2010: A Reflection

Happy New Year's Eve everyone! 2010 has been a great year for gaming but for me, it was a terrific year for personal growth. I hardly ever check my horoscope but for some reason I started the year by seeing what mine had to say:

Year 2010 Overview for Aquarius

Aquarius often gets pegged as being a little too cerebral for its own good. But the truth is, that's where you do your best work. The next year is going to give you the opportunity to use those sharp mental powers to focus on what it is you really want out of life. Two eclipses fall in your Twelfth House, which will bring out your intuitive side, and give you a chance to see your life from a less-strictly-logical (yet no less valid) perspective. The additional information they give you about your life and your position in it will be your big chance to put things in order.

Saturn is also going to be bringing big changes as to your philosophical approach to life. What fundamental approaches to life have worked for you, and what haven't? You may have never stopped to ask that question, or known the benefits of finding the right answer to it. This year, those answers will come, and your life is likely to be a saner, better-adjusted place for it.

Of course, it's impossible to have a well-ordered world around you without having a few other people in it. The middle part of the year will see close friends and partners coming and going in your life, more so than you've seen in a long time. In part, this will be a reflection of the changes going on in your "higher mind." And again, the overall effect should be a positive one. It's your worldview, Aquarius -- make it the best you can!

Now, I have no idea what these eclipses are doing in my Twelfth House, but I made sure to keep a look out and shoo them out the front door should they provide me with any problems. However, I didn't take the last paragraph about how close friends and partners will be coming and going out of my life seriously until it actually (coincidentally enough) happened.

But let me talk about the highlights and what I've learned (or cared to remember) about this year before it goes flying out the window.

Recap of Candlelight Vigil for Julian Collender on Dec. 22, 2010

A picture is worth 1,000 words

Last night Julian Collender's family organized a candlelight vigil to mark the 6 month anniversary of his death across the street from the Orange County District Attorney's office in downtown Santa Ana, Ca. About 40 of Julian's friends and supporters attended, sending the DA a message of solidarity and that we demand justice and accountability for the unspeakable death of our friend, brother, and son.

A few photojournalists were on hand to cover the event, one being from the Orange County Register. Go here to read the article. I also found a video online, which includes Julian's sister, Michele Collender, speaking on behalf of her family. Click here for the video.

Close to 8,000 signatures were collected on the petition found on justiceforjulian.com. The petition will stay open on the site - please sign if you haven't done so. Together we can help bring justice to Julian and offer peace of mind not just to his family, but to the citizens of this county, state, and country. NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW!

Movie Weekend Review

This past weekend was particularly eventful for the 'ryder-'doku household, and a particularly rainy one at that. What perfect way to spend a miserably wet and rainy Southern California weekend than to watch a couple of movies? I shouldn't complain too much; I suppose it's better to be rained on than snowed on (hello to the Midwest!).

This weekend's movies included a newbie (or a sequel to an oldie) and a not-so-oldie-oldie: Tron Legacy and The Lake House.

Best indie game 2010: LIMBO



Best Indie Game 2010! Image courtesy of Playdead Studios and
Microsoft Game Studios


Is it any surprise that LIMBO keeps getting the recognition it deserves on all sorts of "Best of..." lists? Here are a few accolades this awesome x 3 $10 game has received in the past year or so:

• Best Indie Game 2010 - Spike Video Game Awards 
• 6th Best Video Game of 2010 - TIME magazine 
• 3rd Best Xbox Live Arcade Title - September 2010, IGN 
• 10th Best Indie Game 2010 - Gamasutra.com 
• Winner of the "Technical Excellence" and "Excellence in Visual Art" at the Independent Games Festival at the 2010 Game Developers Conference 
• Winner of GameSpot's Best Downloadable Game - 2010, E3 Conference

Some of you may complain about the lack of a narrative and its relatively short length compared to the price (you can finish this game in a day, I think), but I find this game to be absolutely charming and quietly gory. Playdead Studios presented a visually simple masterpiece that has become a sleeper hit in the gaming community. It's an unexpected winner for 2010 and I can't help but keep singing the praises of this game.

