Ovi (and his beefy dad) returns, at Dulles Airport:  
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capitals-insider/wp/2013/01/08/alex-ovechkin-returns-to-washington/

One interesting bit I read in a column -- apparently the 48-game season will include NO games between teams in different conferences.

Biggest worry will probably be injuries like groin injuries and other strains. The Caps trainer talked about needing to talk to each player about what they've been up to in terms of training and conditioning, and needing to individualize plans for each player. The Caps had two guys in Hershey (AHL), one up in Alaska (Joey Crabb in the ECHL I think), and then players playing on teams all over Europe. But many chose to stay put. So everyone's going to be in diverse condition, and then they'll have to forget whatever style they played to learn Adam Oates' new system, as well as the much more physical NHL style.

My only nitpick is they should call this "The Most Eagerly Anticipated PC Games of 2013" or "The Most Promising PC Games of 2013." Calling it "The Best" seems putting the cart before the horse.  And, it'll be interesting to re-visit their list in a year and see how many of the games actually got released.

I've heard HE Top loads can ruin clothes.

My mom got a top loading HE washer a couple years ago from Home Depot for her house. The caveats:

-While you would think not using an agitator would be gentler on clothing, I've had numerous collar buttons yanked out of my shirts. Which virtually never happened with agitator washers. I don't know if I'd say they "ruin" clothes, but the manual had a lot of cautions about reminding you to zip up and button certain things. The HE water jet process seems to sort of thrash clothing in a way that can pull and yank on certain things (like collars, apparently). Beyond that, I haven't had any problems with HE damaging clothing -- just be sure to use an HE detergent, not regular laundry detergent.

-If you overload or unbalance the load, sometimes it will just stop in the middle of a load. If you're not there to see the weird digital readout gibberish that warns you about it, it can be frustrating, esp. if it gets stuck in wash cycle (i.e., soggy clothing). This hasn't happened to us in several months now -- we're just kind of careful about how we load it.
-It's a minor inconvenience, but you have to use one of these HE washer cleaner capsule things, maybe once every 15 washes. The machine has a little reminder light about that when it's time to use it.
-While the HE washer we got was billed as very quiet, there are times when the water jets or whatever make a very peculiar sound, very different from that of an agitator washer. This is considered "normal." Overall, it's pretty quiet in operation.

CSN says they're meeting Tuesday to ratify it, and need to decide if they want a 48 or 50 game season starting by Jan. 19. It's deemed "tentative" fwiw.

Various linkage:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/06/us/nhl-tentative-deal/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

http://nhl-red-light.si.com/2013/01/06/tentative-deal-reached-to-end-lockout/?sct=hp_t11_a6&eref=sihp

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capitals-insider/wp/2013/01/06/nhl-lockout-owners-players-reach-tentative-agreement-on-cba-framework/

Sorry for your pain.  

I felt that way after buying Rockstar's LA Noire earlier this year. Which wouldn't run on my machine unless there was a very particular version of MS Framework running. Which required hours of troubleshooting, rolling back my entire PC's settings, etc. By the time I could actually install the game and successfully run it, I was so pissed off, I didn't want to play the damn game anymore. Don't ask me how I felt when Steam proceeded to put it on 50% off sale weeks after release.   Probably I will never buy another Rockstar PC game.

Still, I've had lots of fun and few technical issues during 2012 with Diablo III (well OK the servers were fubared after launch), Mass Effect 3 (more for the co-op so the Ending furor didn't really affect me), X-COM: Enemy Unknown, Torchlight 2, Borderlands 2 and many $19-$29 XBLA games that turned out quite fun in their PC iterations (Renegade Ops, Mark of the Ninja, etc. etc.).

So I would say, once you recover from your wounds, look around at what else is out there, as an old strategy game not updating and a bleeding edge FPS shooter not working all that well doesn't reflect the whole of PC gaming.   While I'm in a gaming funk now, looking back, it was a pretty fine, fun year for PC gaming even if not everything really lived up to inflated expectations.

fwiw, I have an aging quad-core with an aging ATI HD 5670 video card and an aging OS (Vista 64-bit) that is still problematic in certain games. I am NOT on the bleeding edge at all.  

From io9.

Because of their formatting I wont cut and paste the article but it might be a good one to look at so you can plan your sci-fi year!

