Up late talking games & writing? You're...

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Since Seattle's been so snow-covered and treacherous to motorists lately, the wife and son and I had been feeling a little cabin feverish over the last few days.
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Getting out and throwing snowballs is fun, but the fun runs out eventually and no amount of gaming or TV can replace just getting out and doing something away from home. We were expecting another coat of snow, but it turned to rain instead. Seizing the opportunity, we braved the trip to the local mall in spite of the fact that today was Christmas eve, and it was nice to stretch our legs a bit… even if we came back completely nauseated from too much bad mall food. A tip from me: fish taco + pecan cinnabon + ice coffee = WTF was I thinking?
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Misc: The son and I were watching some Discovery the other day, and I was blown away by a segment on the new show, Time Warp. On it, a guy was demonstrating his invention: a saw that monitors electrical conductivity, and instantly stops slicing the moment it cuts into flesh. I would not have believed it if I hadn't seen it, but this thing is so sensitive, the blade is incapacitated before blood is even drawn. It's called SawStop and you can check it out here.
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Games: The best thing about the New Xbox Experience in my opinion isn't the new networking or the stolen-from-Apple interface, it's the community games. I had previously paid cold, hard cash to get a look at these things as a part of the Creator’s Club, but now the games are available to anyone. Last I checked, there were about eighty or so games to pick from. Eighty! Granted, quite a lot of these are not worth the time it takes to download the free trial, but some of them are quite clever, and a few are totally fantastic. Props go to Doug Walsh of Randomly Generated for tipping me off to one of the best ones: CarneyVale Showtime. Totally worth the five dollar download, CVS is about a puppet who wants to become the best acrobat in the world, and to do this he gets launched out of a cannon and spun around massively vertical levels while popping balloons and eventually making his way through a flaming hoop at the top. It only takes a few seconds to understand the formula, but the mechanics are introduced at regular intervals and the elegance of the game is simply stunning… I'm absolutely addicted to it, and I can't recommend it enough. I may be talking about this one again in the future, but for right now every 360 owner absolutely needs to go and download the full version RIGHT NOW.
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Film: Always loved the psychotic brilliance of Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure, and this was the year that we introduced it to the offspring. Not quite sure if he knew what to make of it (who does, really?) But he sat through the whole thing and said he enjoyed it at the end… I guess that's all a parent can expect when they expose their child to the sick, twisted things that molded us in our formative years. Good times.
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…Oh, and a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone reading this blog. It's been a good year, I was glad to have you along, and I hope you stick around for the next.