We’ve had a full plate the past few weeks – buying your first house and planning for a move is no piece of cake, especially while keeping on top of  your day-to-day to-dos.

We’re moving in to our new house in a couple weeks, work is bopping, and I’m also now keeping on top of two other blogs – one for 360PR and the other for the New England Games and Interactive Entertainment SIG.

So, Dan and I are going on a bit of a hiatus for the next few weeks. Once we get settled in (and get the Internet up and running in the new digs), we’ll be back at it!

1. Your parents return from work and you’re still in your pajamas…
2. You have to time bathroom breaks with videogame checkpoints…
3. You scream “Bright light! Bright light!” when someone opens the curtains…
4. You hug your Wii controller instead of your teddy bear when you go to bed at night…
5. Your sofa cushion has a permanent depression in the shape of your backside…
6. Your idea of getting some exercise is doing bicep curls with a bowl of chips…
7. Your mother drops you off at school and you announce how many points she scored along the route…
8. Your teacher asks you a question and your response is “sorry, I have no more space on my memory card”…
9. Your new family photo was taken in your living room so you could finish defeating the Evil Warlord…
10. You save all your toys to someday sell to trolls, goblins, and seedy merchants…

Thanks to the PR team working with Scott Langteau for this entertaining list of warning signs for the Sofa Boy Syndrome.

Scott Langteau is a veteran of the game development industry (Medal of Honor, co-founder of Spark Unlimited) and recently released this children’s book titled, which tells the tale of a videogame obsessed kid. What a great concept for a children’s book – teaching kids to balance their gaming time with other activities – and the illustrations in the book look so cute. There’s been a lot of buzz about the the book over the past few weeks and Amazon.com is actually currently “out of stock”. 

Maybe Scott will come up with a book for videogame obsessed adults next. They’re out there!

When I think of sidewalk art (which - surprise, surprise – doesn’t happen very often), I think of Dick Van Dyke in the movie Mary Poppins. The cool part about Dick’s drawings were that you could actually jump into them and travel to a fantastical world to be served tea by cartoon penguins.

While Dick’s drawings were magical, they don’t even come close to the scale and awesomeness of Julian Beever’s sidewalk art. This stuff is incredible!

(Thanks for the email, Craig!)

This video has been viewed over 9 million times on YouTube! It chronicles 7-year old David’s trip home from the dentist and his recovery from the anesthesia he was given for dental surgery. David’s. The video is really – David is such a cute kid

Are you searching for Waldo? Well, you could try looking at a bar first. A bar? Yes, Waldo is now of legal drinking age and has been celebrating his 21st birthday in recent months. The celebration kicked off in September, but I just found out about it this week, so…Happy Belated Birthday, Waldo!

I was always so fond of the Where’s Waldo series of books as a kid! I could sit for hours gazing at the hilarious illustrations and endlessly searching for Waldo in his striped sweater and his clan of elusive pals, like Wilma and the Wizard.

Entertainment Rights, the company behind Waldo, kicked off a marketing/online campaign for his birthday with the launch of FindWaldo.com and a handful of other initiatives including an online photo contest for fans, a Where’s Waldo Wiki, the launch of Waldo on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, among other social media platforms.

At FindWaldo.com you can even search some of the classic Where’s Waldo scenarios, like the beach, and you can create your own avatar. It is not an exact match (I look a little pale), but here’s mine:

Fun stuff!

Do you ever just think to yourself….”ME WANT COOKIES!” I’ve got a very large sweet tooth, so this is something that crosses my mind daily.

I saw this photo on Neatorama.com and think Cookie Monster makes the cutest cupcake ever! 

The title pretty much says it all…I’m beyond frustrated right now, considering that I just wasted an hour putting together a blog post that I don’t have time to re-write. Grrrrr!!! Mr. Zelda Pimp has nothing to do with my original post, but he is all I’ve got to offer at the moment.

