"All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go ..."

Yep. I'm leaving on a jet plane ... of course unlike the song, I DO know when I'll be back again (that would be next Saturday, the 21st). My flight leaves at 6:35a EST and I get into L.A. at 10:14a PST. Lots of sleeping will probably been done in between, because I'm damned sure not asleep yet. Took care of some minor pre-trip craziness today. Things like new business cards (oooo ... pretty new picture), double and triple check of luggage, re-check travel plans, and all that jazz. I also got tagged with a few extra assignments today. On Friday, I'll be checking in with Jaime to see what's coming from Buena Vista Games. Also while I'm at E3, I'll be doing a plain old review of Need for Speed Underground 2 on the DS. And the last new addition to my writing docket is an invitation only hands-on sneak peek of Nintendo's new Zelda game on Sunday. I'd love to tell you guys all about it after the fact, but unfortunately the Big N is going to make everyone keep their lips sealed until Wednesday. But come mid-week, you can look for a fairly in-depth description of my experience with the game. In fact, check out GameSpy (and here of course) all next week for a lot of my thoughts on the whole E3 2005 experience.

Of course, GameSpy's not going to be the only work I'll be doing out at E3. I'll also be meeting up w/ the guys at Greedy and EGM, plus a bunch of my old comic contacts who've made the jump from the four color medium to interactive entertainment. Lots of meeting. Lots of talking. Lots of writing. And most likely, LOTS of aspirin. But also, a lot of fun. I had to write out a quick piece for GameSpy today detailing what I'm most looking forward to at E3 this year. I had the hardest time writing it though. The thing is, it had to be around 200 words. And try as I might, I couldn't come up with 200 words that meant "booth babes". Ah well ... I guess it turned out well in the end after all.

Oh, and SPEAKING of the fairer sex, my earlier topic on building up my own following of gaming groupies has actually been coming up in more than a few conversations. So hey, if you're interested in signing up as a groupie, let me know. Maybe I can do a membership card, secret decoder ring, or something of the sort. One thing I AM working on though is official Stacking the Deck merchandise. That's right, I said merchandise. After all, like Mel Brooks said in Spaceballs:

"Merchandising, merchandising. Where the real money from the movie is made."

Thanks to the folks over at CafePress, you can expect to see Stacking the Deck t-shirts, hats, mugs, and more ... though unfortunately it looks like we'll have to wait for Stacking the Deck: The Flamethrower. Anyway, the shop has been set up over at http://www.cafepress.com/stackingthedeck/, but so far there's nothing in stock. I'm working on the designs and such, but nothing will be in place until after E3. Keep an eye out though. I think you'll be impressed by what I have in mind (or at least get a damned good laugh out of it).

Anyway, I'm out for now, but look for more from me all week. And remember ... groupie applications are always being accepted. Heh.