Enoch

One thing that worries me about using the Oblivion engine is getting the look of the Wasteland right. If I can walk out of the Vault and see nothing between me and the horizon but a few bleached gecko bones, I'll get chills. But if they give into the temptation to create scenic vistas where I can see the whole gameworld, I'll be sorely disappointed. The Wasteland needs that Mad-Maxish look of total emptiness. (The real thing to avoid in using Oblivion's engine is their horrendous learn-by-doing skill & advancement system. It's counter-intuitive, not fun, and encourages all kinds of meta-gaming behavior. Oh, and the total lack of memorable characters, but that's not really an engine issue.) If they can get the mood and tone that is Fallout right, I'll be reasonably happy. Morrowind was stronger in this area than Oblivion, but that's probably mostly because they went for a more traditional fantasy setting.

There is a canon of statutory interpretation that statutes must be construed as to avoid "absurd" results. I think that it would be pretty clearly appropriate to apply it in this case. (As well as the canon that criminal laws should be construed to the benefit of the accused.) As for marriage as an institution of the state, as of 1997, there were 1,049 U.S. federal laws in which marital status was a factor. (Click the first search result here.) You can argue whether this is good or not, but you can't deny that there are social consequences of marriage.

You know, I really don't care if NFL players smoke a little ganga in the offseason. But how dumb do you have to be to try to bring your weed through airport security disguised in a water bottle?! How does Vick not know that you can't bring any water bottles through security any more?

On the whole, I probably come out on the side of legalizing it. At the very least, there's no reason that it should be a schedule-1 narcotic, as it is in the U.S. (which means that even medical professionals or researchers can't legally own the stuff for treatment/scientific purposes). But I do worry about the consequences of the act of legalization. That is, the act of legalizing dangerous drugs like alcohol & tobacco are so longstanding that they can't be taken as contemporary societal endorsements of the behavior. Smoking and drinking are legal, but frowned upon by the bulk of society. I worry that the act of legalizing pot would be seen as a subtle societal endorsement of the behavior. For example, nearly everybody tries booze & tobacco at some point in their teens/20s, and nobody really sees much harm in it-- I don't think it's a good idea to encourage giving a similar treatment to weed. Edit: OK, I just reread that and I sound like a total prude. My point is generally that I don't want to see weed become a generally accepted rite of passage like, say, getting hammered on one's 21st birthday.

I've been traveling for much of this weekend, but I did manage to catch a majority of the games played (I missed the first half of PHI-NO, and all but the 4th/OT of SEA-CHI). Some impressions: -The Saints clearly controlled the Eagles on 90% of the snaps, but Philly scored on enough big plays to make it close. NO's CB Fred Thomas stinks. Bernard Berrian must be giddy with excitement about getting to line up opposite this guy. -I feel bad for Brian Billick. He must be in a lot of pain right now, because it is obvious to anyone who watched IND-BAL that somebody removed his testicles shortly before kickoff. I don't think he called more than 3 downfield passes the entire game. McNair's entire stat line consists of 6 yard passes to Todd Heap! (Unless it was 3rd & 6, in which case the pass only went 3 yards.) And it didn't look like McNair was checking down when the deep routes were covered-- he seemed to spend the whole game just staring at Heap and the fullback with the name I'm not even going to attempt to spell. -Both of the surviving AFC teams are very very very lucky. There were 5 fumbles both games, and Indy & the Pats recovered all of them. This blind luck in the direction the ball happened to bounce helped both teams overcome some uncharacteristicly terrible play by their quarterbacks. -What is the deal with the Colts? Why couldn't their defense do this in the regular season? Why has Peyton followed a typical amazing season with an Eli impression in the playoffs? (Peyton should've been the MVP. He's like Mickey Mantle was in the 60s-- everybody knows he's consistently the best player in the league, but it would be boring to give him the trophy every year.) -It seems that 14-3 coach Marty Schottenheimer could be fired for not being prepared to defend the Pick & Fumble play that noted genius Bill Belichick called to get a first down on 4th & 5. What a choker! -If the Colts and the Saints end up in the Super Bowl, I predict that the final score will be somewhere in the area of 52-49.