The ones I am looking forward to

Oz the Great and Powerful (March
Oblivion (April 19/April 12 in IMAX)
Iron Man 3 (May 3)
Star Trek Into Darkness (May 17)
Man of Steel (June 14)
Pacific Rim (July 12)
Elysium (August 9)
and
Thor: The Dark World (Nov.

Whenever I've done similar release-date lists, I have always found it amusing/exasperating the way 8 followed by close-parentheses creates a "cool smiley" instead 

2012 has really been a great year for all kinds of movies (including but not just comic book/scifi/fantasy/action), and I hope 2013 delivers that same variety.

Putting the Red in Red Band trailers:
http://collider.com/evil-dead-trailer/221482/#more-221482

I'm not sure it's scary but it might make me vomit in my mouth a little 

If you liked Titan Quest, I would try both Diablo III and Torchlights I and II. I liked, even loved those for a time, but they just didn't have the legs for me that Diablo I/II had -- but I'm not 32-35 anymore either.  

And even though both games (D3, TL2) sort of advanced co-op multiplayer in their own way, I didn't find either quite as much fun as the earlier Diablo games in spite of their lacking the advancements, nearly everyone having broadband today etc. I guess I'm weird and perhaps too old for gaming now -- I always keep feeling like I had more fun in the days of 9600 baud modems and CRT monitors and crude VGA/SVGA graphics.

[Hayley Atwell Will Not Return for CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER]

We all know Internet "confirmations" are often wrong, but it does seem like Hayley Atwell is confirmed as Not returning in any way for The Winter Soldier. 

Hayley Atwell Will Not Return for CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER
http://collider.com/hayley-atwell-captain-america-2-sequel-winter-soldier/221225/comment-page-1/#comment-517948

The confirmation's in an interview:
http://www.timeout.com/london/feature/3475/interview-hayley-atwell-for-restless

But it was last year’s double-whammy of Golden Globe nomination for miniseries ‘The Pillars of the Earth’ and blockbuster debut as Chris Evans’s’ all-action girlfriend in ‘Captain America: the First Avenger’ that brought her to international attention. She won’t, she confirms, be back for the latter’s sequel, which moves the action into the present day.

I'm not sobbing so much as to the absence of her as appealing eye candy (they're dutifully casting another actress as Sharon Carter), but I doubt they'll find someone with her fizzy chemistry with Chris Evans, or who's reasonably believable wielding a Thompson and punching out an obnoxious recruit. 

NHLPA didn't file the disclaimer to disband the union and file lawsuits, so that sounds like a sign they have a reasonably strong belief now a deal can get done:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capitals-insider/wp/2013/01/03/nhlpa-doesnt-file-disclaimer-some-progress-made-in-labor-negotiations/

Although it's still not there yet, they are - at last - actually sending proposals back and forth and keeping the lines of communication open. Hell, even Bettman sounds optimistic instead of like the Grim Reaper. So lets hope for something by or before Jan. 11.  

If the differences on the cap are "just" $5M, I'm hoping they can simply split the difference ($62.5M), although clearly I'm probably just a rube who doesn't understand how complicated it is.  

How was the first 9 minutes of Star Trek into Darkness? I keep asking but nobody answers.  

I almost saw The Hobbit on New Year's Day, but caught Life of Pi (not playing in many theaters now) because I figured The Hobbit will be in theaters much longer. Maybe this weekend.

[The Global MMO Market; Sizing and Seizing Opportunities]

For a look back on 2012 in MMOs, check out this infographic (pointed out by PC Gamer online):

The Global MMO Market; Sizing and Seizing Opportunities
http://www.newzoo.com/infographics/the-global-mmo-market-sizing-and-seizing-opportunities/

Speaking of PC Gamer, they did a pretty exhaustive preview (albeit, some are super short mentions) of 2013 PC games here:
http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/01/01/2013-preview/

The 2013 MMOs preview portion is here:
http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/01/01/2013-preview/5/

imho, the days of major studios spending millions upon millions on an MMO are over. It's pretty clear the WoW model (in today's economy anyway) is Fool's Gold. Nearly every major MMO (some holdouts such as WoW and Rift remain non F2P) has gone F2P, sometimes thriving, sometimes just simply surviving.

