The Wooden Bullet

A public display of the sentance of the day

2010-07-15T17:10:00.000-07:00

"Rodent drinking contests!"

Wow. Voles natures drunk, though I would say second only to bees.

and now a quote from the friend who sent me the link
5:09:~ ye old fortran$ yeah
5:10:~ ye old fortran$ i cant help but think it would be awesome to have a pet vole now
5:10:~ ye old fortran$ like a pet drinking buddy
5:11:~ ye old fortran$ i guess you already have molly lol

Molly is one of my cats. Shes a drinker, a beer drinker. She started out on wine... when she was a kitten she got curious and, I as a bad father/owner, I gave her a capfull... she did get drunk. Proper drunk, fell asleep and then had a hangover. You know whats funny and sad? A hungover kitten.

Now as a 12lb bag of bitch shes a proper drunk. She knocks over any open beer bottle and drinks it off the floor... I found this out while peeing and hearing the bottle hit the ground only to find my cat standing in the puddle lapping away. Again, drunkeness and hangovertude to follow. But this time she knew she liked it, began to cuddle, fell asleep wokeup about a halfhour later pissed off and attacked me. I didnt move and really did nothing but stroke her belly...

Smarmy is the word to describe a drunk cat.

The Progenitor Ship looms...

2010-07-02T16:46:00.000-07:00

Well again I decided to take a break from posting partially for personal sanity reasons and partially lack of time! Its been an extremely busy few months. Bradley classes for baby arrival sans intervention or coercion. Preparing in nearly every sense of the word. Spiritually, metaphysically, physically, staging and lighting. Its a very strange feeling going through such an all consuming process. Ive never been in pretty much any setting that requires more coordination of faculties.

So yeah. It's a happening. Baby gifts arriving. Wife expanding. Hair thinning.

A Brave new World or How I set up the Bomb

2010-04-17T19:16:00.001-07:00

Well it's bee an interesting few intervening months. Christmas happened. Then the New Year had the audacity to rear it's head. Body of a lion and all that. But between my last post and thanksgiving I spent some time in Austin. And I gotta say the hype is well deserved. I went and fully intended to "blog" my experiences. Upon arrival I saw the city met some people and decided I would take a break from blogging all together. It's weird but I did have some method. I was having such a good time that I thought my posts would have a rose tint. So I decided to wait a week after getting home to write about my experience, as to remove some of the bloom. But it didn't work. Then that week led to a few more. Still it remained, and my wife was late. You know, the "we gotta talk" late. So I suddenly had something even MORE consuming than my infatuation with Austin. So again I decided to wait. Then Christmas happened etc etc...

So here we are, the week after tax day, five months pregnant, poor and happy. I'm stressed about money. But happy!

Upgrayedd

2009-11-09T13:08:00.000-08:00

I just recently got an iPhone. Its pretty sweet for a variety of reasons, maybe the most hyped, talked about, and coveted piece of tech Ive ever owned. I'm not much of a gadget junkie. In general I'm pretty indifferent to the swaying affect stuff like this has over my friends. But when my work provided blackberry started to show its age I decided to request an phone. So far its been pretty fun. Really just having a camera-phone again is nice but there are so many benefits I didn't realize. The exchange support alone is worth the price of admission. I'm not a huge fan of touch screen interfaces in general but I can put up with the bs touch keyboard for the large screen. Anyways I don't want to review the iPhone, I just want to mention that I'm more pleased than I thought I would be. And now that Ive "jail broken" my buddy, I think I'm more pleased.

While this isnt a netbook, I think now that Ive used it, it falls squarely into IPR domain.

o-<(*_*)>-o-<(*_*)>-o-<(*_*)>-o-<(*_*)>-o-<(*_*)>-o
I just started a "new" blog to try out Wordpress. This post is just duplicated there for now but Im really testing out their interface for possibly moving over there.

Only the most diabolical Haters...

2009-09-17T20:16:00.000-07:00

So I cant be the only person who cant stand, Mad Men, Twilight, Weeds, Hung, Sopranos, entourage, 99% of anything celebrity related, most "reality" TV, etc... seriously this must not be my time. I feel like a hater because all these shows that are "great" I think "suck". And the good shows that I like keep getting killed off. Heroes was strong, now its weak. Lost was strong, then weak, and Im not sure where the hell its stands now. Monk is in its final season, and Burn Notice feels like its winding down... Honestly Im surprised that Fringe, 30 Rock, and Parks & Rec. are still on the air. Im just glad they are back this season, and god bless us, Ultimate fighter is back on.

For your edification.

Oh Jokes, I get Jokes.

2009-09-02T08:07:00.000-07:00

Two toned the fuck down.

2009-08-27T15:47:00.000-07:00

Well its been a month since I picked up my new bike. I love riding it around its easy and honestly the most fun Ive had with a vehicle in a while. But like any fucking thing else I do I cant leave well enough alone. I had to do something because the veiled S&M barbed wire theme was lame as fuck. So I added some white panels to break up the combo. I think it looks cool personally and I really like the sorta retro feel of the white panels. At first I really was begining to regret not getting the full white version of this bike, but now I really like the idea of making it my own. I dont really *want* a monochromatic bike, I like the contrast. Honestly if I had got the white one I would have replaced something on that to. Next trick is to actually rid my life of the "BOLD NEW GRAPHICS". Try to replace them with something a little more factory works team a little less X-treme Team.

SDCC09 : The great Con or The greatest Con ever.

2009-07-28T08:03:00.000-07:00

So here we are the Tuesday after Comic Con. This is when I feel the impact that comic con has on my life the most. Not while Im there in my 13th hour of death march on the floor, or 6th hour waiting in line for a panel. When your in the moment rarely do you have to resources to reflect. And for me the Monday after I'm thinking about the Thursday and Friday of work I missed. But the Tuesday... ah Tuesday. Back in my daily rhythm. Time enough to plan and time enough to reflect. This years Comic Con was a beautiful mix of the insanity of the crowds from 07 but the content and vibe of 06... though this is my 14th year if I go any farther back my memory is tainted, like trying to remember childhood. I saw what I came to see, bought almost what I came to buy, and reconnected with those friends that I have come to only know in the context of Comic Con. Visited my favorite artists, and showed them their own works from years past in my sketch book.

This years Comic Con was one of anniversaries, 40th Comic Con, 50 years of Green Lantern, 25 years of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and 14th non consecutive year for me. Thats alot of comic con for someone who isnt a huge comic fan, video game player, or to be fair reader. But thats the beauty of "The Con" its got something for everyone. Really. You like art? Its there. Movies, music, comics, toys, celebrity, whatever, its there. How about Business, Economics, interview skills, there are panels where you can learn from literally the best in the business. How did Marvel pull itself from the brink to a leader, go see the panels on that. Its incredible. I try to explain it to people who have never been and its fruitless because they only see the nerds in the costumes, weird people who while having 0 interpersonal skills the rest of the year become extroverted maniacs during con. But that is such a small part of what Con is, but at the same time its exactly what its for. Con gives people who might not have an outlet a reason to get together and have fun. It gives companies literally first hand feedback from 4000 people at a time in real time. And it gives me an excuse to cut out of work to go walk around and have fun in the summer time. I spent 4 days with my wife, no work, no plans, just entertainment and each other. Its pretty much my favorite time of year. And if the preceding portion of this year is any indication it will be next years as well.

Riding the wheels off this bitch

2009-07-10T15:16:00.000-07:00

So In the face of certain financial ruin, I bought a new motorcycle, economic downturn be damned. 8k worth of debt to risk my life daily. Its been a few years since I had a motorcycle, I loved my previous bike, the last of the UJM, the zrx1200r. 500 pounds, 1200cc worth of power and 5spds to get it down. Just as God intended. It was like riding an engine, because pretty much thats what was happening. My new bike is a completely different experience. The zrx could flirt with 160 with the faring, and 155 without. It literally punched a hole in the air. 325 pounds, 400cc thundering through 1 cylinder, and 5 spds ratioed to get the wheel up. Its not fast. Its a drz400sm. I can feel when I'm riding into the wind on the drz. Im no featherweight and the drz wheezes a bit getting me up to speed :P But I will say this, its easy to ride. It reminds me of the bike from my motorcycle skills course. Its tossable. I dont know how fast I could really go on the highway but honestly 65 is all I want anymore. Theres no reason to hit that extra 0. The only reservations I have are about the extra money leaving our account every month in order to pay for it. I have a problem with modifying things and Ive been shopping for parts and upgrades since BEFORE I pulled the trigger. Though in 60 months I will have said it was totally worth it.