You wouldn’t think so, but despite the fact that we’re in the midst of a big economic fart, people are still spending money on lots of things including games. Forbes.com recently compiled a list of the ten things we’re still buying despite our skinny wallets.

It is no surprise to me that video games are on the list. Video games actually saw a 14% increase in sales in 2008 (according to the Electronic Entertainment Design and Research Group). Games are a way for people to escape and have fun, so when you’ve just lost your job or your house, what better way to forget about those things for an hour than playing a game.

So, how else are we spending our meager moolah? Personal care (shaving cream, hairspray, etc.), other technology (smart phones and netbooks), gym memberships, movie tickets, restaurants, car maintenance, toy building sets (huh?) and dress casual shoes (shoes that can be worn at work and on the weekends).

P.S. – I’ve been involved with the New England Games and Interactive Entertainment Special Interest Group (MIT Enterprise Forum) since the fall and our next event is on March 3rd. The panel will actually discuss how the video game industry is being impacted by the economy. I’m looking forward to it.

Reading Rainbow is a fond childhood memory of mine and…LOTS of other people:

Lovin’ me some LeVar Burton

You’ve probably already heardabout the US Airways plane that took off from Laguardia airport in New York City earlier today and crashed into the Hudson River after colliding with a flock of geese (yes, a flock of geese).

Reuters has a good photo slideshow of the rescue efforts. Less professional looking than the Reuters pix, the above photo was taken by Janis Krums, some guy from Sarasota, FL, who now has close to 2,000 followers on Twitter.com. I guess he was standing on a commuter ferry when he took the photo. Daniel Terdiman of CNET.com blogged about the Twitter application that Janis used to get the photo out on the web, TwitPic, which actually crashed (pun intended) after thousands of people tried to view the photo overloading the site’s servers.

In addition to the photo, check out this video from CNN – an interview with one of the passengers (passenger 22A, to be exact). These reporters are all over him! Also, I think I hear him say “it was cool” at the :49 mark. Seriously?

Thank goodness no people were hurt, but I wonder how many geese casualties there were? Poor guys – probably didn’t even see it coming (although…planes are rather large and loud). Survival of the fittest, I guess.

Here are a few links that I’ve come across over the past day or so that I’ve found amusing, informative or interesting and wanted to share

• Middle-school student gets his head stuck in a chair (check out the photo on BuzzFeed.com) - Boys will be boys, I guess. This moment will most likely rank as one of the most embarrassing for this kid, but will also be a story that he’ll laugh about with friends for years to come.
• 10 ways social media improved lives in 2008 (check out the post at TheSocialPath.com)- Social media such as blogs, micromedia sites like Twitter, and social networks like Facebook, are often used to benefit charities and other great causes. David Griner compiled 10 ways social media has been used to improve lives in 2008  including the example of The Domestic Diva , a blogger who through the help of other bloggers spread the word about her daughter’s need for a kidney transplant. Just this week her daughter underwent the life-saving transplant. Unbelievable.
• The joy of video games on Christmas morning - Kids go crazy for Wii (check out the videos at Kotaku.com) - These videos of kids opening their Nintendo Wiis on Christmas morning are great. Slightly annoying, but great. The first kid is INSANE!
• Video games meet conquering, dominating, and annihilating needs of men (check out the news post on CNET) - A study from Stanford has proved that video games “stimulate the parts of men that so many other activities just cannot reach: the need to conquer, stomp on, dominate, crush, destroy, maim, annihilate, and turn to ashes and dust.” Makes sense.
• Photos worth a peek (check out the most viewed photos of 2008 on NationalGeographic.com) - Not necessarily the most beautiful photos I’ve seen, but this slideshow features some eye-catching and interesting images, for sure.

