Fina-frickin'-lly.

Actually, it's been sitting in the GERRY section, all published and everything, for about two days now. We've just been too lazy/busy (take your pick) to plug it here.

Why is Rice ranting all this nonsense, you ask? Because as of issue #10, GWS will cease to exist as you know it. Instead, it will be converted into something much like this news page, featuring Gerry as the primary updater. This allows infinitely more flexability than the current serial article format, in case frivilous matters such as work and/or school start to eat away at our free time. It's tentatively call GWS v2.0. Watch for its launch soon.

In the meanwhile, issue #10 awaits your attention: Click!

...Also in the Rice World pipeline...

I'm working on a console editorial featuring my experiences w/ the Dreamcast, PS2, XBox, and GameCube. After investing 400 large ones into my GameCube, I've become really interested in the state of affairs of consoles in general.

More console craziness: reviews of Rogue Leader, Luigi's Mansion, and Super Smash Bros. Melee are pending. Watch for them... sooner or later...

Now, the GameCube is sweet and all, but I am still a PC gamer at heart. I haven't played much of anything recently besides Freecell, but I have completed Return to Castle Wolfenstein and recently acquired Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. Both are derivatives of the Quake 3 engine, both have commie bastards as your personal fodder, and both I plan to review... most likely later than sooner.

War is not about who's right. It's about who's left.

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Can Rice pull off all of the aforementioned? Stay tuned, dear reader!

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Will the Rams stampede the Packers? Will the Bears maul the Eagles? Will theRavens peck out the Steelers' eyes? Will the Patriots dump Oakland's tea in thebay? Clickhere to find out.

If I could just have a moment of free time, I will write up reviews for Brotherhoodof the Wolf and Gosford Park, both movies I recommend. I'm alsoprepping Gerry's Weird Shit Issue #10. Just need some precious leisure time todo all this shit. Life sucks, don't it?

Can somebody explain to me what's the big deal surrounding Enron? Has it gone bankrupt? Or what? And if so, why is it dominating the headlines? What does the Bush administration have to do with them?

I'm rather confused. To tell the truth, I have never heard of Enron before.

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So how about Shaq's attempted sucker punch? Man, imagine the cratar it would have left on Brad Miller's skull had it landed dead center. Sometimes, I think the refs should just let the players duke it out. Hockey refs do it. When you see two hockey players pull off their gloves and lunge at each other, the refs start to circle around them to form a mini-ring as teammates and fans look on. They don't intefere until there appears to be a clear winner, or until both fighters collapse in a bloody heap.

MELEE!

Baseball umps allow fighting to some extent. Actually, there's not much they can do about bench clearing brawls. The field just becomes a giant mosh pit. Heh heh. The most memorable fight in my mind was when Robin Ventura charged the mound against Nolan Ryan. Ryan cooly put Ventura in an airtight headlock and proceeded to beat the snot out of him. And that was after he got plunked with a fastball, too. Poor guy went home all battered and bruised.

I mean, where else can you get good, honest fighting entertainment these days? Boxing has become this massive jab fest, while the WWF events are too scripted. So I say let Shaq and Brad Miller go at it. Two 7 feet, 300 pounders armed with no skills besides a burning rage to behead one another. That's when I'll say, "I love this game!"

Besides, what's a little suspension time to the Lakers? It'll give Kobe an excuse to drop 50+ every night on the opposing team.

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Apple has done it again. I must admit the new iMac looks hella sweet. Equipped w/ a LCD flatscreen, GeForce 2 MX, and a DVD-R/CD-R SuperDrive, it's enough to make me wish I was a Macintosh user.

Sort of.

All of its internal guts are packed into that dome-shaped base, which extends a neck to hold and adjust the LCD monitor. The SuperDrive also ejects out from it. Man, that's what I call innovation. No clunky tower to bother with. Plus I love the translucent color. Looks so chic. Geek chic, that is.

Oh, I'm not sure if Apple is still clinging to its one-button mouse design, but it's not a big deal, since you can just plug in any ol' USB mouse and use it. Then again, that'd disrupt the cool color configuration. Hm... For all its revolutionary ideas, Apple sure can be stubborn about their one button mouse.

