http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/news/cult/news/drwho/2007/07/04/46831.shtml

Catherine Tate accepts proposal to star in fourth series.

Catherine Tate is set to return to the TARDIS for the complete 13 week run of Series Four of Doctor Who.

Award winning comedian Tate will reprise her role as Donna, the runaway bride from last year’s Christmas special, despite turning down the Doctor’s invitation to travel with him at the end of that adventure.

When Catherine was asked if she would like to become The Doctor’s new companion at the press screening of The Runaway Bride, she replied, “I would love to, but no one has asked!” Well, now they have.

“Catherine was an absolute star in The Runaway Bride and we are delighted that one of Britain’s greatest talents has agreed to join us for the fourth series,” announced Doctor Who’s executive producer and head writer, Russell T Davies. “Viewers can expect more ambitious storylines and a whole host of guest stars in 2008.”

Okay, I can see how people might like Donna. Me? I hated her. She was a loud, obnoxious, clueless dumbass. I know Jenn agreed with me when we were kind of hoping she’d get killed during the last Christmas episode. I MUCH prefer Martha, thank you.

At least the rumours of Freema Agyeman leaving are false; she’ll be in a few episodes of Torchwood and return to Doctor Who mid-season. Still… I can’t say I’m not disappointed that we’ll be seeing more of Donna. All I can hope for is that she won’t grate on my nerves like she did last time.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4880884.html

One man died after his car crashed through the wall of a downtown parking garage and landed on the roof of an adjacent building tonight, the Houston Fire Department said.

No other other injuries were reported this evening.

Authorities currently are trying to identify the victim, said Assistant Chief Omero Longoria, HFD spokesman.

The crash was reported about 6:30 p.m. when authorities said the victim’s Ford Mustang convertible punched through a brick wall in the parking garage at Houston House Apartments, 1600 Fannin.

The car fell approximately five floors and landed on the roof of an adjacent building, Longoria said.

After the fall, the car landed on its roof and firefighters appeared to be using the “jaws of life” to extricate the dead man.

Meredith Meredith Morin, 37, a Houston House resident, said she was standing on the sidewalk in front of the building saying goodbye to her mother, Hilda, when the crash happened.

Morin said she heard an explosion, looked up and saw a maroon-colored Mustang crashing through the wall. Bricks soon came crashing down on the sidewalk around her, she said.

For those not familiar with downtown Houston, the Houston House Apartments are almost smack dab in the middle of downtown and the building is easily seen while travelling down the Pierce Elevated. I don’t know what could have prompted someone to do that, but I’m willing to bet it was either drug/alcohol related or a malfunction on the car itself. Still… damn.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070605/tc_nm/pacman_xbox_dc

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pac Man will be reborn on Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox Live online service on Wednesday as a final tribute for designer Toru Iwatani, who is retiring from the $30 billion games industry he helped ignite.

The new version of the iconic arcade game is a faithful interpretation of the addictive 27-year-old original, where players wrenched joystick controllers to race a character — resembling a yellow pizza missing a slice — around a digital maze to chomp white pellets and chase multicolored “ghosts.”

The new game, “Pac Man Championship Edition,” is the second and final version Iwatani personally designed, and was created for the final round of the Xbox 360 Pac-Man World Championship in New York, when nine finalists played it for the first time.

Iwatani, 52, an employee of Japan’s Namco Bandai Holdings, said in an interview he will retire from active duty at Namco and spend more time teaching the next generation of game designers at Tokyo Polytechnic University.

He said there were no immediate plans for another version of Pac Man, but that he could work with Namco in a supervisory position or work on a new version with his students.

The new game, which pulses to dance music and has mazes that change shapes, marks Iwatani’s swan song from electronic interactive entertainment, an industry with annual revenue that now tops U.S. box office movie sales.

…

Despite the last decade’s advances in computer graphics technology and design, Iwatani created the new Pac Man as he did the original — in two-dimensions. “I wanted to stay with the original simple rules of Pac Man,” he said.

The new version also reshuffles older formats. In one mode, called “Dark mode,’ most of the maze is hidden from view with players guided only by a flashlight lighting Pac Man’s path.

“Pac Man Championship Edition” will be sold for about $10 as a download on the Xbox Live service, starting on Wednesday.

