Accurate Weather

Best weather site out there.

http://www.tomscott.com/weather/starwars/

Well, it would be without the Ep. I references for San Francisco...

Puzzling Times

In my absence from blogging, I've had the opportunity to finish a few more games. Some were new, some not so much.

Braid was next in line. Braid is a simple little side scrolling puzzle game that tells the story of Tim and his quest to save his princess love. At its core, not the most original of plots. However the way the game tells the story is very original. It's told through the various jigsaw puzzles that the player assembles with pieces earned as the game progresses.

I use the term "simple" to mean that it's simple to play. Its controls are very basic, which does ad to the game's charm. However, while Tim is easy to control, the puzzles of each level are pretty diabolical. The levels are all based on Tim's ability to rewind and fast forward time. This is easily the hardest game I've ever played, but it's also my favorite puzzle game.

The game is absolutely gorgeous. The graphics are designed to give you the feel that you're playing in the very paintings you're collecting. The game succeeds wonderfully here. You can almost smell the paint in the moving clouds and features.

Overall it's a game I highly recommend. Of course I'm just the latest of a long line of people that have raved about this game. So really, this blog post is old news.

An Excellent Adventure

This makes scary sense:



Thanks AOTS

Whips, swords, geometry and physics.

As part of my recent attempt to move away from shooter video games (at least until I can no longer resist Wolfenstein), I downloaded a few indie games, Trine, Braid and Ceville. First up, a little game called Trine. It's a side scrolling platformer, a genre that I normally stay away from. This time, however, I was pleasantly surprised.

In Trine, players control one of three characters; a Knight, a thief and a wizard. Each has their own abilities, the thief can swing from point to point a la Indiana Jones, the Wizard can create various geometric shapes, boxes, triangles that float and platforms and the Knight smashes. At any point players can switch between each character. Supposedly, each level can be passed solely be each character, though there are a few moments I seriously doubted that.

The game is absolutely gorgeous. The backgrounds are rendered in full detail, sometimes so much so that you want to jump to the bridge back there. It's part of a recent trend called "2.5D", an invented term to designate that the backgrounds are 3D. Really it's just to make you think you're not buying a side scrolling game.

The game play is very solid, each character does offer a unique way to solve the puzzles. The thief's swinging can get the player most places, but not everywhere. The wizard can geomancy his way around pretty effectively too, but can't fight. The knight is the strong arm, but also gives the player a shield to protect from various hazards. On their own, each can pass the levels. However, in order to find all the goodie filled chests and experience bottles, they must work together. The controls are basic, and using the "wasd" (or arrow) buttons in combination of the mouse took some getting used to, but works well.

As I said, each level should be passable by each character on their own. I'm definitely going to replay each character alone. In the end, this is worth taking a look at, especially for the $20 I paid for it. Plus it didn't make my brain hurt like Braid...

Ferret Gein

Rob Zombie should take notes:



Wonder where I can get a tiny little chainsaw...

Quasi-evil

In an effort to mix up my video gaming, I've lately tried a few non-shooter games. This is mainly because the last few shooters I've played have left me with a strong feeling of "meh".

After a successful venture into Ghostbusters,I decided to try another console port to PC, Overlord 2 since I've enjoyed other games that allow you to be the bad guy. I'm not talking about the recent fad in games that give you the "choice" between good and evil, that's just a cop out to get the player to play the game again to get a different story. This way, developers only need to produce a a game with half the content. I'm talking about games like Dungeon Keeper 1 and 2, Stubbs the Zombie, Evil Genius and the like.

Anyway, Overlord 2 left me with the aforementioned feeling of "meh". The basis of the game is that the player controls squads of minions. The minions come in four colors, each with a different ability. The Browns are basic foot soldiers, Reds are the ranged attackers, Greens the stealthy assassins, Blues the medics. The whole idea is that the player lets the minions do the fighting, which entails sending them off to the fight and watching - maybe leaving to get a beer, not real exciting. Sure, there are a few fights that take a little more direct involvement, but not many. It's trying to be an RTS, without letting that pesky strategy get in the way. The sheer number of minions that can be collected effectively voids the need to be careful. If your army is demolished, just run to the nearest Minions-R-Us, pull another out and try again. Truly the hardest part was trying to control them in areas that the Overlord can't reach. Since the minions don't go where you tell them, this is easily the most frustrating part of the game.

