I have to admit I was one of those that wanted to witness history. I wanted to see the New England Patriots go undefeated, 19 - 0, but after watching how hard the New York Giants played last night I would have been more surprised if the Giants had lost the game.

A lot of people are blaming the Patriots for not changing up what they did offensively sooner. Thinking that the last long drive they put together to take the lead was what they should have been doing when they came out from halftime. I think that they were able to put that final scoring drive together only because the Giants defense had been worn down, finally. If you watch the drive the defensive line wasn't in Brady's face as they had been from the opening gun. So he had time to get those passes off, something that he didn't have before that drive. The Giants defense dominated the Patriots offensive line, plain and simple. That was the game in a nutshell.

Eil Manning really, really earned a lot of respect last night. The old Eli would have went down under pressure during their winning drive. He was wrapped up by two defensive players but yet he muscled away from them, scrambled to an open spot and fired a pass down field that was caught by David Tyree, which was one of the most amazing catches I've ever seen -- especially in such a big game.

Giving props to the Giants like this pains me. I'm a Washington Redskins fan and thus hate them on principle, but how can I possibly not be amazed with the heart and tenacity that they displayed last night?

Congrats to the New York Football Giants and their fans. What an amazing victory.

Earlier today Pam informed me that the Nintendo DS we bought before the holidays was randomly shutting itself off; it did it three times recently. We took it back to exchange it at Circuit City as it was still covered by the thirty day warranty. Of course being a Nintendo product they're unable to keep up with demand and thus Circuit City didn't have any in stock, apparently they haven't had any in about two weeks. So we got a refund and of course no one else in the area had one for sale either. I really feel bad as Pam was enjoying playing it, she's probably played it three or four times as much as I have.

Then this evening before the Patriots - Giants game came on I felt like playing a little Project Gotham Racing 4 (rented it) and low-and-behold my Xbox 360 starting acting up again. I already had to send it in for service in September as it had issues saving games to the hard drive, it would just stop seeing it and then you'd obviously lose anything you did in the game before it lost the HD. I even had them replace the hard drive afterward as it started doing the same thing in November. Now here it is December and the piece of shit is doing it again.

Between Nintendo playing like they're a tiny little company by not having a clue how to produce more product (reports are they cost themselves over a billion dollars this holiday season by being inept) and Microsoft putting out a total piece of crap, in terms of stable hardware, I'm having a gaming geek meltdown today. What the hell is going on? I refuse to turn on the PC tonight as I'm sure it would explode, so no PC gaming, or any other I guess, for me.

2007 has been a horrible year for me in so many ways it makes sense that it should end the same way. The only good things this year have been my wife, the new Mustang -- even that had a bum stereo in it when I got it -- and my family. Those are good things I can focus on, and I really, really try to, but given the physical decline I've had with my back, and the new issues in that department (allergies going nuclear for one) it makes it very hard to be positive. Now I can't even just relax and enjoy some video games as the systems have all conspired to explode on me.

Yea, yea I know losing another 360 and an Nintendo DS Lite in the same day is really a small thing in the great scheme of things, but it's just one of those kick in the gut moments that I tend to have in life. Here's to hoping that 2008 starts off better and ends up being a positive year for me, and us.

So, is it bad that I already used the Best Buy gift card my parents sent me for Christmas? I mean I knew that they were sending one, as my Mother asked me which store I wanted one for, and knew that it was in the card that came today, as she asked me to let her know if her card didn't arrive this week.

I already knew what I was going to buy with it, which is why I chose Best Buy, and figured what the heck. I finally now own Guitar Hero 2 and 3 for the Xbox 360. I like the wired guitar better than the wireless one that comes with GH3, just feels more substantial to me and has no batteries to worry about, so figured I might as well buy the box set of GH2 (with the guitar in it) and just the game of GH3. Now I get to pretend that I can rock out with my *coughs* out. Of course that's about the most rocking out I'll be doing as I've twice tried to learn guitar and really just have no aptitude for it.

On another console gaming note ... how can you tell that the Sony PS3 is really a failed system so far? Well thanks for asking, you see the simple answer to that is Rock Band is sold out for every system other than the PS3 and Best Buy had over a dozen copies sitting there untouched, with apparently more in the back room. All three Gamestops I stopped at tonight had copies of that as well. Pretty telling if you ask me.

A final gaming note, I knew that I was right when I bought the Nintendo DS a while back. I had a niggling feeling that my wife would play it as much as I would, and tonight she proved me right by buying three used DS games for herself -- three games that she knew I'd have zero interest in as well! Her buying a game for herself, that wasn't pushed on her by me like WoW was, hasn't happened since I've known her. I was so proud tonight! My gaming gal has come along so far. It seems like it was only yesterday she told me she had no interest in trying Lord of the Rings Online again ... oh wait, that was yesterday, never mind.

