Ken Newquist “Mommy … it hurts!” Those words struck fear into the heart of Kevin Archer’s mother … but that fear was nothing compared to the horror she felt the next day when she found her son dead of a heroin overdose. The child had been playing in a McDonald’s ball pit when a heroin-filled syringe had … Read more
An e-mail claiming that a new patriotic Pepsi soda can had the words “Under God” striken from its design is a hoax. Date collected: 8/12/2002 Pepsi has a new patriotic can coming out with pictures of the Empire State Bldg. and the Pledge of Allegiance on them. But Pepsi forgot two little words on the … Read more
Enterprise is Paramount’s attempt to revitalize the Star Trek franchise by returning to the adventurous, thrill-seeking, curious days of the Federation’s youth. The series, which follows the crew of the original starship Enterprise on its maiden voyage, has been largely successful. The technobabble of Voyager has been exorcised, and – on average – the stories … Read more
“Something is going to happen.”– Dave Bowman. “What what’s going to happen?” — Dr. Heywood Floyd. “Something wonderful.” — Dave Bowman, 2010: Odyssey Two We did something wonderful yesterday. We listened to our baby’s heartbeat for the first time. It was our second official visit to see the midwife, and it was part of the … Read more
Civilization III sucks. There … I’ve said it. It took me months, but I finally said it. I feel much better now. I’m a big fan of the Civilization series, starting with the original computer game back in college (around about 1993). Its sequel, Civilization II. represents a pinnacle in empire-building games, in which players … Read more
Signs is a tightly woven, self-contained sci-fi horror film that owes as much to Alfred Hitchhoch’s thrillers as it does to George Romero’s Living Dead. Both Romero and Hitchcock excelled at putting their protagonists in increasingly more difficult and psychologically crippling positions. Reinforcing the movie’s terror is a first-rate soundtrack that dines on tension like … Read more
Fall 2002 looks to be a good time for gamers, especially for fans of Dungeons & Dragons. Here are some of the products I’m looking forward to. Operation: Torch, Pagan Publishing Topping my Fall 2002 wish list is Operation: Torch, a campaign for Godlike based on the real-world WWII African campaign. This book is all … Read more
I finally got to visit one of Apple’s new stores, specifically the Apple Store in the Short Hills Mall in New Jersey. It was like walking into a little slice of heaven. Dual-processor G4s with beautiful (and ungodly expensive) 22-inch flat screen monitors lined one mall. The new lamp-like iMacs lined another wall and proved … Read more
Here’s the set-up: a helicopter is raising a diver up out of the ocean when suddenly an immense great white shark jumps out of the water for a quick (and fatal) bite. It sounds like a scene from a movie (say Jaws II or Deep Blue Sea, and it seems to unbelievable to be real. … Read more
“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it is gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there … Read more