OK - I'm addicted. Got $3 and a bunch of time to kill - you can be too!

Ever since I started playing games on the computer I seem to be attracted to the same two or three general genres of games. My favorite by far are adventure games. These are usually quests to get puzzles and riddles solved along a similar storyline. Myst was the first in this category to addict me (...ok, maybe Zork, but that doesn't really count as a modern day game as it was text based and from the 80's). Myst has a couple of sequels that were also pretty good, including Riven and finally Uru my favorite of the series.  Rich, deep and filled with incredible graphics - sometimes I had to force myself to get up to go pee.

The other category I seem to like are what I call mindless brain candy. These are the flashy, graphic puzzles, with cool sound effects. Games like Alchemy or Bejeweled. They only take 30 seconds to learn, and you can start and stop them anytime you have 5 minutes to kill. They do not require the kind of investment in intellectual capital as the first category. Just click away and get your daily dose of achievement.

The last category is relitively new to me. Oficially titled 'hidden object' games, they appear to be a throwback to that old Highlights magazine you used to love from your doctors office growing up. Esentially you are presented with a large graphically intense picture and have to find objects within it. Can you find the spyder, Coke bottle and gold fish in this photo? Sort of a take on where's Waldo. A good example is Letters from Nowhere.

So imagine my suprise when I found Phantasmat. It is sort of a hybrid of all three, mashed together. An adventure game about a poor sole that crashes their car into the woods and stumbles across a creepy old hotel to try and get help. You use a combination of puzzle solving, and inginuity to work through the mistery, which also has a good sprinkling of hidden object and brain candy games throughout.

Needless to say I'm seriously addicted. Available for both PC and Mac and the best (or possibly worst part) is that you get to play for free for the first hour - enough to hook you before they drag $3 out of you  

... Dont say I didn't warn you!

Why social games are so damn addictive (and why I'm not playing anymore!)

You have all seen them on Facebook and in your email. Invitations to join someone to beat down the thugs in Mafia Wars or to help then harvest their strawberries. I played Farmville for a short period and quickly realized that you can get your farm going faster if you enlist your friends to join. You fertilize my cotton, I'll feed your pigs.  Its the Huckleberry Finn approach to game playing.

The only problem is I began to feel guilty. One of my friends would fertilize my little patch of soil, and I would feel obligated to return the favor. If I didn't, I actually found myself thinking "oh my god, I forgot to log in and feed their chickens!" Its not like someone asked you to feed their dog when they were away and traveling. If you forget, there are real consequences there - but these damn games feed on those same guilts and feelings of social obligation.

Well, let it now be know. ....I will not harvest your grain, sprinkle manure on your pumpkins or feed your goats. (nor do I expect you to assist me in the same).  I will sleep better at night....

If you need me, I'll be over here playing Tetris.

Yes, I am a drink snob and like old people bars.

Colleen and I went out for happy hour last night and we were discussing where we should go. It was a Friday night, our daughter was working, so we had no obligations to make dinner or be anyplace in particular. The world was our oyster and we had our choice of many places around to go.

On our recent trip to Nashville, we went to several bars, and honky-tonks, listened to some great music and enjoyed a few adult beverages. Each of these establishments had one thing in common, however, beer in a plastic cup. When I went to order Colleen a martini, it came in various forms, neat glass, rocks glass, even a wine glass, but never a martini glass.

Last week we went to go see Cirque de soleil and stopped first at a little pizza joint on the block adjacent to the event center. It had a college town vibe to it and the food looked good on peoples tables when we walked in. We had a very good Cesar salad and white pizza, but the red wine was served in a rocks glass. Although the food was good and the service was good, the experience was somehow lessened by having to drink wine from a rocks glass.

Maybe its my restaurant upbringing, maybe it is the fact that I'm older. Do 20 somethings even care that their beer is in a plastic cup? Football games, ok - I get that. Did I care when I was 20 something?

We ended up at  great place near our house called the Perfect Landing. It is a little restaurant and bar at Centennial Airport overlooking the tarmac. Why, because they serve a great martini - in the correct stemware. The mean age of the clientele is probably in their 50's. There is not loud thumping music, but rather soft jazz and and active piano bar.

It's official. I have turned into my father.

The top ten worst boyfriends

I usually don't repost youtube video's but this one made me chuckle. It ranges from the pretty funny (baby powder) to the down right cruel (eyebrow).  Warning NSFW (Language).

Old Man Winter - you've worn out your welcome

I like to think of myself as a relatively hardy Colorado boy. I was born here, raised here and choose to continue to live here for a reason. I like having all four seasons.

The older I get, however, the more I feel that the snow that creates picturesque Colorado is really just a pain in the butt.  I don't ski anymore - my knees don't take it. The days of making snowmen, snow angels and getting into snowball fights are long gone. I actually used to like to go out and snow blow the driveway after a big storm. Today I would much rather be sipping a Corona on the beach. Maybe that's why all the snow birds go south to Florida.

Actually, its not the snow that is the big culprit - come to think of it, I really don't mind getting a few inches now and then. It's the cold I can definitely do without. My tolerance for being outside in zero degree weather is now non-existent. This last week has just proven that. 30 degrees - ok, 15 - I can deal with it but minus 7 for 3 days in a row?  If I wanted to live in Fargo, I'd be there.

Punxsutawney Phil and Life Savers

Another one of my fascinations is the origin of phrases - or things.  For example, do you know that life savers were originally a medicine produced to give to diabetics who were having a hypoglycemic event? The 'pill' was produced with a hole in the center so that if you accidentally aspirated it, you could maintain a patent airway... Being only sugar, it became popular and eventually was mass produced as a candy.

I'm not sure why that random fact from my past popped into my brain today.  Today is Groundhog day. This is another mystery to me. if he sees his shadow, we will have six more weeks of winter.  If he doesn't have see his shadow, spring will come in six weeks! - does this make sense? Seems like a literal incarnation of the idiom 'six on one, half dozen in the other" Did the Groundhog day tradition spawn this phrase?

I don't know why these things fascinate me or why my mind wonders to strange pieces of knowledge that have little to do with one another, but it does.  - That is all.

The older I get, the more I cry.

Why is that?!?  Oh my god, I've turned into John Boehner.  I never used to be that that way.  My parents weren't that way but my father in law was a crier, so I'm not sure I can blame genetics. Maybe its a environmental thing.

Last night there was nothing on the tube (I could care less about the Pro Bowl) so we ended up watching this Hallmark made for TV movie called The Lost Valentine with Betty White and Jennifer Love Hewitt. It was the prototypical story about a lost love, sent to war and never to return. His widow keeps a vigil for him for 60 years.

By the end of the movie I was balling like an idiot. I first noticed this phenomenon about 5 years ago.  - That's it! ... maybe its a 40 thing, like loosing your eyesight. (That's a whole other story - as I sit here and write this with a size 24 font so I can see the damn thing, but I digress.)

Even the commercials are getting me - some sappy thing about a guy who saved all the birthday cards his kids ever gave him and I well up. Don't even get me started on the Sarah McLachlan animal cruelty one - I have to change the channel.

I'm only 45 now, but at this rate by the time I'm 60, I'll be that blubbering old guy in the corner of the theatre that you don't want to sit by.  Danielle - Taylor, when you two get married - I'll pay for it, but bring lots of Kleenex.

These are a few of my favorite things...

I think one of the purposes of my creating this blog, is going to be to share some of my favorite things.

On a technology front - it will be fun to read back 10 years from now about what we thought was cool and what was state of the art at the time. If you know me, then you also know the other thing I'm pretty passionate about is food.  I probably gained this appreciation from my father, who was a chef. I grew up in a household where we were exposed to all types of cuisine that my father was constantly trying out. Some good, some not so great, but things, that I assume eventually made their way to one of his menus. For this - I truly thank him.

