[EPHEMERA]
I am now an official Nucleus worker-bee, complete with business card. Last weekend was the Ephemera show; it proved to be a double-edged sword. On one hand, the artwork is incredible and was met with an overwhelmingly positive reception. On the other hand, we were slightly (or not so slightly) unprepared for the draw, for a combination of reasons that were within and beyond our control. Next time will be better... I am proud of Nucleus and can't wait to help improve everything.

[MOVING]
We've packed up, cleaned, and moved our belongings into our new digs. It was utter, last-second madness... we literally finished moving the last load around 2:00am on our last day at the old place. Never again, I tell you. Actually, it will probably happen again in about 6 months, thanks to our somewhat short-term lease. But from now until then... never again! Off with your head, moving. On the brighter side, this new place is great, and several great meals have already been cooked and devoured thanks to the bright and airy and open kitchen with island. The projector is up for movies and games and the studio/music room is almost complete for headphone-practice sessions. It feels great.

[KOTORI]
An all-new format is wrapping itself around the content that is Kotori, and it will be unleashed in the later part of this month. I've been hard at work on the new backend and frontend of the future of the magazine, and it's exciting. It's also exhausting, and I'm almost completely drained. I will take a break after this issue is released.

[GAMES IN BETWEEN WORK]

• "King of Kong" was well-directed, edited and emotional. Although it is technically a documentary on two Donkey Kong champions, it is more about character and determination. If you're not a game fan, you should still enjoy it.
• Watching Kazu play Bioshock was refreshing. It proves that there is still some imagination and story-telling power in a gaming industry that is saturated with clones. It was graphically beautiful, but its artistry was strong on a much deeper level. And I got to see Kazu sitting in front of the TV, controller in one hand, popcorn in the other. I think that is a good enough review of the game.
• The Bourne Ultimatum was awesome! What a clever tie-in to the second film! Go see it!
• We've been watching some of Planet Earth HD and it is oh-so-crispy and beautiful. HD media is better than I expected; it is one step closer to moving-photography and that is neat.
• Resident Evil 4 is one of the best games I've ever played, and the only game I've played that actually makes me jump and freak out and belt out frightened noises. With the lights out and the volume up, all of us have been scared. What an amazing game.
• My first reaction to Metroid 3 was not so great. I didn't like seeing Samus without her mask. She looked more like Barbie than someone who is supposed to be toughened from battle and raised in space. It was also odd to walk around a super-populated federation ship with people bumbling about their business. It felt like Halo or Star Wars, but not metroid. It wasn't lonely, reflective or thoughtful. And there were a bunch of bounty-hunters that just felt like art students' character design projects, not actual people that would live in that world. But I've been playing it a little more and it's starting to feel more and more like Metroid, and I'm maybe taking that judgement back. It controls great, at least. :)
• I got a card for my DS that lets me load it up with homebrew applications, and the best part about it is being able to "play" all the Japanese writing/training games that people have made for it. I'm hoping to mess around with writing my own DS mini-game in the near future. Yeah right. Maybe in a year or so.