Not as though I'd be doing too much blogging anyhow, but for the next couple days we're heading down to Fargo to celebrate... well, not working for like four days? I dunno. Going down to the States to celebrate Canada Day seems a little dumb, but there really isn't any other occasion. I suppose it's just for the sake of shopping and getting away. Yeah.

So how about that Mega Man 9 news? Pretty damn awesome, I'd say. This is exactly what digital distribution is all about. I suppose that means that Capcom will finally be putting all the old Mega Man games on the Virtual Console then? I have the Anniversary Collection, so I wouldn't be buying them, but it would be nice to know that they're there.

I don't know if you've heard the news yet, but as it turns out, my girlfriend is a genius. Yeah. It's pretty awesome. I don't really have much else to blog about right now, but I wanted to brag anyway.

I know just as well as anyone that I've been doing an absolutely atrocious job of keeping a blog as of late. I 've been slacking of on my comicing duties pretty badly too, and does anyone remember when the last time I wrote an article was? Sad to say, but I don't really see that changing anytime soon. I'd like to be able to just blame all the crazy hours I've been working lately, but I think we all know that it's because I've been spending most of my free time on something a wee bit more important than websites that nobody reads.

So, whether my blog is shitty or not, I just popped in to say that I picked up Guitar Hero DS yeterday, and am still on the fence about whether I'm impressed with the job they did. The game itself is just fine, it's got pretty much all the Guitar Hero frills, just watered down a little so that it could all fit on the tiny DS card. And speaking of fitting, there are 25 songs in the game, and the sound quality is as good as I've heard on the DS, as long as you're pumping it through external speakers or headphones; Mr T. pities the foo who settles for the DS speakers. The setlist itself is way under par for a Guitar Hero game, including a bunch of songs that really have no business there (Maroon 5? WTF?), but I suppose we can chalk the somewhat more varied musical range to that fact that the DS has that huge "casual" following, and most of the old people I know don't particularly enjoy metal and punk. I'll be happy though, as it does feature "Spiderwebs" by No Doubt, and as I've told pretty much everyone I know, I love Tragic Kingdom and almost every song from it. Also, "Jessie's Girl"! How can you not love that song?

The issue that I have with it is with the insane little guitar grip peripheral that is used to play the game. Oh, it works fine, and I eventually found my most comfortable way to hold it, but the problem is that it's too small. Actually that's a poor choice of words. What I meant to say is that the buttons are way too close together. Normally it's passable, but once you get onto the expert level and try to mash your way through some of the harder solos, you're just fucked because your fingers will be mashing each other and everything just goes to Hell. Even small hammer-on/pull-off sequences can be tricky. If they had just added about a quarter of an inch between each button, things would be so much better, and the contraption wouldn't even be that much bigger. So yeah, other than the fact that I'll never be good at soloing on it, I'll give Guitar Hero DS a passing grade. I just hope that they whip up an improved grip for the inevitable sequel.

Among the various things we do together, the woman and I have taken to going out (at least) every Tuesday night to see a movie. So in the last month and a half, I've had more visits to the theater than I generally would over the span of a year. Unfortunately, they can't all be as fantastic as Iron Man, but here's a quick rundown of some of the flicks I've gone to see lately.

Sex and the City : The most recent movie outing was obviously entirely by her choice. I've only ever watched the show because we were watching TV one night and she decided that that's what we'd be watching. Anyway, I cannot say I detested the movie. It was not something I enjoyed either, being two and a half hours of clothes and girl talk, but there were just enough legitimately funny moments that I wasn't overly compelled to kill myself just to make it end. I shouldn't have to tell guys to stay away from this one, but not falling asleep and pretending it wasn't so bad will make your woman happy.

The Strangers : I was totally psyched to see this one. I love scary movies, and even the trailer had me creeped out. It actually did deliver on that promise of scariness, too. The creepy mask people were in fact creepy as all Hell, appearing out of nowhere and then sliently fading back into the shadows. I still get the jibblies when I'm in the dark and that damn sack mask enters my mind. The horror aspect of the movie was great and worth seeing it for, but otherwise, there wasn't much. The plot was really bare-bones, and nothing really happened. It's like the horror version of Open Water; a drawn-out dramatization of a true story.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull : I thought it was great, no surprise there. I've actually only ever seen Raiders of the Lost Ark, but I'm pretty sure that this movie lives up pretty well to the original Indiana Jones trilogy (well, that's what I hear). It's was plenty of fun, and I quite enjoyed even the scenes that some claim may have been a bit over-the-top. My only qualm with the movie is that it was all about aliens. Had we heard a bit more about whatever (assumed) Area 51 goodies they found in the opening scene, I may have been more at ease with it, but as it stands that scene was totally unrelated and mostly served just to introduce the villain. But I wasn't even too annoyed by Shia Labeouf, and I can't stand that guy, so we'll call it a pretty huge success.

Made of Honor : Again, not my choice. But to my surprise, it was totally bearable! In fact, I might even risk my right to be called a man by saying I maybe even enjoyed it a little. Throughout the movie, I couldn't help but think of how much Patrick Dempsey's character reminded me of Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark. In any case, the "comedy" portion of romantic comedy was the one that was emphasized in this movie, and it also helps that the story revolved around the male lead character and not the female. I'd say that if you're stuck seeing a chick flick, this is probably as good as you're going to get.

What Happens in Vegas : We saw this one on a whim because we were late for Made of Honor that day, but it turned out really well. It stars Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz, so you're not going to be getting a strong story or intelligent humour, but I'll admit that I did like this one. Pretentious assholes who are too self-involved to enjoy the everyman's comedy won't get anything from it, but if you see the humour in fart jokes and the like, then you're in for a pretty good time.

88 Minutes : I'm not one for the crime drama genre, or whatever it is that this one falls under, but I guess it was good? I was supremely bored with Michael Clayton, but 88 Minutes managed to hold my attention for the duration of the movie, so that's something. Maybe. I guess. I really don't know what else to say. I haven't talked to anyone else who's seen it, or read any reviews or anything, so I don't really have anything to go on. In conclusion, I enjoyed it, and the woman enjoyed it, so nobody's complaining. Do I actually need to say somethign about the movies when I do these short little one-paragraph reviews?