One of my favorite words- The Gooch

In our personal lexicon...we all have words that are unique to ourselves. Maybe we turn a phrase with our own personal touch to make it our own. I'm notorious for this....I use "Ding Dong" very liberally....to describe idiots....or even just a thing. I use it because it can usually get a laugh from someone who hasn't heard it before.

That brings me to "The Gooch". The first time I had heard of "The Gooch", he was Arnold Jackson's nemesis on Diff'rent Strokes. Jerry O'Connell character even refers to bad karma as "a Gooch" in Stand by Me.

The Gooch also, just sounds funny. The Gooch, as I most usually refer to it as, is the McGuffin...the unique plot twist, identifier, or whatever that makes it stand out. For example (If you haven't seen the Sixth Sense....skip to the next paragraph) "The Gooch" of the Sixth Sense, is Bruce Willis has actually been dead the entire film.

Also...in a tough crossword puzzle, such as the Sunday New York Times....they have a unique theme clue for a number of its answers. When me and my Dad figure it out....we tell the other that we got "the Gooch" of the puzzle.

Words are fun.

J

Online Gaming....an insider look

You may have heard about people playing online with video games, but not really knew what the deal was....well here's a look from a current online gamer......me!

You are able to play with people around the world on a number of platforms.........PC's, Mac's, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Wii....and a number of others. There are literally a plethora of choices to make. If you want to play cribbage with someone from Zambia....you can. It's nice when you're up for a crackling game of Monopoly...and you're home alone.

The largest game out there is World of Warcraft, an MMORG (Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game) There have been millions of players live out there fantasies on WOW. Think of it as a huge Dungeons and Dragons game. You can go it alone, or with a clan on adventures against computer enemies.....or fight a human opponent as well. There are many MMORG's.......one for Star Wars, a coming Star Trek, Firefly, you name it.

A more traditional style is simply going head to head online. The consoles have a huge winner with the Madden Football games. It's so popular, there is a show on ESPN with the best of the best playing computer football for $500,000!

Currently.....I play three games online, on my trusty Xbox 360. World Series of Poker, Rockband 2, and Gears of War 2.

Rockband 2, I usually play along, challenging another player to see who can play a song the best. Oddly enough I find it much fun, and the competition usually makes me play better.

In World Series of Poker, you play against a table of other poker players....all real people, and you fight out until there is one left (hopefully you!) The carrot at the end of the stick here is your rating goes up the more you win....same with Rock Band 2.

But for me........the big kahuna is Gears of War 2. On Xbox Live, where all the games happen, you have a list of friends. The bulk of my list comes from people I played with on the original Gears. This is the first week with Gears 2, and I've played with all of these guys for the first time in over a year.

I have two friends who go to West Virginia University. One, who is the best player by far, lives in Detroit. The others are from dots all around North America. We like each other because we love the game, and more importantly, we don't suck. In the past 7 days since the game came out, there hasn't been a night where the lot of us hasn't been playing late into the night fighting the good fight.

Online gaming is a blast...and a good way to improve your game.

Nevermind.....How old this makes me feel!

The early 90's were an absolutely fabulous time for me. I was attending college, in what seemed to be the center of the universe, Seattle.

Twin Peaks, Northern Exposure were all filming in the area. Grunge was exploding on the scene....and Seattle was home to it all. The biggest album from the day was Nevermind by Nirvana. Yes....pictured above (Thanks EW) is the baby from the album all grown up. He's 17 now.....and man that makes one check what year it is. (2008?......2009 in two months.....what!!!????)

If you want to read the article.....

http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2008/11/nivana-baby-now.html

Jason

Star Trek is coming

Well....we get our first look at the new Star Trek this Friday, at the opening of Quantum of Solace.

They leaked 4 scenes to reporters in Europe....and all indications is this movie is going to absolutely kick but.

We all gotta wait 'til May.....

J

God on Trial?

Man Tries to Sue God

I thought I'd pass along a bit of a hilarious news item from Omaha. (You can hit the link to the story above, and credit the brilliant Gary Larson for his Far Side comic above as well.)

A state Senator from Omaha, tried to sue the Almighty. Why you may ask? He wanted to create an injunction, to prevent God from doing violent acts, such as Earthquakes and Tornados. A noble effort to be sure, but are we really going to clog up a court's time with this?

The judge, threw out the motion, because they aren't able to serve papers to God.

Imagine if they were able to get God to the courtroom. When sworn in would God have said, "I will tell the truth, so help me Me."?

J

Hollow Victories Rule!!!!!

What did you do for your weekend. I got the steel bladder achievement on Rock Band 2.

Maybe I need to explain. On the Xbox 360, every game has certain achievements. Rock Band 2 is no different. You get points added to your gamer score if you do certain feats in games.

One of the more interesting, is the Steel Bladder achievement. Rock Band 2 has a part of the game called the Endless Setlist. You play 84 songs, IN A ROW, to complete the task. That's where the Steel Bladder comes in. If you are able to finish all 84 songs without pausing......you get the Steel Bladder award. That is 6 hours plus, being chained to your xbox 360, because the time in between songs is not long enough for a quick pee break.

So at 11am on Saturday, I decided to go for it. I have 2 TVs at my apartment, so while playing my songs, I was watching the football tilts, talking to my father watching Montana play EWU, and watching other games of interest on my internet.

I did have enough time to get beverages from the fridge, and actually cook some soup on the stove. But alas, no time for the bathroom.

After 6 hours of mashing my fingers, I finally finish up after 5pm on Saturday. My left arm is surprisingly not dead....and the football was good.

God Bless the Hollow Victories!

J

What a night for TV!!!!!!

Thank goodness for my DVR. I am going to need it in spades 2nit.

Thursday night is my movie night. Since I have the great pleasure of reviewing movies, I see movie sneaks usually on Thursday night. So I'm out of the count for much of a GREAT night of TV.

My usual favorites, Survivor and the Office are on tonight. But there's also 2 biggies.

First, Life on Mars. It's at 10 o'clock on ABC, and it looks fantastic. It's about a cop who is somehow sent to 1973, and deals with the limitations of the time. I'm not familiar with the main guy, but Harvey Keitel, Lisa Bonet, and Michael Imperioli as a supporting cast...WOW! I hope its good, and does well.

Second, CSI. I love me some CSI, and 2nit we finally get closure from Warrick getting shot at the end of last season. This is also the start of a long goodbye to Gil Grissom. I truly believe the show will last past William Peterson's exit. Lawrence Fishburne will be a great addition, and the cast is so strong, it will survive.

Can't wait for tonight.......


J