For the people in Northern America and that teeny bit of country in Europe that celebrates this day: Happy Boxing Day. May this day fulfill all the material things you wanted for 2006. For the rest of the world, have a merry second Christmas Day, which is a day that is supposed to fulfill both material and spiritual needs. Obviously, we need more Christmas days, but I admit, that would be an expensive proposition.
Now: I’m in the process of playing Half-Life 2. While the ‘boat’ part was fun, I experienced the same effects Alfons had 1 year ago: dizzyness and particular sick to the stomach. However, I don’t think it’s the boatride that makes things worse: I felt mostly sick when I had to switch back to ‘first person’ mode to solve puzzles to open doors and gates. The ‘buggy drive’ is fun: it is actually good to have someone next to you listening to the hints and seeing the things I apparently missed. However: Half-Life 2 is brilliant. Once again it is the storyline that runs this game. The maps (like in the first Half-Life) are challenging. I do find that I run out of ammunition more frequent than I want: aiming with the controller is obviously harder than doing this with a keyboard and mouse.