LOL... Is it cool or sad that I know (without having to look up in a table) which Unicode character you were shooting for with the "&3232_&3232" (the look of disapproval)?

Well done! +1d6 additional damage vs. geeks with the Earthworm Jim homage...

You think so? I've heard that he's not unreasonable...

Bah, that's not a real earth-tone sweater.... http://cache.g4tv.com/ImageDb3/40884_L/Star-Trek-The-Next-Generation-Where-no-one-has-gone-before-106-Wesley-Crusher.jpg Now THAT's a sweater! Booyah Pumpkin, baby! Wil I hope you were able to "acquire" that one from wardrobe once the show wrapped, because surely that would be the most appropriate sweater for October. You really are an "Autumn", Wil...* *I keed, I keed! But it really would be meta to see that sweater on Eureka or BBT next season... Please tell us (if you can) that Dr. Parrish is returning?!?! I'm sure we'll see more EWW (heh eww!) on BBT...

THAT MKamper? As in Michael Kamper, audio lead @ 2K Marin? Wil, you get all the cool people on your blog... ;) Michael, at the risk of failing my saving throw against nerdsquee, I must tell you that the sound of a Big Daddy running at full speed still evokes terror in me, much as it did the first time I played through Bioshock. I am not ashamed to admit that my reaction when I took on my first Big Daddy, and he came flying across the room at me was some variation of "Ohshitohshitohshitohshitohshit..." Of course, it does help to have a large subwoofer, and to have the game cranked to reference levels while playing - you know, to enhance the realism! ;)

Wil, If you want to get deeper into actual physics lectures that are still "accessible" by mere mortals, I highly suggest Richard Feynman's Lecture series: http://tiny.cc/n8uTG Feynman had a fantastic way of making it all make sense, even when discussing incredibly complex topics. I can also recommend his two semi-autobiographical books: Surely You're Joking, Mr Feynman! and What Do You Care What Other People Think?. Not much science in these two, but both are a wonderful window into the mindset of the guy who (albeit posthumously) helped me get it when it came to my college physics courses.

Thanks for sharing this with us, Wil. My fervent hope is that my daughter (now age 5) grows up to enjoy role playing as much as Nolan is. A bit selfishly, I also hope I get to DM her campaigns... ;) For now, we're just beginning to play Shadows ( http://www.harlekin-maus.com/games/shadows/shadows.html ), and I'm learning how to craft scenarios to her level. I think I have the most fun when she decides on a totally unexpected course of action, and I have to rewrite on the fly. I don't always succeed, but she's a very forgiving PC. :) --Brett

Yeah, I've looked into turntables, but that's a big bag of expense that I don't really want to open up right now. I'd need a good table, needle, phono amp, etc... I've repurchased most of my vinyl on CD, so the temptation t go down that road is lessened... Though most of my Beatles CDs are the re-masters, and unfortunately don't do the lads justice in comparison to the original mono...)

Ah, the mythic Alan Parsons quad mix. I also have a copy (but thanks for the rec!), and it is indeed wonderful. A bit of bass bloat (the .1 channel is repeated in the mains), and the unavoidable tape hiss (as it was supposedly made from the tape masters), but nearly perfect... I've also got the SACD, which has a 5.1 mix done by James Guthrie. Sonicaly, it's much cleaner (a couple decades of technological improvements will do that...), but for me the mix pales in comparison. Don't get me wrong - if you've never heard DSoTM in surround, and you only have access to the SACD, I highly recommend the experience! Guthrie's certainly a highly competent engineer and producer, and was hand selected by the band to do the mix. In fact, it made for a great Wizard of Oz / DSoTM screening, as it had just come out, so my audience wasn't expecting the multi-channel... :) But I still have to sit back and wonder what Parsons could do with a multi track effort today. To this day I get chills at several points listening to the quad mix...

SACD - I've got those too! And some DVD-A kicking around as well. I listen to them occasionally, and quietly lament the utter failure of the industry to properly market and distribute multi-channel audio... I know, let's make them cost 3 times as much as CDs, impose insane IP restrictions (what do you mean I can't play the multi-channel stuff at full resolution over an optical cable?), and make licensing expensive enough to discourage most vendors from including the capability in their low-end units. But I digress... :) My vinyl would be a lot more useful to me if I still owned a turntable. But vinyl is indeed useful, albeit a heck of a lot less portable than the MiniDisc format. However, vinyl does hold the advantage of being playable on devices other than those manufactured by Sony!

I own vinyl... ;)

@Mndrew - methinks youthinks of caviar, not capers. Capers, while thoroughly disgusting (sorry Wil, but they're just nasty!) are entirely veggie in origin: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caper