Posting for the sake of posting ... oh, and XM Radio too

First off, I want to say I'm bored and antsy right now. Why? No idea ... but regardless that's the state of things at the moment. There's not much going on for me to get out and do at the moment ... or anyone around to do anything with right now. And since idle hands do the devil's work, I suppose it's time for me to get into a little bedevilment.

Right now I'm sitting here listening to XM Radio. I broke down and did a little something for myself, picking up a Delphi MyFi at Best Buy. I've been listening to it for a couple of days and I've gotta say I'm hooked. I haven't really done a lot of digging into all of the available stations just yet, but so far I'm finding a lot of good stuff to listen too. "So" you ask inquisitively, "what possesed you to get an XM radio? How into music are you after all?" Well, the answer might surprise you. The truth of the matter is that music of all (okay MOST) kinds helps get me through a lot of my writing. I just suck remembering who plays what at any given time. Also, I don't have as extensive a CD library as some people .. simply because I'm usually hip deep in gaming stuff for work. Compounding the problem is the fact that my regular radio was a casualty of war in the previous move to VA, and I never got around to picking up a new one. You know how it is ... there's always something you MEAN to get when you're out, but ALWAYS forget until you get back home. Well, that was me in terms of replacing my radio.

Anyway, last week my dad was talking to me about satellite radios. He's thinking about picking one up, and he called me up for information and advice (since I'm ALWAYS handy with an opinion). Anyway, the more research I did for him, the more I thought it would be perfect for me. I can store up to five hours of programming, have the receiver let me know when an artist/song/program I like is playing on any of the stations. I can take the MyFi with me in the car, on my hip like a Walkman, and (most importantly) I can plug it into a spare set of PC speakers and have myself a radio by the PC when I'm working. And since I AM so bad about remembering who plays what, the info display is a HUGE help. Plus, I can add in stock symbols for regularly updated quotes. Naturally, MY stock quotes are of the geeky variety ... actually I'm setting it up to track a bunch of video game publishers, including the home of my favorite NASDAQ ticker of all time, Majesco Entertainment (listed on NASDAQ as "COOL").

Anyway, I'll be keeping myself busy this weekend with a bunch of writing. Besides a few reviews, I'm also going to be contributing to GameSpy's week-long feature next week on the Top 25 Xbox Games of All Time. I'd tell you which ones I'm writing ... but where's the fun in that? Read it for yourself next week. I will say one thing though ... I didn't CHOOSE any of the games on the list, so don't come bitching to me if you don't agree with the list. Deal?

And speaking of the Xbox, I've been playing Conker: Live and Reloaded lately and I'm impressed overall. However, as a proud owner of the original Conker's Bad Fur Day, I was shocked to discover today that the Xbox version actually has a bit more censoring (in the form of bleeps and the like) than the N64 version did ... particularly during the battle against the Great Mighty Poo. Also, I think Rare tried too hard to improve on the original scene. The singing of everyone's favorite pile o' crap is a little too "echoed" for my tastes. Even so, it's been fun playing both the Xbox and N64 games again ... and the new multiplayer side of things is a blast. If any of you try it out, let me know what you think.

Okay ... I'm out for now. I need to get outta the house before the walls of the padded cell here start closing in. Keep the peace, all ... and have fun.

Later.