I’ve been playing World of Warcraft for a long time.  I’ve spent time raiding, soloing, pvping, and just about everything else you can imagine.

I consider myself to be in semi-retirement now, not being a member of a guild and not raiding on any regular schedule, but even still it takes a lot to make me smile anymore in relation to the game.

I’ve seen it all.  I was there for almost every major event in WoW history; if not in game then in spirit as I read the blogs that chronicle every nuance of every event.

But this morning, something happened that I wasn’t expecting and that I’ve never seen.

I was checking my mail in Shattrath City when there was an announcement — Level 70 Elite Tauren Chieftain would be performing in the World’s End Tavern (home of such auspicious patrons as Haris Pilton) at the top of the hour.

I looked at the clock — 5:59am.  Perfect.  I hopped on my wyvern and headed down to the tavern to see what the fuss was all about.

And sure enough, the band showed up and performed one song.  It was just me and a lone Draenei Pally in the audience, but I partied like it was 1999, stripped down to my tabard, and did my Britney dance.

Apparently this is not a new phenomenon, but it has escaped my attention until this morning when it hit me by complete surprise.  I /cried when they finished their set, and the Draenei Pally /comforted me.

With as much reading and playing as I do, I don’t know how I’ve always missed the L70ETC concerts, but I’m glad I did.

The surprise was able to bring a smile to my face from a game that rarely does anymore.  It’s always the little things…

(click on the pictures for something that doesn’t resemble a blurry mess)

Bush pledges what now?

It seems Heroes has run out of ideas of what they can possibly do with their original baddie, Gabriel ‘Sylar’ Gray.

They have one of the most interesting villains ever conceived — played by one of the most charismatic and interesting actors on television — and what do they do?

They start treating Sylar like a bad run of 1980s Barbies.

This week we got ‘Secret Agent Sylar’ complete with HRG sidekick and slick New York accent.  Push his belly and he’s sure to say funny things that all Secret Agents say.

For example, “We’re going to need some coffee!”

Next week it looks like we get ‘Housewife Sylar’ which is sure to set villain rights back about 50 years.  Perhaps he’ll come with a vaccuum cleaner and some baking pans.

Oooh maybe they will also release the ‘Housewife Sylar’ dream kitchen, complete with Peter Petrelli in his slippers and smoking jacket!

Push Peter’s belly and you can hear him say, “Get in the kitchen and make me a pie or I’ll stop time, freeze you, nuke your hair, sonically destroy your ears, and tell you your future as a Barbie!”

Don’t get me wrong.  Season 3 is thus far leaps and bounds better than the disaster that was Season 2, but they have to find something better for Sylar to do.  He’s simply too good of a character to treat this way.

Why make him the partner of HRG for only one episode?  The concept of Sylar being an agent was actually a good one that could have led to tons of creepy dialogue and interesting character development.

And what’s with him suddenly being the (half?)-brother of Peter and Nathan.  Seriously?  Can we say left field?

Sylar is the best character Heroes has.  I literally cringe to see him treated like a bad Barbie doll.

Tune in next year to see ‘Star Trek Sylar!’

I may not have mentioned it before, but along with my love of Star Trek and movies I’m also a bit of a fan of Leave It To Beaver.

Though it is dated, silly, and not all representative of what life in the fifties was probably really like, it’s still a great show with some of the best displays of tv tropes in our short television history.

This past weekend I watched an episode all about Wally.  He started dating a girl who’s older sister (by 3 years) was already married.

Ward and June were absolutely horrified by all of the time Wally was spending with the married couple and were sure he was going to drop out of high school and get married prematurely.

So, being good parents they questioned him about his new girl over dinner.  Wally got short with them, and finally asked them to stop. Why?

And I quote: “It’s kinda creepy like when the gym coach watches you shower.”

Wait–what? Did Wally really just say that?  Wally was playing ball for a pedophile and his parents are worried about a girl?

Ah.  The fifties.  So innocent.

On the front page of CNN today you can find this article titled “10 ways to avoid a speeding ticket.”  It’s originally from AOL Autos, but I don’t think that really matters.

No matter how you look at it, this is unacceptable garbage journalism.  If CNN wrote an article titled “How to duck the cops while running a prostitution ring out of your basement” I’m pretty sure they’d receive a little bit of flak.

Speeding is illegal.  Publishing, writing, or endorsing an article on a professional level which discusses effective ways to safely break the law is downright absurd.

Someone should seriously be fired for that.  Anyone with half a brain should know not to publish that.  Would that same person publish an article about the most effective way to dispose of a dead body?  I bet not.

I’m not trying to be a hypocrite here.  I know we all speed.  I speed, you speed, your mom speeds, and my cats would speed if they could drive — but that’s not the point.

We’re all breaking the law when we’re speeding and whatever clever contraptions we may use to try avoid getting caught doesn’t make the act any less illegal.

I especially like this tip from the article: “If it’s ok legally, get a radar dector.”

If we’re going to promote criminal behavior, I say let’s go all out.  Couldn’t they spare a few words on how to hide a radar detector from the police?

I don’t know why I even read CNN anymore.  They post sensationalist headlines that are oftentimes outright lies, and now they are promoting the breaking of laws by their readership.  The whole organization has descended into unprofessional madness.