After Wii Sports, the game I’ve spent the most time playing is RAY-MAN RAVING RABBIDS. It’s sequel hits streets today.

Christmas is coming and the video games are flying onto shelves this week:

• Geometry Wars: Galaxies
• Medal of Honor Heroes 2
• Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles
• Tomb Raider Anniversary

I think I’ll add Geometry Wars to my Christmas list, though Medal of Honor sounds pretty cool. . .
Update: Geometry Wars has been rescheduled for November 20th.  Medal of Honor is releasing on Friday.

• Shrek the Third

That’s the HD-DVD version on the right, with the standard (slightly brighter red) edition on the left.

• Ocean’s Thirteen

The Blu-Ray disc on the right contains all three movies. The standard DVD on the left is just the latest movie. If you buy it at Best Buy this week, you get a Phil Gordon book on Poker along with it.

• Gilmore Girls: The Complete Series

It may be $170, but how can you go wrong? All seven seasons in one boxed set? Beautiful.

• DuckTales, Volume 3
• TaleSpin, Volume 2

Buy ‘em together at Best Buy for $40. Pretty good deal for lots of great cartoons.

I think that’s about enough. Between this and all the Wii games coming out this week, your wallet is already empty.

I’ve been listening to a large number of photography-related podcasts in the last few weeks. Thought I’d share some links and thoughts about them, on the off chance you’re looking for a Photography podcast, as well. Plus, it’s NaBloWriMo!

* The Martin Bailey Photography Podcast is an interesting one, and a great use of the format. The podcast is available as an enhanced AAC file. The host can sneak in images along with the podcast file that will automatically pop up on your iPod as you’re listening. For a photo podcast, this is a brilliant idea, and once I’m surprised more don’t use. If you’re not using an iPod or iTunes, you’ll only hear the audio and you’ll have to visit a web site to see the photos being discussed. You might be better off that way, as the iPod screens are still relatively small. Maybe this would look better on an iPhone or iPod Touch? I dunno.

Bailey is a Briton living in Japan. He’s an avid photographer and devotes about half of his shows showing off pictures from his trips around the country (and the world) in a nice calm manner. As interesting as the photos are — I always want more — his stories add great context to what you’re looking at on the screen. He talks gear as much as composition, and devotes episodes to answering listener questions or to discuss various aspects of photography, e.g. How To Choose a dSLR, How To Choose a Lens, Using Deep Focus Photography, etc.

The show has been updated weekly for about a year and a half now and shows no signs of slowing down. Particularly recommended: Episodes dedicated to waterfall pictures (40 and 41), the recent autumn colors podcasts, and his day in Bangkok.

* Focus Ring is a roundtable discussion podcast created at the beginning of the year, including hosts from different shows along the Photocast Network. Scheduling it is a tricky thing, particularly as participants in the show come from as diverse locations as Germany, Australia, Japan (the aforementioned Bailey), the U.K., and the States. As such, there’ve only been ten episodes, but they’ve been entertaining. Each host brings a topic to discuss and there’s a general conviviality shared amongst the hosts that’s infectious.

Each show is about an hour and ends with the mandatory end-of-show picks of the week that any and all roundtable discussion podcasts today must have, by law.

* Photo Talk Radio is the polar opposite of The Martin Bailey Photography podcast in one major way — the hosts are obnoxious FM radio zoo crew wannabes whose enthusiasm takes the form of cliched radio voices shouting at you and telling you how great they are. It’s borderline repulsive, particularly in a corner of the podcasting world so filled with calm hosts. I only listen to it for the guests, such as Rick Sammons and Scott Kelby. If you can get past the hosts and enjoy the guests, you’ll be safe.

If not, I couldn’t blame you.

* Jeff Curto’s Camera Position is an enhanced podcast from the Photocast Network. It’s about the “creative side of photography,” and so it gets a little high-falutin’ at times. It’s not hard core “Here’s How To Use Your Gear.” Heck, he devoted two whole shows to Ansel Adams’ Zone system of photography. If you’re just learning what burst mode means and how to manually adjust your exposure, then this is not what you need just yet.