Playdead Studios - congratulations! I'm looking forward to your next game!

TRON: Legacy



 Hopefully @DavidisALLright, tsudoku, and I will get to watch this come Friday night! Daft Punk, ENCOM, Disney = win. I haven't even looked at the game trailers yet, and I'm usually a bit wary when it comes to games based off of movies...although I haven't been disappointed by Scott Pilgrim yet.

End of line.

[UPDATE 12/17/10 4:15 PM: just bought 3 tickets to see tonight's showing of Tron: Legacy in IMAX 3D! We'll be out in the rain waiting for the nice theatre people to let us inside for the 12:50 AM showing. Come say hi to me - we'll be at the Irvine Spectrum.]

Current Obsession: Me as Ramona Flowers in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game

Damn the holidays! Damn it all! Shopping for Christmas presents and cosmetics (for me) has kept me from doing what I love most - writing (and gaming). So here I am once again, on my hands and knees asking every one of you in Denmark, Canadia, Japan, and Alaska if you could ever forgive me for this unintentional hiatus.

Also, do you like me? Circle yes or no.

Ahem. I digress. Before the holidays took ahold of my life, tsudoku and I started playing the awesome side-scroller Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game (now available on XBLA for a cheap, cheap price). Let me tell you, it ain't easy, but it sure as hell is FUN! My thumb calluses have returned and I wear these badges of honor with pride, which tells you that I've been playing non-stop AND that I was born during the age of button mashing.



That should be me second from the left. Image courtesy of SpawnKill.com



Candlelight Vigil for Julian Collender on 12/22/10 3:00 PM PST

Candlelight vigil to be held Wednesday, December 22, 2010, 3:00 PM PST in front of the Orange County District Attorney’s office in Santa Ana for Julian Collender.

We invite you to join the family, friends and fellow supporters of our slain friend, brother, uncle, and son Julian Collender on December 22, 2010 at 3:00 pm in Santa Ana in front of the Orange County District Attorney’s office for a candlelight vigil.

Julian Collender was 25 years old when he was shot and killed by a Brea Police Officer with a high power assault rifle in front of his parents’ home in Yorba Linda, Ca. on June 30, 2010.  Julian was unarmed, had no prior record, and was alone at the time of the incident. The Brea Police Department and the OCDA’s office have released little information regarding the progress of the investigation.

Please attend this peaceful vigil with us. Julian was a son of Orange County – his memory cannot die in vain.

The candlelight vigil will be held at:

Orange County District Attorney’s Office

401 Civic Center Drive

Santa Ana, California 92701

For more information and to sign the petition for a thorough, unbiased investigation into the death of Julian Collender, please visit:

www.justiceforjulian.com

Twitter: justice4julian

Facebook: Justice for Julian

Article on Creative Uses for the Kinect

About a month ago I wrote a post about the Kinect and the many, many different hacks that you creative humans out there have come up with for this awesome piece of machinery. Well, I just stumbled upon a short and sweet article courtesy of the Plugged In blog on Yahoo! Games that showcased a few of their favorite hacks (and non-hacks).

Read on to to learn more about it and for video here.

Not a zombie just yet!

Whew! Sorry I haven't been updating the bacon blog as of late. With the holidays quickly approaching and many, many family arguments to look forward to, I've been staying put in my shell and have tried to spend more time taking care of my only New Year's Resolution from the start of the year - redecorate my home. We're making progress; last night we finally bought an area rug!

But just because I've been M.I.A. for the past couple weeks doesn't mean I haven't kept up with the news, and there have been a TON of gaming news in the grapevine just today alone.