To make matters worse, it's yet another third person game. My sincere hope for the video gaming community is that someday there'll be a third person game that doesn't have camera issues. Overlord 2 does OK here, but there were a few moments of losing the camera behind a rock, tree or wall. This, of course, happens only during the most challenging fights. Maybe that's it, the developers of these games can only increase the challenge by forcing the player to play with the blast shield down.

In other games, being the bad guy is undeniably fun. Unfortunately this game jumps on the moral choice bandwagon. You can choose to be the bad guy and dominate everyone, or the worse guy by simply killing everyone. However, while the latter is more appealing (you are a demon after all), there is a definite reward for the former. Plus, these rewards are almost required later in the game. Basically the fun of being the bad guy is cleanly excised here. The occasional humor is the one good thing about this game. There are moments I actually did laugh out loud. The over-the-top effeminate, tree-hugging, hippie elves are a riot. However, these moments are few and far between and really not worth the whole effort.

Ah well, at least I have Monkey Island to fall back on for true laughs. D'oro the Explorer indeed...

Literal Idiocy

Taking "No shirt, No shoes, No service" a bit too far:



I would have loved to hear the cops' response, if they had been called...

Mourning the death of originality.

Earlier this month, Universal announced plans to turn the 80s classic arcade game Asteroids into a feature length film.

This could be pretty good as long as the movie stay true to the plot. The classic quest of a tiny Italian spaceship, working his way through field after field of space rocks to save his beloved princess-ship while collecting as many coins as possible, has to be done just right.

WTF!?

Hey Hollywood, I can come up with better movie plots than this at a fraction of the price! I have a guaranteed hit about a man in a space suit that digs under the ground, looking for alien tomatoes and newts that are threatening to destroy the world's supply of ketchup unless he inflates them to the point of bursting with a bicycle pump.

Or how about my gut busting comedy about the crew of a space ship that is constantly attacked by a race of space bugs? The crew's antics peak when one of their mates is captured by the biggest bug and hilarity ensues. Fortunately, the friend is saved and they join ships to defeat the evil space wasps.

I'll expect my check in the mail. A cool million should cover the cost of both.

You're welcome.

A Winter Summerland

Last night was one of the craziest storms I've ever experienced. At one point I opened the garage door and before the door was a foot off the ground, hail was hitting the back wall. Apparently, a hurricane passed directly over us. Fortunately though, no real damage except a broken tee limb in the back yard. Though I haven't been able to check the roof yet.

Our neighborhood looks like it frakking snowed!

Keeping my fingers crossed for a healthy roof

A Hollow Series

A friend recommended that I read/listen to a series of books by Kim Harrison. The series is called The Hollows and features such Eastwoodly titles as A Dead Witch Walking, The Good, The Bad and the Ugly and The Outlaw Demon Wails. How could I not take a look?

Anyway, the series is set in a world where vampires, werewolves, witches, pixies, etc live openly among humans. The main character is Rachel Morgan, a private eye and witch. I managed to make it through the second book, all the while fighting a case of Heimlich Syndrome, also known as Snarky Fever. Almost every minute of the book I kept arguing with myself whether to stop or not.

The main problem is that I really like the setting. The world of Rachel Morgan is well developed, and actually engaging. Supernatural creatures do live side by side with humans, but are rarely trusted. Restaurants have ratings earned by various lengths of time without a human death, convenience stores sell charms and magical remedies, there's a lot to like. The books themselves are written well, the characters are well fleshed out and evoke real emotions.

