First Class Blogging

Wonderwall. Jesus Christ what a weird movie. I'd never heard of it before last night. Apparently George Harrison (the Beatle) had a hand in making it. It was presented to me in as one of those 60's drug flicks, so I went in expecting to watch a 90 minute acid trip on film and, being sober, get bored out of my mind. I was very pleasantly surprised.

I was going to put a lot of effort into describing the way the movie seemed to mirror my own life, which surprised and scared me (seemed a little too coincidental) but I've become distracted. You see, as I write this, I'm on American Airlines flight 2040 from Dallas/Ft. Worth to Toronto. It's very exciting, because, along with visiting a friend for the first time (pretty much the part of my life that the movie seemed to mirror), this is the first time I've ever gone on a vacation totally alone.

“All I Want For Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey just started playing on my Zune. I'm wearing spiffy noise-canceling headphones that turn the usual roar of the jet engines into a quiet low buzz. The guy in front of me is watching one of the SAW movies on his laptop, and the TV is showing “How I Met Your Mother,” which I need to cue up on Netflix, because I enjoy Neil Patrick Harris. But the really cool thing about this trip, so far, is that when prompted at the check-in if I wanted to upgrade to first class, I was the only person there who could say “no” since I'd paid for the trip myself.

I said yes. Best $140 I've spent in a while. Holy Shit they brought me ice cream. I'd take a picture of it to show you, but the real impressive part was the huge tray they brought out for the dinner. A Caesar Salad, cheese filled tortillini, and coke in a glass. Not a plastic cup. A fucking glass. I finally know what that great thespian Will Smith was talking about with his semi-immortal words:

First class, yo, this is bad.
Drinking orange juice out of a champagne glass?
Is this what the people of Bel-Air livin' like?
Hmmm. This might be alright.

It is. Indeed this is alright.

My netbook is running low on batteries. I hope I can get to a good stopping point. Actually, I guess it's not too low. Not bad compared to the last one I had, with a battery life close to half of a half-hour. Seriously, I don't know why everyone doesn't have one of these things. It can fit in my pocket, has Wi-Fi, runs ubuntu like a dream (but then, what doesn't?)... it's the perfect PC. I just need to figure out how to get email synchronized between this and my desktop PC. Any suggestions.

I've got no idea when this will go up. I'm sure Canada has internet access, like the civilized world does, but it may be hidden. Or I may need to consult a moose to get it. This I cannot do. I give my solemn word, now, in this comfortable chair, eating my cheesecake-infused ice cream, at thirty-thousand feet, that I shall not use hoofed animals for tech support.

The line must be drawn here.

Been A Month

I should be going to bed, but I had two funny thoughts that hit me tonight, and I want to write them down before I go to sleep.

Firstly, I wanted to show you this video of the new game Mirror's Edge, as a point of reference. Basically, it's a first person platformer. You run and jump across rooftops or various other surfaces in a style reminiscent of free-running, as you can see. You know who else is good at running and jumping across various surfaces in a video game?

Mario.

I'd love to see a Mario version of Mirror's Edge. Replace the lithe arms and legs of Faith with Mario's pudgy cartoonish gloves and shoes. Punctuate the jumps and landings with the accented shouts of "Wahoo!" and "Yee-hah" and "Ya! A-ha-ha!" And, for the jumps he doesn't make, "Mama-MIIIA!" I just think it would be a fun mod. Someone needs to get on it. I'm planning on buying it for Xbox, but if someone makes a mod for the PC version, I'm definitely getting that one as well.

And on to door number two, which I hinted at on my Twitter feed (up in the top right of this page). No video to go with James Bond (but if you're nice I'll fish you up a video of the awesome theme song for the new movie), cuz I think you all know who he is. So my question was this. He drives fast, more often than not. I have to wonder, what happens if a cop sees him and tries to pull him over, somewhat like they did in Batman Begins. Aside from films (Batman included), 100% of all televised police chases end in the suspect being apprehended by the police. So, what would happen if the suspect was in fact a secret agent carrying a vital document / person to headquarters?

