I'd avoid Florida all together. It's too expensive, too hot, and way too touristy. Look at Myrtle Beach, SC ,  Charleston, SC or something along those lines. Myrtle Beach has the longest contiguous beach in North America. We love going there, you can get a more affordable vacation, you can travel from Myrtle Beach to Charleston in less than 2 hours, you can also make Savannah Ga a stopping point. There are theme parks and water parks, and did I mention some awesome beaches. For you and the Wife, there are things like the historical tours, great dining and other cultural spots. The best part, especially in Charleston, it doesn't feel like school. You take a horse carriage tour, a ghost tour and walk around the beautiful battery park and your kids will have no idea that they are in the middle of history.

I don't know if priceline.com works in the UK, but we were able to name our price. $89 a night for a four star hotel in downtown Charleston, you can book flights and other stuff too. Everything was in walking distance, and we made a couple of day trips to some of the different beaches around Charleston.

got a Wii? Five bucks is little to be able to play it perfectly on the Wii. I have all the Castlevania titles on the Virtual Console and it is well worth it.

Also, by law, if you own the cart you can have the ROM.

Call the doctor's office and argue, I bet you can get it reduced based on this. He cost you money, and enough huffing and puffing will generally work.

UTZ smokin sweet kettle chips are a sin, so I don't eat them because it is physically impossible to not over eat them.

just gonna go out on a wing here, and say that while the teaser looked neat-o, I have little to no faith in Shinji Mikami anymore. His latest games have been pretty lackluster, and I fully expect some weird off the wall decision with respects to controls of gameplay that just take a game that could be awesome and make it no fun. It's just the way he designs games lately, he tries too hard to make square pegs fit in round holes.

# God Hand (2006) - director
# Killer 7 (2005) - story, executive producer
# Resident Evil 4 (2005) - story, director[3]
# Gyakuten Saiban 3 (2004) - executive producer
# Dino Crisis 3 (2003) - executive producer
# Viewtiful Joe (2003) - executive producer
# P.N. 03 (2003) - director
# Gyakuten Saiban 2 (2002) - executive producer
# Steel Battallion (2002) - general produce

Now some will argue that God Hand and Killer 7 are/were a lot of fun, but I still say that you had to "get" those games to really "enjoy" them. Resident Evil 4 is the only one of that list that really had any mainstream appeal, and even then a lot of folks didn't like those design decisions. So I would be very cautious about Vanquish, as I expect more P.N.03 and less Resident Evil 4.

And yet, you still can't use it in New Super Mario Bros

Like you need to? I mean the sideways wii-remote works fine. I believe the main reason is that NSMB uses some motion controls. I've never been playing NSMB and looked at my wife and said, man the classic controller would make this so much more fun.

I am in for the super classic controller - I may even go for the preorder bundle with Monster Hunter Tri.

Welcome to Sony's Customer (dis)Satisfaction.  They're on my permanent boycott list precisely for this reason. http://sites.google.com/site/sonylcdrptvproblems/#TOC-Introduction

Funny thing is my Grand Wega died today. I don't have the desire to deal with them. I'm just done with them. I haven't had any problems with my PS3, but I'm not holding my breath.

[soapbox]
Also, I am of the firm belief that all companies try to do shit like this, no one is innocent or better. They weigh the risks and benefits and if they feel like they can get away with it and make a big impact on the bottom line they do it. They have no ethics or morals, they're inanimate entities that we've given the same rights as humans to. It drives me crazy too, because I am fairly pro-business, just anti ass-hattery like this. I can't people would even defend Microsoft, they did the same thing if not worse. They knowingly sent out millions of crappy Xbox's and made billions off their early success, but they got caught, they lost their bet, but we all suffered too. Okay, I am stepping down now, just mad at all electronics companies right now... [/soapbox]

Dimmona I hope your situation gets worked out. I would be mad as hell.

So what if others scoffed at him?  Anyone with a small knowledge of markets and trends would know it's a stupid bet.  Anyone else would just be trying to shill their own product by attaching its name to NSMB.

NSMB is an E rated title, and is a Mario title as well.  You get all the history of Mario and Nintendo, combined with all the Wii owners, 4 player co-op, and more.  Kids and Adults will want it, and adults who don't know about games will see the mario name, Wii, and get it as safe gifts for gaming kids.  Oh, and it's also a first party nintendo title, and it has ties to the successful DS version.

Chill out dude, why are you so upset? It's like NSMB walked in to your house and punched you in the nuts, took a crap in your cereal and then made you eat it...

ended up getting it free from amazon mp3 via a $5 promotional offer for buying my text books from them. Rock on. Not only did I get my text books for cheap I got a good album for free.

Ugh, I wish Leno would just go away.  He stepped down and passed the reins to Conan.  Poor class to take Conan's new gig just because his new thing didn't work out.

