1. The E3 Trailer for Prince of Persia that I downloaded a while ago on my Xbox 360.
2. The haunting music from the trailer: Saeglopur by Sigur Ros.
3. The Android app Shazam (originally developed for the iPhone) which told me what the music was without the need for me to do various permutations of the search: "Prince of Persia trailer music."
4. My Playstation 1 memory card has somehow lost my save game data for my not-even-through-with-disc-1, but-spent-over-a-week-of-playtime game of Final Fantasy VII.

This one thought that the reference to That one was rather objectionable.

A m00se 0nce bit my sister.

• Watch this week's Lost.
• Read The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John C. Bogle.
• Read The Little Book That Beats the Market by Joel Greenblatt.
• Watch Aqua Teen Hunger Force Vol. 1: Disc 2.
• Watch Negima: Magic 601
• Watch An Evening with Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder Disc 2.
• Watch Touching the Void.
• Finish Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones.

flattop

There many firepits and firebowls on the market… Most of them are less expensive than the Great Bowl of Fire, but from reading customer reviews at Amazon, I get the impression that they don't hold up all that well over time. The finish comes off, they can rust out or get dented fairly easily, etc. No such worries here. The Great Bowl of Fire is cut from quarter inch thick steel— you could hit it with a car and it wouldn't notice. Your car would though, so I don't really recommend such extreme product testing. A better product test might be to chuck it off the roof, but please be careful getting it up there, it's very heavy.

hammor

And if I get drunk, yeah I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man that gets drunk next to you
And if I haver, whatever the fuck that means
I'm gonna be the man who havers next you

tankfreak

• Pack
• Make Everwood DVDs for Mom and Dad.
• Find issues of Fables and Y: The Last Man for Jerry
• Watch as much TiVo as possible to clear space, as I've been spending too much time playing Soul Calibur III and Guitar Hero to catch up on television.
• Dishes/Laundry

• A Mirrormask Journal and pen with blacklight-visible ink.
• In The Groove game and T-shirt from RedOctane.
• Morena Baccarin, Adam Baldwin, and Ron Glass' autographs which join the ones of Nathan Fillion and Jewel Staite on my Firefly DVD set cover.
• A picture with Morena Baccarin.
• My picture taken by a guy who looks a lot like David Boreanaz because he thinks I look a lot like John Cho.
• Accosted by various people who thought I actually was John Cho (while I did dress up as Harold in the Land of Burgers, most people thought I was John Cho when I was out of costume).
• Questioned directly by Morena Baccarin on how the various castmembers did pronouncing their Mandarin Chinese dialogue.
• A Strong Bad Sings CD and Strong Bad E-mail DVD #4.
• A signed headshot of Strong Bad, complete with "They'll be all upons" abs drawn into place by one of the Bros. Chaps.
• Groped by various people.
• The opportunity to hang out a great deal with Mercedes McNab.
• The following story:

  When ellenore and tankfreak, playing Buffy and Spike respectively, prepared to re-enact the final kiss from "Once More, With Feeling," I heard the guys in front of me jabbering quickly--"Turn on the camera!" "Why?" "Dude, they're TWO CHICKS, MAN!"

• Con Crud. Yay.

1. I love video games.
   
2. I own several video game soundtracks.
   
3. I rather enjoy cheesy trance music.
   
4. My favorite songs of the moment are cheesy trance music from a video game and a trance remix inspired by a short melody from a video game.
   

• The Jerk DVD from Netflix
• Dumb and Dumber DVD from Netflix
• Ai Yori Aoshi Vol 1. DVD from Netflix
• The Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic, and Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett Audiobooks
• Negima and Love Hina by Ken Akamatsu Manga
• Cupid DVDs that I bought on ebay
• Kingdom Hearts on the PS2
• Ratchet and Clank: Going Commando on the PS2
• Hoyle Casino Omaha and Triple Crown poker tournaments on the PC
• The LJ friends list

Let's say you're putting together a crack gang of international terrorists to, say, hijack an office tower or track down and execute a rogue super soldier. You'll need an icy, silent, well-built Aryan type, preferably Austrian or German, and preferably wearing a turtleneck. You'll need a geek to circumvent alarm systems and...you know, hack into things; he may or may not be black, but he must wear glasses and should have an affinity for argyle cardigans. If the geek is white, then you'll also want to hire a huge African man who wears bandoliers and favors little knit caps and is always chewing on something. And, of course, you'll need an Asian guy, preferably one with a bit of Far East mystique, as symbolized by his long Fu Manchu-style moustache. In other words, you'll need Al Leong.
-- From Fametracker's Hey! It's That Guy! profile of Al Leong

J.K. Simmons is also the voice of the yellow M&M on the animated candy commercials. Knowing this makes it easier to play a fun game while watching M&M commercials. The next time you see one of these commercials, imagine the yellow M&M telling the red M&M to "suck my dick, you sniveling bitch." Okay, it's not really a "game." But it is fun.

