For the last two weeks our school has been in testing mode, but today marked the first day that I personally administered a state test. Not only does this mean I haven’t had to plan much in terms of work, but  it also means I have hours of silence the entire day. What better way to spend that uninterrupted time than by reading. I feel like a substitute again.

I’ve read over 100 pages today in Angels and Demons, and it’s really getting good. Great thriller and very Indiana Jones-esque. The Da Vinci Code came in the mail the other day, so I’m crossing my fingers that maybe I can finish both books by this weekend. Da Vinci Code is a little shorter, so that should aid my efforts. Anyone else read Da Vinci Code that might be interested in seeing the movie?

Since I’m on a reading kick, I’m already thinking past Da Vinci Code at what I’d like to read next. Dan Brown has a couple other books out that I could go for, or it’d be fun to start a new fantasy series over the summer. There are some big names that I haven’t touched like Goodkind, Brooks, and Jordan. There’s also the Dark Tower series. I haven’t read any good sci-fi fantasy either, like spaceships and alien stuff.

Back to reading, err, I mean testing.

I don’t think any mothers actually read the blarg, but in case you do, Happy Mother’s Day!

We’re going to Hackers for a brunch at noon, and then to my sisters this evening for dinner. In between that we have to get ready for another week of work and school. The Da Vinci Code came in the mail yesterday, but I’m only halfway done with Angels and Demons. I could just start Da Vinci Code, but I hate starting multiple books at once. I will finish Angels and Demons (which is pretty good so far) and then move on to Da Vinci Code.

Hope you have a great Mother’s Day. Do something nice for your Mom and tell her you love her.

Dodgers VS Giants are on! Barry Bonds is looking for his 714 homerun to tie Babe Ruth.

1st Inning – Dodgers went fast. Got to see Bonds get walked intentionally only to have Finley ground out behind him. Good stuff.

3rd Inning – Dodgers got something going. Aybar and Martin get on base, and Furcal who just recently remembered how to hit knocked a run in. Lofton also comes through and knocks in two. What the crap kind of strikezone is this guy calling? Bottom of the inning, and down goes Barry.

5th Inning – Dodgers score again. Walk, sacrifice, and infield single. That’s some good baseball.

Stacie wanted to watch American Inventor from last night. Dodgers win.

Sauce packet goo is very rare and has an unknown origin. Rivaling bigfoot and the abominable snowman, the gooey sauce packet borders on myth.

Sauce packets of all varieties, from ketchup to taco sauce, are occasionally plagued by this weird substance. Why would a self-contained packet be covered by a strange amber colorerd goo? Since it is such a rare specimen, there is little documented proof of its existence. It strikes without notice, horrifying unsuspecting sauce packet lovers upon their grab for sauce. Though unverified, there have even been accounts where the goo existed in amounts large enough to make several sauce packets stick together!

Where this goo comes from and what its purpose is we may never know. Has anyone else sighted this freak of nature?

The number one problem facing our nation today is finally being addressed by Congress. That’s right……MySpace.

The group of people in charge of our national government is taking up the issue that MySpace needs to be banned at schools and libraries. Wake up you freakin’ morons, but it probably already is! Nevermind that problem with immigration, get to work on banning MySpace at the LOCAL level.

Islamo-facists who beheaded three Christian girls in Indonesia late last October have confessed.

Is your head in the sand?

Peggy Noonan has a new article up about the unique challenges facing Republicans currently in office. Before I say anything about the article, let me say that Peggy Noonan is one of the best writers around. Everytime she says something it seems dead on and cuts through all the balogna.

Most people think the country is going in the wrong direction. Six months ago I would have attributed this simply to people being idiots and looking for someone to blame. Politics seem somewhat cyclical, and the cycle for Republicans might be up. The true negatives about the Bush administration really aren’t that bad. The country is not falling apart, the war in Iraq is rarely a headline anymore, and the economy is great. But I think over time people get anxious, and especially the undecided people in the middle that blow with the wind. "Well these guys have been in power for 10+ years and they haven’t done much, so screw them!"

Democrats have hated Bush since he was elected, but I think his major problems of late stem from his own party. When you don’t veto spending, and you promote GUEST WORKER programs, your own party is going to be fed up with you (and the same goes for congress). Republicans in D.C. better get their act together really fast, or the Democrats will be back in power. At least they would be up front about wanting to spend all our money.

Despite the lack of time available to me for playing videogames, I can still get excited about them. This week is the annual Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3). All the big videogame makers get together and put on a show for the media and let them try out new games and all that stuff. Mike and I snuck in one year.

This year is a big deal because both Sony and Nintendo have new consoles on the horizon. Sony has PS3 and Nintendo has Wii (pronounced "we"). If you’re interested you can visit IGN and check out their E3 coverage.

Now for my 2 cents on everything. PS3 is from $500-600 depending on your model, which is an insane price for a videogame system. If there are any redeeming qualities I would have to look to the Blu-Ray drive inside. I’m really excited to see what people think of Wii once they get their hands on the controller. The Nintendo conference looked really cool, but I wasn’t overwhelmed. Because Wii isn’t a huge graphical jump over Gamecube (and it’s not supposed to be), I think simply watching a game isn’t that impressive. I’m hoping that once you hold the controller in your hand and get used to the brand new controls it will be a truly unique experience. Sony added a "tilt" sensor to their controller at the cost of a rumble device. I think it’s an attempt to take some of the wind out of Nintendo’s sail, but it’s too little, too late. It will work for flying games, monkey ball, and marble madness…but that’s it. They’re trying to tell people that a rumble feature is "so last year," but I think they’re wrong.

Nintendo has an amazing marketing team. The positioning that they’ve come up with for their new system is hands-down the best of the three. They’ve been able to distance themselves from the competition in a sector that was drowing in copycats. They aren’t competing with Microsoft or Sony in terms of graphics or ports anymore. Now they’re competing based on the fun factor. Nintendo is also insisting that this will be the system to bring videogaming to the masses. Your Mom, Grandpa, and red-headed stepchild will all be playing this system, flailing about like a bunch of idiots in front of the TV, and oh will it rock. The marketing guy in me is very impressed with Nintendo.