Nintendo Rules!

Birthday came, free time went. After a quick head fake, thinking I might get Wii Sports Resort for my BD, I dove in and upgraded to the Motion Plus experience with the WSR. Though skeptical at first, I am now a convert. The package has about a dozen games, though at least half of them are pretty lame--c'mon, folks....bicycling? Kayaking? YGBSM. I do love--no, make that LOVE--several games and have gotten to Pro level in a few. From there it gets tough. It's hard to choose a favorite between Swordplay (stupid name: it should really be called Samurai) and Table Tennis. Another one coming on strong recently is the 3 on 3 pickup basketball. When Maitlyn's and Braiden's little Mii's (still bald) leap into the air for an outrageous slam dunk, it is truly a sight to behold. I should try to make a video of that.

The Air Sports aren't bad, though the sky diving is dumb. Bowling really sucks, as compared to regular Wii Sports. I don't know why, but the same motions in the original game now result in uncontrollable spin. Hard to like that one. Archery? Suppose there needs to something for the ladies. Frisbee...only the Frisbee golf is enjoyable, the other is too frustrating. Speaking of golf, there are new courses, and a whole new way to hit the ball...much more like real golf (perhaps too much). All in all, I'd give the 4 sports I like a 10+ but the package as a whole gets a 7 for having too high a percentage of lameness. Between this and the IJLego Adventures I got for my BD, my arm, wrist, and shoulder are experiencing serious pain. At least I'm exercising! Table Tennis, anyone?

As if that weren't enough, several weeks ago I broke down and got a new DS game called N+. It was known as N when I found it on albinoblacksheep.com, a well known game freeware site. Those initials stand for Ninja, which is what your stick figure character is supposed to be in the game. He (though no reason it couldn't be a she--impossible to tell from the graphics) jumps, runs, climbs and frequently gets blown to bits by booby traps or long falls from the top of the screen (also known as deceleration trauma). There are hundreds of levels to run through, many of which are maddeningly difficult. I am currently stuck on one that I fear is impossible, at least for someone of my advanced age and impaired dexterity. But the game can fairly be rated "A" for addictive.

Here is a sample of some levels to be clambered around in:

I can't understand why Nintendo stock has been so flat this year and Sony's has almost doubled. Seems backward. I guess the hard core gamers buy more than us geezers. And Nintendo doesn't have a movie studio to bail it out.

Drum roll please .... for the Bumper Sticker of the Week:

If you can't read this, thank the teachers' union.

It's the BIG one!

The BIG 6-0 has arrived, with a modicum of kicking and screaming. I really don't feel much different than I did yesterday, but I suppose that is how it works. I think it was less hectic being at the beach than in Chile.... and when you get old, less hectic is good.

I heard from all my kiddos and got gifts and cards, so I was a happy man. The girls put together a marvelous book of pictures from the trust celebration in Montana in Feb. I was surprised, but not overwhelmed--that's the kind of thing tech savvy children do nowadays. It wasn't until I looked at the book with its text that I was truly surprised. The written content surrounding the pictures was extremely well-written, witty and with a distinct style. That wouldn't be a surprise, but what I found ingenious was that it was taken from my own blog of the trip! You can't go wrong giving a man something in book form he wrote himself--who else could capture the memories better? Of course, at age 60, my memory isn't what it used to be.... It was very clever and much appreciated.

I also got lovely pictures of Pierce and a new addiction (thanks, Brant) in the form of an Indiana Jones LEGO Wii game. I wondered what I would do with those extra 90 hours of free time I don't have. But, someone has to do it.... Another book came in the mail from HLeer as well--a picture book that included items from the Germany trip in 2006. How long ago that seemed!

As to the day itself, it was quiet. Jane and I went out to dinner at North Beach Bistro with Johnny and Lynn and, in keeping with my new Senior Citizen status, we went early. (Truth be told, it was to get in during Happy Hour.) A couple of draft Newcastles and age was just a number--a blurry one. We then stopped by Blockbuster to rent a new movie for my Blu-Ray. Did I mention I bought myself one for my birthday? The selection was slim that night, and we ended up having to settle for National Treasure II (my choice, sadly--no one else to take the blame). While the movie was not up to our usual standards, the visual presentation was stunning; actually, the movie did teach me a valuable lesson: a stupid movie rendered beautifully in Blu-Ray is still a stupid movie. Between this and the latest Nick Cage BOMB (that would be Knowing), I have to add him to my "swear-off" list, right up there with Keanu Reeves and Dennis Hopper (think Speed--ooo, ooo, a twofer).

