I'm starting to feel like the video game ad is an underrated medium. Yeah, most of them are forgettable. What do you want, they're ads. But sometimes you see one that just rips off your head and thrusts its awesomeness down your neck. I'm thinking of the "Mad World" spot for Gears of War, for example.

But check out this one. I don't have any special interest in playing Mercenaries 2. I played the original Mercs, thought it was OK, never came back to it. But I caught this ad while I was watching clips on adultswim.com, and dang. It's the white-boy rap-singing video-game jingle of the summer:

Glad to see the guy from Sugar Ray is still getting work. (That was a joke. I have no idea who the song's by.) If you feel the way I do, you'll want to see the high-res version on the Mercs 2 site.

A couple of days ago EA Sports released Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09. This would not ordinarily be a major event in my world, except that Tiger Woods did a press tour to promote it. Again: not usually a major event for me. Ordinarily I would let Time's sports guy, Sean Gregory, handle this -- it sort of falls midway between our two jurisdictions, like a murder committed on the border between two towns. Best of luck to you. Not my case.

But Sean's still in Beijing covering the Olympics. So I went downtown to talk to Tiger instead of him. If you want to know what it's like talking to Tiger Woods, it's like talking to a very nice person from a future time where genetic imperfections have been eradicated.

To add to my discomfort, Time videotaped this event happening. Video is not really my medium.

Take a look, but only if you're willing to confront my hideous true form. Saving throw vs. madness may be required.