The Nintendo Wii was launched at 12am last night. It wasn't as crazy as Playstation 3. People still lined up for hours, but I don't think people camped out for days like they did for ps3. Ty amd I decided that we wanted a Wii for purposes of making money. It would have been really great to do that with the ps3 since it is going for an average of $3,000 on ebay. Wii won't go for that bc there are still shipments, ps3 shipments are over. Anyway, we originally planned to go to a Wal-Mart in Knightdale a little before 12, but decided to check out the one in Brier Creek first. We got there sometime after 12 and didn't see anyone around electronics, how great. We asked a sales associate about the Wii and he said they sold out in 20 mins. So we called a bunch and if they were 24hrs, they were sold out. The ones in Raleigh that hadn't opened, apparently had people lining up since the afternoon. We went to the Knightdale Wal-Mart to check the scene. As of 2ish, there were 12 people in line, that Wal-Mart opened at 7am. The people in line ahead of us reminded me of carnies, so i jokingly said they were spawn of carnies (not in front of them). One of them mentioned shields and swords in his trunk for reasons I didn't hear.. It was really cold and we didn't really have a plan so we left before we could be stabbed by carnie gamer nerd. We went to check out Best Buy bc it was close to me and there were already 20-30 ppl lined up at around 2:30-2:45. That was immediately vetoed. We rode by Toys R Us and there was no one there and they opened at 10am. We decided that we would come back in a few hrs.

We go back to my apt to take a nap. I get up at about 5:30 and get my blankets, two small cushions, laptop, x-men 3 dvd, and psp. So we arrive at Toys R Us around 6:15 and there are already  people lined up...success. We set up our area and begin to wait until 10am. We learn from the Toys R Us guy that there are only 15 units. That meant that we were definitely getting one. Towards the end, appeared clarinet gamer nerd/ line cop. He interrogated us in the front of the line about how long we had been there. Accusing a guy in front of us who had been sitting in his chair the entire time that he hadn't seen him before. He also asked me how long I had been there because he saw me coming from the car (i had to use the restroom so went back to my apt which is 5 mins away). The girl who was with him said she saw me go out there. It was amazing bc people were arriving at 9 and after that. Some people would drive by and ask how many units, we would tell them and see the disappointed look. There was also this old lady that we deemed ninja granny, she was doing some loitering occasionally towards the front of the line. Fortunately, she decided not to cause an incident. 9:50 rolled around and toys r us guy game out and handed me this magical ticket. I got the Wii which will be so worth the sleep deprivation and extreme cold (-20 walk-in freezer helped me deal with that).

Here's to you Nintendo Wii, thanks for the new stuff. I tip my hat off to you Toys R Us Crossroads for making this all possible.

I went to the fair again tonight. I went for the purpose of seeing the racing pigs. It was great. There are 5 races, pigs, rookie pigs, potpellied pigs, goats (pygmy i think), and ducks. Each pig has a pun racing name i.e. Piggy Gordon. It was really cute watching them run around the track to reach the cheeze doodles at the end. In the first race one of the pigs forgot to take his ritalin and got distracted. He was eating the hay on the track and had to be chased to the finish line. I did enjoy all the different pigs, I have a video on my cell phone of the rookie pig race. The ducks were great. If the applause and cheers were loud, the ducks would start to try and fly. It was like using nitrous in a car. The flapping would cause a sudden burst of speed. The ducks were not interested in the cheeze doodles. I was quite pleased to see t-shirts available which of course I purchased. They had only one adult size left and it's too big. It's still a racing pigs t-shirt so I bought it anyway.

We went in a candy hut that had candy i had seen before except for sport beans. Jelly Belly makes a energizing jelly beans. The package says  "Eat one pack 30 minutes before activity. Use additional beans as needed during activity." I bought 2 packages bc I think that is great. I plan to eat them tomorrow morning and see how much energy it gives me for the day. 

I have new additions to my saltwater aquarium: more snails and a chocolate chip starfish. Anyway, some of the snails haven't made their way over to the side of the tank where i need them to be eating algae. Earlier today when it was time to feed everybody, I saw that the hermit crab and one of the snails were attached. I figured the snail had instigated it and the hermit crab was trying to get the snail off him. It seems that was not the case. I went to turn off the light and low and behold mr. hermit crab had himself a new house. There appear to be snail parts around the shell but i'm not quite sure what's going on. Apparently, the hermit crab murdered a snail and stole its house. I guess I should have paid attention to the signs-he was quiet and kept to himself.

Aquarium homicide is still surprising, Shiva the shrimp killed Louie, the purple sea slug. Coral banded shrimp are supposed to be relatively docile. Good thing my horseshoe crab is a clumsy drunk rather than an angry one, I don't think I could take another aquarium homicide.

