We lost a second dog today: Ellie, our greyhound. She was 12. It's been six days since we put Lucy down.

Yesterday they discovered she had a rare disease that was attacking her kidneys. They also said that it was a zoonosis, a disease that can pass to humans.

This morning we learned that Ellie was going downhill fast. The right thing to do was to put her to sleep the specialist said.

We adopted Ellie ten years ago, months after adopting Lucy. When we brought her home she discovered a tub filled with toys and spent the day delicately carrying them to our bedroom. At the end of the day we discovered her laying in our bed surrounded by dog toys, something she never had as a racer.

I packed my bag for CES this morning. We picked up the medication Trish, Tristan and I had to take because of the disease Ellie has. I popped one in my mouth and swallowed it down. Almost immediately my stomach started churning. I read the bottle for the meds, the same used for treating malaria. It said it could cause nausea and vomiting. An hour later, while we sat parked in front of the vet's office it did.

We went in and said goodbye to Ellie. I told her that soon she could chase all the squirrels she wanted, that she was going to a place where all of the beds are filled with dog toys.

She drifted off to sleep. She panted, running in her dreams I thought. Her heart stopped. I squeezed her paw one last time.

As much as it hurts to lose a pet it can never outweigh how much we gain from these relationships.

It's been a stressful past week or so at the house. Last week we had to put our 15-year-old Border Collie to sleep. Days later our 12-year-old greyhound stopped eating. Then she stopped getting up. Then she stopped walking.

We took her to the vet on Saturday and discovered she had lost 7 pounds. We took her to a specialist today and found she had lost three more pounds.

Running through the lengthening list of symptoms the specialist we took her to said that she's pretty sure Ellie has contracted leptospirosis. She's started the treatment on Ellie, but had to FEDEX the samples to a lab in Illinois to verify the diagnosis.

Then we were told leptospirosis is a zoonosis, a disease that can be transmitted from non-human animals to humans. And guess who has been pushing pills down Ellie's throat for the past week or so? Guess who also doesn't have a spleen?

I called our doctor and he's put Trish, Tristan and I all on preventative treatment for the disease just in case.

Ellie is spending the night in a Vet ER, hopefully she'll make a recovery. Fingers crossed.

What you missed:
Man Finished 48 Games In 2009 (And That Man Was Me)
Tony Hawk: Play Ride and I'll Be Your Friend
Oh What A Year
Win a Signed DSi: The Eleven Zelda Fan Finalists
The 10 Most Avidly-Played Wii Games In America (As Of Jan 1)
Final Fantasy, Super Mario, Doom, What's On Your Phone's Desktop?
Amazon's Kindle Offers Refunds For Digital Downloads, Why Don't Game Companies?
Darksiders Review: Harbinger Of The Apocopylypse

This was left unsaid in the sports column I wrote Saturday, but I wanted to make a record of it here. Dad's method of arranging football pictures is far easier in real life. Doing it on a video game was tough.

First I needed to recreate my high school and one of its rivals' 1970s-era uniforms in NCAA Football's teambuilder. They're still wearing non-period helmets, something I couldn't control unless I started a dynasty with these teams, and then I couldn't control the start time of their game. This one needed to be at night.

Then I had to run a series of toss sweeps and stretch plays just to illustrate the point of the story. This was a lot harder than it sounds. NCAA Football is tougher on the run than Madden is this year, especially on slow-to-develop runs to the outside. Getting a halfback to the corner in stiffarm pose was a chore, especially because the first time you hit A it doesn't put up the stiffarm, just switches the ball to your back's other arm. And you can see in that bottom picture just how long the wide receiver held his block, which was about nine nanoseconds.

I've shot actual high school football, and spent less time on real games than I did on that one on New Year's Eve. Still, I'm surprised at how the pictures turned out. Then again, black-and-white does give you a bit of an artistic advantage.

