It's about midnight, and it's a raining outside. High winds expected again in the Everett area today.

Why am I up so late? I've got to DJ a dance this week and one of my old 1/8" to XLR cables has gone bad and I'm too cheap to buy a new one. In other words, I'm cannibalizing some old cables and soldering them together.

Anyhoo, interesting links of the day:

New Nintendo DS will have a camera built into it, so you might want to wait a little while before buying one PositivePaul.

Deus Ex 3 details emerging. I loved the first Deus Ex and liked the second one. I can't wait for a third one.

Adam Savage gets drunk then runs on a treadmill. Captured in high-speed for your enjoyment.

Next Knights of the Old Republic game to be a MMORPG fuck you Bioware.

Remember DooM? Boy this takes me back.

So does this one.

Potential discussion topics

• Bill Murray is interested in Ghostbusters 3. Would you watch it?
• Best root beer: Thomas Kemper. Y/N?
  
• Do you enjoy thunderstorms?
• Has anyone read The Name of the Wind? 

Last week we discussed a lot of Top 11 lists. Here's my Top 11 Favorite Video Games of All Time. Your list/thoughts?

1. Chrono Trigger
2. Super Mario World
3. DooM
4. Half-Life 2
5. Deus Ex
6. System Shock 2
7. Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
8. The Dig
9. Final Fantasy VI (III in Japan)
10. Mass Effect
11. Xenosaga

I'm off to play Doctor Frankenstein with these audio cables again.

In the news today:

• Boating at night is stupid. One dead, nine injured in another late-night boating collision.
• Merv Griffin's company sues Ed McMahon. Heyoo.
• Holy shit: Phoenix lander spots snow falling on Mars.
• Metallica drummer hates the internet, tells children to get off his lawn.
• People are paying for LittleBigPlanet beta keys. I still don't even want to buy a retail copy when it's released.

Other potential discussion topics:

• I haven't seen Ironman. Should I buy a copy on DVD?
• Has anyone played anything on the PS3 that's not named Uncharted: Drake's Fortune or MGS4?
  
• Why did I purchase a PS3 when it just sits on top of my desk never to be turned on and played with?
  
• Any Doctor Who fans here?
• Has there been confirmation that Robert is king of the gnomes?

Tags are incoming, you needy bastards.

Fuck you Scrappy.

In the news today:

Mirror's Edge has a release date now.

Peter Molyneux takes a break from over-hyping his games to badmouth the PS3, claims the console is still waiting for a defining title.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed released, sucks.

The secret Guitar Hero instrument is actually a MIDI import feature and that is awesome.

The OLPC XO laptop finally, FINALLY, is shipped to another country.

New Minneapolis bridge opens, 13 months after collapse.

Other potential discussion topics:

• Am I the only one here who doesn't watch/enjoy hockey?
  
• Has anyone else installed the iPhone 2.1 software update? How's it working for you?
• Anyone here use the Asus eeePC?
  
• The Microsoft Natural Pro keyboard: Best keyboard ever?
  
• I've got a $200 gift card to use at Fry's. What should I buy?
• Fall movies: anything worth seeing?
  
• Who here loves rain?

Well it's 8AM and no one else has put up the OTFPOTD yet. Looks like I'm doing it again, you lazy jerks.

In the news today:

Hundreds of turtles found crammed in one house.

Hurricane Ike strengthens, Texans warned to get out or face "certain death."

A new Seinfeld/Gates commercial is out. I don't care what you people say, I think they're amusing.

And my latest Large Hadron Collider/Half-Life headline...

Crowbar, headcrab, and Half-Life strategy guide shipped to CERN.

Portal ported to the Atari 2600.

Other potential discussion topics:

• What should I do this weekend?
• Should I drink my can of coke now or later?
• Why does my boss insist on buying shitty HP laptops?
• Why are HP laptops so terrible?
• Should we make suggestions to NOLA? 
• If so, what suggestions?
• Anybody play a good video game recently?
• I have three LCD flat-panel monitors in my cubicle. Does this give me the right to cackle like an evil madman? 
• Who is going to watch the House season premiere next Tuesday?