Myself, I've just stopped playing them. If you'd told me a few years ago that LOTRO, AoC, Champions, STO and SWTOR would all be F2P, and yet, I just wouldn't care or that when I tried to get back into those games they just don't hook me anymore, I would've laughed. At least for me, the sad thing is, by the time each of those games went F2P, I and most of the pals I had enjoyed playing those MMOs with simply didn't care anymore.

I still miss stuff like Tabula Rasa, and I wish City of Heroes had found a 2nd life with another publisher.

Still I'm interested in what's on top for 2013 and am eager to learn more. The games on PC Gamer's list, for the most part I don't know much about and it'll be interesting to see which - if any - live up to the hype.  

As far as predictions? I'd predict Elder Scrolls Online because it's not trying too hard to be different in terms of setting (fantasy etc.), it's a well known IP many gamers love, and the team seems to have enough Mythic veterans to not get in over its head on the technical "launch and run a huge MMO successfully" side of things.

I love isometric stuff, so Shadowrun Online's definitely on my radar screen (http://www.shadowrun.com/shadowrun-online/) though I can't really see it as "the next major MMO."  

[Oct. 18, 2013:]

Release date bumped waaaaay back, to Oct. 18, 2013:
http://collider.com/carrie-release-date/221306/#more-221306
Original release date was March 13.

So either they think it will be a big Halloween blockbuster, or it's so bad that they thing people will be more likely to take a chance on it at a time when they are craving scary movies.

You read my mind.

My split personality thought was:
Conspiracy Theory: It sucks, they think it'll get meat-ground in March, so lets shove it to near Halloween to make a buck.
Techno Theory: Because it's likely a CGI FX-heavy movie (unlike DePalma's film, which relied more on "practical effects" and stunt work), esp. to portray the post Prom devastation in more widespread form like in the book, perhaps they decided they needed a few more months to work on FX work and/or reshoots.
Cynical Theory: Once the studio found out there wasn't a Saw or Paranormal Activity sequel that would suck up all the box office oxygen around Halloween 2013, they said "Who Ha!" and went for the new release date.

I guess Cynical and Conspiracy are interchangeable in this case. 

[Oct. 18, 2013:]

Release date bumped waaaaay back, to Oct. 18, 2013:
http://collider.com/carrie-release-date/221306/#more-221306
Original release date was March 13.

I don't usually get motion sick in 3rd person games but for some reason the PC demo of this caused me a lot of queasiness (Just Cause 2 also caused me problems). I'd love to know whether there's some way (maybe an .ini file?) to adjust the Field of View in this game, as adjusting the built-in FOV setting seemed to help me greatly in Borderlands 2 (and that's an FPS where I expected problems).

I hope The Line gets a sequel where maybe some of the squad AI problems could get worked out.

I loved his shows when I was a kid, for some reason it was Captain Scarlet and Joe 90 that my brother and I got the most wrapped up in. RIP Gerry and thanks for all the wonderful Saturday mornings.

Ditto. I was crazy about Captain Scarlet in 5th grade or so.  

A few years ago I bought the DVD set of it. And I just found the show unwatchable. It's not the puppetry that bothered me as an adult. It's just the show's pacing was often sluggish.

Sad thing that we can only be 10 years old once.   If I can find the DVD box I'll post a pic later.

[NHL owners make new CBA offer to NHLPA]

Maybe, possibly, the NHL owners have finally "given in," a tiny bit. It's according to some anonymous NHL player, ESPN says, and the NHL won't yet confirm it.

NHL owners make new CBA offer to NHLPA
http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/8786610/nhl-presents-new-offer-time-runs-short-player-source-says

The NHLPA has scheduled a 3 p.m. ET players internal conference call to discuss the offer, a source said.

Details of the new offer include:

• Term limit on player contracts moves to six years from the five years NHL asked in previous offers (seven years if you're re-signing your own player).

• Year-to-year salary variance moves from 5 percent (NHL's previous offers) to 10 percent.

• Each team will be allowed one compliance buyout before the 2013-14 season that will not count against the salary cap but will count against the players' share.

• The Make Whole provision stays at $300 million.

Realistically, they have a little over two weeks left before the season's likely officially flushed.

On closer examination, the greater loss is that Mazzara's a talented writer, who scripted (so far) 6 episodes in Season 3.