Some highlights:

Left 4 Dead 2's Frying Pans Kill a Tank 3 Times Faster than Shotguns
Zelda Fan Movie Taken Down on Nintendo's Request
What the Hell is in the Water in Barrie, Ont.?
Explaining the Commitment to Duke Nukem - Forever
Stick Jockey: A Picture Worth More Than Words

Confused about commenting on Kotaku? Read our FAQ.

Today the year ends. I will spend the last moments with my wife and son watching a movie probably, eating great mounds of popcorn and drinking champagne.

The eating and drinking are things I practiced daily while on vacation, but in the month I was in Australia I watched about two hours total of television. The rest of the time I spent hiking, site-seeing, hanging with family and reading. I ended up reading through seven books over those four weeks. Loved it.

What you missed:
Uncharted 2's Sloppy Fiction
Blizzard Helps Cops Track Down WoW Fan, Suspected Drug Dealer
What Are You Playing This Holiday Weekend?
Win An Autographed copy of Zelda: Spirit Tracks and More
Iraqi Kidnap Victim Subjected To PlayStation
New Year's Marathoning: Video Games or TV?

Today we put our 15-year-old Border Collie, Lucy, to sleep. It was a peaceful, emotional procedure at our house.

The death hit Trish especially hard. I adopted Lucy a week or so after Trish moved from Australia to the U.S. to eventually marry me. Trish couldn't work, didn't know the area or a single person in Florida. And I was working as a night police reporter at the Palm Beach Post.

Lucy was there for Trish when I couldn't be. The two of them become inseparable over more than ten years. Through our move to Colorado, the purchase of our first house, the birth of Tristan, the death of my niece, Lucy was always there for her.

In the end we gathered around Lucy, who was no longer able to move, as she slowly went to sleep and then just stopped being.

What you missed:
N.O.V.A. Micro-Review: Say "Halo" to iPhone's New Shooter
Burglary Delayed By Mystery Game
Major Nelson Talks About Xbox Live, Natal, Bannings & More On Kotaku Talk Radio
The Statistically Best Games of the Decade (Or Why Stats Sometimes Lie)

You're leaving the U.S. just as I'm returning. Can't ever have two Brians on the same continent or who knows what will happen?

I had planned on wrapping up my three weeks of vacation spent in Australia in this note to you, but I'm dealing with the decision we've made to put our dog to sleep tomorrow. Not in a chatty mood really.

Back tomorrow. In the meantime, if you're interested in my trip, I posted plenty of pics and descriptions over on Twitter.

What you missed:
A Frag Without the Fest: If Chess Was a Shooter
A Real Mario Is A Terrifying Mario
CES 2010: A Special Programming Note
Listen to Zelda Reorchestrated

Mine is a family raised on bad puns and inscrutable inside jokes. We deliberately corrupt words and then use them in conversation without batting an eye. For example, dinner might be "country-style snake." Or, salmon is "slalom," (and a big portion is "giant slalom.") Chapstik, or any lip balm, is "lip blam." The child in a Nativity scene is "LBJ," short for "Lil'baby Jesus."

Sure, plenty of people call the housewares big box "Bloodbath and Beyond." But to my brother and me, we buy hardware at "Home Despot." And speaking of despots, who better to pretreat your laundry than the "Stalin Stick"?

The best example: Back in 1992, Dad got a Ford Explorer for his company car (this was later my vehicle in Colorado. Covering a wildfire once, Crecente remarked that despite all the smoke around us it still smelled of "french fries and ass.") Well, like Letterman from the Electric Company, all you have to do is change one letter and the name becomes even more hilarious. Thus, "Explorer," quickly became "Exploder."

Well, this week I had to head down to the Autozone to replace my Mustang's battery. It had been pampered by California weather for four years and then brutalized by the cold snap earlier this month. Out in the parking lot I'm hooking it up when when this very nice-looking white F-350 pulls up and unloads a young family. The dad's about my age, the mom, too, and then their two tow-headed rugrats come piling out.

"Nice Ford," I say, "my mother has one like that, drags a horse trailer with it."

"Thanks," says the dad. "It was a real bargain, only about $7,000." And then standing on the far side of the continent, 2,800 miles from from my home in North Carolina, he adds without provocation: "After we got rid of The Exploder."

