Week of 9/9/2007

Mugshot

Our awesome forums member Tiggermango sent us some gifts:



Each of the mugs has our names on it and though it was impossible to photograph, the back has the Team Fremont Live logo, along with this image:



How cool is that?

Thanks Tiggermango!

John



He Hate Me

This just in:

Yeah, scew the NFL, bring back the XFL!!! New York/New Jersey Hitmen for life!!!
-Gruel

Wow, I almost forgot about the XFL. For a league that was supposed to be more exciting than what they referred to as the "No Fun League" I've never been more bored watching a game of football. At least we got He Hate Me out of the deal.

And before I close, Tokyo Game Show is upon us and our forums members are all over the news. Keep an eye on what's what here.

John


Home Sweet Home

Going back home enables me to experience things that I haven't experienced in years. For example, I can be sent to Wal-Mart to fetch a gallon of motor oil and a case of Busch Lite...



Or, I can be walking down Main Street and turn to see a middle-aged man pissing on a parked car...



I'm starting to love going back there more and more.

John



We're Kickin' Ass!

I'm sorry, I just can't get over the fact that the phrase "We're kickin' ass" will sit next to "All we have to fear is fear itself" and "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country" as notable presidential quotes. The optimist in me says be it republican or democrat, the only direction we can go from here is up.

Moving on, the weekend was an exhausting, rigorous tour of Central Wisconsin with Ethan as the headlining act. We stopped at the houses of family, friends, acquantances...hell, we even stopped at a rest home so Ethan could have his photo op with folks spanning every generation. I have to admit, though, that my family has really stepped it up in the whole "crazy/not crazy" game. They've gone from completely disfunctional to something resembling the fucking Waltons. I wonder how long that will last.

I've got a couple of great pictures that capture the essence of my hometown and I hope to get them posted shortly. One is staged, the other is completely spontaneous and I can't wait to show them off.

My gaming time has really suffered as a result of all this travel, not to mention my whacked-out sleep schedule. However, I am bound and determined to finish Bioshock in the next week or so, if I have to have Ethan sitting in my lap watching me destroy the mad inhabitants of Rapture. I just know that I need to see this game to its conclusion for fear that I'll miss out on one of the great gaming experiences of this decade.

Football season is upon us and I greet the new fall schedule with joy and dread all at the same time. Hilden and I had a brief conversation about this yesterday where he remarked that he hates football, and I can understand his reasoning behind it because the things he hates are truly the things that I despise about it as well. The gross hyperbole, the glorification of ignorance and stupidity, the equating of overpaid atheletes to "warriors" and "heroes", and the mistaking of sporting achievement as important moments in history. The on-field reporters detailing the minutia of what goes on in the locker room and what five-cent philosophies the coaches/players live by. These things disgust me; not to mention having "patriotism" shoved in my face for no reason whatsoever and corporate sponsors competing to see who can best represent "good, decent, hardworking American folk". All of these things make the NFL experience a painful thing to watch.

All these things notwithstanding, I adore watching the game of football. I try to mute the television the moment a play ends or when they head to one of their countless bullshit commercials because I don't need that garbage. I don't need four different companies trying to sell me their piss-tasting beer. I don't need to see a half-dozen pickup trucks with their own patriotic theme song touting the manliness and durability of their heavy-duty vehicle. I don't need to hear how Joe Quarterback is so intense, so focused that he doesn't change his underwear all season long. I can't form an allegiance to any team with a constantly rotating roster of mostly overpaid, under-performing morons. I don't want the NFL, I just want football. And as long as I filter out that bullshit, and as long as I can avoid seeing Suzy Kolber's hideous face, I love watching football.

John