this game is stunning.

Funny enough, today I finally whip out the April 2005 issue of Popular Science that I've been carrying around in my bag for weeks. There was a car on the cover, but I hadn't taken a closer look. It turns out the cover story -- "Virtual vs. Reality: Can You Tell the Difference At 150 MPH?" -- is all about "Forza".

The magazine got a professional racecar driver and a professional car tuner/gamer, and ran them through two days of real-world and virtual driving tests to see how "Forza" stacked up against reality.

They tested six cars, from the VW Golf R32 to the Porsche Carrera GT.

The gaming setup was just as sweet. They each got a 50" plasma TV and a $2,500 custom-made chair with a force-feedback steering wheel and built-in surround sound speakers.

The result?

Within five minutes, [pro driver] Jeanette logs a time of 1:16 and change -- just four seconds slower than his fastest lap at Road Atlanta in the real car. "That's better than my best time," says [lead designer] Greenawalt, who, as "Forza's" architect, has been playing the game longer than anyone. "It's unreal!"

Anyway, the long and short of it is that this game is phenomenally addictive and has kept me up on several occassions until 2:00 a.m. The game has been devouring my blogging time the way I've been devouring pavement on its pixelized tracks.

Is Obi-Wan a flip-flopper?

The last time I mentioned Obi-Wan Kenobi here, it was to note his defense of an unshakeable moral code that didn't depend on one's point of view.

You might recall this exchange with Anakin Skywalker in
"Revenge of the Sith":

OBI-WAN: Anakin, Chancellor Palpatine is evil!

ANAKIN: From the Jedi point of view! From my point of view, the Jedi are evil!

OBI-WAN: Well, then you are lost!

Well, I just finished "Return of the Jedi" a couple nights ago, and it appears I may have sung Obi-Wan's praises too soon.

As an aside, let me just say that the "Star Wars" DVD box set is truly magnificent. The picture is so sharp, you can make out the progression of every one of Luke's wrinkles, the audio is so crisp that it brings a whole new level of appreciation to Ewok death screams.

Anyway, back to Old Ben. At this point, he's resided in the nether region of the Force for a few years, ever since Vader whacked him him with a light saber.

But when Luke goes back to Dagobah to complete his training, Obi Wan dons his best spectral shimmer and appears to his former pupil.

Luke is a bit pissed off because Obi Wan kind of played fast and loose with the facts when they first met and he told Luke that Vader had betrayed and murdered his father.

Obi Wan's defense is basically, "Yo, chill out young Luke! It depends on your defintion of 'Darth Vader', 'betrayed and murdered', and 'your father'!"

OBI-WAN: Your father was seduced by the dark side of the Force. He ceased to be Anakin Skywalker and became Darth Vader. When that happened, the good man who was your father was destroyed. So what I have told you was true... from a certain point of view."

LUKE (disgusted): A certain point of view!?!

OBI-WAN: Luke, you're going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.

So it seems that either all his time in the sand dunes of Tatooine, or perhaps tripping the light side fantastic
at Club Force, has given the old Jedi a change of heart. It all really DOES just depend on how you look at things!

Of course, nothing fits the defintion of futility like searching for a coherent worldview in Lucas' oeuvre.

In fact, if you've read this far, go check out this illuminating post on "nerd hermeneutics" on Easily Distracted, a righteous blog by Swarthmore brainiac Timothy Burke. He ponders this very question: why are we compelled to try to read more into "Star Wars" than is really there?

Gulag redux

Today's OpinionJournal comments on Anne Applebaum's Washington Post column criticizing Amnesty Interational's recent annual report that called Guantanamo Bay the "gulag of our time".

Dudes, like, I blogged that a week ago, and made the same comparisons as Applebaum.

I should be in journalism or something.

Best "Sith" review yet

I finally popped over to Jack's after a couple weeks of negligence.

To my surprise and, yes, delight, Jack had managed to keep posting even without the beneficial effects of my daily visits.

His consciousness has been streaming in top form as of late.

My favorite was his
review of "Revenge of the Sith", a mini-masterpiece of adoring condescension.

I'd excerpt it but it's too hard to just pick one good passage. Go read the whole thing.

Back

I apologize to all three of my regular readers for the lack of posts the past few days.

Things got rather hectic as we wrapped up our vacation in Seattle. But now that I'm back at work, I should have plenty of free time to post. Ha ha.

I was going to break down my vacation by the numbers like I did last year. You know, ounces of microbrew consumed, miles driven, square inches of skin sunburned, that sort of thing.

Unfortunately, my Pocket PC I was recording all this stuff in ran out of juice two weeks in. And it turned out I'd brought the wrong charger. And I mistakenly assumed the device had flash memory that would keep stuff even while the battery was dead. I was wrong.

In fact, the battery fiasco was just one of many little snafus that, when listed together, make the vacation seem not so fun. A smattering:

--More than $700 in traffic tickets. That included nearly $200 for speeding and -- get this -- more than $500 for not having proof of insurance in the car. Not for not actually having insurance, mind you, but just for not having the slip of paper proving I had insurance. I did get that waived by bringing the insurance form into the court clerk. But still, five hundred clams?

--Massive allergy attack by three-year-old in Montana.

--Emergency room visit for coughing and wheezing three-year-old. This was actually after the Montana attack.

--Diagnosis of asthma for said three-year-old.

--Three fillings for me.

--Loss of favorite pair of really sweet Oakley sunglasses.

--Returning home eager to try out five new Xbox games and finding out that housekeeper's 11-year-old daughter accidentally fried the machine by plugging it into the 220V wall socket instead of the 110V voltage converter.

You'd think by looking at that that we were miserable, but we actually had a blast.

I had awesome pizza, saw a ballgame with an old friend, drank lots of tasty microbrews, bought a new suit, acquired aforementioned video games, snagged some good books, saw relatives I hadn't seen in seven years, drank three cups of coffee, drove my '69 Ford convertible, took the boy to the zoo, and saw the new "Star Wars" movie. Twice.