Cousin Tona and I recently spent a somewhat awkward yet geekingly epic evening with a group of gamers who shared our affinity with Rock Band. Awkward because we barely knew the group and ended up spending all night with them; epic because I was witness to one of the most awesome Rock Band battles of all time. OF ALL TIME!

Here’s the recap:

Earlier that evening the wifey, Tona and I ran into some family and a group of their friends who said they were having a party later that night and we should all join them. Well, the family ended up bailing, Jennifer had too much studying to do but I received a text message from the invitees saying we (Tona and I) should stop by anyway and play some Rock Band, so we did. Mostly because it was a short drive,  directly shot south from where I live, but also because Tona is one of the best virtual guitarists I know and the idea of a little Rock Band hustling crossed my mind.

We showed up — impressive 6 pack of beer in hand — and were greeted by a dozen or so friendly strangers. After some people cleared out of the living room, Tona and I made our way in and coaxed some of the others into playing Rock Band with us. One of which was a very unassuming young woman by the name of Dina. After playing a few co-op games with the group I noticed Dina was playing quite well and some tension was building between her and Tona as they both kept vying for the guitar. To clear the air (and try to make a few bucks) I suggested that they both play guitar in a head-to-head battle. Bad idea. Dina turned out to be a Rock Band shark and took Tona to the cleaners on the first of three songs. Part of me thought he was “letting” her win, but after the second song — on which Tona barely edged out Dina — I knew she was the real deal and I began to worry I was about to be out $10. The third song was close until about halfway through when the digit thrashing seemed to be slowing on both sides due to fatigue, allowing Tona to pull ahead fueled with his familiarity of the song (which I think was Chop Suey by System of a Down) and his real life guitar skills.

Good stuff. I’m off to practice the guitar.

These cupcakes simply blew me away. And I’m proud to report that I was able to name 92 of the 100 game titles they represent. Click the image to the right for a detailed view.

My favorite, you ask? Definitely the Battleship design on the top-right group, although Laura Croft’s bust on the bottom-left drew the eye. The attention to detail and creativity is simply remarkable on all of them.

Try to name all the game titles yourself then check out the original Flickr post from Z Andrei to see the answers. If you’ll excuse me, I’m off to find a cupcake and someone who will accept my Hungry Hungry Hippo challenge.

My favorite Christmas gift this year was the Predator UAV scale model Jennifer surprised me with. At first it seemed rather random – I mean, who gets a scale model replica of an unmanned aerial vehicle and how did Jennifer know I would like it so much?

As it turns out, the old lady doesn’t exactly tune out once I start playing video games. She told me that she overheard “UAV online” and “friendly Predator missile inbound” so often during my Modern Warfare 2 sessions that when she saw the Predator UAV model at Hobby Lobby during one of her crafty shopping sprees, she had to get it. Good call, no doubt…and the fact that she heard those phrases so often from my Xbox Live matches is a strong indication of my stellar FPS abilities.

Friend me on Live if you want a taste. (Passive Mole)

In our quest to track down a copy of Super Mario Bros. for the Wii last weekend Jennifer, Tona and I were reminded of just how close we are to the subtle, western beauties that I wish were more discoverable in and around Denver, CO.

We never did get a copy of the game but our travels gifted me this snapshot of our diminishing cow town aura. Yeehaw.