And on Christmas morning, the kids yelled 'Wiiiiiii'

Seems silly, I haven't actually owned a game console since the Sega Genesis - and even that one might have been owned by Mike, I don't know for sure. But this I can tell ya - the new Nintendo Wii - by itself is the greatest revolution in home video games since Pong.

So the deal with this is, you get to play body english on a video game. That sounds straight forward enough but let me tell you, this makes watching others play just as fun as playing yourself. Plus, it is immediately playable by pretty much everyone.

It comes with a little Sports Pak that includes tennis, boxing, golf, bowling, and baseball. Each opportunity for cuteness is in the game, the little playskool like figures running around but not so much as to make you think this is a girlie system. It may not be as powerful graphically as the PS3, but its cheaper and loads more fun. Heck, as it is you might not want to buy another game as the Sports Pak is more than enough entertainment.

It does require a warning, however - and believe me, I am sore in my back and arm from baseball and the bowling game. Crazy at it sounds - it wasn't just me, even 20 year old Jillian is sore! So - if you happen to have a Wii, please send me your friend code so our Wii peeps can see each other - heck, even challenge each other in some sports...?

If you can't stand the heat

Boy - what started as the easiest little project became a new kitchen. For those who have never seen the place, here is the way it looked before. Note the big hood hanging down on the right.

Yes sir, that is an under cabinet hood, only there are no cabinets so lets build a gigantic freakin' hood and block the sunshine from getting in. Yeah, that was all we wanted changed at the time.

Then came Tug. "Hey, its T-uuuu-G" (you have to hear it from him to know how to read that). Tug builds restaurants and what nots, cabinets, etc. He came out to pull this down and replace it for us. Then he didn't like that wall on the right "To high" and "needs a bar top" and while he ripped it down, might as well stretch it longer - makes more counter top space.

Well, here is that same view now (ok, so I don't have the same lens so its not *quite* the same view). Yup, red lacquer cabinet and stainless steel fronts (you can get away with this in a warehouse loft), virginia mist granite counter tops and a travertine bar top in a squash/pumpkin/woodlike grain finish? dunno how to describe it. New hood, new 36" commercial quality stove with a griddle in the middle of 4 huge burners (pure cooks delight). New commercial sink and sprayer, subway beveled tile backsplash - the list goes on and on. All for that new hood. Oh well, what else are stock options good for :-?

Some more smaller pics: