Wrong time, wrong place, wrong thing to say.  Sounds like a day in my life. 

Picked this game up this weekend on clearance for $7.50 at my local Target.  That store has some wicked awesome deals on the electronics clearance shelf occasionally and this was one of them.  Just had to post and share because I have had a ball (pun intended) with this game.  Sure it’s not realistic at all, but it’s just dang fun and that’s what video games ought to be.  Check out the video…if you have a 360 or PS3 at home, I highly recommend this title.

I dunno, guys. I just don’t know. It looks like another embarrassingly underproduced Christian movie that probably has a great message which will probably be lost between mental snickers. Which is unfortunate because Kevin Max and Kerry Livgren are in it… I mean, dang.

Any thoughts?

Sony’s M.C. Escher inspired puzzle game “Echochrome” is now available for PS3 and PSP today on their PS3 store as well as their PC Store. Reportedly, the PSP and PS3 versions offer separate batches of levels, so Sony enthusiasts who play both will get twice the gameplay value as well as the ability to design custom levels.

I haven’t tried this yet, but after the genius out-of-box experience we gamers got last year with “Portal” I’m more than a little excited about creative and original game design.

The recent “election” in Zimbabwe is still in turmoil and Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF party are still acting as tyrants, lashing out against their own people.

I have a special place in my heart for Zimbabwe since I spent my 5th grade year there from 1984-1985.  The Zanu PF were bullies back then, but things were nowhere near this bad.

I will always remember a story my dad tells about them.  One day he and one of his evangelist friends, a Shona gentleman, went out to the bush to deliver food to a rural village.  This was a normal part of his job and many times I got to go with him, and on one special occasion I returned home with a pet chameleon.  But this time I wasn’t with him.  They had already unloaded the truck and passed out food to the people when a couple of armed Zanu PF guys came over and asked what they were doing.  Dad explained that he was distributing food that had been supplied by various churches for the struggling rural villages (there had been a serious drought) but the Zanu PF guys decided that this wasn’t fair since they couldn’t possibly deliver food to all of the people in rural areas of the country.  So they weren’t going to allow the villagers to keep the food.  Dad got a bit frustrated with the situation, thought for a minute, and in full view of the soldiers asked his evangelist companion what would happen if they just loaded the food back up in the truck and left.  The gentlemen replied that the villagers would most likely overpower and kill the 2 Zanu PF soldiers.  The soldiers quickly left without pressing the issue.

I’ve often wondered if I will ever be as wise as my father.

But anyway, point being, the people of Zimbabwe are being terribly victimized by a ruthless man and I just want to encourage everyone, as well as remind myself, to keep them in our thoughts and prayers.

 Blu-Ray.com posted a story yesterday about a Disney news release which shows theatrical release dates for new animated features.

Take a ride over via the link above for details, but the highlights include 3-D releases of the Toy Story movies as well as Toy Story 3 in 2010 (Which is all kinds of awesome) and a Cars sequel in 2012.

I would be ecstatic over a Monsters, Inc sequel myself, but I’ll gladly take this news as very exciting.  Also very much looking forward to Wall-E. 

CNN is reporting a New Kids on the Block reunion.  Adolescent females of 1988 who still have bad taste in music rejoice!  Alright, alright…  If you just screamed with nostalgic glee, don’t worry.  I don’t think anyone should be held accountable for their musical taste during the formative years…. 

But come on.  This really isn’t necessary.  In fact if a presidential candidate would just step in and prevent this from happening, that act alone may be enough to sway my vote. 

Very interesting read over on Infendo this morning about Nintendo’s approach to online gaming and the existing gamer community reaction.

It raises some points that I hadn’t even considered.  Such as Nintendo having this group of people who they helped usher into the world of console gaming in the last year and a half with the Wii.  And then being somewhat careful with how they expose those people to the millions who have been playing online for years.  Because, let’s face it, the existing community does not welcome newcomers with open arms or even a minute dose of tact.

Quoted in the article is Bill Futon, who used to work for Microsoft, saying:

“The online behavior of our customers is dramatically reducing our sales, and continues to stunt the growth of our industry. Non-gamers simply don’t love games enough to put up with the crap they get online. The reason they would consider playing online is to have fun with other people — and right now, playing games online with strangers rarely delivers that for anyone outside the hardcore demographic.”

This is taken from an article linked to in the Infendo post.

 I couldn’t agree more.  And this is obviously is not limited to Xbox Live players.  I’m sure Blizzard would admit that the behavior of much of their customer base does a lot to hinder sales.  I don’t know how many times I would have quit World of Warcraft if I didn’t use it to keep in touch with good friends in other parts of the country.

Anyway, I found the article insightful and thought I would share.  :) 

One of my favorite bands, Jars of Clay, has released a greatest hits CD today (or rather their label has) including one new track. And guess what?!? You don’t have to buy the whole album to get the one new song!

