Alright, did some reading on GameFaqs, and looked into the issue of powerslides and "snaking" on the new Mario Kart Wii. Longtime fans will know that this was a major issue with Mario Kart DS, especially for online play.

Snaking, simply, means stringing together powerslide boosts one after another. In Mario Kart DS, you can activate the red powerslide boost by hopping, then pressing left-right three times while in a powerslide. You come away with a speed boost, the same as if you hit one of those old S.T.U.N. Runner boost pads. Some players - either nefarious or very skilled, depending on your take - learned how to endlessly string together these boosts on straight roads, creating a weaving, snake pattern. It also made them impossible to beat, since they were constantly driving at a higher speed. Mario Kart DS quickly devolved into a two-tier game, between the regular gamers and the snakers.

So this was my big issue for the Wii version. Was Nintendo aware of snaking? Was it intended in the first place, or was it merely unintened consequence? The new game is here now, and I think we can draw some conclusions.

I think Nintendo's overriding concern with Mario Kart is fairness, which means fairness for the novice or causal player especially. It's a democratic system - every player has an equal shot at winning, or at least the learning curve is easy enough for the rookie to become skilled. Snaking, I think, really broke this mantra down. It's not an easy technique, especially not easy to perform again and again, race after race. You really just have to have a certain reflex to pull it off. The problem is that it elevates you into an untouchable realm. By snaking, you've become one of the upper class snobs, while all the poor schlobs are left waddling around with their turtle shells. It's not fair. You can debate the pros and cons all you want, but at the end of the day, snaking just isn't fair.

I don't think this was something Nintendo ever intended, and there are many ways to fix the powerslide system to take this out of the equation. And this appears to have been the case. Powerslides are different on the Wii. Gone is the left-right mechanism which has been in place since Mario Kart 64. Now the drifting is much simpler. Powerslide boosts - first blue, then red - are awarded over time, nothing more. The only way to get that red boost is to stay in the drift for several seconds. The blue boost is effective, but slighter, and in the course of a given race, not much of a factor. In fact, the addition of ramps, bumps and halfpipes strip away much of the advantages of the old powerslides. This is a different Mario Kart, kids.

What this means, in a practical sense, is that it's now far more difficult to snake around the tracks. I'm really curious to see if it becomes a factor in this game. Possibly not. But you can never be sure; trying to find new tricks and tweaks is part of the fun, after all. But if some new trick emerges from Mario Kart Wii, it will be a new one. It won't be the DS snake.

I don't know about anyone else - as if anybody will actually read this - but I'm much happier with the new driving scheme. As always, take my opinions with a serious grain of salt. I don't own a Nintendo Wii, and likely won't for some time. You'll be able to see how it all plays out online; heck, by the time this posts, my thoughts may already be obsolete. Maybe. Maybe not. I just want a fair game that everyone wants to play. Viva Democracy! Games For All!

I had a little more time to play around with Mario Kart Wii at the Megamall, and it's definitely growing on me. This would easily be a "system seller" for me if Nintendo Wii was actually stocked anywhere. I am continually amazed at how well this little cream-colored box continues to sell. The last time I saw one on a store shelf was last August. At this rate, I'm openly wondering if I'll ever get one; then I sigh and go back to my turntable and record collection.

Back to Mario Kart Wii. An excellent game overall. I'm starting to grok the controls, or at least the basic Wiimote controls sans steering wheel. I can appreciate how well the steering wheel would improve things, since the game really is meant for that. I'm also aware that you can use Wiimote with Nunchuk, which should be very similar, but I haven't seen that at the Gamestop stores around here.

One great thrill for me has to be the new courses. The early beginning racetracks are pretty basic and standard, which is no surprise to seasoned Mario Kart freaks. The Star Course is where things get really interesting. One course takes place over a series of giant trees, where you are blasted into the branches, and then work your way down to the roots. There are some groovy curves on large branches that remind me of the tubes in F-Zero X, and I'm sure that's going to become a major cause for fistfights among friends. Then we add in some bumps - which enable you to perform show-offey stunts - and a halfpipe or two, and you've got a terrific thrill ride. This tree course may be my favorite Mario Kart in the whole of the series.

