On Wednesday afternoon my new Dell Latitude X300 laptop arrived at work. After having lugged around my 10+ pound Inspiron for the last 3 years, i made a command decision to sacrifice performance for mobility in my next notebook. In practical terms that just means i can't run any computationally-exorbitant scientific programs on it, but it's great for day-to-day computing. I'm exploring wireless networking now ... it works great all over the house with my Linksys wireless B/G router, and i've found my office at work receives a couple of wireless networks. So now i'm posting on a Sunday morning, whoda thunk it.

As Soccernet puts it every week, Chelsea marches on. Another drubbing of a rival this Saturday, a 3-nil win over Portsmouth with Drogba netting two and Robben putting in yet another man-of-the-match performance, seting up both of Drogba's goals and scoring himself on an impressive turn around the Pompey keeper, slotting home from a tight angle. Our Premiership lead stands at 10 points, and as Arsenal and Manchester United try to mount a comeback they find themselves staring up at a Blues squad that shows no signs of cracking. Fergie and Wenger can play all the useless mind games they like , they're quite amusing really. With the weekend's footie action over, i can today turn to the AFC and NFC championship games. I like the Eagles and the Pats to fight it out in the Super Bowl, but i wouldn't be shocked if it was the Falcons and Steelers. I've been thoroughly impressed with how Bill Belichick continues to succeed with the Pats despite playing with a jury-rigged secondary, and would like to see New England win their third championship in four years, officially establishing them as a "dynasty".

We attended my department's holiday party (in mid-January???) last night, and had a nice dinner and some good drinks (V especially enjoyed the pomegranite and blood orange cosmos) with Becky, Louie, and co.

On Friday afternon i put Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater to rest. A very good game, although a bit long on the cutscenes and communicator conversations and short on the gameplay. I liked the story a lot, especially when you realize you're not playing as Solid Snake (the hero of the latter Metal Gear games) but as his enemy in the first NES Metal Gear, Big Boss. It provides a nice back story to the Metal Gear epic. I still have to give the nod to Splinter Cell as the premier stealth gaming experience, but MGS3 did a lot of things that SC would be wise to take heed. Up next on my video gaming plate: resuming my Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas adventure, conquering the gangland of San Fierro (San Francisco) and moving on to the climax of Las Venturas (Las Vegas).