Week in Review, Dec 17 to Dec 23

Seeing as this post is going live early morning on Christmas Eve, Merry Christmas to everyone! Yeah, that's right, I'm an atheist and I'm wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. What "War on Christmas?" Most atheists are happy to celebrate Christmas, but we obviously take the Christ out of it. It's a pretty damn good holiday with the Christ taken out of it.

So, what did I do for fun in the week before Christmas? Spoiler warning! Not a whole lot.

The Week in Video Games

I spent a fair bit of time this week playing the Wii Virtual Console version of the SNES's Super Mario Kart. It is still a sweet game! In this first iteration of the series, winning is all about skill, and not item usage. Best of all, no rubber-band AI and no fucking blue shells!

In New Super Mario Bros. Wii news, I finally worked my way through all 8 worlds and took on Bowser in a surprisingly epic end boss battle. Now that I've finished the main game, I can safely say that NSMBW is significantly better than the DS version, which somewhat disappointed me actually, and is unquestionably a worthy addition to one of the best video game series of all time. Although I have rescued Peach once again, my time with the game is nowhere near complete. The collection of star coins opens up levels in secret world 9, offering an extra challenge and many extra hours. If levels 9-1 and 9-2 are a sign of things to come, these are easily the toughest Mario Bros. levels since Tubular.

One of the highlights of this week, probably the highlight actually, was playing NSMBW with my two brothers who were in town for Christmas. No previous Mario side-scroller has offered simultaneous cooperative (or combative) multiplayer, so I was skeptical that it would work--but goddamn, it does! It's often confusing and chaotic, and frequently frustrating, but it's also a fucking blast. And so very, very funny sometimes. Well done, Nintendo!

The Week in Television

Having caught up with Mad Men, it was time to start a new series this week. My choice was about as far from Mad Men as you can get: the goofy but enjoyable Warehouse 13. I'm not marathoning Warehouse 13, but using it to take a break from video gaming every once in a while.

Friday, December 18th
Loved: Dollhouse (2x9/2x10)

The third and final two-hour Dollhouse event featured the weakest and strongest of the six episodes. The first hour, Victor-centric "Stop-Loss," was pretty good, featuring interesting developments with Echo and especially Adelle, but a little awkward in the execution of the Borg-like soldiers plotline. Fortunately, the second hour, "The Attic," was awesome--arguably the best episode of the season and maybe series. Cancellation of the series has forced Joss Whedon to show his hand early and I am loving every minute of it. Best of all, the unexpected ending brought back fond memories of Angel season five.

Sunday, December 20th
Liked: Top Gear (14x5)

Tuesday, December 22nd
Loved: Better Off Ted (2x3)

"Battle of the Bulbs" was another great episode of Better Off Ted. Introducing a rivalry between Ted and Linda was a smart idea, leading to many good scenes. The return of Dr. Bomba was fun, and Lem had some great moments dealing with his mother. However, drunk Phil was unquestionably the hightlight of the episode.