Bloomquist heads home, reluctantly.

SEATTLE -- Willie Bloomquist and the Mariners went their separate ways on Wednesday, possibly forever.

It appears that the love between Willie Bloomquist and Seattle is gone. By all indications, little Willie Ballgame is not pleased with the Seattle front office.

"I think they understood where I was coming from but were worried that my leg wouldn't quite be healthy enough. The bottom line is that I wanted to be out there, and I was very, very disappointed with their decision. There were other options."

 

"I told [general manager Lee Pelekoudas], 'you're my boss and you will do whatever you want to do anyway, but that doesn't mean I have to agree with it,'" Bloomquist said.

Obviously we don't care, but someone does. Oh yes, someone will miss Willie dearly...

The Safeco Field broadcast booth. Mike Blowers takes a seat next to a slumped over Rick Rizzs.

Mike: Morning, Rick. Dave Henderson left a message for you. Seems to think you need to encourage Felix to go on a mean streak.

::Rick doesn’t respond, he seems to be crying::

Mike: Rick, you okay?

::Rick sits up, his eyes red and cheeks soaked with tears::

Rick: It’s Willie. I think he’s leaving me.

Mike: Oh, Rick. You know these things happen. Players come and go all the time.

Rick: But Willie... I mean, I thought we had something special. I thought he was the one!

Mike: You’ve got to let Willie go. There will be other scrappy little ball players. How about that Tug Hulett kid?

Rick: Tug insists on hitting those selfish home runs that go over the fence, not the gritty in-the-parkers like Willie! Oh, do you remember that in-the-parker in Houston? When Willie slid into home plate I wanted to jump out of the booth and run on to the field to-

Mike: Rick this is unhealthy. You’re obsessing over him! You’ve got to move on. How about Luis Valbuena? He seems like a nice fit for you.

Rick: You know I can’t love those darkies.

Mike, to himself: Good God, Rick, you’re one xenophobic bastard. No doubt about it.

Rick: They all leave me, Mike. Greg Dobbs, Charles Gipson… They always leave me. What did I do wrong?

Mike: Nothing, Rick… Hey, you want me to go pick you up some Rally Fries? They cheer me up every time my wife tells me I’m the dullest person on the face of the planet.

Rick: Yeah…that sounds nice. Thanks, Blow… You know, I’m sorry I didn’t appreciate you more when you were playing in Seattle. It’s the whole…

Mike: Possessing something that resembles talent thing?

Rick: Yeah, that.

::Mike stands up and pats Rick on the back. As he leaves the booth and walks to the concession area, he bumps into Dave Niehaus.::

Dave: Mike, have you seen Rick yet?

Mike: Yeah, he’s pretty upset about Willie.

Dave: God dammit. Scrawny little fucker’s already going through Willie withdrawal symptoms. I’m calling in sick, tell Sims that he’s on Rick’s suicide watch today.

I'm back at the office today. It's early. I'm tired. I hate you all.

In the news today:

Edmonds School Superintendent says "Fuck you" to elementary school kids trying to who fell a little short in the lunch money department.

A pair of powerful earthquakes shake Indonesia and Japan.

Parts of Houston being evacuated ahead of Hurricane Ike.

Has the Large Hadron Collider destroyed the Earth yet? Hm... No.

But like I said a few days ago, if it does open a gateway into some terrible alternate dimension, we can call this guy:

via api.ning.com

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is fucked. George Lucas involved with the plot, expect cheesy love scenes and shitty dialogue.

Uwe Boll bitches about the movie industry, still has no plan to make his own shitty movies better.

Today's potential discussion topics:

• Who should be assigned to Robert's suicide watch today?
• What are the origins of Robert's relationship with sharp objects?
• The Mac vs. PC advertising campaign: are acblue and I the only ones that think it doesn't work?
• Your favorite PC game created before 1999?
• Do you still own an NES? Your SNES?
• How should I stalk Matthew today?
• Other than Uwe Boll, who is the worst film director/producer in the entertainment industry?
• Best film director/producer?