Happy Veterans Day: A Story about my Dad

Vietnam War Memorial at Freedom Park, Westminster, CA. Photo from
theliberaloc.com

Happy Veterans Day! If you are a war veteran, or you knew someone who bravely gave their heart and soul to serve our country, we are all indebted to you. Today's post is dedicated to my pops - the greatest man in the world.

As a kid I never really gave much thought to Veterans Day, Memorial Day, or even Black April. It was only until just this past summer that my dad finally shed some light in his time with the Vietnamese Army during the start of the Viet Nam War. During his early twenties my dad (like most young men) received training to fight in the army against the Viet Cong. Some time during this period he was lucky enough to meet my gorgeous mother, marry her and have a baby (my older sister).

Quickie update: pictures from this morning's COD: BO midnight release

Call of Duty: Black Ops officially released this morning at 12:01 am and tsudoku and I were (once again) near the end of the line to pick up our copy of the game. From what I heard from the Iraq vet standing behind us, the first guy in line showed up at 8 o'clock to take part in the festivities which included prize giveaways (I think) and lots and lots of NOS energy drinks.

We got there around 11:50 and this was what the line looked like; it stretched around GameStop, onto the sidewalk, and into the back parking lot:

Back parking lot. The GameStop manager said it'd be about 90 minutes from
this point until we reached the door

After taking this picture, I told 'doku, "Yeah I'm gonna go to IHOP and eat. You want anything?"

"How about some Jack in the Box?"

"How about no?" Eventually, I caved in and got Jack in the Box for the both of us when what I really wanted was a cup of hot chocolate. And a parka. It was freezing out.

Condescending LA Weekly article re: Call of Duty: Black Ops

Normally I would never, ever read anything the LA Weekly has to say about gaming, but my buddy @slimjimallen, author of the music and sports blog Partial Disclosure, tweeted me the link to this "piece" re: the midnight release event in LA for Call of Duty: Black Ops. Here are a few of my favorite tidbits from this"article":

"While you were sleeping, [the economy] partied with passive-aggressive stoners looking to blow some bitches up with toggles, middle-school Monster guzzlers looking to kill the pain with another epic bloodbath and bored-to-death businessmen looking for -- to be honest -- a reason to live."

"Last month, key "Black Ops" competitor (and neighborhood nuisance) "Medal of Honor" was released to give couch soldiers something to twiddle their thumbs with until the real deal was ready. But "Call of Duty" is like an iPod -- nothing's ever quite as good as the original."

"Inside this time capsule, new-age graphics are dazzling. The game is crisper, louder and far more customizable (think Wartime Barbie) than its predecessors or competitors -- and at a whole new level of frightening, against a backdrop of sporadic missiles and helicopters with minds of their own. Ever heard of a knife-dart or crossbow-rocket? Now you have."

Call of Duty: Black Ops - midnight release tonight!

Guess what I'm doing tonight? Expect an update to this blog post some time tomorrow about tonight's experience in line for the long awaited release of Call of Duty: Black Ops. Big ups to @fourzerotwo for the reminder that it was coming out this Tuesday because...well, I just forgot:

fourzerotwo Robert Bowling

http://fzt.me/1hrofblackops Have any questions about Call of Duty: Black Ops multiplayer? This hour of MP with @DavidVonderhaar answers it.

2 Nov Favorite Retweet Reply

in reply to @fourzerotwo ↑

@Vickipedia Vickipedia

@fourzerotwo I almost forgot Black Ops was out next week! Very excited! thanks for that reminder! :)

@fourzerotwo Robert Bowling

@Vickipedia You're very welcome.