All of this and so much more sometimes made it difficult to find time to blog, but I’m so glad we did and, to wrap up 2008, I wanted to highlight a few of my favorite posts from the year. It was quite difficult to narrow a list down, but here it is:

• Video game related post: Nintendo Wii - Cha Ching! (Fit Launches, Calls UK Girl Fat?)
• Photography related post: Famous Photos (of the LEGO Variety)
• YouTube/ online video post: Christian the Lion = YouTube Star
• Work related post: Gamers Bill of Rights – PR to Buzz About
• Personal stories: Eaves Dropping on the Train – Boston Marathon Stories
• “List” post (you know I love lists!): Webby Awards – Buzz’ Best Bets 
• Dan Buzz post: Critter (with Au Bon Pain in the Ass finishing a close second) Editor’s Note: Booooo to Dan Buzz posts about the economy and politics! We (meaning I, Elicia, and the Dan Buzz fan club) encourage more posts in 2009 about sports, food, music, and humorous stories.

Again, hard to pick out just a few, but it is New Year’s Eve and, honestly, I’m eager to get off this damn computer, so think it is best to wrap it up for the night We’ll have to wait to see what is in store for us in 2009 – and I’m looking forward to blogging about it.

New Year's Eve Ball, 1978, New York Times

In my hunt for Christmas gifts, I came across a number of really out of the ordinary and generally useless products that I think would make horrible gifts. I can’t speak for the rest of the world (some people may actually like this stuff, so no offense to any of these companies), but let it be known…Elicia Buzz asks that for the sake of your loved ones’ overall happiness this Christmas, please refrain from giving any of the following items as gifts:

The Hog Wild Self Stirring Mug

This one is a bit cheaper at only $14.95, but why not just grab a spoon? Unless you are buying this for an 8-year old who drinks a lot of chocolate milk…bad gift.

Location Earth Dog Tags

For $12.99 you can buy your special someone a dog tag etched with the “crucial data an alien will need to get you back to Earth” should you be abducted by aliens.

The Complete Swiss Army Knife 

Looking for a gift for the multi-tasker in your life? Well, this may be a great idea at first, but with a price of $1,400, you might want to think of something else. 87 precision-engineered tools spanning 112 functions will overwhelm even the most talented handyman.

Jerome Russell Spray On Hair Thickener

Do I even need to say anything here? You might as well buy spray paint or tell the recipient to shave their head.

Kleen Stride Personal Debris Removal

Unlike the Spray On Hair Thickener, this gift is actually a joke (found it on the Onion’s website). I’m sure there are a handful of folks out there that have thought to themselves “Damn! I totally should have applied for a patent. That was my idea!”

Pop Up Hot Dog Grill

For $49.95 your loved one can celebrate the holidays with the best home cooking they could ever ask for.

Honorable Mention:

Bacon Wallet

Pretty much anything having to do with bacon is awesome. I love bacon as much, if not probably more, than the average person, but a bacon wallet? Bad gift. Apparently this is pretty popular - the website that sells it says it is out of stock.

Good luck with last minute shopping and merry Christmas!

I am particularly fond of the Italian duo that millions call Mario and Luigi. They were never the greatest plumbers, but right along with them, I’ve jumped down my fair share of green pipes and on top of mushrooms. I’ve also slung my fair share of bananas out onto the open road.

If the world of Mario and Luigi were to come to life, I would be ecstatic. Wait…it has. Well, at least, the world of Mario Kart has.

Apparently some French guy put together this live action video based on the popular N64, DS, and Wii game, Mario Kart. Check it out:

Thanks Meat Bun for posting the video!

The Elf Yourself website is quite brilliant. When it first debuted as a promotional site from Office Max and JibJab.com, it was everywhere – it seemed like everyone and their brother had heard about the site. It was such a success that Jib Jab and Office Max still promote the site on their home pages around Christmas time. Today I took a few minutes to Elf-ize myself, Dan Buzz, and Willie Nelson - the quality is not great with the YouTube upload, but it is pretty hilarious anyway:

If you’re not a big fan of elves, of the North Pole variety that is (not necessarily the Middle-earth variety), go to JibJab.com and there are all sorts of different goofy scenarios you can drop you or your friends/family members’ head shots into.

Enjoy!

Christmas is only 18 days away! The pressure is on.