Logical Conclusions

2009-06-26T08:26:00.000-07:00

So, I loved the Pride FC game, but of course like all good fighters there's a time to stop. Pride FC hit that around 2005... 4 fucking years later a GREAT follow up. I mean honestly I couldn't honestly ask for much more in a game. Both games have a create a fighter option, which I love. Pride FC was deep, but UFC Undisputed is deeper. So deep that it took me 2 days to make my character for career mode. The old game was pretty complex control wise, but UFC 2009 Undisputed is complexer. They have done a great job with the controls, though they are complicated they are also intuitive. Alot of the reviews say how complicated it is and that the game reqires some knowledge of the sport to play... I think they are missing the trick here, I think the UFC as an oganization, and by extension THQ, intend the moves and techniques to be a bit of a mystery to be solved and mastered. Probably in the hopes of fostering the vocabulary among the younger generations, thus seeding fans and fighters alike. My biggest complaint is the ground "reversals"... they are impossible to pull off for me.
One of the things I love about playing both games is that alot of the fighters are in both, Wanderlei is the axe murderer in both.

This is the logical conclusion. I loved the Pride FC game on PS2... it was easily my favorite sports game AND fighting game. But this new UFC game is the new Emperor. And judging from the sales and the plans for next years edition it wont be the last.

Adam Carolla: Myth or Legend?

2009-06-24T15:18:00.001-07:00

My wife gets an entertainment related magazine, I cant remember the name of it but its pretty cool. 40% in any given issue is content that I might be interested in, this last issue was something like the suggestions for summer somethings. Whatever, but in there was podcast. I happen to love podcasts, and they suggested Adam Carolla's podcast. Its great. The first one I listened to happened to be the newest episode, which had the Begleys. Great episode. Im going to listen to them as I can and as they come out but, pretty good stuff.

He was really my favorite part of "Love Line" and I love that hes just a blue collar dude, loves cars, and has his head on straight. Im really looking forward to this podcast going forward.

IPR : First Blood Part Two

2009-05-22T16:06:00.000-07:00

I've been interested in the Sub Compact segment of the computer market before there was even the term "Netbook". It really started with the Apple Newton, then there was the libretto, then my interest resurfaced again years later when a director at my old job got a Sony C1 Picture book. I knew given enough time they would be the next "big" thing, no pun intended. My first hands on encounter with an ultraportable computer was the OQO Model 2. It was less than satisfying to say the least. But I did think it had its uses and its strong points. Never the less Im not shocked to hear that the company is entering the light. Its too bad when good ideas die and sometimes its worse when they partially succeed.

Harry Potter and the Bastardly Biddings

2009-05-08T09:06:00.000-07:00

Seriously worst experience Ive ever been through. Not so much because there is any danger of failure for us, or anything like that. Its because this process in my city pretty much consists of touring a house, placing a bid, and not even getting to step 2. Houses in my city are being bought CASH on the barrel head before they hit the market or within a day or 2. Its incredible, we put in a strong offer and lose days before the deadline because of a CASH offer. For all I know it could all be the same person. 1,000,000$ buys quite a few affordable houses in working class neighborhoods.

Harbor Freight Period

2009-04-20T17:04:00.000-07:00

So on yet another trip to Harbor Freight, Americas Favorite Tool Store. I managed to buy some stuff just to make a new thing out of. Anyone whos worked on just about anything knows, once in a while you need to make your own custom tool. Shortening a wrench, bending something to make an S curve, or even welding 2 tools together to make a better tool. Well Harbor Freight is perfect for this. The tools are pretty much shit. Not in the classic, breaking everytime you need them way. But in the Not made of hardened steel to last forever kind of way. So its possible to bend or modify without destroying. Craftsman and Mac are great, Snap on are pretty much the best, and they are all expensive. HF tools are good enough quality and cheeeep. Perfect for a guy like me.

Now this brings me to my point. I watched this vid on Instructables a while back about making Noise *Blocking* headphones out of Jackhammer ear muffs. I said once my headset breaks Im going make a pair. I did. I took my old Sonys (good headphones to) and stuffed them into a set of 7$ 25db Jackhammer ear muffs. I look like a fucking retard, but man are the great. Better than any noise cancelling pair Ive ever used, 200$+ Bose included.

They are great because my office is just white noise from fans and computers and drives, its irritating and I think its damaging my hearing. These make everything awesome.

A long drive for a short trip.

2009-04-18T21:07:00.001-07:00

Wow, heres my last 24 or so hours. Leave SD, drive through LA to Santa Barbara. at about midnight I was getting tired so we pulled into the nearest hotel. It was overpriced and a smoking room. Not awesome. The next morning we drove up to Solvang for what was my Wifes worst meal at "The Mustard Seed". Lucky for me it was only my 2nd worst. Besides the fact that Solvang felt like Main St at Disneyland it was boring. Then cruised around the area and went home. Stopped a few times to take in the scenery. The Oil Rigs out in the sea is a really cool sight. A few spots along the Railroad is beautiful. The trip itself was fun though. I wouldnt trade it for anything.

Harry Potter and the waiting for Response

2009-04-16T07:56:00.000-07:00

So yeah. Bid fucking placed. Listing agents On Fucking Vacation. Wait, what? Yeah on vacation. Who puts a submission deadline and their first day of a week long vacation on the same day? Rank fucking amateurs thats who. 2 agents, 2 vacations, 1 day. Its not a huge deal if they dont accept our offer. But its sorta time sensitive. We haven't stopped looking. We're not so foolish to pin our hopes on this alone. Unfortunately Easter, family issues in every direction, and now my wedding aniversary this weekend, will put us 2 weekends behind in the search. Thats kind of like running to Athens, and around 12 miles along Pheidippides realized he took a wrong turn.

Harry Potter and the placing of Bid

2009-04-07T17:05:00.000-07:00

So, last week we put a bid in on a house. I felt pretty good about the bid. The house is sweet, and the offer was strong. But even if they pick us, there's inspections. And if the inspections are not ideal, then were back at square 1. This process is stressful and frustrating. Having worked at Universities my entire adult life I brush bureaucracy off like Shawn Corey Carter. My wife on the other hand is on edge. It pretty much consumes her every waking moment. Most of the evening I just sort of diffuse her nerves and pick dinner. I don't get scared until its too late. It's pretty much a blessing and a curse.

Mastodon and the Crack in the Skye

2009-04-02T09:21:00.000-07:00

On the heels of my last post I figured I would say something about Mastodon. I just got their new album. I got it on iTunes, Im at work don't judge me. Its fantastic. Everything I love about Mastodon is represented, though some of the vocals do sounds a little off. Im not sure if its a style thing, a mix thing, or just them changing as people. Its not *bad*, just off on some tracks. The iTunes version I got has (Score) tracks, aka the Instrumental track. There is something to be said when an album removed of vocals can stand up like this. Its the Dennison of albums. Its available to the masses with little effort, it wont be as good as the Carol Shelby mix but its good. Yeah motherfucker thats a 2 chili reference.

Harry Potter and the status of Quo

2009-04-02T08:51:00.000-07:00

So lately my life has been more or less in a static state. Not stagnate, static. My wife and I applied for a home loan around mid Feb, and its been a tiptoe through the tulips kind of month. Nearly every spare second has been pondering my future in a very real way. Babies, Houses, Taxes, Death, etc... They have a way of sucking the spontaneity out of nearly every interaction. Incredible what an unfocused mind cant accomplish. For a little over a month everything has become more difficult to approach. Work has been tainted because I cant focus. Home has become temporary proposition at best, and living in flux at worst. Even choosing dinner becomes exercise in tactical assault. Then yesterday the other shoe dropped. We are in for a penny in for thirty million pennies. Shopping for a home now begins in earnest and a real consequence that will last for up to 30 years...

Fearless Flyers

2009-03-13T16:18:00.000-07:00

I love gadgets and this shit is the jam

Esoteric Pursuits

2009-02-18T08:56:00.000-08:00

Dig a hole, fill it up.

Microsoft: 31 flavors

2009-01-28T08:28:00.000-08:00

Wow, just when I thought Windows 7 could end all the shenanigans and possibly my ire at their OS I hear this : " Windows 7 to Ship in Multiple Versions?". WTF man. Pro and Home is like the limit, why more? I knew something was fishy when I saw that the beta was "Ultimate" but I was hoping that was their new marketing term for Pro... I guess I was wrong. Starter, what the hell version is that? Home Premium and Regular, what possible meaning could that have for a home user, its not gasoline. Business AND Ultimate... one must have that matte glossy finish I hear so much about. So goddamned irritating. Ive been really happy with this, and Im still honestly looking forward to it, but this is just stupid. I cant wait till I help a user here at work, or my Aunt, and its running Starter and has some obscure limitation that doesnt make any sense. I cant fucking wait! yay!

Natura abhorret a vacuo

2009-01-26T10:49:00.000-08:00

Yeah its been a week since posting. I decided to take a few days to reflect on Windows 7 before I wrote about it. I thought for sure I would have some sort of fiendish encounter with a dll in a dark hallway, or random firebombing of crashes. Possibly just performance so slow, so infuriating that I would excise it from my machine like a tumor. Its a weird thing, being happy.
I don't have a lot more to say..
Pressure creates diamonds. And market pressure can force one out of even Microsoft.

