I want a Wii.

Why?

For no reason other than I think it is cool. Tess and Geoff have one.  Tess is always telling me how cool it is therefore it must be really cool, right?  We all need to be cool, right?

Do we need a Wii? 

No. 

Will I survive if we do not get a Wii? 

I suppose. 

What is stopping us from getting a Wii? 

N.  You see, he has this belief that there are things that you need and things that you want.  This obviously falls into the "want" column thus it is not essential to go out and drop $500 on a new gaming system, games, etc.  That would be like frivolous, wasteful and somewhat spontaneous and not at all rational. 

Let me tell you -- most days -- I am happy I've married a rational man.  Today is not one of those days.  You see, he hasn't said we can't get one, he just tells me how we don't need one.  Still, he says I can get one if I really want one... but he doesn't really mean it.  You'd have to hear his tone to understand. 

Though... it could be that he wants one, but doesn't want me to see his over-eagerness to play games all day and night, thus is playing hardball.  Trying to make the purchase all my idea.  That way, when the Wii takes over our lives it will be all my fault... hmm....

Would we play it?

Yes. 

Would it be something we eventually lose interest in?

If I'm being honest, yes.  After all, that's what happened with our Game Cube.

So given that I can rationally work out that it probably won't kill me to not buy one -- why do I still really really want one??

So I ask you, To Wii or not to Wii??

I love it when people comment or write about things they truly do not comprehend.  Especially when it brings out the crazies.  As you know, my husband is a particle physicist.  He is part of a large international collaborative group that is researching -- well here, this is taken directly from the ATLAS website:

ATLAS is a particle physics experiment at
the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. Starting later in 2008, the ATLAS
detector will search for new discoveries in the head-on collisions of
protons of extraordinarily high energy. ATLAS will learn about the
basic forces that have shaped our universe since the beginning of time
and that will determine its fate. Among the possible unknowns are the
origin of mass, extra dimensions of space, microscopic black holes, and
evidence for dark matter candidates in the universe.

Naturally, the minute any scientist tries to do science -- especially when it relates to anything that may help us understand how the universe was created -- the crazy dooms-dayers come out of the woodwork to make me laugh uncontrollably while they spout utter nonsense under the guise of rational thought.  You see, I tend to take the word of highly trained and intelligent scientists, over the word of say, some guy (there was a hypertexted link, but i thought better of a) giving this person more hits, b) attacking someone I don't know but think is stupid ) -- some dipshit with a myspace page who claims the world will end on December 21, 2012 -- which I might mention is not even an original crazy thought as many weirdos and people believe this, just check out this.  Now, I don't know about you, but the validity of any dooms-day site is always enhanced when they are selling merchandise...

Last night, N and I were reading this article and I laughed and laughed at the comments.  Here are a few samples...

• I  dont trust that collider .I dont think its
  safe,And wouldnt be messing with nature? I think people around the
  world should vote or let there govement know how they feel about it
  first .Before they turn it on.aND ASK IS IT SAFE TO TURN ON AND
  USE?Also what good it for any way? Or is it another play toy for
  science to play with?

• Your tax dollars at work defending science from
  these nutjobs. Doesn't the Federal government have the power to refuse
  to allow itself to be sued? And wouldn't this be an ideal circumstance
  in which to exercise that power?

  I think we should sue to stop the Hubble repairs, too. They might reveal something... unexpected! Horrors!

• When the courts throw out this lawsuit based on
  the current arguments, these people will invent some other world ending
  catastrophy to try to stop this important research.
• If the LHC could create black holes, then we
  would not exist, since collisions of greater energies happen
  continuously in the atmosphere.

  Fundamental Particles: Electron, Neutron and Proton.
  
  Fundamentalist Particle: Moron.

• I say let them use it, if anything happens God will save us right? lol
• Apparently I've just been sucked from my normal
  universe into one where the laws of physics were written by Stan Lee
  (that's Mavel comics dude). OR is it that the nay-sayers and nervous
  nellies came from the comic book universe? Puhleese if you are
  concerned about this use the circumstances to educate yourself using
  information from a reputable source. How about "The Black Hole War" by
  Leonard Susskind?
• Someone has been watching too much science fiction and not taking enough science classes.

  So let me boil this down for you. If CERN creates a black hole, it
  will be a quantum black hole, which means that its really, really,
  really small. Which means that it doesn't have enough mass to be stable
  and will evaporate in milliseconds. That's really, really, really fast
  - too fast to suck in enough mass to become stable.

  It is far more likely that aliens will destroy the earth because we
  don't have a good understanding of science than be doomed by anything
  CERN does. So we must fire it up to save the planet!

  My stupid science fiction idea trumps your stupid science fiction
  idea. Now lets argue about which Star Trek series was the best.

• Given the possible hazards, why is no one in the
  news media asking McCain or Obama for their views on the LHC? It's a
  little silly for candidates to be babbling on about our national
  security from "terrorists" if we're about to be sucked out of planetary
  existence by scientists.
• 
  

  ---

So there you have it... N is a bigger threat than terrorism.  Just so you know, the LHC switches on September 10th, 2008.  So enjoy these last few days of existence. Something tells me though, that I'll be posting on September 11.... Hmm, maybe Nostradamus predicted I would blog about how stupid people predicted the end of the world on the day after the world was supposed to end....  

