Quick Hits

Just a couple of bite-sized pieces of info today. Should I come across anything more useful and/or verbose to say later on, you'll be the first to know. Unless my solitary reader from Macau beats you to it.

- My reason for living in 2008, Culdcept Saga, releases on February 5 and at the rather friendly sum of $39.99. If the earlier game in the franchise is any indication as to how readily available this one will be, you had better pre-order it online. I ordered mine last night and, frankly, I can't wait. Also, just a tip, I always choose the 3-5 day shipping option from http://www.ebgames.com/ and yet still almost always get my game within 1-2 days. Your mileage may vary and all that, but don't go for the expensive shipping options unless you absolutely must have it the day it comes out. And who are you kidding anyway, if I can wait a couple days so can you. Great developer blog for the game right here.

- I rode the trainer in the garage for 90 minutes last night, keeping in a relatively light gear for much of the ride, but doing 2:00 out-of-the-saddle hard efforts every 15 minutes. Next time I really have to choose a longer movie to watch. Last night I watched Jack Johnson's surf film, "Thicker than Water" which is really good, but it's only 45 minutes long. So I stared at the DVD title screen for the latter half of my ride because I kept expecting Kristin to come home any minute and change the disc for me.

- It took Kristin 55 minutes to travel 4 miles last night. She exited the Interstate and was on her way up Snoqualmie Parkway to our house, but was stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on account of the icy road conditions. Cars were spun out and sliding to-and-fro and although they supposedly sanded and plowed the snow we got Tuesday night, the whole region was an skating rink last night. She wasn't the only one suffering though. Not only did I need her to walk by and change the DVD for me, but I desperately wanted her to hand me the Larabar that was out of reach on the workbench. Sure, I could have just got off the bike for a second, but why would I do that when I know she'll be walking through the door any second? Or so I thought...

- I'm going to be posting more about Thrillville: Off the Rails next week, but let me say right now that I may have been a bit premature in my criticism about it the other day. No, the game isn't Roller Coaster Tycoon and it is definitely a bit kiddie, but there's something rather pleasing about it all the same. And I actually kind of like it. I think.

- I downloaded Boogie Bunnies over XBLA today. It's a puzzle game that requires you to match up like-colored bunny rabbits as they march to their doom. The catch is that you can match in groups of three (not necessarily rows or columns) and that you're free to move alongside the group to fire bunnies from the sides instead of being only able to fire from the bottom of the screen as is customary in games of this type. The bunnies are all different colors, but if you match up a group of 3 or more aqua-colored bunnies, they all start dancing. If you can look past the utter ridiculousness of the scene before you, the game is actually a pretty addictive little puzzler. And it supports online multi-play and local Co-Op. A nice addition to XBLA.

- The Redmond Cycling Club will begin accepting entries for RAMROD on March 1st. This year's race will return to the normal loop format and I believe contain 156 miles and roughly 10,000 feet of climbing. They're going to accept entries through Active.com for the entire month of March and then hold the lottery on April 1st to see who gets in. Entries are non-transferrable and those not picked in the lottery will get a full refund including the Active.com processing fee.

- Registration for first-time entries into the Cascade Creampuff 100 is on January 22nd. My calendar is marked, is yours? Additionally, I'll find out in 2 or 3 weeks whether or not I got into Leadville 100. If I don't get into Leadville, then I'm probably going to head down to Humboldt, California for the 12-hour race they have in the Redwood forest. They may make it a 24-hour race in which case, I'll enter that instead. Either way, Kristin and I will either be doing an 8- or 9-day camping roadtrip to Leadville, Colorado or Humboldt, California this August. Can't wait.

- My Endurance Training Series had another great ride this past Sunday which almost took my mind off the Seahawks defeat on Saturday. Fortunately, they played so poorly last weekend that I didn't have to endure the cardiac-conclusion that was so common with them this year. We joke all the time about being a Seahawks fan taking years off our lives. Anyway, I was texting with friends throughout the game as normal and was suprised by the lack of trash-talk headed my way. Then again, most of them are Jets fans so I guess it's a people-in-glass-houses situation... Nevertheless, I do need to go over the cardinal rule of trash-talk: You're only allowed to call and "rub it in" if you're someone who I talk football with on a regular basis. That's trash talk. If you're someone who doesn't follow the sport, nor talk to me about it on a fairly regular basis, calling to rub it in isn't considered trash talking. It's considered being a jerk. It's a fairly obvious line too, yet apparently not everyone knows it. As I said to my friend Ed on Saturday, ultimately there's only 1 set of happy fans each year so if you have a team in the final four, then good luck to you. One of my editors suggested chearing for the Chargers as they're the only team without a championship in their franchise history, and I think that's a pretty good idea. Although I would like to see Brett Favre win it all and walk away into the sunset just like John Elway did.

- Lastly, I have news of a rather interesting weight-loss incentive care of my wife's family. From what I understand, Kristin's sister and her boyfriend start off each week by putting $5 into a jar and getting on the scale. They have a goal for the week and if they miss it, they have to put a couple bucks more into the jar. This will go on for six months and after six months they have their final weigh-in and, if they hit their goal, they get to take the money and go out for a night on the town (they both work in New York City). But... if they miss their goal then they have to donate the money to the presidential candidate they like the least. Which, I'm told, is currently Hillary Clinton. Of course, six months from now we'll know who each party is putting on November's ballot and since she and her boyfriend are pretty conservative (we try to love them anyway) the money will undoubtedly be headed to either Hillary or Barack's campaign if they fail. And therein lies the conundrum: I'd like to wish them luck and support their weight-loss efforts, but with the election being so important this year, I can't help but want to sign them up to the Donut-of-the-Month Club.

Mmmm... donuts.

Just kidding, Erica. Good luck to you both!