Lumines and Radio One

I just had a really weird experience... entirely unplanned.

Last night while driving from visiting my folks, I decided I was tired of the MP3 I had loaded into my on-board RAM and wasn't too happy with the mix in the drive either... so CBC talk radio it was for the evening. The documentary show "Ideas" was on and this night was part 1 of a report about a guy who was researching sleep - the report was actually rather fascinating and kept me entertained for the whole hour it was on (9pm to 10pm EST). In fact, I liked it so much that I made it a point to remember to listen to the second half of the report tonight (something I never do in the evening).

Well, being that I didn't think I'd have it in me to actually sit and listen to a radio show for all of an hour, I pulled out my PSP while waiting for the show to start... I set Lumines to continuous mode and started manipulating falling bricks (if you didn't know, Lumines is a puzzle game similar to that old classic every 30-something remembers: Tetris). Anyway, most often I don't keep track of how long I play because quite simply, after a time, the bricks are falling at such a rate that I can't keep up... except for tonight.

In fact, I played right through the entire show, listening to scientific interviews presenting theories on REM sleep, the purpose of dreaming, and the physiological effects it may or may not have on our waking lives. And when the show as over, my fingers were aching from holding that tiny game device... with the bricks still falling. I had to hit Pause and turn off the PSP to give me a break. This is most definitely the longest I've played Lumines as a continuous game ever.