Ah, yes, a quick mention about stunts. You simply shake your Wiimote whenever you bump into the air. It can be a simple bump in the road, or one of the ramps, or one of the major jumping points like the red psychedelic mushrooms - someone needs to explain to me why Nintendo has always been so open about psychedelics. Weren't they the ultra-conservative ones, the guys who wouldn't stand blood and violence in Mortal Kombat? And yet, here they are, handing out psilosybin like Terence McKenna. Hmm...come to think of it, Terence McKenna raps would go perfectly with all-night sessions of Mario Kart.

There's another course on the Star circuit that takes place on water, where everyone races over a raging river. That's just wonderful from start to finish. The best part is when you suddenly find yourself careening over the waterfalls, and into some underwater tubes. There are also some narrow rocky passages, laden with halfpipes and ramps, of course. There's a bit of a balance between steering and driving responsibly, and playing risky and reckless with powerslides and stunts. Going the latter may pay dividends against your peers, but it's so much easier to fall off and crash away.

Twelve racers are present, instead of the old eight, and it's a great thrill. I'm expecting that online matches will include all racers, which makes me more interested for the online modes. As I wrote before in the last post, I don't know if "snaking" is present in this version, so hopefully we won't have the multiplayer games devolve into one or two expert racers that leave everyone else hopelessly lost in the dust. That was the one reason I grew tired of Mario Kart DS' online races. What's the point in competing against that?

I've trolled around gaming blogs for impressions, but it's tough to find anything. Most game sites like Go Nintendo, Joystick and Kotaku are merely interested in posting news items. They see themselves as the prozines redux, offering little more than free advertising in exchange for getting paid to play videogames. Where the bloody hell are the real videogame blogs? The real voices? The real opinions? I'm probably asking for too much, but whatever.

In any case, when I do find online discussions, they're all complaining. For me, this is a good thing. As I've said before, the hallmark of a Mario Kart is its ability to spark controvercy among the fans. Usually it's for trivial reasons, all of which point to the same whiny lament: "I can't win anymore." Well, boo hoo freakin' hoo, Timmy. That's what you get for wasting your twenties in front of a television set, instead of going outside and living. I don't really care if "rubber-banding," the slang for racers snapping back from the rear of the pack, costs you anything. I really don't care if you've been hit repeatedly by items. That's just part of the show, and it comes with being the leader in the race. If you're way out in front, there's a good chance you'll get hit multiple times by your rivals. Suck it up. It's part of the game.

And I can say this honestly, since my last race ended with me falling into second place after being hit four times by shells and bombs. The hallmark of a great multiplayer game is the ability to royally screw over your friends. It's what made M.U.L.E. so great. It's what made Super Bomberman 2 and Saturn Bomberman so great. It's what made Chu Chu Rocket and SF Rush 2049's Battle Mode so great.

So don't listen to the crybabies. Mario Kart Wii is a democratic racer - everybody has an equal shot at the gold.

I finally managed to play a little bit of Mario Kart Wii this week, since the game is now installed on the Wii kiosks at the Gamestop stores at the Megamall. Yes, I am still without a Nintendo Wii, although in all fairness, I haven't bothered to look for one since Christmas. My turntable and record collection are consuming all of my playtime.

But, anyway, at least I got to play a couple courses on the new Mario Kart. I realize I haven't spent nearly enough time to make any final pronouncements or any bold opinions, just first impressions and early vibes. And I have to be honest. My feelings are pretty mixed.

First the good. Mario Kart Wii looks terrific, is bold and bright and loaded with more karts than ever before. Trying to steer with the Wiimote on its side (sadly, without the steering wheel) was a bit of a mess for me, but it's a learning curve I'm sure can easily be fixed. I can understand why that steering wheel was packaged with the game - it really is necessary for driving.

I've long been a critic of analog thumbpads for racing games, since they never mimic the rotation of a steering wheel. It just never feels right. Mario Kart Wii gets it right, and that's a great bonus. This is something that will become more pronounced over time, as players become more skilled with the controls. Everything is intuitive and easy enough for just about anybody to get into the game. I'm really looking forward to playing this game for extended sessions with the wheel, and especially with friends. As soon as I can find some friends.

Being able to play online games will be endless fun, and having all your custom Mii's lurking the courses is bound to be good for a few laughs...depending on how weird your characters are. I can just see myself playing now, pulling a cool mid-air stunt, and waving hello to The Dude and Walter on my way down.