Some highlights from the holiday weekend:

Wait - New Game Plus Is in Mass Effect 2?
How Will New Rules Affect In-Flight Gaming?
Playboy Teases Us With the Ultimate Coulda-Been Game
3D Realms CEO Vows Duke Nukem 'Resurgence' in 'Next Few Years'
In Tight Times, Gamers Dig Deep for the Needy
The Sports Video Games of the Year

Confused about commenting on Kotaku? Read our FAQ.

My month or so of Day Notes comes to an end. I'm starting vacation really soon. Tonight, in theory, though some posts of mine will magically appear for a couple more days. Thanks, Ash and friends for writing back to me after each and every Day Note!

As I embark on my holiday vacation, I am preparing to spend time with friends and family, getting ready to go shopping for blinds, plus other stuff. But, lo, during this vacation, games will be played.

My 2009 backlog is kinda small: Dragon Age, Demon's Souls, Brutal Legend, Assassin's Creed Bloodlines, Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Eufloria, Ben There Dan That (2009, right?), some Fallout DLC, the Spore expansion I was curious about... not much else. Wait! That's kind of a lot. That's spilling into 2010. Good thing Lost Planet 2 was delayed.

My 2008 backlog still lingers, though: Gotta finish World of Goo!

Oh, and call me crazy, but there are a couple of games I finished but want to go back to: Assassin's Creed II (to do all the side stuff except the feathers. The newest Ratchet & Clank (to play the real ending).

So that's what I'll be doing. I hope you'll be doing things that are useful to society as well. Enjoy the rest of 2009!

Stories you may have missed today
What The Video Game Industry Wants For Christmas
Kotaku Contest Reminder: Are You The Americas' Top Zelda Fan?
The Batman-Maker Who Didn't Know The Meaning Of GOTY
This Week In Video Game Comics
Style Savvy Review: Dressing Miss Michael
BioShock 2 Multiplayer Lobby Preview: Yes, The Lobby
Scribblenauts Creator Talks About Controls, Console Ports & More On Kotaku Podcast

What you need to figure out is whether there is an international food, a food that is the product of no one nation, is associated with no single flag, and feed only that food to all the little Bashes. Then you will be able to bring them to any country and feed them without fielding complaints. Deny all other cuisines! (Man, I would make such a good parent, right?)

So.. moral quandary time. Microsoft sent five envelopes to the office here in New York. One to me, one to Luke, one to AJ, one to Owen, and one to Fahey. I haven't even opened mine, but I am sure they contain holiday cards. And I am sure they are identical.

So...

1) Send them on to everyone, missing the holidays but ensuring the corporate well-wishes are well-wished?
2) Open them all up and pretend they're all for me?
3) Chuck them?

I need to know, but I also need to know how my decision will affect my moral alignment and my ability to maintain the characters currently in my party.

What you missed today
Assassin's Creed II Spoiler Talk With Patrice Desilets
The Man Who Never Wanted To Make 'The Citizen Kane of Games'
Machinarium Review: Beautiful Robots

Borderlands Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot Preview: Eyond Underdome

Poor Luke, sweating through his attempts to act out a real life version of Harvest Moon (minus the dating.... there's dating in Harvest Moon, right? Married Mr. Plunkett doesn't need that). What's the most video-game-like activity you've ever done? I think mine is riding a zipline in Belize on my honeymoon. You see, I'm defining "most video-game-like" as something that is uncommon in my day-to-day life but common in games. It's a ratio thing. There isn't much ziplining in my day-to-day activities, except when I need to get to the office printer quickly.

We reviewed the Avatar movie this morning. Specifically, I reviewed it. Lots of good feedback there, though some did question why a movie review was posted on Ye Olde Gaming Blogge. (Quick aside: I don't think I'll ever get used to the Old English spelling of "blog.") So here's a reader asking me why we reviewed the movie.

I replied:

Fair question. We define ourselves as covering the news and culture of video games. Avatar is so closely associated with gaming culture and concepts, that we felt it was a movie that was appropriate for us to review. As you can see above, I wrote it with an eye on how it is relevant to gaming.

