Caught In The Whirlwind
Archive for May, 2009
QotD: Classic Video Game
01088 days
by Jason
in Uncategorized
What is your favorite classic video arcade game?
Submitted by northerngeek.
I haven't really been much for arcade games. We didn't have a lot of money when I was growing up and I didn't get to play around with arcade machines much. We had an atari 2600 which I played things like Ms. Pac-Man and Decathalon on. Very fun stuff back in the day.
The first game console we got was a Super Nintendo, along with Starfox. I love that game to death. Loved it then, still love it now and wish they'd do more with the franchise (along the lines of the original game, not all this extra stuff they seem to be doing with it lately).
Donkey Kong Country was also one of the games I loved playing. The first one is one of my all time favorite games. The second one got a little too hard for me and was very frustrating in spots. I haven't played the third one at all yet. But the first one is my favorite 2d platformer ever.
Layout
01091 days
by Jason
in Uncategorized
Well, I said I'd post this yesterday, but I ended up being extremely busy so you're getting it today.
Like I mentioned on monday, I've decided that I finally want to get around to working on my graphic design/layout skills a bit more. Ever since I started doing website work, I've really enjoyed creating a good, clean site layout but I've been lacking the necessary graphics skills to really get that stuff done. I've always wanted to get around to learning more about photoshop and some of the techniques used in graphic design so I can broaden my skills out a little bit and not get stuck on the graphics side of the site design.
Well, this came up at the end of last week when I was searching for a photoshop tutorial to help Wassy out with something. I came across a cool site that had a tutorial for a technique that was really cool and I could have used in the past. Which eventually got me to thinking that I should actually get around to learning how to do this stuff.
I took a graphic design course when I was in college as one of my open electives and aside from the fact that the instructor wasn't really a good instructor (he was in the business and had a lot of good information to share, he just didn't know how to share it) it was a good experience. I've been told that I seem to have a knack for this stuff, I just need to explore it further. I can't really draw in the traditional sense, but this area of it is focused on some different skills…so it could work out.
So, with now being a time where I'm sorta in a long period of transition in my life, it seems like it might be something to look into. At worst, I'll find out I don't like it or can't do it…no big deal. But if it's something that works out it makes me more of a complete package as far as web design and development is concerned. I know I need to be careful because I tend to get all excited about learning new things and then 1-2 weeks in lose interest. But this feels kinda like the right step for me to take at this point so we'll see how it goes…
I've been looking across the internet for some technique tutorials to give me a starting point and I'm also considering possibly taking a few courses at the local community college, but that depends on a lot of factors, most of them financial. I'd need to wander down there and talk to some people to gather information about that before jumping in further.
Ahhh…3 Day Weekend
01092 days
by Jason
in Uncategorized
It's Memorial Day weekend here in the United States which means a 3 day weekend for most working folks. Which includes me.
It was a very laid-back, relaxing type weekend for me. There was a lot of lounging around and playing video games/recharging. I intended to finish Star Ocean 2 on the PSP, but it got annoying, hard, and very un-fun so I put it away for a while and switched to Final Fantasy IV on the DS.
As far as productive activities goes there was a couple of things. I tried to progress a little further on my AI chat bot that I'm programming, but it's being very buggy at the moment and I wasn't making any progress in tracking down the bug. It gets stuck in loops every so often which causes it to say the same couple words over and over and over again). I also came to the conclusion that it's about time for me to get a little more seriously into some areas of graphic design/layout that I've been interested in and have been neglecting. But I'll save that post up for tomorrow…
Lastly, activities. Memorial day was pretty activity driven. I went over to Wassy's Dad's for a cookout type lunch that I was invited to. I ended up spending most of the time that we were there playing with her sister's kids. Blowing bubbles, pushing them on the swing set and down slides, all that stuff. They seemed to latch onto me pretty quickly for some reason, which is a little strange because I always feel a bit uneasy around kids. Seemed to work out pretty well though.
After a little while we left and set up our own memorial day foodstuffs. Grilled burgers and hot dogs, as is the custom.
