Hey, soda Jerk! Gimme some cash!

I love to see philanthropy being used as a marketing tool, and I don’t mean that sarcastically. Every company is going to dump millions of dollars into convincing you to buy their widgets and doodads, so when they choose to give money to good causes as a part of that buyer coercion, I’m onboard.

The particular business doing the wooing is Pepsi, with their “Pepsi Refresh Project”. Good ideas for projects in a variety of categories are submitted, and the people (that’s you!) vote on the best ones. There are a lot of great cause that could really use the money, and if you can find one that you support, mobilize and vote frequently. The competition gets pretty fierce.

My choice? http://www.refresheverything.ca/braintumourfoundationofcanada.I did some writing work for Brain Tumour Foundation, which included some survivor interviews, and their stories affected me so profoundly that I’d love to see them get some cash. So go, my minions, flock to the site and start voting! Show them what over 10 people can accomplish on the internet!

Today’s fun fact: the iPhone spelling auto-correct changes ‘pcp’ to ‘oxo’. These things are not similar.

run from the terror of…the Brown Sound!

I wish I was more relaxed when bathroom calamities happen outside of the house. The little dude wants to do well, but fast-moving surprise stool can catch the best of us off-guard. I was slow to notice that  his walk to the bathroom quickly became a strange waddle, and when we got into the bathroom and the severity of the hull breach was  evident, I was a little too tense. Maybe panicky? It’s hard to be calm when you are desperately trying to limit your direct poop contact. So, I got stressed out, Max was stressed out, and we eventually sorted everything out.

I think I eventually returned to comforting dad mode, at least I hope so.  It was a classic “oh the public shame” of poop on the floor and a nude from the waist down boy, but that’s just my social anxiety talking (technically, I think it’s my mother’s anxiety that was drilled deep into my psyche, but let’s leave blame for some other time). I have to relax and accept that, like rain, some poop must fall. That is why backup pants are a must.

Fun fact: the line “some rain must fall” is from The Rainy Day, a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.Also, Wadsworth is a fantastically comedic name.

Game Review- How “Mafia 2” bummed me out

I will not resort to a terrible Italian accent for this review-you and I both deserve better. And that’s what I felt about this game in general. I deserved to be treated nicely by any game I spend time with.

It is undeniable that Mafia II is a beautiful game, but with problems. The city is visually detailed and rich, but the faces are waxy and creepy. The soundtrack is authentic to the time periods in the game, but there’s just not enough music. The gameplay mechanics are serviceable, but are unnecessarily complicated at times. On these points alone, I would normally recommend a game. Unfortunately, there are two big problems that sink the experience for me.

First, the beautiful city they’ve created has very little to do in it. A sandbox is useless without toys, and this game has you going from point a to point b in the story line with no interesting distractions to wander off and follow. The “grand theft auto” series has spoiled me with choice, so a game that tries to fit in the same “sandbox” genre but doesn’t deliver the goods is a big disappointment. Where were the side-missions, the lists of cars to collect, the friends to entertain, the properties to buy?

Secondly, the plot itself made me feel like my character was a dim-witted thug destined for an ignominious death. Not only was his best friend stupid with urge control issues, leading the main character in a cycle of rash actions and missions to rescue his dumb ass, but at every juncture where a smarter character would make a choice to avoid trouble, your character shrugs his shoulders and goes along with disastrous ideas.  He is never clever, and the end of the game is depressing and unrewarding. I want to play as the hero, not as the doomed stooge.

On the plus side, one of the collectible things in the game are vintage Playboy magazines, and boobies are nice. 5.5 out of 10.