This, unfortunately, is the series' downfall for me. I hate, HATE, HATE Rachel Morgan with the undying heat of a thousand suns. She's the whiniest, dumbest, most cowardly character I've ever read. While I'll admit this is great characterization, I'd argue that the protagonist of a story should have some good attributes. Rachel Morgan has none. Maybe she grows on you, like the taste of cheap gin. I wouldn't know, I hate gin and can't see the point of drinking it until I don't feel like vomiting from the taste. Why would I do this with a character of seven books? Or maybe the point of these books is to root for her slow, agonizing death. If so, then it worked for me. Though something tells me that I shouldn't be upset that she lives through the book, every frakking time.

It's sad, really. I want to like this series, I really do. I just can't get past the rising urge to kill that I feel every time the protagonist opens her mouth.

Get Slimed

A couple of weeks ago Atari released Ghostbusters: The Video Game. It's a game that I've been anxiously waiting for, so I Steamed it on release day and have been playing it quite a bit since.

Players assume the role of a new recruit that's hired as a tester for the Ghostbusters' experimental gear. Venkman wisely suggests that you shall be dubbed "Rookie", to avoid getting "too attached to the little fella in case he blows up." Thus the Ramis/Akroyd humor begins, setting the tone for the whole game.

Unfortunately, I could tell right off that I was going to be annoyed by the long load times. I know that a minute doesn't sound like a long time, but when staring at a blank screen it is. It's probably just because I'm a member of the microwave generation, I have a hard time waiting the 90 seconds for my Little Juan Burrito. Still, the load times are ridiculous - especially since some of the bosses are rather difficult and require many tries, each with a extended look at a blank screen. I've read that even on the consoles, the load times exceed 30 seconds. Once it took 45 seconds to load a minute long cutscene, just plain silliness.

Gameplay is pretty average, but in a fun way. Ghosts are fought with your proton pack, which is the heart of the game. I'll bet that any Ghostbusters fan has secretly desired to own a charged particle accelerator, second only to owning a lightsaber. As the game progresses, players get various upgrades to your proton pack and ghost traps. They actually made the one reference to Ghostbusters 2 a good thing with the slime cannon, it's a surprising amount of fun to use. The other references are even more fun, from the Sedgewick hotel and Slimer to the Stapuft Marshmallow Man. This is by far the greatest strength of the game. It's well voiced by the original cast. Even William Atherton comes back as the immutable Walter Peck.

Other aspects do detract from the game, however. Many bosses can move faster than you, making escape and dodging challenging. You can sprint, BUT only in a straight line. Add these together and I found myself throwing my headsets across the room in frustration. As is the case with many console games today, there are secret items to be found. This is fine, but if you want to go back to a level to find an item you missed, the game actually overwrites your current game! That's right, go back and you lose your current progress, so don't replay a level until you're done with the game. Brilliant. Since this is a console port, quick-saving isn't an option. reloading is by checkpoint only, frakking console ports...

Anyway, the AI is pretty good when helping you fight the ghoulies. They are accurate and support you pretty well, if you go down they're usually right there to revive you. For some reason, though, they wont help each other when they collapse. This leaves the player as the sole medic for the entire team. Once all teammates are down, the mission is failed. So, if another ghostbuster goes down, you have to stop fighting and revive him. Some boss battles are spent doing nothing but running from one fallen comrade to another.

I know it sounds like I hated this game, and I would have but for the content. The bottom line is that this is an average game with a great theme. If you're a fan of the movie, you'll probably enjoy this game immensely, especially for the $30 price tag (for the PC version). If not, you may want to rent this one.

Just don't look directly at the trap...

Parenthood

I knew having a dog was good preparation for having kids. (potentially NSFW for a little language at the end)

Baby from summer of tears on Vimeo.

You wanna play catch?!

¿Qué?

I just peed a little.

One of my all time favorite game series is coming back for more! Monkey Island is in the works by Telltale Games, the masters behind the resurrected Sam & Max seasons and Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People. Both games were pretty damned fun (and funny), which is the greatest strength of the Monkey Island Series.



I really can't wait, so I suppose it's on to the pre order screen at Telltale. Then I just have to wait 36 days, sigh...

303-555-YUMMY

Hey! you got your beef jerky all over my business cards!

Well you got your business cards all over my beef jerky!

Wait a minute...

