Okay, no more talk about No Country for Old Men although it was in the top 20 of DVDs sales the first week of release! (America, have you no taste!?)  Actually, what intrigued me more was the fact that The Savage Sword of Conan #2—a reissue by Dark Horse, originally published in the 1970’s—was no. 1 on the graphic novel list.  Goes to show that a great property never dies.  And just imagine this… If Conan continues to sell well, maybe Hollywood (with no more original ideas anymore) will make a 3rd movie with California Governor Schwarzenegger.  Hey, after all these years, if Harrison could reprise his role as Indy, why not Ah-nold?  Or maybe if Ah-nold isn’t willing to do it after his term is finished in 2011, they can always get Javier Bardem to be Conan, and he can call everybody, “friendo” and use a cattle stun gun on his enemies!

Great news for women and minorities!  On March 20th, the Entertainment Software Association has established a $45,000 scholarship fund to help women and minorities pursuing careers in videogame development.  Full-time students at four-year colleges and universities who plan to continue their education in fields supporting video game development can apply online for a $3,000 scholarship until May 15th of this year.  The ESA will award 15 scholarships for the 2008-09 academic year.  I wonder if it’s too late for me to re-think my career (whatever that may be) and go back to college to receive a videogame development scholarship?!  I may not be a woman, but I can try…

Here’s something shocking for you faithful Gilligan’s Island fans out there.  The once-upon-a-time hot actress, Dawn Wells, 69, who played the sensually innocent Mary Ann, is now serving a six months’ probation for reckless driving in Driggs, Idaho!  There’s even a rumor that the cops found some pot in her car when they stopped her!  Hope it was for medicinal purposes!  Man oh man!!  What’s next?  Barbara Eden (of I Dream of Jeannie fame) getting busted for lewd and lascivious behavior?!

This may be a bit early, but when the venerable series, ER, returns for its 15th season in the fall, it may be its last.  Executive producer, David Zabel said that they may be bringing back some old characters from past seasons just to spice things up.  And George Clooney’s character just may be one of ‘em!  But don’t hold your breath for Anthony Edwards’ return… unless he comes back as a ghost or something!

LOOKING BACK

Fifty years ago in 1958, Tennis for Two was a game developed on an oscilloscope, which simulated a game of tennis or ping-pong.  It was created by American physicist, William Higinbotham (say that 3 times really fast), and based on analog rather than digital computing.  The game, a predecessor to Pong, is particularly important as it was one of the first electronic games to use a graphical display.  This game was created to cure boredom for those who visited the Brookhaven National Laboratory.  So, it begs the question…just why was Halo created?