Carlin wii Cricket

I've been doing some recreational reading lately on the advice of several people that said that as a student one of the best things that I can do is keep my mind in books that are not exclusively for class. Normally this causes a problem because I tend to read stuff for leisure that some would read for class (no, not the Greek New Testament).

So a few weeks ago I happened to be at Goodwill and browsing the book section when I came across this work by George Carlin. Yes, he's a bit crude and certainly sacreligious at best, but in the midst of that is some funny stuff that makes you think about the world differently.

I finished this most recent effort by Carlin the other night and I have to say while I found a lot of humorous bits I was rather annoyed that I never found the answer to when Jesus will bring the pork chops. I guess maybe that's what seminary is for.

Then last night, I'm hanging out with a friend who recently purchased a Nintendo Wii. Now, allow me to say that I'm not really up on all of the technology that is available in the world of video games, so I couldn't tell you what makes one system better than the next, but after a couple hours of hanging-out playing Wii I was hooked. (Glad I can't afford one, cuz it would be the death of my academic days).

I'm probably preaching to the choir, but for those that don't know or haven't heard about the Wii allow me to highlight just a few of its wonderful attributes. First, you get to create your own "Mii" which is a digital likeness of yourself. Though the characteristics are limited, you really can end up with an uncanny likeness of yourself. I think my wife was more impressed with hers than I was with mine (and she really doesn't like video game systems).

Once you've created a Mii, then you can play games. We started off with a nice game of tennis. The cool thing about the Wii is that you are actually doing the motions of the players ... so in the case of tennis I was really swinging a tennis racket motion. Pretty Cool! I guess part of the goal is to try to reverse the couch-potato trend that has come to America with the obsession over video games, so at least Nintendo can say it's doing its part to help keep America thin.

We moved from Tennis into some bizarre game called Wario Ware ... apparently it comes highly recommended. The crazy thing about Wario Ware is that you basically play a whole bunch of short games in quick succession. So, you might for example ...

... pop in grandma's dentures. Or there are games where you balance a broom on your hand, drive a car, swat a fly, save a falling person, etc. The thing is that usually before you have figured out exactly what to do, the time clock is nearly up. Still, hours of fun to be had by all, and not just the person playing ... it is hilarious for viewers as well. You can watch the happenings on the screen (our favorites were the disco cats) or you can watch the person playing make some pretty goofy looking poses. Yes, I suggest a Nintendo Wii for every house, just make sure you have enough room to really enjoy it!


After returning home at midnight from playing Wii I heard the most unusual sound outside the bedroom window. (To preface the story, our apartment overlooks an alley, well, really it's a greenway path, but who's counting.) There was this fairly regular sound of a ball hitting something solid, maybe a bat or a racket. I looked out the window and found three guys playing cricket in the alley! Now, I'm not opposed to the game of cricket, but it doesn't really strike me as the kind of game to be played at midnight in an alley, knowing full well that the people in the apartments overlooking the "playing field" might be wanting to sleep. Add to this rather odd scene, the conversation that was going on sounded to be in Hindi or another Middle-Eastern language. Ah, Berkeley, you just never know what experience you will have around the corner (or in your own backyard).