Ok first things first...it's September 15, 2004...and in less than 2 hours Electronics Boutique Express in the Bridgewater Commons mall will have my preordered copy of The Sims 2. Needless to say I'm very excited. I don't even know why. I liked the original and can remember getting from school, getting my homework done very astutely, and then playing for a good portion of the night. And boy did the time fly when you played that game. Here's some media for you to chomp on:

And some highlights I found interesting:

"The causality in the game is much more believable. The Sims have much more awareness of things going on around them, of social relationships, of where they are relative to their aspirations."

Q: So if I really mistreat my Sim, does he end up in a clock tower with a sniper rifle?
A: Not quite, but they definitely will go loony. We try to make the failure side more humorous. But at some point, they'll start to see imaginary people; just go totally bonkers. If you give them a screwed-up childhood, they can go in that direction, or they just might develop very particular phobias. They have memories, both good and bad, and they can develop positive or negative associations in connection with those memories that carry through into adulthood.

"The basic needs are coming from Maslow, the personality side is roughly Myers-Briggs, the childhood-to-adult transitions are more Freudian."


And another interesting story:

We're starting to sense a theme in today's People column:Harrison Ford narrowly escaped jury duty this week, and he has the small, incestuous world of entertainment to thank for it.Celebrity Justice says that Ford dodged duty in a Santa Monica, Calif., courtroom when he told the judge that he had a relationship with the defendant, MGM Studio head Alex Yemenidjian. Turns out, Yemenidjian's company helped greenlight Ford's next film project. "It was a big favor," Ford said. When the judge asked if he could remain objective, Ford
answered, "I'm only human."

U2's new album will be called "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb."

Tonight on NBC Siegfried and Roy: The Miracle airs at 9pm EST. I definitely want to see that...it was a very sad tragedy and this will be a "Roy tells it all" account.

And this little tidbit makes me want to vomit:

"Diving heedlessly into a new barrage of sexuality-questioning rumors, Hugh Jackman celebrated his last performance in the Broadway hit The Boy From Oz by giving Matt Damon a lap dance."

Dear Lord Hugh Jackman. Stop jacking off on Damon.

LOL:

"In Shark Tale, bad guys are identified by Italian and Italian-American names, such as Don Lino, Luca, Giuseppe and Gino and by their use of Italian- American phrases of speech and slang, such as "capeesh", "maronne" and "agita". The movie introduces a new generation of children to the idea that people with Italian names -- like millions of Americans across the country -- are gangsters. Shark Tale creates an association between villains and Italian-Americans that will become imprinted in the developing minds of children."

I'm guessing the Columbus crew (the corp. making the claims) is going to be really unhappy when they see the movie's climax, where a frustrated Will Smith fish throws a trashcan through the window of Shark-DeNiro's pizza place.

So I'm Ron Burgundy and that's news. Good night San Fransisco and @(#*@# you!