Congratulations to Sanna and Clinton Festa on their new son, Eldon Festa, who came into this world yesterday morning around 7:30am!  The delivery went smoothly, and baby, and new mom and pop Festa are all doing well.

When Clint told me the news, he also informed me that I am, since I have made myself sort of a surrogate son in the Festa family,  Eldon’s uncle.  Which is, if I say so myself, totally awesome.   I’ve never been an uncle before, so I’m not totally sure of all of the responsibilities it entails.  Do they make an “Uncles for Dummies” book somewhere?

Anyway, congratulations to all of the Festas: the proud new parents Clint and Sanna, real uncle Curtis, and first time grandparents Bob and Sue.

Yes, other news is happening in the world besides people just being totally stoked for Obama.  And as an aside, how high are the expectations for this guy?  Can he possibly live up to this insanely high level of hype?  And will SNL, The Daily Show, et al be able to skewer a President who is so beloved and adored?

But back to the topic at hand: Michael Crichton died yesterday.  The news made me think back on his novels, and how much I enjoyed them when I read them, even if it was a decade and a half ago.  I’m not much of a reader, but I really loved the Jurassic Park and Sphere books.  And not to sound like “that guy,” but the movies were vastly inferior to the books, which had far more science, drama, and depth to them.  Now that I think about it, I actually never saw the Jurassic Park movie sequels, but I did like the book of The Lost World.  The idea of genetically engineering dinosaurs back into existence seemed plausible, and the whole concept was brilliant, even if it did sort of rip-off my whole “Billy and the Clonosaurus” idea.

And of course, the Jurassic Park ride at Universal Studios is pretty kick-ass.

No, no, I haven’t gone all political.  I’m just listing 10 great things that happened in *my* life while George W. Bush was President.  He didn’t necessarily have anything to do with these events, but he was Commander in Chief while they happened just the same.

1. OK, so it’s a given, but I met, fell in love with, and married the woman of my dreams during the last administration.
2. We also adopted the greatest beagle in the history of the universe, Sherlock Houdini Chewbacca Gizmo Noah.
3. I worked as a Page at Saturday Night Live, got to go to after-parties, as well as the far more fun after-after-parties.  After my brief tenure there I got to sit in the audience for a show and I got a few moments of fame as an extra on an episode, but clearly the highlight of the whole SNL experience was becoming best friends with a lot of celebrities, and even getting the chance to make-out with a certain pop starlet at the height of her fame and hotness.
4. Speaking of great work experiences, I also spent seven days at the Playboy Mansion, which was sort of the coolest thing ever.  A little later I got to meet Mark Hamill and Frank Oz on a Star Wars show, which was also insanely amazing.
5. I also personally got to travel a lot these past two terms, with the most notable vacations being Disney World, Spain, and Hawaii.
6. It was a great eight years for movies: There were three Star Wars movies, a Superman film, a Simpsons feature, two great Batman flicks, long-awaited sequels to the Rocky and Die Hard franchises, and of course, WALL•E.
7. And we can’t forget all of the TV shows that have hit the airwaves since Bush was sworn in: 24, Smallville,The Office, 30 Rock, and the insanely addicitng Lost.
8. Nintendo put out two great home consoles while Bush was in office, the under-appreciated Gamecube and the blockbuster seller Wii.  Camping out for the Wii was an adventure in and of itself, and the games for it have for the most part been stellar.  And let’s not forget the DS, which was the most fun handheld since the original Game Boy.
9. In the summer of 2007, I had the greatest bachelor party ever, where I barely slept and even jumped out of a plane.  That was fantastic.
10. Earlier this year, I started my own website, which you are reading right now. Good times.

So what did Bush have to do with any of these things?  Nothing, really.  (Probably…)  All ten of those things could have happened just as easily if Gore or Kerry or someone else was elected President.  I’m just enough of a glass-is-half-full kind of guy that I hate hearing people saying that the past eight years were full of nothing but misery, that’s all.

So a baseball team you like wins, so you decide to flip over somebody’s car.  Yeah, that makes sense.

Way to go, Phillies fans, you must be very proud of yourselves.

I’ve been a little late to the game with some recent sketch comedy shows, but that is the beauty of DVD.  I recently caught the first season of the highly buzzed Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job!  I have to say I wasn’t that impressed.  I mean, it had its moments, no doubt about that, but there was some stuff in there that was just really po-mo.  You know, post modern. Weird for the sake of weird.  They also seemed to be playing up the low budget angle just a smidge too much.  That said, the John C. Reilly stuff was all great, as were the all-too brief Weird Al cameos.