2 Nov via web Favorite Retweet Reply

 

@Vickipedia Vickipedia

did I *squee* when @fourzerotwo, a blogger, creative strategist at Infinity Ward, and awesome geek respond to my tweet? Why yes, yes I did

2 Nov via web Favorite Reply Delete

Recap: Dia de Los Muertos Celebration in Downtown Santa Ana

Last night tsudoku, my famous buddy @DavidisALLright, and I headed to downtown Santa Ana for the annual Noche de Las Alturas event as part of Dia de Los Muertos, also known as "The Day of the Dead." Dia de Los Muertos is a Mexican holiday where families gather to honor and pray for friends and family members who've passed. This year the holiday fell on a Tuesday (Election Day), but the celebrations happened all day yesterday. I reminded @DavidisALLright that the Vietnamese have a similar tradition but instead of everyone celebrating all on one day, we pray and remember our ancestors on the day of their death.

Anyhow, here are some photos from last night's festivities. There were a LOT of altars - every single one of them beautiful and meaningful. The streets of Birch and 4th were filled with the aroma of marigolds and sage; I even bought a couple ceramic sugar skulls, calaveras de azucar in Spanish. If you ever have an opportunity to go to a Dia de Los Muertos celebration, I highly recommend going and taking the kids. It's a cultural experience that cannot be missed.

My experience with the Kinect so far...

Good news: I'm not sore and I burned quite a few calories!
Bad news: My apartment does not have air conditioning so while I was up until midnight playing Dance Central, I was sweating like a kune kune piggy. Not very sexy (or cute).
Even worse news: The Kinect takes very unflattering photos of you and you can actually share them. I plan to delete all of mine thankyouverymuch.

We've only played two games on the Kinect - Kinect Adventures and Dance Central - and both are awesome to boot. Since we live in a tiny apartment, we had to reconfigure the furniture placement and came to the conclusion that we have a lot of furniture. Everyone knows (or cares to know) that the Kinect requires at least 6 to 10 feet of space for ultimate playability, and the device needs to be at least 2 to 6 feet off the ground. Yeah our Kinect was about 1.88 feet off the ground in front of our TV, and we barely had 6 feet of play space, and that includes pushing the futon/couch up against the dining table, which in turn was pretty flushed up against the sliding glass doors. Can we say fire marshal no-no?

To work around this dilemma, we figured that the best way to maximize our play space without sacrificing all our furniture was to mount the Kinect on the wall about 2 feet above the TV. After testing this method out and recalibrating the device, we got an additional 2 feet of play space - perfect! The bad news here is that we have to wait until there are more Kinect wall mounts in stock from EVERYWHERE, or we're going to have to pony up the $3 for a small shelf from Ikea.

Stay 'tuned for a review of Dance Central - the game that makes you feel like a cheerleader in a strip club :) 

#tweetyour16yearoldself

Yes, I know what today yesterday is was - YAY FOR THE KINECT!! We just picked ours up (well, tsudoku did; I just picked up Dance Central - woo!), but I want to focus on something else just for a moment. After this post, I promise to get back to talking about the Kinect and my review of Dance Central and Kinect Adventures :)

Today we're going to focus on Twitter's trending topics. I admit, I love Twitter but sometimes (okay, a lot of times) Twitter’s trending topics are freakin' stupid to say the least. Trending topics, usually prefaced with a hash tag (#), range from international aid (Haiti, Indonesia, Darfur) to Hollywood gossip (Demi Lovato goes to rehab, Lindsay Lohan is sentenced to x amount of days in rehab, Mel Gibson knocks out his baby mama, and then goes to rehab). Today's Yestereday's trending topic, however, was one that I could actually relate with: #tweetyour16yearoldself, or tweet your 16 year old self.



Me & tsudoku in high school; we were both probably 16 here



It’s been 11 years since I was 16 and a lot has changed since then (thankfully). I wholly believe that this topic started trending because of the unfortunate tidal wave of teenage suicides that have been happening all over the country as of late. These young people were literally bullied to death because of their sexual orientation, or because they were smaller than everyone else, or because they weren’t citizens, or because they were just trying to fit in.

