Gameboy Micro Rules!

I know the PSP is the hot toy on everyone's christmas list, but I love my Game Boy MICRO.

It's a 100% Gameboy Advanced (but not original GB from 1987) compatible gaming machine that is barely larger than a Gameboy cartridge. It has a VERY bright 2" by 2.5" screen 16:9 wide-screen LCD display. It's overall form-factor is not very different than the original NES controller.

What makes it so awesome is the size and portability It starts up instantly and runs forever on a single charge. It's so light that I often forget it's in my pocket. It's simply TINY, but totally playable. You can't go wrong with its price either. Only $99, and available everywhere.

PSP's clock in at over $250, weigh a ton, and require you buy all new software to play on it. Sure it does a lot more, but how much do you really need to do on the subway? The PSP doesn't replace your iPod, and even if it did, you can't game on it while listening to your music. It weighs a ton and you need to get a whole purse just to carry it around.

So I am down on the PSP, and big-time YES on the GB:Micro.

East Harlem is Fantastic!

Growing up in Queens, we never went to Harlem. It was always the scary place north of Manhattan that no one spoke about, except as a place to "not end up accidentally".

Anyway, I've been spending some time up there lately and have made some SHOCKING discoveries!

1. People actually live there
2. There are many nice shops and restaurants
3. The houses there are very, very nice. Big and roomy, you won't find whole-floor apartments converted into 9 studios
4. Some people even own whole brownstones.

It's really shocking. The streets are wide, the buildings are modern or beautiful pre-wars. I just don't understand why everyone wants to pay ridiculous rents to live downtown (as in, below 90th street) when you could pay much less living up town.