Bleeeeech! There's another beautiful August Saturday outside my office window but I'm stuck in a cubicle until 8 PM. However, through the magic of blogs, I can vicariously wash away my summertime blues. Here's what I spent the morning staring at:

- Armed Prophet will blog the Republican National Convention all next week. He arrived in town yesterday, the main event hasn't even begun and already he's had to endure hundreds of Critical Mass-ers, a bomb threat in the subway below his hotel and, perhaps worst of all, an "out of service" mini-bar. His coverage began about an hour ago. Have a look.

- Little Lost Robot recently visited the Borg 4D Adventure in Las Vegas where he and a group of pals harassed a costumed "collective" employee while ringing up a several hundred dollar bar tab. Have a look at the lounge's sci-fi decor and ridiculously oversized alien cocktails.

- Cup of Noodles is in Seattle right now attending the first annual Penny Arcade Expo. The event, the brainchild of the creators of everyone's favorite web comic, is shooting to become an annual "E3 North." Noodles has promised to start posting photos of the event early next week.

- J. J. Joe Jr. found himself in Manhattan's Chinatown a few weeks back carrying a large, white box. What was in it? Click here to discover the answer in his photo essay, "Diary of a Dead Pig."