So it's come to this- I'm a media darling again. (If I wasn’t so opposed to wearing yellow and purple, I could be a Laker) Last week I got to test the new xbox for the CMD, and then I was interviewed by the CMD, newslink, and the star press for the aforelinked story. The console that I tried ran pretty well, with none of the crashing bugs that I read about on Slashdot last week. There don’t seem to be any standout games as of yet, so don’t be too disappointed if you don’t see the new console under your tree/ in proximity to your menorah/ wherever the hell the mores of Festivus dictate gifts are to be placed. My quotations in the article are probably what I said during the interview, and I must commend the reporter for making some sense of what I was trying to say in my addled, sleep-deprived condition.

Thanksgiving break was enjoyable- I got a little bit of work done, but mostly I just read, ate, and traipsed around the fort with Michael. We went shopping on Friday and Saturday, much to our shared chagrin and amusement. I found gifts for a few people, and I picked up a tie for myself because I feel that I should be regaled in diagonal stripes should I ever have cause to dress up again. I also saw two people with matching rhinoplasty bandages- I know there’s a story there. They looked like a married couple, so did they just roll over one morning and mutually decide that they were ugly? Did they meet at a convention for people who look like California condors? Boggles the mind, it does.

On Saturday night I dug out my old Fireball Island game. Michael read the rule book out loud with consideration for emphasis given by the author. We each played two pieces to make things more interesting- I was red and orange, and he was blue and purple, the plucky little amputee who lost his arm many years ago. Fireball Island is not meant for the good and noble. The object of the game is to make it to the top of a mountain with a fire breathing demon head, steal a large plastic jewel, and escape to a boat at the end. To this end, each player is granted the limited geologic power to smite the bejeezus out of opponents with strategically deployed red fire marbles that roll around and destroy players. I hope I’m preaching to the choir here, because if you haven’t played this at least once in your life, you’re missing out. Michael’s blue player emerged from the plastic jungle victorious, despite being repeatedly nuked by my Damaclean fireballs, and despite me splitting hairs over the rules of when cards can be played and some tom-foolery at the end.