Shockey is the absolute embodiment of the "dumb jock" stereotype. He gets very passionate about the game, and he doesn't have a whole lot of tact, but he will always work as hard as he possibly can to win. As a receiver, he's not the greatest, although some of this is scheme-- he was more dangerous when Fassel was the coach and he ran more downfield routes. But his blocking is better than any of the other top receiving TEs I've seen. (Gates, for one, is rather inconsistent as a blocker.) Shockey also seems prone to nagging foot & ankle injuries-- he usually ends up playing through pain for 4-6 games every season, which limits his effectiveness somewhat. Burress is a bit of a prima donna. He's talented, but, like a lot of WRs, needs his ego stroked from time to time. Anyone who's watched a MNF broadcast this season knows that Kornheiser doesn't put much effort into knowing football. I do, however, value his contribution for those sublime moments when he calls out Theissman on air for flagrantly contradicting himself. I've been wanting to do that to Joey T for years, so it's nice to hear from time to time. And, speaking of watching Theissman suffer, there's only one "L.T." While he was, at one point, the greatest football player on the planet, he hung it up years ago.

Looks like you're not getting your wish. This is the worst of all possible moves by the Giants. I'd be OK with Coughlin back, if he was forced to replace most of his assistants. But a 1-year extension just screams "Lame Duck." Even if he were to fire the assistants & coordinators currently with the team, there's no way that any promising candidates to replace them are going to sign on to Coughlin's sinking ship. And he's going to have even more trouble commanding the respect of the players when they all-but know that he's going to be replaced after the season. This is Dan Reeves in 1996 all over again. What this says to me is that the front office wants to replace Coughlin, but they don't like any of the candidates that are out there this offseason and are hoping for some better names to be on the market in '08 (*cough*Belichick*cough*).

I never got into the Legos, although I do remember having a great many Construx.

Small Fuji apple.

I picked this up around the New Year, and I've been having fun with it. The Crusades are neat, I like the Guilds, and the release/ransom/execute decision is a nice touch. The AI hasn't made the kind of improvements from Rome that I was hoping for, but it's still fun to play. Best story so far: Fairly early on in a campaign as England, I had a Princess wandering through HRE territory. She was getting on in years (mid 30s), so I wanted to get her married off before she disappears into a nunnery. I walk her up to Nuremburg, and notice that the city has an unmarried general. She had about a 40% chance of seducing him, so I gave it a shot and won. I try to walk my new son-in-law back to Antwerp, but he gets blocked by an HRE army. I end the turn, and they attack. The new general was able to withdraw safely back towards Nuremburg, and it's my turn again. At this point, I noticed that he had been the only defender in the city when I stole him, and the HRE didn't bother to reinforce the town during its turn. So he and his 30-man escort sacks Nuremburg, killing thousands, and flees south into the Alps. Then, the diplomat I had sitting next to Rome for Papal bribery purposes gives the region to the Pope. I was never able to get that General out of HRE territory, but he somehow lasted long enough to father 2 sons, resist an inquisitor, and take a couple hundred HRE infantrymen down with him. And the HRE still has to deal with a province at the center of its empire held by a foreign power that they don't dare attack.

Nice. Unfortunately for me, free lunches for employees of the U.S. Government would violate federal appropriations law. I am eating some mediocre vegetable beef soup and a decent salad (lettuce, spinach, carrot, peas, kidney beans, broccoli, bell pepper, croutons, and balsamic vinegarette) from my building's cafeteria.

First off, I demand some props for picking all this weekend's games correctly! Anyhow, fun weekend. Well, actually, Saturday's games featured some pretty awful football, which was nicely redeemed by the last few minutes of DAL-SEA. As for Sunday, it was fun to see Brady and Pennington competing to see who could induce more defensive errors with quick-snap gamesmanship. And my Giants made a respectable showing against a team that simply had more talent and better coaching. Eli did OK, given that he basically had 1.5 competent receivers (a gimpy Shockey is the .5) against a good pass D. Their LBs were just too old and slow, and injuries killed their DL depth. Kiwanuka, the rookie DE, was really gassed at the end-- the Eagles were running him over with regularity on their last drive. (The officiating in that game was horrible all-around, though. How does Pete Morelli still have that job??) Goodbye, Tiki. Thanks for the memories, and see you on Good Morning America, or wherever in the mediaverse you end up. Goodbye, Major Tom. Thanks for teaching Tiki how to not fumble, and not much else.

That is one of the harder areas of the game-- the enemies are a pretty close match for your group. The thugs aren't spawning, they're using their stealth skills. If you just walk down the hall, you'll be surrounded in no time. I found that it was best to park my party in a room I knew was clear, with Khelgar guarding the door (using the "stand your ground" broadcast command), while Elanee (high spot & listen skills) goes looking for the baddies and draws them back to the rest of your group.