Pam and I went to a Detroit Red Wings game tonight, they played the Washington Capitals, and had a really nice time. I was feeling kinda crappy beforehand, the usual back pain and allergies, and it wouldn't have taken much to talk me out of going, but thankfully I manned up and drove us into Detroit.

She was given a pair of tickets by a supplier to attend the game, it was a combination holiday party and renaming of their company party. They rented a suite, and let me tell you watching a game from one of those really adds a lot to the experience, which probably held about thirty people.

What a good night out for us. It's been quite a while since we broke out of our usual routine of going out to dinner, or hitting a comic shop, and did something different. And the fact that the Red Wings won 4 - 3 in overtime, on a shootout, made it that much more of a fun evening.

Go Wings.

We're getting pretty hit pretty hard with snow here, but nothing like the multiple feet that has been predicted for various Mid-West/Northeast areas. Of course today was the day I had steeled myselfto head out to our local Target and wait in line to try and get an Nintendo Wii -- more of a challenge than a 'must have' -- and despite being wide awake at 4/5 AM this morning (thanks to no sleep due to back spasms and the allergies) I couldn't begin to motivate myself to go out in the snow, which was already probably four inches or so. Imagine standing in line outside the store for a few hours in that! No thanks!

The funny thing is that I want a Wii to experience it and play it, but I know that in the long run the fun will wear off and I'll end up selling it -- hopefully for enough to just break even I don't want to be one of those Ebay resellers trying to exploit people. I think that the snow was a blessing, of sorts, it allowed me to realize that i just don't need the system and am fine with what I have -- PC, 360, and Nintendo DS (which I'm glad to say that Pam plays as much as I do).

That's enough geek material for quite a while.

On the geek material front I've finally made the choice, I'm going to be selling off the majority of game tabletop gaming collection and put the few things I want to keep in storage. So now it's time to decide is it better to go the Ebay route, or perhaps the sale/trade section on RPG.NET. There used to be a store somewhat locally that bought used games, Titan Games, but apparently he has sold off that part of his business to someone in Wisconsin so I won't be driving out to Battle Creek to sell my games in bulk.

Pam was given two tickets to tomorrow nights Detroit Red Wings game by a supplier, they're throwing a holiday bash in a suite. I've never attended a sporting event with tickets for one of the nice box suites so I'm looking forward to seeing how the 'richer' half lives at games. Food, probably HDTV televisions, etc. I'm just hoping that the snow isn't bad enough to make us reconsider.

Well it's four AM and yet again I can't fall asleep. I've taken a few Tylenol PMs, but I don't think I've yawned even once. Allergies combined with the medications to combat them, along my pain medication, have me wired. Being wired like this you'd think I'd be killing something in some online game, sadly that's not the case. I'm just flopped out on the bed petting Isis and listening to Podcasts.

Speaking of online gaming, I mentioned that I got into the open beta of Pirates of the Burning Sea today. I'm really not liking the game at all, which is a shame as it's something completely different than what's out there now. I understand that ship-to-ship combat has to be slower, as you're dealing with sails and wind, but the actual combat is so slow paced that I just don't think it translates well to online play. I don't expect hyper-action or anything, but I had hoped it would be more thrilling than it is.

I'm only one day into the game, and probably only played two or three hours, so I'm not ready to declare it dead to me or anything. I just had hoped that it would grab me from the get go, or at least show promise to me. I really shouldn't be surprised, as I first saw the game in action last year at GenCon and even then the combat was extremely slow, even with the developer that was demoing it far outclassed the NPC ships he was fighting.

Speaking of gaming, traditional pen-and-paper that is, I'm really at the point where I think I'm done with the hobby all-together. I just can't even bring myself to read the books, which is something that I've always done even if I wasn't playing actively. I'm debating gathering up everything I have and starting to sell it on Ebay or on RPG.NET. I'm not going to make a rash decision or anything, but I'm really starting to lean in that direction. It's kind of sad really as it has been a part of my life since I was seven or eight years old, having learned to play Basic D&D at Cub Scout camp. Of course the miniatures I have, Warmachine mostly, and the CCGs, World of Warcraft for example, are going to go as well.

I figure if I purge everything and save the money I get for it I might be able to use it for something that I enjoy now, be it a newer Intel based Macintosh or something like that. We'll see I guess. I'm so friggin' lazy these days, however, that I could see myself just boxing up the books and putting them into storage in the basement.

OK enough rambling I guess.

