First let me point out the obvious: we’re a TV site; this, though, is a game I’m talking about. It is a game that you play on a television, and it’s covering one of the most iconic groups in the history of all media: The Beatles. Yes, ALL media. Music, movies, television, and print. I’m not sure why I’m making excuses for why we’re covering this here twice, but I thought I owed you my viewpoint at least. Hell, if you want to see more console-based games covered here once in a while, I wouldn’t complain!

Bob did a review last week, and one thing I really wanted to emphasize is how beautiful this game is. I tried Guitar Hero 5 last week, and its interface and graphics were almost laughable in comparison to how well these graphics are put together to make the experience wonderful. It all starts with the opening cinematic, which the below YouTube embed doesn’t do justice to when you’re viewing in HD and with a nice audio setup. Goosebumps.

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Earlier this week, AMC put out a very cool little web application that allows you to “Mad Men yourself.” It’s a lot like the South Park and Simpsons ones that went around years ago, only now you can make yourself all retro-like. It even allows you to make icons of the character you create to use on Twitter or instant messenger clients. In fact, I’m seeing a LOT of these as people’s avatars lately.

Because I was feeling inspired (some call it bored) last night, I went ahead and did the best I could at Mad Men-izing the cast of Leverage, above (click to embiggen it). How’d I do? Let’s see what the rest of you can do. Upload what you can make to TwitPic or some other free photo sharing site and share the link in the comments. Then again, maybe you’re not all as “inspired” as I was.

I gave up on Grey’s Anatomy sometime early last season, and if it wasn’t for Deb wanting to keep up with it, I would have given up a long time ago. Thankfully she’s learned of the sheer suckitude that Grey’s has become and we can occupy that time watching something that doesn’t cause me to grow breasts.

As you can see from the embedded video above, it appears that the new Grey’s Anatomy Wii game is just as good as the show; as in, it’s a trainwreck full of emotional baggage with a sprinking of surgery thrown in to remind you you’re supposed to be watching qualified doctors at work. The thing is, this appears to be dead-on what I’d expect out of a game based on the show. I wonder if the goal is to see if you can possibly get fired — now that would be a challenge!

And, less Angela. Hey, I love Ms. Montenegro like the next guy, girl or bi-sexual, but she had way too much screen time over the last two episodes of Bones. With her breakup with Roxie then subsequent vow of celibacy the focus was put on her. Great. Terrific.

Except for one problem: it dragged down the show. Okay, Cam helped save last week’s episode somewhat with the mystery behind her former finance’s death (and eventual adoption of his daughter), but there was still plenty of Angela to slow things down. So, it was a relief to see a lot less of her and her constant need to have sex (who knew she was this much of a nympho).

We also had a return by Dr. Nigel-Murray, a gooey-ooey body to put back together, and … Oh, look! Booth and Bones actually did some detectivfying together. What a unique concept.

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To the newbies and the dusties of the United States Congress:

Hey, um, is there a problem or something? I’m just curious because, well, you may have actually done something to help the American public out. Are you feeling well? Does something hurt? Have you all been replaced by aliens and are now sitting in a spaceship, high above Earth, waiting for your daily anal probe?

Don’t take any offense to this, please. I’m just a bit shocked that you moved quickly and got something done without too much partisan backstabbing, back-biting, or other things you do on another person’s back. Is it the new thinking of the forward-looking Obama administration that influenced you? Nah. It’s probably because the issue dealt with something that affects every single living, breathing, two-legged, warm-blooded human in America.

Of course I’m talking about television! What, you thought I was dealing in deeper subjects like global warming or the economy? Who are you talking to?

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Computers are my life. Well, a big part of it anyway. And since you’re reading this, chances are they’re a big part of your life too. We use them for work, school, play and everything in between. Then again, you could be someone’s technically unaware grandma who found this printed out on some crumpled up paper used as packing material for your newest Hummell.

Not only are computers part of our lives, but they consume the lives of those we watch in movies and TV. Some of them are as large as cities, some of them talk and have personalities, and some of them even have pet names. Here’s a list of some of the more notable computers on TV (and before you whine, this is not counting robots):

ARDVARC (Get Smart)
The Automated Reciprocal Data Verifier And Reaction Computer is the central computer owned by Max’s employer, CONTROL. Its best friend is a cigarette machine — how quaint for a show of the ’60s. And let’s not forget the lack of political correctness of the time: on episode number 50 (”The Girls from KAOS”), ARDVARC scans its databases for a particular Asian KAOS enemy agent, but eventually concludes it can’t find the agent because “they all look alike.”

Sadly, on episode number 109 (”Leadside”), ARDVARC blows up. Rumor has it the cigarette machine, overcome with grief, traveled to Japan and now dispenses iPods and eyebrow trimmers in downtown Tokyo.
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While house-sitting for my brother over the holidays, I had the opportunity to plant my ass in front of his 50-inch high-def television and soak in the HD experience for the first time since the groundbreaking technology hit the market. Let me tell you, once you’ve watched an NHL Hockey game or Ben Hur in high-definition, you’ll be spoiled forever. After returning home to my piece-of-shit 27-inch Zenith, I felt the urge to toss the dinosaur out the window, but I have neighbors and they tend to frown upon behavior like that. Damn neighbors.

Anyway, during my week of HD bliss, I set aside one night to investigate HDNet — the seven-year old channel dedicated to nothing but hi-def programming. Owned by megalomaniac billionaire — and general douche bag — Mark Cuban, HDNet airs original products such as Dan Rather Reports and Inside MMA, in addition to live sporting events and movies, but a chunk of their slate consists of travel series and award-winning documentaries, which is what interested me most.

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