Gotta get on my blog from my laptop, talk about some shit that's been on my mind

Home stretch? More like home snooze: It would be hard to blame anyone for forgetting given the total lack of drama, but it's almost the end of MLB's regular season. It's just too damn bad that there isn't gonna be much of a reason for anyone to watch the last three weeks of it. The only "close" race across baseball's six division and two Wild Card spots, the battle between the Giants and Rockies for the NL Wild Card, could easily be all but over by the end of the weekend. All of the other 7 races are currently being lead by at least 4.5 games, and it'd be hard to get too jazzed about seeing the AL Central slip even further into mediocrity if the Tigers couldn't hold on. I actually just read a blog post by a very good Phillies beat writer which posited the notion that the battle for the two middle/long relief spots at the very bottom of the Phillies' postseason roster should at least inject some level of intrigue into the end of the regular season, AND IT EXCITED ME. Someone wake me when the playoffs start.

Holy licensed videogames, Taxman!: With every mistake (and lo, there have been many), game developers must surely have been learning, because this has been the summer of the licensed video game. Going as far back as an X-Men Origins: Wolverine tie-in which many felt dwarfed the rather low standard set by the movie, this summer has seen some of the highest quality video games in memory based off of existing licenses. Batman: Arkham Asylum brings the dearly departed animated series back to life, providing an incredibly fun gameplay experience and feature-caliber cinematics and voice work. The Beatles: Rock Band manages to capture the creepiness of "I am the Walrus," the campiness of "Yellow Submarine," the incomprehensible beauty of "Something," and most importantly, the personalities of the Fab Four to the extent that it feels as much like an interactive Beatles documentary as a video game. If someone told me Richard Linklater had gone "Waking Life" all over a bunch of Beatles performance and studio footage, I would believe them. The inherent difference, of course, between these and the vast majority of other licensed games, is that they weren't shackled by being tie-ins to specific movies, but instead were built from the ground up with the gaming experience in mind. Perhaps this should serve as a clue to developers?

I'll stand by Drew: Summer TV bids its final farewell tonight as America's Got Talent gives away a million bucks and crowns another winner who, if they're anything like two of the first three, will fade almost instantly into oblivion. It seems to be a two horse race between the show's most talented performer, mother/cancer survivor/opera singer Barbara Padilla, and its most relatable, unemployed chicken catcher/southerner/cowboy song mumbler Kevin Skinner. Not having much of a predilection towards opera or country music, my personal vote would go to guitarist/singer Drew Stevyns. Perhaps it's the fact that he's been singing songs I love ("Careless Whisper," and "I'll Stand By You" the last two weeks) or the fact that I just can't help but think of him as the real life incarnation of Ray Pruitt, but I find myself constantly wanting more of the guy, which is something I can't quite say for anyone else this season.

Knowing is half the battle: for anyone who didn't recognize on their own, the title of this post is adapted from a lyric in the Ben Folds song "All U Can Eat." Here is a video of said song. Enjoy: