I was driving eastbound on Hwy 26 yesterday afternoon about 4pm on the way to get Megan from school when I (briefly) saw one of these heading westbound.

I’ve been asked in one or two of those email surveys over the years what your “lottery car” would be. You know, the car you’d buy if money/practicality were no object. Ever since I saw the episode of Top Gear featuring the Atom, that’s been my choice despite the fact it’s actually relatively affordable (under 90K top end last I checked). And this is the first time I’ve ever seen one in person, no matter how distant.

I just wish I’d been alert enough to get a picture of it.

Okay, I blame Mike for this meme. I guess there’s a thread on BGG (I really don’t venture into those forums very often) talking about the current top 10 games on the geek and your ownership/playing information. So, here’s what I’ve got according to my data:

* = I no longer own this. I traded it away a couple years ago and have been meaning to replace it. Just haven’t done so.

So, I have (at some point) owned all the games in the top 10, and played all but two of them. However, it’s been a long time since I’ve played most of them. Given the cult of the new that tends to permeate most gaming groups, it’s not really surprising that I haven’t (for example) played El Grande since before Megan was born.

First off, let me just say I’m not a big computer/console gamer. I prefer board games or miniatures. I had an original Xbox and sold it a couple years ago. I think there’s still a PS1 and a Dreamcast in storage. Jodie’s even less of a video gamer.

However, Jodie’s been wanting a Wii for months. She even got a Best Buy giftcard for Christmas for the express purpose of applying it towards a Wii (as Wiis were impossible to find the last three or four months of 2007). Actually buying one, however, has been an exercise in frustration. The standard response in various stores around the area has been “check the sunday paper ad, and if they’re in there, we’ll have some. First come first serve.” After a couple failed attempts, we decided to just not try for a while and let production work up to demand. We didn’t want to spend double and buy a bundle with games we probably wouldn’t want, so that was hampering things a bit. We just wanted to buy the base unit and add on as we wanted.

Since then, the Wii Fitness pack was announced. This perked up our ears and interest was renewed. So, what happens this weekend? Target lists Wiis in their ad. We hadn’t seen that before. They opened at 8am, and I called them at 8:40. They said they had 6 left and had already sold 14. By 8:50 I’m at the store. I literally got the last one in the store.

First reaction after opening the box: “Man, this thing is small.”

Now, Wii’s hooked up and working, so we need more stuff.

So, we were off to Best Buy to spend that gift card. When we get there, we see they have Wiis in stock (Turns out they got 72. I doubt there’s any left by this point.) After some deliberation we came home with the Wii Play/controller pack, Mario Kart w/ a Wheel, Disney Princess Enchanted Journey (for Megan) and Rayman’s Raving Rabbids 2.

We probably spent a total of five hours playing on Sunday, and it was an absolute blast. I haven’t had this much actual fun playing video games in a long time. When Jodie was playing Rayman’s Rabbids, she actually had to have me take over as she was laughing too hard.

We’ve still got hardware pieces we want to add in the short term (another wheel, another numchuck, component video cables, etc.) but this looks like a sweet spot for us. Megan loved the baseball game (though I don’t think she’s ready for the Princess game yet), and Jack was getting a kick out of watching us play. (He’s lately started saying “funny” after laughing at something and he got plenty of chances to do that yesterday.)

I still need to program the Harmony remote to handle the new device (not that it can control it directly, but it can set everything else up properly) but this is looking to be a piece of technology that actually lives up to its promise. Something that’s all too rare in this day and age.

Maybe German High Command will know.

Hilarious.

(Mar 26 update: I’m in better shape than Der Fuhrer. My card was charged this morning for TDC, so in theory I’ll be seeing it in about a week. Also, Agricola was charged by Z-man, and C3i #20 from should be charging soon, if it hasn’t already. Fun fun!)

I haven’t posted about music I’ve been listening to in a long time. (ever?)

Anyway, here’s some stuff I’ve recently discovered that I’m listening to a lot:

Emma Pollock - nice Scottish voice. She’s the former singer to The Delgados. Tracks I like most are Adrenaline, and If Silence Means That Much To You.

Malcom Middleton - reminds me of what Luka Bloom would sound like with an electric guitar instead of acoustic. Favorite track is A Brighter Beat.

Blood Red Shoes - Garbage overdosed on energy drinks. Their song It’s Getting Boring By The Sea is my favorite track of the last year.

Volta Do Mar - Chicago “math rock” band. I’ve yet to figure out which track off 03>98 is my favorite.

Porcupine Tree - Their recent Deadwing album is a very satisfying listen.