IPR : The Next Generation

2009-01-17T19:29:00.000-08:00

Ive been wanting to try Windows 7 for a while, I kept hearing how great it was and everything but honestly I didn't buy it. I love my Wind more and more, but the real Albatross so far has been XP. Don't get me wrong, its not a total piece of shit. It ran *fine*, and unfortunately fine means good enough. At first it felt awesome, but as I used it more it got that slow windows feeling. Things taking a little longer every time to load. So when I saw jkOnTheRun's article about Windows 7 on the Wind. I figured it was time to jump. I had my Ubuntu partition and that was great but I need windows way too often at work to switch back and forth just to do small things. So I spent a few hours trying to put Windows 7 dvd image onto my thumb drive with my mac... which is futile to say the least. I just launched it from the XP side and it took about 25min, and update and a reboot later and all the drivers were set. it was honestly the easiest x86-os install Ive ever dealt with. A little spooky because installing the beta of this os is easier than XP. Honestly so far Im stoked. I mean its been a few days now so Im reserving judgement for a while. Also I'm not sure I buy the Linux will/will not crush Windows 7 on netbooks argument, I think the numbers one vs the other will stay about the same. I think most of that is just fanboys shouting to hear the echo.

The Ih Meh Xing Khat

2009-01-09T14:00:00.000-08:00

Market adjustment

2009-01-07T15:52:00.001-08:00

So usually I don't directly comment or respond to news articles I read. I think this article dances around the obvious factor Laptops are outpacing Desktops and Netbooks coming into their own. I think it has to do with the price and availability of broadband connectivity, more specifically wireless connectivity. I think this entire shift is driven by the resource, not the other way around. Starbucks had wireless in its locations before most, and since they did Laptop users flocked to them. I suspect this is the reason for the large smug clouds around Starbucks. Now that entire cities are either going wireless, or at the very least flirting with the idea, there is a REASON to carry around an extra 3 to 12lbs of shit with you everywhere. Sure the cost of laptops has dipped to fit nearly every budget, even mine. But I dont think that was a solid factor until there was something to do. And honestly I think thats where the rubber meets the road. That and asking computer salesmen in Taipei and "analysts" is just a shithouse way to operate. Salesmen sell things with high profit margins, and in a extremely crowded, completely connected city of course a laptop is more popular. And honestly most market analysts cant find their asses with both hands.

I do agree gamers and savvy users choose to build their own desktop rather than buy a brand for home use. But I also think too many businesses are getting swept up and buy laptops when desktops are a better choice. Portability is only useful when you need it, otherwise its a liability.

http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE50601320090107

Le Samourai

2008-12-31T12:44:00.000-08:00

I just watched Le Samourai. Its easily one of the best movies Ive ever seen. but I really have to be in the mood to watch it. Im pretty sure its a classic, but honestly what drew me to it is the Citroen DS is pretty prominent in the very begining. Theres a really awesome car theft/key scene that I really enjoy. I really suggest anyone interested in anything to see it. Unless you hate subtitles, I dont think it would work dubbed :)

its the last good day of the year...

2008-12-31T12:36:00.000-08:00

Well its the last day of the year. I'm at work. Finishing stuff that I should have done last week I guess. :)
A cursory google search gave me this.

its pretty cool

The Day the Saucers Came

2008-12-23T11:42:00.001-08:00

Oh Fire...

2008-12-23T11:25:00.001-08:00

Shit hot...

2008-12-23T11:24:00.000-08:00

I have 2 Boots

2008-12-22T14:24:00.000-08:00

So over the weekend I put Ubuntu on my Wind. It honestly went suspiciously smoothly. I went for Pho with my friends, went to my buddies house, bummed a usb stick from the other. Loaded Ubuntu onto the stick with unetbootin... which was awesomely easy. Booted it, installed it, the only sticking point being to setup wireless. Last night I setup my data partition to mount on boot and a few other tweaks and its hot fire.

Oh and Photobook.app takes backwards shots :P

The littlest computer named Wind

2008-12-10T20:21:00.000-08:00

Ive had my computer for a little over a week now and so far, its f'n sweet. Its snappy and easy to use. The screen is very nice and bright. I was most worried about the keyboard since I never got to try typing on one. Honestly its great. I would say so if it wasn't. My right pinky finds the "." very easy, but the double quote as it turns out is a tad hard for man hands :) My only real complaint is that I tap the touch pad too easily/often when Im typing and mess myself up. And really thats just a habit because I usually leave tap off, but I like to use it on this machine.
Newegg was super easy to deal with and the computer and my accessories came right on time. I got a Logitech Nano mouse and even thats worked out great. Overall this has been an extremely positive experience and honestly I was expecting a tad more drama. In fact I did this post on it.
The Obligitory Netbook on Macbook shot. But the funny part is I took this with my Macbook Pro.

Inverse Penis Relation : My First Taste

2008-12-04T12:24:00.000-08:00

This is yet another post about Netbook/sub-laptop/ULPC/Etc... With a twist. Ive been interested in these for a while... But this is the first time I was actualy serious about buying one. I set these little goals for stuff like this. When it was my LCD TV is was 42", 1080p, and 1000$, when those conditions were met I would buy one, and I did. This time it was the Netbook. When I could get 10" screen, 1gb ram, 80gb+ HD, less than 400$ I would consider buying. I hoped the prices were around there this holiday so first I went around and shopped in person. I tried to find every one I could in person. I went to Frys and played with the Lenovo s10, Acer Aspire One, and the ASUS EEEPC. The Lenovo won, but not hands down. For starters the mouse buttons were in the right spots under the track pad, and it felt solid like my t42. The EEEPC felt cheap like a toy. But the Aspire onewas a serious close second, even with the weird button placement and was the right price. I looked at the HP 2133 and Dell mini 9 at the campus bookstore. I wasn't impressed. The HP's screen was too small, and I just didn't like the disk selection of the Dell. The only ones that I was considering that I couldnt get my hands on were the MSI Wind and the Samsung NC10.

So since I wasnt stoked on the ones I could get to, I decided to just take the plunge based on the price and reviews. I bought a Netbook on the first.

Now since this is December you might think I mean 12/1/08 ; but I don't. I mean the first Monday after "Black Friday"... "Cyber Monday". What the fuck is this! Ive worked in IT since 98 and Ive never heard of "Cyber Monday", its a made up shopping day like Secretaries day and Valentines... just kidding I love fake outrage. Actually it was pretty sweet, I was shopping the "Black Friday" sales for a netbook and it turns out "Cyber Monday" is a much better day for computer related items... I found some decent prices on Amazon, but as we all know I cant do that again, its not fair to my family, friends, and most importantly m e. I went to Newegg and found a MSI Wind for 299$ after rebate. Not too shabby. And as it turns out the machine I ended up getting was a "Black Friday" sale that ran or was extended through "Cyber Monday"

Aphex Twin.

2008-11-20T16:09:00.000-08:00

Monkey Drummer - Chris Cunningham + Aphex Twin
Uploaded by fuckspeilberg

I went for a much cooler look whereas the Enterprise for The Next Generation was a much warmer palette. - Richard D. James
srslybrowot?

New quote of the day...

2008-11-19T11:21:00.000-08:00

"But there is one thing my movie has that Twilight doesn't: The potential to be a multi-quadrant hit."

So. My wife is currently obsessed with Twilight. I'll read it eventually but I'm mystified by the manic coverage.

Apparently when Voldemort kills you, you come back for sappy teen vamp shit.

-updizzle
sweet hair bro

Sentance of the day

2008-11-18T12:48:00.000-08:00

"For me, it's not just about the ability to carry a gun, but I love the idea of monkeys coming together to accomplish a goal."

Yeah that's right. Monkeys, with guns, with a plan. That is pretty goddamn scary. I have a near irrational fear of monkeys, a acute fear of spiders, and god help me if I'm confronted with a spider monkey. Problem solving skills turns a perfect storm in to a goddamn perfect hurricane.

Fucking Itunes....

2008-11-17T17:33:00.000-08:00

Why would you have regional iTunes stores? What the hell is the purpose of that. I'm an american who wants to buy a fucking badass german rap/pop/folk(?) artist... iTunes has an answer for me, "fuck off".WTF man. Its not like the electrons are going to go back and bitch about the trip... First I'm laden with the bloat that is iTunes to use my iPod, then I'm restricted by DRM for the music I buy, AND I cant get international (in relation to my location) artists. iTunes makes a good argument FOR piracy. I'm beginning to loose my patience. I'm famous for my patience.

Me: Hey I just wanna buy this
Apple: fuck you.
Me: iMpissed

What I cant buy.

Peter Fox - Haus am See (New) [HQ]
by wonderful-life1989

Ich habe nur ein gezinkte karte.