Jay Leno Presents: Top Gear America

I'd even be happy if he took the 10:35-11:35 time slot for the show.

I said it over at OO and I will say it here, I will march on any Studio that tries to do a Top Gear America without Jeremy, Hammond and May. It would never be the same show. All they need to do is to simul-cast Top Gear in the states with no editing or multiple month delay. Hell, NBC could buy the program, move the three host and the stig to the states and add Leno, as long as they don't mess with the show. Heck it'd probably get better as it would no longer be a "state" funded program as it would no longer be on the BBC.

I have a feeling this might be Amazons MP3 daily deal tomorrow (see attached).  the page for it says the MP3 version will be available 1-11-10.

If that is the price I am in. I think I can spare $4 for the mp3 album. hell $7.99 for the cd is silly cheap.

I don't disagree with a lot of what is on the list, I've listened to, own or enjoy most of what's on the list. I have one thing I disagree with and that is MGMT being anywhere in the top 100. Their album isn't that great or inventive, hell they aren't even the best electro-pop type band to come out of the past decade.

I've heard about 5 songs off the new album on Sirius XMU and Sirius Alt Nation over the past 4 months or so. I've liked what I've heard, and I appreciate the link as I can now get the arrangement and full set.

What do I think? Really in the scheme of things sales do not affect my enjoyment of the Wii or any other videogame system. What it tells me is that the MP combo pack isn't selling, but Nintendo isn't having trouble selling games, just look at the Wii Fit's, New Super Mario Bros and Wii Sports Resorts of the worlds...

As for future releases I have more than gotten my money's worth out of all of my systems, so they could stop making games tomorrow, and I'd survive.

it is pretty good now, we ordered it a little over a month ago because of a good deal making it cheap and did not know things had changed. When I opened the box I was amazed to see something other than the tasteless crap they used to send out. We normally only get pizza from local shops, but I am glad to see that they are actually trying to make a better pizza, Unlike Pizza Hut who just adds more crap or spins some new novelty. Is it too much to just make good Pizza?

hmmm... my though was similar to that of someone falling on the ice.  Really, I am not sure... I have gotten mixed opinions on the issue..  I would think it could be different from an accident on a street because it is private property... therefore it is the responsibility of the property owner to ensure safe conditions....

Your Insurance agent should be able to help, but you an issue if you didn't file a police report. More than likely you didn't and since it's on a private lot odds are the Police wouldn't show up anyways.

http://collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2009/12/26/stunner-meyer-stepping-down-as-gator-coach/

Citing Health issues. As a Bama fan I am actually very sad to see him go. He brings the level of competition higher in the SEC and is an excellent football coach. He will be missed.

a) I got the impression that it's a feral cat.

b) It was gnawing on his hand.

c) Cat's don't respond well to persuasion.


(Edit: I really dig animals, but there are limits.)

I don't get the impression that the cat is feral.  This IS Daehawk we're talking about, after all.

Doesn't sound like a house cat. Specifically where he says the cat got in, not "I was letting the cats out today"...

Not condoning cruelty to animals, but the cat was attacking him. If it was his cat I doubt he'd call animal control.

http://www.tmz.com/2009/12/08/brittany-murphy-husband-911-call/

not the same thing

my wife is too afraid to play it

anyone else notice how attractive the new reporter is? Sad story, and you have to wonder what is up.

It is like crack, but I prefer http://www.plantationpeanuts.com/ One of the first peanut farms in the country. Good stuff. I have a pound of regular peanut brittle, about a half a pound of Sweet and Spicy peanuts, and a pound of Redskins in the pantry right now. I decided against the chocolate covered brittle because I wanted it to last more than a couple of days.

My Parents have had an inset woodburning stove since the 1970's. I grew up with it and love how well it heats the house. We have a woodburning fireplace now, and have considered the investment of an inset stove to heat the house. They are great. However, from looking around, the ones they sell today are nothing compared to my parent's eagle stove. You will definitely save money on your heating. My parent's have an oil burning furnance as a backup and my dad gets it topped off every year, just in case, for less than $100. A cord of wood costs about $120 around here. So You can save a lot on heating. We have a propane furnace here but it is so cost prohibitive. If I had bought an inset stove 5 years ago, I would've made up the cost by now.

13-0, very nicely done.  Grats Ms. Duncan!

Grats?  does he play for them or somehting?  

Are you the guy who asks if the man impregnated his daughter when someone congratulates him on the birth of a grandchild?  

I don't know, did he?  We are talking about Alabama football here...

No, that's West Virginia and Mississippi . Alabamans have standards, I think they can only get as close as second cousins 

I just checked, I've put in almost 70 hours so far. Nothing too difficult so far, but not easy. I absolutely love this game's job system.

