Why are mustaches so popular with Dads? Is there something that clicks in a man’s head once he gets to a certain age that says “I need this style of facial hair. I need it to best feel the place time has arranged for me,”?

I sure don’t know. I’m still at the stage in my life that if I grow a mustache I just look a guy you’d see at the public library reading a big book about rare birds, muttering to himself little fragments of delighted incredulity at its contents. You know, the kind of guy that belongs in a sweatsuit and makes you re-evaluate how scary a pair of high-tops, scissors or even soft, boyish and undersized hands can be.

(I should add, to complete the mental imagery here, that my beard comes in orange-red, and my hair is usually a pretty close approximation of Shaggy’s from Scobby-Doo.)

But enough about the scary creatures that lurk in municipal book repositories! Let’s talk about things that are cool!

• I saw Kick-ass a week or so ago. It was pretty good, certainly much better than most action movies I think. What I liked most about it was the constant sense of risk and danger I felt for the main characters. Decent dialogue, good fight scenes, and a fairly interesting plot. I recommend checking it out.
• Playing through Castle Crashers with my girlfriend. I know we’re a little late to the party, but if you’re even later, the game is worth checking out. It’s only 10 bucks on Xbox live, and supports local same-screen co-op. It plays like Streets of Rage or Final Fight (if you’re old enough to remember those games), where you wander the Earth, beating up dudes who get in your way. There are maps and items and leveling and like 40 playable characters, plus a decent combo system and different pets to collect. If all these things sound rad to you, then you and I are brothers.
• Saw this on the Penny-Arcade forums this morning. Two forumers have made a game called “Breath of Death VII,” which is supposed to be a throwback to the old Dragon Quest games from the NES days. It’s only a dollar on Xbox live, and looks like it could be pretty cool.  It’s supposed to be about a post-apocalyptic world inhabited only by the undead who have crafted this medieval society in the ruins of modernity. The game trailers promise branching skill trees, party combo techniques in battle, and a huge world to explore. I’ll probably check it out this weekend, though I’m not sure I’ll have time. You can see people talking about the game here, and I’ve included the trailer for the game below.

I will be doing some programming work on the site’s backend today, so I apoligize in advance for an troubles this may cause.

<3 Mike

SONGS FOR SUNDAY:

Boy I am just embedding things left and right here, aren’t I?