so, i finally finished Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn last night. this is quite an acomplishment for me, if you take into consideration how bored i was with the game. it's not bad game, but it's rigged to give Good-Aligned players all the advantages, while the Evil-Aligned ones suffer annoying consequences. the final battle at the end was a bit cheesey and the Tests of Character you have to go through to get to the Master Villain have rewards for the good characters and punishments for the evil characters. it really isn't all that fair, considering your character is the offspring of the God of Murder and Icky Things.

now that i've finished it, it's time to move on to the expansion and to get ready for the sequel.

i have a sudden craving for a Skor candy bar.

some funny (if dated) stuff here, especially pleasing to me because i live in the state that sent Largeant, Coburn and Watts to the Capitol.

heh.

ok, UPN has some new, post-Buffy's-death promos with the Scoobies, and you can find them online now: here's Dawn, Xander and Anya, and Spike.

just to let everyone know:

1) the Buffy premiere has been moved up a week to October 2nd. i have no idea why, but i'm very glad for it. too little Buffy makes Terrence very grumpy.

2) Ritalin Junkie is back up, and she's simplified. yay

although "always shoot to kill" policies are great for stopping an advancing threat (and for striking fear into the hearts of the not-so-wicked), wouldn't, say, shooting an attacker in the leg be the better option for officers just to cut down on the amount of paperwork and to reduce the likelihood of being prosecuted for manslaughter?

and since i'm asking questions about old French stuff, why are the Three Musketeers called musketeers when they don't carry muskets? [this and the last post, btw, are the latest entries in my "Things That Keep Me Up at Night" series]

why is Javert so obsessed with tracking down Valjean? he chases him for decades or something. really, all that for a parole violation by a guy whose crime was to gank some Iron Kids? please.

the Ice Cream Layoff Warning System has failed. my boss was just "Reorganized" out of a job, and we didn't get ice cream first.

the path the Downsizing and Reorganization are taking does not look good for me. my department's function is completely duplicated in Pennsylvania. there are about a dozen of us here, and a few score of them there. we're probably next, but, by god, i want ice cream first.

last night, as i was driving home, i started craving pizza. i haven't had pizza since last summer, but it sounded really good. shortly after i got home, my sister called. while i was talking to her, the pizza she had ordered was delivered. i decided that i must have pizza.

i ordered one (geez, they've gone up since i'd last had one). when it was delivered, i readied myself for maximum pizza engorgement. i ate my fill. i ate until i couldn't eat another bite, that point at which even thinking about it will make you sick. i ate... one piece. for some reason, that was all it took. and now i have a large pizza, minus one piece, sitting in my fridge.

if anyone's hungry, wants a free meal, and doesn't mind leftovers, just drop by tonight and the pizza's yours.

been trying to avoid politics lately (national, anyway. still keeping up on state, damn Keating to Hades), but here's a quick in-and-out:

there are those who argue that, by calling Florida for Gore before polls closed, the television networks caused thousands of GOP voters to give up and not cast their votes. but wouldn't that also keep Gore voters from going to the polls. they thought their candidate had already won. why bother voting then? and, if you were serious about casting your vote and heard during polling hours that the opposition candidate was winning, wouldn't you run right out and vote, just in case it might help?

United Way commandos have taken over the employee lounge. they're serving pancakes to those who buy tickets, thereby supporting the United Way (and various other groups through them). i had issues with the United Way before this, but now, they won't let me into the lounge unless i pay them $3. all i want is a cup of coffee. the bastards think they can extort money from me. when did it become okay for charities to turn to extortion (besides the guilt-extortion thing they've always done)?

aren't lemurs the coolest little prosimians? they're probably the coolest primates of all too, and i'd say coolest mammal, but i think i like monotremes and raccoons better.

the first lemur link has three animations showing how lemurs look during various actions. the animation of a lemur death cracks me up, as if *every* lemur died like that.

hate the Taco Bell/Bonanza Theme Song commercial? hate it as much as this guy? didn't think so.
[and i do have very clear memories of Lorne Greene and Co. singing the theme][theme to Bonanza, not Taco Bell]

the second photo on this pointless article about The Planet of the Apes looks like a scene from a porn flick. <shudder>thoughts of Charlton Heston doing porn</shudder>

In another instance, the FBI uncovered a plot designed to convince Central Americans that couples in the United States were adopting children from Guatemala and Honduras to harvest their vital organs.

who'd believe this crap when there are plenty of children here in the US to adopt and take organs from? sheesh. that was my favorite line from an article on the FBI watching our citizens for Commie sympathies.

anyone know how i can go about getting the church to canonize me?

from The Learning Channel's description of "Trial By Fire," an episode of the TLC series A Makeover Story:

"Kim and Wendy have had a trying relationship as mother and daughter and recently, their home was badly burned in a fire. Now Wendy and Kim have to rebuild their lives, and are looking forward to a fresh start and a fresh new look."

as if a makeover will make everything all right. cracks me up.

today has been one bloody awful day. family matters have kept me from doing anything today, including showing up for work. my sister's ex-fiancé showed up in town last night (he lives in Florida) and caused some trouble. he has one opportunity to redeem himself, and failure would not be healthy.

if things work out right, i should be back to babbling for you tomorrow.