More to come Wednesday, including my first and favorite photography podcast. . .

Quote of the week from a photography podcast:

“I know people who only shoot children.”

Sounds like a W.C. Fields quote, doesn’t it?

Waterfall, originally uploaded by AugieDB.

Took a hike through a park whose name I can never get right. It’s in Mahwah, NJ. I think it’s Ramapo Park or Ramapo Ridge Park or something or other. I’m sorting through the 350+ photos I took as we speak, but I really like how this one came out. So long as you don’t blow it up to full size, you won’t realize how blurry it really is. I do the best I can with the camera I have, what can I say?

I went with black and white on this one because the contrast is so perfect for that. This one didn’t even need a whole lot of work in Lightroom.

For scale purposes, I’d say you’re looking at water dropping here about 15 - 20 feet, from top to bottom.

What’s this? On a weekend?

Yes, the Nintendo World Store is having a midnight opening in NYC (Rockefeller Center, if you’ve never been) tonight to release SUPER MARIO GALAXY. They promise to also have a fresh stock of Wii consoles on sale at the same time. Canny marketing, that!

Honestly, the game doesn’t strike me as anything exciting, but lots of others are excited about it. And it’s got everyone’s favorite cute little plumber on the cover.

So, uhm, yay?

I would really enjoy it if customer service was taught at a grade school level.  I know we’ve come to the point in this world where failure is not an option.  I know it’s not very nice to tell someone they’re stupid — even when they are — but is it really too much to ask that an answer to a question vaguely relate back to the question being asked?

For example:

“I wanted to ask about ordering a turkey for next Saturday.”
“We have them at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter.”

Given that next Saturday is NOT one of those three holidays, does this mean the answer is no?  Actually, it doesn’t.  But I had to read the fine print of the menu that was shoved in my face as I was pushed out the door to get that answer.

“Is the sky blue?”
“Chickens squawk at noon.”

“Is the Apocalypse nigh?”
“Would you like a soda with that?”

It’s not always their fault, though. When the nice lady behind the register asked the man what side order he wanted with that, the man — who had a clear grasp of the English language — walked over to the glass, tapped on it, and looked back at her.

“The spinach, sir?”

Tap tap tap

She had to walk over to line up his finger through the glass to the side he was ordering.

“Ah, mashed potatoes.”

Because, yes, “mashed potatoes” is an advanced phrase you have to reach Graduate School to conquer.

Thanks.  I feel better already.

This blog entry is another NaBloWriMo-approved post.

Here we go again. And talk about your bad timing: A Floridian is suing Apple in California for illegally tying the iTunes Music Store to the iPod. Antitrust. Monopoloy power. Unfair. Blah blah blah. . . We’ve seen it before.

The problem is, it’s getting very very difficult to make a monopolistic case against Apple. See that Amazon MP3 Music Store banner at the top of the front page for this blog? You know, the place with 2,000,000 songs with no DRM and lower prices? Ever hear of Hulu.com? Free NBC video. The Amazon Unboxed store in association with TiVo? Microsoft’s Zune? (OK, it’s a joke, but it helps disprove the monopoly thing.)

Heck, ever hear of the analog loophole for iTunes music?

This is another waste of the court’s time.

They should be spending their time trying to disbar some slimy prosecutors in Georgia right about now.

Related Various and Sundry posts:

• Amazon Doing Great Things (26 Sept 2007)
• What NBC Was Thinking As They Were Writing (02 Sept 2007)
• NBC Yanks Itself From iTunes; Shoots Self In Foot (31 Aug 2007)

Some bullet points:

• I love how Sam keeps wearing his Dark Horse Comics t-shirt.
• Shay could be seen at the beginning of the episode with a curled up copy of REX MUNDI in her hands.
• Host Mike has loosened up a lot this season. While he was stiff and robot-like last year, this year he looks to be enjoying himself, teasing the contestants, and whipping out a one-liner or two.
• Was this week’s entire episode an homage to SURVIVOR, or was that just me? I was waiting for someone to break out an Immunity Idol at the last second.
• It’s a darn shame the comic geek turns out to be the stuck up scared little boy of the show this year. ::sigh::
• Will they find an Apple Geek for the show next year? I keep waiting for that. I’ve seen plenty of Linux geeks on the show so far. Nobody’s flashing an Apple sticker on their study materials yet.