*update: I forgot, I cant transfer/import my goddamn playlists off my ipod and back into my computer. I'm not talking about the files, I mean the lists, so I dont have to recreate them... Asshats.

Bjork is awesome.

2008-11-04T16:21:00.000-08:00

She explained the hell out of the inner workings of a CRT

Portal

2008-11-03T15:26:00.000-08:00

There isn't much I can say about this game that hasn't been said. And honestly I cant express how awesome and unique the experience has been. There's something to be said about simple goals, honest gameplay innovation, and snappy story. This is one of those games I was talking about that forced my hand about buying an Xbox 360. There's been some shit talk on Kotaku about who on earth would be interested in this game for download on XBL. Well I was, and I'm so happy it came out. I finally got a chance to play this game, without upgrading my PC. And honestly the only game I'm willing to upgrade for is the StarWars MMO coming.

My friend and I were talking about this over dinner, we came to the conclusion that the main reason this game is the jam is the story. There are layers, and subtext that is conveyed in a combination of voice acting, random graffiti in the environment, the environment itself, and gameplay... I could try to explain it, but I think others have done better. But I can say something about its length and content. Its a tight, precise amount of story fit exactly into the length of the game. The game has this weird perfection about it. Its a short game but so incredibly deep. We decided that most games stretch games out to make the game longer but instead of filling it with 12 hours worth of story, they fill it with pointless "puzzles" and gopher missions. Shit that doesn't usually push a story forward, just time bloat. Some bastard says but X is 11 hours game time, we only have 9 and a half, fatten it up! And some poor sob has to put in extra game time to please his boss's boss's check sheet. But this game is lean and efficient like a cheetah or a shark. It feels like a vision executed exactly as intended. Whether or not that's true, its what it feels like that matters. And it feels great.

We discussed this for about 10 minutes, and came to this while my wife ignored and chided us about how much she hated it. She had to listen to GLADoS without playing... so I cant blame her for picking up some passive aggressive sentiment.

Why is this not a game,,,

2008-11-03T15:20:00.000-08:00

This is awesome. Apparently made entirely on gameboy. awesome

Fashion 4 wheel drive

2008-10-13T18:04:00.000-07:00

I was goofing off looking for collar stays and cufflinks, just kidding. I was goofing off on the web and found a picture of a very fashionable black superhero/banker. It made me think about what I choose to wear everyday, cargo shorts, t shirt, long sleeve button down rolled to the elbow. Its like a uniform. I pick it because it easier to decide in the morning if all my clothes look the same. 90% of the garments I own are earth tone or a variable shade of grey. When I get back to riding a motorcycle its going to force me to wear pants, and I'll be back to my Jeans/khaki cargo, button down, tan boots uniform. I think when that happens Im going to be happier about what I wear to work. Jeans are easier to dress up than shorts. Theres that saying "dress for the job you want", but who ever coined that never had to work; Carry, crawl, lift, or walk far on a hot ass day. I'll say this though, they are right.

The world is a big place.

2008-10-10T10:55:00.000-07:00

Its weird but I was just wrapping up an assignment here at work, one that I totally diagnosed, repaired and gave instruction to a user remotely. They could have been anywhere (really they are across the street). I used to work doing video teleconference and while I thought it was neat I never really realized how interesting that was. I was connecting people literally half way around the world just so they could talk. It kind of dawned on me just now when I was goofing off on Flickr. I noticed that I had comments on pictures. Pictures I just snag from the web and stuff there because I like them, and random webpages can be volatile storage to say the least. Pictures I have no idea where they came from sometimes. And the comments just as anonymous. Possibly from half way around the world. Maybe Ive even heard their voice as a tech or participant on some random teleconference. In that spirit I looked at one of the commentators Flickr pages, and found this pic. It reminds me of a photo I took or a photography class. I like it.

Sweet Vid

2008-10-09T15:33:00.000-07:00

Vero Elotes... the f'kn b'mb

2008-10-02T16:46:00.000-07:00

I spent last sunday at the local swap meet. Scouring the various small mexican grocers for tasty treats. There are many variety of spicy mexican candy but as Im allergic to Mango, and I dont really like watermelon these are a perfect fit. You can keep grubby american kids away by telling them they are corn flavor, like fritos. You can keep wives away because they are spicey and dont get good until around the middle. AND they are hella cheap. I no espeaka espanole so I dont know what Vero Elotes means, but I would guess Very Awesome.

Nearly split...

2008-10-02T16:36:00.000-07:00

wow, just watch it like 5 times...

Near Dark

2008-09-08T13:17:00.000-07:00

This was one of those movies I had seen on tv or HBO when I was a kid, and I was goofing off on HULU this morning and saw that it was there. If you havent seen it, I suggest it, and If you have, I suggest watching it again.

I really liked Near Dark, its a B movie sure, but its well thought out, low on the effects, and oddly compelling. The idea is awesome for the setting and the characters are sweet. But one of my favorite things about this is the other movies these same actors were in, its like playing 6 degrees during this movie, theres a load of minor character actors. Lance Henricksen (Jesse), Bill Paxton(Severn), and Jenette Goldstein(Diamonback) were all in Aliens together and Adrian Pasdar (Caleb) and James Le Gross (the guy from the bar) where in SolarBabies! I just thought it was cool. lol

My top 15 favorite movies. In no particular order.

2008-08-30T13:43:00.000-07:00

So I was just goofing again and found Michele Gondry's "Sweded" Be Kind Rewind trailer and it got me thinking. That was one of my top 10 favorite movies, it was hilarious and I cried. Awesome. So I thought my 10 favorite movies would be a good topic. But as I thought about it my top 10 are more an amorphous blob, no 1, no 2, just a bunch of movies that I have, would, and or will watch from any point until the end and have no problem watching immediately thereafter.

So I present my top 15 favorite movies, because goddamnit 10 aint enough. These are grouped, pretty much how they are in my head.

A. Be Kind Rewind
2. The Royal Tennenbaums
B. 5th Element
C. Last Starfighter
H. Tron
D. Nightbreed
4. Patton
E. Stranger Than Fiction
F. The 10 Comandments
7. Surfs Up
G. Westworld
J. The Great Escape
I. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
6. The Sword and The Stone
E. Mirrormask
3. Rushmore

honorable mention:
Barton Fink
O Brother Where art Thou
Ghostbusters

And since I talked about it. The hottest shit ever.

It is in fact, electric boogie woogie wooogie.

2008-08-26T09:16:00.000-07:00

My friend showed me this guy who made an electric Z car. It was cool. During the olympics Chevy was pimping the hell out of the Volt. Honestly it worked. Im super interested in an electric car now. Not just like wow thats neat, or wow that'll be cool when I can buy one. But Im seriously considering converting my Datsun to electric. The cost isnt that much in the long run, maybe 9k, a KA motor, for example, installed is about 4k. It seems like most of the cost will be in the form of batteries, the motor is oddly inexpensive, and the rest of the components dont seem to be made of unobtainium. Dropping the gas tank and building a cage for batteries sounds cool. Dropping the 2 liter and selling it off for a couple hundo sounds cool. Slotting in a cool looking weird cylinder for an engine sounds like the fucking future.

Im not super green person, I do care about the environment but I honestly dont give a shit 99% of the time. Its a shame but its true. For me if I can get my gadget fix and not pollute thats a bonus not a reason. But maybe if I do it, and have super fun, maybe someone else who doesnt care will give it a shot.

But honestly the benefit of being that fucking guy on the block with an electric Datsun is priceless.

Sho-Nuff

2008-08-22T10:54:00.000-07:00

I'm super bummed out by the news that Julius Carry has died. I have a special affinity for black martial artists and cowboys, just because of him. I liked him in every role I saw him in. I wish his friends and family the best.

http://www.postchronicle.com/news/original/article_212166366.shtml?shonuff

Mike Vallely : Great Skater, or Greatest Skater

2008-08-19T14:37:00.000-07:00

So I was goofing off a little bit today at lunch and wanted to watch some Mike Vallely skate vids on youtube. So I did. Hes my favorite skater by far. I dont know much about skateboarding, Ive always sucked real bad at it, so I dont know much about the names of the tricks or styles. Something about his style really is awesome to me. I like the weird jump of the board with one foot kick something tricks. so cool to me. Maybe its a generational thing hes a older than me, and I remember when Gleaming the Cube was in the theater. I think what it is is when I was a kid the older cool skater guys were doing tricks like he does, only hes way better. So I guess for me the old tricks are the best tricks.

1:35 in this video is the coolest trick ever. Im just gonna kick this board out, spin it, run behind it, and step back on like its easy. Its just amazing.

I just saw this to, Im gonna check it out.

Protip: Thanks to wikipedia I just found out Mike V was in Gleaming the Cube... now I have to go watch it again! Probably in the scene where they all meet up and jump in the back of the pickup.