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The NFL playoffs begin today. Promises to be an exciting road to the Super Bowl in New Orleans. Anyone else as pumped as I am to finally see post-season pigskin? Perhaps we shall bring back the Super Bowl challenge to Rice World this year, where the winner gets..... (to be decided).

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Week 1 of Winter quarter down... and 10 more to go. Crud.

'Cause we've got a lot.

Movie Reviews

• 01/06/2002 -- The Royal Tenenbaums (Touchstone Pictures)
• 01/06/2002 -- Ocean's Eleven (Warner Bros.)

Game Reviews

• 01/06/2002 -- Wave Race: Blue Storm (GameCube)

Dig in. And don't forget to comment!

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Yeah, baby.

After the 2nd quarter of the Rose Bowl, the only thing that was clear regarding my clairvoyance of sports was that it sucks. Miami jumped out to a 34-0 lead by the half and won it 37-14. Boy, I am embarassed.

Why are Florida universities so good at football?

So in the spirit of my horribly erroneous prediction, I have dusted off the infamous Ass Of The Week photo from version 2. To refresh (or, if you've just recently joined us, add to) your memory, it was originally used as a badge of shame to the loser of each week's NFL picks which we used to feature here on Rice World before lack of demand sent the feature to its grave (joining its many brethrens). Sigh. Mock away!

Sadly, I am all too familiar with this picture.

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In happier news, I now have DSL internet access in the apartment via... Verizon. Someone there apparently got their act together and fixed whatever was wrong in the central office. Better late than never. However, I'm not counting my chickens before they hatch. I remember all too clearly last time when they pulled the plug on me only 3 days after they connected me, which left my roommates and I in the dark for 3 months. If all remains smooth when I move back in Sunday, I'll consider declaring truce.

Speaking of moving back to school, I am dreading a long and horrific upcoming quarter in which I'm taking 4 core computer science classes. Of course, I must now make my traditional vow of attaining a 4.0 and attending every class. And I really mean it this time (for the... 8th time)!

Stay tuned... a Black Hawk Down review is forthcoming from Gerry.

We here at Rice World are rocking in the New Year with the long awaited final review of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. It was supposed to be a comprehensive three-way article, but circumstances and time constraints didn't allow that to happen, so we had to settle with just a main review by Gerry and some footnotes by yours truly. Let's get some feedback on this baby: click!

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Last night, while watching the ball drop on the 30 billionth anniversary of Dick Clark's Rockin' New Years Eve, I couldn't help but feel kind of apathetic about the whole New Years celebration thing here in Los Angeles. We're 3 hours behind the East Coast, and one of the last time zones in the world to get to celebrate 2002. I mean, I was watching a videotape of the Time Square scene, counting down the seconds with people who did it 3 hours earlier, even though a big bold LIVE! tag was persisting at the top of the screen. It felt kinda sucky.

One of these new years, I resolve to celebrate in New York, in the middle of freezing windchill and crowded streets. Maybe even take some confetti home as souvenirs.

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And of course, during this time of the year are the traditional college bowl games. The only one I care about is the Rose Bowl where Miami will meet Nebraska for the National Championship. UCLA was supposed to be there, dammit, if only Cory Paus didn't suck and DeShaun Foster didn't take those extra benefits. Yes, I am bitter. The Bruins didn't even make a bloody bowl game this year.

Regardless, I'm rooting for Nebraska. I like Eric Crouch. He's a tough kid, and runs the option like a champ. I don't understand the BCS controvesy people are whining about--how it should've been Miami vs. Oregon. Nebraska deserves to be in this game. They lost (albeit pretty badly) to a very good Colorado team. But that was a fluke. They'll crush Miami, and put to rest all those cries from critics of BCS foul play.

Eric Crouch will throw a TD and run for two more.

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Superfluous news aside, I'd like to wish everyone a happy and most imporantly safe new year to come. 2001 has seen more than enough sadness to fill a decade, but that doesn't mean we can't be optimistic about the upcoming year. If there's one thing 9/11 (and Metal Gear Solid) has taught us, it's the very simple meaning of life--to live.

Here's to 2002. Cheers.