My Snowtober

Not very often you see snow in October. Pretty crazy.

Strapping on My Jetpack

This has been a rough couple of weeks at work, and naturally it's culminating in one of the worst weeks I've had in quite some time. So I need something good to happen. Really, anything. Someone to say something even remotely positive or reassuring. Maybe see a double rainbow or some basic human kindness. Ahh, fuck it, probably not going to happen.

My hope is to get a well-deserved release tonight as I go see We Were Promised Jetpacks, a fantastic band from my fatherland of Scotland. Want them to play loud, fast and hard. Strap on the jetpack and fly me away for a couple hours. This concert also has great potential because this is the first time that I can remember finding a band before Kelly and so it makes me feel about 4% cooler than normal to have him like a band that I recommended, since it's almost always the other way around.

Game On: Week of Oct. 21

My recent column reviewing Forza Motorsport 4 and Ace Combat: Assault Horizon. Thanks to the Seattle Times for publishing.

Friday Funnies

This weekend the wife is getting back in the saddle again. No, really, she is. For the next four weekends she is taking horseback riding lessons. She loves horses, and after we recently watched the excellent documentary "Buck," she decided it was time to get back up on a horse and ride around. So in honor of her brave pursuit (I prefer to wager on the ponies, and leave the riding cowboys, mounted police and 18th century train robbers), I give her my favorite thoughts on the horse riding experience, which she hates because she never wants to think of a horse as glue.

Hanging with Murdoch (not the A-Team member)

It's been a while since I've been to a live show, and so luckily in the next few weeks I'll be hitting up a few new ones. First up is tonight's concert featuring Alexi Murdoch. I first heard him when he dominated the Away We Go movie soundtrack. The music was perfect for that movie and I ended up getting hooked on his stuff. It's good acoustic music to have on in the background when working or when people are hanging out.

Game On: Week of Oct. 14

My recent column reviewing NBA 2K12 and X-Men: Destiny. Thanks to the Ventura County Star for publishing.

Blog Action Day 2011: Three Things You Can Do

Continuing the theme for Blog Action Day, here are five easy things you can do (believe me, it's not even 10 a.m. and I've already done them, so no excuses) to take part.

1. Sign and share this petition: Take immediate action against the famine by signing this petition and asking world leaders to ensure people do not go hungry. Then, share the petition with people you know. If are connected to the Twitter, use the hashtag #BAD11.



2. Watch and Share “The F Word” Video: As is typical, celebrities have been solicited to take up the fight as well. If there were no crises, I'm not sure what Bono would spend his time doing, but hey, at least he cares. Besides, this is an excuse for me to drop a different kind of F-bomb.



3. Check out this graphic: This “Fight the Famine” interactive chart illustrates the countries that are leading relief efforts in Africa and those that are lagging behind. Canada, Germany and the UK have fulfilled their aid commitments, while France and Italy still have work to do.

Blog Action Day 2011: Save the Children

First post of Blog Action day 2011 (Food) is a video from Save the Children. It’s got some surprising facts about hunger and the end of the quiz asks you to take action to keep Congress from slashing the aid budget while famine ravages East Africa.

Blog Action Day 2011

This year's Blog Action Day snuck up on me. Normally they send out a series of emails to promote the day months and weeks in advance so that bloggers like myself can prep some content. This year, I got one Friday telling me it was today. Not sure if I maybe missed some emails earlier, but I was bummed to not get the chance to fuller prepare you for the information onslaught.

In any case, I will attempt my best here to give you a few posts and pass along some info because I have always enjoyed being part of Blog Action Day, the one day a year when bloggers try to organize around a singular topic to educate the masses. In previous years the topics have been near and dear to my heart (poverty, climate change, water), and now this year the topic is food.

I thought it was more specific like the lack of available food or starvation and such, but the organizers are running the gamut from farmed foods to fast food to hunger to whatever you can think of (even just blogging about your favorite food). Kinda weird, but I'm going to take the more serious route because while I like to write about idiots and Friday funnies and comedy and video games, I also like to throw out some serious stuff now and then. So prepare yourself for some food-related posts and I encourage you to repost or share as you wish, or ignore it at your own peril. Just remember that it's good to think deep every now and then.

Friday Funnies

I know you've put up with my goofy obsession with movie bloopers, and while you may not enjoy them all, you have to take a moment and check this one out. And if you can't see the amazing movie screwup here, then you are blind and have no sense of humor. Because how this happened and no one was fired is stunning.