Jumping the Real Slim Sharky

At what point should a celebrity just say "Enough"? How far should a celeb has been go to revive a career? For some it's "shocking" sex tapes, others lay their hopes on reality TV. Eminem has found a new low, however. He has decided to reenter the public's eye by helping out the Punisher.

Yep, Eminem and The Punisher will team up to fight crime in the latest issue of XXL, Eminem/Punisher: Kill You.

I'm not sure who to feel worse for, Marshal Bruce Mathers or Frank Castle. I'm leaning towards the latter, I mean he lost his family and now has to put up with this decade's Vanilla Ice. No wonder he's so cranky...

For those with too much time

A few time wasters for your consideration:

Rock Paper Scissors Deathmatch = The Ultimate Ro Sham Bo...OF DEATH!

For a wider variety of time wasters - Kongregate.com

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

And now for something completely different, I present Crappy Cat.

I really can't tell you what to expect, except psycho cats and exploding spider-Darth-vaders.

Enjoy...

From the Road

This last week I was in Michigan so that in-laws can meet the new kiddo. Sounds fun right? I was going to post daily about the trip, but that became a bit...tedious. instead I decided to sum it all up in one post. Aren't you excited?

Day One: After sleeping till 11 (Aunt watched Beemer in the morning), read the XKCD comics (500+ of the frakking things) and had marshmallow and pistachio pudding pie (Why? Right now I have no idea)

Day Two: Spent an hour and a half on the "Denver pop culture" thread at Boingboing. Started to read Penny Arcade.

Day Three: Finished Penny Arcade (they've been doing webcomics for 10 frakking years!) then found the Oddtodd has new stuff!

Day Four: Lost in the virtual wasteland that is Youtube. Then drove to Grand Rapids.

Day Five: Toured my father-in-law's slot machine factory - pretty damn cool. I realized that I need a computer controlled 10000 watt laser cutter. Took a nap.

Day Six: Last Day! Thanks to a friend, read some of the Ctrl+Alt+Del comics. I Then played online poker for a few hours. Most of the day was spent dealing with a fussy child, I think he's ready to go home now too. Or it could be the Oreo blizzard he tried last night. Finished off the day watching Unskippable.

Thank the gods for the internet, and broadband, and being home...

UnfullFEARing

Needing a new gaming fix, I picked up FEAR 2: Project Origin. It was a close draw between getting it and Call of Duty: World at War (how can you go wrong with zombie Nazis?) Anyway, I decided I was looking for something more creepy and scary-fun than greatest generation fun.

Fortunately I wasn't looking for anything really new in game play. There's not a lot of difference between F2:PO and FEAR, it's basically the same game - dark hallways, bad guys, time slowing powers. The only real difference is that this time you can capture a mech! This sounded really cool at first, but ended being slightly disappointing since it's incredibly unchallenging and repetitive. Now, I was expecting to be able to blow apart thousands of replicants, yet still have to worry about the occasional rocket and EMP grenade. What I got was a barely perceptible increase of enemies, and exactly ONE lone rocket launcher that lasted about 23 milliseconds before become ground-replicant. As far as I can actually tell, it's impossible to die while in the mech suit. I actually went and sat in one and walked away to make a sammich.

This isn't to say that the game is difficult outside of the suit. While I have died, it's been more because of the mood lighting - i.e. "make it scary by endarkening". Granted I'm, on "normal" difficulty, but still - there should be some challenge even then right?

Despite all this, the game is still a hell of a lot of fun. I make light of the "endarkening" (pun intended), but it does a lot for the overall feeling of the game. I've actually been nervous to go down a hallway lit only by a sole swinging light. The scares that come are occasionally of the "BOO!" variety, but more often are preceded by uneasy sounds and an overall sense of doom. The sound ads a ton to the atmosphere of this game. Although, there are times I feel I missed something. You'll here a spooky sound and not see anything, which could be the intention. however, some of the ghosts are so subtle that's they're easy to miss - I'm sure I have at times. That being said though, there were plenty of times the game casued me to physically jump.

In the end it's basically like spending $50 for a decent horror movie. I'm on the fence as to whether this is worth it or not. If you love FPS games, and aren't looking for anything new, the game gets a recommendation. If you're looking for simply a horror experience - rent The Ring.

