It's spring break, and I'm in Los Angeles (more specifically, West Hollywood) having a great time.  Took a trip to Chinatown and Little Tokyo today, and I thought I would share with you some stuff I picked up.  Oh this is going to be formatting hell.
 
1) Strawberry Gummy Candy: "Kasugai's strawberry gummy, made from fresh strawberry juice, is a very delicious gummy. Please have a fun time with this strawberry gummy."

They're actually quite good.

2) Lucky Money Cats

Both bought in Chinatown.

1) Hello Panda (biscuits with choco cream)
Nummy nummy!

2) Hi-Chew Fruit Chew
Also nummy.

3/4) Mochi
It's a gummy-type snack made by smashing rice into a chewy substance. There is some kind of flavored jelly on the inside. Really good.

Bought in a grocery store in Little Tokyo.















1) Ramune Carbonated Soft Drink (Melon Flavor)
When you open this thing, you use the cap to shove a little ball down that might carbonate the water... I don't know. It does something.

2) Oi Ocha Unsweetened Green Tea
Haven't tried this yet, but I'm looking forward to it. It claims to be number one.

Bought in a grocery store in Little Tokyo.



Domo-kun! (mascot of Japan's NHK television station)

If you didn't already know, Microsoft recently banned a woman from Xbox Live for identifying herself as a lesbian in her profile.  She was reported as being offensive by some homophobes who didn't want themselves or their kids to see her sexual orientation.

You cannot shelter kids from things like homosexuality.  To have a parent think they can control everything their child sees is just ridiculous.  Besides, most kids are pretty open and indifferent to that kind of stuff.

When I first saw this, I was a little confused why she would identify herself as a lesbian to begin with, but after some thought I realized she has plenty of reasons.  First, if you ever played a game of Uno with a woman over Live, you will know that at least one of the other players will spend the entire game hitting on her.  Second, it is called an "About Me" section, and your sexual orientation is a pretty big part of your life.

Now I understand that Microsoft wants to create a family friendly atmosphere on Xbox Live (keep trying guys), but their policies are in desperate need of an overhaul.  Supporting homophobia isn't something I would consider "family friendly."  Some people would disagree with me on that, but I hope they are the minority here.

I am gay, and although I don't plan on updating my XBL profile with that information, it is really unfortunate that doing so would get me banned.

Some quick stuff...
-If you don't absolutely hate reading, Michael Ian Black's My Custom Van is hilarious.  My favorite essays so far include "One Day, I'm Going to Open a Scented Candle Shoppe," "Erotic Fiction: The Elevator," and "A Series of Letters to a Squirrel."
-Flower pleasantly surprised me, I really enjoyed it.
-Noby Noby Boy was worth my five dollars.  Girl needs to reach Mars soon.
-I bought Dead Space on Steam, and I'm terrified of it.  First levels are supposed to be cakewalks... the elevator sequence freaked me out.

Guess what arrived today?  A poster and a soundtrack from a super game!
That poster is signed by Tim Schafer and says "Sewer water is often highly radioactive" in the corner.  The CD is the original cinematic score from the excellent game Psychonauts.  I can die peacefully now that my collection is finally complete.  The receipt even had a little "Thanks : )" hand written on it!  Time to stock up on Brutal Legend stuff.

[Update] Poster is totally framed and on the wall now.

I loved EGM... and this sums up my feelings on the matter perfectly.