One full day back and Christina and I are already ready to return to Puerto Rico — We had an excellent, much-needed vacation in San Juan.

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Few creatures of the night have captured our imagination like vampires…
What explains our enduring fascination with vampires?
What is it about the vampire myth that explains our interest?
Is it the overtones of sexual lust, power, control…
Or is it a fascination with the immortality of the undead?
And what dark and hidden parts of our psyche are aroused and captivated
By the legends of the undead

– Vampires, Godsmack

I remember when vampires were awesome.  Whether it’s a book by Anne Rice, the Lost Boys, pretty much any RPG, or Dracula himself — Vampires are to be feared.  As suggested, vampires have always had a “sexiness” to them but first and foremost, they were creatures to be feared.

No more.

I suppose it started with Blade making vampires “cool”.  Then Kate Beckinsale made them ridiculously hot.  Finally, Stephenie Meyer emasculated them.  The so-called “next J.K. Rowling” has turned vampires as ordinary teenagers experiencing overly dramatic romanticism.  Now vampires are cropping up everywhere but almost universally as a love interest as opposed to, you know, a terrifying force of evil.

Thankfully, a fellow supernatural undead, the zombie, is also riding a huge upswell up popularity.  When it comes to the undead, zombies have always been perceived as the plebs to the vampires patricians.  Unlike vampires however, zombies haven’t had to resort to teen angst for their popularity.  Left 4 Dead, Shaun of the Dead, Plants vs Zombies, 28 Days Later, Resident Evil 5, and the upcoming ZombieLand… zombies are riding high.

The mysteries of the undead will continue to fascinate the living.

– Vampires, Godsmack

Last night, my trigger finger acted faster than my frugality could intercept.  Sony finally lowered the price of the PS3 a few weeks ago which made it irresistibly tempting.  The complete lack of compelling 360-specific games coming out doesn’t help, either.  Then, I spent several hours this past weekend helping a friend get UPnP/DLNA media streaming to his PS3 from a NAS.   If I’m going to tech support a device, I mean, I might as well own one, right?

Who am I to fight all of these reasons?  Uncharted, Fat Princess, Resistance, Little Big Planet, I await thee.

Though Glee surprised me, Community is the new show that I was actually anticipating.  I don’t know if people are going to get into yet another “witty” sitcom but the pilot was pretty funny and well-cast.  Chevy Chase + John Oliver?  Absolutely.

Every TV season, there seems to be at least one new show that comes out of nowhere and becomes the talk of the town.  If the early returns are any indication this season, that show is Glee.  Starting with your standard high-school sitcom foundation, they added on quite a bit of American Idol and High School Musical, a hefty chuck of So You Think Can Dance, and the quirkiness of Pushing Daisies to create a show providing a little something for everyone.

Surprisingly, they mostly succeeded.  It is generally quite funny and for those without a sense of humor, the bits of music & dance will entertain.  Christina is particularly enamored with the show and I have put it into the TiVo Season Pass rotation.

If you missed it, you can watch it on Hulu.

• VT blew away Marshall with their high-powered offense.  Nice showing but where was that last week?
• Taking the pessimistic view, Virginia Techs “offensive” coordinator Bryan Stinespring acquired a straw-man counter-argument for his continued failures.  Blowing away a team with no defense does not mean you know how to run an offense.  Now I just need to convince Beamer of that.
• I’m Michigan’s biggest fan this week.  Hopefully USC, BC and at least one additional team will also beat Notre Dame and keep them from wasting a BCS berth…
• USC-Ohio State wasn’t quite as exciting as I might have hoped for but at least Ohio State shouldn’t appear in the national title game just to get blown out again.  Though, they actually looked respectable in the loss.
• Also — What USC-Ohio State game was the media watching? All they talked about the USC freshman quarterback and his amazing drive to win the game.  Barkley may turn out to be a great quarterback that drive was all about Joe McKnight (who is already a great running back).  If hiking the ball and giving it to your star running back is all it takes to make a QB great, Brett Favre is going to be a legend indefinitely in Minnesota.
• Speaking of which, Adrian Peterson is a man among boys.
• Some are suggesting that Crabtree is going to sit out and re-enter the draft next year? That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. If true, it would be another waste of talent on what appears to be another T.O.-esque diva.
• It’s an ongoing struggle to stay a Redskins fan.
• Clijsters wins the US Open after coming back from having a baby.  That’s a story for the ages and yet it’s only the 3rd most compelling story of the tournament.  First, Oudin upstaged her with her spunk and determination and then Serena took “meltdown” to another level.
• Somehow, Federer lost to someone other than Nadal.  I didn’t think this was possible.
• I so very much wish college football was a year-round sport.

Ukrops spoiled me.  Growing up in Richmond, there were, you know, other grocery stores but those were just places you went when you were in rush; You did the real grocery shopping at Ukrops.

When I finally moved out of Richmond, I was a bit taken back at the poor quality of grocery stores elsewhere.  Some were ok, the Harris Teeters of the world, while others were almost universally terrible, such as Giant.  Apparently, there used to be Giants in Richmond before I was born but like Safeway, Hannaford, and FarmFresh, it was run out of town by the success of Ukrops.

Times have changed.  It seems most of the other chains have either adapted and improved.  Giant, the poster-child for all the things other grocery store chains did poorly, has the best self-checkout system of the grocery stores around us.  The store has been modernized, cleaned up, and no longer looks like a sad derelict left over from the post-WWII building boom.

Last night, Giant took it up a notch with handheld scanners.

The beauty of this little guy is that I can scan my groceries as I shop, see my total bill at any time, and when I’m ready to check out, I simply zap a little card at the register, pay, and I’m ready to leave.  No lengthy checkout necessary.  For someone who doesn’t particularly care to spend any additional time in a grocery store than necessary, this thing rocks.  For someone who loves tech gadgets as I do, this thing really rocks.

The evolution of grocery stores is much appreciated, especially as the wunderkind struggles.  Now if we can only get payment by cell phone and RFID checkout going, I might actually enjoy going to the grocery store.   Even if it’s only to play with the gadgets.