Oscar Tool: Better Late than Never<\/u><\/p>\n
Well, it’s a few weeks too late to be of much use, and I’ve done only the bare minimum of testing, but the Make-Yer-Own Oscar Pool Page<\/a> is finally up and running. Please report any and all bugs to me.<\/p>\n Hog Heaven<\/u><\/p>\n Our old “Half Pint” microwave was taking upwards of fifteen minutes to cook popcorn. And the Little House on the Prairie<\/i> theme song would get jammed into my head every time I saw the name. So we finally ditched it and picked up a new model, one featuring a bevy of food-specific buttons like “Baked Potato,” “Vegetables,” and “Bacon”.<\/p>\n You know, if every major appliance in my home had a “bacon” button I’d be the happiest guy alive.<\/p>\n Ouroboros<\/u><\/p>\n The roots of defective yeti are planted in a paper zine called The Game Report<\/a>. Edited by Peter Sarrett, the quarterly features reviews and news relating to board games.<\/p>\n When I returned from the Peace Corps I resolved to start writing again on a daily basis. So, in 1997, I wrote a review of a card game (Titian: The Arena<\/a>), sent it to Peter, and was thrilled when he agreed to publish it the following issue. I contributed a handful of reviews over the following two years, and soon thereafter launched my own game website entitled Aces Up<\/a>.<\/p>\n The problem was that, after a year or so of maintaining Aces Up<\/i>, I was thoroughly sick of writing about board games. I mean, there’s only so many times you can use the phrase “elegant design” before it begins to wear thin. In thinking that I could ape The Game Report<\/i>, I completely underestimated Peter’s dedication to the subject matter and ability to write reviews that never sounded repetitive. So I gave up and started a blog where I could write about anything, and thus defective yeti ambled onto the scene.<\/p>\n Now, Peter Sarrett has thrown his hat into the blogging ring with Static Zombie<\/a>, a site devoted to “television and less important things in life”. And, ironically, he cites defective yeti<\/i> as his main influence. Now all I need to do is somehow turn dy into a print magazine about games and the circle wil be complete.<\/p>\n Peter is an excellent writer, so be sure to check S.Z. out. This<\/a> is an fine place to start.<\/p>\n Headline<\/u><\/p>\n