Like a lot of other kids, I was picked on during junior high and high school probably because I didn’t say hi to someone. But I never had it as bad as these kids. My heart breaks for them and if I could go back and tell those kids (and my own 16 year old self) something in 140 characters or less, it’d probably be along the lines of:

Don’t deny the person that you are. Your quirks, talents, and knowledge are needed in this world. You have to bypass a lot of crap in order for things to get better.

Xbox Live Gamer Looking to Surpass the 1/2 Million Gamerscore Mark

I just read this amazing article about Stallion83, an Xbox Live gamer whose mission is to reach 1 million points!! He's currently got a Gamerscore of 500,000 and is recognized by Guinness World Records for having the highest Xbox Live Gamerscore IN THE WORLD!

How does he do it?! Well, according to Stallion83, he says that consistency is key. Some days he'll play 8 full hours, and other days he'll just play 10 minutes. In the end however, he admits he'll play any game to death.

I'll be rooting for this guy to make his goal and will be following him via his blog 1 Million Gamerscore.

Zombies Amongst Us

"'Twas the night before Halloween, when outside the house,
Some creature was stirring, too human to be a mouse.
The shotguns were hung by the chimney with care,
A warning to zombies that they should beware."

Tonight's post is kind of ironic considering I hate movies or games about the dead reanimated. True, I loved 28 Days Later, but that's not really about "zombies" per se; those crazies were more along the lines of human beings who were pissed off about being infected with some aggro-virus and were just looking to rip up anything as opposed to eating your brains. Oh, and we can't deny the comedy that is Shaun of the Dead; I mean, a Queen song was used in the movie for crying out loud!

Anyhoot, my office was hosting a Halloween costume contest and since I didn't participate last year, I figured I had a shot at winning this year's event. Here's a before picture of me:


Before the makeup and the madness - or how I normally look


And here's an after picture:

BRRRAAAAAIIIIINNNNNNNSSSSSS!!!

This is what happens when I don't have my morning cup of coffee, or my usual helping of Raisin Brain cereal.

November news

The first week or so of November is going to be hectic!

Nov. 2: Election Day. This will be the day that California voters will decide whether they should vote for or against marijuana legalization. Choose wisely voters, and read the voter information packet cover to cover!


Xbox 360 Slim with the Kinect

Nov. 4: The Kinect is officially released! I'm still entertaining the idea of taking the day off to set up the Kinect and start playing, dancing, racing, running...yeah, that's a lot of action verbs.

Nov. 9: Call of Duty: Black Ops is released. I might be standing in line for the midnight release with tsudoku at our local GameStop for this one (in which case, future blog post).



See you at midnight Nov. 9







And to think all of this will happen before Thanksgiving and the Black Friday madness.

Tonight's Soiree: Back to the Future



What year is it, again?  

Tonight one of my good buddies and I are going to go see the 25th anniversary digital re-release of Back to the Future at our local AMC theatre! Twenty-five years ago on October 25, 1985, one Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) literally drove back in time and accidentally messed up the past and realized he needed to fix it, otherwise there would be no future!

I was two when this movie was first released in theatres and I remember watching it over and over again when I was five to well into my preteen years (it's what happens when your parents own a video store). I can't wait to recapture my single-digit youth with a box of popcorn and a theatre full of excited and rowdy twenty- and thirty-somethings :)

Back from (New) Vegas: A Call of Duty recap

Woo!! It is so good to be back in town! Vegas, as much as I love you, your arid, desert environment combined with the constant cloud of cigarette smoke wrecks havoc on my skin. Overall, it was a great trip and believe it or not, quite relaxing. We took a lot of pictures with the fancy-schmancy DSLR, but I'm only going to show you the two most important photos from our trip to The Gun Store.

Cat says, "When the owner starts packing, I will place myself in the suitcase."

As long as I'm in this box, you can't go anywhere

That's my cat, Griffin, and he's got it all figured out that I'm leaving town in the immediate future (tonight actually). So what does he do? Being the genius that he is, he decides that the best way to keep me from leaving is to lay in my suitcase and look horribly miserable. Needless to say, my heart ached when I snapped this photo last night.