Now the downside. This is essentially the big-screen tv version of Mario Kart DS. Again, I've only raced on a couple courses, but I've got a pretty good vibe for the game. The same structure of old and new courses returns, as the multiple karts, as Mario Kart DS. Even the new racetracks feel like a continuation.

This just reinforces my belief that Mario Kart DS really was the series' peak, the absolute high point. It's a good thing, overall, especially since we can get straight to playing friends on the couch and online. But one of the things I loved about Mario Kart is that each game was essentially different. Most game series play it safe by repeating the same formulas, changing as little as possible...The Madden Effect. Hey, it sells, kids...this is consumer capitalism we're talking about. And yet Mario Kart was the lone holdout, the one series that dared to reinvent the wheel at every turn. This had the effect of splitting the fans with each new installment, but the upside is that each version remained fresh.

Super Mario Kart on the Super Nintendo is nothing like Mario Kart 64. They're completely different beasts, and that's a good thing. I can play both games and enjoy them equally on their merits. Mario Kart Double Dash was another shift, with the second player riding shotgun. Mario Kart on the Gameboy Advance was a throwback to the original, but that one was developed by Intelligent Systems instead of Nintendo proper, so it worked fine as a side project, instead of a full studio album. Finally, Mario Kart DS managed to bring together all the games' best traits, while adding all those extra karts, the brilliant track designs, online play, and the best damned steering in the whole series.

So that's where we've come from. Mario Kart Wii is the most conservative of them all. It takes the fewest risks; instead, Nintendo seems to have realized that the formula was pretty much perfected on DS. The only real gameplay gripe - and this is another one of those things that split the fans down the middle - was the "snaking," or the ability to endlessly chain together powerslide boosts. I tried in vain to figure out how to do the old powerslides on the Wii version, and I didn't have any luck. I don't know if the old "three left-rights" result in that red boost, or if you only get one powerslide now. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

Which brings us back to the present, where I'm complaining like a spoiled child. Mario Kart Wii is no doubt another triumph for Nintendo, and it should be a no-brainer for every Wii owner looking for that perfect game to appeal to the hardcore and the casual player. There's probably no other Wii title that can make that claim, apart from maybe Wii Sports. So ignore my faint sighing. So there doesn't seem to be any real surprises this time. So the jazz combo has perfected their sound. My fear is that I will lose interest and become bored with the "Mario Kart DS Director's Cut," where a completely different paradigm would hold my interest for years.

Ah, well. It's Mario Kart. What am I supposed to say about it? Discussing this series is like discussing a pizza. You already know everything there is to know. At this point in your life, you either like pepperoni or you don't, and you've learned to make your peace with that fact.

Are the primaries over yet? Just askin', although to be perfectly honest, I do enjoy this never-ending boxing match. Matt Taibbi's piece in Rolling Stone really made me appreciate the Ali-Frazier quality of this battle between Obama and Clinton.

That said...it would be nice to end these primaries sometime over the next month. I don't want to be thinking about this in August. I'm pretty sure no one does. But for now, it's all still part of the process and a lot of fun for political junkies. Grab the popcorn and enjoy.

Seven dollars for a gallon of gas? You know, it sounds crazy and overly pessimistic, but all the while it makes perfect sense. I think a $5.00 gallon of gas is inevitable in this country...what's another couple clams on top of that?

It's at this point that I point out that I've been without a car for the past 10 years. It royally sucks in a metropolitan area that has such a poor mass-transit system - although the arrival of the first light-rail line goes a long way. But the end of cheap oil isn't a sudden crisis. We've seen it coming for ages. We've had time to prepare and plan ahead. Now the chickens are coming home to roost, and we're thoroughly screwed.

If oil continues to climb past $150 in the next few months, then it's anybody's game. Anything could happen. And the consequences would be disastrous for our economy.

Which leaves me wondering....what's going to happen to the airlines? Will we still have airplanes to fly around in? I wanted to take a vacation overseas. I better hurry up before everyone goes bankrupt.

Gee....it's a good thing we invaded Iraq, right? That sure turned out fine.

Whenever I feel the pessimissism and cynicism creep up reagarding the 2008 Presidential campaign, I have to step back, take a breath, and politely remind myself that the truth will out. Americans really aren't that stupid. They really will vote on actual issues that affect their lives, not endless mass-media parades of triviality and bullshit.