I'll take all the home teams this weekend (SEA, PHI, IND, NE). Then it's Baltimore over Indy, New England over San Diego, New Orleans over Philly, and Seattle over Chicago (upset special!). Championship round sees the Saints beating Seattle (badly), and the Ravens sending the Pats home. Baltimore wins it all, 23-16. Edit: Some explanation: I have Seattle making a run because I think that the succession of bad weather in Seattle this weekend and the craptacularity of "Train" Rex Grossman the following week will mitigate their weakness in the defensive backfield. Apart from that my only real upset is the Pats over the Chargers, which is based solely on Belichick + Brady > Schottenheimer + Rivers.

The shorthand conventional wisdom right now is that JaMarcus Russell just did to Brady Quinn what Vince Young did to Matt Leinart in the Bowl game last year. (I.e., beat his team in a Bowl game and pass him on NFL draft boards at the same time.) Although, if that prevents Quinn from going to the Raiders or Lions, he should be eternally greatful.

I had the opposite good fortune-- I've got 4 wisdom teeth, and they fit perfectly.* When I open up for a hygenist or dentist, they often comment that I sure have a lot of teeth. My medical history is similarly fortunate. The worst I can complain about is a minor procedure I underwent when I was about 12 to remove some soft-tissue splinters (arrow fletching) from my left index finger. (I was target shooting with a kiddie-size fiberglass bow and some rather ragged wooden arrows.) * Note: Despite their name, I have noticed no correlation between the presence of wisdom teeth and actual wisdom.

The Owens debate again?? For skill position valuation, I prefer the Football Outsiders' stats, which list Owens as 8th in the league in total value, and 28th in value per pass intended.

To me it seemed to have more to do with the fact that the Washington defense totally sucks. Playing the Redskins defense (especially one without their 2 best players, Shawn Springs and Marcus Washington) will cure a lot of wounds. Of course, Tim Lewis' "coverage optional" zone defenses almost handed the game back to the Redskins. I still think Coughlin is on his way out with any result short of an appearance in the NFC championship game. The new ownership (the Mara & Tisch heirs) probably wants to get their own guys in there. I expect the Eagles to paste them next weekend, followed shortly by a new GM being appointed (probably an internal promotion), whose first action will be to can the whole coaching staff.

Sad to see him go. He probably didn't deserve the abuse he got in the press while he was president. On the plus side, though, the national day of mourning that Bush declared yesteray means I get a 4-day weekend! I tentatively plan to honor his memory by cleaning my apartment, playing MTW2, and cooking a nice dinner.

For my part, as long as he's still suiting up and helping the team win, I don't care what he's planning to do when the season's over. Really I think the idea that good teams have an "it's all about the team" mentality is more a reflection of NFL marketing than it is of the actual feelings inside the locker room.

I concur. In fact, I am an example of that effect. Their first game had an interesting setting, but also had horrendously awful gameplay mechanics and nothing particularly interesting in the story or characters. Their second game had some good gameplay mechanics (if you like D&D roolz more than I do), but also had a horrendously boring setting and storyline. Somehow, they got the chance to make a third game, but I took the first two as my warning and didn't bother with it.

1428 rushing yards (4th in the NFL) at 4.7 per carry plus 441 yards on 55 receptions-- much of which was done with a broken bone in his hand-- is "only going through the motions?" You're entitled to your opinion, but I haven't noticed any decline in effort on the field. (The blocking has gotten worse since Petitgout was hurt, but I don't think Tiki has stopped trying as hard.)

I can't match the intensity of Volo's emnity toward Tommy C, but I am hoping that he is shown the door at the end of the season. If nothing else, he's hired some pretty poor assistants (Lewis at DC, Hufnagle at OC, Gilbride at QB coach). Also, it gives the new GM (Accorsi will be retiring in a few weeks) and owners (the heirs of the Mara & Tisch patriarchs who died last year) an opportunity to build the staff they really want and not the one they inherited from their predecessors. Honestly, I think that the decision has already been made. I don't see Coughlin saving his job with anything short of a miracle (like, say, 2 playoff wins). I will take issue with all the abuse that Tiki's been taking lately, though. He's the greatest offensive player that the Giants have had in my lifetime. So what if he has ambitions beyond his atheletic career? So what if he's a somewhat smug intellectual elitist? I loved LT (the real LT, not that poser out in San Diego) despite his being a coke fiend. I think I can still love Tiki despite his flaws.

Two Youtube links in the thread and none of them to an actual James Brown performance??! For shame. CLICK ME!!