Rest assured there is plenty of other content planned for the day that is explicitly about video games. But would argue that this review is easily within our mandate to cover gaming culture.

That seems reasonable, no? If people who know so little about video games are going to accuse this movie or that as being "just like a video game," then we the people who have a clue about games might as well contribute to cinematic society and weigh in. I presented a gaming slant on Avatar, and, hey it was fun.

I'm up for doing more. But not less gaming coverage of course.

So yeah, tell me what that most-game-like thing you've ever done in real life is. Driving a forklift does not count, because Shenmue wasn't much of a game.

What you missed today
Avatar Movie Review: The Blue Future Of Video Games
iPhone Chart Toppers: N.O.V.A. Takes Down Waldo
BioShock 2 Preview: Maybe It Was Needed After All
Pretty Pictures From BioShock 2
The 2009 Video Game Year In Review Starts Here... Now
A 2009 View From The Top: One Man's Year Making Assassin's Creed II
5th Cell's Jeremiah Slaczka Draws Your Questions During This Week's Podcast
2009 In Review: The Controversies

This is the time of year for holiday cards and, in our business, for showcasing the ones sent out by major publishers and studios, and bragging about which ones you've received.

They're very flattering, but few could be as flattering as that virtual card we got yesterday from Nic - aka commenter Flagg - whose brother Shawn has done the programming for the the site hosting it, The Card Chest. Nic put a holiday spin on the Metal Gear Solid equip-a-box joke for the card, which he designed in Photoshop before uploading and sending over to us.

We cover some important people and companies, and we're happy to have professional relationships with them. But they are not and never can be our constituency. These gestures from readers mean a great deal, and I'm not sure if a reader understands how much they mean when a writer considers how fortunate he is to do the job he does.

Happy Holidays to you all.

Out Outs the 'Gayest' Video Games
Uncharted 2 Art, Straight from the Artists Themselves
Sony Piques 'Qriocity' by Registering that Trademark
Blank N64 Cartridge Challenges Your Manhood [Updated]
Microsoft Patents the Exercise Guilt Trip
Stick Jockey: The 2010 Video Game Bowl - and Playoff - Spectacular

Confused about commenting on Kotaku? Read our FAQ.

If there's one thing people say to me every day, it's not "Why doesn't Kotaku make games?' But if they did say that, I'd respond that, at least today, we've done this. We've made a game for you to play. Yoo might ask how, and I'd say: We're doing it in this very post,

People might recall, from their youth, picture-based puzzles that asked them to fiugre out how many things are wrong in said picture. Same thing here. But in a Day Note. With words and stuff.

And not onli is this fun, it's a test of counting skills.

What you missed tomorrow:
Splinter Cell: Conviction Multiplayer Preview: Separation Anxiety Times Two
Survey: Sony Considering Premium PlayStation Network Subscriptions
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Multiplayer Preview: Seriously. Come Back Here With My Tank! [UPDATED]
Dementium II Preview: A Metroid With Dread
You're A Gamer In 2010...What Will You Do?
2010: The Year of Better PC Games?
Wii Dominance Continues In Japan, PS3 Dominance Due Shortly
One Developer's Reaction To A Graphic Aliens Vs Predator Screenshot
Saitek Aviator Flight Stick Review: Do A Barrel Roll!
A Surprise Education

Were you asking me if I like egg nog? You weren't, but yeah, I do. The store-bought kind. My mother-in-law made me some once and it had vodka (I think) in it. Vodka? Something alcoholic. I didn't like that.

Speaking of which, it's the Gawker Media holiday party tonight. You know, Gawker Media, our parent company. I shall raise a glass for everyone on the team. But, man, how am I going to get through all three chapters of the DS game I need to preview tomorrow morning? This is the tough life of a gaming journalist.

So. Ashcraft. Let's talk about something serious. The year two-thousand and eleven. If we're going to speculate and post all week about gaming in 2010, then why don't you and I start getting excited for 2011 too? We don't have to let the rest of the team in on this. Just you and me.