R4DS

2008-08-07T13:28:00.000-07:00

I ordered a r4ds for my ds. Its a "backup" player. Most take that to think you can play pirated games. But I think of it more like, testing games before I drop 20-40$ on a game that sucks. There are certain games that Im going to buy either way, but there are others that I want to try and suspect are terrible or just a type of game I generally dont enjoy. But another thing I really like is the idea of playing some homebrews. The one Im most interested in is Colors!, its like a paint program for DS. and Im into it. I spent most of my pictochat time at con, doodling pictures bender. I started to get kinda good at is and wished I could save the images. Well hopfully soon, I will be able.

I think I like Anderson Cooper

2008-08-07T13:22:00.000-07:00

SDCC08, we hardly knew ye.

2008-07-29T15:27:00.000-07:00

Well its come and gone, the San Diego Comic Con is over. It was really fun, I bought a criminal amount of trade paperbacks, some dice, and saw some good panels. Though I played chance, and went to the Venture Bros panel instead of the Penny Arcade panel... that turned out to be a slight mistake. I love the Bros, but the PA panel sounded like a lot more fun... I guess theres always next year.

Hey Beastmasters on!

2008-07-16T11:31:00.000-07:00

Hey Beastmasters on! Go here if you like movies that are entertaining first, and good second!
On of my favorite blogs.

patented Sky Hook

2008-07-14T19:43:00.000-07:00

For no real reason. I was thinking about Kareem.

Sports do not build character. They reveal it.

2008-07-09T08:43:00.000-07:00

Im out of shape. There I said it. And fuck, I proved it this morning. I rode my bike into work. I type this as I sit in my office in my underwear and shoes, and shame. My bike is cool. Im uneasy on it right now. Literally the last time I rode a bike I spent a week in the hospital and another at home... long story for another post. Its a sweet bike, the "more comfortable" seat is pretty nice. My ass is ok. the street tires are nice but I think Im too fat for them, I think I need higher psi... but other than that it was a very succesful commute. I think I'll get better in the saddle and stronger on the pedals in no time. Oh, and I suck at shifting...

He who will not economize will have to agonize.

2008-07-06T08:23:00.000-07:00

This has been a very eventful 4th of July weekend for me. Oddly enough without the patriotism or fireworks of most Americans. This might be honestly the first year I haven't seen fireworks, or done something to mark the day. Eventful nonetheless. Friday, I played DnD, with my friends. its was really quite fun. I really like role playing games with my friends, its just as much about hanging out but at the end the game is fun to. We all leveled and it was pretty great time. Got home pretty late from a hard night of nerding it up. Saturday I bought a new bicycle. I live criminally close to my new job. And I was carpooling with my wife. I felt like a lazy sod because I live about 4 miles, nearly close enough to walk, but carpooling just worked out. I had a nice bike that I had intended on commuting on but it was stolen about a year ago. The irritating part was that it was a really nice older Gary Fisher and I was waiting to get something comparable to it. But Im po'. Long story short, I ran into an old friend who happens to work at a bike shop. I was able to get a Trek 4500, with a nice seat, and road tires for a really great price. Its very much like my Big Sur but new and nicer!

I was goofing off and I found this video. Its cool.

Of things and not things, real and imagined.

2008-06-30T08:52:00.000-07:00

Its been a little while since I last posted, not much of real consequence had happened in the intervening 2 weeks. Though not to say uneventful. I was once again BURNED by fucking Amazon, and then by a store in their marketplace... So I ordered my 4e book gift set. Its a nice idea, and an amazing price for the books... so of course I got fucked sideways. I pre-ordered from Amazon proper, and was satisfied with the outcome. Then launch day came, and my shipping date estimate jumped a full month.
OK, so I look in their marketplace to find someone who could ship immediately and had it in stock. Having found Comics-Now, I cancel my original order, and buy from these fuckers with expedited shipping. So then I wait, then I wait, and wait. Nothing. Not an email saying it has shipped, not an update to my order info, I contact them with a polite request for a tracking number. Nothing, no response of any sort. My delivery date comes and goes. Nothing. I email 4 more times, to no response. WOW really? yarly. I contact Amazon for my refund, citing I have had 0 contact from these fuckers and my date has passed. Then I get this email from Comics-Now,

I just tracked your package in the warehouse, and the USPS has not scanned
it since it left the main USPS sorting facility in Greensboro, NC.
This may mean that the package has been lost in their system. Do you
want us to issue a refund to you, or expedite another shipment out to you?
Please let me know. Thank you!

Please let us know if there is anything else we can do for you.

Thank you for your business!

fuck them. So now I don't have any books. Worst of all, I knew in my heart this would happen. Ive only had 1 order out of 8 from Amazon come off without a hitch. Its pretty irritating to say the least.
Oh and the official DND miniatures suck donkeydick. lol
3 Cheers for Reaper miniatures.

D&D : Fourth Edition

2008-06-10T11:26:00.000-07:00

Now I know I haven't addressed it but I really like pen and paper role playing games. Honestly other than the Penny Arcade game I don't really like computer/console role playing games. I don't like the time commitment, and really it feels like a choose your own adventure where every choice points you back to the correct choice. And its insular. You sit alone and play alone and really have no contact with anyone, and my wife hates it. MMO's are another animal all together, with a whole separate raft of issues. But it all goes back to DnD. Really for me the first rpg I played was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It was really great. We were just kids goofing off and wanting to play super soldier porcupines. Who knew we would continue to play for so long? We went to Superheros Unlimited, Rifts, some home-brews, Dnd 3-3.5 and my friend and I got interested in the Star Wars Saga Edition but we really haven't played. But now that Dungeons and Dragons : 4th Edition is here I'm fired up again. I ordered the books but I didn't feel like waiting for them so I went and downloaded them in PDF format :). I'm actually more comfortable reading on a computer at this point in my life. More than likely even after the books get here I'm going to continue to read them digitally.
About the changes. I gotta say I understood how spell casting worked on the first read through. I played 3rd and 3.5th editions for about a year each and I never quite understood how it worked... Everything has been streamlined and 99% of the changes Ive read so far have been improvements, and 1% fluff. Not just changes for changes sake but honest to goodness improvements. Every class and race has been improved in my eyes. The Halfling is not tiny like a child. The Wizard and Warlock are playing in seperate sandboxes. Even the Paladin and Cleric have clearly defined roles. There are new races on the scene now that I would like to touch on, the Eladrin, Dragonborn, and Tiefling. I was a little confused why there are Eladrin and Elves after a cursory reading of the preview I really didn't see a mechanical difference, just a story flavor difference. But after looking over the PHB they are both really clearly defined and makes each unique and cool. I took the lack of Warforged and the addition of Dragonborn as kind of a tank shell game, but again I was pleasantly surprised that wasn't the case. The Warforged are in the Monster Manual but the character creation rules in there are a little thin, WotC released them as a PDF on their website, but it really should have just been in the damn book in the first place. And the Addition of the Tiefling is just cool. I really like them.
So far I'm pleased. I cant wait to start playing.

Most amazing video from last week.

2008-06-07T16:22:00.000-07:00

I have GH3 for my wii, and I'm ok... not great, but slightly better than good. This guy is amazing. On Expert, I fail this song literally before the first snare hit.

wow.

"I do not fear computers. I fear lack of them." -Asimov

2008-06-04T12:53:00.000-07:00

At this point in my life I pride myself on watching less tv now than ever, but I seem to get MORE content into my head. Praise my mechanical overlords. Over the course of a typical day, I read 15-30 news articles or editorials, watch at least 15 30sec to 5min videos of entertainment/news, and watch about 2 hours of actual TV broadcast. Videogames fall in at about 1-2 hours depending on whats going on, in game and IRL. As I get older I'm less and less informed by local news. When I was younger we had a mandate in social studies class to watch our local KUSI news and write a editorial by every wed morning about some topic from the Tuesday broadcast, Gold Stars literally hung on A line. I was well informed about what was happening in my city because of it. Looking back my teacher was a genius. But as Ive gotten older I realize that local news just isn't enough. For the past few years I'm a strict national news junkie. I flip between MSNBC/CNN in the morning, local for traffic. And I watch BBC World News : America at night. I catch the previous days Daily Show, and Colber(t) Repor(t) at lunch in between Fark sessions while I work. I find my way into pretty much 90% of the worlds news the day it happens. For me thats pretty good. I don't always agree with the coverage and editorial but I like knowing what people think and hearing the drumbeat.

Anyways I just thought I should share what I just watched during lunch. I had heard the name George Will before. I knew who he was in so much as he was a conservative pundit. I myself lean left on most issues. But moving on, I just really enjoyed this little talk. Honestly I don't know where Stephen Colbert falls between right in left but I just love watching Stephen Colber(t) get handled.

The only cure for grief is action.

