Kinnection

Yesterday, Ben and I got an early Christmas present from Bill. It is a kinect for the xbox! For those of you who don't know about it, it is a video system for the console. It is basically a camera that allows you to control the games you play- it turns a whole person into a controller. So far we have played some really fun games that involve some impressive gymnastic feats, dancing, and ninja skills. It also allows us to control a lot of other things on the box with just our body movement or voices. One of the most convenient things I have found so far is that I can control playing movies with my voice. I can say "xbox pause,"  for example, and it does just that. It is really nice to not have to dig a controller out from under the couch and turn it on every time I want to get up for a minute. It is a pretty ingenious invention, and I like that the games force people to get physically active. And using it feels like the future!
We also went to see the new Muppet movie over the weekend! It was very cute and entertaining. There were some moments where I wish the movie was a little more subtle (I don't like it when the characters in movies acknowledge that they know they are in a movie and discuss the plot) and other parts were just plain weird. But, no matter what happens in a Muppet movie, you are always guaranteed to be in a good movie after you watch it! We were singing the Muppet show song and Manamana all day!
After their 4 day weekend, the guys ended up working 17 or so hours today. Luckily, tomorrow they will get to sleep in! This isn't the typical schedule (thankfully), but I guess this is just going to happen from time to time.  Days like this do allow me to get lots of chores done and have a chance to get the place in a semblance of order. It also allows me to catch up on reading! Last week I read the entire Series of Unfortunate Events books. I suppose I am a little behind the times with those, but I'm glad I finally got around to it! They are very clever and entertaining books, although they are written for a bit of a younger audience. I especially enjoyed hearing Jude Law narrate the books- as he does in the movie As well as seeing Jim Carrey playing the villain in all of his disguises. My only complaint is that there is so much left of the plot unexplained at the end.

Hmm, a very multimedia post.