There has been a slight delay in getting the podcast out. It has now been recorded, but is waiting for editing. We should have it up sometime this week.

After a delay of several months, Tina and I are planning on recording the next edition of our podcast this upcoming Saturday. Expect for it to go online sometime Sunday. After that, expect a more regular release schedule.

Sorry it’s taken so long. Twins are not conducive to being very productive.

There was a lot of talk last summer about whether or not video games (and I include computer games in this, since there is still a distinction, though it is beginning to blur) can be considered “art.” The convention wisdom both in and outside of the gaming media seems to be “no,” and I think this is arguably still the case, although games are starting to creep across the line.

Although I tend not to see as much a distinction between entertainment and art as others, not all creative endeavors can be considered art. Art to me transcends its medium — it evokes emotion or ideas, stirs controversy, has some quality that makes it greater than what it is on the surface.

Many of the games I play are pretty far from “art.” Most first person shooters or action games are little more than action figure sets for adults, allowing us to play army like we did when we were kids, but without the stigma of grown men running around in the back yard with plastic machine guns. Alas, most of my gaming experiences fall into that category.

Some games, like World of Warcraft, offer more of a theme-park environment, allowing players to band together and go on virtual rides within each other. Yes, it has a vast and attractive world to explore, but that world has all of the authenticity of a sword and sorcery Busch Gardens.

But there have been games that border on art. Final Fantasy VII, Halo:CE, Halo 2 and Planescape: Torment all evoked a strong emotional reaction and had some interesting things to say about the human condition. Splinter Cell was never a game I thought I’d add to the list, but the latest installment in the long-running stealth series, Splinter Cell Double Agent, is coming close.

There’s a scene just following the first level in the game where Sam Fisher, the series protagonist, learns that his daughter has died. In his grief, he tosses his visor — often used as an iconic symbol for the series — out the window of the Osprey vehicle that has just evacuated him from his latest mission. We watch as it sinks beneath the surface of the North Atlantic, disappearing into the deep. Not only does it symbolize that the character, Sam Fisher, has lost some part of himself, it’s also a metaphor for the game itself, which abandons many of its past conventions in favor of a new approach.

Granted, most of Splinter Cell Double Agent is spent lurking around on stealth missions, but this is a strong character moment heretofore unheard of in the series. And with the game’s emphasis on moral compromise, there’s a good case to be made that Splinter Cell does more than entice the player to break a few spines — it addresses the choices and their effect on the character. It’s a step forward in terms of game design, and it also furthers the argument that some games at least can be more than mere entertainment.

So, last night’s Heroes didn’t move the plot too far, although we did finally see Nikki’s shadow self in action, as well as the true nature of the painter’s precognitive ability. The best moment, however, came when Peter met future Hiro, which gave us a first glimpse of where the show may be going.

Unlike The 4400, Heroes does a lot with superpowers on a television budget — I actually feel like these people do have powers, even if they’re often left up to the imagination. And storywise, I’m reminded quite a bit of the old George R.R. Martin-edited Wildcards series of novels. The execution of the “superheroes in the real world” concept is very similar, but not quite as dark as Wildcards. Still, this is probably the closest we’ll ever get to seeing George R.R. Martin’s vision on television.

I woke up this morning thinking about the expression, “He’d give you the shirt off his back.” Unless you’re talking about an expensive shirt, or unless the gift of said shirt occurs in the middle of a blizzard, then it’s really not much of a gesture.

Thinking more about it, though, I suppose in the 19th Century or whenever the expression emerged that a shirt was a valuable thing. How many articles of clothing did an average person have? Probably not a lot. It wasn’t as if it was possible to buy a shirt for $9.99 at the local Walmart.

I recently deleted a post regarding my experiences at the Small Press Expo on Saturday. In it, I described an unsuccessful attempt to chat with an old acquaintance and Restaurant Fuel contributor, who I mistakenly believed was actively ignoring me.

