Spot Lounge

So here’s the thing…if your sick, DO NOT COME TO WORK! Now you’ve gone and done it. You made me type in all caps. I hate that. Not as much as I hate people who go to work sick, though.

You see, your selfish act infects countless others who then have to miss work and/or infect even more with your disgusting germs. Just stay home for a day or two. Let the sickness pass. Save dozens, nay hundreds of colleagues and customers the pain and torment of your sickness.

Can you tell I’m a little bitter about being sick during New York Comic Con?

Ever pull up to the gas pump only to get out and discover your tank is on the other side of the car?  Yeah, most of us have.  Well never fear!  Here’s a little tip that has, well, not changed my life, but made me look a lot less stupid at the gas station.

Most new cars have a little arrow next to the gas pump icon on your dashboard that points to which side your tank is on!  Some older cars may have the icon positioned toward he side of the car with the tank, but you’ll have to check your particular vehicle to confirm.  Voila!  No more pulling up to get gas on the wrong side of the car!

So I found this site with a gorgeous paper model of an X-Wing from Star Wars that you can download for free! Just print it out and assemble. The only drawback is that the whole site, including the directions, are in Japanese. I think anyone who has a little determination can figure out how to assemble it, though.

I started putting one together, but I’m not the most patient person in the world, so I put it off to the side for another day. I would recommend printing out the pieces on something stronger than plain paper; maybe a thin card stock would be best. You might want to print one page of parts first and experiment with paper thicknesses as well as overall sizing.

I also ran across some awesome origami instructions for not only an X-Wing, but tons of other vehicles and even characters from Star Wars and other science fiction favorites.

I dusted off my origami skills and after about 20 minutes, I ended up with two finished X-Wings! I ended up with two because I thought I had to scrap the first one, but in the end it was salvageable. So now I’m starting a fleet to attack my little Death Star. Red leader, we’re going to need more origami paper!

Kingdom of Loathing (or KOL for short) is a free online RPG that any geek culture fan will appreciate.

To quote their own site, quote “KoL is played from the comfort of your browser, and is adorned with a staggering array of stunning hand-drawn images. It is turn-based, which means you get a certain number of turns (Adventures) each day.”

With those adventures, you can explore the Kingdom of Loathing and go on quests to earn, among other things, meat (which is the in game currency). You might visit the Spooky Forrest, the Sleazy Back Alley or the Lair of the Ninja Snowmen. Of course you can also join a guild, earn trophies and tattoos (which are basically avatars), and collect stuff like Oyster Eggs or Pork Gems.

There are also time sensitive events such as The Feast of Borris (when you can eat more than normal), Crimbo Season (with special adventures and quests), and Oyster Egg Day (when you grab an Oyster Egg Basket and collect… well…various colored oyster eggs!). Don’t worry if you miss an event ... a calendar year in game is about 3 months real time, so all the festivities will roll around again quickly.

Oh and those “stunning hand-drawn images” mentioned earlier are fantastic stick figures of all sorts - awesome!

So you’re probably thinking that this all sounds pretty silly and you’d be right. It is silly. But don’t be fooled into thinking this game is shallow. There are plenty of challenges to keep casual gamers interested and Asymmetric Publications (the creators of the game) are constantly updating it with new quests and adventures. There is even a KOL Wiki to help you out with just about everything in the game.

It’s definitely worth checking out and with a limited number of turns each day, it won’t take up all your time. So next time your bored on your lunch hour, swing by KingdomOfLoathing.com. 

King of Kong : A Fistful of Quarters is amazing! It’s a documentary chronicling the journey of Steve Wiebe as he pursues the worlds highest score in Donkey Kong. Sounds pretty good, right?

It’s gripping.

This film pulls you in and has you not only rooting for Steve, but experiencing every twist, turn, triumph, and sorrow along the way. Even if you don’t have a soft spot in your heart for 8-bit video games, chances are you’ll still enjoy the human aspect of this film. I highly recommend checking this one out!

King of Kong on Amazon.com