2008-05-29T14:29:00.000-07:00

Last December I was over at a friends house eating vegetarian pizza. My friend and I were really excited because our favorite fighter was going to fight, Wanderlei Silva. People who don't follow the sport, its a name that means very little. But if you have even a casual knowledge of MMA that name means The Axe Murderer for a reason. A "Finisher" of men. Champion of more than one high level tournament in PRIDE, once the premier organization for more than a decade. Until he lost to the famously infamous Mirko "Crocop" via a vicious left high kick to the head he seemed a juggernaut. Then it happened again. Wanderlei was defeated by another man who is just as much of a legend, Dan Henderson. Henderson was on fire, the end started with a perfectly placed spinning back fist, and finished by a left hook thats now as famous as Crocops' left high kick. Followed by one more right, just punctuation, more for completion than effect. I was shocked, its hard to see your hero devastated twice in a row. When December 2007 came, PRIDE was gone. With the majority of its top fighters having been absorbed by the UFC, including Wanderlei, I was excited. On the heels of that his first UFC fight was announced. It was Chuck Liddel. Another legend of the sport. Since he was a UFC fighter he didn't seem quite as mythic as the PRIDE fighters did because we got to actually see his fights, his media appearances were in English, and we became familiar with him. In my mind Liddel was the underdog. Liddel wasn't just fighting a UFC guy, he was fighting a PRIDE champion. After the second round, Wanderlei who could have won at one point, had lost both rounds. By the thrid you knew how it was going to end. It was like watching Rocky the second time, slow motion and all. I gave every round to Liddel, and so did the judges. 3 losses in a row is enough to scuttle most carriers. Fortunately living legends get the benefit of the doubt. He was tapped to fight the last guy to beat Liddel, Keith Jardine. Honestly, at this point I had no doubt in Wanderlei winning. I called it a early in the second TKO. I like Jardine against most in his devision, but Wanderlei isn't most. During the fight, about 20 seconds in I was thinking, "Yes, hes back.". 15 seconds later he had won.

Whew, time to do it again.

2008-05-29T12:00:00.000-07:00

Well here we are. A week from launch of Penny Arcade Adventures : On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness : Episode 1; and I've beaten it. It's a great game. All the things I liked about it in the beginning I liked in the end. The Gameplay only got better as I got used to it, the enemies only became more charming, and I only grew closer to my character, Elsworth. There is a caveat to having completed the game and triumphed over a single god waiting on the windowsill. I can no longer play as my original man. He's frozen in time between episodes. Since I only learned how the overkill system worked near the end of the game. I've chosen to play the game 2 additional times. Once as my pseudo daughter, Pearl, and once more as Elsworth (after having deleted the original). I've chosen to do this for 2 reasons. Pearl will be my way through the 4 achievements I failed to collect the first time through, and Elsworth 2 : electric boogaloo so that I can max out his overkill bonus in anticipation of bringing him along for episode 2 as my main. It works for me because the game's dialog is funny, and I know I wont be sick of it. I actually laughed harder last night when I started Pearl than I did the first go round. Ive never been excited about playing an RPG to the end, let alone playing through again. I think this is partly because its combat is more interactive and less calculation. And partly because the game is quite short. I took a leisurely stroll through this game the first time and it was really about 8 hours, probably 7 the second time through now that I know what I'm doing.
There are some things worth mentioning, the items you collect as you go, are neat. But the music you collect as you go through is really fun. You can go back to the office and listen to it whenever you want. The Hightlight being MC Frontalot's credit music. Then theres the d20, and I gotta tell you, its sweet.

Those who are resolute have only one thought

2008-05-29T10:41:00.000-07:00

When I heard about a new Super Dodgeball game for my DS I was ecstatic, elated, filled with joy even. After all it was 1/3 the reason that I picked a DS instead of the PSP; Tecmo bowl, and touch screen being the other 2/3rds. Super Dodgeball was my favorite game on NES. I liked that you could start and stop on a whim. It was fast paced, and most importantly fun. The art fit the game perfectly, its a simple game, pick up ball, throw at other team, catch ball, throw at other team, etc. With simple graphics. Which is nice because really the NES could barely hold its shit together with what its modest requirements. The flickering was so bad at times it became a feature. Its a feature that allows you to use the force to detect when the ball was thrown and when to catch. It was fun. So fun in fact, that I bought the GBA version, just to chase the dragon. Which is a decent enough game, the graphics are nice and not terribly complex, the game play is very true to the original, and its fun. It even added a new feature to call your teammates to run up to cool combos. But it lacked the charm of the Kunio style. Gone were the River City Ransom style characters and Frankenstein foreheads... sad. They went the way of the X-treme cheeto, all backwards ball caps, safety gear and sunglasses.
Thankfully thats changed, in the new Super Dodgeball Brawlers. The graphics aren't a direct rip from the NES game. They are improved, the next permutation of the Kunio style and it looks great. The game play is fun to, just the right amount of extra bullshit to excuse the delay but nothing obtrusive. You have the option to turn off some of the new features like punching and kicking, but they are good additions in my opinion. Keeps you on your toes. The one drawback is the teammate call feature from the GBA title is gone. Not a huge loss but I guess since its a different company there might have been some issue with that. The customization of a unique team is neat and the items add a little flavor. I haven't tested it yet but I think cart-less multi player is a feature and thats sweet since it supports 8 player multi player. Over all Im really happy with this game, it could have been a direct port flaws and all and I would have been happy. But this is like sweet icing on the awesome cake.

Go see Ironman damnit!

2008-05-23T10:01:00.001-07:00

Go see this movie stat. Or this fuckin dude will pay you a visit while your in the shower. Nude.

Spill.com Ironman review... rocks.

The more alternatives, the more difficult the choice.

2008-05-22T14:29:00.000-07:00

o this morning as I was basking in the glow of a solid 2 hours of playing Penny Arcade Adventures the night previous. I get an IM from my friend saying, "...lol what was, the awesomeness of pspod? Rspod". Next thought that popped in was, damn that is a long title, but it fits the game so well. The game is wordy in a great way. Im super pleased with the game play, at first I was afraid it would be like Star Trek 25th aniv. game with better graphics. Which, while it wasn't a classic, it was fun, but action packed it wasn't. The action in OTRSPOD, between queuing attacks and blocking, takes a normally pedantic turn based model and makes it awesome and filled with buttons and decisions. Its cool, looks great and is fun. But if there must be a drawback, the open world targeting using the controller is less than precise. Which isn't a big deal for me. Though, I had a nagging feeling I might want to try it out on my mac. I had a suspicion that the mouse might make that whole process more intuitive. Well ya know, since I had a Mac, a lunch hour, and access to a free demo... I gave it a shot. I immediately felt that it wasn't as good as the controller. Sure I could mouse over the item and click, and in combat click my attack and then my foe. But as they say, "pushing play is not enough". It's still awesome, my favorite parts are still present, custom character, the dialog and the cinematics. If this game was only for Mac, PC, and Linux, it would be outstanding. I think satisfaction with my choice of 360 speaks to my preference for the controller more than a shortcoming on the games part.
BTW : Gold
"Oh yes, I saw you before, mouth agape."
"Agape?"
"It means open."
"You know what else means open? Open."

It is clearly a Precipice; it's dark, and slippery.

2008-05-21T08:55:00.000-07:00

We're here people, its the launch day of On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness! Heres a nice interview, skip to ~13min in to pass the M$ propaganda and to get to the meat. There is a sweet comment about the cost. And I cant agree more. 20$ is not too much for a complete RPG game, with a customizable player character, AND primal evil as your foe.
Now that I have a 360, Ive been presented with a choice. The choice to purchase On the Rain-slick for my PC, my Mac, or my 360! Its a VERY difficult choice on paper, I have all three, they are all capable. But in real life? 360. Its almost not a choice at this point Ive been looking forward to this type of RPG, for my 360, in a setting I like... I like playing those with a controller. Mouse and click is great but there was a glut of those during my childhood, and I'm over it. The "Leisure Suit Larry" interface holds very little appeal for me at this point. But holy hell. I'm excited.
Also you can demo Precipice of Darkness : Episode 1, here for Mac/Linux/PC. It's tempting to download it here at work and play... I'm not sure if my scruples will allow that. Or my boss.

"if Motörhead moved in next to you, your lawn would die"

2008-05-09T08:37:00.000-07:00

I fucking love Motorhead. I love that voice, bass mix, lyrics are fucking strong like bull. That great metal/rock/blues sound. It's great. I started listening to them in junior high. I thought it was the best shit I ever heard. I was right. Half the bands I listened to them wore off but I like Motorhead more than ever.

I go through phases where I basically only listen to Motorhead, Thin Lizzy, or Ramones... Usually lasts about a week. This time its Motorhead, and Im on day 3. So in honor of my periodic fixation heres some links to videos. For some reason the embed gets cocked up.

Killed by Death
Stay Clean
Going to Brazil
R.A.M.O.N.E.S.