So I go from feeling slight bouts of despair at the endless replays of Jeremiah Wright on the TV news stations - the unemployed woman who asked Obama about the flag at the last debate is iconic - to feeling a bit more optimistic. At the end of the day, everyone will have to deal with the endless war in Iraq, the worsening economy, rising bankrupcies, collapsing infrastructure, rising pollution, global climate change, domestic spying, torture as official US government policy....yadda yadda.

The bottom line is that George W. Bush's tenure in the White House has been a disaster. And it's widely seen as a disaster, by historians and the voters themselves. Don't even get started on world opinion - yes, Fry, there really is a "rest of the world." This spells doom for the Republican Party in November, any way you slice it.

And, sooner or later, attention will focus on the general election between Obama and McCain, and McCain will have to answer on those deeply unpopular issues. We've seen that this week, with the uneasy shifting around his "100 years" remarks about Iraq. You can shift it around and mold it all you want, but the simple truth is that the Republicans want us to stay in Iraq forever. Doesn't matter how many years of conflict or secatrian violence, followed by how many years of supposed peace and prosperity, ala Germany or Japan. The mantra remains the same: We Are Never Leaving.

Sooner or later, Iraq will sit closer to the center stage of our attentions, especially in the general election debates. Today, at least, I'll be optimistic and believe that Americans won't base their vote on who's wearing a flag pin, or whether gay people are kissing somewhere. Do you want an American military presence in Iraq for the next 100 years? Yes or no? It's an easy enough question for you.

This is going to be a looooong campaign. Don't squeeze the Sharmin. Pay attention to things.

Just so nobody feels that I am unduly pessimisstic about what will be Rodney King Beating 2008 - otherwise known as the 2008 Presidential Election - here are but a few of the latest examples of how this works, and where the blows will come from.

Example one comes from the Clinton campaign, which has thrown its lot in with the GOP machine months ago....hell, some of us cynics have always put the Clintons into that camp. But we're cranks. Ignore us. Don't pay attention to the fact that Hillary Clinton is doing the Republicans' dirty tricks for them, and is even stooping to providing the slime themselves.

Hmm...I have to wonder. When she gets dressed in the morning, and she's washing her face and brushing her teeth, does Hillary have to hammer those horns back into her head? Bam-Bam-Bam-Bam! Get back down there! I'm just wondering. I wonder if the same thing happened when she was denied Prom Queen back in high school. Did she try to break the legs of her rival then as well? The problem, of course, is that we're the ones taking the blows as well.

Example two deals with the other major accomplice, our corporate news media. Call it propaganda, call it bullshit, call it whatever. Their job is to keep you dumb proles dulled and stupid and unaware of how bad you're really being screwed. John McCain is their boy, their Best Friends Forever with hearts over the i's.

Here's where the media one-two punch comes in and knocks you silly. The first punch involves ignoring or pretending to ignore anything McCain says that is, well, unpleasant. Pointing out his confusions over Shia and Sunni, for example, or his campaign's desire to peg any and all terrorism as "Al Qaeda," thus aiming to scare you stupid with visions of airplanes crashing into buildings.

In this example, the McCain campaign complains loudly that Barack Obama has distorted and lied about something McCain spoke about the economy during the Bush years. The only problem is that it's all completely true. Standard politics, we expect, and thank goodness for the internet for making it easier to spot the bullshit.

But don't expect most Americans to ever know any of that. ABC faithfully parroted the McCain version without a hitch. The same ABC that cracked the baton over Obama's head this week. Small world, that.

Example three. This is really the worst of the lot, the piling on of the bullshit. It's like watching the charging of the bulls in Spain, only there's no escape. This is where my fury at mumu-tailored stupid voters kicks in.

This will be the major smear against Obama, the point where most of the batons and sticks will come crashing down. Yesterday it was old pastors. After that it was flag pins. Somewhere back it was secret Islam belief, and schooling at a Muslim madrassa. Today it's Hamas.

By November, half the electorate will be convinced Barack Obama is an actual terrorist. Either he will be morphed into Hewey Newton, or Usama bin Laden, or Saddam Hussein (as was Max Cleland in 2002). Or maybe it's Hamas or some other group. No matter. Month after month, the Great Rodney King Beating of 2008 will exact its toll on Obama. The stupid dumbfucks that show up to vote won't hear anything more, and won't bother to look around. Because, you know, that involves things like, you know....reading. Reading is bad. Smart is bad.

