Only four days left

Mass Effect 2
Well, it's the home stretch now. Mass Effect 2 is out in less than four days. To you, those will feel like four days. To me, they will feel like four eternities squished together and slathered with eon icing. I was holding onto a hope that I might get a review copy delivered before the end of the day but, yeah, no. That's cool. Maybe Monday? If not then, then Tuesday I'll either get a review copy, my collector's edition or both. I know, I sound like Gollum -- and I'll probably look like him when I emerge from my cave/couch weeks from now, having completed several playthroughs of awesomeness. Until I get the game in my grubby little hands, I will watch this launch trailer until my synapses fry -- with tears of joy streaming down my face.

Lost
Hey, are you ready for the return (and final season) of Lost? If you're like me, you can't remember anything about last season and will scramble to (unsuccessfully) catch up as much as possible before it airs. A cool thing about the show's impending return is all the fun viral-y stuff hitting the net. Like this and this. Enjoy!

Cable
Why is cable TV better than network? Hey, how about because there's going to be a Walking Dead TV series and one for George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones, too.

And finally…
Japan. It's a hell of a place.

Immanuel Kant, random advice + good times

Yes!
I am someone who enjoys drinking. Perhaps to excess, but I enjoy it nonetheless. There will be no judgments. And it is no secret I enjoy a playthrough of a video game from time to time. They pass the hours quite nicely. Now, I would be lying if I said that I've never combined the two. Seems natural right? I remember one particular (and painful) session of the shit-tastic Too Human that turned into an inadvertent drinking game. I promised myself I would go to bed at the end of one of its (seemingly interminable) levels but found myself slogging and slogging away with no end in sight -- while also drinking. And drinking. Things ended badly for me, more or less, but the level never did. But hey, that's basically the same experience anyone who played that game had -- and at least I was drunk. Well, finally someone has set down some rules (which, clearly, I didn't follow) on how to drink and play video games. And I thank you, good sir.

Cool!
These pics of actors in plain clothes (sort of) recreating famous roles are really, really neat. No, seriously, you find a better adjective.

Iron Man/War Machine
It's a new poster for Iron Man 2. It's got Iron Man and it's got War Machine. Together. Pow. Good times.

Mass Effect 2
With the awesome Dragon Age: Origins out there in the world, getting bought, getting played, getting taken out to dinner, whispered to sweetly and loved tenderly by the fire, BioWare can now concentrate full time on Mass Effect 2, as well as the added side effect of making me jizz in my pants every five seconds. To whit: here is another character reveal for the game, out January 26, also known as the beginning of my vacation.

Kant + Comics = Awesome, understandable
Hey, who doesn't enjoy the philosophical stylings of German philosopher Immanuel Kant? But dayum is his writing foul. One possible work-around? Explain his wrtitings using comic books.

Are you kidding me?
Here's an article from Slate. The premise: DVD box sets of TV shows are a terrible gift. Why, you no doubt are wondering? Apparently you're forcing the recipient to slog through a whole bunch of television.Yep. The article says: "Boxed sets have transformed television from light entertainment into homework." No, really, that's what it says. Uh, what? Oh, did my gift of something I consider so culturally and (more important) personally essential that I wanted to share it with you force you to sit and do nothing but enjoy art/entertainment and possibly be emotionally engaged in something other than your Facebook page? Did it? Wow. I'm really, REALLY sorry for that. Ugh. Fuck you, Slate. Enjoy manufacturing cultural criticism no one asked for and living up your own ass. I guess I can go and give the box set of season two of Supernatural I got you to someone who will actually appreciate it. (Yes, I mean my mom.)

Assassin’s Creed II DLC
If you felt that there wasn't enough assassinating people in Renaissance Italy using various methods (and, really, how could there be?) in Assassin's Creed II, you're in luck. Our friends at Ubisoft are releasing not one but two content packs early in the New Year. As they say in Italy: Dolce! (They don't say that...)

Red Dead Redemption
I must admit, this game held no interest for me until this trailer. How cool does this thing look, though?

And finally…
This video has a number of things that shouldn't be put together (like, ever) but always seem to be for whatever reason. Japan. Robots. Dancing. J-Pop. Scary robot faces.