Friday Musings

Ah, the pre-bowling calm, when everyone dreams of perfect scores and the crushing weight of reality has yet to fall upon them. What better time to compile my musings? Sure beats working.

The Bioshock demo has only intensified my already crazed levels of enthusiasm for this game. This holiday season is jam packed with delicious content, across all platforms, yet Bioshock is the game I'm the most excited about. How fitting that it should lead the charge! Oh sure, I'm giddy for Metroid 3, and look forward to finally having some closure in Halo 3, and who doesn't want to set Venezuela alight in Mercenaries 2, but Bioshock is the one game I would pick to play this fall, if I had to only pick one. The next game I'm this excited about is Super Smash Brothers Brawl, which drops in December, to provide a nice, violent exclamation point on the holiday season.

I'll be working diligently to finish my Alien Syndrome and Boogie reviews in the next few days so that I can enter into Bioshock with an uncluttered calendar. As irritated as I was to not get any broken street date lovin' and get my hands on Bioshock early, in the end, I'm glad I didn't. If I had to stop playing Bioshock to play Alien Syndrome, I'd be pretty pissed. That's not a knock against Alien Syndrome, more a word of praise for Bioshock. I'll be pissed when I have to stop playing it to go to bed, or eat or do any of the other myriad things necessary to keep me alive and with a healthy marriage.

As for Alien Syndrome and Boogie, I have informed Linda that this weekend, our basement will be host to not only a dance-off, but a cooperative effort to eradicate the aforementioned Alien Syndrome. Despite her lack of enthusiasm, she's secretly, silently thrilled. Just ask her.

The biggest news of the week is that, not only has Ben been signed up to play soccer this fall, but I have volunteered to coach his team. This flies directly against my nature, which includes a deep and bitter hatred for the offspring of others, however I need material for this column, and if I can't find something funny about 5 year olds being coached by someone with no athletic skill whatsoever, well, I have no business writing at all.