I'll start: Grand Theft Auto V? It'll be out then, no? It's gonna be good. Madden '12? I have high hopes. Diablo 3? Guaranteed. Ah, and Modern Warfare 3. Yes, just put me in the cryo-chamber now!

Oh, but then I couldn't write any more Day Notes while Crecente's out? So, please... thaw me out!

What You May Have Missed Today
2010: The Year of Better Xbox 360 Games?
Need for Speed Shift iPhone Preview: Need For Cornering
Rogue Warrior Review: Wasted Warrior
You're A Game Developer in 2010...What Will You Do?
Aliens Vs. Predator Multiplayer Preview: Switching Bodies, Hunting
No Need To Import Heavy Rain In America

Can't take a one-year-old to the movies, huh? Yeah, I hear you. I mean, I HEAR you. And your kid!

Have you ever been "that parent," the one with the noisy kid in the plane or in the movie theater? I always feel so bad for those parent(s), because I realize the people around them must be angry. You hear folks muttering and grumbling. In the movies, I get that. But in the plane? People need to have some sympathy. Then again, I don't understand why people always have to make a comment when you fart. I mean, some things are just a part of life. Why make a big deal out of them?

People say they like my Day Notes. But not this one, I bet. It stinks!

Why? Because I need to get out of here and go play some Aliens Vs. Predator in the next 60 minutes. I was invited to bring my "game face."

What You Missed Today
Interviews With Ex-Hardcore Gamers ... And New Casual Ones
They Worked On The Game You Played, But Didn't Get Credit
Ace Attorney Investigations Preview: More Of A Game
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle Preview: Fear And Loathing At Ubisoft
You're A Video Game Retailer In 2010...What Will You Do?
Randy Pitchford Teased Borderlands Vehicle Ideas, Noted PC Concerns And Handled Your Calls
PixelJunk Shooter Micro-Review: Just Add Water... Or Lava
2010: The Year Of Better PlayStation 3 Games?
Final Fantasy XIII Launch Day With Our Man In Tokyo

Welcome back to the U.S. of A.

May I tell you a story about people traveling in the U.S.?

The scene is downtown New York City. The day is two Saturdays ago. New York, as you know, is in the U.S. Lots people here speak English. So this "thing" we have in America is that if a person is a lost, all they have to do is go up to someone and, usually in English, say the following: "Hey do you know where such-and-such is?" Though you fill in "such-and-such" with the place you're going.

This usually works.

But two Saturdays ago, I was downtown in New York and I overheard some American-sounding tourists pleading to someone — anyone! — nearby: "Does anyone speak English?" I was sure they were lost. And I am sure they needed directions. But, really, when you're in America, you can assume that most people do speak English. At least in downtown New York City. So just ask your question and get your directons. These people didn't know that. I guess someone told them that the native language of New York is swahili. But: It's not!

Anyway, I wanted to tell you about this nearly magical experience I had. I am a judge for the Independent Games Festival. Crecente is too. And usually that involves downloading a bunch of un-finished PC games, praying that my laptop will run them, playing them and giving them scores. At least that's for the first round.

This year I said I'd be willing to also judge XNA games. What I didn't realize is that the IGF folks would hook me up with an XNA Creators Club membership and that that would allow me to download a person's game on my PC and then zap it to my Xbox. I got this application on my PC and one on my 360 and the two sniffed the machines out and connected them. No wires. Just engineering magic. Then I was able to transmit some of these games to my 360 and play them on the console.

This is sooo pedestrian to experienced XNA developers. But for me it was brand new and really cool to know that I was playing some amateur developer's game on my regular retail 360 through this system. This was even more raw than playing Indie/Community Games. I was on the frontier on my 360! Added bonus: Some of the XNA games are very good. I'd pay for them. But I'm not sure I can mention them yet. I need to find that out.

See anything magical in your world lately?

