Last Friday morning, the wife supposedly let the cat out of the bag, and into the backyard for the usual daily attack on nature. All seemed fine and life goes on. Saturday rolls by, then Sunday... but wait? Where's the cat? Momo (so named for a small, winged, Lemur) does not appear to be fed in the morning or at night. Hmmm. Not usual - but she did tree herself earlier this summer. And yes, since you asked, a chainsaw was involved.

So out into the world we wander, trying to locate said feline. Negative. No joy. No cat.

So come Wednesday, we figure the cat is happily digesting in a Coyote or performing her new duties as a sail-cat. Bummed, but undeterred Litsa goes about clearing her office of a wheel barrow sized load of stuff, including all the cats hoo-ha.

Almost done. Be patient.

So, I get up this morning, Take a shower, consume my OJ, and sit down busily pounding away at my keyboard looking at Tiger Direct for some fun techno-goodies (there's a story there too), and I hear some scratching and what sounds like a meow. WTF? So I go and ask Litsa if she heard it and Donovan is squawking about not going to school - so I figure it was them dukin' it out. Litsa suggests it's Momo's ghost. Sure. Whatever. Back to my digital distraction. Then I hear it again. So now I know the freakin' cat is in the house, upstairs and trapped. I look in the bedrooms, spare,  master, etc. Nope. Nada. Then I hear small, dull, thud. After a short heavy sigh, I figure out where this furry-retard has been.

I open up our linen closet and lo-and-behold, a Momo pokes her head out of the door - well a slightly thinner version of Momo that is. What kind of idiot arse cat sits in a closet, right outside our bedroom for 5 days and doesn't make a single sound. I even went into the closet Monday for towels after bathing my two little monkeys.

Whatever. We are all happy to have our cat back from the linen closet. Welcome home Momo.

I just finished reading through the September issue of Outside magazine. It states in big-arse type on the cover

The mess on Everest
Following the deadliest climbing season since "Into thin air," (1996)....

And goes on the editorialize and investigate allegations of careless guides and ill-equipped clients and weighs in on the circus like atmosphere on the world's tallest peak. So what do I see in a full page ad on page 116?

Are you going on a free trip to Everest?

WTF?! I must be effin' blind too, since right on the damned cover is a sticker for your INSTANT WIN! Ticket to die a horrible death on Everest. Okay. Crappy statement. But come on! I just finished reading about about how an editor for the magazine went through gyrations of guilt and anxiety when he thought he might be responsible for the death of Jon Krakauer by sending him on a story on Everest. Krakauer did not die on that expedition, but Rob Hall did. This was in 1996.

This smacks right in the face every point they were trying to make and reinforces comments made by Sir Edmond Hillary:

I think the whole attitude towards climbing Mount Everest has become rather horrifying.

So how does this contest help the situation on Everest? It doesn't. By their rules all I have to be physically able. Never mind that I wouldn't know a crampon from a golf shoe. How can they simply not see the total reversal here? I have read several issues now with climbers talking about how screwed up the guide situation is on Everest, how people have been taught to repel on the Second Step of the Northeast Ridge. That is exactly what that mountain doesn't need. More troglodyte yuppies buying or winning their way to the top of a 29,035 foot mountain. Everest has had enough millionaires and Playboy bunnies leave their mark on her face.

I have a tremendous amount of respect for those who can accomplish it. It's amazing. I would love to see the view from the summit. It has to be as close to touching the face of God as any human can imagine. Imagine. That's as close as I will ever get. That and looking at pictures from those who have been there. Why? Not because I think I could never do it, or because I'm too old. I do not belong there. It's that simple. If I want to summit a mountain, how about Mt. Washington, or Mt. Hood. Yeah. That's more my speed. 12,000 or 15,000 feet. Yup good enough.

It's time to leave it to the people who belong there.

I was just flippin' through an issue of Computer Gaming World thinking that it was just lame. Wondering exactly what force of nature made me think it was a good idea to shell out some cash on this worthless scrap pile of paper and ink....

Then I was reminded.

Reading Gaming for Dummies by Jeff Green. Hits the nail right on the head for how I game:

Yes, I know Mr Ubergamer. You're a tough guy. You think the "normal" mode on most games is for wimps and n00bs. You can beat the hardest mode in every game in 30 minutes while standing on your head, blindfolded, and with both hands tied behind your back. Great. Call the circus. Perhaps the bearded lady will find you hot.
But if you think you represent the gamer norm, I have important news for you; You're a moron. Most gamers I know play in "easy" mode most of the time. And if they get stuck? They cheat. Because most people who play games just want a little fun and diversion.