Yet again, I'm said to see the weekend go…it always seems so short when it's actually happening…
QotD: Mind Your Manners!
01096 days
by Jason
in Uncategorized
If you could enforce one rule of etiquette, what would it be?
Submitted by S@ngarang.
For the love of all that is good in the entire universe…If I am inhabiting a public restroom, DO NOT TALK TO ME.
The basic rule of thumb is…if either party has exposed bits or is actively making use of the facilities, this is not a time for conversation. Period. I don't even want you to say "Hello" to me. If the two parties are at the sink, have at it. Otherwise, no.
This rule will be enforced under penalty of death.
That is all.
QotD: One Hour to Live.
01096 days
by Jason
in Uncategorized
One hour to live. What do you do?
Submitted by Jeff Zie.
I believe this is where I'm supposed to say I'd try to skydive or jump off a bridge or something like that, but I'm an inherently boring person. And even if I was inclined to try that, I'd still probably be too chicken to do it.
So if I knew I was going to die in 60 minutes, I'd try to spend those 60 minutes having the best time I possibly could with my friends and family. I'm a bit torn if I would want to tell people that this was my last hour. I don't know if I would like to have the hour be all sad and good-bye like…but then again, it's not really fair to keep that sort of information from the people who are closest to me either.
Thankfully, I'm not in this position. And hopefully *knocks frantically on wood* I won't be…
Deep Space 9
01098 days
by Jason
in Uncategorized
All this talk about Star Trek recently made me want to get back into watching the TV series. I had always been a Next Generation fan, and I did watch some of the original series episodes, but they really haven't stood the test of time for me. I do appreciate the thought that went into them, but they haven't aged particularly well…
Which left me really wanting to get into the two trek series (I don't count Enterprise…) that I haven't really watched much of: Deep Space 9 and Voyager. So I started getting the DS9 DVDs from Netflix, and so far…7 episodes in…I've got some mixed feelings.
I can see the potential is there to be really good, but the acting, particularly in the role of Commander Sisko leaves me laughing at his attempts at being angry.
But I'm sticking with it. I hear it got really good a couple seasons in…and granted even Next Generation's first couple seasons were really rocky. So I'm hopeful for an improvement once the main story gets rolling.
Lost In The Park
01099 days
by Jason
in Uncategorized
It was really, really nice out yesterday. Just a little chilly, but sunny and warm enough to go outside and do some outdoors-y type things. So my friends and I wandered out to one of the local town parks in hopes that we could find some hiking trails through the woods like we did last weekend.
We went to a different park, but as we found out, it was just as large as the first one and had a lot more hiking trails. Enough to require a trail map to make sense of it. As we came to find out though…their trail map kinda sucked.
The first warning sign was that the trail map indicated an entrance to a trail that did not exist. We wandered down the road a little further and came to a path that lead into the woods that wasn't on the map, but we figured we'd follow it in anyway. It seemed to lead to a system of trails but we couldn't figure out where we were on the map. And a couple of intersections later we had lost track of where we were in relation to the park.
The trails themselves were pretty cool. Right in the woods, and through some interesting nature type areas. If we end up there next time I want to take my camera to get some pictures of some of the trees (if we can ever find the trees again that is) because they were really cool. It was a little bit muddy though. Like…a lot muddy. We were able to avoid most of it by cutting through the actual woods.
But, back to being lost. Eventually in our wanderings, we came across the back of a sign. As we passed it and turned around to see what it said we were surprised to find that it was warning us that the way we came was leaving the park land and the trails were going to become unmarked. At this point, we had two thoughts: "We left the park land???" and "The trails are supposed to be marked???"
Eventually we discovered that the trails were color coded. But the map was labeled with letters and no colors. So even if we found a trail, we had no idea which trail we were on or which direction we were supposed to be going on it. I have half a mind to write a really nasty letter to the town about their "map" and their "marked trails"
We stumbled off the park land again once more (also without being warned until we were back on) and then found ourselves on the red square trail…whichever trail that was supposed to be. Then we found the blue trail and realized that blue was "A" and we were back on the trail that we thought we were on from the beginning. Finally! Which was good because we were starting to get hungry.
