There’s more to having a successful game release besides a completed game. Nobody is going to buy your game if they don’t know about it. Publicity is key, and I’ve been hard at work letting the world know all about the awesomeness of Blocks. I wanted to inform you guys that Blocks scored a brief write-up by Peter over at DIYgamer.com. It’s short and sweet, but it’s a great start. I anticipate more in-depth reviews once the game is released for sale. Hit the link below to check it out. By the way, those of you with an XBox 360, start getting excited.

Thanks Pete!

http://www.diygamer.com/2010/03/delivering-blocks/

Increased rainfall in Rhode Island has accounted for severe flooding in a large portion of the state, including my hometown of Warwick.
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Hey Juicers,

This may be poorly thought through, but I would like to invite anyone available in Rochester up for the weekend of April 8th – April 11th. There are several fun things going on that weekend. It would be great to hang out with good people.

Thursday, April 8th – 5:00 PM
RIT Hockey plays in the frozen four. If we are not going to Detroit, we will have a little party with wings and beer.

Saturday, April 10th – 5:30 PM
ArtAwake event in Rochester. ArtAwake is a CELEBRATION OF CREATIVITY that UNITES THE COMMUNITY to GIVE LIFE TO AN UNDERUSED SPACE in Rochester, NY. Website

Sunday, April 11th – 7:00 PM
Freezepop / Plushgun concert at Water Street Music Hall in Rochester. Two very awesome bands at a cheap price.

Again, not sure that any of these events can materialize, but we may as well try to commit.

Charlotte Gainsbourg – Heaven Can Wait from Charlotte Gainsbourg on Vimeo.

Thanks to my buddy Pat for bringing this to my attention. Enjoy!

Next game is April 8th.

Go Tigers!

ALRIGHT!

With healthcare passed, some focus seems to be returning to the anti-prohibition movement. Several states are moving towards decriminalization and even medical legalization. Two states, California and Rhode Island, are taking the first steps towards full legalization and taxation for recreational use.

Here, Napolitano argues as the voice of reason in support of marijuana legalization.

From the AP:

“A bullet was shot through the window of my campaign office in Richmond this week, and I’ve received threatening e-mails,” Cantor said. He refused to release details, however, saying it would only encourage more threats, and refused to take questions.

Later Thursday, however, Richmond police said in a news release that the bullet had been fired into the air around 1 a.m. Tuesday. It finished its random arc back to earth at a sharp downward trajectory, breaking a window pane on the bottom floor of the two-story brick building where Cantor’s campaign leases the top floor.

No words.

[h/t Josh Marshall]

I. Can’t. Fucking. Wait.

Yes, it’s by that David Simon.

via: kotaku.com

219-212!

Next: a motion to recommit the reconciliation bill, and then a vote on the reconciliation bill itself.

Update: Last trick by Republicans was to make the motion to recommit about abortion to try to peel off pro-life Dems.  Stupak, the ultra-prolife Dem, rises to urge a no vote.  Burn.

Motion to recommit is denied, 199-232.

Update2: Reconciliation bill passes, 220-211

btw, nothing is more funny to me than a 20 year-old, who is still covered on his parent’s insurance, calling in to c-span to express his distaste for the bill.  how about you try paying for it first before you make dumb comments?

Watching this, I started feeling kind of culturally insensitive as all I could think of was Monty Python’s “Ministry of Silly Walks” skit. Then, I recognize that the British voice narrating the video is none other than Michael Palin.

Talk about ironic.

But check this out:

It takes in the village of Wagah, which is half Pakistani, and half Indian.

It’s becoming increasingly clear that getting HCR passed the House is nearly impossible without Bart Stupak’s blessing.  Stupak is controlling ~8 votes, most people think.  There are apparently furious negotiations happening between Stupak, pro-choice Dems, and Pelosi + WH to hammer out a deal.

Bottom line: watch Stupak.  If he’s a yes, this thing is gonna pass.

Update: I get the feeling (just from reading tweets from boots on the ground) that there are some in Stupak’s bloc that may break even if a Stupak deal goes sour. The question is how many?

Update2: Stupak is holding a press conference at 4pm ET.

Update3: The Hill is reporting a deal has been made and the Stupak bloc will vote yes…it will be official at 4pm presser

Update4: It’s official. Stupak is a yes. HCR will pass today.

Stupak was joined by 6 other Reps., 4 of which were undecided (Rahall, Driehaus, Dahlkemper, Mollohan). This puts the NYT’s count at 216. Pop the champagne!

Update5: House approves rules for debate 224-206. This is a good sign that everything is on track.

Update6: I don’t want to read too much into this, but here’s a list of undecideds that voted no on the Rules:

Side note – I just realized that House votes are in xml format, makes it easy to crunch. Go USA!

The story is that Obama had nothing prepared when he addressed the House Democratic Caucus today, and it definitely has a very loose structure. But I think this is one of his bests. It is very inside baseball stuff, but it gives you a nice window into this man’s soul.

The close:

And now a lot of us have been here a while and everybody here has taken their lumps and their bruises. And it turns out people have had to make compromises, and you’ve been away from families for a long time and you’ve missed special events for your kids sometimes. And maybe there have been times where you asked yourself, why did I ever get involved in politics in the first place? And maybe things can’t change after all. And when you do something courageous, it turns out sometimes you may be attacked. And sometimes the very people you thought you were trying to help may be angry at you and shout at you. And you say to yourself, maybe that thing that I started with has been lost.

But you know what? Every once in a while, every once in a while a moment comes where you have a chance to vindicate all those best hopes that you had about yourself, about this country, where you have a chance to make good on those promises that you made in all those town meetings and all those constituency breakfasts and all that traveling through the district, all those people who you looked in the eye and you said, you know what, you’re right, the system is not working for you and I’m going to make it a little bit better.

And this is one of those moments. This is one of those times where you can honestly say to yourself, doggone it, this is exactly why I came here. This is why I got into politics. This is why I got into public service. This is why I’ve made those sacrifices. Because I believe so deeply in this country and I believe so deeply in this democracy and I’m willing to stand up even when it’s hard, even when it’s tough.

Every single one of you have made that promise not just to your constituents but to yourself. And this is the time to make true on that promise. We are not bound to win, but we are bound to be true. We are not bound to succeed, but we are bound to let whatever light we have shine. We have been debating health care for decades. It has now been debated for a year. It is in your hands. It is time to pass health care reform for America, and I am confident that you are going to do it tomorrow.

Thank you very much, House of Representatives. Let’s get this done.

Now go read the whole thing.

The vote in the House on health care reform will be tomorrow.  Things are looking up, but they are far from assured.  So far, Dems have gotten 7 yes-to-no switchers, but there are still quite a few undecideds that voted yes last time.

Below is the list of Undecideds as of this morning (Source=NYT).  Per Nate Silver, Chris Carney is now a Yes.  If any of these Reps. happen to be your congressperson, give them a call, and tell them how you feel.

Update:  I’ve been updating the list below as I’ve gotten more info.