What You Missed Today

Heavy Rain To Introduce Delayed Trophies, Solve Common Achievement Problem
Kotaku's Look At 2010 Starts Now*
Army of Two: The 40th Day Preview: They're Better, We're Best
You Run A Big Game Publisher In 2010...What Will You Do?
Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes Review: Battling Clashing Colors
Red Dead Redemption Impressions: Adventure In A Hard Place
This Is What Castlevania: Lords of Shadow Vampires Look Like
Mad Catz Street Fighter IV Round 2 Arcade FightStick: Tournament Edition Review: My $150 Fireball

There's been a lot of mean talk about elevators lately. People saying they're happy they won't be represented in Mass Effect 2. People saying the game is better off without them.

It makes me mad. Or at least it made me mad, until I realized that I too have been shunning elevators. I used to ride them every day at my old job. I'd go up and down, up and down. Sometimes I'd even step out of them and get some work done. These days, I don't even see elevators. Not at the office. Not in my neighborhood.

Nowhere.

But today, I was in an elevator again. I was visiting my old job (MTV offices; Times Square). I had to pick up some stuff I'd left behind, which didn't include the hour-long video tape of me just sitting at my desk working .... I left that there. Seriously, it exists. For reasons lost in the fog of fading memory.

Anyway, so I'm on the MTV elevator with some other people. Some guy starts talking about PlayStation Home. He mocks it. Then he tells this story of Home trauma: He walked his avatar up to another Home avatar that looked .... just like his. Another white guy with a mohawk. Crazy! He says the two avatars just stood there, like, What were they going to do? "I needed to get a new skin!" my elevator companion said.

Seconds later, these fellow elevator riders were talking about Second Life. Someone else in the elevator (Interruption: It takes a while to get to the 29th floor, ok?) said that they didn't know what Second Life was.

Response from some other guy: "Second Life is this retarded thing. [pauses] Actually, it's a good idea really badly executed."

Then they got off the elevator, and I'll be damned if I didn't just learn something about gaming culture. Thanks to elevators.

Though I'm not sure what it is I learned. But I am sure it was, as just mentioned, thanks to elevators.

So let us love elevators.

By the way: The Door-Close button in elevators... actually works? Or psychological trick meant to calm impatient elevator riders?

What You Missed Today
Nintendo Lists Names And Dates For Wii, DS Winter 2010 Games Line-Up
iPhone Chart Toppers: Waldo? Where?
Heavy Rain Impressions: An Ambitious Sorrow
Borderlands' Randy Pitchford Takes Your Calls During This Week's Podcast
Girls Night With The Most Male Game Of 2009
Fingers-On Impressions Of R.U.S.E., A Real-Time Strategy Game Playable By Touch
Rock Band Wireless Wooden Fender Stratocaster Review: No Turning Back

This week in Oregon, it got down to hideously cold temperatures, like 16 degrees. There's a stray cat in the neighborhood who comes snorfling around looking for food and I usually give her some, but with it so cold out, I took a great deal of pity on her and brought her inside. And then I figured, let's go ahead, get her vaccinated, get her fixed, the whole deal. If I couldn't keep her (my current cat hates her own species), the poor thing will be much more adoptable if she's been spayed and has shots.

So we're sitting there in the examining room and the tech remarks that the cat is of a very healthy weight, looks clean, etc., and decides to check for a scar. Sure enough, after shaving her belly, there it is. Now, I don't think I have someone else's cat. I've seen her around since at least October, and other neighbors have put out food, too. I think this was a fix-and-dump, which I guess is only half as evil as the usual abandonment.

But I can only imagine what this cat might have said, in the waiting room, if it could speak a language.

Bungie Donation Points to Halo: Reach Multiplayer in May [Update]
Team Fortress 2 Craftily Crafts Crafting Update
Halo: Reach Trailer Dates Multiplayer Beta for Spring
VGAs Offer First Look At Medal Of Honor, Arkham Asylum 2 & More
Making Room for Baby Means Saying Goodbye to Old Friends
Not the Bottom of the Ninth, but a Big At-Bat Coming for MLB 2K10

Confused about commenting on Kotaku? Read our FAQ.