This is perfect. That's how and why I play computer games (well that, and to lay a smack-down on me Bro). Admittedly I have been slacking on the game front lately, especially since I picked up a PSP, it holds the majority of my gaming attention these days. Games are frustrating enough, that I don't need to go into cardiac arrest 4 times a day just because some uber-strogg just gutted me with his spiky elbow 15 times running, and the game resets me to a whole whoppin' 25 health points after every glorious slaying.

Back to what I was going to get at - it seems like games anymore are either just stupid kill everything in site, or some kind of online fetish, fantasy, role-playing game with hot chicks with large knockers. Like this section of a wallpaper from the new game Hero. This might be a really cool game, but I don't even really care. I just don't get my jollies by looking at, or choosing my "character" to be some 3D floozy. Yay! I'm not 12 any more....

There are still excellent games around, and new ones are on the way - but it seems there is a definite trend towards this kind of garbage, and that's not even getting into games like 3Feel - virtual porn. And no, I'm not linking to the site. Tough. It's in Korean anyway... not that I would know. So what games do I play? Currently:

• Battlefield 2
• Quake 4
• Hot Shots Golf (PSP)

That's the top 3. I am really looking forward to Spore, and very interested in Prey (ooohhh.. they have a demo....). Team Fortress 2 (engine developed at Valve) looks interesting, but I will most likely never get into it.

Okay, so the cheesy grin harkens back to the Val Kilmer days of Batman, but so what. Thanks Grandma for the Batman PJs, as you can see they are a hit. Well almost 100%.

For some strange reason Dylan starts to get upset if you do the dananananananananana Batman... thing from the old cornball TV series with Adam West.

All Apple/Mac fanboy garbage aside, it's pretty simple to see that Apple wants to assimilate you into the collective. They are launching more lifestyle oriented products from their California based technological trebuchet than Tiger Directs spam engine.

Announced today:

• Movies on iTunes
• Games for the iPod (iTunes)
• new iPod Shuffle
• Revamped (and 8gb) iPod Nano
• iTV (macworld post)

Steve is going ape-shit. I mean really - dude... knock it off. You're making everyone else look bad. I mean, what is Microsoft doing? Releasing Windows Vista? Yeah. It's late, expensive, and chock full of enhanced Windows XP goodness. So tell me Bill, why do I want to shell out up to $400 duckettes for a new OS? Oh yeah. I don't. Thanks for the beta though.

This is the reason I both hate and love Apple. I love my iPod. Love... it....! It rocks. I take it every where, and now its cousin, my PSP, tags along for the ride. I've used other MP3 players too, and the iPod kicks all of their butts. The Archos I had was a POS. The UI sucked, and no one put any effort into the functionality. I hate them because they obsolete things faster than Ikea. I just bought the wife a Shuffle, and wamo! Now there's a new one out that is smaller and way cooler. She likes hers though, and would probably lose the new one (her words, not mine).

It’s not enough to just have movies on your computer and your iPod, you also have to be able to watch them on your television and get them there easily.

I have to agree with that statement whole heartedly. With the announcement of iTVs release in 2007, this will complete the circle of my digital fetish. I most likely will stop buying DVDs completely, and opt for the digital format of movies. With its small size, Wifi streaming capabilities and built-in iTunes based functionality, the iTV looks to be a better solution than Windows Media Center. It's insanely small, and even if you have a Mac Mini right next to it, under it; whatever, it is still a small shadow of even the most compact PC that is readily available for less than $1,000.

The movies release is a bit of a disappointment. They don't have all that many movies just yet, and only a couple I would buy. The price of $10 bucks is right, and Sony could learn a thing or two from them. No one buys movies for the PSP because they are the same friggin' price as a DVD - WTF? That's dumb. But 10 bucks, that's what I would/will spend for movies in this format. It's what i would expect to pay for them. Not full DVD retail. They should have launched the movies with The Matrix and Office Space for starters. To their credit, they do have The Rock, Tombstone, Hitchhikers Guide, O' Brother, Where Art Thou? and some other good ones. I'm not too critical since I know they will get more folks on board and more movies too - I wonder if they are going to get any from Sony Pictures?

I'm still a bit skeptical, since no one has been able to get the whole kit-and-caboodle right yet, but if I had to hedge my bets; Apple is going to be able to do it.

Any way. Enough pontificating. I'm off to iTunes to download Tetris for my iPod.

It's 11:45. I've been on the road for almost 13 hours, and I'm tired.

But the Bronco is home!