A happening weekend: some good, some bad, some sad.

The good news is that we're home again, probably a few pounds heavier than when we left, but we'll work on that later this week.

The bad news is that FlashForward, one of our favorite shows on TV at the moment, got canceled by ABC.

The sad news is that Ronnie James Dio passed away over the weekend. For people who have no clue who Dio is, he was the lead singer for legendary rock bands such as Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio and most recently Heaven & Hell, a reunited Black Sabbath under an alternate name. Dio, who made the throwing horns \m/ gesture popular among metal fans, passed away at the age of 67 after a six-month battle with stomach cancer.

Two BBQs in 12 hours: totally awesome. Unfortunately, the main BBQ, the reason why we drove four hours, was very weak. Häagen Dazs' 25-year celebration of the facility was disappointing, but luckily, we got a tour of the plant and plenty of actual ice cream, so I guess it wasn't a total waste of time.

Later today, we are driving back home, with perhaps a pit stop at Sonic, a drive-in fast food joint that we've never been to.

Some news to report from the world of CrimeCraft: The first $1,200 all-cash tournament was won by yours truly, the WP gang. Too bad I could not participate in person, being on this trip and all, but my gang members made me proud and took the top prize!

One BBQ down, one to go. Boy, am I stuffed! It seems that eating is on the agenda for the weekend, as we'll have a nice hot breakfast tomorrow morning and then BBQ for lunch. Someone suggested having even more BBQ for dinner tomorrow. Now, BBQs are my favorite meal and all, but by tomorrow night, I'll be ready for a salad or an apple. I know, sacrilege!

Quite a few interesting announcements yesterday, so E3 must be approaching: Super Hero Squad Online, Stronghold 3, new DLCs for Mass Effect 2, Alan Wake, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Lots of stuff to look out for ...

Later today, we are taking a little road trip. I can smell the BBQs already! Just so you know, there might be a little coverage gap in the late afternoon, but we'll be sure to catch up on things as soon as we arrive.

No movie plans this weekend. We'll skip Robin Hood until it comes on DVD, but we did get to watch the latest episodes of Lost and The Good Wife.

Friday afternoon, we're going on a quick trip to celebrate ... something. It's not that anybody in our circle of friends and family is having a party. No, Haagen Dazs is having an anniversary shindig, and relatives of employees were all invited to commemorate it. Most importantly, it's a BBQ! Even though it's a four-hour drive, you don't say no to that, especially if there is another BBQ the day before! Yea, we're SO there!

Not much else going on. We watched House, Supernatural, Bones and I really need to finish watching Smokin' Aces 2. I've had it for a month or so and just can't find the courage to finish the last 10 minutes. Yawn!

So LittleBigPlanet 2, eh? Not really much of a surprise there. The original has been quite a smashing success, so it was only a matter of time before new ideas would be put together for a sequel. Personally, I've been more intrigued with the other Play, Create, Share title it spawned, ModNation Racers, but nonetheless looking forward to E3 to get our hands on LBP2.

Quite a few hot titles shipping this week and next, so put aside sufficient cash and clear your schedule. It's about to get busy!

The weekend's over, and mission accomplished. We've done all that we set out to do: watch Iron Man 2 and not much else. Yay us!

Well we did catch up on some more FlashForward (everybody should watch that show, it's awesome), some Chuck, The Amazing Race finale (booo, our favorite team didn't win!) and The Time Traveler's Wife.

Of course, we also sent flowers to mom for Mother's Day! :)

Iron Man 2 was good stuff! It was action-packed, with good special effects and lots of humor. There's a lot more linking to SHIELD and the upcoming Avengers movie, with plenty of screen time for Nick Fury. Be sure to stay until after the movie credits for a little something extra ....

Apart from movie watching, we did not really get anything done. Slept, ate, ran errands, and watched a few episodes of Fringe.

Off to see Iron Man 2....

Apart from certain PR people being (rightfully) upset with me for missing yesterday's Pixar event, today went quite well. Got to see Mafia II with some hands-on time, and there are quite a few new bells and whistles that we'll be telling you more about next week when the official announcement is made.

Tomorrow, we're getting the first hands-on time with Epic/People Can Fly's Bulletstorm, so that should be quite an experience, and Cilff Bleszinski, the artist formerly known as CliffyB, will also be there.

Red Dead Redemption is coming out soon. I'm so jazzed about that! But where is my announcement that it is coming to the PC? What's keeping you guys so long?!

Our Cinco de Mayo celebration went well, not that we do anything special apart from having some margaritas, daiquiri, and lots of homemade tacos. Very tasty!

Unfortunately, I mixed up my schedule and missed a chance to go to Pixar and see Toy Story 3, which I had on my calendar as today, but it was yesterday. Totally bummed about that!

Iron Man 2 is opening this week, so Saturday we're heading down to one of the local theaters with a few friends to check it out.