Finally got around to renting Guitar Hero for the 360, figured it'd be better to rent it rather than buy it just to make sure that I would enjoy it, and what happens? My 360s HD goes and dies on me. It's currently off in the mail to the repair center to be replaced, but that just goes to show that my luck is still alive and kicking. I'm still able to play, sans saving anything, and have to say I can see why people are loving the game. I'll probably end up getting it eventually. Though, I'm liking the wired controller from GH2 rather than the GH3 wireless one, feels more meaty so I'll probably pick up the GH2 bundle and just the GH3 game.

The other day Pam and I were in the mall, and stopped at a Bath store. I was looking at some things on a table when a guy came in with a couple of girls, he was wearing a hoodie pulled up and had mascara on. The worker standing on the other side of the table asked them if they needed any help, the one girl with him asked where something was in the store and she started to lead them over, the dork looks at her and says, Ya tampons in a dicky voice.

Big tough makeup wearing guy. I stepped in front of him and stared him in the eyes and said, "Oh aren't we tough now mouthing off to a ninety pound woman." His checks got bright red and he looked down at his feet and shuffled off. I hate morons like that, the ones that pick on people when they can't do anything to defend themselves. Obviously I wasn't in a good mood, but I just hate it when morons act like that. The sales clerk thanked me later. He's the type of dork that'll mouth off online in a video game knowing that people couldn't kick his ass like they would if he were face to face with them.

I think I've discovered a vortex of some sort. Sadly it just produces a never ending stream of snot out of my nose. Ugh. I think it's a combination of my allergies and actually getting sick, thanks to the wet/snowy weather of late. I keep begging my wife to put me out of my misery, but she won't shoot me. Damn, I thought that she loved me.

On the geek side of things I just got into the beta of a Pirate based game, and can't wait to give that a shot. It looks like a lot of fun, at least it'll be something different in the end. No more orcs or goblins, but actual ship to ship combat and sword play between navy men and pirates.

I just found out, after a round of 104 needles over nearly three hours yesterday that my main two allergies are to mold and dust -- both at very high levels, which is pretty much what I suspected. Though, I honestly couldn't care less about that, as I found out I'm equally as allergic to ... DOGS and almost as allergic to CATS.

I derive so much love and pleasure from Dogs that I can't even comprehend going through life without ever having one again, let alone really not being around them. I'd say I feel nearly the same about Cats as well. Aside from the maybe dozen people in my life that mean the world to me Dogs are put on a higher plane than most people I run across, not friends but acquaintances and strangers I mean. It's hard to explain, but I feel a connection with them.

On the way home today I passed our neighbors house and their two dogs were out in the yard sprinting along the fence barking at me as I drove slowly by. I started laughing, and grinning like a moron (as usual), and then immediately the realization that they are a primary cause of my bad allergic reactions hit me like a ton of bricks. I was almost in tears when I pulled into my driveway, just the usual Men can't cry thoughts stopped me from balling. Sigh.

Must go shoot people in Team Fortress 2 or Bane in Tabula Rasa. That'll help me hide.

I guess I haven't been paying much attention to World of Warcraft at all of late. I mentioned earlier that I was looking forward to patch 2.3, as it contains the decreased experience requirements for leveling characters between level twenty and sixty. Well since I'm currently patching up my game client at the moment it seems that it came out today.

I bought Tabula Rasa assuming that I wouldn't touch World of Warcraft for at least a month, as I was assuming that the patch wouldn't hit until December at some point, but if I had waited a day I might have held off on the new game.

Oh well, hell with it. I'll still play Tabula Rasa and hopefully enjoy the heck out of it, and when I need a break from that I'll hop into WoW some to level up my characters. I just found the timing funny.

With my interest in World of Warcraft waning, OK it's just about dead really until 2.3 comes out anyway, and Hellgate and Team Fortress 2 being the only games I currently play that left an opening for a MMORPG in my stable of geek time wasters. I picked up Tabula Rasa tonight and plan on giving it a shot tomorrow.

Since Pam is going to be in Texas for two weeks starting Saturday that means I'm going to have a lot of alone time to just play whatever I want. I figure that's a perfect excuse to immerse myself fully in a new MMORPG and given what is currently available Tabula Rasa appeared to be the best choice.

So here's to hoping that it is indeed more fun than the early beta I took part in was. I really didn't enjoy the play style of the game, but since it was such an early stage in the beta I'm ready to forget that first foray into the game and give it a clean slate - haha.

Oh and I made an appointment with the allergist on Monday, boy am I looking forward to being poked a million times in hopes that one or two of said needles gives me an allergic reaction. It would be a nice change of pace to finally know exactly what it is that I am allergic to, other than dust that is. I already know that dust tends to muck around with my sinuses.