It’s been a little over a week since I last posted and I figured, at the very least, I need to get something up that doesn’t spend such an obscene amount of time focusing on my Wii. For the purpose of this post, I figured I’d amble through a couple topics that have occupied mental real estate of late.

RIP James Kim

This has been all over the news of late, but for those that don’t know the tale, the body of James Kim (Senior Editor at CNET) was found this past week after a tireless search to locate the missing husband and father of two. Kim and his family - on a return trip from Portland to San Francisco - got lost on some back roads and ended up snowed in. The family of four were effectively stranded in the cold and snow for seven long days where they burned their tires to stay warm, subsisted on a spartan diet of crackers and jelly, and desperately struggled to survive.

After the seventh day, Kim set out into the wilderness to find salvation for his family. His wife and daughters were rescued on Day 8 and a massive manhunt was launched to locate Kim. Sadly, Kim’s body was found on the 11th day - approximately a half-mile from his car - along a river bed that Kim was following to find help. His efforts to provide for his family have been called ’super human’ and through my reading of the account, I couldn’t agree more.

I also couldn’t be more saddened. I keep picturing the horror of that situation and I find myself amazed that the wife and daughters survived. While it is sad that they lost their patriarch - their hero - it is truly amazing to see the sacrifice Kim offered up in a bid to save his loved ones.

This ties in with one of those little ‘perks’ that come with fatherhood. I find myself in touch with my own emotions on a much greater scale ever since I welcomed my children into this world. When I read stories like this, my eyes well in a way that might not have happened several years back. It’s just harder to keep that cap on those inner-most feelings. While it has become a cliche - it’s just too true - I would do anything, including laying down my own life, to save my family. Hoping that we are never in any semblance of Kim’s situation, I can’t help but hope that I am able to muster up that super human strength should their ever be cause.

James Kim is a great Dad and Husband and though I’ve never met the man… he will be missed.

Taco Hell

While not the greatest Taco Bell junkie, I have traveled to the Border for my fair share of Chalupas over the past decade or so.

Never again.

To be honest, I haven’t been there in quite awhile, anyway. We’re talking years. It all goes back half a decade or so.

Roughly 5 years ago, my work buddies and I headed out for a fajita fix one brisk Fall day. A couple of us needed to grab some cash at the ATM so we headed to the kiosk while the others went ahead to get a jump on the Nachos Bellgrande. As we were finishing our transactions, the posse returned with long faces. Apparently, they had arrived at the Bell and found a ‘Closed Per Order of the Board of Health‘ sign at the front door. It wasn’t the news that they wouldn’t be chomping on chimichangas that had them bummed. It was the intimate knowledge that they had been chomping on chimichangas the day before that had them eyeing their nether regions with grim anticipation.

Never again… I swore.

And for the most part, I’ve kept that promise… although I’m sure in the five years since, one or two soft tacos has slid past the goalie.

Well - now that we have a nationwide shut-down of Taco Bell - linked to Ecoli-laced onions, I will state for the record where I stand on all matters Taco Bell.

Never Again!!!

Strap On

All those warnings plasted over household devices and machinery never cease to amuse me. My personal fave is the label on my snow blower that shows your arm snapping off if you try to clear snow from the blower with your damned arm. If you do that, you deserve to lose the bloody thing. Coming in at number two is the label on my window screen that states “Warning - This screen is intended to keep insects from entering your home. It is not designed to prevent persons or objects from falling out.”

All this is prelude to a Wii bit of nonsense.

Nintendo has apparently been on the receiving end of complaints from people who say they lost control of the Wii controller and have tossed it through their television.

This after Nintendo has plasted warnings everywhere - from the game manuals to the packaging to the f’n television screen everytime you boot up a game - reminding you to slip the attached wrist band over your claw and tighten it before you begin gaming.

Of course, now come complaints that the wrist strings snap. We seriously need to get someone working on the velocity required to get one of these wrist bands to snap. For starters, if you are applying that much force to your motions, a broken wrist band or impaled TV may be the least of your worries. We’re talking a whole new generation of Tommy John applicants.

I have been playing with my Wii for 2 full weeks (actually, in the interest of full disclosure it’s closer to 20 years but let’s not go there). Not once has the controller come close to flying from my hand. Maybe this is the problem inherent in marketing to non-gamers. They don’t have sense enough to realize that they actually have to hold onto the device in order to make it work. I know it seems like this thing is magic - but it’s not mental telepathy, dammit!!!

On a slightly related note, a few complaints have come in from people claiming injury from the Wii - giving rise to the so-called Wii Elbow which apparently comes from moving their muscles in ways they may not have before. Giving in to these complaints might empower this legion of fatty nerds to file a class action against sidewalk manufacturers if they ever decide to ascend from their mother’s basements and actually take a stroll once in awhile. I imagine Achilles’ bursting everywhere.

Nintendo offered up a snarky response to these complaints, which I think is the perfect rebuttal:

Nintendo spokeswoman Perrin Kaplan said:

“Wii was not meant to be a Jenny Craig supplement. If people are finding themselves sore, they may need to exercise more.“

Take that, Fatty!!!