Those who have known me since my elementary school days are well aware of how much I loved Pac-Man growing up. I had a shitload of Pac-Man memorabilia, from the desktop game unit from Coleco to bedsheets and the like. I’ve always had a soft spot for the game even since, going as far as to have it installed on my last cell phone. Hell, back in 2003, my favorite game at E3 was Pac-Man VS. for the GameCube. What made it so kickass was the fact that there were four players: three used standard controllers, watched the screen, and played as ghosts. The fourth person used a Game Boy Advance for a controller, and played as Pac-Man, using the GBA’s screen to play (where it looked like the original arcade game). You can see a few shots from the game here.

As for this game… damn straight I’ll be getting it soon. I’ll just have to remember to get it once I get back from Odessa, as tomorrow will be spent packing for my trip and whatnot.

http://www.wfaa.com/…wfaa070524_wz_taksprotest.6fe879b.html

FORT WORTH — Students who had been planning to walk across the stage at graduation ceremonies this weekend were instead walking a picket line Thursday morning.

The Trimble Tech High School seniors marched in front of Fort Worth Independent School District headquarters to protest Wednesday’s decision by trustees to bar students who failed the TAKS test from commencement exercises.

About a dozen young people, carrying signs and chanting, began picketing at 8:30 a.m. Thursday. They represent the 613 Fort Worth seniors who did not pass the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills exam.

Crystal Martinez complained that while she finished at the top of her class with a 3.5 grade point average, she is now blocked from graduation by failing the TAKS test.

“We know we’re not going to get our diplomas, but we just want to walk across the stage,” Martinez said. “That’s all we ask for right now.”

Classmate Chloe Walker agreed. “I believe that I have at least the right to walk the stage with all my friends,” she said. “I made it this far, and I have all my credits I need. I deserve to get my certificate of completion.”

School officials said non-graduating seniors will have a chance to take the TAKS test again in July. If they pass, they can participate in a separate commencement exercise in August.

If you’ve read this far, you’re probably wondering how this relates to the post title. Click on the link, and look carefully at the image at the top of the article.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21774505-2,00.html

A CALIFORNIAN man who tried to kill his girlfriend by leaving her in a car parked across railway lines was himself killed when an oncoming train hurled the car into him as he fled.

His girlfriend survived, the Associated Press reported.

The man drove the car to the head of a line of traffic stopped at a level crossing in the San Fernando Valley neighbourhood of Sunland on Monday, police spokesman Mike Lopez said.

The man, who was seen arguing with the woman, then parked the car on the tracks and jumped out, leaving her behind, Mr Lopez said.

A 450-tonne commuter train hit the rear of the car, launching it into the man.

The girlfriend, who was injured , was taken to hospital in a stable condition.

“She gets hit by a train and lives. He gets hit by his own car and he dies,” Mr Lopez said.

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/785/785312p1.html

UK, May 3, 2007 - Thursday morning, Disney Interactive officially announced that arcade classics Tron and Discs of Tron are coming to Xbox 360 this summer. The titles, offered separately, celebrate the 25th anniversary of the release of Tron in movie theatres.

Each game features original and enhanced graphics and sound. Along with single-player action, Tron and Discs of Tron offer four online competitive modes that support two players. Details on these new modes remain a mystery for now. However, we have first video of both games to satisfy some of your curiosity.

Damn. I used to love playing Tron and Discs of Tron when I was growing up. Granted, I was better at Discs of Tron, but I still put many a quarter into both games. I’ll definitely be picking both of these up as soon as they become available.

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/04/28/uk-paper-sony-beheaded-goat-to-promote-god-of-war-ii/

London’s Daily Mail reports that Sony apparently decided to turn things into a true Roman spectacle in the UK for the launch of God of War II by decapitating a live goat and having revelers reach inside to feast upon the goat’s innards.

At first, we thought this was a clever analogy someone was using to describe a piñata being busted open, but it appears like it was the real thing. According to the article, “Guests at the event were even invited to reach inside the goat’s still-warm carcass to eat offal from its stomach.” Yuck!

Pictures of the event, featuring topless women as well as the strange feast, were featured in Official PlayStation 2 Magazine. Subscriber copies had already been sent out, but the company is now recalling the 80,000 newsstand copies that were to appear this Tuesday. Meaning you might have a collector’s edition on your hands, if it turns out to be true.