There were also cameos from Bob Odenkirk, who was half of the brilliance behind Mr. Show with Bob and David, David being David Cross from Arrested Development fame.  That was another show that I didn’t watch while it was on, but I caught on DVD, and that was one I would highly recommend to anyone looking for brilliant sketch comedy.  The sketches flow from one to another in a pretty seamless way.  If you’ve ever been frustrated by the way Saturday Night Live ends their skits (and frankly, who hasn’t been), you’ll appreciate the way that Mr. Show was able to put all of these random sketches into a cohesive show.  Of course, unlike SNL, they didn’t have to take commercial breaks, which worked to their advantage.

Of course, all of these shows will be put to shame if and when MTV ever decides to release The State on DVD.  Come on already!  I want to watch Doug, and Louie, and Barry and Levon, and to rewatch the Moneky Torture, Bearded Men of Space Station 11, and the Mailman Bringing Taco and all the other classic bits!  Do the right thing MTV!

The first annual Nick’s Marathon event is officially over, and I am calling the weekend a rousing success.  Things didn’t go exactly as planned - we ended up beating only two games throughout the event (I don’t remember Contra 3 being so impossible!) - but a good time was had by all, and we raised over $2500 (so far) for three great charities. I ate a lot of pizza, cookies, peeps, and popems - the four main food groups - and drank a lot of light beer and diet soda, which sort of balances out the junk food.  James and I got a little bit more sleep than we anticipated, but even between naps we surprised ourselves with our second, third, fourth, and fifth winds.  After going to bed early last night, I’m not nearly as wiped as I thought I’d be today.

There were some technical glitches, and we should have hammered out a firmer schedule with people lined up to play specific games so that sleep was more of a part of the calendar, but those are things that can be fixed for next year.  Yes, we’re thinking of making this a yearly thing, so get used to me hitting everyone up for donations on a regular basis.  As James put it, we were able to raise so much money for good causes and have fun doing it - how can we NOT do it again?

Forgive me but I feel the need to go all “awards show” for a minute and thank a few specific people who made the weekend extra special:

First, I have to say thank you to Courtney.  Seriously, there aren’t many wives who would be willing to not only stand by while their husband decides to play video games for an entire weekend, but who would also support the gesture every step of the way.  Courtney went above and beyond by cooking food for us, going on bagel runs,  and even taking the controller a few times.  I’m one hell of a lucky guy.

Dominic Monfre, thanks for designing the t-shirts; they really and truly came out absolutely amazing.  For anyone who is waiting for their shirt, fear not, they will all get sent out in due time.

Aaron Neuman and Andy Manoff, thank you guys for coming by for nice long gaming stretches Saturday afternoon and the Saturday night/Sunday morning respectively.   Seriously, I really needed the sleep break, and you guys pitching in for long hauls made a huge difference there.

Kari Thompson, thank you for the super delicious and thoughtful homemade treats you sent over.  Kari made Zelda-specific lemon triangles, and River City Ransom-specific chocolate chip cookies, both of which were delicious.  And the card that was included with the goodies was also incredibly sweet.

James Brief, thanks for all of the technical work you did on making this thing happen.  Setting up the website, getting the video stream going, fixing the countless audio problems, and allowing us to turn your apartment into a nerd paradise for a weekend was a lot, and you were happy to do it all.

And of course, thanks to everyone who donated!

I know that somewhere Nick was smiling down on us, even if he was a little embarrassed about how terrible we were playing video games in his name.  More than once it occurred to me that if he was playing with us, we would have torn through many more games in far less time, as he was a much better gamer than any of the rest of us.   But we ended the marathon by finally beating Donkey Kong Country 2, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV, and then playing a little multiplayer Super Bomberman.  That’s not a co-op game, but its one that I’ll always associate with playing at Nick’s house for hours on end.  In the end, I think it’s safe to say that good times were had by all, and I think we were able to give a great friend a nice tribute.

The event that the entire internet has been waiting for, Nick’s Marathon, begins tonight at midnight!

Stop by and play some games with us, or just watch all the fun live from the comfort of your homes at www.nicksmarathon.com

What kind of vintage nostalgia cna you look forward to?  How about ten levles of TURTLES IN TIME!

I finally got a chance to watch the first four episodes of The Clone Wars, and I have to say, this is some good TV.

