Got the news tonight that I'd been expecting for a while now. The band I've been in for five years now is splitting up, finally closing a chapter that's been a long time coming, truthfully. It's not because we don't like playing together or the result of any drama of any kind... it's simply a lack of time. Our singer has a new baby, the drummer is trying to get his drum company off the ground, and, well, I'm pretty busy doing the GameSpot thing. We hadn't played together since well before the holidays and had no plans for any gigs any time soon.

Before I moved out to San Francisco I was pretty active musically--playing in a bunch of different groups from all over the genre map. Once I moved out here in 1998, I hung up my bass and tried to concentrate on carving a niche for myself professionally--which took more than a little while to achieve. Honestly, playing music was the last thing on my mind for the longest time. It wasn't until I hooked up with these guys (on a whim, mind you) that the thought of playing the bass came back. And it wasn't until I started playing with them that I realized how much I missed it.

So it's a bittersweet feeling--we had a good run and we've all got exciting things ahead of us. Just not together, I suppose.

The question is: What's next for me musically?

5) Romeo Delight (Women and Children First) - Uptempo and driving but probably not as difficult as it sounds. Would be a nice intro song.

4) 5150 (5150) - Yeah, I don't mind Van Hagar so much and this is one of EVH's most intriguing rhythm guitar performances ever. It'd be a blast to play.

3) Mean Street (Fair Warning) - This song kicks so much ass.

2) Girl Gone Bad (1984) - Another great example of why Eddie's such a damn good rhythm guitar player and the solo in the outro apparently has him doing his best to break his own fingers on the neck of the guitar. One of my favorite VH tunes.

1) Eruption (Van Halen) - Not sure how the game would handle the two-handed tapping stuff but this one on Expert would make Bark at the Moon look like a Ramone's tune.

Man, if my Tivo were here right now, I'd slap it in its face. Stupid Tivo decided to erase last week's episode of "Grey's Anatomy" before I got a chance to save it and watch. Stupid Tivo. I'll get you back.

Got any plans for the weekend? If you're not too excited about the USC/UCLA game and are looking for something way more compelling (and happen to live near the San Francisco Bay Area) why not head down to G.A.M.E. and experience a whole slew of cool stuff including games, bands, music, G.A.M.E.-girls (I'm married, so these do not interest me in the slightest *cough* *cough*), and a whole lot more. If you want to stop by and say hello, please do. I'll be the bearded guy in the sports section talking smack about my Madden skills and looking for updates on the USC game.

As an added incentive to come say hello, I'm running a little mini-contest. The first person that comes up to me with the correct answer to the following trivia question will win an incredibly *valuable tchotchke of my own choosing from my personal stash, which I will immediately present you. That's the good news. The bad news is: the question is tough. Here goes:

Who was the last person to score a goal in Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens before it was shut down?

Ouch. Told ya. Regardless of whether or not you know the answer, be sure and stop by and say hello. I'd love to meet you and talk sports, games, whatever.

* practically worthless

Former World Rally Championship title winner Richard Burns died today at the young age of 34 after a long battle with brain cancer. Coincidentally, Burns lost his long battle on the fourth anniversary of his first and only WRC title win in 2001.

This is terrible, if not unexpected, news. I always loved Burns on the track yet always felt a bit irked by his smugness off... until I realized that it was precisely that smugness that helped him do such amazing things on the track. The guy wasn't really a jerk, he was just supremely self-confident, and his 2001 WRC championship will be a lasting legacy of proof.

I really got into rallying about 1998, right smack dab in the middle of Tommi Makinen's impressive run of title wins. As dominant as Tommi was back then, it was hard not to notice Burns' ability behind the wheel. For many, Colin McRae is the premiere Subaru driver, thanks to his 1995 championship win. For me, and no offense to Petter Solberg's amazing accomplishments, whenever I think of Subaru, I'll always think of Burnsie.

This week is an ideal time to be a fan of bands from Canada, if you ask me. Rush is releasing their umpteenth live DVD, recorded during last year's 30th anniversary tour and The Tragically Hip just released their first live DVD, "That Night in Toronto". Even though I've only been listening to them for a handful of years, I've got a special place in my musical heart for Das Hip and the DVD, at least what I've seen so far, has been a real treat. Like most great bands, the Hip's music really comes alive on stage thanks in no small part to singer Gord Downie's manic stage presence and stream-of-consciousness banter. Certainly, I wish the setlist were a bit different--only one song from In Violet Light?--but after so many studio albums, that's to be expected.

A little something for you musicians out there: The Mario theme as played on a nine-string(!!) bass guitar.

Jean Baudin Plays Mario

As a bassist--and a Mario fan--I've go to say this is pretty impressive.

Oh and dig his Pac-Man themed axe:

Most of my family lives in the south in general, and Houston in particular. With the damage still being assessed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, I've been turning a nervous eye to Rita, which is making a beeline towards Houston and my family. Most of them, it appears, have left town, but there are a number of them who have decided (against reason, I suppose) to hole up and wait it out. The fact that there are, according to reports, 100 mile backups on surrounding highways in south Texas, and widespread gas shortages on top of them, probably weighed heavily into their decisions.

To me, Hurricane Katrina less exposed the failures of our government and emergency response systems (though there were certainly significant gaps) and more shed light on the fragile nature of our transportation infrastructure, which, in nearly every city in the country, is far too flimsy to support either a mass evacuation of this kind or an influx of goods and services that needs to happen immediately following a major disaster. At the risk of sounding selfish, I'm hoping that somehow we learned something three weeks back and that the response in Houston will be equal to the severity of the storm. If only because this time, for me, it's personal.

You wish you thought of it first.

A hypothetical situation for you.

Consider a one-on-one, no holds barred fight to the death between a normal, unarmed human being and a normal, unarmed black ant. No, not some fancy fire ant or massively-mandibled army ant; just your garden variety, run of the mill vespoidea formicidae (thanks Wikipedia!) against your garden variety, run of the mill homo sapien.

Now, obviously the human is going to stomp the living crap out of the ant out and the match will be over in half a second right? Of course!

But, and here's the part I pose as a hypothetical question to you, is there any possible way that the ant could overcome the astronomical odds against him and somehow prevail against a creature vastly larger, more intelligent, and more powerful? If you think so, I invite your explanations for how this plucky little warrior ant could accomplish such a Herculean feat.

I'm only asking because I'm afraid of ants and am looking to shore up my defenses a little bit.