Holiday Gift Guide 2014: Impulse Power!

Posted on November 29, 2014 by geelw

Can you believe it’s that time of year AGAIN? Well, I’ll be running a few of these guides over the next month that cover a few things from tech to games to food and anything else I can think of that won’t get me arrested. Read on and enjoy your consuming of mass quantities!

While big-ticket items are big business for plenty of manufacturers and retailers, it’s the small stuff you don’t usually think about that’s equally important. At least to my eyes. Sure, stuff like batteries, extra controllers and other no-brainer items are what most people think about (or don’t think about) when gifting a tech-related item. But some of the best products you may not have thought about at all are out there and sell themselves once seen and taken for a spin. Here’s a list of stuff I saw this year that’s practically guaranteed to get you reaching for your wallet whether you’re in line at a retailer or online in the comfort of your own home. Or office, as I know a lot of you shop when you’re supposed to be working (naughty, naughty!)…

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Microsoft’s Temporary Xbox One Price Drop is a Tempting Tease…

Posted on October 27, 2014 by geelw

If you were holding off buying that Xbox One because of the price point (despite the recent price cut to $399), Microsoft is making things a lot more tempting. While ACTUAL sales figures for the console (and yes, all other consoles) is a bit tricky to track down, those in the know know that Sony’s PlayStation 4 has sold at least 10 million units worldwide (a solid start, but that also means a lot more millions still own and play games on the PS3, particularly in Japan where the PS3 still outsells the PS4). Both Sony and Microsoft have to deal with one core factor with their new-generation systems in the fact that both the PS4 and Xbox One absolutely require a broadband connection in order to function out of the box if players want to take advantage of any online features… Continue reading →

Oh, Ha. Oops. I Forgot to Give You All A Card. Sort Of…

Posted on December 26, 2013 by geelw

So, yeah – that’s my non-denominational and generic holiday card above. I already posted this image on facebook a few days or a week back, but forgot to run it here (duh!). It’s actually an old watercolor I did oh, back around 1998 or so (if not earlier that decade). I used to hand-paint dozens of these and send them out to people I knew, but I simply haven’t been able to find the time to do this in quite some time. Back then, each one was different in size because I used assorted scraps from a pile of assorted watercolor paper I’d collected from the art store I worked at (they normally discarded these bits and pieces, but I decided to recycle!) , but had more or less the same image. Anyway, Happy/Merry Whatever and Peace somewhere or other (but here on earth first, as it’s nice to actually enjoy some silence once in a while)… Back in a bit.

The Time of the Doctor Deleted Scene: Let’s Have A Moment of Silence, Please!

Posted on December 25, 2013 by geelw

Ah ha ha. See what I did there? No? Well, you’ll get it soon enough if you didn’t. Anyway, that final Matt Smith show was a corker, wasn’t it. No spoilers here, but I’ll say that ending sets up the Peter Capaldi run in a fun little way and makes me look forward to seeing this NEW Doctor at work. I have to give Steven Moffat some major credit for all these past years of plot hints coming in bits and pieces and basically ensnaring fans and non fans alike into sticking with even the silliest of shows because it all makes sense when you see those bits fall into place. I bet there’s a notebook somewhere with a chart and long, long list of whats, whys, when, hows and of course, WHO… but then again, the magic of this show comes from NOT knowing and just enjoying the ride.

So long, Mr. Smith – you’ll be missed, but I bet your Doctor will make an appearance at SOME point during the next 50 years. Better sooner than later, of course…

The Doctor Has Time To Make A Turkey? This Will Be A Long Christmas Episode, I Guess…

Posted on December 20, 2013 by geelw

Yeah, I know it won’t be a lengthy Food Network-like how-to scene at all, friends. But I got big a laugh the other day when I read the plot synopsis and found that this final Matt Smith episode spans some 300 years (!), which means that’s more than enough time to cook up the biggest bird you can find and then some. Still… I wonder how HUGE a space turkey would need to be to take 300 years to cook and yeah, you’re not putting that raw stuffing inside, buddy. Unless that’s how you need to kill off a massive army of Daleks, Cybermen, Weeping Angels and Silence all intent on doing you in. Of course, that’s NOT how it’s all going to go down (hell, it better not!), but it would be disgustingly awesome to see the episode suddenly turn into that infamous and particularly nasty dining scene from the finale of Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life but with a few spaceships full of aliens barfing all over each other instead of one really massive man making an entire restaurant very sick as he loses his lunch (and dinner and a few breakfasts).

OK, that’s pretty much a big, fat “YUK” just thinking about that happening. But it would be pretty darn memorable, no? Well, then… now that we agree, how about a teeny-tiny slice of pumpkin pie for you, sir or madam?