Supply and Demand is a racket. All companies can do these days is deliver hype, not products. Take Nintendo for example. It has been a better part (if not more) of a year and your chances of getting a Wii are worse than winning the lottery when you don’t play. Luckily, I was able to score a console last April, but have experienced the quest for the elusive gaming accessories. First (and often, still), I could not find additional Wii remotes. Searches for Wii Points Cards are like a search for the holy grail (unless you want to buy a pink rubber cover for a classic Wii controller – which I don’t have). Mario Kart was a joke to find, but was able to locate a local store that had a clue as to their inventory. Now, Wii Fit is MIA. I think the premise is not so much that this is a tangible item for you to purchase, but rather you lose weight by traversing aisle after aisle in store after store in search of a glimpse of this next must-have gaming accessory. I understand keeping supply low to drive demand, but it comes to a point where your business will eventually suffer, or at least in theory it will. Reality paints a different picture. I think what really happens is eBay sabotages shipments so only a lucky few can buy a dozen or so and offer them up for auction at 5x the original price.

For those looking to get in shape with Wii Fit, until you actually find one available, take some advice from an unknown author:
‘To look skinny, all you need to do is find fatter friends.’

I recently finished Rock On by Dan Kennedy. It was a quick and witty read. Follow Dan’s growth from idolizing rock stars to working at Atlantic Records to ultimately being laid off. This book really opens up the commercialization of the record industry, and if you think about the events Dan describes, you can plainly see how this industry spoon feeds you what they want you to hear, and how it is all about money. The surprising part of the book is the disclosure of the amount of money that passes through the execs pockets.

I am a HUGE fan of computer controlled Christmas light shows (you should see my house!!), and have put lights on my truck, but this takes the cake:

Gotta love Mr. Bean!!!

I took my daughter to see Speed Racer this weekend. I was pleasantly surprised! Not only at her extremely good behavior (she is 5!), but at the movie itself. If you are looking for a movie that follows the laws of reality, see something else. However, if you grew up watching Speed Racer, this is the movie for you! There is a TON of CG in it, and at points even a geek like me was like ‘OK, cars cannot spin like that’ and ‘This looks more like a video game than a movie’, but even so, once you re-enter that Speed Racer mindset from your youth, it all falls into place again. There are a lot of the old cartoon series Speed Racer gags in it, and many may miss them or think WTF?!? but again, those who watched Speed Racer every morning at 6:30am will appreciate them. The colors are very vibrant (OK, extremely vibrant compared to real life movies), and none of the characters overshadowed the others. They even fitted in the Japanese unrealistic ‘motion blur’ backgrounds at the appropriate times (and Speed even leaps from his car in the infamous Speed way for a cut scene, but the gag is not overused).

In short, this was one of the few movies that I have actually enjoyed in the past couple of years. Then again, what do you expect from the Wachowski brothers, the directors of the Matrix? There are some new camera shots in this movie that you will see over abused in future movies by others, just like bullet-time from the Matrix.

If you grew up on Speed and are a geek, you will probably like this movie, as long as you turn off your over analysis mind and just enjoy.

I am almost as old as the Earth (to)Day. Here is what my Sis sent me:

I *so* love the Monster drinks. The carbinated caffeine injected beverage that has you bouncing off the walls, then crash. And the large cans are a sight to behold, their their thermos look and feel. The only drawback is the price for this sugary delite (at least twice the cost of a soda and half the size). First timers may notice a slight metallic after taste, which is part of the appeal. Now, they have energy charged Java. That’s right, if coffee was not enough of a jolt, add the Monster formula to it and WOW! The brain goes into overload! I have tried Red Bull, and it is pretty good also, but costs the same as competitors, but you get less beverage.
My favs:
Monster Energy (the green can)
Java Monster – Mean Bean
Java Monster – Loca Moca

Keep an eye out at the various shopping centers (especially around sports stores) for the Monster green van or the tricked out pickup truck. If spotted, they may be giving out free cans. Through numerous fly-by’s you can probably score a total of a six-pack. If you get hooked, pay attention to specials at the 7-11 and gas stations. You may score two 16oz cans for $4.

April fools is over, but the fools haven’t gone away. If you used the internet on April fools day, you may want to check out April Fools Day on the Web to see if you were duped by bogus stories, gadgets and more. Too bad the verdict is still out on the G-Spot collagen shots.

While on the subject of pranks, here are some oldie-but-goodie office hijinks.

Then again, office pranks can be fun:

ThinkGeek was up to their old tricks. Here’s hoping that Super Pii Pii Brothers makes it to market after popular demand just like some of their previous products have. I certainly would buy it! Can you image the party fun?

Bringing literal meaning to the Wii:

I really don’t like April 1st. It wasn’t bad years ago, but it really is a PITA in the digital realm. Besides all the ghost in the machine pranksters scanning and sending SPAM landen with viruses, more and more popular (and even ‘credible’ news sites) are getting in on the ‘fun’. While I do love practical jokes, when I don’t have time to spend all my waking time surfing, I *really* don’t want to waste my time with meaningless and outright ridiculous articles in the name of April Fool’s. I stumbled across a few postings/events/articles that had very slight changes in the text that would not be noticed by most people. How is that funny? Only after someone reads the user comments does the joke come across. As my wife says: ‘It is not funny if I have to explain it to you’.
Here is an example:
“XYZ slipped its production schedule and was delayed for release until next month…”
And here is the joke:
“XYZ really didn’t slip its production schedule, it is still on target. PSYCH!!!”
“The text has mixed tense. The phrase ‘was delayed’ used in reference to ‘slipped its production schedule’ mixes tense. This is incorrect, since if it slipped its production schedule, it IS delayed for release, not WAS delayed for release.”

OK, this is LAME. Whoever wrote this is a bigger loser than I. This same poster probably scrutinizes movie trilogies for minor and inconsequential inconsistencies and discontinuities.

So, what happened to the iPhone skin? Did the battery die? Did it crash? No. I re-linked my domain name to another directory location and forgot to move the skin images. Time to look for another skin since I was getting tired of the old one anyways.

Grew up in the 80’s? Take a trip down memory lane at http://www.brandedinthe80s.com/