Seen at Linda's Wedding:

Ross, friend of Tess, trying to gain acceptance into the Maciag clan.  At the wedding, your turn at the buffet line was selected by drawing a number.  Trying not to show his fear, Ross, steps up to his first test for our affection.  He draws the number 1 and is instantly accepted as our newest family member.  No further tests required.

Overheard in the buffet line at Linda's wedding:

Big Daddy Joe proclaims, "What is that???"  

Ross Maciag, the newest member of the family, proclaiming slightly astounded, "why Big Daddy Joe, I believe that is rice."

To which Momma Anna replies with a wheezy laugh, "oh Ross, he wouldn't recognize rice unless it had Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup on it!"

Overheard at the dinner table:

Big Daddy Joe:  "So I walked into the men's room and saw this seriously old man standing there and I thought, 'wow - look at that seriously old guy.'  Then I realized that I was looking at my own reflection in the mirror."

Seen and heard in my brother's room:

My mother trying  to cuddle with her eldest son.  Tim, being touch-a-phobic, proclaiming, "bubble, bubble," which roughly translates to, 'respect my space, woman.' 

My mom replying:

"Oh Tim, I birthed you buddy.  You've been places your feeble mind can't possibly imagine.  Get over it already."

Overheard in the Maciag kitchen:

Big Daddy Joe:

"Anna! (think "Wilma!")  "That was some weird pudding you put in my lunch today."  It wasn't pudding, it was yogurt.

This is a story about how I never take my share of the blame.  In this tale, there will be those that claim I am irresponsible and need to be more careful.  I, however, blame the chicken. 

The other day, I was visiting a friend who was trying to get back on Weight Watchers.   I was meeting Ms.X for supper and had assumed we would be venturing out for some relatively healthy food.  To my great surprise, Ms.X wanted KFC.  As a matter of fact, nothing but KFC would do.  I was a bit shocked but told her that I would oblige her as long as I was not accused of being the person responsible for her fall off the wagon.   So off we went (there were 3 of us) and we went and bought some chicken.  We bought more chicken then was necessary for three youngish ladies -- especially for three ladies trying to at least give the appearance of living a somewhat healthy lifestyle.  Naturally, there was a lot of chicken left over.  So Ms. X said to me, "Most Special K, you HAVE to take this chicken home with you.  If you leave it with me, I will eat it all and feel disgusted with myself.  At least you have a family to feed at your parent's house.  Please, save me from myself."  I can honestly say that if I were in Ms. X's predicament -- that being -- in a house, alone with some fried chicken,  I  too,  would probably succumb to the chicken and thus be disgusted with myself so naturally, I took the chicken to save my friend.  I know, I know -- I am a great friend.  haha! 

So off I am, with a bunch of fried chicken in a plastic bag.  I have a smooth ride home via the ring road -- marvelling that regardless of the so-called "boom" in Regina, I can still get anywhere in five minutes.  It was at this moment that my cell phone starts beeping: BATTERIES LOW.  When my phone does this, it is irritating and will not stop beeping every minute or so until I charge it.  Rather than listen to it, I turned my phone off.  (This information will become important later in the story).  I continue my drive and finally arrive home.

Once home, I get out of the car, cell phone in hand, and start walking towards the door.  During this short 15 step journey, my cell slips from my hand and lands inside the plastic bag containing the chicken.  I make a mental note to retrieve it later and then my brain completely erases this event from my short term memory (cue ominous music). 

Once inside, I find various members of my family hanging out in the living room.  I set the bag of chicken down on the coffee table and say, "enjoy."   My mom has told me that if/when I write about this tale, I am not allowed to describe this as a feeding frenzy because it was far more civilized.  I mean, it wasn't like a swarm of vultures descended on the chicken... but to not refer to it as a feeding frenzy makes the story less funny.  So in the spirit of keeping this tale ridiculously funny -- it was a feeding frenzy.  Chicken now consumed, there was a mess to clean up so I put the garbage into the plastic bag and threw it in the garbage.  

Enter the next day:

I awake for the day and prepare to go about my business.  I am momentarily worried as I cannot find my cell phone.  I search my short term memory, trying to catch a glimpse of my cell phone.  Oh -- it must be in Tim's truck -- the vehicle I had driven to Ms. X's the night before.  Here's the thing, Tim's truck was on its way to Saskatoon for the day (my dad had taken it as it was more fuel efficient than his truck)  No problem, I thought, I'll just check the truck when he gets back.

When my dad got home that night, I raced out to the truck and lo and behold... NO CELL PHONE.  

I lost my mind.  I started ranting about how my phone got sucked into the vortex of my parent's house, never to be seen again and about how I could not even call the phone as I had turned it off.  After my tirade, which was long-winded and intense, I went off to my basement bedroom to sulk.

That's when I heard the laughter.

Apparently my dad, unmoved by my complete melt-down, had started to mock me.  He was telling the rest of my family that the reason I couldn't find my phone was because I must have eaten it during the chicken feeding frenzy.  Everyone was laughing hysterically.  Normally, I would have been irritated at my dad for his comments but on this day I could have hugged him!  When he had said the word, "chicken," my memory was jogged and I suddenly had this recollection of my cell phone sliding into the plastic bag I had thrown out the night before....

I frantically screeched, "Was today a garbage pick-up day???"  My mom replied in the negative.  Then I raced outside and dug through the garbage container on my parents drive-way while my parents and siblings howled with laughter.  Laughter that turned into shrieks, peals and wheezy coughs when I discovered my cell phone among the trash.   

And that, my dear friends, is how the Colonel almost lost my cell phone.