Good gnus or great gnus?

What do you want first, the good news or the great news?
The good news: the cover artwork I was working on for an upcoming new Odyssey2 homebrew is approved, everyone’s OK with it, and I’ve handed in the full-size, ready-to-print 300dpi graphics files. Keep an eye out at Packrat Video Games…
The great news: this year’s Oklahoma Video Gaming Exhibition has been announced – it’s still in Tulsa and it’s taking place on Saturday, August 19th. With no CGE to go to this year, this is the year for the smaller shows to shine, and I’ve been looking forward to this news. As usual, I’ll be bringing plenty of forgotten classics to the show, and I think I’ve talked Charles Pearson (a.k.a. ubikuberalles) into toting an Altair computer with him. A working one. (I’ll let him tell you more about that himself if he likes – it’s cool stuff provided you’re of a certain age, or just an afficionado of classic computers.) I always enjoy completely blowing the minds of the younger set with the old analog Magnavox Odyssey game console, and I think those two things together would succeed admirably in completely frying the brains of the younger generation. Remember, kids – this is what the future used to look like!
The relentlessly smutty news: To anyone who lives in my immediate area and watches the news at the station where I work…I hereby apologize. For nearly two weeks running, our top story at 10pm – the story which, of course, I’m supposed to promote – has been sex-related in some way. An endless series of stories about a police raid of an adult video store where shady goings-on were believed to be…well…going on (and as per my prediction, the place is already open for business again). Interview with a sex addict. Sex offenders trying to kidnap kids. Sex stalkers on the internet. I know this stuff is news, okay? And on some level, I know that sex sells. But this kind of constant saturation is the sort of thing that can generate a backlash among viewers – I doubt this is the kind of sex that actually does manage to sell. And frankly, after two weeks of carpet bombing everyone’s eyeballs with these stories, I’m embarrassed to promote them. I ask our news people “What can I promote tonight that doesn’t involve the sex shop in some fashion?” and they look at me like a bunch of pod people, as if the real question is “Why wouldn’t you want to promote that?” And even though it is legit news, if I were visiting the area for the first time (say, oh, as a supplier/vendor making a pitch to Wal-Mart HQ in Bentonville?), I’d probably get the impression that this is not a place to move to, set up shop, or bring the family. Just a little something to think about – and probably another reason why I’m not long for this place.