There you go. Tags will be added shortly.

Edit: One warning. Yes, today is 9/11. Discuss the topic at your own peril. Seriously, tread carefully. Or do the smart thing and avoid it all together.

Thank you.

Some of you may be aware that we have this little thing called the Lookout Landing Wiki on the sidebar. When I first started lurking around here, I would reference it constantly to figure out what the hell you people where talking about. Who the hell is Waste of Space? What does TWSS mean? Who the hell is Player A?

The Wiki was very useful to me about nine months to a year ago. I imagine it was also useful for people who were lurking around that time.

Unfortunately, the Wiki hasn't been updated in a while. The last entry made was back in July, and contains this information:

Butthol

Is a needy little bastard who needs a new username. And doesn't count.

Suffice to say, the wiki needs a bit of updating. Let's use this fanpost to discuss things that should go into the wiki, and perhaps get some volunteers to help update it.

Wiki ideas:

• New player entries
• Current memes
• Memes we've killed
• LLisms
• New LL user entries

Any other suggestions? Ideas? Volunteers?

So there's a new 24-Hour Fitness center in Everett, and it's awesome. I spent an hour on a cross-trainer eliptical machine and didn't care because they mounted a TV on top of it so I could watch the NFL opener.

In the news today:

US readies for Hanna; Category-4 Ike close behind.

Sony recalls 440,000 Vaio laptops, further proof that you should buy a Lenovo Thinkpad.

Yesterday was the 15th anniversary of Jim Abbott's no-hitter.

For Robert - Lofa Tatupu's fine.

Team NINJA and Tecmo settle lawsuit, Itagaki not part of the settlement.

Sting to appear as a Guitar Hero in-game character.

The first KORG-DS10 album has been released.

Other topics for discussion:

• What gives Mr. Sullivan his powers of awesomeness? Does he have a "kryptonite?"
  
• Why does Matthew prefer blueberry muffins over poppy seed?
  
• When did The X-Files jump the shark?
• What's your favorite under-appreciated TV series
• Anyone using a cool iPhone app? 
• Why do I lead such a dull and boring life?
• What the hell am I supposed to think about this:

And for the four people here on LL who haven't seen this:

Per KOMO

Branch seemed to suggest he was close to returning on an interview with KJR AM yesterday, and this appears to be another report to back up that claim.

I'm not exactly sure how wise this is. If Branch's recovery has really progressed this well, great. However, I still don't know if rushing him into a Week 1 game against Buffalo is a smart football decision. I would absolutely hate to see that surgically repaired knee suffer more damage.

Full recovery from reconstructive knee surgery sometimes takes 12 months or more but Holmgren said Branch has been progressing well in his rehabilitation.

We'll see how this plays out. For now, I'll be surprised if he takes the field at all on Sunday.

Apparently all of you slackers are too lazy to create an off-topic fanpost and expect either me or NOLA to do it. Well fuck you. Here's what's in the news today:

PC World seems to like the new Google Chrome web browser

but

Peter Svenson of CNN.com seems to think IE 8 is a better browser.

Boeing production workers consider a strike.

Sue Bird scores 21 and the Storm win. Still, no one cares about the WNBA.

For some reason Microsoft hasn't given up on the Japanese market.

From the creators of Mass Effect and Knights of the Old Republic...Wait, they're working on a Sonic RPG?

Dragonball Z the movie? Well this brings back horrible memories of the summer that brought us both Mortal Kombat the film and Street Fighter: The Silver Screen Abortion.

Other discussion topics:

• When was the last time Square-Enix did something groundbreaking?
• Where the hell is the true Chrono Trigger sequel I've been waiting for since 1994?
• Are there any good movies coming out this fall?
• Why are the Concord Blue Devils so much better than the Santa Clara Vanguard?
• Worst film sequel ever?
• Best film sequel ever?
  
• 2001: A Space Odyssey. Love it or hate it?

God you bastards are needy.