Glen also has very deep experience in TV both on network (Life, Criminal Minds, Nash Bridges) and basic cable (The Shield, Crash, Hawthorne), as showrunner, executive producer, writer etc.

And I wasn't sold on him initially. I just saw him as some guy who worked on The Shield being plugged in for Darabont out of desperation. Arguably, he may have even been a better fit than Darabont just cause Mazzara had so much experience in TV and presumably understood budget limitations and what he could and couldn't ask for, how to work with tight deadlines etc.

So, it's not just that AMC's choosing not to work out differences with a good showrunner -- imho, they're removing a key member of The Walking Dead's writing staff and removing all that helpful experience/background in TV he brought to the team.

As far as a replacement, I don't know there's anyone on the current production team that would make sense as showrunner. Kirkman is still a comic book writer afterall, and has another TV show he's working on. I'd say one possibility -- even if he has zero showrunner experience per se -- is makeup guru Greg Nicotero, who has directed three episodes this season so far, and was promoted to co-executive producer this season. He also has had "story" credits on several episodes this season. So my bet is on Greg IF AMC chooses to promote within.

I just don't understand AMC's decision making. They also kicked out Hell on Wheels' co-creators. And yet shows like Mad Men and Breaking Bad are incredibly stable in the showrunner department.

I don't know what it is about The Walking Dead that's so incendiary that people can't get on the same page, whether it's AMC vs. the staff, or people in the writing staff/production team not seeing eye to eye.

More at USA Today:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2012/12/21/the-walking-dead-glen-mazzara-robert-kirkman/1785007/

According to a statement released jointly with Mazzara, "the two parties have mutually decided to part ways. Glen guided the series creatively for seasons 2 and 3. AMC is grateful for his hard work. We are both proud of our shared success."

The announcement also said that AMC and Mazzara had "a difference of opinion about where the show should go moving forward, and conclude that it is best to part ways. This decision is amicable and Glen will remain on for post-production on season 3B as showrunner and executive producer."

Almost immediately, show creator Robert Kirkman released his own statement saying he fully supported AMC and Mazzara in the decision and that he understood it was made in the best interest of the show.

"I thank Glen for his hard work and appreciate his many contributions to The Walking Dead and look forward to working with him as we complete post production on Season 3," Kirkman said. "I am also excited to begin work on another spectacular season of this show that I know means so much to so many people. This show has always been the result of a wide range of extremely talented men and women working tirelessly to produce their best work collectively. I believe the future is bright for The Walking Dead. Thank you to the fans for your continued support."

Executive producer Gale Anne Hurd released her own statement: "I am appreciative and grateful to Glen for his hard work on The Walking Dead. I am supportive of AMC and Glen's decision and know that the series is in great hands with one of the most talented and dedicated casts and crews in the business. I look forward to the show's continued success."

No word on who will pick up showrunner duties when Mazzara leaves.

What a bunch of politically correct press release baloney, imho.  

I'm tempted to say that Glen M. got Darabonted (I bet he wanted to set Season 4 somewhere that would cost too much money to do), and AMC simply learned from how poorly it handled that departure that it's better to put out rosy press releases rather than wait for entertainment press to dig up what happened.

[The United]

The United?  Ack.  Never, ever, ever call DC United "The United".

 

My brother and I attended one of the playoff games The United played in, in D.C. in the Fall. I still can't wrap my tiny brain around the idea of tie games in the playoffs.

Yuck.

I never will forget being home sick with pink eye in middle school, and my mother bringing me one of these for lunch.

If you had eaten the entire sandwich, it would've cured your pink eye.  Don't say that's not true. You'll never know! 

[NHL Cancels All Games Through Jan. 14]

NHL Cancels All Games Through Jan. 14
http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/nhl-cancels-games-jan-14-18020626#.UNOYk6wsuN8

In the latest round of cancellations, the NHL on Thursday wiped out all games through Jan. 14. More than 50 percent of the schedule has been lost, and the rest is now in great danger, too.

I think mid February is when the 2004-2005 cancellation was announced, though we're more often seeing mid-January or so mentioned as a point of no return ... I suppose it's a very squishy line in the sand.  

It's weird here. The Capitals' TV broadcasting team did a local high school team the other night, including TV interviews of players.

