Game review: Diner Dash: Hometown Hero

Everyone's favorite waitress, Flo, has gone back to her hometown for some rest and relaxation. While driving around with her grandmother, they find out that the places from Flo's childhood are falling apart due to lack of funds. It's up to Flo and her grandmother to save the day! Diner Dash was my first time management game so it has a special place in my heart. This sequel doesn't disappoint. There are some changes to the gameplay to make it a bit more difficult than the earlier editions but the changes are good. Now you are able to slide two 2-seat tables together to make a 4-seat table. I absolutely love this. Before, you always got screwed when you had a lot of parties of 4 coming in. Moving tables together alleviates the problem.

Another change is the 'competition level.' In the demo that I played, there was one level where Flo got to hire a new waitress. To "train" the newbie, you had to beat their score by at least ten points. This wasn't difficult at all since the new waitress seemed to just hang around waiting for you to miss something. She was really good at handing out drinks though.

The restaurant design part of the game is still there too. I think the design part makes the game just a little bit different from other time management games. And, of course, you can still upgrade just about everything.

Diner Dash: Hometown Hero should be a hit with any Diner Dash fan. Let's tie on our aprons and get to work saving Flo's home town!

Music review: Lauryn Hill - Doo Wop (That Thing)

Artist: Lauryn Hill Album: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill Release date: 8/25/98 Video link: on You Tube

Lyrics: It's been three weeks since you've been looking for your friend The one you let hit it and never called you again 'Member when he told you he was 'bout the Benjamins You act like you ain't hear him then gave him a little trim To begin, how you think you really gon' pretend Like you wasn't down then you called him again Plus when you give it up so easy you ain't even fooling him If you did it then, then you probably fuck again Talking out your neck sayin' you're a Christian A Muslim sleeping with the gin Now that was the sin that did Jezebel in Who you gon' tell when the repercussions spin Showing off your ass 'cause you're thinking it's a trend Girlfriend, let me break it down for you again You know I only say it 'cause I'm truly genuine Don't be a hardrock when you're really a gem Babygirl, respect is just a minimum Niggas fucked up and you still defending them Now Lauryn is only human Don't think I haven't been through the same predicament Let it sit inside your head like a million women in Philly, Penn. It's silly when girls sell their soul because it's in Look at where you be in hair weaves like Europeans Fake nails done by Koreans Come again Come again, come again, come again, come again

Guys you know you better watch out Some girls, some girls are only about That thing, that thing, that thing

The second verse is dedicated to the men More concerned with his rims and his Timbs than his women Him and his men come in the club like hooligans Don't care who they offend popping yang like you got yen Let's not pretend, they wanna pack pistol by they waist men Cristal by the case men, still in they mother's basement The pretty face, men claiming that they did a bid men Need to take care of their three and four kids men They facing a court case when the child's support late Money taking, heart breaking now you wonder why women hate men The sneaky silent men the punk domestic violence men The quick to shoot the semen stop acting like boys and be men How you gon' win when you ain't right within How you gon' win when you ain't right within How you gon' win when you ain't right within Come again Come again, come again, come again, come again

Girls you know you better watch out Some guys, some guys are only about That thing, that thing, that thing About the song: I love the video to this song. For those of you that don't remember, the entire video is a split screen of two concerts. One is 1968 Lauryn and one is 1998 Lauryn. It really goes well with the song's lyrics and overall sound.

This should probably be the theme song to Bill Cosby's "Don't Be Stupid Black People" rants. It's a warning to not sleep around and stop paying attention to trivial things like sneakers and bling and money. Take care of yourself and your family and be a good person. It's a message that needs to get out to more people. Too bad most of those people probably don't listen to Lauryn Hill songs, which is a shame.

Wireless Broadband

As I said before in an earlier post, I do amateur voice acting. This means that I need a quiet place to record my lines. My laptop and wireless broadband are absolute necessities for me. Without them, I wouldn't be able to sneak into a corner of my house and try to get some time without the dogs barking or my husband's video game noise. I don't know how other people are able to live without wi fi broadband. I love being able to move around the house while still having internet access. How else could I watch a jdorama on my laptop while chatting with a friend on AIM about it? I'm always looking forward to long-distance "dates" with my friends. It's our way of staying in touch despite the fact that we live hundreds of miles away from each other.

Maybe I'm just too used to having so much technology around me. That's the down side of being married to a Network Administrator. They're always bringing their "work" home with them.

This post is sponsored

Game review: Mystery Case Files: Madame Fate

The Mystery Case Files series is what got me into hidden object games. My daughter and I frequently play Ravenhearst together. So I was ecstatic when I saw a new MCF game called Madame Fate. In this version of the game, you are helping Madame Fate, a fortune teller at a carnival, who has foreseen her own death. You have to figure out which of the quirky carnival workers is slated to kill her and stop them. All in a day's work, right?