. . . is hosted by an Australian, with an Australian Simon Cowell named “Dicko.”

Snark aside, it’s actually a pretty solid talent show. I watched the first half of last week’s Elton John/Bernie Taupin-themed show and enjoyed it a lot. I later watched the second half and was wowed once again by the first half.

Sixwire is a country band that would appeal to the adult contemporary crowd. Dicko says they’re custom made for the housewives, and he might not be far off with that. However, they’re really talented, had a great original song, could harmonize, and performed well.

The Clark Brothers are three country boys with a guitar, a slide guitar (maybe?) and a mandolin (I think). The lead guitarist is the lead singer with astonishingly good looks. They can harmonize, they can play their instruments, even if the mandolin player looks like he’s in pain through each song, and they’re just plain good.

Tres Bien thinks its a Brit-pop band trapped out of time, except for the fact that no member of the band was alive hen the Beatles were still together. They emulate the look and the sound of that era fairly well, even if they also look like a bunch of the biggest geeks you’ve ever seen attempt to take the stage.

Light of Doom is the first breakdown of the show, and a bad bad harbinger. They’re Heavy Metal Hansen. It’s awkward to watch. it’s a band of 12 year old long-haired boys screaming metal. You don’t want to be too rough on them since they are 12 year olds, but they’re nowhere near up to the level of the other contestants. They have skills, don’t get me wrong. They’re astonishingly good for their age, but there’s still a certain straightforwardness to their music and a lack of imagination that won’t come for years yet. For now, it looks like they’re dressing up and playing pretend, with the posing, the head banging, and all the rest.

Things continued to go downhill.

Dot Dot Dot weren’t bad, but the lead singer is distracting in the way he tries so desperately to look like an older Green Day front man.

The bluegrass band whose name has something to do with Jack Daniels liquor is the cutesy band. They don’t fit in. They shouldn’t win. They’re solid, but not spectacular. But they’re unique in the field, so they’ll get votes for a couple more weeks.

The Muggs were an awful southern rock band. The vocal on the “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues” made me wince with every lyric. It sounded exactly like their original song, with slightly different screamed-out lyrics. Ick.

The punk chick band, Rocket, played “Rocket Man.” But of course. Subtlety is not this show’s strong suit. The original song was great. The Elton John cover was weak in the vocals. She sounded tired. It’s tough to stuff all those words in while you’re bouncing around on stage, though.

Thankfully, things ended up on a VERY HIGH note, as “Denver and the Mile High Orchestra” did their two songs, and were spectacular. It’s like the Bryan Setzer Orchestra, but with a lead who plays a trumpet instead of a guitar. The lead singer needs to dance a little more with the music, but I like his attempts to be like Michael Buble or Frank Sinatra, depending on the part. Sure, it’s a bit of a spectacle and not a sure fire radio hit, but I liked them.

Wow, suddenly I feel like I’m in mid-season American Idol mode, except without the patience for spellchecking.

The next episode is on Fox tonight.

This has been another NaBloWriMo-friendly entry.

I don’t want to buy three layers to be in fashion.  Wouldn’t a nice long sleeve shirt of some sort be enough for you?  Why do I need to buy the t-shirt, the shirt with the collar to go over that, AND the sweater to go over it all — which you then think I need to roll halfway back up my arm.  OF COURSE I DO!  I’d be boiling hot from wearing all the layers that you expect me to buy to conform to your fashion sense.

I realize this is just an excuse to sell three things to your consumers instead of one in order to create “a look,” but it’s getting ridiculous.  Please quit it.  Thanks!

Forget NaBloWriMo.

There’s already NaBloPoMo, but it only challenges you to write a post every day.  Fah!  That’s simple.
I’m just not sure which one sounds less ludicrous.