Baby Tales

Last week I was running out the door and as I grabbed the kid, I noticed he needed a diaper change badly. Since I was already late (imagine that), I changed his dirty diaper in world record time.

Since I had done such a good job of changing him quickly, it would have been a shame to waste time washing my hands. Instead I grabbed a sani-wipe and wiped my hands clean and minutes later we were pulling out of the garage, a little late, but full of pride at my achievement.

About 5 miles down the road, it smelled like Beemer had made another dirty diaper. Sigh. However, after giving it more thought I realized that I was wrong. He wasn't the dirty one. In my haste I had gotten quite a lot of baby poo on my right hand and in my delight I had missed wiping it away.

Of course the only wipes I have are in the diaper bag, in the back. Do I have any napkins? Nope. Kleenex? Nope. Even if I did, I would just wipe the obvious stuff off, not really clean my hand. I shrugged and drove on, planning on cleaning my hands as soon as I could (being careful of what I touched - my Pepsi for one).

It's about here I realized what a mental shift parenthood brings. Before Beemer, I'm pretty sure I would have pulled over immediately and used whatever was at hand to wipe it off; grass, the car registration, my soon-to-be-roadside-trash tee shirt, ANYTHING. Of course, before Beemer I'm fairly certain I wouldn't have had poop on my hands at all, probably.

It's truly a magical time...

Oddtodd explains

I've always been a fan of Oddtodd. However, I didn't know that he had done some animating for NPR. He has a series with Robert Krulwich about how carbon is causing global warming (my favorite moments are in part 4). It's actually entertaining, whether you believe it or not. But while browsing them, I found this...



22 miles east of Kit Carson huh? Hmmmm.....

Don't touch that tree!

Anyone who grew up in Denver should remember such classics like Blinky the Clown, the Shane company's commercial and maybe even Celebrity Sports center.

I only bring it up because I just spent an hour or so on this thread at Boingboing.net.

Ah memories of being able to smell what kind of Jolly Ranchers factory was making that day, or spending a weekend day at Cin City, or dinner at the Organ Grinder.

And bonus points for those that can identify the image to the left...

Go in back - we DARE ya

These dolls are at a bar downtown.

They sit next to a dark stairway that leads upstairs to the back bar and patio, like little demonic guardians. I tell you, no beer is worth that.

Insert firewire here, or how I learned to turn floppy disks to hard drives.

I've seen some pretty cool PC case mods, some of which i might even want to try. This one, however, just makes me say W....T....F...

Yep, In a mere 29 steps you too can own a compubeaver. Why you'd want to, I have no idea.

Ah, so many innuendos to use, so little space.

Rainman makes manager

All I have to say is ,"The hell?"

Silence of the Legos

Thanks to AOTS, but this needs to be shared!! (NSFW)



Ah, what can't be done with Legos?

A Barenaked Farewell

A few days ago my favorite band announced that one of their key members is leaving to "solo projects including theatrical opportunities".

It should be interesting to see what this does for the band. While he did write quite a few of the songs, he was by no means the sole creative mind in the band. I don't really think it will affect the songs too much. The big impact will be the loss of his voice. Ed Robertson is a great singer, but can't quite compete with Steven's voice. The good news is that it seems to be a friendly break and the band is supporting Steven's decision.

In any case I'm looking forward to future albums, one of which is being recorded this spring. Plus I wish good luck to Steven!

Sleepless babies and dead dogs

The last few nights, B-Mac as decided that night time is most definitely not the time to sleep. He is clearly exhausted, but is too stubborn to admit it (a trait he obviously gets from his mother, BTW). Each night has taken 2 - 3 hours to get the little bugger to sleep. He'll doze just long enough for us to walk out of the room and he's wide awake again - sigh.

Anyway, last night I had just gotten him to stay asleep (after about 2 1/2 hours of coaxing) and it actually looked like he would stay that way. I laid his sleeping form into his crib and turned around to see the dog standing behind me wagging his tail, with an almost mischevious doggie smile. I swear he winked at me! The damned mutt then proceeded to shake his head violently, producing a huge clatter of dog tags. B-Mac was awake yet again.

