current events

Michael Jackson

I’ve been a fan of Michael Jackson’s music for as long as I can remember. The music, mind you. I’ve never really been able to make my mind up about him as an individual, but since I never met the man, I suppose that’s logical. (Side note: I always do my best not to confuse a person’s public persona (in movies, music, writing, etc.) with their actual personality. I can think a person is a total slimeball in real life, but still have no trouble respecting the work he or she produces. Likewise, I can adore someone, but have little

E3 and the Evolution of Video Games

So I’ve been watching the three console makers’ press conferences at this year’s E3, and it’s been an interesting experience. For those of you who don’t know, E3 is the annual video game conference in LA, where big announcements are made as to the direction that video games will be heading in the future. I’ve been pretty much a lifelong gamer, starting with the Atari 2600 and Game n Watch, moving on the original Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Game Boy, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance, Playstation 2, Gamecube, DS, Playstation 3 and Wii. I also have gamed extensively on the PC.

In Which I Wax Political

You have been warned. 🙂 DKC and I watched the State of the Whatever They Felt Like Calling It last night, as well as the Republican rebuttal (which ended up emphasizing the “butt” more than the “re” or “al”). I’d have to say that overall, I enjoyed Obama’s speech. Yes, it tended toward the “we can do everything we set our minds to” side of the spectrum, just falling short at times of coming out and saying “If you all clap your hands reeeeeeally hard right now . . .” but the message seemed optimistic and generally took an approach

Immigration: Why It’s a Real Pain

So for today’s still-sick-but-I-have-to-post-something-better-or-I’ll-feel-like-a-total-slacker post, I’m going to give all ya’ll some linkage over to a fascinating flowchart. I know: generally the words “fascinating” and “flowchart” aren’t supposed to go together in the same sentence, but this is the exception to the rule, I swear. It’s all about how the legal immigration process works in the US, and how hard it can be to do it. Go check it out. When DKC and I were going through this, it was a big ol’ pain. Lots of money, lots of “deadlines,” and lots of interviews. What really got frustrating was that