Greetings, all. 

I return to my semi-abandoned blog to post information about the 6th Biennial McEwen Wassail, which will be held at the McEwen house on Saturday, December 8th.  Doors open at 6pm and will remain open until the last guest leaves or all the wassail is gone, whichever comes first. 

FAQ:

Q: What exactly IS a Wassail?

A:  According to the American Heritage Dictionary:

was·sail  (wŏs'əl, wŏ-sāl')
n.  1. A salutation or toast given in drinking someone's health or as an expression of goodwill at a festivity.  2. The drink used in such toasting, commonly spiced with roasted apples and sugar.  3.  A festivity characterized by the consumption of this drink.
v.  To drink to the health of; toast.

EK and I attended our first Wassail in 1993 at the home of the late Dr. Michael Bankston and his wife.  Dr. Bankston, my major advisor at NNC and one of the world's premier clarinet players, held an open-house style party for their expanded friends and family every December.  There were lots of cookies and snacks, Christmas trees and holiday music, and this great non-alcoholic spiced cider... stuff.  They called it an "American Wassail," a western take-off on the popular English/Nordic tradition that included, among other things, drunken revelry.  We loved the idea and ... well... stole it.  (Thanks Spanky!)

When we were married, EK and I decided to hold our Wassail every other year, to open our home to all of our friends, serve cookies and hot cider and toast our good fortune among our favorite people.  And so, in a little apartment in Boise, Idaho in 1995, the Biennial McEwen Wassail was born.  We only had 8 guests that year, but the tradition grew as it followed us from Boise and Meridian to Lynwood, Bellevue, and eventually to our home here in Bothell where, on the 10th anniversary of our first get-together, more than 100 people drank our Wassail, heard the Baudboys, toasted the new year and shared good cheer.

Q: Where do you live?  How do I get there?  Where do I park?

A: Click here.  Please use the parking lot of William Penn Park, which is just down the street from our house.  Parking along 200th street is VERY limited, so be prepared to walk a bit.  Also, please save the driveway and nearby street parking for our disabled and elderly guests.

Q: We loved the Baudboys last time - will they perform again?  When?

A: Thanks.  Now a Wassail tradition, the Baudboys will perform in my living room at around 9pm, or whenever we're all there at the same time.

Q: Can I bring my kids?  Is this a family-friendly party?

A: Yes.  We will provide childcare and will be showing kid-friendly holiday movies upstairs in DH's room.  This is not a kegger or cocktail party by any means, EK's famous wassail is non-alcoholic and we will not be serving beer or wine.  Lots of cookies and holiday cheer, though.

Q:  Is this a religious Christmas party?

A:  Not really.  More of a celebration of all winter holidays.  If you count yourself a friend of the McEwens, we welcome you into our home.  No strings attached, no secret agendas and plenty of sugary sweets.  The only thing I won’t tolerate are Denver Broncos fans.  And soccer.

Q:  Did you really build a deck on to your house to accommodate more people?

A:  Yep.  In years past the place has been so crowded that, even in the snow of 2003 and the rain of 2005, every door and window in the place was open to keep the temperature manageable.  This year we will have a large tent on a brand new deck outside our back door for those who wish to cool off without getting rained on.  There may even be a campfire going out there.  We'll see.

Q:  Do I need to RSVP?  Bring anything?  Prepare in any special way?

A:  Nope.  It's an open house, and all we require is yourself, your family and your good cheer.  We'll put a mug of Wassail in your hand and toast your health.  After that, stay as long or as little as you like, and enjoy the evening.

Q:  Can I get EK's secret Wassail recipe?

A:  No way.

Q:  Seriously, Dude.  A Deck?  Really?

A:  Yep.  It's a beauty, too.  More than 500 square feet of beautiful cedar.  Many thanks to HandyManJeff, AV8, Timmay and CV for help building it.

Have other questions that I didn't answer here?  Email me at dmcewen@microsoft.com and I'll try to answer them.

I hope to see you all there!

Dave

Wow.  I know that Scoble worked at MS for many years.  In fact, I saw him quite often while he was there - I don't know if I'd call him a friend, but a good acquaintance at least.  But, as impressive as all the announcements have been, this kind of rah-rah is a bit more than I'd expect.  I don't know about "rebooting" the internet, but Silverlight/Expression/Etc sure will make it a better place - and soon.

Anyway: Strong words from Robert today:

scobleizer.com: Microsoft “rebooted the Web” yesterday

"...I can see Microsoft coming at Google with a raft of stuff built on top of Silverlight. For end users at home it’ll look slicker, feel better, and have far better video quality than anything Google can throw at Windows users with YouTube/Flash/etc.

Is it enough yet to say that Microsoft has an internet strategy? Not quite.

But the foundation has been built..."

It's hard not to find both good and bad news being shouted from the rooftops on both sides of the street these days (Except for the Wii, of course - it's always sunny on Mario Avenue) but this one caught my eye.  If PS3s are "gathering dust in a warehouse" then it's a bad thing, right?  But then again, I wonder what the numbers for the Xbox 360 Core package will be once the Elite hits the market.