For some folks, gift ideas come naturally. I, on the other hand, am more like a (rein)deer caught in an extremely bright and shining Christmas light display when it comes to figuring out what will make a good gift.

If you’re like me and are looking for ideas, take a peek at some of these gift guides. There are, obviously, many more out there, but these might be a good place to start. Who knows, you may just find the perfect gift!

Geeky Gift Guides:

Wired Wish List 2008: The 2008 Wish List from Wired Magazine includes tons of ideas with categories like Desk Jockey, Mr Fix It, Kitchen Ninja, High Roller, and Audiophile.

GamePro Holiday Gift Guide 2008: All the items in this guide aren’t necessarily “geeky,” but more than a few items fall into this category. The guide includes various Gifts for Gamers, Movie Gifts, Gifts for Students, Mom, Dad and Under $20.

Gift Guides for Guys:

Men’s Fitness Magazine 2008 Holiday Gift Guide - Includes Sporting Goods, Gadgets, Fashion, Entertainment, and Grooming categories and even has a “fantasy” gifts section that includes a Guinness Home Pub for $250K. Yeah right!

Maxim Magazine Holiday Gift Guide 2008: A little bit of everything in this guide including Apparel, Travel & Outdoors, Entertaining, Gaming, and Home.

Gift Guides for Kids:

Women’s Health Best Gifts for Kids: The kids section of the Women’s Health Gift Guide has a bunch of cool ideas for kids over age 8 or so.

Parenting Magazine Toys of the Year 2008: The editors of Parenting Magazine picked out 26 of the best toys for kids in their Toys of the Year awards. Some good ideas in this slideshow.

Great Gift Guides for Everyone:

Babble Holiday Gift Guide 2008 - Love this guide – big pictures and easy to navigate. It has mostly gift ideas for kids, but other categories include gifts for Grandparents, Mom & Dad, and Charity.

Etsy Gift Guides: Looking for something really unique and different? Etsy.com is a site where everyday folks can sell their own handmade crafts and clothing. The gift guide page has categories of all kinds and includes some pretty neat stuff.

Gifts.com - Not a guide, per se, but Gifts.com is a great resource for finding gift ideas for any occasion. You can get a little lost in the site, but it provides recs for various holidays and occasions as well as breaks gifts down by age, gender, interests or personalities.

The New York Times recently posted a video from photojournalist Robbie Cooper’s  Immersion project, which shows kids playing video games. Entertainment is entertainment. I have no problem with the fact that violent video games exist and that many people enjoy them. However, I think its important that young kids aren’t exposed to violent games, like Grand Theft Auto, for example. It is great that the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) exists and assigns “Mature” ratings to the most violent titles, but parents, more importantly, have to do their job. All rantings aside, I’m a bit disturbed by Robbie Cooper’s video because the kids are so young…too young for some of the games that I assume they are playing. At the same time, the video is interesting to watch – these kids are definitely immersed. Check it out.   

On the other hand, Robbie Cooper’s “Alter Ego: Avatars and their Creators,” gained a bunch of buzz last year that I took note of. The project/book is a collection of photographs of gamers alongside images of their avatars – a character that gamers design  and use to represent themselves in online virtual worlds, such as World of Warcraft and Second Life.

It is fascinating to see how people choose to represent themselves online. Many select characteristics for their avatar that mimic their own in real life, but others seem to rather live vicariously through their avatars and will, for example, choose a female character even though they are male. I pulled out a couple examples from The New York Time’s Alter Ego slideshow below:

From NY Times Slideshow: NAME Choi Seang Rak BORN 1971 OCCUPATION Academic LOCATION Seoul, South Korea AVATAR NAME Uroo Ahs AVATAR CREATED 2004 GAME PLAYED Lineage II HOURS PER WEEK IN-GAME 8 CHARACTER TYPE Dwarf Warsmith SPECIAL ABILITIES Craft siege weapons, whirlwind in battle