Ooh! American Idol's on! And Tomcat's breaking up! What will happen to the baby? And Brittney's drunk again! Another white woman has disappeared! What's that? Lost your job? The economy is sliding into a Depression? Arctic ice melting? Uhh...I dunno. What's that? Ohh...I hear Obama's a ter'ist...or sum'thn.

Wake up, stupids. Get your acts together. It's your children who are going to pay dearly for this. Your grandchildren will stomp on your graves....before they go extinct. Wake up.

An excellent, must-read piece from the New York Times, on the tentacles of the Military-Industrial Complex and the War Pigs. Read and share, folks. Read and share.

I don't think most folks really appreciate the degree that all these various elements that mean us harm - corporate conglomerates, the war industry, Christian fundamentalism, and the Republican Party - are intertwined. To a great extent, these are multiple tentacles from the same creature.

You are being sold to and lied to, America. You have always been lied to. It is the nature of Big Brother and the party of the War Pigs. Better start waking up.

I'd like to be optimistic about the election, and, yes, by all rights this should be a collosal blowout. But then again, I've thought the same about the last two elections.

The sad reality is that McCain is even or slightly ahead in the national polls. Americans can be unhappy all they want. They're still unbelievably stupid and far too easily distracted.

Remember the woman who infamously asked the flag question? Well, it seems she was a subject in a NT Times piece some days ago. The funny part? The part that just makes me laugh out loud? This woman recently lost her job.

Hah. HAH! That...is...damn...funny!

You've lost your job, the economy is in the tank, you're living in fear of losing your home, FOUR TRILLION dollars have just disappeared, and we're mired in a Permanent War that will outlive us all.

But Obama isn't wearing a flag pin. Stupid fucker. I'm gonna find where this woman lives and throw eggs at her house. If she catches me, I'll just blame it on Al-Qaeda. She'll buy into it, the dumbass.

Should I bother to point out that....ah, skip it. Would it make any difference? This is how every US Presidential election is decided. By repeating and repeating stupid, pointless bullshit, with no connection to the real world whatsoever. Mindless drivel which will propel our national media coverage, consuming all the airtime and sucking all oxygen out of the room.

We can hope that this time, this time, the Americans will bother to wake up enough to drag their fat asses off the couch, put down the Doritos, and pay attention long enough to realize they're being screwed into the ground. We've been hoping this for decades. But it never seems to happen. And election after election slips out of the hands of the Democrats.

I listened to that ABC debate this week on public radio, and caught the highlight reels on TPM. It was an embarrassment. Barack Obama was beaten down. Beaten down just like Rodney King all those years ago. Beaten down by the corporate media and their right-wing fluffers. Beaten down by Hillary Clinton, who has finally decided to switch sides and stick it to us all because we wouldn't coronate her Prom Queen. But most of all, Obama was beaten down by stupid fuckers like that woman, yet another in the sea of American Idiocracy, who blindly buys into mindless bullshit like flag pins and who loves America more.

Obama just sat there and took it. He clearly looked angry and frustrated. But he also appeared confused by this assault. Why should he? My only surprise is that the beatings didn't begin sooner. But now it's open season, and this is the level of our political discourse until November.
And, just in case you haven't noticed, John McCain is even or slightly ahead in the polls. The Republican Party has broken this nation, stripped the treasury bare, and left its citizens in a pile of garbage and rubble.

For all that endless abuse, Americans will reward the Republicn Party with another term in the White House. Let that sorry fact sink in.

If the Democratic leadership doesn't get its game together, it's headed for yet another sorry defeat in November. At this rate, I'd say it's all but inevitable. It's not that I'm a pessimist about this....alright, maybe I am. I just don't have any faith in the American Mind. I don't believe the American Mind even exists.

In past elections, it was Dukakis in a tank. Then it was Al Gore sighing loudly. Then it was John Kerry windsurfing and ordering swiss cheese. Now it's Barack Obama's turn through the spin cycle. By November, at least a third of the electorate will be convinced that he was the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. This is why the Republicans let Usama bin Laden out the door, you see. They held the door open for him, smiling and shaking hands. If you're not aware of this....well, Americans are unaware of a great many things. It's probably late in the day to start picking old sores. You'll probably notice that my jacket doesn't have a flag pin; and then I'd tell you the jacket was a gift from a Muslim friend, and all hell will break loose.