In case you were wondering, Griffin is about 7 years old and is an orange tabby that gets called "Garfield" a lot by kids. He has a younger brother that I officially adopted last year named Derry, NH. Seriously, that's his full name, although I didn't put the New Hampshire part down on his tag - people might get confused and wonder how a cat from New Hampshire made it all the way down to California. Derry was definitely someone's pet and we believe he was abandoned once the housing market tanked. I think he's part Maine Coon and the vet estimates that he's now about 3 or 4 years old. Here's a kinda fuzzy photo of Derry:



What's the point in having birds around if I can't eat them?


Hopefully all will be forgiven once we return from Vegas.

Heading to Vegas! (A Call of Duty related entry)



Las Vegas - The City of No Clocks

 Woo-hoo!! Vegas!!! Also known as "Sin City" and the "Land of Abandoned Inhibitions", and if you're not careful about where you sit, you may bring home something more than just an empty wallet.

I love Las Vegas. As a Southern California resident, it's only a four hour drive away - we don't even consider that outside of California! I've done many a turn-around trip from here to Vegas and back again - all in 24 hours (I was much younger then), and every time I go you can always count on one or the other happening:

1. You win (not very likely unless you're a really lucky person, in which case, let me buy you a drink), or
2. You lose (very likely, especially if you have a gambling problem).

Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage - the XBL demo



Scene from Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage; image courtesy of
Amazon

 If it weren't for @JoystiqXbox for blasting the PSA about the forthcoming Fist of the North Star: Ken's Rage demo on Xbox Live, I wouldn't have even known that this button-mashing game was going to be released just right before the holidays.

After waiting for the game to download for about 45 minutes (1.31 GB file AND I completely forgot that nothing will DL if you're watching Netflix - my bad) and about 45 minutes worth of gameplay on Legend mode (story mode based on the manga), I've reached the following conclusion:

I royally suck at this game.

Movie of the Night: Tank Girl

As I'm writing this post the wonderful Lori Petty is squawking in the background in a role that was practically written for her by none other than Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett. Yes, that Jamie Hewlett, the awesome artist who along with Blur frontman Damon Albarn created the super-awesome-fantastic legitimately animated band the Gorillaz. Yup, Tank Girl is on the tube (thank you, Netflix)!

I never got to watch Tank Girl before tonight, nor have I ever read the comic book, but seriously! I must've been living under a rock or something because this movie is awesome (even though it was critically panned but who listens to critics, anyway), and here's why:  

LIMBO: My progress thus far

Watch out for that pit



I probably should've updated this about two weeks ago, but my progress in LIMBO is going pretty well. In fact, I've 98% of the game.

That's right, 98%.

What the heck does that mean, you ask? It means that according to the 'Cheevy Squad I haven't unlocked the final achievement to warrant a congratulatory clap handshake and a card that says, "Yay! You beat the game and as promised, here's some cake." Instead, I've been listening to the sound of crickets and once again, the cake was a complete and total LIE (there is no cake). Frickin' frakkin' frakker.

Fake It Like Bacon Blog Stats - THANK YOU!

So I just read my blog stats and found out that most of my page views come from the following three countries: United States, United Kingdom, and Canada, followed by a host of different European countries and a scatter of East Asian ones. I AM ABSOLUTELY OVER THE MOON ABOUT THIS!

I'll be honest, when I started this blog I had no expectations that anyone would even bother to read what I had to say. I figured if anyone came across this blog it was only because of the "Next Blog" button at the top of the Blogger header, or maybe someone even decided to Google the words "bacon" and "fake it" just to see what would come up and voila! This was where they landed! I do apologize to those who were sorely disappointed that this was NOT what they were looking for when they typed in the keywords "fake it." (Not really).