I now have a lovely Australian Shepherd pelt for sale, CHEAP!

Customer Quote of the Month - March

A woman on her cell phone walks in to the store and starts to wander. She's in the middle of a conversation, so I leave her be until she's done with the call. After a few minutes of discussing her hair or some other BS, AWoHCP comes up to the counter and looks at me with a "Are you going to help me or not?" look. Bear in mind she's still on the phone having a conversation.

After a mental bitch-slap I ask her, "Can I help you find something?"

AWoHCP (barely pausing in her previous conversation), "Do you have those earplugs that you can dive with?"

Me, "Yep, they're over here." I show her where they are.

AWoHCP, "I need a pair."

Me, "OK, but they come in sizes, so we'll have to measure your ear, and fit the correct one to you." In other words get the frak off the phone lady!

AWoHCP, "Ok, then what size do I need?" She then turns her head to show me her ear and tells the person on the phone about her her overly gassy labradoodle.

I use the measuring template and select a size, but then tell her, "This should work, but you really should try it on."

AWoHCP, without a pause in her inane conversation, moves the phone to her other ear, then leans her ear toward me. At this point she obviously wants me to stick the earplug in for her.

Me, "Um, you'll have to do that for yourself. I'm not sticking my finger in your ear."

AWoHCP sighs, takes the earplug and sticks it in while explaining to the poor person on the other end of the line about how loose her gassy labradoodle's stools are. She then turns to me with a look of "Well, does it work?"

Me, "OK, now you have to hum," (BTW, I'm not just frakking with her here - it's part of the fitting process), "If it's the correct fit, you'll hear the hum louder in the ear with the earplug."

AWoHCP gives me a disgusted look and says (to her poor phone partner), "SIGH, I guess I need to go. I'll call you back." She then hangs up, hums and we complete the fitting. The rest of the transaction went fine. After paying, she hadn't taken 5 steps before she was back on the phone.

Now I'll admit I can't really remember what her conversations were about, but I do know it was all inane chatter. The conversation was certainly one that could have been paused for 5 minutes to be polite and get what she needed done. This is why I have a pet peeve of people and their cell phones. I'm all for them personally, I have one too. But I think it's incredibly rude to walk into a store while on the phone - I always try to finish my call before I walk in. Ah well, another day, another dollar.

Although I do like gassylabradoodle.com...

For the Math geeks...

Happy Square Root Day!

Yep a day that only comes 9 times every century. Party up, or at least as much as you math types party.

You know, grab an appletini and rotate 4th dimensional objects through 7th dimensional space...

Good times....good times...

From the mouths of babes

And this is why I'm planning on introducing my child to the Wii ASAP:



I would kill to get that laugh!

The "Real" Reason

OK, personally I think the whole Digital V upgrade is ri-god-damned-diculous. However, it's happening and there's nothing I can do to stop it. I do, however, have to wonder how much it's costing the government. The cost of the "coupons" to get converter box alone must be billions of dollars. That's

I'm not even really sure what the impetous is behind the change, so I googled it. My favorite response is here. According to this guy, the reasons are two-fold. First, It allows the government to more easily manipulate the images coming to our sets. Second, it's so the government can keep tabs on us by watching us through little cameras built into the TV. That's right, according to these crackpots, every TV built since 1995 has the ability to transmit as well as receive. Not only that, but the bastards in Washington have added mini cameras in the screens!

I guess I better stop "watching" those late night Cinemax movies...

Eye of the beholder

An "artist" brought this into our shop to see if we wanted to buy it for decoration. The boss, not being hard-of-seeing, politely declined. We are however displaying it for her to see if anyone wants to buy it.

I suppose someone may want to buy it, but frankly it looks like my son did it - and he's 3 weeks old!

The best part? She wants $335 for it! And yes, that's US dollars, believe me, I checked...

Virtual Darwinism

Researchers at the University of Durham have modded the Source engine (Half Life 2) to be used in simulations for real world scenarios. During testing, researchers used a model of their rooms to simulate a fire and run people through evacuation routes.