The movie that premiered this August was a lot of fun and I enjoyed it, in spite of the really creepy Hutt that made an appearance.  In the TV show, there has yet to be an equivalent random and over-the-top silly thing that detracts from the overall story.  The show writers like to throw in a lot of nods to the films, especially the original trilogy, in the ways that certain shots are set up, and the way random lines are re-worked into the episodes, a la, “Somebody has to save *her* skin,” etc.  Things like that could start to feel forced after a while, but so far they haven’t really bothered me.

The other strike against the show is that, based on the nature of the timeline, there are certain things we know will and won’t happen; the war won’t end or really move in a significant direction one way or the other; Yoda, Obi-Wan, Anakin, Dooku, Sidious, and Grievous will always survive to fight another day, and Ashoka and Ventress are likely to not make it through the entire run.

That said, the Clone Wars makes perfect sense for a television show, and I can see the format working really well over the show’s run.  The show can follow various battles, Jedi adventures, and clone missions, all without focusing solely on Anakin, Obi-Wan, and the usual cast of characters.  So far, Jedi Master Plo Koon has been given a real chance to shine, and that’s something we ALL have been waiting for.  All right, no one cares about him, but after spending a couple of episodes with the guy, you start to care about him, and having a large cast of characters in this show is only going to make it more enjoyable.  After all, it’s a big galaxy, and a big war that is tearing it apart.   So far, there has been only one”two-parter,” but there is potential for many more longer arcs that carry on from episode to episode, and the show’s serialized nature means that once you start watching, it will be easy to get hooked.

Of course, some haters will refuse to watch it, or will tune out the first time a battle droid says, “Roger roger!”  But the fact is that the kids nature of the show isn’t ridiculously silly and it doesn’t get in the way of the story-telling.  Think of it as less Jar Jar and more Harry Potter.  If yo’ve missed any of the episodes so far, you can watch them online, and Cartoon Network has been rerunning them plenty.

That’s right everybody - this weekend is Nick’s Marathon!

Just to recap: Friday night at 9pm, come over to James’ apartment (let me know if you need the address) for a regular, old-fashioned triple birthday party.  Then at midnight, the video game marathon will begin, but that doesn’t mean the party will end.  Throughout the weekend, everyone is encouraged to come and go as you like, to hang out, to eat junk food, or to play some video games.

And don’t forget to donate to our charity!  You can go to the website, or you can even use the link in the top left of the homepage here. Don’t feel obligated to give a lot - if you can only spare $5, $10, or $20, it will still add up!  And, of course, if you donate $100, you will get your very own Nick’s Marathon t-shirt - see the pictures above for the designs, courtesy of the incredibly talented Dominic Monfre.

Hey, remember a month ago, when I asked all of my loyal and faithful readers to help me pick out a new mp3 player?   Yeah, I figured you didn’t.  Anyway, I went with the Archos 5, and it won out for three main reasons: it has a large hard drive capacity (I got the 120GB), it has a 5 inch touch screen, and most important of all, it allows you to record shows from your television onto your device (with the separate DVR adapter).

As you all know, I watch WAY too much TV, so the thought of being able to bring some of those shows with me to watch on my commute is something I was very excited about.

But I hit a snag, early on - the DVR function wasn’t working.

Well, it would record for a few seconds or minutes, but then freeze, and that would be that.  There were numerous “one last try” attempts, and none of them worked.  And that wasn’t all.  I could not for the life of me figure out how to make a playlist on the go with the thing.  In some message boards, I read that a new firmware was available with bug fixes, but every time I tried to update it, the unit told me it was already up to date, even though I knew it wasn’t.  I sat on hold with customer service, listening to some extra horrible kind of muzak, only to then get a recording that told me they were closed and disconnected me, despite the fact that I was well within their business  hours.  I was at my wits end, and was quite frankly about to return the thing.

Then I saw a note on a message board that said you could manually update the firmware by downloading the update onto your computer and then transferring it onto the device.  Not intuitive, but I gave it a whirl.  Then I tried to record another show.  And it worked.  I was afraid it was a fluke, so I did it with another show, and that worked too.  And then this morning, after watching a full episode of recent TV on my train in to work, I figured out how to make playlists on the thing.  The process doesn’t make much sense, and Archos gives you no directions anywhere on how to do it, but I got it, and that makes me happy.

I still have a few complaints, mainly that the volume on the video is a little low for my tastes, and the A/V sync was a little off, but at least now I have faith that they can fix bugs along the way with new firmware updates.

So, to paraphrase Madonna, I’ve made up my mind - I’m gonna keep* my Archos 5 Internet Media Tablet.

*Of course, I reserve the right to change my mind if it starts testing my patience again in the near future…