Super happy lift-off dance! (BoxEIGHT Studios, Los Angeles, CA)



Anyhow, I think this is terrific news; it's even inspired me to be a bit more diligent in uploading content to my lil' bloggie if it means that someone out there is reading the dribble I'm writing. I've learned so much from this experience and hope to continue sharing my gaming and real world experiences with you, my audience (I can't believe I just wrote that).

Thank you so much for reading this blog, even if you didn't really mean to.

- Vickipedia (Tuff Ryd3rz)


PS: I noticed that one of the more popular page views was on my post in bringing Justice to Julian Collender. It would mean THE WORLD to me if you could sign the e-petition found on http://www.justiceforjulian.com/ so that the Orange County D.A.'s office can ensure that a thorough, unbiased investigation will provide details into the police-related shooting death of this young man. You can read more about it on my post and on the aforementioned site. And, it would be great if you asked your friends and family to sign the petition too. Thanks so much, everyone! Brownie points for all if you made it this far!

At this very moment...

...tsudoku is at home playing Medal of Honor with the rest of the Tactical Gaming team, Miller Squad.

We stood in (a very short) line last night for the midnight release of the game at our local GameStop and he's been playing it since we got home. I believe he came to bed around 2:30 a.m., woke up at 6:30 to feed the cats, and as I was walking out the door, he was sending a party invite to one of his friends, khazadhea.

By the way, he's only been playing non-stop because I threatened to walk out with the game and take it with me to work.



tsudoku at the end of the line & some guy, approximately 12:15 a.m.



Tonight: School of Seven Bells at the Detroit Bar!



Benjamin Curtis, Alejandra & Claudia Deheza



 

YES! Tonight's the night I get to take my buddy David Ziggy (@DavidisALLright) to see School of Seven Bells (@sviib) at the Detroit Bar (@DetroitBar)! So many Twitter handles...hmm. I'm absolutely excited about tonight's show!!

I first fell in love with SVIIB's sound when I downloaded the Ghostly Swim (@ghostly) compilation from the Adult Swim site a couple years ago. KCRW (an affiliate of NPR's radio broadcast) also started adding their tracks to their nightly rotation during that same time.

I only know like, three songs from them, but it doesn't matter - I'm hooked! Hopefully, @DavidisALLright will feel the same way too! Happy early birthday buddy!! :)

Cute Lil' Bacon Bits

Today I'd like us to slow down and take a break from the fast-paced world of gaming and focus on something a bit more...aw-worthy and cute. Allow me to introduce you to the wonderful world of the kune kune piggy:


Oh hai! I iz kyoot kune-kune piggie and I wubz u!

Cold Games to Counteract this Blazing Heat

Autumn officially started September 23rd and it's now blazing hot here in Southern California. So to honor this ridiculous fall weather heat, I've put together a very short list of games we can play to make it feel like we're sitting in an ice box. Of course, since my list is incomplete, I will gladly take any suggestions for some games that'll go great with a frozen beverage.

Current XBLA Obsession: LIMBO by Playdead Studios

When I said I'd be right back, I didn't mean right away. =)

So here I am and let me start things off by telling you about my current obsession while I wait for the new A World for Keflings, Fable 3 and oh, yes, the KINECT (yes, I went to GameStop and reserved my VERY FIRST GAMING SYSTEM...actually, it's more of an add-on considering our current Xbox is still in working condition). This new obsession has a simple name and a simple premise; it's called LIMBO. The objective: to find out what happened to your sister (and to make it out alive).

...more after the jump

Bring Justice to Julian Collender - a plea to the public

On June 30, 2010, a man I was fortunate enough to have known for a short while was fatally shot and killed by the Brea Police Department in Orange County, CA. His name was Julian “Jules” Stanley Collender and he was 25 years old. I am writing to ask that you help me bring justice to Julian by signing the e-petition that can be found on http://justiceforjulian.com for a thorough, unbiased investigation in hopes that it will provide details of this tragic event.

...details provided after the jump