Why is it that hot dogs from a cart are one of life's sublime pleasures, while the mere thought of food served off the back of a truck disgusts me? Too many wheels?

Finished Gun last night. I was about to get seriously peeved that my character abandoned his arch-nemesis alive (albeit pinned under a boulder), instead of exacting some more bloody vengeance. However the bastard eventually did get his come-uppance so i was satisfied. The last mission was a bitch. It takes something away from a game's realism when your strategy to beat an opponent is "shoot them in the head to make them throw the dynamite, then shoot the dynamite". Shouldn't shooting them in the head achieve the desired outcome all by itself? I finally noticed that the main character in Gun, Colton White, sounded suspiciously like titular hero in the recent Punisher game ... a theory validated by Gun's end credits.

I miss the little scrapper. Green eyes and all.

What game to play now? I'm on the last story mission in Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, and i'm not one to hunt down every last challenge to get a 100% rating, so that will soon be laid to rest as well. Winning Eleven 9 comes out on February 7th, boasting online play via Xbox Live, so that will surely keep me busy. No interest in the Xbox 360 yet, other than from a purely "i must have the latest and greatest console" perspective. There's no really eye-catching games for it yet, so i'm happy to wait and reap the benefits of any forthcoming price drops. I'm at a point in Guitar Hero where any further progress is going to take some serious practice, and the thought of effort is turning me off a bit. Although playing "Ace of Spades" on hard is a very satisfying challenge. As usual, nothing on the GameCube or Nintendo DS to interest me. V has claimed the DS as her own now that it's got its own incarnations of Animal Crossing (oh no, not again) and Mario Kart. She also got the Tamagotchi descendant Nintendogs, but hasn't tried that out yet. Nintendo's recent moves have suggested they're giving up on trying to out-tech Microsoft and Sony, and are instead focusing on innovation. Or, more commonly put, gimmicks. The controller for their next-gen console, code-named Revolution, is a remote control-looking thing that is motion sensitive, meaning you can play a baseball game using it like a bat, or play a platforming game making your character jump by flicking the controller. Might be interesting. But then Nintendo appears to be ditching third party support completely, meaning their entire game library will consist of Mario, Zelda, Samus, et al. And despite some bright spots (both GameCube Metroid games were great, and the Mario Karts are always fun), i'm really not interested.

I put the "SMFA champ" license plate holders on my reclaimed Jetta earlier this week, so i guess now it's official.

V is hanging around in the city after work tonight to hang with Jenz for dinner and Popscene, so it'll just be Tara and i at the homestead. Maybe i'll watch my Christmas present DVD Dig!, a documentary on the rise and fall of the Dandy Warhols and the Brian Jonestown Massacre, respectively. I've also got Jack Nicholson's 70's detective classic Chinatown on the tivo, i'm eager to check that out too. I spent most of yesterday evening writing new perl scripts for Veronica so i'm due some me time tonight.

No end of good music reaching my ears these days ... the aforementioned Youth Group and Tom Vek, older obscure but noteworthy acts like Sugargliders and Guitar, indie DIY heroes Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Slowdive disciples Engineers, and the new Mogwai record. Somehow i'm managing to check it all out ... must be writing lots of papers and grants at work. Ah yes, i am. Tom Vek gets more impressive every time i listen to We Have Sound, from the dance punk of "I Ain't Saying My Goodbyes" to the funky flow of "A Little Word in Your Ear" to the Mark E. Smith off-kilter delivery of "Nothing But Green Lights".

I'm in somewhat of a Chelsea funk at the moment. Our task in Europe is daunting, defeating Barcelona over two legs. Barça are playing unbelievably at the moment and boast a squad to rival the Blues, from all-world playmaker Ronaldinho to Argentine teenage phenom Lionel Messi to Cameroonian hitman Samuel Eto'o. They'll put our stingy defense to the test. If anything, the Catalans' weak spot is their defense, so it will be up to Crespo, Drogba, Robben, Lampard, Duff, et al. to capitalize. Can we do it? I have my doubts, but will put on my brave face. In England, we're 13 points clear and the media has more or less taken the thrill out of our march towards a second straight league title. United are improving and lurk in second, remaining the only team to defeat us this term, while Liverpool have finally figured out how to win in the Premiership and are mounting a challenge after a mediocre start. But i really can't see Chelsea dropping 13 points to give our rivals a chance at the championship. It's all a bit blah for me right now. Wealth breeds boredom, apparently. I'm sure when the pressure games begin, starting with the Champions League on February 22nd, my interest will kick up again.