The 'Skins are on an exciting win streak, but the Wizards are a joke, the United (soccer) finished their season and the Nats are months away. This would normally be prime time for the Caps and instead.... *crickets chirping*

[11 Amazing Facts about the McDonald's McRib]

How did I not get assigned to do this article?   Saw this mentioned on Blue's News, of all places...

11 Amazing Facts about the McDonald's McRib
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/11-amazing-facts-about-the-mcdonald-s-mcrib-170212930.html
*The article has more details, but here's the basic list.

1. The McRib came about because of a shortage of chickens.
2. The McRib was inspired by Southern BBQ.
3. The McRib is a product of "restructured meat technology."
4. The whole process from fresh pork to frozen McRib takes about 45 minutes.
5. The entire McRib sandwich contains about 70 ingredients — including a flour-bleaching agent used in yoga mats. (YUM!)
6. The McRib debuted in 1981, disappeared in 1985, and has resurfaced from time-to-time since 1994.
7. Individual restaurants can actually order the ingredients for the McRib at any time.
8. McDonald's keeps the McRib scarce because the sandwich's entire brand relies on it.
9. It'd be incredibly difficult for McDonald's to create more McRib-esque products, because that cult-like following is so hard to replicate.
10. There's also speculation that the McRib is really just a big commodity trade by McDonald's.
11. Animal rights group sues McRib meat supplier over inhumane treatment of pigs.

These are my favorite passages:  

Although the McRib doesn't contain a single bone, [Chicken McNugget Inventor Rene] Arend suggested the meat be patterned after a slab of ribs instead of the classic round patty.
...
According to an article from Chicago magazine, which cites a 1995 article by Mandigo, "restructured meat product" contains a mixture of tripe, heart, and scalded stomach, which is then mixed with salt and water to extract proteins from the muscle. The proteins bind all the pork trimmings together so that it can be re-molded into any specific shape — in this case, a fake slab of ribs.
...
Director of McDonald's U.S. supply chain Rob Cannell explained how regular pig gets transformed into the famed McRib in an interview with Maxim: "The McRib is made in large processing plants—lots of stainless steel, a number of production lines, and these long cryogenic freezers. The pork meat is chopped up, then seasoned, then formed into that shape that looks like a rib back. Then we flash-freeze it. The whole process from fresh pork to frozen McRib takes about 45 minutes."

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....

I still don't get why they don't just distribute the chopped up pork and then let the workers assemble sandwiches using a "pork grease gun" (kind of like the caulking-like dispensers they use at Taco Bell for taco ground beef) or something. That would look more like the shredded BBQ people get at restaurants, rather than looking like something from a squid-pig hybrid. 

[Exclusive: Damon Lindelof Is Not Writing the PROMETHEUS Sequel; Explains Why]

Exclusive: Damon Lindelof Is Not Writing the PROMETHEUS Sequel; Explains Why
http://collider.com/prometheus-sequel-damon-lindelof/219084/#more-219084

But much to the delight of all the fanboys, I don’t see myself being involved in Prometheus-er.”

Yippee!!!!  Although, since I'm not a fan of Prometheus, I guess I'm not eligible to be a "fanboy" per se.

[THQ's news release:]

http://www.giantbomb.com/news/thq-simultaneously-files-chapter-11-bankruptcy-secures-buyer-for-companys-assets-updated/4477/

So this just popped up. Good to know that my favorite upcoming THQ games will still have a home, and a release.

Only thing that makes me nervous (well, the "key" thing) is this "stalking horse bidder" private equity firm (Clearwater Capital) has zero experience with publishers/devs in videogame/PC game development. Nada. So it's great they have "software and tech" experience but Buy.com, NetMotion wireless and Smart Sand don't fall into the realm of videogames.

http://www.clearlakecapital.com/portfolio.html

Flip side? I'm writing about private equity firms acquiring other companies all the time. Many of the equity firms specialize in taking over "distressed assets" (i.e., often companies in bankruptcy, some on the brim of liquidating) on the cheap, turning them around and then selling them for a profit. Not too different in concept than buying some crappy house/condo, investing in lots of improvements, and then finding a buyer.

