November 3

Interesting times here in the US. It’s election season, and the Republicans made a bunch of gains in the House and the Senate. I was hoping US voters would realize the Republicans spent 8 years flushing the economy down the toilet and give Obama and the Dems a little more time to fix it, but I guess I overestimated the maturity of the American voter.

It all comes down to that famous quote: It’s the economy, stupid! If the economy is good, the party in power stays in power, even if they have nothing to do with the economic situation at the time. If the economy’s bad, voters clean house without really thinking about how or why things got so bad. So the Republicans broke the country, the Dems spent 18 months trying to fix it (while the Republicans filibustered to stop any progress), and now the Republicans get rewarded.

It’s a pretty goofy system, but I can’t come up with a better one. No matter where you live, democracy is an ugly business that preys on the ignorance of the masses. Sigh.

But enough about that – let’s focus on stuff that’s actually important. First, I want to talk about a very worthy charity called Child’s Play. I first heard about them through the Penny Arcade website and I thought – hey, that’s pretty cool. Now, the coolness that is Child’s Play is merging with the coolness that is Mass Effect!

The fine folks over at g33kWatch are embarking on an amazing undertaking:

The Mass Effect Child’s Play Marathon!

Click here for the Press Release

Starting on November 26, these avid gamers are going to start playing Mass Effect. They’re not going to stop. They’re going to keep playing for 3 straight days. They’re going to webcast the event. They’re offering prizes to donors. And they’re doing it all to raise money for sick kids. Seriously – they’re helping out children’s hospitals. Even Republicans can get behind this, right?

The goal is to raise $10,000. So far they’re over $1600 and the event doesn’t even start for another three weeks. So if you’re a fan of Mass Effect, or a fan of video games, or just a fan of sick kids… uh, I mean HELPING sick kids… then DONATE to a very worthy cause.

As for what else is going on, well – I’m about to risk life and limb by entering the San Antonio Rock ‘n Roll Marathon. Actually, I’m only going in the half-marathon. But in my defense, it’s going to feel like a full marathon because my training has been lackluster. At the Vegas half last year I ran a time of 2:09:12. This time I’ll be lucky if I break 2:30. But I’m doing it… may God have mercy on my soul.

Okay, that’s all for this update. No book or game updates, but deal with it. I’ll post something new after (and if I survive) the run in San Antonio.

Drew