It's an attempt to use video game technologies in the real world. Apparently one that works pretty well, for most people. Apparently those that are gamers, and used to "simulations" blew the study results. Gamers that were part of the study would run through burning doors to see what happened.

as a friend commented, "Why not just camp in the corner with horded health packs and wait it out?"

Customer Quote of the Month - February

Customer looking at fins, "Do these come in pairs?"

I wish I was kidding...

EA's got bloxie

EA recently announced the sequel to y favorite Wii game to date, Boom Blox!

It's due in the spring and will be more centered to party gameplay - which is the games strong suit, by a long shot. The game apparently will also allow user created content and online play.

The best part is that it seems that finally the blocky animals cheering you along will be interactive!

I just hope they remove the stupid shooting levels...

Even less than "Communications"

Bullocks to all those claiming that our higher education system works.

UC Berkley has introduced a Starcraft Studies course. That's right, the 1998 video game is a college course now.

Students will learn about the theory of the battles and learn the computational strategies. When I first heard about this, I kinda hoped that it would have some relevance to the real world. Sadly, it doesn't seem to. It's all about the game.

Now don't get me wrong, I would have jumped at the chance to play Starcraft for a college course. Lord knows I wasted enough study time playing it's predecessors, Warcraft I and II. However, I just wonder at the implications. It's no wonder our education system is laughed at by the world.

I love that "Calculus and Differential Equations are highly recommended for full understanding of the course". Gotta make it sounds useful somehow. Truly, I can't think of any better use for my damned calculus classes.

Note: Oops. This isn't true - just a Berkely "Decal Class", apparently a student wishlist type of thing. I knew it was too good to be.

Ch-Ch-Chiahope

OK I get it!! It's a historic time. We'll soon be getting the payoff of all this wonderful hope and change (right?).

But I'm tired of all the crap to "commemorate this historic time.". Coins, lithographs, signed photos and my personal favorite: the Obama Chi-Head!

Sweet christ I wish I was kidding.

It's a boy!

Well, here we are after a couple of very long nights.

Brennen McKee joined us at 1:54 Wednesday afternoon! He's healthy and mostly happy. Thought, he had a hard day today, so I'm sure tonight will be another sleepless one.

I'm assuming the shock wears off at some point. I still find it hard to believe he's mine! But mostly I can't wait to play Wii with him for the first time. I already know that he'll kick my butt, but I'm good with that.

I got nothing

I know it's been a while since a post - been kinda crazy.

I suppose all I have to say is:

HOLY CRAP!
I'M GOING TO BE A DAD IN ELEVEN HOURS!!!!

That is all...I'll check in after the fact...

Midget Switch and bulb thieves

We've recently moved and as is the case with any new places, there are quirky features. We've been amused by some and irritated by others.

My favorite is this light switch. It's a little hard to see, but the switch is about a foot off the floor. It now happens to be behind a couch. When we moved in, I couldn't figure out what it did. Recently I replaced the bulb in a light post that's in our front yard (one that was stolen as a friend had replaced it already).

Turns out this switch operates the light post in the front yard. Nice and convenient. Anyone know a good electrician?

Karoshi fun

Karoshi is japanese for "death by overwork", and apparently Japan has had it's share of workers simply dying in the office.

Sounds like the perfect premise for a flash game to me! Suicide Salaryman is just that, a puzzle game that pits you against an office. Your goal? To kill yourself of course.

It's a great time waster...

Big finger to big oil

I have to say that I love Safeway's Gas Rewards program...

Customer Quote of the Month - January

A customer had done a self-refresher session in our pool, changed in our lockers and headed upstairs. After he came upstairs I went down to close the pool and turn off all the lights. As I was finishing up, the damp diver came back down, saying, "I can't find my keys. I may have left them in the Locker room."

Me, "OK." and I wait for him to look.

DD as he enters the now-dark locker room, "Are there lights in here?"

Me, "Yep." adding silently, "We didn't have them removed in the 2 minutes you've been upstairs."