So, I wouldn't think Clearlake would go after THQ if they didn't honestly feel they could get it back in good shape to sell it later. I'm just saying -- they have no apparent experience in videogame publishing/development.
=======
Boring Stuff:

THQ's news release:
http://investor.thq.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=96376&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1768687&highlight=

Definition of "stalking horse bidder" at Investopedia:

This method allows the distressed company to avoid low bids on its assets. Once the stalking horse has made its bid, other potential buyers may submit competing bids for the bankrupt company's assets. In essence, the stalking horse sets the bar so that other bidders can't low-ball the purchase price.

This means my plan to get everyone at the GT forums to pool our resources to buy THQ probably won't happen. 

1.21 gigawatts!

Actually, I'm approaching 285,000 miles on my '96 Corolla. I'm torn between replacing it or just driving it until it disintegrates around me. 

only just got round to watching that new trailer

for the first minute or so i thought they had stolen the soundtrack for the Man of Steel Teaser trailer ..similar music and older voice talking(trying to give advice)


I just think they are trying to mind meld fuck us,with the Wrath of Khan stuff with what you guys are talking about and the hand thing that Bull mentioned

How do we know Spock isn't wearing a two-toned shirt, and he's reaching around a glass shield to press against .... his OWN HAND???!!!! 

You won't fool me, JJ....

There are two screams.  The second one has a little bit more to it, though it's a bit of a stretch to say it's Kahn.

Maybe she's screaming Caan.

Maybe it's "Han!" A Star Wars crossover? 

[Indiana Jones: Mystery of University of Chicago package solved]

Mystery solved, the answer was so boring 

Indiana Jones: Mystery of University of Chicago package solved
http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2012/12/18/indiana-jones-mystery-of-university-of-chicago-package-solved/

In the end, it wasn’t a prank or a promotional stunt on the part of Lucasfilm or even a bizarre trans-dimensional crack in the line between reality and fiction.

It was a simple accident.

The package, which contained an apparently handmade re-creation of Abner Ravenwood’s diary, originated with a man named Paul, an Indiana Jones prop replicator in Guam, according to the university’s admissions office Tumblr page.

Paul had recently sold the item on Ebay for $200 to a buyer in Italy, but while the package was in transit, the manila envelope containing the diary slipped out. Believing the faux Egyptian postage affixed to the outside of the envelope to be real, the United States Postal Service shipped the package to Henry Walton Jones Jr. at the University of Chicago.

Interesting news from an SOE e-mail: Sony Online Entertainment is abandoning ship but former members of the dev co. (Flying Lab) plan to migrate players over and continue the game independently. Too bad this couldn't happen with City of Heroes, eh?  

After much review and consideration, SOE and Flying Lab Software have decided that Pirates of the Burning Sea will leave the SOE family of games on January 31, 2013.

Portalus Games, a new company made up of former Flying Lab employees, is planning to re-launch the game on its own platform in the near future.

Portalus Games plans to continue operation of both the Roberts and Antigua servers upon the re-launch. If you wish to have access to your existing characters when Portalus relaunches the game, you will need to create a Portalus Games account and link your game data to that account before January 31, 2013 (details below).

Please note that none of your SOE account data or personal information will be transferred in this process.

More information about Portalus Games, the new team, and upcoming plans for Pirates of the Burning Sea will be available on the Portalus Games site: http://link.e-sonyonline.com/u.d?AYGtmZULwYytph_ab1QF=251

I'd be game probably this weekend.

I miss playing with ya both in Mass Effect 3. I just don't want to break another keyboard playing ME3.  

I am not sure I have you guys on my Steam friends list (obviously I have you guys on my Origin list).   I haven't gotten crazy far in Borderlands 2. I think I've got one character up to the early teens, and otherwise a couple lower level types.

I've got Left 4 Dead 2 and Killing Floor but have never played them. Is anyone interested in getting a group together to play one of these sometime?

I'll probably crosspost on OO.

I'd be game this weekend. I'm really not playing anything these days but certainly have those. I constantly forget in Killing Floor how to use the equipment store between rounds. I need a refresher on that.  

fwiw, I find Borderlands 2 more fun in co-op, though maybe that's because I'm less prone to motion sickness in it. 