• Orisinal's games are simple, cute, and just on the good site of sweet without being cloyingly saccharine. High Delivery, Pocketful of Stars, and Bubble Bees are a few ones that I've enjoyed playing.
  
• Underbones is a javascript&cookie-based site where you have to reassemble a skeleton. To find all the bones, you need to navigate throughout the site and solve various puzzles. One of the most technically adept uses of javascript I've seen, where it's not all just stupid rollover buttons.
  
• Deathball.net's Not Pr0n riddle is a website puzzle which requires a world of esoteric knowledge, most of which is computer-based. I've only gotten to number 36 or so, but after a while it gets repetitive/boring.
  

1. "The Thing That Should Not Let It Be" by Beatallica
   Found this morning off of a link on Boingboing, Beatallica is a Beatles cover band that performs all its tribute songs in the style of Metallica. I'm thinking you have to hear it to understand. They've got some great song titles--also check out "Hey Dude", their paean to loud rockin' metal.
   
2. Cells by The Servant
   For those of you who've seen the trailer for the upcoming Sin City movie, this is the song that plays in the background. And while said trailer, with its accompanying music evokes images of big tough guys and killer hookers, the song is really about something of a banal existence.
   
3. Mad World (Remix) by Gary Jules
   Two weekends ago, during Atlanta's most recent ice storm/ice event, a whole bunch of us got together at a friend's place and had something like a slumber party--blankets and pillows commingling with couches and loveseats, beer and wine and chips and triscuits and paté. Sometimes the girls would knit while the guys would play Ratchet and Clank. And we watched whole slew of movies, from Harold and Kumar to Shaun of the Dead to The Forgotten.
   
   On Saturday night, we took in Donnie Darko, which features this Gary Jules cover of an old Tears for Fears song. This song just completely drowns in the atmosphere of the movie. Unlike most remixes, this one is a bit subtle--not your usual boom-boom, fast-paced beat, just a soft drum beat in the background.
   
4. Cherry Blossom Color Season by Yu Miyake and the Katamari Company Jr
   This cheery song is one of my favorites from the soundtrack to Katamary Damacy, simply because it's so cheery. The singing children brings to mind the overture from Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.

• [The] controller is like GC controller but “rubbing” is possible - e.g. you can control movement in a game by rubbing the controller/buttons. Also the controller has a slot.


• The whole controller is pressure sensitive. So rubbing can be done with the buttons or via grip.

1. Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle: Unrated Edition DVD
   
2. Dude, Where's My Car? DVD
   
3. Donnie Darko DVD
   
4. Boondock Saints DVD
   
5. And the Midway Arcade Treasures 2 PS2 disc which, amongst other things includes the nostalgia-inducing Cyberball 2072. You can have your Maddens, your NCAA Football 2K4s.
   
   I've got Cyberball.

• "Well, you should understand. It's in your native language."
  regarding the Aramaic The Passion of the Christ to someone from Italy.
  
• "It must suck to lose to an in-state rival."
  to a Virginia Tech-alum regarding Virginia Tech's loss to West Virginia a couple of years ago.

That which I should not have picked up at Target for seventeen dollars:

Soul Calibur II for the Playstation2, which I played in Weapon Master mode until 12:30 AM last night, despite my intentions to go to the Independent and be social.

They who should suffer grievous bodily harm:

The people who stole Rob's chained-up 2001 Kawasaki Ninja ZX 9R at some point last night. They should have the skin flayed from their faces. Glow-stick sodomy is too good for them.

He who should have massive amounts of funding:

Rob del Bueno, bassist for Man or Astro-man?, who's trying to push biodiesel use in the Atlanta area and the Southeast through his site, Vegenergy.

He who must not be named:

Voldemort

She who should probably write something a little more substantial than "testing. testing..." since she went ahead and registered for an LJ:

genny0926

That which does not work:

Motorola's Mobile Power Tools, which have given me the capability to hook my new phone up to my computer and synchronize calendar and contacts, but which, for some inexplicable reason, will not upload my self-created MIDI file as a polyphonic ringtone. Damn you.

No, you don't understand. We were literally born into this world from a huge piece of shit that came out of Eddy Vedder's ass in the mid 90's! We are the children of his shit!

Item: disturbing fanfic
This is a hundred pages of animals from a popular cartoon doing horrible and disgusting things to each other.

You have a few cocktails, and strike up a conversation with one of the ladies.

