Just like any other day

posted by chip on Tuesday, the twelfth of September 2006, at two in the morning
Today is the five year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, a day when millions of americans sat slack-jawed and helpless as thousands of lives were snuffed out in two columns of fire, smoke, and debris. What did I do to remember this tragedy?

Nothing.

It's not that I'm trying to forget what happened, but I think the best thing to do is to live today like any other day. I'm living today to show that I'm not afraid. That I will not be cowed into submission by either terrorists or our own government. That life goes on.

So what did I do today? I went to Mike's place to pick up my charger and some other things I'd forgotten. I relaxed for a bit, watched Sunday's Family Guy, and Mike cooked me lunch (Fishsticks and boxed rice, mmm...). Mike left for work, and I left to go find the Tires Plus to get my tire patched. (FYI: Punctures in the tread up to 1/4" in diameter can be patched. Make sure that the facility you take the tire to takes the tire off the rim to inspect it. Punctures in the sidewal cannot be repaired.) Tires Plus was backed up with work and probably would not get the tire done that day, so I wandered around the local mall, Barnes and Noble, Best Buy, and such. I tried to get in touch with Dillon, but failed, so I went back to Mike's place.

At Best Buy, I played some demos for Nintendo DS. Tetris Push is a multiplayer tetris where you and your opponent drop pieces on opposite sides of a well, and you push your opponent down (and likewise your opponent pushes you up) by clearing multiple rows at once. Magnetica is Bubble Bobble on rails. No, really, that's what it is. Colored balls follow a track, and you must shoot colored balls at the balls on this track to make them disappear. If the track fills up, you lose. I bought, on impulse, Ridge Racer DS. It is a pretty faithful translation from what I'm guessing is an original Playstation game, and age has not helped what was not really a great racer to begin with. It's not easy to play with great multiplayer like Mario Kart. It's not realistic like the Gran Turismo series. The interface is archaic, there are awful bugs, there are only several variations on three tracks in the entire game. The game is out and out horrible by today's standards. Why do I like it, then?

It's freaking fun. It's arcade racing at its purest, just you and a field of cars you have to pass before three laps is up. The cars don't behave realistically, the AI is all but nonexistent, but damn if I don't have fun playing it. Oh, the soundtrack is pretty good, I have to give it that. I may have mentioned Namco's talented music masters, Aya and Mega, before. They've done some tracks for Beatmania IIDX, as well as a lot of classic Namco games, and tracks from Technic Beat.

Figures the one day I stay, Mike has to work late. I'm tired, I'm going to get some food and go to bed.

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