From NY Times Slideshow: NAME Andreas Fischer BORN 1980 OCCUPATION Designer LOCATION Vienna AVATAR NAME Zero Cold AVATAR CREATED 2005 GAME PLAYED City of Heroes HOURS PER WEEK IN-GAME 17 CHARACTER TYPE Human SPECIAL ABILITIES Controls ice and storms

From NY Times Slideshow: NAME Kimberly Rufer-Bach BORN 1966 OCCUPATION Software developer LOCATION Clarksville, Tenn. AVATAR NAME Kim Anubis AVATAR CREATED 2004 GAME PLAYED Second Life HOURS PER WEEK IN-GAME 70 CHARACTER TYPE Content creator SPECIAL ABILITIES Building interactive objects

* Credit: Robbie Cooper and The New York Times

Over the past week I’ve learned something new about myself – I don’t know a guy. You know, a guy – a guy that can hook you up and help you out, do you a favor that will either save you time or money.

I’m pretty sure my dad has a few guys – he knows a lot of people. Our friend Brad has a guy (actually, he’s got a few too). His Uncle, I guess, is the ultimate “guy.” Need new tires? Forget about it, he’s got a guy. During one of the Red Sox playoff games in Florida this year, he, all of a sudden the night before, had access to a plane ticket from Boston to Florida and tickets to the game at a near-nothing rate. One of my co-workers TOTALLY has a guy. This past week, he got hooked up with tickets to the Celtics game AND the Patriots game on Thursday. Even Dan Buzz knows a guy – he’s got a bakery guy. Yes, a bakery guy.

So the moral of the story is, if you ever need something, I am probably the last person that can help you out. But, I do know a couple of guys that know a guy

My older brother is a sculptor and one of a number of artists that live and work in The Distillery, a community of artists located in a mid-19th century converted rum distillery in Southie. According the the website, the building has been a center of the arts in Boston for 20 years and houses three galleries as well as 140 tenants.

Every year, The Distillery holds its “Open Studios” event during which artists open their doors to visitors for a couple days. I’ve attended the past few years and it is always a pleasing experience - especially since I get to see what new projects my brother has been working on.

As a life-long Dungeons & Dragons player, Jason’s sculptures are primarily influenced by his experiences with this 30+ year-old “pen and paper” role-playing game. His sculptures take the form of fantastical creatures, critters or monsters and most of them are wonderfully terrifying, but a few are actually quite friendly, such as his “moop” characters. I’m lucky enough to have one of these (a very generous gift from Jason). This photo doesn’t do the moop justice: 

Jason first sculpts each figure out of brown wax and then, when finished (which sometimes takes months and multiple re-iterations), he creates a mold. From this mold, he casts the sculptures in bronze at a foundry. He can explain the process a lot better than I can, but here is a snapshot of Jason’s work-space:

And one of his newer projects (not yet casted, this guy is still a work-in-progress):

Jason has also dabbled in duct-tape. Yes, duct-tape. Years ago, he created a human-sized duct-tape creature that he always puts on display outside his apartment during Open Studios. This year, however, the sculpture was placed in the main Distillery gallery, slightly hidden towards the ceiling, watching over visitors…

 Keep it up with the scary sculptures bro!

I’ve never been one to really go “all out” on Halloween and, most of the time, I end up just dressing up as a witch, if anything. Despite my less than overwhelming enthusiasm for Halloween, I’ve got to hand it to the creative folks that came up with these wacky costumes:

LEGO people. Simple, yet brilliant.

A MySpace page costume. A sign of the times

This Toy Soldier costume must have taken a lot of effort. I found this photo on Flickr and in the description, it said that the guy would approach a house, ring the doorbell, and before anyone answered, he would throw down the wooden base and assume his position on the sidewalk. Sweet.

Tetris blocks. Retro.

If Tetris blocks aren’t 80’s enough for you, how about this Transformers costume.

Forget about those cutesie costumes for dogs, this one is incredible!

This one is just cruel! Poor kid.

Happy Halloween!