I just heard about outpacker.com, a site dedicated to hiking, backpacking, and camping communities. I have no idea what they are planning, and I hope I get a beta invitation. I have been really slack in my hiking this year, I have only been out twice or three times and only to the north Georgia mountains, and only day-hikes. I feel like I slacked off in 2008 and hope to get back in the swing in 2009.

Today, I went to an incredible Indian place up in Marietta. Vatica Indian Vegetarian Cuisine‎/. The owner, I speculate he was the owner anyway, was hilarious. The food was delicious. It was exactly the kind of place I’ve always wanted to find. When you walk in, you don’t get seated, you just find a seat and sit down. There is no menu, you just sit, and they bring you whatever they are cooking. And it was delicious. My only regret is that I am currently on a diet, trying to get fit, and I couldn’t stuff myself nearly as much as my taste buds wanted to.

But I will definitely be back for more.

So my little kitten, Hamilton, is now a little over 5 months old. He beginning to get to get his adult teeth in. Which roughly translates to him chewing on everything. And do I mean everything: anything made of plastic, anything made of cardboard, my limbs and phalanges, my other cat. You name it and he has his teeth in it.

The thing is, he doesn’t mean to be a jerk. It is just nature, I’m sure that it doesn’t feel that good for him and he is the sweetest cat on the planet, even if he tries to put his paws on my mouth when he is trying to sleep on my stomach to keep me quiet. Still, it is plain to see why so many kittens get given up for adoption or abandoned at this age. Which saddens me, because I know that Hammy will be a perfect cat as soon as all his teeth come in. But it is so easy to loose patience with him and punish him for something that isn’t his fault.

BTW, for those who are interested the little guy is named after Alexander Hamilton because he was born around the 4th of July. Seemed fitting…

So I go up in Tennessee late last night, and went out with my good buddy john to see Iron Man. We were accompanied by Johns lovely wife and his litter sister. Now, his little sister is always a riot to be around but last night she was exceptionally on point.

Between her critique about african-american culture here in the South, and her apparent lust for rice and imitation crab (a combination of which I can only imagine would be purely orgasmic, I’m sure), I’m not really sure what to say, other than its always a pleasure.

Now, on to Iron Man. I will attempt to write a more detailed review over the next week, but suffice to say, its definately a keeper. Well adapted, solidly acted, exceptionally timed. Some might argue it is a bit on the long side, however, long movies never bothered me, as long as the pacing is spot on, and Jon Favreau and Dan Lebental were on the ball. They worked together before on Elf, which I honestly can say that I enjoyed.

Robert Downey Jr. was an exceptional Tony Stark, far better than I would have imagined. Jeff Bridges was a surprisingly good villain. I thought that the movie over-all was well paced and compact, which is impressive considering it has a solid two hour running time. I’d rather not give too many spoilers for those that haven’t seen it yet, but it’s a solidly fun watch and easily the best movie of the year so far.

And I must admit, the appearance after the credits gives me new hope that the new Hulk movie might not be as terrible as I fear that it will be.

I picked up the new Mario Kart this weekend, and I have to say that I am mostly pleased with it. I don’t have the time to write a proper review yet, nor have I played enough of it that I feel I am qualified enough to say anything definitive about it. A few quick comments though.

Overall, it feels more like sequel to Mario Kart DS than Double Dash. Snaking is more or less out, which I think makes it more balanced for new-comers especially for online matches, but I’ll have to see what its like with some serious competition. Drafting is in from Mario Kart DS, which is great.

The Wii Wheel is surprisingly more responsive than I would have thought. I played all weekend with it and it was a lot of fun. I think as I try to share the precious seconds off my times, I’ll probably switch over to the classic controller or GC controller. But in terms of Nintendo wanting a straight-forward, easy-to-pick-up, rewarding controller option, the Wii Wheel is spot-on for casual gamers.

Playing online is a blast. I hate the need for Friend Codes, but pick up games are fun, lag free, and easy to jump in. I really like the idea of the leader-board for ghost runs. I think its a perfect fit that has been missing from the series for a long time.

My biggest complaint, aside from removing snaking, is the inability to play through the championship cups with two players like you could in Double Dash. I think they really dropped the ball there. But at least you can play two player multi-player.

I’ll try to write a more detailed review later, after I’ve gotten more of chance to play it, and some of my friends have ponied up for it and I can get a better feel for the multi-player.