I think I’ll stick with NaBloWriMo.  Nobody cares anyway, so I don’t have to feel too badly about it.

• Ze Frank’s take on the Writer’s Guild strike. It’s hilarious.
• What TV shows are affected most by the strike? Show by show breakdown.
• I think about 3/4ers of the writers/producers on THE OFFICE are also actors in the show. Crazy.
• Tiny Toons hitting DVD in 2008, at last? Mayhaps. Maybe even Freakazoid along with it. . .
• iPhone Power of Ten parody ad. Hilarious.
• Ready to see the internet truly break in half? Adobe considers reorganizing Photoshop.
• Guitar Hero III: $100 million in one week. Wow. (Other stories I lost the link to have indicated the number is closer to $115 million.)
• 90,000 HD-DVDs sold last weekend when the price on the older models dropped to $99. But, as the article points out, nobody’s buying the movies yet for them.

• How to photograph lightning!
• Jimmy Carter: Cat Killer? Bizarre.
• The 2007 Yo Yo Champion is an Augie!

I’ve been listening to an awful lot of photography podcasts in the last couple of months. More than any sane man should do.

The one thing that I always find fun is hearing opinions from a year ago — or even six months ago — that have completely changed in the present. The best example I can give of this is Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. When it first came out as a public beta a year ago, people complained that it was slow, that it was a hobbled version of Photoshop, that it didn’t really fit in, and what can it do that Aperture can’t?

Of course, this was only the beta. By the time the product was released this past spring — and the subsequent major .1 revision followed shortly — I’m sure it was a different program. Ask any Lightroom book author. They all had to rewrite their books two and three times between the first beta and the final release.

I don’t point this out to laugh at those who were wrong or who didn’t have a clue. They were honest and forthright in their opinion. Subsequent marketing and fine-tuning of the product helped to reshape opinion. Perhaps due to its connections to the industry-standard Photoshop (it was added to the official product title at release), it’s been adopted by a large number of photographers, both pro and amateur. One recent survey has it at greater popularity to Aperture now.

One has to wonder what Apple is doing about an Aperture 2.0 right now. Lightroom is the first serious contender in that space for Apple, and Aperture is looking old and creaky. It needs an update. I suspect we’ll see one in the months ahead and I suspect it’ll require Leopard’s built-in graphics handling whizbang features to work.

Lightroom has single-handedly change my attitude and perspective on photography. It’s Photoshop for the rest of us, and may even prove to be the open door into Photoshop, an otherwise large and scary program that I just don’t comprehend. (I can do Illustrator. Photoshop baffles me.)

Rambling, rambling, rambling.

Happy NaBloWriMo!

The Writer’s Guild is striking because, amongst other things, networks rerun the shows they’re supposed to get residuals on, and then don’t pay. Why? They’re “promotional,” not “profitable.”

Right.

But it’s Michael Eisner who says the most dumbfounding idiotic thing of the week. Ladies and gentleman, I present to you the man who very nearly brought down Disney as CEO singlehandedly, and is now showing his skills in the internet age:

Eisner’s advice to striking writers: Blame Steve Jobs, not the studios | The Social - CNET News.com

Eisner, a well-known critic of Apple (whose CEO, Steve Jobs, is a powerful member of Disney’s board of directors), suggested that the profits may be getting sucked up elsewhere. The studios “make deals with Steve Jobs, who takes them to the cleaners. They make all these kinds of things, and who’s making money? Apple! They should get a piece of Apple. If I was a union, I’d be striking up wherever he is.”

So the writers should be striking against Apple, who pretty much created digital downloads as an industry force, and who take less than 30% of the money generated from them, and probably take a loss from them for the sake of selling the hardware to go along with them?

Michael Eisner: Clueless Idiot Most Deserving of Ostracization.

No, wait. Let him talk. It’s more entertaining this way. We can all point and laugh and remember how Disney went straight down the toilet under his watch, how campaigns started against the man, and how Disney’s own family led one. Good times, eh?