This game was a little more difficult than the other MCF games. In some levels, there are objects you need to put together to form a whole object on your list. For example, you might be searching for an ice cream cone. In order to get one, you need to put the scoop of ice cream on an empty cone. There are also hidden areas in some areas of the carnival. They are usually easy to find as the "hidden door" does this glowy-blinky thing. The final puzzle of each level is a different form of hidden object puzzle. Instead of having an entire list of things to find, you are given a multitude of two objects. For example, you may need to find 10 letter Ms and 10 musical notes in one scene.

True to its form, I did enjoy Madame Fate. The end-of-level puzzles were rather difficult as many items are hidden in shadows but it wasn't a deal breaker for me. I hope that I'll get some time to play through it more to see how the higher levels are.

Mobile web sites

Almost everyone owns a cell phone, right? A lot of those people use their phone to browse websites and send text messages. A lot of businesses are focusing on sms marketing to help their company grow. After all, if people will be using their cell phones to look at your website, which is basically your product, you want it to look as good as it possibly can. Since most websites are coded to look good on a computer monitor, they end up looking horrible on a tiny cell phone screen. It would be a great idea to format your website to accommodate those who use their cell phones as web browsers.

Premium SMS can help get your business marketed to the people who use their cell phones frequently in their daily lives. I know my husband uses his cell phone to surf the internet all the time. A lot of websites are difficult to use because the webpage is too large to fit on his screen. I love it when I have to use his phone to do something like look at a map and the website is formatted to accommodate someone on the road who might actually need the site. I just wish there were more companies that did that with their websites.

J-actor mini-bio: Matsumoto Jun

Name: Matusmoto Jun Nicknames: MatsuJun, Junji Birthday: 8/30/83 Height: 5'6" (173cm) Weight: 127 lbs (58kg)

Where do I know him from? Gokusen, Kimi wa Petto, Hana Yori Dango, Bambino

Tell me some more! MatsuJun is also a member of the singing group Arashi. They debuted in 1999 and are still going strong.

What is your opinion of him? I've seen a couple of his shows with some variety in characters. He plays a bad boy very well. I'm hoping to catch Bambino at some point to see how he handles that role. On the singing side, he doesn't have the best voice in Arashi but he definitely has the charisma to make up for it.

Holiday Shopping

The holiday season is quickly approaching. Black Friday, the semi-official kickoff to the Christmas buying season, is only 2 1/2 weeks away. Personally, I try to do all my shopping online. I hate stores and crowds and the whole shopping experience. I feel online shopping is the best thing ever invented. And online shopping coupons make it even better. Kohl's is one of my favorite stores. I buy a lot of my daughter's clothes there so, most likely, there will be a lot of Christmas presents bought there. I know my mother likes shopping there too. Maybe I'll get her a gift card.

EBGames is another big store for our family. Since my husband plays a ton of video games, that's probably where I will end up buying his Christmas present. Though his always have to wait until after the holiday season because he buys so many games on his own. I never know what to get him! Boys always have to make shopping so difficult.

Game review: Hawaiian Explorer: Pearl Harbor

While the website was down late last week, I gave Hawaiian Explorer: Pearl Harbor a try. Yet another hidden object game, I was expecting something along the lines of Hidden Expedition: Titanic, which was an extremely enjoyable game. However, Hawaiian Explorer was nothing but a disappointment. The typical list of objects to find is often times confusing. When you find something from your list, you need to click on a specific spot on the object or you will lose time. This, of course, makes you think that isn't the object you are looking for when, in fact, it is and you just didn't click on the special spot. If you run out of time, you have to start the level over again with a slightly different list.

In between levels, there is a map piece puzzle. Basically, there is a ripped up map and you have to piece it back together. If you fail to do accomplish this within the time limit, you get tossed back to the previous hidden object level. It is frustrating to say the least.

Hawaiian Explorer: Pearl Harbor is probably the worst hidden object game I have ever played. While some of the graphics are pretty, the gameplay is atrocious.

