Every once in a while you run across something that simply Must Be Blogged.

"Goldilocks Dies With Honor at the Hands of the Three Bears" -- one of the titles from this page of "Klingon Fairy Tales" :

http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/lists/22MikeRichardson-Bryan.html

Back from vacation and in a somewhat blogging mood. While Maine was great, we clearly did not eat enough lobsters.

I'm having one of those days when I wish I was Jamie Oliver, because then all my problems are pukka because they could be solved with a handful of chopped basil and some crispy-fried pancetta.

It is, actually, difficult to eat enough lobsters.

An enjoyable op ed letter to Senator Clinton on the "problem" of video games.

http://tinyurl.com/babao

"I'd like to draw your attention to another game whose nonstop violence and hostility has captured the attention of millions of kids — a game that instills aggressive thoughts in the minds of its players, some of whom have gone on to commit real-world acts of violence and sexual assault after playing.

I'm talking, of course, about high school football."

No, that's not what the article is about. But it's a nice point.

Madison Avenue is more invasive than the KGB:

http://tinyurl.com/cs8a8

"For the past few weeks, Massive Inc., a New York company that distributes ads in videogames, has been testing an ad with full motion and sound in a science-fiction game called Anarchy Online. Today, Massive will roll out the full-motion ad capability to advertisers generally."

One comment on the recent Illonois law concerning game ratings --

"The ESA noted that in 2004, the average game buyer was 37 years old and the average game player was 30. In addition, of all games sold in 2004, only 16% were rated Mature. "

The legislature should not, and cannot, take the place of parents. Laws that pretend otherwise are not merely bound to fail, but must necessarily be invasive, restrictive, and probably unconstitutional.

http://www.theesa.com/archives/2005/07/video_game_indu_1.php

I can't say where this came from, because I wasn't supposed to see the document, but it could have been pretty much any fantasy oty/game/book/cover blurb/PR release/etc. done for the last 30 years:

"For centuries the legions of darkness have gathered their forces..."

Those old legions of darkness keep popping up everywhere, don't they? And they all seem to have read the same business strategy guide:

1. Bide time
2. Marshal forces
3. Wait until moment ripe
4. Unleash hordes
5. Get butt kicked by pimply kid

What about quality circles? Continuous improvement? Customer intimacy? Nimble management? The legions of darkness need better consultants.

1. John Dvorak, a columnist for PC Mag, wrote an editorial bashing the CC. The forum threads that follow give an interesting views of the plusses/minuses of current copyright law, fair use, etc. Of course there are a few idiots and trolls posting, and 70 pages of stuff, but some of it is interesting.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1838244,00.asp

2. This is a must-try giggle-machine: The Evil Clown Generator

http://www.scottsmind.com/evil_clown.php

2. If any of you guys use RSS feeds, this site is full of info on the publishing industry. A lot of it is PR, but some is useful.

http://www.newsisfree.com

3. Download one guy's very funny and very short idea of how the original Star Wars movie should have ended.

http://www.howitshouldhaveended.com