IPR : The Revenge

2008-05-06T21:44:00.000-07:00

So now, in what can only be categorized as a series, this is my 2 hour review of the OQO Model 2.

I just got this from a coworker to test for work. Before I got it i watched a YouTube review and a Cnet.co.uk review, just to get familiar with some of the features. The good points first, its a on time with what I expected and runs XP very well. Its sized like a "hymnbook", though the first thing that sprung to my mind was a std hard drive, and is decently light with the normal battery. The screen is bright, clear, and the resolution is nice for web pages, and full computer use. The touch scrollers are a great feature. The bad... the keyboard is slightly larger than my blackberry, which is to say not big enough for man hands to thumb type on and just big enough to force man hands to reach to type, and really the keys are still small enough to cause mash typing. Also the "qwerty" keyboard is not "standard". The enter key isn't in the normal position, give or take right of the L key, and is under the mouse nipple where the standard click button should be. And the position is taken for the "Rotate" button, which is pretty fair to say a useless feature, unless reading a very long PDF... The mouse key is in a convenient location for the left thumb but I would prefer the option of one handed mousing and left just holding the machine for support or typing. For me its nearly impossible to retrain my thumbs for this layout. The extended battery makes it just heavy enough to be awkwardly balanced and irritating to use. The little heat vents makes my hands uncomfortable and hot. The little antennae feels flimsy, I nearly broke it the first time I touched it, and it spins in place yet is keyed to fit into the body so I have to spin and fiddle with the plastic end to store it. The OQO Model 2 is too big to fit in my pocket yet too small to justify taking my backpack... And oddly enough its noisy. Honestly I would prefer using my Gameboy as a data entry device.Anyways, short version : I wouldn't buy the OQO Model 2 with my own money, I wouldn't buy it with my employers money, and I haven't done anything one this I couldn't do with my crackberry. Other than this post. :)

5/7-8:30am
I edited and added to this post with the OQO on its dock, its pretty nice setup if I were a mobile salesperson or tech, like a Direct TV Technician, or a Cop. Someone who just needs access to a working machine that can be tossed in a briefcase or bag. It has a nice car charger, and when you get to a desk setting it in the dock puts the Lenovo dock to shame. When using it on its dock it really feels like I'm using a decent computer. AND I can use my M$ mouse and Natural keyboard... thats full of win for me.

I couldn't be bothered trying out the HDMI at home on my TV but I guess that would have worked fine.

flickr find

2008-05-01T10:23:00.000-07:00

I was kinda bored and looking for a shot of Houdini to send to my friend, I found this. I love it. I don't know the story behind it, I'm not even sure if the person who's account under which it was posted knows. But I love it. Just thought I would share.

With affection beaming out of one eye

2008-04-30T12:04:00.000-07:00

Probably my favorite artist and possibly the only noted pop artist, if I were of means, I would be interested enough in to buy an original of. Roy Lichtenstein. I was goofing off trying to find a desktop of an interesting piece when I found this site, Deconstructing Roy Lichtenstein. I had seen some of the "original" panels that he based a piece on before, but I have never seen so many side by side. I'm going to put a little comment about which I like better, "Original" or "original", just because its fun to think about. These 3 are, some of my favorites represented on Deconstructing Roy Lichtenstein.

This had always been one if my favorites, I loved the detail on the eye, and the muzzle flare leading off the edge of the image. I think without context, I really feel whats happening in the Lichtenstein. The original has 2 people, so not a "lone gunman" theres less courage, cowardice, or calculation implied. And the cloud around the "CRAK!" being the same color as the earth makes it look like shes surrounded, or at the very least so concealed that the dust has been kicked up from the flare. Pretty cool stuff. Lichtenstein +1

This is another I liked because Lichtenstein frames the picture frame prominently but the woman is looking past it, like shes speaking to someone, always struck me like a honeymoon morning. Just that whatever is important enough to be framed on the bed stand is of less value than the focus of her attention. The original is sad to me. Waking up first thing and saying, Good Morning, Darling, to a photo. Like they are dead, or so far away that normal means of communication is impossible. So lonely. For me both are very successful. Draw!

I had never seen this original and I think it communicates terror, and urgency. Its terrifying in a way. He looks like a boy, prominent knuckles, theres a mine in the foreground, and seemingly surrounded by explosions. Furiously digging an mine from the earth with a knife. The tension is built from every angle. The Lichtenstein, I just thought it was interesting, because it made me wonder what's he doing? Clouds, maybe dawn or dusk, belly down and sweating. I used to think crawling under the wire for some sort of escape, or recon mission. With no weapon featured I immediately assume a non-combat or non-confrontation situation. Now having seen the original, this looses so much for me. Weird how it can change my mind; its so shapeless having seen the source. I can only compare its faults with the successes of the original. Though Lichtenstein's unseen, and unstated tension is well done. Original +1

IPR : Redux

2008-04-28T12:03:00.000-07:00

Last week at a meeting at work, I was placed on the sub-laptop "team". It was weird because I didn't even know that we were looking into it formally for work, so that was a nice surprise. Our basic tenants for choice are, low price, XP/Vista capable. Which is nice. Basically one of the guys had seen this link on Engadget, and we're really using it as a map of whats available. After looking around and really the Asus Eee 701 pc is not ideal. I think if I had my druthers I think the Dreambook Light IL1 looks pretty nice, but the HP 2133, with the larger screen, and nice price point of 599$ for the version that I think would fit our "professional" needs perfectly, the Express card slot, built in wireless, and itsa nice and cheap. Its sweet like candy, and hot like fire. So, I guess that makes it RedHots.

Heres some vids I found on Hong Kong Phooey: a tech junkie from Hong Kong blog.

An overdose of awesome!

2008-04-25T09:13:00.000-07:00

I was bumming around the nerd and I saw this link from Gizomondo, via Fark... its a Nerf Rifle, steampunked up. Its hot. But it brings my lack of progress to light. I'm going to start on my gun this weekend. A little Plastikote, a little krylon, some sandpaper, and a beer. At the end I hope to have a sweet gun that will be worthy of the web. Or at least cool enough to convince a few of my lazier friends to make one to.

Bela Lugosi is...

2008-04-24T08:27:00.000-07:00

I was just goofing off on the YouTube and I wanted to hear Bela Lugosi is dead, and I found this awesome live, TV on the radio, NiN, Peter Murphy one. Its great.

Cache, Color, and Cable or Prizes, not both

2008-04-23T14:15:00.000-07:00

Well it has been done. I picked up a xbox360 last weekend and I think I've made the right choice. While I was at the game shop, I plopped down a few bills on a GTA4 and Wii Fit preorders. I figure when I get GTA4 I'll have a good reason to need Live. One thing that kinda had me comfused was the actual differences between the versions. Elite, Pro, and Arcade respectively. The Elite is Elite for very quantifiable reason, back when 2/3rds of all 360s were fucking garbage. They were the shining example of quality control, and it comes in black, and a bigger drive, and a HDMI cable, and thats fucking it for an extra 150$. The Pro which is the basic, entry level time waster. At this point in its genesis it has "the good heat sink" a respectable HD capacity, and identical specs otherwise to the Elite. And the other side is the "Arcade" which to me sounds like a boon! The Arcade version of any game system should be the fucking bomb. Instead, its stripped down and shitty. Really if it wasnt for the crazy prices of accessories its the best deal, but M$ can set the goddamn price. So we went with the Pro, solid, does everything, I have an HDMI cable, and dont give a shit otherwise. We picked up Rock Band when we got the machine. I've played before and its cool. Fucking cool. The tattoo system is time well spent. The instrument customization is awesome. The clothes are a little shitty, but really just a style that I'm not a fan of but again the color choices make it good. But the hair looks like fucking play-do fun factory. There is no redemption for that. This game is awesome though, I was a big fan of Guitar Hero 3 on my Wii, but the wife... the wife loves her some fucking Rock Band. She is getting pretty good at the singing. We started a band called "Rhymenocerous", just straight bit from The Flight of the Conchords. I think they're cool with it. I play guitar IRL, but I'm decent because of GH, but this fucking game keeps telling us to raise our level or we wont get fans; when we do bump the level we suck dick, hard. Bad. Now shes gone from easy to medium to hard in 2 days singing, and Ive gone from medium to expert... fucking expert. Bullshit. The weirdest part was we were failing at a significant percentage at the lower levels so I'm not sure where the impetus comes from to force advancement. But thats ok, its fun to play games with my wife so, sink or swim motherfucker.

Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent.

2008-04-16T12:41:00.000-07:00

So apparently there is a subculture of NERF customization. I sensed it like Ol'Ben when I saw a custom NERF Maverick on Brass Goggles. It seemed like it was too good of an idea not to have spread wider than the extremely focused Steampunk Contingent. And wow did I stumble into an awesome hobby. I started looking around for Mavericks to customize and I got my first at Target for 7$. I've been bumming around the nerd looking for paint scheme inspiration. I love black, and just a black gun would look hot, but I want to do something a little more flamboyant. Gold and silver? Black and Gold? Not sure yet but damn this guy has some nice ones.
Ive been looking for a new hobby recently and this really appeals to my sense of "I can shoot my cat with this".