Although I like to dabble in the kitchen and seem to have a pretty good feel for creating things, one of my favorite pass times is to go out and eat.  I would much rather spend my time enjoying what others create. There is nothing in the world better than sitting down at a nice restaurant and taking your time. My wife and I have been known to get someplace at 6:30 and not leave until 9 or 10. - Granted, that is usually a couple of bottles of great Zinfandel later.  Does that make me a foodie or just one of those people waiters hate because they can't turn their table?

Along those lines - I offer up one of my favorite deserts.

Chocolate Pots de Chantilly Creme

5 Large egg yolks
5 Tablespoons sugar
¼ Teaspoon sea salt
1 ½ Cups heavy cream
¾ Cup half and half
16 oz.Bittersweet or dark chocolate chips
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1 Shot brewed espresso coffee

1.  Whisk yolks, sugar, and salt until combined.  Add cream and half and half.

2.  Transfer to a sauce pan and heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and the temperature reaches 180ºF.

3.  Place chocolate in a medium bowl.  Pour the egg/sugar mixture over the chocolate and let stand for 5 minutes to melt the chocolate.  Whisk until smooth and then add vanilla and espresso.  Pour into eight ramekins.

4.  Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate over night.

5.  Prior to serving - dress each with a healthy dollop of Chantilly Cream and chocolate shavings.

To Make Chantilly Cream:

½ cup heavy cream
2 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1.  Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and beat until barely stiff.

Cheating? - or utilizing your resources.... you decide!

I just found a sweet feature in Google Goggles.  If you are not familiar, Google Goggles is a aspect of their mobile search engine that uses your phone's camera. Take a picture of an item like the Eiffel Tower or the Mona Lisa and the search result comes back with a whole bunch of info about that item. This is a pretty useful tool when traveling, and you want to know who that statue is of, or what that cool building is.

I discovered today that if you take a picture of a Soduku puzzle - whala!, it solves it for you right before your eyes.

Now I know most of you are going to think - well, that's cheating. - I beg to differ. In today's word, it is not as much about knowing the answer, as it is about knowing where to find the answer. I think understanding how to access the information and being able to cull urban legends and myths from the real deal is more important.  I can't wait to see what my kids, kids are going to have for resources at their disposal.

Sure, the three R's are important, but critical thinking skills are what sets my rock star employees apart from the mediocre ones every day of the week. I can train them how to do the specific job - but you have to hire for critical thinking. Besides, when was the last time you had to write a cursive sentence? Aren't you glad you spent a bunch of time on it in elementary school?

 - not to mention the goggles technology is very cool!

Google mobile apps.

A Parental Epiphany & Why my child Taylor will be ok in life.

The other evening I was riding in the car with my 16 year old behind the wheel. Being a typical parent, and knowing that she has only had her license for less than a year, I tend to be a bit of a back seat driver. We were headed to a restaurant and as we pulled down Orchard towards Parker road, she maneuvered over into the right lane. 

Knowing we had to go left on Parker, and thinking she was potentially heading in the wrong direction I immediately chimed in - "Hey, you know you need to turn left up here..."  I knew where we needed to go, and was going to impart that wisdom on my daughter.

"I know dad...." she responds, "This right lane turns left on Parker also, and then you are already in the correct lane to go right onto Arapahoe road! - that way I don't have to switch lanes in heavy traffic, through the construction site."

I was 2 chess moves ahead - she was 5. 

I guess it was at that moment that I realized that she knew what she was doing. In fact, she was thinking ahead of me. I should just shut up and allow her to get me there safely. They don't teach you this stuff in parent school. In another two years, we will be empty-nesters. I think I liked it better when she needed me a little bit more. If she applies that kind of logic to the rest of her thought processes - yes, Taylor will do just fine in life.  Me on the other hand?  - I think the jury is still out....