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So, apparently Mario Golf came out today. I fell asleep at the wheel and the release date slipped by my radar, to mix a metaphor or two. Mario Golf on the N64 was one of my favorite games, bar none.

Oddly enough it also had one of the better physics engines. Players had a natural draw or a fade, some were weaker or stronger. Lies on hills (sidehills and up/downhill) affected your shot. The wind acted as wind does. Mario Golf had cartoon characters, yeah, but the physics engine, however simplified, beat some of the more "serious" games out there.

I'm looking forward to beating José. Now where oh where is Mario Kart?

Question: If you could grab the buttocks of someone famous, whose would you grab?

My Answer: Jennifer Lopez is an obvious answer, but I've never quite seen what all the ruckus was about. I'm a tummy/leg kinda guy, so whatever ass is attached to those two things tends to be okay by me. But it's my question, and I've got to answer it, so I'm going to go with… uhhh… Kate Beckinsale. She's the youngest of my top three most attractive women, so why not?

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

So today I "rejoined" Friendster. I had joined quite a few months ago, when my pal Mike invited me, and then I'd basically done nothing with it. Today, another friend mentioned it. I signed up as his friend, then spent a few minutes exploring "the network." I sent a few messages to some chicks (of course!), just to gauge the response, and hopefully eventually I'll be able to find some gals (and guys) with which to do things like kayak, blade, ride bikes, whatever.

We'll see. It's an amazing little bit of technology. I've heard it goes down fairly frequently in the past, but perhaps that's changed lately.

If you're on Friendster, and you consider me a friend (a word I reserve for those I've actually gotten to know quite well, typically), well send me an invitation or add me as a friend and I'll approve you. You can find me pretty easily if you know my full name - there ain't many of us walking around this earth.

Just a miscellaneous Sunday.

A close friend of mine moved to Orlando. We've not been seeing eye to eye lately and are both a little confused about a bunch of things, but I'm confident that we can pull through.

José got back from a trip and will come back next Friday to help me put up my kayak pulley system (and a bike hanger too, I think). I'm really looking forward to that.

My apartment is as messy as it's ever been. Since my mother and grandmother are coming to stay for a week very soon, it's going to get a major cleaning very very soon. I realized that most of my storage is taken up by storage. In other words, a lot of the crap that I should throw out is boxes: my 12" PowerBook box, my display's box, my printer's box. I keep them because I figure it will be easier to sell them, and plus should I need to move, I've got lots of boxes, but they're impeding my ability to live as comfortably as I could if I replaced the storage with stuff that actually needs stored instead of finding a home for it on the floor.

The book deal I mentioned on April 23 has still not come to fruition. I'm beginning to get very frustrated at the rate at which the whole thing is progressing. I've been ready to "bust out" and "crank it out" for two months now, and I'm being held back by… by I don't know what. Hopefully soon.

Question: If you could design your ideal candy bar, what would be your ingredients?

My Answer: Caramel, dark chocolate, nougat, and those krispy things. That sounds about right. My favorite real-world candy bar is either a Snickers or a 100 Grand, depending on my mood.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

When oh when will I be able to look at something like this and not chuckle to myself?

Hopefully never. 😀

Question: How many strip clubs have you been to? How many had male strippers?

My Answer: I've been to one strip club. One. I went about six times (two times a year for three years straight). That's it. I haven't gone since I came to Florida.

What's odd about a strip club is that it's a great place to go with your guy friends, and not just for the normal reasons. If you invite guy friends over to study, you end up bitching about classes or talking about the hottie in your physics class. If you invite them over to watch sports, you talk about sports. Invite a bunch of guys to a strip club and, in my experience, you end up talking about stuff that matters - life, family, trials and tribulations - and the awkward silences are easily filled with "look, naked hot chicks everywhere!"

P.S. No male strippers. Not even any alcohol - but all the Coke you could drink for $6 cover charge!

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

Question: If you could move anywhere, where would you move?

My Answer: Paris, France. They have the best desserts and some pretty attractive women to boot!

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

I'm trying to think of ways to store my kayak. So far, there are basically three competing possibilities: on the car, in the parking lot, and in my apartment. Each has its plusses and minuses, and in no particular order, they are as follows:

On the Car
Thinking: If I have to put it on my car to go to the waterfront, why not just leave it there?
Plusses: No need to move the kayak anywhere. "Pick up and go" functionality. Car will be even easier to spot in crowded parking lot. Inexpensive.
Minuses: Theft. I'll look like a retard driving around with a kayak attached permanently to my car. Weathering.

In the Parking Lot
Thinking: Build a big box, wrap a tarp around it, and chain the whole thing up to keep it secure.
Plusses: Short distance from car to this "kayak garage." Get to play with power tools to construct kayak condom.
Minuses: Mild chance of theft (my scooter has lasted a year or two chained to nothing but itself, so…). It might look odd.

In the Apartment
Thinking: Rig up a pulley system so that I can hoist my kayak above my breakfast bar. Vaulted ceilings have some use, after all.
Plusses: Conversation piece. No real chance of theft. Fairly inexpensive, probably.
Minuses: Walls are drywall, so rigging something like this up may take some serious effort. Would be forever fearful kayak would fall on me as I eat my Rice Chex. Apartment complex may have a cow if they ever see it. Carrying kayak up to second story apartment may be awkward.

So there we have it. I'll know more on Saturday when José comes down to mess around with the whole thing.

So that "other" music service is out now, and it does nice things like restrict usage of your songs to one machine, charge you $9.49 for 2-song albums, and so on. The simple fact that the licensing is different for nearly every song should be enough to confuse the hell out of anyone. The nifty thing about the service I tend to use is that everything is pretty much the same, and I don't have to figure out what I can do with each of the (to date: 15) songs I've purchased.

Question: Who is your favorite redhead?

My Answer: Kate Winslet had red hair in Titanic, kind of, didn't she? Does she count? If no, then Tom Cruise's ex is pretty spiffy, as is my friend Lisa. Hmmm, tough call. Pebbles had red hair, didn't she? Bah, forget it, let's just go with Nicole.

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.

I just took a bike ride over to Lake Ida (my scooter apparently has a dead battery - I'm going to try to start it up later tonight when it's cooler out and I can tolerate pushing down on the kick-start repeatedly). Man that lake is dirty!

A few jetskis, a few waterskiiers, and a whole lot of black people fishin' on the piers and docks. That's what's there. The wind was kicking up just a little, so that's something I'll have to take into account when I get kayaking out there. I didn't see any good launching spots - all pretty steep with grassy, rocky banks. Disappointing to say the least, but I'll do what I can.

I'm really at a point - again - in my life where I'm about to be very busy. I always try to be busy, but sometimes I lapse into a coma of sorts and nothing gets done. I'm working four jobs or so, trying to be more active outside of work (sports activities, new hobbies, etc.) and whatnot. I'd like to find time to squeeze in a gal pal, but then again I'm not sure I'm up for that. My last relationship has humbled me quite a bit, and for someone without much of an ego to begin with, let's just say I don't think too highly of myself as an attractive candidate for dating. It's all in my head, but that's where a good relationship blossoms. If the soil's rotten, ya ain't gettin' any beautiful blooms.

Just a little rambling…

Not really being one to wait, I purchased a Florida freshwater fishing license today. Say that five times fast. I say "not being one to wait" because you can check the timestamp of my post earlier today to see when I first began to give it serious thought. I've not yet even got a kayak, but a new license should arrive in about a week.

Hey, it was only $13.50 (plus a buck or two for eAngler.com fees). It's good for a year. Florida has a lifetime license - something I'm pretty sure PA ain't got - for about $300. Not a bad deal at all! If I thought I might live in Florida for more than, oh (quick math: $300/$15.00) twenty years or so, I might do it, but twenty years is a long freakin' time. I'd probably lose it after two or three anyway. 🙂

I didn't add on the saltwater options. I may do so eventually, but I don't know jack squat about the freshwater fishing down here let alone the whole freakin' ocean.

The June, 1987 issue of Great Lakes Fisherman, documents my first "limit" of fish - brown trout caught in 20 Mile Creek (because it was twenty miles from somewhere - 12 Mile Creek was also popular). I used to be quite the little trooper in a lot of ways. I fell through ice while fishing, I braved frostbite, I waded, I trolled, I cast, I baited, I tied. I hooked, I caught, I released, and I kept and ate.

My recent kayak research has led me back to fishing. I've found little time for golf down here lately - it's everywhere in Florida, but that also means it's crowded and expensive. I never really left nature, like my dad feels when I took up computers (and golf, hockey, etc.) instead of fishing and hunting - I just took up sports that were more accessible at the time (especially to a single).

Now I'm back to considering fishing again. Not saltwater fishing, necessarily (not on the ocean anyway) because I haven't got the gear. But my dad's got a lot of equipment he says he may donate, and I have a few lakes around that may provide a nice backdrop. I don't really know. I don't think I'll ever get into fishing like some people, but it may be relaxing to sit about on a kayak and toss around a lure for a few hours in the evenings.

Only 3-4 weeks until I get the darn kayak. Still much work to do beforehand, like, trying to decide where to put it…

Question: Hunting: good or bad?

My Answer: Good. No, not every hunter is good - some are outright pricks and they give the other 99% - the honest, sporting hunters - a bad name, just as a few bad CEOs can make everyone who owns a business seem a bit shady. However, the vast majority of hunters (and fisherman) care more about the wilderness, nature, and the creatures that inhabit it than any talking head saying "hunting is evil."

You are encouraged to answer the Question of the Day for yourself in the comments or on your blog.