Today I went to the Exotic Animal and Reptile Show, looking for a replacement for my deceased chameleon Freddie. More vendors had chameleons than the last show in may i think. I decided to get a panther chameleon b/c they change the most colors. This link shows the color potential. Mine is young, so it might be a year or less until he can show those colors.

Any suggestions for names? Karma (Kristen's suggestion) has been vetoed.

I need some more mexican turbo snails to help with the algae problem. I have decided that I will name them after the original members of menudo, ricky(not martin),oscar, carlos, fernando, and nefty. Upon the insistence of emily, nacho libre will also be a name; however, in order to qualify, nacho libre will be considered the forgotten member of the original line-up. I still am not quite sure though, if the original line-up is the way to go. Menudo had a completely different line-up in the 80s when they got popular. Ricky Martin was in that one. There was a policy that when a member turned 16 or his voice changed, he was rotated out. It's kinda like Michael Jackson's kid companions...oh yeah i went there.

Anyway, if anyone has a good case for the 1980s menudo line-up as the name of my snails, please share.

My brother sent me and some of his friends the following email. I'm sure he wouldn't mind me posting it.

it's just another day in the office. responding to shots fired near the
Israeli embassy...me, a tv guy and a photographer speed thru Nairobi's
congested, angry streets to the scene. driving by we spot kenyan army
with
AK-47s waving lapsidasiacally at their sides and an Israeli security
agent
with close cropped hair who politely told us to fuck off. asking street
vendors if they heard any shots, we find out it was only a robbery at a
nearby construction site. not much for international news...so we're
off
again to dangerous and deadly downtown Nairobi where we hear street
hawkers
are rioting over being forcefully evicted from the streets.

we see smoke billowing into the air and finally arrive on the scene. an
empty road separates tyres and rubbish burning and kenya police. we
arrive
in the middle and immediately stones hit near us. so we gingerly amble
to
where the cops are to get an idea of what is happening.

ten minutes later, cops in riot gear and some with machine guns load up
into
an open-back truck and careen down the empty streets to where the
rioters
had set up burning roadbocks. we run down to see the action, but the
rioters
had dispersed so we make our way back to where the officers are for the
major push on hundreds of rioters on another street below.

Pop pop pop. Police officers on horseback along with police on foot
fire
cannisters of teargas from shotguns onto hawkers in the street.
charging
down the hill behind the cops, my eyes and nose start burning. the wind
carries the tear gas back twds us, but we push on. Down the hill, the
rioters have gone down different alleys to escape the noxious fumes.
The
police regroup at the bottom of the hill and decide to move left down
this
wide muddy street on the banks of Nairobi River.

With the cops are city guards who carry long wooden splintery sticks.
they're the worst. i follow the police moving thru the street. local
city
buses are parked on the banks and cops and guards beat anyone they find
in
them. one man was trapped in a bus as cops clobbered him thru windows
on
both sides. pop pop pop, the police fire tear gas into the informal
settlement accross the narrow river (it's more like a stream). as the
police
move you see them finding anyone who's young and male and pounding
them. I
see one guy slip and fall in the mud trying to avoid a club to the
head.

on the banks are small shops and cops kick over pots and pans and
arrest the
owners. there are two large trucks following for prisoners. as the
suspects
are thrown into the trucks, police beat them to the ground -- many of
the
soon-to-be jail birds are openly weeping -- one still has on an
apron...definitely not a rioter.

but anyone there is a rioter, the police seem to think....more tear
gas...more beatings...but no deaths thank god. the police for once
decided
not to shoot.

we left as they turned around to make another pass. too disorganised
the
camerman said, stragglers will end up dead.

go back to office and write 300 words that i'm sure no one will read.
it
happens all the time.

jack

I was in Wal-mart the other night bc I needed a rca cable and everything else was closed. Wal-mart has a video game section and of course I was browsing before I got what I came to get. I saw a Da vinci code video game for ps2 and x-box. It's taken me until now to fully process it. Who's idea was it to make it a video game? If they are gonna do the best selling book made into a movie and video game route. How about a Tuesdays with Morrie video game? I would like to see a game where the object was to fill your life lesson and inspiration meter before Morrie dies. You only have a series of Tuesdays in which to do that and the other days of the week Morrie's life meter decreases. Perhaps, a way to increase your the life lesson and inspiration meter is to be presented with a boring story and you have to do a series of hidden tasks to keep yourself awake. Maybe another mission would be to fight a dog for Morrie's stolen social security check. This however does not increase the life lesson and inspiration meter, it increases Morrie's life meter. I think it would be a great complimentary game for the nintendo wii. The Da vinci code game should go the way of any game for the neo geo.