Music review: Mini Moni - Rock n Roll Kenchoushozaichi

Artist: Mini Moni Members: Mika Todd (family name last), Kago Ai, Nozomi Tsuji, Takahashi Ai Album: Minimoni Songs 2 Release date: 2/11/04 (single was released 4/9/03) Video link: on Veoh

Lyrics: (Sorry, no translation) "Baby ROKKUNROORU kenchoushozaichi MINIMONI. oboechaina SHIRII~ZU! saa minasan harikitte ikimasu yo~!"

hokkaidou wa sapporo otsugi wa ( sapporo RAAMEN ) aomori akita ni iwate no morioka ( wankosoba wankosoba ) fukushima yamagata miyagi wa sendai ( sasakama sasakama )

ibaraki no mito ni tochigi wa utsunomiya ( shimotsukare shimotsukare) saitama saitama yamanashi wa koufu ( houtou houtou ) gunma no maebashi kanagawa no yokohama ( shuumai shuumai )

chiba ni toukyou nagano ni shizuoka niigata touyama ishikawa no kanazawa aichi wa nagoya gifu to fukui

"tokoro de anta kenchoushozaichi tte nanden non?" "AHO ya na anta,, kenchou no shozaichi ya ga na" "he~"

kenchoushozaichi...

mie wa tsu ni shiga wa ootsu ( funazushi funazushi ) wakayama kyoto ni nara ni oosaka ( takoyaki takoyaki ) hyougo wa kobe de okayama hiroshima ( nama GAKI nama GAKI )

shimane no matsue ni tottori yamaguchi ( fugusashi fugusashi ) kagawa no takamatsu ehime no matsuyama ( iyokan iyokan ) kagoshima kouchi ni fukuoka ooita ( shiroshita karei )

saga ni nagasaki kumamoto miyazaki soshite kagoshima okinawa no naha ROKKUNROORU kenchoushozaichi About the song: Ah. Mini Moni! Mini Moni was a subgroup of Morning Musume. The original idea for the group was that all the members had to be under 4'11" tall. (Hence the mini part.) However, Takahashi Ai was slightly taller than that when she joined the group after Yaguchi Mari's departure. Mini Moni was mostly aimed at younger children in the beginning, though the group took on a more mature sound after Mari left.

While I don't have a translation for this song, I can tell you that it is about the capitals of the Japanese prefectures. Mostly it's about the food each area is famous for. The video plays along showing the girls in a classroom setting studying for an exam.

You'll notice in the video that poor Mika is singled out as different from the rest of the group. She is the only American-born member of the group. As such, she is always dressed differently from the other girls and, for some strange reason, she is always given random English phrases to say. I always felt bad for her since the Japanese girls get to wear cute little outfits and Mika is always in the ugliest costumes.

Anyway, the song is cute and educational. What more could you ask for?

America's Most Smartest Model - episode 5

Now we're starting to get down to the models who are actually pretty intelligent. Those that aren't are standing out like a sore thumb. I really can't wait until all we are left with are the smart models. I'm sure the challenges will get more difficult and I want to see how they measure up. The Edge Challenge this week was dissecting fetal pigs. I know a lot of people did this in high school. (Though I only did frogs, we never did the pigs.) The models were left with one anatomy book to study, which VJ ran off with. Everyone else was left with their encyclopedias and a bit of tutoring from animal-sciences-major Angela. Amazingly, a lot of the models did really well on this. Yes, there was a lot of complaining about having to do it in the first place but once they got working, they were really able to identify most of the organs. I was definitely surprised.

Of course, there had to be some drama about it, right? Both Lisa and the high school teacher, Mr. Morrison, thought that she had a female pig as neither of them could find any testicles. After the challenge was over and Lisa was given an A, Angela decided to take a quick look at the pig to see if it really was female. Well, Angela found testicles and she was quite prepared to leave it at that. Andre, who got a C on his dissection, had a problem with the mistake and called the teacher back in to point out the mistake. Due to the discovery, Lisa's grade was lowered to a C. I'm not really sure why the teacher didn't look for the ovaries to double-check that it was a female pig but since it was his mistake, I don't think her grade should have been lowered.

Next up was a commercial challenge. The models had to pimp a body wash product while taking a very cold shower. Daniel won the Edge Challenge so he got to shower with warm water and he got the script beforehand. Everyone else only had 20 minutes to learn the script before jumping in. Andre took the initiative and practiced talking in a cold shower. It didn't appear that anyone else was trying to make the commercial shoot a little bit easier on themselves.

When the models got to the set, they were told that they had to pick a competitor to choose their best video from the shoot. As everyone was waiting for the shoot to start, Daniel was practicing his lines with Lisa. VJ was standing nearby listening in an attempt to learn the lines before he got the script. Yay! More controversy! All of the models felt that VJ was cheating. When they brought it up to Mary Alice after the shoot, she commended VJ for "paying attention to his surroundings." As such, he won the challenge and the immunity.

Lisa and American!Rachel were up on the block this time around. Lisa flubbed the dissection whereas Rachel completely screwed up her commercial. For the first time ever, the two models were given a "Smart Off," which was basically a pop quiz. Ben asked them some questions and whoever answered the most correctly got to stay. In another surprising twist, it was Rachel that answered the most questions correctly. Maybe she isn't as stupid as she pretends to be. (Though I'm not holding my breath on that one.) Sadly, it was Lisa that had to leave last night. I will miss her.

Next week? Geometry!