… it seems like every time I turn around, Sony is committing yet another marketing blunder. It’s getting to the point where they’re worse about it than Acclaim was. I’m just wondering now when Sony is going to wise up and fire these incompetent idiots…

My friend Matt wrote a post on his LiveJournal today talking about the whole Virginia Tech school shooting thing. The viewpoint he took was one I hadn’t seen before, and I felt it needed to be repeated, as it shows another ugly side to this whole thing I personally hadn’t considered…

this may piss people off, but those that do are missing my point.. because it brings up a sore subject, and i am NOT trivializing it or patronizing it. BUT. ….

There are 32 people dead Thats the current count) in the worst mass shooting in US history. You want to know whats showing on my local news? Maury. Jerry Springer. As the World Turns.

This is DISGUSTING.

In this age of internet and cable, some may say big deal.. you got CNN…Foxnews. Blah blah blah…

Well. heres the deal… When Anna Nicole Smith Died, CBS… NBC… ABC… Local affiliates all broke into regular programming and kept with the story for nearly 2-3 hours. 32 die and it doesnt even rate breaking into Jerry Springer? While I was out I mad mention of that fact and I was shot down by a passerby of the local redneck bluehair crowd…. “better not take off my “STORIES” i got to see my “STORIES”

What the hell is wrong with America?

I Felt sick to my stomach. I really did.

I am REALLY not trying to step on anyones toes.. but this is just WRONG. I live near enough to the country that i can say that there are certain areas that still just have Antenna for TV reception….Those people unless they saw it at noon STILL dont know whats going on.

I know some of you are sensitive to the Anna Nicole thing… and im using it because it was the most recent event i can recall that networks broke in…. but regardless.. If Anna Nicole rates 2-3 hours of network time, there is not one explanation you can give me that makes this decison right—-other than the American fascination with celebrity. And its just…. wrong.

Im probably the only person that cares about it, but yah. This chaps my ass in a REAL bad way.

(The following was my reply to him.)

This is another example of why I say that the idea and dream of America is beautiful and wonderful, but the reality horrifies and sickens me. What makes it such a beautiful example is the fact that more importance is placed on the self-caused death of a single “celebrity” (who, let’s face it, was not really that important) than on the MURDERS of over 30 people.

People care more only for their entertainment than their information, and that makes them complacent about the world they live in. Why else has this country gone to hell in a handbasket?

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/04/13/capcom-brings-rocketmen-and-talisman-to-xbla-and-psn/

Though it seemed like Capcom was giving Xbox Live Arcade all the love at their annual Gamers Day event, they did have two surprises up their sleeves for fans of the PlayStation Network. Rocketmen: Axis of Evil and and Talisman both represent very opposite ends of the gaming spectrum and while we got to go hands-on with the former, the latter was not presently available.

…

Talisman is based off a different strategy game, only in this case it’ll be sticking to its Games Workshop roots. Revolving around a 3-D representation of the board, Talisman is a translation of the tabletop game that sports one to four players on or offline, 25 characters from the franchise and expansion through downloadable content in the future. It will be seeing a release this winter for XBLA, PSN and PC as well.

Oh my God. As readers of this site my site know from a previous entry, Talisman was my favorite game in late junior high and high school, and I’m stoked to be able to play it on Xbox Live Arcade and possibly PC as well. (I have no intention of getting a Playstation 3.) It should be fun introducing a whole new generation (especially those from the MK community) to one of my favorite all-time games, that I was obsessed with well before the world had ever heard of Mortal Kombat.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2007-04-04-psp-price_N.htm

The cuts come two months after Sony’s gaming unit posted a third-quarter operating loss of $443 million, largely due to hefty costs for the launch of its PlayStation 3 video game console.

Although Sony promised business at the gaming unit would improve by the latter half of the fiscal year, the company said declining sales during the October-December period of Sony’s predecessor console, PlayStation 2, as well as the handheld PlayStation Portable and PSP game software, hurt quarterly profits at the gaming unit.

The word “ouch” comes to mind. The sad thing is, very few of my friends are really going for the Playstation 3; most are waiting for the Nintendo Wii and/or are getting the Xbox 360. Even those friends who have a PS3 like ShingoEX are reporting not-so-good bits of information, like how it took him FIVE HOURS to download a 650 MB demo from Sony. The more I see from Sony these days, the better I feel about having gone with the Xbox 360 when I did… heh.