This fight isn't over, not by a long shot, and won't be for quite some time.  HD-DVD/BluRay will be the first big score, once that gets decided, but there will be others...

Anyway...

mcvuk.com: PS3 slashed to under £390

Gameseek leads the way as PS3 price continues to tumble at retail.

The online retailer is currently selling Sony's new console at an unprecedented £387.87, and Play.com, Gamestation, Shopto.com and WH Smith have also all been selling the console for under £400. Similarly Tesco and Amazon continue to offer several eye-catching deal software deals on the barely one-month old console.

“PS3 performed well pre-launch and the first week of release, but since then sales have dropped considerably,” said Gameseek boss Stephen Staley. “I am sure the deal will help matters. I personally believe the cuts are down to overstocking from launch. Credit goes to Sony for supplying for all of the demand, however this has left most retailers with alot of stock and with the consoles costing around £400 you can imagine, its not healthy for any business to have alot of PS3 consoles gathering dust in a warehouse.”

Or, at least one of them, anyway.

I'm intrigued by the Elite, but I'll be honest: My original premium system is everything I need.  I don't go nuts with the XBL downloads and don't need the HDMI port, so I'm good.  However, with the larger HD, I'd recommend it to hard core gamers if they're getting a new system.  Anyway.

Engadget:  Xbox 360 Elite hits the market early, Target to thank

Waiting around another week or so for Microsoft's Xbox 360 Elite to hit the market didn't seem all that painful from here, but to those looking to get their sweaty palms around the sleek, HDMI-enabled rig on the double, you can apparently fulfill your fantasy right now. Unsurprisingly surfacing on none other than eBay, the world's first Xbox 360 Elite bundle to leave Target's doors in a customer's hands has arrived, and if the small bevy of photos and actual receipt aren't enough to arraign some careless bullseye-sporting employee, we don't know what is.

The change is good, WPFE was a mouthful, but "Silverlight" will take some getting used to.

I'm sure this will be a big deal down at MIX in two weeks.

More from on10.net: 

Out with WPFE in with Microsoft Silverlight. This has just been announced!

So we've been hearing about WPFE for a while now but Microsoft has just officially announced Microsoft Silverlight.  A new solution for being able to take video, interactivity, animation and make it available on Mac, Windows and many browsers.

Wow - vacation, back injury, kids birthdays and preparing for travel doesn't leave me much time to blog.  But I am determined to get back into the habit, so here goes...

Guitar Hero II is everything I hoped it would be and more - a truly awesome combination of music and games and an entertainment experience that never gets old.

HOWEVER - the pricing (as decided by either Microsoft or Red Octane, I'm not sure which) of the additional downloadable songs via XBox Live Marketplace is totally out of whack.  For those of you who don't know, they've packaged up some of the songs from V1 into groups of three and are charging 500 points for them.  (about $6.25)  This has surprised and outraged many gamers (like myself) who were expecting MUCH lower prices - 100 points per song at the extreme top end, and much less per song for bundled packages.

I've decided to wait and see - I am not going to download any new (old) songs until the prices come down.  If they never do, then I'll just wait until the '80's edition comes out later this summer. 

RedOctane and/or Microsoft:  You guys are making a big mistake.  This pricing has turned an absolute home-run of a game, a game that gives you and OBVIOUS leg up on the PS3, into a source of frustration and anger from your most active fanbase.  These things should be FREE, or at least VERY cheap.  Make your fans happy and they will evangelize for you.  Make them angry and they will be your worst nightmare.

Tycho from Penny-Arcade said it best:

Guitar Hero II DLC Is Insulting And Ridiculous

The ability to extend Guitar Hero with downloadable songs was main reason I made the investment in the next-gen version.  Investment is the right word, too:  I choked down that ninety dollars with a lot of twisting and full-body spasms.  It was like an anaconda swallowing a sheep.  But the idea that I'd be able to snag expansions and classic tracks straight over the wire was some comfort. 

The pricing on these new songs is simply a bad call - and knowing that Guitar Hero III is going to hit in a few short months makes me wonder how valuable this stopgap content actually is.  Five hundred points (or $6.25, in human money) for a three song pack is the work of a diseased mind.  These things should be priced like gumballs, obvious to any person who passes by.  Bundle them together.  Something.  Something that would make me feel like less of an idiot for buying your product again.

I understand that the songs are now 5.1, and that they include the second track for co-operative play - it isn't just the old *** hurled up on the auction block.  The pricing is still extortionary, and I've bought my last track.

Check it out:

From visitmix.com

April 30 — May 2nd, The Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas

On the frontiers of the Web, boundaries are blurring—developers and designers, advertisers and publishers, software and services, media and technology, TV and PCs, PCs and mobile devices, producers and consumers. The old order is getting a little MIXed up.

MIX is Microsoft’s conference for Web designers, developers and decision-makers who make their living at the forefront of the consumer Web. Join the conversation with Microsoft and others on how to harness the latest technologies, unlock new revenue opportunities, reduce development costs and improve customer experience. MIX is for cutting-edge Web professionals designing and building next-generation experiences.