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When I broke down and got a fancy new TV, I decided to get the Xbox 360 instead of the PS3 because of the sizeable selection of games you can download for a fee directly from the couch. This includes old arcade classics as well as new stuff. A couple of days ago, a game called “Braid” was released, which is a sort of puzzle game done up like a painting. It started blowing my mind about 5 minutes after I started playing it, and hasn’t quit. Since. Here’s what it looks like:

The music fits in perfectly with the look of the game. Here’s a little YouTube action so you can get the full aesthetic:

I usually get frustrated in puzzle games pretty quickly, when the difficulty ramp is too steep, or bored, if it’s too easy. Braid is perfect, right in the middle. I’ve solved 3/5 of the worlds, and haven’t been once tempted to reach for a walkthrough. What’s more, Braid doesn’t have any complicated rules–you learn everything by observation, and so the overall experience is very satisfying. It was $15 and has already paid for itself.

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Comments

Cameron — 2008-08-08 17:51:43

Thanks for the recommendation!

Cameron — 2008-08-27 17:17:45

One of my favorite dudes on the internet takes a shot at Braid: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/203-Braid

We’re still mid-trip, but there are some pictures posted from our road trip on gallery. We’ve had a great time, mostly because instead of being fussy in the car on 12-hour stretches, Sous just does this:

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Comments

Cameron — 2008-07-11 05:42:13

I love the pictures! Pene was jealous. Luckily she’s about to have a new “best day of her life” this weekend at the ranch with Travis the dog.

Yesterday when I was driving Murphy home from Dr Myers where he’d been boarded, he stuck his head out the window and enjoyed the car ride - apparently he takes pleasure in the simple joys of life. :)

Let’s discuss a number of awesome things, some sarcastically and some earnestly. In an awesome meeting this week with my advisors, we decided that my schedule for finishing my dissertation was too aggressive to get all the necessary results in and text reviewed, so my graduation slipped by a month! Awesome! Leslie put together an awesome invitation to this year’s camping trip to Utica reservoir:

How could you not go? Looks too awesome to miss. Also assuredly awesome is our upcoming road trip out to Colorado with the pup. You would not believe how many motels will let you bring your dog right in the room with you.

You’re probably thinking that there are too many awesome things in the world for you to keep track of all of them in your head, and you’re right. That’s why God created Awesome Overload as an authoritative source on awesomeness. Don’t miss it… they need submissions!

Yesterday I gave Jonathan the first three chapters of my dissertation for review. There will be many more chapters and many more drafts, but its a good feeling anyway. Summer is here, the puppy is six months old and infinitely more tolerable. You should check out the three new albums Leslie just perfected on the gallery. Let me whet your appetite (this one was taken by Clare):

Beware the ferocity of the puppy!

The one bit of our sprawlingly complicated TV setup that can’t be manipulated via remote control is the turning on and off of our XBox, which we use for watching DVDs. We have to actually get off the couch to turn it on and off. One night whilst lamenting this burden, Leslie had the epiphany that we could train Sous to do it. You know, she’s five months old now, she should be pulling her weight around the house.

It turns out it was pretty easy to do with the clicker… I just had to glue a piece of a plastic easter egg to the switch so she could hit it with her nose. There have been calls for internet video of the feat, and we’ve finally gotten around to it. So, by popular request:

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Comments

Johanna — 2008-04-27 21:48:38

Great video! How scary is my laugh though?

Ann — 2008-05-03 11:36:51

Very impressive!! So when will Sous be assisting with meal preparation? Maybe starting with the sauces?

Carligula — 2008-05-06 14:08:27

You wouldn’t need to train your dog to do that if you just played Wii instead ;)

bryan — 2008-05-06 14:29:55

We don’t play games on the XBox… we just chipped it to play DVDs and downloaded movies :)