Don't kid yourself. Odds are very good that John McCain will be our next President.

I really, really want one of these.

Doesn't this just look cool? Really, it's one of those things that literally jumps out at you. This is a Bellari Phono Preamp. It's extremely cheap as far as preamps go (less than $250), which are horribly expensive, and only cement the notion that hi-fi audio is a game for the idle rich. This also happens to be a tube amp.

The most coveted amplifiers for your stereo system (with turntable, of course) are those with vacuum tubes. Tubes give a warmer, deeper sound to your music, and they happen to look really cool as well. Check out some of the higher-priced models, with stacks of vacuum tubes glowing brightly. For the music lover, a good tube amp is essential in bringing out the most of the sound from your stacks of vinyl. Music, like all things in creation, shares a fractal dimension - the trick is to be able to dig deep enough to pull out all of the sound.

So that's the next item for my growing stereo system. I've been searching around for a good tube amp, and the name Bellari keeps popping up. It's received the highest praise from audio reviewers like Stereophonic Magazine, as well as our beloved, local Needle Doctor. And who can resist Fire Engine Red? More bonus points for having the tube pop out of the top. Far too many tube amps are dull to look at, usually no more than a metal box. The models with actual tubes sticking out for the world to see typically cost more than my college education.

The vinyl revival has opened up the audiophile market to a degree it hasn't seen in a generation. Since the rise of compact discs and digital music, this was a small scene, mostly those with money to burn. You could spend $5,000 or $10,000 easily, once you've pieced everything together. There needs to be a push towards that lower end, without sacrificing quality. Pretty much the only turntables available for under $300 are cheap, lousy plastic toys, more disposable garbage for the birds to gorge themselves on. And let me tell ya, the difference between the $100 plastic Newmark Portable and the $300 Project Debut III is stunning.

Power to the People, I say! For the rest of us normal people - you know, the ones about to be hit by The Great Depression II, Brought to you by George W. Bush - we need some quality audiophile gear that won't send us to the poor house. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on this little fire truck.

These are our oceans. Just think about that for a minute. We are literally drowning in vast oceans of plastic trash.

Seriously, do human beings really want to go extinct? Have we just decided that this is it, that we've had a good enough run, and now it's time for the next species to pick up the slack? Plastic now covers 40% of our oceans - a full quarter of the Earth's surface is loaded up with garbage, plastics designed to never decay, never rot, never break down. Previous civilizations have their monuments. Egypt had its pyramids. Greece had its Parthenon. Rome had it Coliseum. And we have millions of tons of plastics.

Add in the overfishing of our oceans, the rising global temperatures - thanks to the plastics' papa, fossil fuels - coral bleaching, and rising levels of acidity, we are literally killing the oceans themselves. Within our lifetimes, all life contained in the oceans will be extinct. Good lord, this is absolutely terrifying.

P.S. I should also say that I found another photo of a gull carcass, and I wanted to post it here, but it was just too damned chilling and horrifying for me to even look at. I'll describe it for you. There are a pair of bird wings. And instead of a dead bird, there's a huge pile of plastic garbage shaped like a bird. There goes my appetite.

A few interesting looks at the stereo system in my apartment. The stereo receiver is a Marantz 2235B from 1977. the speakers are RCA speakers from...well, whenever. And the turntable, of course, is the Pro-Ject Debut III. It's a terrific little setup - note the speakers are off the floor and away from the walls. Turns out I was very lucky, as this apartment is just perfect for a stereo system. I'll just need some new speaker wire, and a couple interesting little tweaks which will improve the sound - a cork board platter for the turntable mat, for instance, and a custom method to "float" the components, by resting the turntable on parts that will cancel out extra vibrations....vibrations that interfere with the sound of the music.

Room acoustics and canceling vibrations are the two main challenges in improving your stereo sound. Fortunately, these goals are far cheaper than simply paying for more and more expensive equipment. You're far better off working to optimize the equipment you have - work on your current system before spending a fortune on hideously expensive speakers and turntables. Yuck - this is such a rich man's game.

Oh, and here are some photos of the apartment from different angles, just so you get a sense of the living room. I really need to work on improving the acoustics in the apartment; removing all that needless echo that dampens and muddies up the sound. I have some good ideas for soundproofing, while keeping a sense of style. Once we add some picture frames and plants, the sound will really be something.