Let the record show that alcohol-fueled philosophical debates that encompass the entirety of a night are fun and should happen more often.  At some point last evening; when Guitar Hero 3 began to grow tiresome, my friends and I broke out the Dominican rum, Ouzo and vodka and started drinking.  We talked about life, women, religion and politics.  And as things usually go when aided by substance, the topics of religion and politics led to a philosophical debate.  The debate was about whether or not Richard Dawkins, scientist, atheist and author of some renown, was an asshole; or at least whether he presented his ideas in an asshole-ish manner.  Suffice to say, the argument led to discussions on the nature of thought, instinct and perception, how quantum physics and philosophy intermingle, and reason versus faith.  

I'd like to think as people with philosophy and political science degrees, we tackled some very heady issues.  However, it's more likely that we were only making sense to our own drunken selves and that had an outsider been present they would have had a good laugh at our expense.  Drunk or not, I enjoyed myself.

Rumour: Gamespot's editorial director fired over Kane & Lynch review



Controversy is surrounding the firing of Jeff Gerstmann, the senior editor at Gamespot.  Gamespot's video game reviews tell it like it is, and pull no punches...and apparently in Mr. Gerstmann's case that was the problem.  It seems that CNET, Gamespot's parent company had just signed an advertising agreement with Eidos, developers and distributors of Kane & Lynch: Dead Men.  The rumour is that because Gerstmann's review of Kane & Lynch gave it a less than stellar 6.0 out of a possible 10, he was fired and that Eidos pressured CNET to do so.

Gerstmann was in fact let go from Gamespot, but the exact reason is not known due to 'no comment' from all involved.  If the rumoured basis for his termination is the case, it raises some issues for the entire game reviewing community.  When editorial content is suppressed for business interests, then some very serious issues of integrity must be addressed.  One need only look at what Gamespot's site looked like just hours ago, plastered with Kane & Lynch advertising; and notice that Gerstmann's biting video review of the game is no longer present on the site to know that something fishy is going on.

Joystiq has the rest of the developing story.

Lastly, my friend Christie has finally returned to the internet for a third and hopefully final time.
Exhausticated.com is her new venture, so check it out if you're like me and enjoy random internet hilarity.
Welcome back and godspeed ma'am.

And now for another exciting night of working at an unnamed big box electronics retailer!  Friday night WOO!

- Will