Still getting back into the swing of things after a gorgeous weekend and a slow Monday. We managed to squeeze in a few more episodes of House and Fringe, so we're almost caught up. The only remaining Fringe episode on the DVR is "Brown Betty," which is some sort of musical, detective noir episode. I'm not quite sure what to expect, but it should certainly be interesting ....

Today is Cinco de Mayo (May 5), which is usually confused with Mexico's Independence Day but actually commemorates the Mexican army's victory over the French at Battle of Puebla in 1862.

(Must ... resist ... obvious punch line.)

At this point, who hasn't defeated the French?

(OK, so I failed.)

We'll be certain to have some extra margaritas in honor of the day. ¡Arriba!

Yesterday was a little bit quiet due to a bank holiday in Europe, so we took the opportunity to catch up on a few episodes of Fringe. Love that series!

It was another warm day, and with all these computers on, the fans are at full strength to keep the office at a decent temperature. All I need now is a beach towel and a cocktail!

Wanted to thank Microsoft and its PR department for hooking us up with the early Halo: Reach codes. Unfortunately, we were only able to accommodate a handful of people out of the thousands of submissions, but we hope that the lucky few had a good time.

Well here we are again, kicking off another news week. There are a few press events lined up in the next few days, so we should have some cool coverage coming up. The first pre-E3 invitations rolled in last week, so there's no ignoring it anymore; it's rapidly approaching.

We did well on the TV watching and got caught up on the latest episodes of The Amazing Race, Bones, Chuck, FlashForward and NCIS. This week, Iron Man 2 is opening, so we're going to see it Friday or Saturday for sure. Exciting!

Another beautiful day in our neck of the woods, and the forecast is predicting more of the same today. Our little hike yesterday was not what we had set out to do, as our friends did not feel like a two-hour stroll, but nevertheless, it was time well spent.

We watched Stargate Universe and a few episodes of Bones, and since we have no specific plans for the rest of the day, we'll probably catch up on a few more TV shows.

Hope people are enjoying their Halo: Reach friends & family codes. The giveaway was an overwhelming success, and we wish we could have accommodated every entry, but that's the nature of the beast.

God damn, we did it again. We shouldn't drink wine when we're already tired to begin with. It never ends well. Wine is our kryptonite, no doubt about it .... We had a friend over for dinner, and of course, a bottle was opened, and then what was supposed to be a refreshing little nap turned into an all-night snooze fest. For Shame!

Today, we're meeting some friends for brunch and while we're out in their area, we might go for a hike. There is supposed to be a two-hour trail out there with nice views, so time permitting, we're strapping on the walking shoes.

Our Halo: Reach beta key giveaway was a smashing success. Thousands sent in an email in the first hour, so we decided to use that as leverage and request another set of keys so we can please more of our readers. Keep sending in those mails! You might just get lucky ....

Last night, we went to a going away party for our longtime friend, Jarik Sikat from KOEI, who is literally leaving it all behind this very morning, packing his bags and moving to Japan. While this is still work and business, some people stand out more than others due to their attitude, friendliness and demeanor, and Jarik will surely be missed and the industry will be lesser for it. We wish him the best in his future endeavors, and our paths will surely cross again.

In case some of you fans out there are getting a little bit excited about the imminent Halo: Reach beta, I've got good news for you. Later today, we will be giving away a batch of early access codes to participate in the Friends & Family Beta multiplayer beta, which you will be able to redeem immediately. We'll set up a contest page, and all you have to do is send in one (1) e-mail and we will pick people until we run out of codes. It's as simple as that.

Hope you enjoyed our early look at Alan Wake. We'll have a full impression coming up shortly, with an in-depth review coming on launch day, so plenty of information ahead.

As you may have noticed, we received our final copy of Alan Wake and took it for a spin. Check out the preview here. Of course, we'll continue to explore the game in its entirety and give you a full assessment when the embargo lifts in early May.

As expected, it rained cats & dogs yesterday, but it cleared up in the late afternoon and the sun even showed up, which presented us with the dilemma of whether or not we'd go to the baseball game. A late work day made the decision for us, so we put on our PJs, plopped on the couch, and watched the latest episodes of House and Glee.

Watched another episode of The Pacific, which was thankfully action-packed for the second straight week. It's already the seventh episode (out of 10), and I'm just getting to know the characters. I'm quite the war buff, but the past three episodes have been set on the island of Peleliu (present-day Palau), and I've never even heard of the battle. Visceral battlefield sequences, though! Next week's episode is finally going to focus on Iwo Jima, so I'm looking forward to that one ....

We're supposed to go to a ballgame tonight, but after a weekend of lovely weather, it's going to come down in buckets. I'm all for hot dogs, beer and bleacher seats, but you can count me out if it's going to rain.