Lego Batman!

The people that write Wired's game blog got a look at the upcoming game, and it looks awesome. Much more potential, IMO, than the also-forthcoming Lego Indiana Jones. And it's welcome news that the designers have fixed the sole annoying feature of Lego Star Wars (a game that Jenny and I both enjoy immensely), the stupid camera limitation for two players, which forces one player to temporarily drop out of the game for trickier puzzles and jumps.

Plus there's the option to play as the villains, which is always cool.

Here's the game trailer.

Something to Complain About

Seriously, is this really a big deal? We're talking about SNL here. Tina Fey's Weekend Update piece on Hillary notwithstanding, the show doesn't usually have much of a political agenda - they simply unload on the political figures that will get them the most laughs. Some of these critics need to lighten up.

Mean Frog, Good Band Name?

Maybe I've been playing too much Rock Band, because the first thing I thought when I read this article about a giant frog fossil found in Madagascar, was that Beelzebufo, and even its English translation devil frog, would be great band names. As for the frog itself? Ten pounds, and sixteen inches tall - wow.

The Police Confiscate Rock Band

Today's release of Truth Hits Everbody (an early Police single from Outlandos), brings the total number of Police songs available on Rock Band to five. Awesome. Next month, when Message In A Bottle is available for download, that number will be six, more than any other act in the game! (Metallica's count by the end of March will be five). And the Police songs so far - including one of my favorites, Synchronicity II, are of varying degrees of difficulty, which is nice.

I'm also going to have to take issue with some of the "Tier" difficulty rankings, according to this Wikipedia page. I'm not sure what the source is, but some of these seem way off to me. The Boston song that's included in the game is easier on guitar and bass than Tier 8 (out of 9), while the bass line for the Beastie Boys' Sabotage is really tough - no way it's a Tier 3. Other rankings seem entirely appropriate though; Enter Sandman and Highway Star are both brutal.

Points of Emphasis

In advance of the Terps' meeting with the Team from Durham on Wednesday, I thought that it would be appropriate to go to the rule book (courtesy of Grant Wahl's online column for Sports Illustrated):

"Acting As If Charged: The unethical practice of a defensive player or a screener acting as though he has been charged by an opponent, when in fact he has not been, is having an extremely undesirable effect upon the game. Without a doubt the practice is detrimental to the best interests of basketball. Those who 'put on these acts' must be penalized. The 'actor' wants to create the false impression that he has been fouled in the charging-guarding situation or while he is screening when in either case incidental contact has ensued. The acting guard or screener falls to the floor as though he were knocked there by the force of a charge. By his actions he indicates his opponent should be charged with a foul. He appeals to the official, either vocally or with a gesture. He attempts to get the sympathy of the spectators. Such conduct unfairly burdens the official. It incites the spectators. These acts tend to make a farce of the game and often are unsportsmanlike."

"Coaches must not allow players to make believe they have been fouled. The fact that contact occurred does not necessarily mean there has been a foul. When contact occurs, the official must decide whether it has been incidental or whether a foul has been committed. In making his decision he certainly cannot permit his judgment to be affected by an 'act.' In fact the official must completely ignore the acting unless it becomes unsportsmanlike or it tends to make a farce of the game. If the guard or screener persists in putting on the act, and if in the opinion of the official it is making a travesty of the game, the player should be charged with a technical foul for unsportsmanlike conduct."

This is an actual "point of emphasis" for officials, from the college basketball rulebook. The rulebook for the 1968-1969 season. I suppose it really is true that the more things change, the more they stay the same!

O's Pull Off a Decent Trade

In trading Erik Bedard, Baltimore actually gets real value back in return, and according to the "experts" pulled off a great trade. Bedard wasn't going to sign a new contract with the Orioles, and they get a nice young outfielder in Adam Jones, a serviceable lefty reliever in George Sherrill, a pitching prospect who's on the cusp of top-100 prospect lists (Chris Tillman), and a couple more big young pitchers with some upside (lefty Tony Butler is 6'7", Kameron Mickolio is 6'9"). Now all they need to do is trade Brian Roberts to the Cubs for a few more pitchers, and resist the urge to start adding free agents in '09 (bad Peter! No!). This team won't be ready to compete for anything until 2010 at the earliest, but after ten straight losing seasons, what's two or three more?

Who I'm Voting For on Tuesday

This year Maryland will hold a primary that actually matters! While my preferred candidate, John Edwards, is no longer in the running, there's plenty to like about both of the remaining candidates. [My quick summation of the Edwards campaign; loved his message about corporate influence in D.C., too bad he (A) didn't know how to talk about it, and (B) not enough people care, or view it as a big issue.]

Despite the awesome speechifying prowess of Mr. Obama, I'm going to have to cast my vote for Hillary come Tuesday evening. Why? Three reasons, in order of importance to me; I'll try to keep them short.

1. Health Care: In case you missed my sixteen-part series prompted by the movie SiCKO, this is a pet issue of mine. Hillary's plan of mandatory coverage moves us closer than Obama's plan to universal single-payer coverage - albeit incrementally closer.
2. Partisanship: If anything, we need more fights in D.C., not fewer. The current Pelosi-Reid Congress rolls over on war/security matters all the time - if that's what bi-partisanship or post-partisanship look like, then no thanks. I have no desire to see Dems working together on security issues with a party that constantly questions the patriotism of any politician or citizen who opposes war, torture, or spying on Americans. Enough is enough. The president sets the tone for the party, and Hillary is more of a fighter.
   
3. After everything she had to deal with four her previous eight years in the White House, thanks to Bill, Ken Starr, and the VRWC, she still wants to be president? What can I say, I'm impressed by that.
   

With all that having been said, I'd be perfectly fine with Barack as our next president. Two very solid choices; that's awfully nice, for a change.