Originally published at Eventually Clever. Please leave any comments there.

How much fun is Secret Agent Clank?

It’s so much fun that I played it on the couch at a weird angle until I pinched a nerve in my elbow and three fingers went numb. It’s so much fun that I stayed up well, well past my bedtime so I could finish one more level. It’s so much fun that I’m working on other projects with abandon so I’ll have more time to concentrate on the game, guilt-free.

Why is it so much fun? Because it addresses my complaints about the Size Matters by adding Ratchet arena battles, fewer hidden weapon upgrades, more Quark brawling, rhythm mini-games used in entertaining dance sequences and, best of all, stealth gameplay for Clank that makes this game the closest thing to the Sly Cooper PSP port that I’ve so longed to play.

Combining elements of my two favourite platformers means I’m glued to that little PSP screen.

Back to work…so I can get back to playing!

Originally published at Eventually Clever. Please leave any comments there.

When Ben and Naomi want to get my attention, they call “Daddy!” or, on a rare occasion, “Dad.” It’s adorable, frankly.

When they need something in a hurry, or they want me to answer right away, they holler “Steve!” Just like Dina does when she’s at the bottom of the stairs and realizes she’s forgotten her sunglasses/car keys/coffee mug.

They know the magic word.

Originally published at Eventually Clever. Please leave any comments there.

Ben went on his first field trip today. His ABA therapists, Sarah & Nathalie, took him to visit the children’s exhibit at the Biosphere, along with another one of their clients. Ben brought his backpack, his swimsuit and a lunch, because this trip started at 9:30 and lasted until 4:00.

Ben took the bus and the metro, explored the museum, had lunch, and then played in the swimming pool. He came home very tired, but very excited. He promises to take us to the museum later and show us everything he did.

We can’t wait!

Naturally, Dina and I were thinking about him the whole time, wondering how he was doing, and keeping our cellphones close at hand. We wanted Ben to have his solo adventure, but we also wanted to spy on him! Sarah and Nathalie said that he did great - he followed directions, behaved himself and had fun.

Another step to independence. I’m so proud.

More pictures below the jump.

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Five season in two months…that was intense.

What am I gonna watch next? Hmm….

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…is that sometimes people from the office forget you exist. Not your boss or your co-workers, but the really important people who process your paycheques!

Two emails later, and the problem is solved. Hooray!

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I just hit two deadlines today, and I can’t face the other three projects on my plate.

Time to pick up Naomi with Ben and go play in the park.

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A fit of patriotism, nostalgia and a sale on iTunes had me searching for the Canadian rock songs from my high school days. I found a little Honeymoon Suite, some Gowan, a touch of Glass Tiger, a surprising number of The Northern Pikes and, yes, some Bryan Adams, to add to my existing collection of Canadian tunes.

No, I didn’t get any Kim Mitchell, any Rush (blasphemy, you say!), or Tom Cochrane.

It could be worse - I could have picked out some Platinum Blonde or tween-pop Alanis.

Originally published at Eventually Clever. Please leave any comments there.

We spent the morning at Westmount Park playing on the jungle gyms and splashing in the fountains, followed by yummy pizza and a short nap for me and a long nap for Naomi. Dina took Ben out for an ice cream in the afternoon while I got some work done. I could use more fine days like this.

Originally published at Eventually Clever. Please leave any comments there.

Thanks to Chip Mosher, Marketing Director for Boom! Studios, publishers of fine Lovecraftian, Zombie, Action, Thriller and Warhammer Comics that you’ve seen me review many times, my blogathon has it’s first bit of corporate sponsorship!

The Top 5 Donors will win one of these five fine trade paperback collections:

These books are some of the best of what Boom! Studios has to offer - I know, because I’ve read them - and I’m grateful to Chip for supporting my fundraising efforts.

Originally published at Eventually Clever. Please leave any comments there.

Today’s a great day for fireworks! [smooch]

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I’ve changed the branding - if you will - of my Blogathon efforts. People may not want to donate to some guy named Steve, but I defy anyone to resist Ben’s charms when he’s wearing his Superman shirt and cape!

While I was designing the poster, I realized that I needed a quick link to my Blogathon category…which lead to the new url: www.steve-blogathon.com. That’s much easier to remember than chiro-gra-fem-whatever…at least at a glance!

The breaking news is that I’ll be giving away comics as prizes throughout the course of the Blogathon. Some of these comics will come from my personal collection. Others will be donated by…wait, I can’t say yet. I’m waiting for a confirmation email…

Stay tuned!

Originally published at Eventually Clever. Please leave any comments there.

You are 32 months old today, and you are going to love every minute you spend at the pool this summer.

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Guess where we just spent the last two hours?

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Take a playground, a BBQ, three bouncy castles, bubble wands and balloon animals. Then add 80 kids from 2-6.

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…and I’ve created a Facebook Event. Next step, the mass email!

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Having a day off on Tuesday feels weird…like everybody decided to skip work for the day.

We made the most of it: bubbles and slides at the park with the kids this morning, hot dogs for lunch, Ben played with Nathalie in the afternoon while Dina planned craft project and Naomi and I snored our way through much-needed naps.

That’s my kind of holiday!

(I did find time to get some work done…a freelancer knows nothing of these things called holidays. [grin])

Originally published at Eventually Clever. Please leave any comments there.

27 Dresses Sometimes, the best part of watching a chick flick is watching the chicks. Katherine Heigl shows her gift for goofball comedy as the pliant romantic heroine, and Judy Greer snarks as the drunk sidekick. No surprises here, save for the fun opening sequence where Heigl commutes cross-town between two weddings.

Superbad Lived down to its title, much to my surprise. The trailer had Dina and I gasping for breath, but this extended version bored us to tears, despite some golden moments with Michael Cera (”These Eyes”) and McLovin. Cutting Jonah Hill’s dull porno speeches would revive the heart of the film.

Originally published at Eventually Clever. Please leave any comments there.

Saving the World: A Guide to Heroes, by Lynnette Porter, David Lavery and Hillary Robson Unlike the Serenity and Veronica Mars books from SmartPop, this is a printed fan site than an eclectic assortment of approaches to the show. There’s some interesting essays on multi-media marketing and on Kring’s original concept, but there are too many tables and too many comparisons to Lost.

Originally published at Eventually Clever. Please leave any comments there.

I managed to pick up a few Free RPG Day goodies today, after the rush.

There were two stores in the area: Valet de Coeur was holding a two-day “Learn to Play D&D 4e” event, and they still had a few books available. From them, I picked up the latest Tunnels & Trolls, StarSiege: Event Horizon, Heirs to Olympia, Traveller Introduction and Hunter: The Vigil. In the spirit of the day, I bought a copy of Dungeon Crawl Classics #50: Vault of the Iron Overlord, because it was written by Monte Cook & Soren Keis-Thrusup, and because it has a spinning wheel map, which is a gizmo not to be missed.

The other store in my area is much closer, but I’d never heard of it before. They also have extra product, but they’re giving the rest of it away next month, which is pretty cool idea in my book.

Originally published at Eventually Clever. Please leave any comments there.

Arome de Chine, our favourite neighborhood Chinese eatery, the restaurant that features pictures of our newborn children taped to the cash register, has closed without warning!

I phoned in an order last night, and a stranger answered, informing me impatiently that the owners had changed and that Eric and his staff are gone. He didn’t seem interested in filling in the details.

I’ve been eating there since Dina introduced me to the place nine years ago, and she’s been a customer for longer than that - it’s a bit of a shock.