Monday

I'm allergy-free, having sneezed and slept it out of me all weekend. Did taxes and found out that we at Stately Ryan Manor are getting some money back, which will be ideal since I'm going to be part of a Nintendo mini-media day at the end of the month. Imagine going to grandma's house and seeing all the goodies she baked for you, laid out and glistening in some sanctified food pornography. That's what the Big N does for quasi-gamer/journalists like me. The meeting comes about a week after Nintendo sensei Satoru Iwata gives a highly anticipated speech at the Game Developers Conference, and about six weeks before E3, which is akin to Christmas to gaming geeks like moi. Lots of questions about the upcoming console (now due out about the time of Sony's upcoming behemoth) as well as the oft-delayed new Zelda title, "Twilight Princess." My co-worker (who formally reviews games at my job) and I need to start our plan of attack. This year is going to be big for video games. If we play it right, we might get a glimpse of Things to Come six weeks before all the hammers drop at E3.

Caught "Jarhead" on DVD. Will have a review soon. I'm still mulling it over in my head. So far, the sands are shifting to a negative result. Nothing really clicked, all very marginal, but very flashy and well executed. Sort of an "I get it, but I don't care."

Have a new-ish boss here at work (she was my boss about six years ago, and now we are working together on a new project). So far, so good.

Nothing to say about the Oscars, except I thought Jon Stewart did a good job (for the parts in which my wife and I tuned in). That, and the Academy can bite themselves for the incredibly condescending lecture (given by a visibly bummed-out Jake Gyllenhaal, who was snubbed for Best Supporting Actor early in the evening) for watching movies in theaters instead of in the comfort of one's own home, on DVD, where one can skip the ads, pause for toilet break, and (in my opinion) have a better picture and sound than in most theaters. Plus, no rude theatergoers behind you, whispering "what did he just say?" or "Why did he do that?" The best part about the Academy snit-fit? Here's this plea to come to the cinema to watch epics, and what wins Best Picture? "Crash," an ensemble film about race relations. The acid-tipped kicker? Film critic Roger Ebert is circulating the theory that "Crash" won because it was filmed for TV, and thus looked better when the DVD screeners were passed out to Academy voters.

So, to recap, the Academy begs you to go to the movies, and then awards the top prize to a small-scale drama.

Irony...I wish I knew how to quit you.