This wasn't mentioned on the Bungie homepage as of 1/7/06, but Bungie just had their 7th birthday! Big w00t and shoutout to the talented team there. (Incidentaly, I didn't just know this, Louis WU of HBO pointed it out this evening.)

Bungie's Weekly What's Update hit just this morning. There's some interesting info on the new soundtrack, and a "handicap feature" that sounds really useful; but I have no idea how to turn it on.

Sorry I've been offline for a couple of days. We've been having some router problems at home that has effectively crippled our internet, right now I'm piggybacking off a neighbor's wireless network. With almost no signal. Anyway I hope to be back by tomorrow or the next day.

EDIT: The weekly Dreamstation.cc podcast came out yesterday evening, usually I'd listen to it before posting a link, but I don't know if I'll be able to access the internet for awhile, so here you go.

EDIT#2: Big shoutout to the guys at Dreamstation, the above show got me through my sisters ballet recital, I actually had to listen to the show twice. It's a great one, the highlight is the State of the Game Address; a yearly award segment. I agree with it all except their opinions on Halo, they are definitely the minority there.

Ju Blaine

A guy named sir_brilliant posted a very long story in the HBO fanfic section. It's quite literally a book, but it's also very good. Worth saving as a file and reading in chunks when you have time. Check out the comment thread too.

Well, this was actually kind of a disappointing holiday season. Most of the family was traveling, the ones that stayed, (including me) got sick on Christmas eve or Christmas day. I was sick through my birthday too. Most of my friends were either traveling or sick. The one highlight was my good friend Jacob Singer 45, he lives across the street from me and is always kind enough to let me come over and play the '360. Send him a friend invite, but be sure to tell him why!