I finally received my five free HD-DVDs in the mail the other day, and the timing was good and bad. Bad because it seems like I’ve made the wrong choice in the format war (think Beta vs. VHS except that no one cares who wins), and good because I've come down with a nasty cold this week and my cable has been on the fritz. HD-DVD appears to be doomed

because Warner Bros. has decided to only release movies in the rival Blu-Ray format (previously they were releasing in both formats). They did this on the eve of the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) and it was a big surprise since the formats were running neck and neck. HD-DVD had just reached a very nice price point (I bought mine for only $100) and was primed to reach mass acceptance, but now it seems that Sony's pricier format will end up the winner (unless online delivery and digital storage become practical first). Of course, there is an upside to picking the losing format... there should be tons of high quality hi-def movies on clearance soon and I plan on picking up quite a few.

Hey, I’m finally getting around to posting another pic from my trip. Here is Hoover Dam at sunset. I must admit that I really like to see structures like this more than seeing gaudy lights on the strip (the pirate show at Treasure Island was especially inane, though entertaining for other reasons). My charming host and tour guide had been on the official tour at the dam before, so I was prepared and ready to raise my hand for the “guess how many” questions, but never had the chance because it was the last tour of the day and they wanted to get us up top so that we could take some sunset pics. Anyone going to Vegas should definitely take the drive out to the dam, but I’d advise you to eat in the city before heading out, otherwise you might end up chowing down in a Pizza Hut in Boulder City that's well past its prime.

Well, I just got back from my trip to Las Vegas, and saw some cool stuff there. My favorite part of “the strip” was this fountain show at the Bellagio hotel. My least favorite part was all the people obnoxiously trying to hand out little cards for “girls to your room in 20 minutes”. Oh, and since the Nevada primary is this week, there were tons of political ads every time I turned on a television. Sin city, indeed.

Okay, it's a few days late but Happy New Year! I have a good feeling about this coming year, so much so that apparently I thought it was a good idea to wear these Elton John-esque “glasses” at the very beginning of it. Special thanks to T&L for inviting me and Jazzy to their NYE party.

You all know that I'm not a big fan of winter, but this year I've been determined to enjoy the chilly season as much as possible. So a while back I bought myself a snowboard and just recently needed tires and decided to buy my first-ever set of snow tires. I found some Blizzak REVOs at Tire Rack that were a great deal and had them put on. The tires were admired by two of my brothers at Christmas on their way in without any advance notice, though that probably says more about them than it does about the tires. So now I just have one problem - the lack of snow. I have apparently jinxed the weather (hey, if a butterfly can cause a hurricane then I can prevent snow storms) and now there is no snow in our future. Winter, it seems, is doing its best to prevent me from having fun on the slopes and on the roads.