By RAMESH SANTANAM, Associated Press October 15, 2006
ERIE, Pa. - Pregnant with her fifth child, Chytoria Graham often walked the streets of her working-class neighborhood, happily pushing her 1-year-old in a stroller while the other children walked alongside her.
But now Graham's children have been taken from her by authorities - except for 4-week-old Jarron. He is in a hospital after a horrific event that has stunned police and prosecutors and prompted strangers who read about him to offer to adopt the boy: Authorities say Graham grabbed the infant by his feet and swung him, hitting her boyfriend and fracturing the baby's skull.
"Unfortunately, I have seen child abuse cases up front," said Capt. Frank Kwitowski, a 20-year Erie police officer. "But this is the first time I've seen a child actually picked up and used as a weapon."
Erie County's Office of Children and Youth, like other child welfare agencies in the state, can't comment on whether Graham had a history of abuse. But defense attorney Alison Scarpitti said: "There's nothing in her background (to indicate) she would do anything to harm a child."
Police say Graham told them she had been drinking and "snapped." Her attorneys say Graham, who is unemployed and lives with her boyfriend, 20-year-old Deangelo Troop, could be suffering from postpartum depression, possibly even battered-woman syndrome.
Police were told Thursday that Jarron, who was delivered by caesarean section Sept. 11, was in serious but stable condition in a drug-induced coma at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. The baby emerged from the coma on Friday, according to police.
Graham was jailed in lieu of $75,000 bail, charged with aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children, simple assault and reckless endangerment.
Graham's other children are in the custody of their maternal grandmother, Gloria Graham.
The title of this post is probably my biggest stretch yet, and I'm sure if I knew anything substantial about football I could have come up with something better. Perhaps you have some suggestions.
Anyway, I'm posting a video of Madden '07 for the Wii because I recently chatted online with Graham about Nintendo's new system. The impression I got was that most of his information about the system had come from my blog which, while a good place to start, only scratches the surface. And it only covers areas of self interest for me. While I hope the information is at least entertaining or informational, I understand that there are aspects of video gaming that I pretty much ignore. For the purposes of this post I'm referring to sports games. I could usually care less about sports games, with a few exceptions like NBA Street, which is more arcadey and less, um, sportsy. Here's part of our private conversation which I'm now posting without his permission:
GRAHAM: the ps3 is slated for Nov 11 SCOTT: 17 GRAHAM: 17?... anywho... i am not excited about paying $600 for it but I probably will anyway SCOTT: there's no way I'm paying that much for a system SCOTT: Sony's going downhill SCOTT: there will probably be good games for it SCOTT: but I've heard a lot of bad stuff GRAHAM: from everything i read that is what it sounds like but at the same time i want to play games like college football and splinter cell and the Wii isn't offereing that SCOTT: yes it is SCOTT: Splinter Cell is one of the launch games for Wii GRAHAM: The Wii will have EA Sports college football, Call of Duty 3 and Splinter Cell? SCOTT: Call of Duty and Splinter Cell for certain SCOTT: I don't know about college sports, but EA is apparently making about 8 games for the system GRAHAM: I thought EA Sports games were only on PS and Xbox SCOTT: Madden is a launch game GRAHAM: interesting....
In the words of Chappelle to Oprah: "Gotcha bitch!" Seriously though, check out my awesome subtle jabs against the PS3: "Sony is going downhill," and "I've heard a lot of bad stuff." This is the kind of eloquence IM breeds. And by "going downhill" I meant as a company in general, and not that the PS3 was "going down." I'm not so deluded as to think the PS3 won't make tons of money (hell, even if they sell one it's a small fortune. Zing!), and be successful at least on some level. But I don't think that what they are doing is right for the video game industry as a whole, in the long run. I'm still not able to address whether or not College Football will be on the Wii, but with the care and effort EA has put into Madden I would be surprised if the other big franchises didn't pop up as well. Probably not until the next incarnation, however.
The whole point I'm trying to get to is that in my fervor to enlist Graham into Nintendo's Armii (now, that's the worst one yet) I ended up becoming very interested in Madden '07. Everyone who's already into these types of games has been raving about this one. Everbody says it's amazing, particularly the Superstar mode, which I've heard more about than I ever really wanted to. But the Wii version just seems like it would be hellafun to play. So here's the video:
The controls appear to be very immersive. Just check out the part where the player raises the Wii-mote before the snap, causing one of the on-screen characters to raise his arms to incite the crowd. It's little details like this that seem to add a lot to the game. When you're the quarterback you pass the ball by flipping the controller forward in a passing motion. As you can see in the video you don't have to swing it overhead like an actual pass, but still the control is intuitive. A similarly logical motion is made for kicking. This article mentions how you can signal a fair catch merely by waving the controller. This game actually sounds fun to play, as opposed to the tedium I tend to find in conventional sports games. I still wouldn't care about all the micromanaging that usually goes on in these types of games, but I'd sure as hell be more inclined to play the game. Especially if a certain friend decides to buy the system after all, and has me over for some multiplayer action (hint, hint).
Of course, the very first sign that sports games would be a blast on the Wii was Nintendo's own Wii Sports. Much more simplistic in design, but a lot of fun to play by all accounts. I'm actually excited to get my hands on it. Fortunately it's a pack-in with the system. If Nintendo can make someone like me excited about sports games then I'd say their overall philosophy for the system is sound. That is, trying to get non-gamers to play the system. While I'm already a gamer, I'm a very specific type of gamer. And the Wii makes me consider expanding my type to include new types of games.
Addendum: The original video that got me interested in the game has finally been Tubed:
Pitchfork has a nice list of 100 Awesome Music Videos for your enjoyment. I haven't tried to watch them all, but the selection is very eclectic. Several of the videos I tried to watch have been removed (probably by legal goons) but there are still a bunch of good ones up.
I like this one a lot:
The first time I saw it was in a Channel Frederator podcast (which I highly recommend for all you video iPoders).
Notice the title says that it's just a collection of "awesome" videos, as oppossed to a VH1 Best Videos Ever list. So some of the videos are on the list because they are awesomely bad. And some of them are just...um. I don't know what you classify this as:
[video dead]
I know these videos have been around for ever, but I hadn't seen any of them until I checked out this list. There are layers to R. Kelly's gifts that I never dreamed. Is this self-parody? If so it's on a Kaufman-esque level of comic genius. Most likely Kelly is just a complete dipshit.
Nintendo has started releasing some great promotional videos that feature real people trying out the Wii (specifically, Wii Sports). I prefer these videos to previous ones because it seems like a better representation of what the Wii is all about, rather than some actor hamming it up and jumping behind couches.
Video the first:
Of, course I'm looking forward to Wii Bowling the most.
Video the second:
I love that old Japanese lady playing golf.
One thing I like about these videos is seeing how people adjust as they get familiar with the controller. The first guy in the second video kind of swings awkwardly the first time, then switches to a more natural golf swing. Interesting. You could argue that these are just actors doing a much better job than previously, but the videos seem genuine enough to me. Can't friggin wait!
