I tend to purchase a whole bunch of games around Black Friday (I'm not a PC gamer, so no Steam sales for me), and then make an effort to play through most of them over the course of the next year. I'll pick up a few irresistible new titles here and there, but for the most part I'll wait until the next BF spending…

I'm about halfway through the original Assassin's Creed (I think I'm about halfway, anyway - nearly done with Memory Card 4) - it's a series which I've somehow managed to avoid entirely the past few years, but I decided it's finally time to give it a shot. I like it more in theory than in execution right now - it…

Honestly, getting through the second quest of 3D Land would have been much more enjoyable for me if I had been permitted to just plow through it without being forced to stop, re-play earlier levels and hunt for more stars on a regular basis. I still haven't finished to final world due to the huge number of stars it…

I'm more or less done messing around in Lego Marvel for the moment (I had contemplated going for 100%, but there are too many glitches/broken controls to make the notion appealing).

I generally kinda-sorta-mostly-like Lewis Black, but I couldn't even finish In God We Rust. He just seemed like he was on autopilot. Here's hoping his next effort is a step up.

I'm all in favor of Aimee Mann getting all the money. That is all.

I managed to catch Swans live when I was at Bonnaroo and found it a rather overwhelming experience - and not necessarily in a good way. I'm certainly impressed by the band's commitment to what they do, but a live show has rarely left me feeling so bleak. Maybe it was just the way the band's music clashed with the…

If Rolling Stone really wanted to stir up controversy, they'd give Springsteen's next album only three stars.

Likewise. Midway through season four at the moment. Oh, Sam and Diane, will you two ever make your crazy relationship work? And how about that Frasier Crane, huh? That guy's interesting enough to star in his own show!

Announcer: "In a world overrun by evil spirits…"

And the Spartacus ballet piece used over the opening credits gives me goosebumps every single time…

Yeah, I haven't seen Mud yet, but Take Shelter and Shotgun Stories are two of the finest films I've seen in recent years. Curious to see what Nichols will do working in new territory. Perhaps he'll ease the transition by setting all of this sci-fi chasing against a rural American backdrop filled with richly detailed…

I've never actually picked up one of their albums before, but I saw them perform the title tune on Jimmy Fallon recently and it's been stuck in my head for days. Think I'm going to download this one from Amazon when I get home.

You know, it's a little-known fact that 3.5 out of 10 explosions featured in film trailers don't actually make it into the final theatrical release. Yeah, and for reasons that still baffle statisticians, that number jumps to 4.7 when the movie was shot in Vancouver.

Alas, the oft-used phrase "Don't shoot me! I'm just the messenger!" failed to save the life of the poor soul tasked with telling the group that this year's Fourth of July parade had been cancelled.

Alas, the oft-used phrase "Don't shoot me! I'm just the messenger!" failed to save the life of the poor soul tasked with telling the group that this year's Fourth of July parade had been cancelled.

What's wrong with George Segal? The man was awesome in California Split.

What's wrong with George Segal? The man was awesome in California Split.

Wait - so there's a possibility that the coverage of a show which was unexpectedly cancelled due to low ratings could also be cancelled due to low ratings? That's terribly sad. Save the critical analysis of the show that couldn't be saved, people!