We jumped off the trail at the first sign of the park showing up through the wilderness, but ended up walking into a bog type area. Ahhh…nature. What would a springtime walk be without mud. Eventually we found our way back to the park proper, although we ended up behind the maintenance building near where they store all the various pieces of equipment.
And thus ended our outdoors adventure for the day. It sounds like we've got a lot of options for outdoor walking in the area. A lot more than we thought we had. It's amazing what's local if you're actually looking for it.
Star Trek ("Holy Crap It's Actually Good!!" Edition)
01100 days
by Jason
in Uncategorized
This weekend I got to see the new Star Trek movie…and I've gotta say that I'm incredibly surprised at how good of a movie it actually was.
Back when this thing was first announced I had my worries. It sounded like they were trying to do a young original series cast back in the academy and it was going to be horrible. And after they lost all my good will by allowing Nemesis to be made, I was ready to just ignore the new movie.
But then it started getting closer…and it started looking good. And then it came out. And the reviews were amazing. So I went with my friends yesterday to watch it. And dear lord, it was AWESOME.
No spoilers ahead, or very limited unimportant spoilers, just to let you know. The first thing is, yes, this is a reboot of Star Trek. But it's not done in that sort of "just forget about all that old stuff" sort of way. The way they explained why things ended up being different was VERY cool.
The actors they got to play the younger versions of the original series crew were perfect. I especially enjoyed the guy they got to play McCoy. There was a lot of nods to the original material in the sounds and dialog. Lots of fan service, sure, but it was good fan service and was nostalgic rather than lame.
I also must say I'm happy how they did the ship designs and special effects. Instead of taking the Star Wars episode 1-3 approach of making everything look more shiny and high tech, they updated the effects from the TV shows, but they did it in such a way that it looked like it fit. The engine room of the ships is a maze of pipes, wires and other bits of machinery. The bridge is high tech as it should be, but the way the controls work and the viewscreen technology gives the impression of the technology not being all there yet as it was in the era of The Next Generation and beyond.
The story was good as well. But I'm not going to say anything at all about that here.
All in all, I'm VERY impressed by this movie. There were a few little gripes I have with it (especially the misguided Nokia product placement right at the beginning), but overall this is the best Star Trek since First Contact came out. They must do a sequel. Now.
|
Sigh…Ticketmaster
01102 days
by Jason
in Uncategorized
Well, I may or may not have mentioned this but Dream Theater is coming to the Palace Theater in Albany with their Progressive Nation 2009 tour. It's a really awesome venue and close enough where it makes sense to try to go. Wassy and I were a bit iffy this tour because of the lineup. There's only a couple bands we really wanted to see this year instead of the dream lineup that it was last year.
The tickets went on sale today, and since Wassy doesn't work mornings she was on deck for trying to pick them up. 10am rolled around and I got a call from her basically saying the entire floor was sold out about 2 seconds after they went on sale. I checked and she was right…the best seats available were either pushed up against one of the walls on the floor or up in the balcony. Blargh!
There was much tweaking and cursing but eventually, after 15 minutes of searching I ended up randomly pulling center orchestra, row A (which is about 10 rows back from the front). So eventually it worked out. But…it was a stressful ride getting there.
I can't wait until the day ticketmaster dies. Their crappy website and their horrible fees are doing more to hurt the music business than piracy ever could. They're basically a monopoly…I can't even begin to imagine how they're still able to operate like they do. DIE TICKETMASTER…DIE!
|
Vox Hunt: Eat What You Want Day
01105 days
by Jason
in Uncategorized
Today is "Eat What You Want" Day. Show us what you would eat right now if you could.
Catching up on my Vox Hunts and such, so this is actually yesterday's question. But…here's the answer I would have given yesterday.
Damn you Pioneer Woman!!! As soon as there's fresh strawberries to be had, this will be made.
|
Recent Comments