Enjoying some Full Moon, which is not a twilight beer ;-), I like some of the Blue Moon seasonals. Celebration Ale is good. Red Hook's winter beer is tops as well.

wow - the scum of the earth are appearently gamers? That just sounds like idiots!

Nah, more like the majority of folks using the anonymity of the interwebs to screw people, not just gamers ;-)

Good Luck with the PD. I know here in Virginia the best opportunities are out at Fort Lee right now, however from what I have heard and seen they have ridiculous expectations for candidates. They want people with Doctorates to essentially apply for a Mid-level management position. Granted the pay is great, but they essentially cut out a lot of great candidates.

I talked to a couple people in the Budget office on base, they are hiring, but again the requirements are out of this world. They wouldn't hire a local CPA and she had about 10 contacts in the office trying to get her hired. Sometimes getting in to Government work is kind of luck too.

I've done fairly well with Goozex, there are some issues, but they are very proactive about making it better. I think the biggest issue with people who let trades timeout without accepting or declining them. Fortunately that is being fixed. Hopefully they will start working on better communication and feedback tools going forward as well.

I had one person give my negative feedback on a Blu-ray trade, said the case was damaged and that there was no manual. Well first and foremost there was no "manual" with the Departed Blu-ray and second I asked for him to send if back if the case was damaged and he quickly rescinded that. You obviously cannot control what happens in shipping but I try to take all precautions using bubble mailers etc, and I have a flawless record. So this DB was trying to score a free movie off me. After pointing out that he was in the wrong he changed the feedback to neutral, which was a crock, but I didn't feel like arguing or escalating the issue to goozex. Hopefully they improve this aspect going forward.

Hail to the Chefs, I haven't seen a multi-game winning streak for the Chiefs in years...


As for Cowher? I could see him going to the Browns with some conditions. There needs to be stability and commitment to a larger plan, and he is the kind of coach to do it. Also, Cowher was a linebacker for the Browns wasn't he? So it would be something of a homecoming.

However, if you are going to knock Cleveland, knock the city, it smells, the weather is terrible, and it is slowly dieing. There are many reasons to not go to Cleveland, but the Brown's organization isn't one of them. They have the want and desire, they just need the leadership. Oh and they apparently need a defense that knows to not foul on the last play of the game.. Ouch...

http://zoinkgames.com/wiiwaa/

Nuts, the original video had the kid putting the wiimote up the creatures rear end. Either way this is a great marketing idea. Supposedly, there will be several different animals and your in game avatar will represent the animal that came with your copy.

If this ever comes out, I am going to recommend this to my Sisters as they all have kids that this would be perfect for.

This is what pisses me off about the VGAs - two of the games in the 'game of the year' catagory were just released yesterday!

Oh, and Assassin's Creed 2 is up for game of the year but Uncharted isn't?   Bah

Well this thing is all an Ad grab, so companies pay to be on these lists. I am still wondering why we should care about any of this. Spike Tv is a joke.

eddie bauer does tall at no extra, and they go pretty big before it costs more, and even then it's only a buck or two more. their outlet always has good deals, and everything I bought from there when I worked there TEN years is still in good wearable condition today.

If you can afford it, a Jamaican Blue roast is very good. Fresh Market has one that they just call Jamaican Blue Mountain, it is fantastic. It's great black or with a little half/half or cream.

I also would recommend never getting non-dairy creamers, talk about destroying your digestive system, blech.

When people talk about being addicted to anything I can never empathize, I don't have an addictive personality, and I never feel like I just have to have something, whether chemical or otherwise.

I enjoy my coffee, usually with 1/4 to 1/2 packet of Sugar in the Raw and about 1 1/2 tablespoons of half and half, try to be too light though.

I generally had two jobs in college. One summer I worked two jobs averaging about 74 hours a week between the two of them all summer. Never again.

right now I work 48 hours a week. Technically I am salaried, but that is what our managers are asked to work, also we have non-salaried managers who can get overtime. it's stupid and convoluted. The perks are that I make my own schedule, do outside sales calls, and have a pretty flexible working environment. If I am not feeling while being the office, I'll grab my keys or an outside rep and go make calls and feel productive.

did I miss a thread somewhere? Was this a choice or forced? I like a good story.

No words can express how awesome it has been becoming a father. Congrats!

http://www.true-gaming.net/home/?p=4237

I am a huge Studio Ghilbli/Miyazaki animation fan, Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke, and I am big Level 5 fan. What little you can see of the game looks good graphics-wise, hopefully Level attaches a bunch of fun to all the pretty.

more:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oDdHa6aP_0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS3Xl1_p2U0

I am interested, but I wonder if we will get the pay to play online like Japan or will Capcom keep it free in the states like they had in the past.