Just received a last minute whisper of an assignment to write a Day Note. Assignment came from Down Under from a B. Crecente, a former newspaperman who has been battling the inferior Australia-U.S. Skype pipelines all week. This far-flung adventurer has found himself indisposed, unable to write the day note.

WHAT, we may wonder, could keep B. Crecente from penning the Day's Note?

HOW, we may ask, could B. Crecente be so restrained from closing, in good fashion, the Day shift of gaming blog Kotaku?

Could it be ropes, B. Crecente tied captive in a room that is illuminated with a single dusty ceiling bulb?

Could it be piranhas, B. Crecente kept on the other side of the riverbank from his computer?

Or could it be the voodoo stabs of an angry Kotaku reader in Iceland, irked at B. Crecente for some infraction about which we will never know.

There is no answer today, December the 11th. We do not know. We know only this: B. Crecente is a blogging machine. And if something is keeping him from his Notes of the Day, it must be serious.

(Maybe he got sleepy?)

What you missed you last night
Five Steps to Total Pwnage of a Gamer Girl's Heart
Tekken 6 PSP Review: One Is the Loneliest Number
My Favorite Indie Fest Entry So Far: The Swapper
Who Put Out The Most Good Video Games In 2009? [UPDATE]
Frankenreview: The Saboteur
New Super Mario Bros. Helps Wii Reclaim Top Spot In Japan
Aliens Vs. Predator Impressions: This Time, As An Alien
No Non-Gamers Allowed

Isn't the Age of the Internet grand?

I write these words to you as I sit on a rural train rocking and rumbling its way to Sydney, Australia from the Blue Mountains.

I've spent the past hour tapping out my week's column on my magazine-sized laptop while listening to Zeppelin, Hendrix and a mash-up of Safety Dance. Now, squeezed into the vinyl, puke-green seats of my train, I'm writing a note to a coworker in Japan. A note I'll forward to another co-worker in LA for him to post on a Denver-based blog. 

Internet, you free me!

Here's what you missed:
The Goonies' Chunk Answers Gaming's Tough Legal Questions
Sony: "Gem" Was A Prototype Name For PS3 Motion Controller
Your Guide To Nintendo's Gameplay-Helping Super Guide
Call of Duty: World at War Zombies Review: Zombie Nazis!!!
Borderlands Expands Again With Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot [Update]
We Played A Wii Game Without A Wii Controller
Rock Band Makers Harmonix Lays Off 39
PlayStation Home Director Wants "Mini-MMOs" On The Service

As I know you know, I spend a healthy chunk of my annual vacation reading, reading voraciously. I love books, but always find myself unable to read during the rest of the year due to time constraints. So I spend the three weeks or so consuming books at a startling pace.

I whipped through two Dan Brown books and started a Gregory Maguire book in my first partial week on vacation, but then I picked up Garden, Ashes. The book is lyrical, poetic. It's the sort of novel that fully consumes my attention and envelopes me. When I come upon writing like this I slam on the brakes, trying to slow down my speed reading to better appreciate the work. But I often find myself half way through a book before I am able to come to a full stop - as it were. It always annoys me when that happens, and it almost always does.

Books like Garden, Ashes are meant to be nibbled, swirled around the brain like an aged cheese or vintage wine, not gulped. But as with good food an good drink, I find it hard to stop and savor good writing at a more lasting pace.

You should give it a try, but slowly. It's funny. After reading it, loving, I discovered that the book's Yugoslavian writer, Danilo Kis, was a devotee of one of my all-time favorite writers: Jorge Louis Borges.

Oh well, on to The New Life.

What you missed:
Treading The Boards: Game Characters Vs. Movie Actors
Blazing Angels: Squadron's of WW II the Arcade Cabinet
Achievement Chore: She Plays For Gamerscore, Whether It's Fun Or Not
Gyromancer Micro-Review: Twisting The Night Away
Sony's Svelte Australian Gaming Digs
Yakuza 3 Impressions: In English, Partly
Frankenreview: The Legend Of Zelda: Spirit Tracks