You buy her a couple of drinks, and she talks to you for about an hour before casually mentioning that she has a boyfriend.

Dammit!

Sam: The only two words that can describe this ball are huge and big.
Max: I think the two words I describe it with are dumb and stupid.

• Bring lots of money
  I probably spent over $300 buying crap. As previously mentioned, I got the all of Invader Zim on a bootleg DVD, as well as: Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, Maison Ikkoku: Box Set #1, Escaflowne DVD #7, Deliria--an RPG edited by chinook_wind, a RedOctane Ignition Pad, a USB-to-Playstation2 controller converter, a five-dollar copy of NHL Hitz 2002, Ghost of the Robot's CD, two signed photos of James Marsters, and an autographed poster for Chance, Amber Benson's independent movie--the poster including a forthcoming DVD of the film. Luckily, I had the willpower to resist getting another $100+ leather (or metal) mask from Mansour Designs.
  
• Confidence is Hot
  Being that this is a science fiction/fantasy/comic book con, you'll expect that a large number of attendees are, well, let's just say, not the ideal Hollywood body-type. I do have to respect the number of attendees who squeezed themselves into tight-fitting costumes, and paraded around the Con largely half-naked. Aside from a bevy of "booth babe" types, there was one older woman, dressed as the Scarlet Witch, slightly overweight, but still looking quite good in her handmade costume.
  
• Overconfidence is not
  Really, as much as I admire the people in the costumes, the grossly overweight woman in the skin-tight lycra bodysuit with the plunging lacy neckline was really quite a turn-off. I don't really begrudge her her body-pride--hell, I donn't really have the balls to go near-naked/skin-tight in public--but I have a feeling that most of the Con-goers looked at her more as freak than fearless. It wasn't even a costume per se--it was just the outfit she probably reserves for evenings when she's feeling randy/kinky with her lover. I do not doubt she has a lover. Which brings me to...
  
• Costumers are more impressive than goths
  In the hierarchy of dressed-up con-goers, the people who make their own wings/armor/cloaks/latex forehead ridges (I saw a Reed Richards who created his own stretched-out arms) are generally more impressive than the people who buy their own medeival costumes/swords/corsets/underoos (Like the Supergirl who just had on a Super-S babydoll tee and Superman briefs) who are generally more impressive than the people who just buy latex ears or porcelain fangs. All of the above are more impressive than the goths who just show up dressed how they're dressed every Saturday for their visit to the local BDSM show.
  
• James Marsters has a lot of fangirls
  Quite possibly the biggest celebrity draw of the Con, James Marsters has a lot of screaming fangirls. Every panel that he attended was pretty much full (on Friday, the Con staff rudely expanded the room in the midst of his speaking), and his appearance pretty much caused every other Buffy track panel to get extra attendance. In the Saturday panel that I missed, one girl in particular asked him to take his shirt off, and to make a point, he asked her to take hers off. She did, apparently not getting the point...
  
• There will never be a Harry Potter track at DragonCon
  Because of behavior like above...
  
• It's good to know people
  Tricia, the Buffy track director, got me past the lines to see the Buffy Musical performance on Friday night because I'd been attending the Buffy track since year one. She also had me help out with crowd control on the Monday celebrity panel, so I got a prime seat.
  
• Wear comfortable shoes
  I did so much walking at DragonCon, I think I might have lost about five pounds. And, like Lt. Dan said, keep your socks clean and dry, or you'll get blisters.
  
• If you go to try to see some people that you've read online, it helps to be a little extroverted
  I met harmonyfb, and a few others, but being somewhat reserved and introverted, I spent most of my time in the periphery of the Con, wandering about to buy crap.
  
• ( More details about the well-known Angel casting spoiler )
  
• Danny Strong is quite short; so is Iyari Limon
  But he's really funny. I met up with a couple of fellow fans and we wandered about the Walk of Fame. We spoke with Danny about his upcoming projects, and he mentioned Four Guys Eating or something to that effect. He said he plays the "asshole" and indicated that that role is more in line with his personality. He then signed something for one of my compatriots, and when learning that the autograph was for the guy's (perceived freeloading) ex-girlfriend, asked him for his phone number so that he could hound him to kick her to the curb.
  
• Tom Hodges, the guy who played the bully in Lucas, directed James Leary (a.k.a "Clem, the foreskin demon") in Stunt Cocks. He plays poker with Lou Diamond Phillips, too.
  
• According to Marsters, James Leary in costume gets all the chicks, "because of the ears."
  
• ETA: If you're going to buy something, try for later in the Con
  I could have purchased a couple of the DVDs on Monday afternoon for a greater discount, and perhaps saved $20.00 on the Ghost of the Robot CD according to harmonyfb and her friends' reactions to the show...