My first thought was that someone higher up (e.g., M)would be able to get on the horn and call the persuing officer and tell him, "Hey, leave that guy alone, its okay, he works for us" or something. But, if it got out of hand, and we had an OJ Simpson style car chase on our hands, where theres a dozen cop cars following one Aston Martin with a helicoptor overhead sending out footage live to every TV in the nation... Well, it would be considerably harder to explain away than that, wouldn't it?

I'd like to see that happen in a James Bond movie, I guess. Super suave international secret agent has to deal with something as mundane as a speeding ticket from a local traffic cop. Even if it was just a bit part in a film, it would be fun to watch.

Okay, one last big about the video for the song I linked to above. I'm just now watching it, and I've got to say this. Jack White (who I guess is Jack Black's mortal nemesis?) looks almost like the albino asmatic supervillian from Casino Royale, LeChiffee, while Alicia Keyes appears to be wearing red makeup that gives the impression that she's been crying. Weird. I'm not sure what to think about all this.

Angels

It seems pretty obvious, when you think about it. The Angels, I mean. It was a brilliant marketing strategy. ANJ Medical started with life-saving prosthetics and internal hardware, and the new survivors were dubbed "ANJels." It was cute, I guess; people brought back to their loved ones from the brink of death, like angels.

It didn't take long before the Angels started showing up in the news. Formerly wheelchair-bound people running faster than Olympic Atheletes with artificial legs. A mother with artificial lungs was able to hold her breath for hours at a time. A blind man with ANJ eyes could see better than the best marine sharpshooter. It wasn't long before stories like those started the push for ANJ devices as consumer goods.

Spreading into the free market lead to Angel Technology to expand on itself exponentially. There were ANJ implants for every imaginable purpose. Cybernetic limbs made for increased speed and strength. Artificial organs worked more efficiently than the natural ones could ever hope to. Chips inserted in your brain boosted concentration to genius levels. Soon anybody who could afford it could have whatever sort of "super powers" they wanted.

It wasn't long before the remaining natural human beings were made into something of a relic. I watched the "special" Olympics surpass the regular Olympics in terms of both records and profit. The entire nation rushed to the support of our first Cyborg President. Naturals became relegated to a punchline, almost before they started acting like the backwards extremists they were made out to be.

I grew up with video games. I can't remember a time when they weren't a viable form of entertainment. I raised children who couldn't imagine a world without cellphones or the Internet. And then I got to watch as my daughter brought my first grandson into a world where consumer cybernetics weren't just acceptable, they were the norm. An entire generation of Angels. With man-kind pushing their evolution forward so drastically with technology, it seems the only real surprise was how fast and how hard our biology would swing back.

The Angels seem obvious in hindsight. It's the Demons that still shock me.

Reverse Psychology

I just got a strange call that was pretty obviously paid for by the Republican candidate for Texas House of Representatives. Or at least, some local branch of the Republican party. The interviewer, who didn't seem too thrilled to be interviewing me (I think he had a cold), asked first about how well I knew the candidates at a federal and local level, which ones I would likely be voting for, and which issues I valued most. Normally, I consider myself to be a fairly liberal guy. I'm not a hippie, and I like to think I have a relatively decent view of the world, I'm not just an idealist, but I am at least somewhat idealistic. I'd like to think that those of us who have more should give to those of us less fortunate. I think nothing of pulling $10 out of each pay check to go to my company's United Way fund. I'm not going to miss that $10, and it could make a huge difference in the lives others, so I give it freely. 

