The New Louis C.K. Special

It's funny. Pay the $5 and buy it.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Zelda is my mistress.

I haven't finished all of the Legend of Zelda games. I never owned a Nintendo console until the Nintendo 64 came out, so Ocarina of Time was the first game in the franchise that I owned and finished.

The expansion into 3D was a real eye opener for me. Until Ocarina of Time I had only played Legend of Zelda games in the top down game format, and only on a friend's console. So my experience was limited to brief periods of play, usually the game was just demoed for me on the way to play something more multi-player oriented: Like Tecmo Bowl, or Donkey Kong Country. Once I owned Ocarina I was hooked, and I've owned every Zelda game since. I have not finished them all, and I haven't loved them all equally. I still harbor a huge grudge towards Wind Waker. I got stuck on one puzzle after days of game play. Finally after repeated attempts to solve it (I even resorted to a walk through) I gave up. I still would have not changed a thing, because up until that point I was really enjoying the game.

All of this should help to support my credibility when I say that The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, is the best Zelda game since Ocarina of Time. It might be the best game on the Wii, to date!

A lot of hardcore gamers laugh at the lack of hi def graphics on the Wii, but even if the graphics are not on the same level of a PS3 or XBox360, who cares! It's should be about gameplay, and Skyward has the best game mechanics using the Wii MotionPlus that I've ever experienced. You can't just "waggle" the wiimote and hope for the best or you will fail...miserably. You must show determination when wielding your sword. Deliberately using the visual cues on the screen to hack and slash away at your enemies. I'ts not easy to get used to, but when you get it, the payoff is awesome.

There are some things that are definitely different this time around. You aren't limited to the opening world as long as in other games. The last Legend of Zelda, Twilight Princess, if felt like it took forever to actually get out on a quest! Not in Skyward Sword. After 30 minutes of gameplay I was on a quest. There is a tutorial, but after you complete it, you are in a cave attempting to complete your first mission.
The game is not easy, but it's one of those experiences that makes it totally worthwhile.

If you own a Nintendo Wii, this game is a must have.

And don't tell my wife that I have a mistress, although I suspect she already knows.

Retirement Heist

When I saw the author of this book, Ellen E. Schultz, interviewed on The Daily Show I knew I had to try and get my hands on a copy. It didn't have anything to do with the amount of charisma she showed (very little). I'm just getting to the age that I'm thinking more and more about how to finance our retirement. I was also kind of curious why pensions are no longer very common. It seems like you used to be able to put in 20 years with a company, and be pretty certain that your pension would keep you comfortable. That no longer seems to be the case.

So I checked it out of my local library. (Do you have a library card? You should!)

It's a slow read, and I'm going to confess that some of the math that companies use to turn employees retirement accounts into a revenue stream, goes right over my head. That statement alone, should give you a pretty good idea how companies have exploited loopholes in our benefits system, for their own gain.

I had my original question, "why are pensions no longer common", answered early on in the book. Corporate leaders, mostly in the late 80's and early 90's, misled their shareholders/employees into thinking that the retirement plans could not continue to survive, because they were underfunded based on how many retirees there were expected to be. This was what caused retirement plans to switch from being pensions, which are secure and safe; to 401(k)s, which are tied to the stock market. Anyone with a 401(k) knows how poorly they have been doing.

There is a lot more in this book that will kick your outrage in to high gear. Like the way that retirement plans are used to finance lavish executive exit bonuses. That's one of the worst parts. Corporate execs said that pension plans were under funded, the reason they were saying that is because they couldn't pay top execs huge payouts when THEY retired, while continuing to pay regular retiree pensions.

This book is well written, and has lots of references backing up the claims it contains. It's pretty dry reading, but the author does a great job at the daunting task of addressing the layman. It prompted me to make sure that I keep a closer eye on my 401(k). My employer automatically invests part of my retirement in company stock. In the past year that stock lost 23% of it's value. Since I'm 40 years old, it's time for me to start monitoring that, and making sure that it's not money I'm just pissing away.

It's Official, My Son No Longer Thinks I'm Cool

The Parent Teacher Organization was having a fund raiser at my son's school today. It was a walkathon, they got pledges from people to walk for an hour. There was no minimum number of laps. As parents we were invited to come out and either walk with the kids, or just stand along the path and cheer them on. I decided to head out to try and be supportive. My father-in-law and my mother-in-law drove from an hour away to join in the festivities.

My 6, soon to be 7, year-old son completely ignored all three of us! We tried to walk along with him, but he completely blew us off to walk with his friends. I told my father-in-law that I couldn't believe he wasn't excited to see us. His response, "You get used to it".

On the ride back to work, I realized I was the same way when I was that age. I guess I should be glad that he has friends that he would rather spend time with than me. Let's face it, I'm "Dad". As much fun as he and I can have together when it's just family, I'm no substitute for someone in his own age group. Having friends outside of your family is a sign of maturity, I should have been more concerned if he wanted to walk around the circle with us the whole time.

Still, the truth hurts.

Lucky Me!

I was buckling Piper into her car seat yesterday, just like I do every weekday morning, and I set my travel mug filled with delicious piping hot coffee on the roof of my car. Once I got her all buckled in, I jumped in the car and drove off. I made it to the intersection of Landis Valley Road and Oregon Pike when I tried to take my first sip of the coffee I had so carefully prepared, when I realized it wasn't in my cup holder.

After cursing my stupidity quietly, since my innocent baby girl was in the back seat, I decided to jump out of my car just to see how it spilled. To my surprise, it was still sitting on the roof of my car!

So I had traveled almost a mile with it on my roof, and it didn't spill a drop! The early morning frost had frozen it securely to the roof of my car, and that's the luckiest I've ever been.