[Rise of the Hutt Cartel]

Digital expansion announced! ($19.99, or $9.99 for current subscribers):

Rise of the Hutt Cartel
http://www.swtor.com/rothc?intcmp=sor_bwa-mkt-t-us-rhp-004

The first Digital Expansion for The Old Republic™ introduces an aggressive new enemy threatening the future of the galaxy: the Hutt Cartel

    Experience 5 new levels, including story-driven missions, as the level cap increases to 55!
    Face-off against a frightening new enemy when you battle the nefarious Hutt Cartel.
    The fate of the new planet Makeb is at stake... and in your hands.
    Stay tuned for more information coming soon - Over the next few months we will reveal more exciting new features!

Who's excited! Does anyone care? ... Me neither...

I can't really remember any Superman stories where he does mope or feel sorry for himself so I hope the don't try to introduce that into the character.

Superman 2?

Yea he gave up his powers and went to a bar to get hammered, or was that 3?

It was 3 where he was evil Superman and went to the bar and got hammered(and flicked the peanuts at the bottles behind the bar,LOL)...i don't remember him getting hammered after giving up his powers in Superman 2,although he did get the shit kicked out of him at that Diner

I thought he had a beer at the diner after giving up his powers in 2.  I'm sure his depowered body couldn't handle alcohol...

But, yeah, that's not really getting hammered.

As I recall, Clark and Lois went to the diner for breakfast -- after their first "mere mortal" love tryst at the Fortress of 'tude.   I'm pretty sure no beer's involved, just coffee perhaps.  

The trucker bully at the bar (who's eating eggs and sausage or something) makes some sleazy remarks about Lois, Clark gets up from their table, goes over to the bully to tell him to apologize, the bully smashes Clark in the face, sending him sprawling into a glass display etc.

The return to the diner at the end still has one of my favorite lines. "I've never seen garbage eat garbage before." 

I'm still not sure how I feel about them digging up Superman II's villains for this. I had voted for Braniac as a new villain rather than continuing to over-use the not terribly interesting Lex Luthor or now General Zod and co.

Link was pulled due to copyright claim by Paramount. Any signs of an official link yet?

What am I today, your monkey?

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/paramount/startrekintodarkness/

- Ash

Monkey see, monkey do! Thanks.  

Maybe Carol Marcus was Khan before a clever sex change operation performed by Gary with his special powers after he filed for his name change from Harrison.  See? I know how Damon Lindelof's mind works 

New trailer out today.  Last line has to be a hint, yes?

link to said trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ilfvdChMkw

Link was pulled due to copyright claim by Paramount. Any signs of an official link yet?

I refuse to read anything into the Fortune Cookie/Magic 8-Ball hint stylings of Lindelof and Abrams. It could be like "Super 8" or M. Night Shammy's "Signs," where you get all hot and bothered about a mystery and "what does it all mean!" when in the end it's "Aliens are bad guys!" Woop-de-doo! It just wouldn't surprise me if these various bread crumb hints are simply red herrings.

[Victims of the Newtown School Shooting]

I stopped sharing news links because it seemed like information was changing literally on the hour.

Here are some links about the victims. The 20 children were all in the ages 5-7 range:

Victims of the Newtown School Shooting (Channel 8 in Conn.)
http://www.wtnh.com/generic/news/newtown-ct-school-shooting-victims

Faces of the Victims (Wash. Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/nation/newtown-school-shooting-victims/

I always wonder how I'd react in that type of situation, and hope I never find out. By all accounts, the principal and school psychologist (women in their 40s and 50s) rushed towards the sound of gunfire and were gunned down before they could reach the shooter. I recall at least one teacher at the Va. Tech shooting in 2007 reacted the same way (telling some students to stay in his upstairs office while he rushed towards the sounds).

McNuggets are always necessary!  as are the two holiday pies which didn't make the picture.

Are you by chance posting from a hospital bed?

I'm hoping CeeKay's family ate this as a group meal. Right? 

Only the civilzed man eats his McDonald's on a plate.

(was the extra order of McNuggets really necessary there?)

Agreed, man. I love it though, thanks Ceekay. I assumed McNuggets were the appetizer.  

The funny thing is, I had awesome Real baby back ribs for lunch Saturday, and it made me feel bad this morning. It's like my organs respond better to McDonalds and Wendy's   I guess I need fast food detox....

If anybody saw the 9 minutes last night, give up the details already