V is for Videogame

2008-04-10T12:34:00.001-07:00

Videogames are something I hate and love. I love console games because I rarely like to get involved for more than 30 min at a time. I have a Wii, and its great. Loads of fun, the games I have are kinda duds but its ok, Virtual Console has saved the day. Increasingly Xbox360 seems to have the games I want to play, at the resolution my tv supports. Rock band, DLC is only on 360. Halo, obviously. Loads of other games, even Burnout is better. That sort of leads me to, buy a Xbox360 and be happy with videogames. On the other hand I'm opposed to Sony on principle. You know theres a problem when Microsoft represents the "little guy"...

On the PC front I more or less gave up. I'm tired of being forced to upgrade my computer ad infinitum just to play games. I want to play another deep MMO like Star Wars Galaxies but I just dont think its going to happen. I want a depth that just doesnt exist it seems outside of that game, So I quit. I stopped upgrading my computer, and stopped buying games. Overall its worked out great with one glaring exception, fucking Orange Box. I want it so bad. But then I heard it was on 360, but not as good? But I dont have a 360, I have a PC, and its going to cost more than the price of a 360 to get up to task... you see my predicament. Do I upgrade and participate or do I buy a 360 and player hate. Turns out I'm one of the most diabolical haters.
This game Battlefield Heroes, and Penny Arcade - Rainslick*, have made my decision. Cheap, non-computer intensive fun games for PC. This way I can play a game that is fun without upgrading my computer and get a 360. I really think this is the best solution for a number of reasons. My wife wants Rock Band in a bad way. And this might be the best way for me to talk my wife into buying an Xbox. Shit if only the decision to have kids was this easy. I guess this is the equivalence of playing with someone else's kids until they shit their pants, handing them back and driving off in my Ferarri. Shit yeah. Ferarri! I think it will work out well. Now if only Micr$oft would get their head out of their ass and just bundle wireless with the damn thing. Assholes. 100$ for a 30$ part. I'll show them, I'll buy a linksys and set it up as a ap and just bump network wireless back to my router for 50$ and have network in my living room. Diabolical.

*Penny Arcade - On the Rainslick Precipice of Darkness

Rice is great if you're hungry and want 2000 of something.

2008-04-09T11:30:00.001-07:00

I love Mitch Hedberg. My friend got me a few of his comedy albums a few years back. I had seen him on Comedy Central but I didn't know his name. You know when your listening to the radio and manage to miss the beginning and end of a song so you don't know who it is? Or worse you hear 6 band names and song titles, all together. Well that shit happened to me every time I caught Dr. Katz or Home Movies, or whatever else he was on at the time. Well short story, my buddy got me a few albums and they are great. Then he died. Mitch, not my friend. I get bummed out everytime I listen to them. I crack up and then remember, thats it. No more. God God Damn it Damn it. Then I get ok when I hear him say "Im not going to stop doing something because of what happens at the end.". I think thats kind of a cool way to go about things. Its pretty damn brave.

Well speaking of rice, I'm on a diet. My wife and I are trying not to be fatties so our kids will have a good example. We don't actually have kids, these are our theoretical children, who deserve a better example. I kinda like it, its making me cook and I like cooking. This week Ive made bomb ass chicken tacos, some aiight chili, and something else. I cant remember everything.

My chicken recipe:
-chicken
-green salsa
-red salsa
simmer the chicken in a little red salsa and water until its at about 50% less water than you started with, then replace that missing water with green salsa. Simmer until it reduces to about 50% again, then serve. Its easy, good, and you dont have to measure.

You want some homemade sprite?

The Inverse Penis Relation

2008-04-08T14:58:00.001-07:00

I'm a bit of a nerd but the computer gadget rarely grabs my attention. When someone creates a coffee pot that makes a more perfect cup of coffee, or an autonomous robot vacuum cleaner, rarely does it get more than the casual "huh, thats kinda neat" from me. I've just never had a mind for that level of granularity in my products. I almost never shop for a minute improvement, of a product that I own, if it already performs well. My Dyson vacuum is the exception its unbelievable. Nor have I really been anal about any sort of esoteric detail. Audiophiles piss me off when they refuse to listen to CD's, and Overclockers will go out of their way to buy a cheap CPU, then spend money to watercool it to make it perform better. I've flirted with overclocking, I've created a subwoofer enclosure. But the multiple tweaks for the minuscule gains have never felt worth it. They call it a hobby but I call it a fetish. Spending time and money to make the ordinary item, extraordinary, has never held much allure for me.

One area withstanding, Sub-Laptops. I call it the "Inverse Penis Relation". The theory of the IPR is that as certain products reach "palm size" or "as big as my hand" the more desirable they become. Cell phones went through this in the late 80's early 90's, television remotes, external hard disk recently, and of course in laptops you cant get too thin, too small, too light. This market that is finally making a splash here in the states and it is really exciting to me. In some meetings and conference's Ive been to, too often do I have laptop envy. I met a Korean lady with a TINY laptop, it was brand new, and glistened. Built in camera, high res, large (for its size) screen, full keyboard. Ive been quietly watching the OLPC develop with high hopes of it sparking an interest in large companies to release a tiny sub 500$ laptop for me to run Linux on... I think the Asus eeepc is winning this leg of the race but I don't know if it will be the one I buy. Unless everything else is way more expensive.

A public display of the sentance of the day

2008-04-08T12:19:00.000-07:00

My friend and I chat on the google most of the day, everyday. As we're waiting on the bar to hit the end for whatever reason, usually money. And we also surf the web and shoot each other links. Lately his have all been lolcats, I cant complain they are great. But every so often one of us will come across the "sentence of the day". It usually comes across as a statement because rarely is it a complete sentence. For example yesterday the "SotD" was, "...mechanically attached a liquid fuel rocket to a solid axle...".

I liked it because in and of itself it makes you reread it and try and put it together. "...mechanically attached a liquid fuel rocket to a solid axle..." What could it mean, is it some random snip it from some steampunk related commentary? Could it be some random oddly translated specification for the Turkish space program? What about just some good ol' science fiction?

I know where it came from, I found it yesterday for our little tête-à-tête. But when I read it I hear the words, in the voice of Tom Waits, "Whats he building in there..."

Turns out its a mid 60s harebrained scheme to make a fast car faster. As luck would have it, too much of a good thing is usually the best way to go out.

Mac's only get easier

2008-04-08T11:33:00.000-07:00

Today while I was working on migrating a users data from one Windows PC to another, I began reminiscing about migrating my last Mac user. Apple really can't make it much easier. Its a tad slow in the start but its really working well from Tiger -> Leopard. A helluva lot better than it did from |X| -> Tiger. Anyways while this is going on and I'm reading disjointed conflicting opinions on Fark, I get a call from one of my users. She wants me to go to her house and help her set up some new Mac stuff she just bought. A cinema display, laptop, and a "Time Capsule". I was intrigued by the "Time Capsule" when I first heard about it. But I haven't played with one yet. I look at the documentation and it looks pretty goddamned easy to setup. So I told my user how I think it works and to try just, plugging it in. If I'm right, I think she'll be ok, until she needs to get data out.

On a side note, fuck Windows PC's are hard to migrate users from. Nothing automated, nothing universal, nothing simple. Just about anyone who can read the prompt can migrate a mac in a matter of minutes and it would "just work". My mom's tried to migrate Windows laptops, and lets just say, it didn't go so well.

The perils of living in 2d

2008-04-07T09:52:00.001-07:00

So Ive been dicking around with flickr's "Blog This" command and its kinda cool, but kinda retarded... I really wish I could find a job doing UI consultation because I swear most good ideas are spoiled by bad implementation.

They give you default layouts, but different ones than blogger provides, and automagically insert a bunch of bullshit. And if you want to unfuck it you need to go play with code... I don't have a problem with editing code, but what if my wife who is honestly scared of code wants to change something. SOL? Shits Creek?

I work IT. Its a decent job if you like people and computers but a fucking grind if you cant stand other IT professionals.

Flickr

2008-04-07T09:41:00.001-07:00

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

And the test post button is misleading. Also sucks.

First in a string of some, on no topic of importance

2008-04-07T09:26:00.000-07:00

This is the first of possibly a few posts on The Wooden Bullet. I thought since everyone thinks blogging is so ubiquitous I should get on the wagon, at least just before it stops...

This isnt my first blog, I had a xanga page when I first started college, I used it mostly to vent about my classmates, coworkers, and various grocery store worker strikes. I was never a grocery store employee. I was just angry they put me in the position of having to cross a damn picket line to buy food. It was a while ago but, I guess I still have an opinion, fuck them.