So i'm playing God of War today, merrily slashing the heads off centaurs and breaking sirens' backs. I get to a cutscene that recounts the main character Kratos's deal with the God of War Ares, in which Kratos shouts a desperate prayer while about to be hacked apart by a blood-hungry barbarian. I'm listening to Kratos's voice and can't help but think i've heard it somewhere before ... is it that giant guy from the Green Mile who played Kingpin in Daredevil? No ... dammit! Enter the magic of IMDB, which also has voice acting credits in video games. A quick search informs me that Kratos is voiced by Terrence Carson. No photo on IMDB, but a subsequent Google image search pulls up a bunch of photos of that ladies man from the old Queen Latifah/Tootie sitcom Living Single. You're freakin' kidding me ... this Spartan badass is played by someone who was roommates with Overton?

All qualms about actors' histories aside, GoW continues to impress. I've just finished the third challenge of the gods and am now scaling the Cliffs of Madness on my way to recovering Pandora's Box. Combat never gets old, and is continually challenging as newer, more powerful enemies are introduced. The most recent were satyrs, Pan-like goat-hooved baddies with halbards. Looks like i'm nearing my final showdown with Ares, but luckily God of War 2 is due in February.

Weekend in a nutshell ... late meeting at Stanford on Friday evening, followed by a relaxing night at home. Took Tara to the vet to investigate what turned out to be a fat lump on her side, then picked up my Jetta from the dealer and had lunch at Panera and let Tara further socialize at the dog park. Saturday evening we met up with Naomi and Phil for dinner at Q, dessert crepes at Genki, a little socializing of our own at Jenz's housewarming party, then late night Guitar Hero back at Phil's. We attended my grad school friends Lance and Loren's wedding shower on Sunday in Berkeley, which was a great laid back affair meeting a few new friends.

I'm so happy to have my Jetta and Howard Stern back. I got to listen to a replay of the outrageous "Hodeo" while on the way to the dog park with V and T. If i never hear Woody, Tony, or Ravy say another word, it will be too soon.

The new Legends album Facts and Figures is out. I'm very curious to hear it ... both because i hope they can improve upon the morose Seventeen Seconds-era Cure disappointment of Public Radio, and because i'm curious what influences the band will be wearing on their sleeve this time around. The Labrador website describes it as this: "The Legends combine their love for heartfelt indie pop and soft 60's style melodies with the German precision of Kraftwerk and DAF. Perfectionism is mixed with the naive curiosity and experimental lust of a beginner. A hate of dance floors combined with dance music." Intriguing, to say the least.

The spectacle of Rock Star: Supernova came to an end last week, with AFI-meets-Slayer hybrid Lukas beating out nemesis Dilana for the "privilege" of fronting three marginally successful backing musicians for the next ten months or so. Allmusic has a great conversation about the show here. Choice quote: "How should we refer to this band? It was determined that they cannot be Supernova, correct? How about (affectionately): Clint Howard the Goth Topic Hedgehog & the Pawn Shop Flotsam Mayhem?"" I think that about sums it up.

Because i forgot about Lance and Loren's wedding on October 1, i had to put the kibosh on Matthew's plans for the fourth annual SMFA tourney in LA the same weekend. Unfortunately i'll miss the already scheduled paintball outing at the wooded environs of Camp Pendleton, which reportedly kicks ass over my previous experience with the guys at an outside arena. Doh.

Chelsea impressed with a key early season victory over rivals Liverpool on Sunday. Didier Drogba continues to burn up the scoring table, chesting down a cross then spinning and firing a first time shot past Jamie Carragher and Jose Reina for the winner. Unfortunately Michael Ballack got sent off for a clear stamp on Mohamed Sissoko in the second half. It wasn't malicious, but it was clear and right in front of the ref. However, i'm impressed with Chelsea's response: it happened, it wasn't violent or evil, but it happened so let's face the music and move on. The win coupled with misfiring Arsenal's surprising defeat of leaders Manchester United puts Chelsea one point off the lead, behind initial pacesetters Portsmouth. That'll end soon ... although a squad with Sol Campbell, Glen Johnson, Sean Davis, Kanu, and Lomano LuaLua may be more than a flash in the pan.

My fantasy footie squad is still eating s@$#. Let's not go there. I did marginally better on my NFL picks this week than my disastrous outing in the opening week, but i still haven't won anything. I'm amazed that the 49ers managed to beat the popular NFC West sleeper pick the Rams. Maybe Alex Smith and impressive new running back Frank Gore have the potential to lift this team out of the crapper. Meanwhile, the Raiders stink something awful. Bill Simmons has thanked the football gods for bringing once and current Oakland coach Art Shell back into the fold, if only for his comic ineptitude. After reading his description of Shell's glazed look under the headphones as his team implodes, i got to see it in action on Sunday afternoon. Ridiculous.

I guess baseball's drawing to a close. Whoop de freakin' doo.