Chuck 3D

Last night was the 3D episode of Chuck. 3D today is different from the 3D of the 1980s. Back then, 3D meant that Jaws was jumping out of the screen at you. Today, 3D means the show doesn't look flat. The characters stand apart from the background. If you were standing in a store (a BuyMore, maybe) and you looked at someone standing in front of a display (maybe Chuck standing in front of the Nerd Herd booth), there is obviously a separation between the person and the display. In regular 2D television, you don't get the depth perception needed to separate the two. The human brain makes assumptions based on things it has already experienced. That is why we can look at 2D television and not be like "HAY! THAT PERSON IS IN THE DISPLAY!" However, the 'new' 3D makes it so our brain doesn't have to assume things. It can see that the person is standing apart from the display. And it is awesome. I wish all of my TV shows were 3D. Though I don't want to wear those cardboard classes anymore. Those suck lots. I would happily buy a good pair of hard plastic sunglass-type 3D glasses to wear if all my shows were in 3D. But a television that did that for me would be cooler!

Game review: Westward III: Gold Rush

Last year, I played Westward II. Since I enjoyed it, I decided to give Westward III: Gold Rush a try. For some reason, this storyline didn't seem to progress as quickly as the second one did. It took a long time to get through the tutorial, much longer than it did before, and then the game seemed to just dump you. I spent a lot of time wandering around the borders trying to figure out where I was supposed to go next. (Well, 'next' in the storyline after the tutorial. The game sticks you in a new area and leaves you there.)

However, there were some interesting changes. Instead of just finding food laying around, you now have to hunt for it. You don't have to aim your gun like you did in Oregon Trail but it's still requires a bit more interaction from the player than just finding a bundle of food. Sadly, I did not make it far in the demo of the game. There is a possibility that it gets better later on but it's difficult to see how it will.

Slingbox

In case you haven't noticed, I've been watching a lot of TV lately. One of the things I've been looking at is a Slingbox. It's basically a box that allows you to watch your cable/satellite programming remotely from a computer. Meaning, if you want to watch CSI but you are away on business, you'll be able to watch it on your computer in whatever city you are in. Pretty neat, huh? I don't think I know anyone that owns one so I don't know how well it works. But it would be pretty awesome if it did.

TV review: Paranormal State

I get hooked on the weirdest programs. Lately, I've been watching a lot of A&E's Paranormal State. It's not like Ghost Hunters on SciFi or anything. This is about a society/club from Penn State that go around investigating paranormal situations. Clients will contact the society and, if they think it is necessary, they will go check it out. It's not a great show. I think it needs to be one hour instead of just a half hour. There are definitely some other things they could expand on. Yet it's something that you get addicted to watching. Sometimes it's spooky, sometimes it's funny but it's always interesting.

iCarly

Now that you've watched the opening to iCarly, let me tell you more about the show. The main characters are Carly Shay, Sam Puckett, Freddie Benson and Carly's older brother (and guardian), Spencer. Carly, Sam and Freddie are middle-schoolers that run a video webcast called iCarly. While they don't really talk about how popular their webshow is, it seems that a ton of people watch it. (Note: There are clips and segments on the actual iCarly.com website too.) Spencer is the goofball of the bunch. Despite being 26-years old (and having attended law school for 3 days), he always acts like a little kid: running around and seeing the fun things in life instead of being a 'boring adult.' (He probably has a Seattle injury lawyer on call for when his stunts injure other people....) But he's definitely the most fun character.

I have to admit that, even though the show is aimed for kids and young teens, it is a pretty awesome. Carly is an upstanding, intelligent young girl that is a great role model for kids. Sam is the prankster who is always getting into trouble but everyone knows she really has a heart of gold. And Freddie, well, he's mostly around to help Carly and get picked on by Sam. I'd much rather watch this than another episode of Spongebob Squarepants.

Xbox Live + Netflix = Fun!

I'm sure many of you know about this now. I'm going to talk about it anyway. If you have an Xbox 360 that is Live enabled and a Netflix account, you can stream movies and television shows right to your television. And it's not just a huge list of crappy movies either. My daughter is a big fan of Hannah Montana so we've queued up the entire first and second seasons of the show for her. My husband likes Red Dwarf so we have the last three seasons set up for him. I love Japanese dramas and anime so there's things like R.O.D. the TV on my list. It's a great way to spend a relaxing weekend - catching up on old TV shows or watching movies. If only there were more hours in the day for me to work through our queue!

American Cancer Society's Relay For Life

The Relay for Life is a 24-hour walk-a-thon relay that takes place once a year. While people can participate as individuals, most are in teams. Each team needs to have at least one member walking on the track during the 24 hours. Last year was my first year participating. Despite some major thunderstorms, it was a nice time. I am participating again this year. This is the American Cancer Society's signature event. You can find more information about sponsoring me on my Relay For Life webpage. If you know of a company or organization looking for a charity to donate to this year, please feel free to let them know about the Relay.

Thank you!