Birthday!

My extremely recent birthday went pretty well for someone who’s closing in on 40 at something approaching lightspeed. I scored an iPhone (from myself, The Wife, and anyone else who contributed cash to the effort) and an iTunes giftcard from The Boy (he picked it out himself — he’s four). I was informed by The Boy that I should get “that hair party song” for him (I think he means “My Hair Had a Party Last Night” by Trout Fishing in America, a great Grammy-winning (or at least multiple-nominated) band not just for kids songs. They also live around here, too, which is cool. Check them out. All their music is available at iTunes.

Burning fun

So, I haven’t blogged much about RPGs lately, but I HAVE been playing on a pretty regular basis, mostly Burning Wheel), of course. Tonight’s session of our Into the Wilds old skool campaign was especially awesome. I wrote a REALLY long actual play post on page 9 of that thread, so I won’t repeat it here. I’m working toward earning the “scheming” trait for my character. It’s fun!

Good TV: NOT an oxymoron

I love TV. Seriously. Well, let me qualify that: I love good TV, and luckily, there’s a surprising amount of it out there. My aim is to point some of that out.

Note: you will find few “network” shows on this list. Why? Because I despise 92% of “reality TV” (and the other 8% are cooking shows and the marvelous Deadliest Catch) and that’s about all that the networks feel like giving us these days. I like thoughtful dramas with a splash of smart sitcom. Hold the “reality” shows.

The list is after the jump:

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American Cars suck

American cars suck.

There. I said it. I don’t like saying it, but, in my personal recent experience with two rental cars of different American make, it’s true.

Recently, I had to get my ride (an ‘05 Nissan XTerra — which I like okay for a big honkin’ SUV that gets 14 MPG) fixed after a fender-bender (not my fault; I was rear-ended). For a rental car, I got a Chevrolet Malibu. I did not enjoy driving it. Other than having a peppy-ish engine, I liked nothing about that car. The worst part, though, was the cheap fit and finish in the interior. Terrible ergonomics, cheap materials in ugly, industrial (and not in a good way) colors. Just overtly BLAH. The one thing I will point out specifically is the “key bumper.” Just below the keyhole (is that what you call it?) is a weird rubber pad about 2 inches long by a half inch high. I puzzled over this for a couple of days. Finally, I realized that it’s there so the keys on your keyring that aren’t inserted in the ignition will bounce against that and not against the dash. I guess it’s supposed to be quieter or it protects your keys or the dash. I don’t know. I DO know, however, that it’s stupid. Why not design the placement of the ignition hole (again, what is that called?) so that the keys just hang there and don’t bang against anything at all? Crappy design.

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