This was not the case. As he explained in a personal email, he simply did not remember what I looked like, and I was mistaken that he did.

What I wrote was wrong, uncalled for, and quite frankly, unprofessional. I let my own disappointment and depression about the failure of my comic book at SPX effect how I interpreted things. I apologized to him personally, but I would also like to publically say that I am sorry, and that my account of our non-meeting was the result of a misunderstanding.

Last Friday’s 2-hour season premiere of Battlestar Galactica was perhaps the most painful hour of television I’ve seen this side of the episode of Six Feet Under when David was abducted and tortured. Maybe more painful. But I mean that in a good way.

Four months into the Cylon’s occupation of the humans on New Caprica, and Colonel Tigh is mounting an insurgency. But barring access to military hardware and faced with a superior force, Tigh resorts to terrorism and suicide bombers to try to beat back the enemy.

Galactica has never been an easy show to watch — it’s always been dark. But things are significantly bleaker on the outset of Season Three. The Cylons, who were softened and made somewhat sympathetic since the original mini-series, are now indefensible as they fight back with an iron fist, rounding up the families of suspect insurrgents and planning the mass-executions of those that resist. And Baltar, the humans’ collaborator President, is now completely irredemable, caving completely to Cylon control. There are plenty of parallels to be made between BSG and the U.S. occupation of Iraq, but I’m also reminded of Vichey France during World War II, and the Japanese occupation of the Philippines.

I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone who hasn’t seen it, yet, but I will say that while things have been bad in the past, I’m unsure of how the humans will get out of this intact. No doubt, Adama will manage to liberate some of his people and get them moving to Earth again, but not without a significant body count.

The other show I’ve enjoyed this season is NBC’s Heroes. With a sprawling cast, a dash of sci-fi and fantasy, and a focus on characterization, Heroes can easily be compared to ABC’s Lost. But unlike Lost, the production team (which includes comic book writer Jeph Loeb), clearly has a plan for where this is going. An apocalyptic event is coming in five weeks, and only a group of strangers with emerging super powers can stop it.

By far, the best character on the show is Hiro, a Japanese salaryman who develops the ability to control the space-time continuum. His joy at discovering his powers, as well as his drive to be a hero like the American superheroes he idolizes makes for an interesting and endlessly likable character. It doesn’t hurt that the actor is also extraordinarily charming.

Rumor has it that Battlestar Galactica will be moving from SciFi to NBC. If this happens, let’s hope they have the good sense to pair it up with Heroes on Monday nights.

So, I met John Kerry the other day. Working in a public affairs office in Washington, D.C., I’ve encountered many famous and “important” people through the years, but most of them have been Republicans. It was nice meeting someone I’ve voted for, and actually talking to Kerry in person was completely and utterly surreal. He was incredibly nice and personable, and I got the strong sense of an individual who is decent and sincere, something that doesn’t convey quite so well on television. Although I was an avid Dean supporter, I have to say that John Kerry would have made a great president. He could have been the next FDR — and from me that’s a huge compliment, as Roosevelt is my favorite President.

I really, really liked John Kerry. And some of my Republican co-workers confessed that they liked him, too. Even admitted that had they met him back in 2004, they might have voted for him. I’d go with Gore in 2008, if he runs, but given a choice between Kerry, Hillary Clinton, Mark Warner and John Edwards, I’d have to go with Kerry. Like Gore, the guy needs a second chance. And his positions have gotten a lot clearer in recent months — something he should have also done back in 2004.

I’ve just gone through a bit of minor online gaming drama. The group I founded back in 2003 is essentially no more — a lot of my friends have moved on to form a new World of Warcraft guild. But there’s still a few of us left, and it looks like we’re going to start fresh with a new XBOX Live group. If you own a 360 and are interested in playing with a bunch of adults with real lives — people who years ago were hardcore gamers, but now play a couple of times a week — send me an email. I’ll let you know what my gamertag is.

On another note, my new Restaurant Fuel template is almost complete. Expect a new site look in about a week or so.