Putting together a “best of” tracklist for this band seems at first to be an extremely difficult task. And I have to admit that when I saw this on iTunes and that it’s a single CD compilation, I had serious doubts that this is in fact their greatest hits. But let’s take a closer look…

“Frail” makes an appearance, so that lends credibility right there. As far as I’m concerened that is the best Jars of Clay song out there. And my other favorite slow Jar, “Worlds Apart” is present. Alright. So far so good.

The tracks seem to be grouped together by album in chronological order. So from the breakout debut, they’ve got “Flood” (which is an obvious requirement (produced by Robert Fripp, BTW)), “Love Song for a Savior,” “Like a Child,” and “Worlds Apart.” Hmmm. Not a bad selection. The eponymous debut is a CCM classic and difficult to extract “superior” pieces from the whole, but not bad at all. There are one or two other tacks that I may have picked, but this is a good start.

From “Much Afraid” we have “Crazy Times,” and “Frail.” With the limit of a single CD, these are good choices and I’m not sure much else from “Much Afraid” needs to be represented. This album caused a great falling away for many fans of the debut. No track here succeeded in carrying the torch of “Flood.” But guess what, there was no need to do so. This album, I think, better represents the band that Jars of Clay would be from this point forward. Although they’ve managed several CCM hits in their career so far, they aren’t just a radio hit machine. Instead, they are masterful artists who quite often manage to pluck a string or two in the soul of the listener and let it resonate. If you look at the first album as a whole, ignoring any radio success of individual songs, I think you might see that “Much Afraid” is a pretty natural follow-up.

Then came “If I Left the Zoo.” Which dropped a little bit of the tongue-in-cheek into the mix of insightful lyrics and artistic mood. This is a more fun album than the previous two. Showcased are instruments which are unusual to rock or pop music. Accordion, mandolin, violin, cello… and then you realize these guys always used more than the traditional rock instruments. This time they just make it more obvious as part of the album’s sense of humor. And accompanying tongue-in-cheek humor are power chords. We always knew they could break free and make a few carefree rockin’ tracks to go with all the introspection. The compilation lifts “Unforgetful You” as the sole representative from “If I Left the Zoo.” This might be the worst crime committed. But, we are working with limitations here, so let’s move on.

“The Eleventh Hour” came on the scene next and I still maintain that this is THE BEST Jars of Clay album. From beginning to end there’s not a weak song presented. Chosen for the new hits disc is again a single track, “I Need You.” This is a great song, as all the songs here are great, but I’m not sure it best represents “The Eleventh Hour.” OK, I’m actually positive it doesn’t. But it’s obviously been chosen because it was the radio hit that sold the CD. If you own this one and disagree with my estimation of it, I challenge you to throw it in the car CD player and leave it there for about a week. Or at least just give it another chance. This thing’s got hooks.

“Show You Love” and “Amazing Grace” are the chosen ones from “Who We Are Instead.” This CD is very much akin to the previous one. Many many great songs. Their “Amazing Grace” is an excellent choice (this is not the traditional hymn) and “Show You Love” was again obviously chosen since it was the radio staple. But there is so much wonderful music being passed over for this “Greatest Hits” CD.

“God Will Lift Up Your Head” is another favorite Jars song of mine, so I heartily approve of its appearance. It comes from an album of remade hymns titled “Redemption Songs” which isn’t a CD I would recommend to Jars newcomers. It’s a great CD, but I wouldn’t consider it one of their more accessible. In a time when CCM is saturated with every band’s worship album full of the same songs, these guys took care to select very seldom heard hymns in contrast to modern praise choruses. The language of the lyrics and the diverse instrumentation of the band are a pleasing and fitting match. These are some powerful songs and “God Will Lift Up Your Head” is a fantastic and encouraging song, let alone a solid rock tune. This is one of those that you just NEED to hear every now and then.

“Dead Man (Carry Me)” was the radio single from the latest Jars album, “Good Monsters.” This would make my daughter very happy as it is her favorite song. A bit of a return to their sound before “Redemption Songs,” this is a good choice artistically as well. The other pick here from the same album is “Work” which I consider to be the most superior song on the album. “Do you know what I mean when I say I don’t want to be alone?” Who couldn’t relate with that…

And that, along with the new track “Love is the Protest,” wraps up the disc. I must admit that given the limitations of a single disc, whoever put this together did a very respectable job. Jars of Clay is one of those bands that just cannot be summed up in a single CD. I’m sorry, but it’s just not possible. Any way you cut it, you end up passing over way too much beautiful music. And what better compliment could a group of musicians hope for. That being said, however, I do think that for rock or CCM fans who have never delved into the Jars catalog, this is a very good starting point. Check it out. The rockers are here and a couple of the ballads. Listen to it a few times. And when you’re done rocking out to “Unforgetful You,” and after you’ve fallen deeply in love with “Frail” then branch out from there. Because you’re missing out if you ain’t got no Jars.

If you’re interested in checking out this CD, you can stream it for free for a limited time here.

Just saw this posted on Infendo.  Oooooh I so can’t wait.  Mario Kart for SNES was what got me hooked on Nintendo originally back in the day…