web-goddess

Salon wonders when Japanese “dancing” videogames will finally strike it big in the States. They’ve actually got them here in the UK and they’re amazing to watch. Every time I go in Funland in the Trocadero, the same two Asian kids are there in the middle of a circle of admirers workin’ it. They’ve even got extraneous bits worked out to dazzle the crowd – touching the floor, leaping over the bar, and spinning on the buttons. I don’t think I could ever do it myself though. Way too embarrassing. I did play Parappa the Rapper on Playstation though, which was fun. I lived with a guy from Hong Kong who had all the best bootleg Japanese games. Too bad all Americans want to play is Quake and Super Tecmo Bowl.

AICN reports on the “Harry Potter” movie and the rumored regional differences. Basically, the original book was called “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,” but we Americans are dumb and don’t like to buy books with words like “philosopher” on them. So they changed it to “Sorceror’s Stone” and switched a few references in the text for the U.S. version. The movie will also go by the two different titles, but it will be the exact same film and use the word “philosopher” in the dialogue. Get it? Whew. As long as they get everything else right, I don’t mind.

Lots of people are up in arms about Bush’s immediate foray into anti-abortion tactics, but for me, his shoddy HTML is the real reason to panic. Even Jakob is dissing the White House site!

Noooo! Say it ain’t so! Converse has officially filed for bankruptcy. Another integral part of my alterna-teen image bites the dust. R.I.P. good friend.

Someone wrote an excellent response to the article about ND’s rising tuition. Would somebody like “Rudy” still be able to attend ND today?

I wish finals had been postponed while we were at Notre Dame. That would’ve been fun.

A theology professor from my University wrote an article examining SUV’s (sport utility vehicles, or “utes” as my Aussie would call them) from a Catholic moral standpoint. This is the sort of thing that I really LOVED about going to a religious school. Even though I didn’t share their beliefs, I still got to look at issues (even mundane ones!) from an entirely different perspective.

Attention all SUV owners: Todd David Whitmore examines them in relation to Catholic social tradition and comes to the conclusion that they’re all about image and not about safety. Which isn’t exactly a genius concept or anything, but I liked the unique approach. Ahhh, Notre Dame.

Huh. Not only is the University gearing up to make significant repairs to the Stadium, but they’re also suing the architect and engineer to try and get them to foot the bill. I guess that water leak at the first game was more serious than we thought…

I agree with all of Max’s comments about teachers having favorites, and I’ll just add one more thing. I’ve got several friends who currently teach high school, and I get the impression that “favorites” are sometimes the only thing that keeps a teacher going on a bad day. When my buddy Andrew is struggling through another freshman Geometry class with a room full of obnoxious 15-year-old boys, it’s vital that there’s at least one student in the room who can be counted on for a smile of commiseration and an answer to keep the discussion going. It’s got nothing to do with the student’s grades or athletic ability and everything to do with their attitude and respect for the teacher.