Remember the Hippie author who wrote Steal This Book? Someone should write "Steal This Movie" on every copy out there, followed by "...then throw it away." Save a fellow human being's brain today!

Movies: blogged the best, this is the rest

Drum roll please.... I'll keep this short and bitter. The good ones were discussed earlier--these are the leftovers, the also-rans, the detritus of my viewing experience. Don't enjoy.

The X-Files. The truth is out there--and the truth is that Mulder's time has come and gone. This is for hard core fans only, and then only as a form of closure. May the oddity that was X-Files rest in peace.

War, Inc. This was touted as a sequel to the very well done Gross Pointe Blank, in which John Cusack was an angst-ridden hit man hot for Minnie Driver. I'm sorry John needs the money so badly that he did this atrocity. Maybe we should take up a collection. Aside from sleepwalking through it, he didn't have much to work with. Without redeeming value of any kind.

Tropic Thunder. This is a tough one to pan, because it had its moments. (Best Line candidate: "What do you mean, you people?") Downey was really a hoot in this as an Australian actor playing a black soldier and Stiller was, well, himself. But worse, if that's possible. Extreme silliness, but when I see it on the program menu, I try to catch that line.

Transporter 3. We search for an answer to the age-old question of "when does a franchise run out of steam?" For this particular series it was after the second one (some would say the first one, but hey, benefit of the doubt--and that combination of garters and machine guns...). I like Jason, and this is a highly flexible concept, but the think tank for this one is decidedly empty. Avoid.

Indiana Jones and the Something of Something. Sad, sad, sad. Just looking at Harrison in this one I aged 10 years. Reminds me of Brett Favre. Harrison... no, don't put the hat on again...please... let us keep our illusions and memories. Having said that, I suspected as much before I got this one. Watching it was more about closure than enjoyment. It was a tolerable story, but little really new. Maybe the idea is to restart the franchise with Shia as the new hero. Won't be the same, will it, Roger?

Quantum of Solace. Speaking of which, I think the reviews on this one were right on. Just a pale sequel to the pretty good Casino Royale. An adventure with no substance to speak of. In fact, I can't remember a single thing about the story, plot, characters, etc. But, it's James Bond, for heaven's sake--what do you expect? Sorry, Danny, you're still not doing it for me. If only you'd dye your hair black...at least you're not the pussy that Brosnan and Moore were. God, if only Clive Owen would take it on....

Brideshead Revisited. Don't go there, even once. If I were a member of the British aristocracy, I would sue.

Australia. Falls in the category of listen to your family. Laura saw this and had a rant about how bad it was. But it was in Redbox, how bad could it be for $1? it was worse. Aha, it dawns on me, it isn't the money, it's the time wasted in front of it. (We even FF'd it and it was dreadful.) In fairness, it did take me back to my youth when they made silly bad movies with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara in front of painted scenery with one or two cows. Wait, maybe this was an homage to those days.... If so, I'm glad they're gone. (And Marion is rolling over in his grave.)

That's it for now. But don't worry, I see far more movies than I need to and have lots of opinions about them, which I will gladly share with anyone who listens. Take, for example, my white-hot hatred for Cage's latest fiasco, Knowing. I returned the movie to Blockbuster and asked who I needed to talk to to get those 2 hours of my life back. The guy behind the desk said he liked the movie. And I said, well, then, you probably liked that Mel Gibson abomination Signs, too. Yep he did. I shrugged that off. Next day at Redbox, a lady ahead of me was pondering what to rent and I said, "whatever you do, don't get that stupid Nicholas Cage movie." You can guess this, I'm sure...she liked it. I give up.

Bumper Sticker of the Week:

What would Scooby Do?