Carry the card

Carry the card
McDonald's has made some pretty good efforts in the past couple of years to encourage healthful eating. (But watch out for those salad dressings.)
In addition to the healthful stuff, they're trying to appeal to the hip with the Arch Card. It's a reloadable gift card, on which you can add money in $5, $10, $25 and $50 denominations at any participating McDonald's restaurant (the limit is $110). Just swipe it like a debit or credit card at the register, and the balance is printed at the bottom of each receipt, or you can check what you have left online at www.mcdonalds.com.
Quote/Unquote
"My only other singing experience was in summer camp. They told me how awful I was, and that I should never try to sing but just be an actor." -- Reese Witherspoon, on why she was nervous to do her own singing for her role as June Carter Cash in "Walk the Line," in Entertainment Weekly.
"I like girls quite a lot. I hope I have better luck than Ron. I do have better luck than Ron. He's had a few nasty experiences." -- Rupert Grint ("Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"), in People magazine.
"I am a musical-theater dork. That's where my heart is. I sit in my car and listen to Broadway CDs and sing out loud." -- Kristen Bell ("Veronica Mars"), in Teen People magazine.
Green Day's year
Topping off a year of accolades and recognition for their masterpiece "American Idiot," Green Day has been nominated for a Grammy Award for Record of The Year with their song "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams."
Green Day's multi-platinum "American Idiot" was released in September 2004 and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart and No. 1 in several countries around the world.
Months after the release, Green Day made radio history by becoming the first rock band to reach No. 1 on six radio charts simultaneously with "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams." Green Day won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album in February. They swept the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards by winning seven out of the eight awards for which they were nominated, including the most prestigious Video Of The Year. The band also cleaned up at the 2005 Billboard Music Awards winning in total a staggering eight awards.
Wacky facts: Geography
The word geography comes from the Greek word geographia meaning "writing about the earth."
Around 230 B.C., when many people believed the world was flat, the Greek scholar Eratosthenes calculated the circumference of the Earth. His figure of 25,000 miles was close to the modern measurement of 24,870 miles!
Video game review
'Ratchet: Deadlocked'; for PlayStation 2, $40, Sony/Insomniac Games
Over the past four years, heroic alien Ratchet and his robot sidekick, Clank, have starred in some of the best action adventures in gaming. And fans of the franchise won't be disappointed with this latest offering, which makes the jump from platform action to full-tilt combat.
While still ripe with its trademark humor, Deadlocked takes on a slightly darker tone.
Ratchet has been kidnapped by the evil minions of interplanetary tycoon Gleemon Vox and forced to play on a new reality TV show called "Dreadzone" (think "The Running Man"). Decked out in full battle armor and armed with an assortment of weapons and gadgets, Ratchet must take out an army of robots and assorted bad guys on 11 planets to stay alive -- switching the focus from saving the world to saving himself.
One of the cool new features of this game is the inclusion of two robots that help you through the battles in single-player mode by following your orders. These bots help make up for the smaller number of weapons (10) available this time around, although every weapon is customizable and has multiple uses. Adding a morph mod to your gun turns enemies into explosive barnyard animals, for example.
The single-player experience clocks in under 10 hours in length, but a new co-op mode gives game play a whole new look. At any time in a single-player game, a friend can jump in and help out. With two players, the bots vanish, but it adds great replay value to the game.
In addition, a full assortment of multiplayer modes, which are available for up to four players offline and up to 10 players online (using a broadband Internet connection), makes this game worth the price of admission.