Reviewing articles submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journal is an important step of career development for a professional scientist, reflecting his recognition as an expert in his field. It's something i've welcomed as i've made the transition from postdoc to faculty, and i now serve as a reviewer for five or six different journals. That said, reviewing *bad* papers is a torture like no other. Being forced to read ten or twenty pages of poorly written text, sometimes with as many as twenty associated figures, and then write an intelligent, comprehensive summary of the validity of the work and its significance without devolving into a series of four-letter words ... that's a true challenge.

Somehow between 2001 and now i've become a hardass. Again ... who knew.

I was all set to have a productive year. Get grants out, write a bunch of papers, etc etc ... and then a seemingly innocuous email from Jeremy Popscene popped into my inbox and blew those hopes to s@$#. I've been invited to play in a fantasy Premiership football league on Yahoo, where you're given an initial budget of 100 credits and have to use it to purchase a squad of 11 players from around the English league. Each week you receive points based on how well each member of your team performs in their respective match, rewarding goals, assists, tackles, and so on. Each player's valuation is adjusted according to their performance, meaning if you decide to sell one of your squad members you may make or lose credits depending on how they were priced when you bought them. I was able to purchase my initial squad in a mere hour, with 2 credits to spare. I've posted my starting lineup, but will hold off on making it public until the league begins this weekend so as to avoid tipping off my rivals. I'm in general happy with it, but we'll see how well i'm doing when next May rolls around.

I've been a sourpuss regarding Chelsea after their less-than-impressive preseason, culminating in defeat to bitter rivals Liverpool in the Charity Shield last weekend. My intuition tells me this will be the year the wheels come off our ego-mobile. We might be only an Arjen Robben temper tantrum away from the squad going into meltdown. Of course, this is the same intuition that predicted Brazil and Argentina would be squaring off in the World Cup final last month. The Blues have their share of positive omens, such as the promising partnership between Frank Lampard and Andriy Shevchenko, and the convenient excuse that our poor performances in warmup matches could be due to a lack of fitness considering that the vast majority of our squad spent their summer vacation playing in the World Cup. Only time will tell.

My tooth is mostly back to normal. I was able to chew my lunch on that side without any major problems ... a little residual soreness but nothing that scared me from letting food or drink on that side of my mouth. What a baby i am ... i don't recall suffering this much when i got cavities filled in years past. Yet more proof that getting old stinks.

The new season of the Venture Bros. continues to impress, with last week's episode juxtaposing double dates of Hank and Dean Venture and of the Monarch and Phantom Limb proving hilarious. As always, the references are the kickers, with members of the Guild of Calamitous Intent complaining about how many Yaz albums another member had on his iPod. I'm noticing a trend in the new season to inflict considerable bodily harm on Dr. Venture in each episode ... he's already had an eyeball knocked out of his head by newly-recruited gangsta henchmen of the Monarch, and had an arm torn off by a marauding Guild squad. But Jackson Publick and Doc Hammer's sense of humor remains as vibrant as ever, and as i tell Veronica every chance i get, the Venture Bros. is still the best show on TV.

For that matter, i could watch Adult Swim all day long before feeling an urge to partake of Project Runway, Rock Star, or *groan* All My Children. And speaking of AMC, has anyone seen this camera thing they've started doing? Ostensibly for the sake of grittiness and realism, they now use handheld cameras to film the whole show, meaning the shots are frequently bouncing and moving around. I can only guess at the explanation i gave above ... the end result makes me nauseous. Above and beyond the effects of the show itself.

I'm about halfway through volume 3 of the Complete Age of Apocalypse Epic collection. Very good ... it's definitely accelerating and building suspense as it nears its resolution. Unfortunately, it seems the climactic volume 4 won't be published until November. I could buy the original comics that will be collected in this volume individually on eBay ... which may happen if i get totally obsessed as volume 3 draws to a close. My first subscribed issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly arrived the other day, an event that makes me very happy. I can totally zone out and relax while reading a new issue of EGM. Of course the recent news is the impending release of Nintendo's Wii and Sony's PS3. I imagine i'll have both before long, although i could honestly care less about the Wii. Veronica is into it though, so we'll check it out ... luckily it's by far the least expensive of the three next-gen systems. Waving the remote control-esque controller around to swordfight or control Mario might be fun. I have my doubts about its long-term appeal though, unlike most of my peers who are professionals in the video game industry.