Anyway, long story short, I'm a liberal, and currently I'm voting democratic because I'm very displeased with the way the Republican leadership has sent our country since, well basically, since I was born. Interestingly, if the election were held tomorrow, I said I'd be voting for Libertarian Bob Barr, not because I want him to be president, but because I feel like our country needs a legitimate third party and the only way we're going to get one is by supporting one. Since Texas is pretty much an electoral shoe-in for Republicans, voting for a Democrat won't do much besides skew the numbers a bit. But it could be a big boost to the third party.

Then, after me telling the guy that the two biggest issues I have reguarding Texas politics were improving traffic conditions and improving public education, he proceeded to list me several facts lifted from the public record about the two candidates for the Texas Legislature in my district. It didn't take me long to notice that he was practically reading a Republican ad at me. I answered truthfully that each of the facts he read made me less likely to vote for the Democrat and more for the Republican (I can't even remember their names...), but at the end I told him, no, I'm still voting Democratic, just because this call is such a blatant waste of my time and insult to my intelligence.

Now I'm kinda wondering if that was the point all along... Maybe it was the Democrats trying to make me agry at Republicans... /shrugs

The point is that none of the facts outweighed my initial reason for voting (D) in the first place: I don't want the Republicans in power. I'm sure that by herself, the republican is a nice woman and would make an excellent representative, but she's not by herself.

I don't get angry at people. I get frustrated with things. 

Why Are You Telling Me

So, in addition to dropping the price on the Xbox 360 to $299, Microsoft dropped this little news bit on me as well:

My question, and the reason I'm showing you guys it, is why did they put this on my 360? I mean, I'm not going to go out and buy a 60 Gig model, now am I? If I wanted more "Gigabytes for the buck, I could just grab their (outrageously expensive) 120GB hard drive on its own. I wonder, and this is what the real anouncment should have been, if they're planning on releasing the 60GB hard drives on their own in August as well, and if so, if they plan on selling them for less than the $100 they're currently charging for the 20GB model.

x_x

Back-Up Brain

I saw this article about 5TB 3.5in HDDs, and it contained a bizarre quote.

...two of the drives will boast enough capacity to store everything in your brain.

My question is... do they test that? I mean, yes, I'm sure there's some obscure way of quantifying human thought or whatever they're saying it could store. But the real implication, the way I read it anyway, is that "two of the drives will [...] store everything in your brain." Which I think is pretty cool.

The idea that I could go to the doctors office with a couple of hard drives, and they could copy everything in my brain, as a back up in case I had some accident in brain surgery, or I suffered some form of brain damage. My question is though, aside from storing the information in a safe place, is what can be done with my brain copy? Will I be able to think as a program on a computer?

Will I be a robot with a 10TB brain? o_0?!

I Want One Of These

Laugh at High Gas Prices With a 282-MPG VW | Autopia from Wired.com

Probably doesn't go fast, but as long as it'll go the speed limit, 200+ MPG is very enticing.

Also, I'm considering moving to Canada. I've already got an invitation to visit for new year's eve, and I'm saving my pennies as we speak, but depending on how much I like it, I may end up staying there for good. My dream job is still to be an in-home computer technician, something that is good in any area where computers exist. So I may fish around while I visit and see if anyone wants to take me on, or if there's any place I could put down roots and start up.

Why do they start each commercial for the new X-Files movie with "From the creator of the X-Files"?

"From the person who brought you the X-Files, the X-Files!"

Um, duh?

Today, We Celebrate, Our INDEPENDENCE DAY!

It's creeping me out that there's no 'a' in 'independence'. It sounds like it should have one at least, but no. Weird.

I've decided that Independence Day must be one of President Bush's favorite movies. It opens with Bill Pullman playing a charismatic but unpopular president. Soon, though, foreign powers (aliens) arrive and, seemingly without warning, destroy many recognizable and memorable US buildings. (Oh, and the Vice President. Take that, Cheney!)

"Jeff Goldbloom did bring us a document, I believe it was entitled 'Aliens determined to attack the Earth'..."

The President then orders a disastrous first attack on the attackers in Houston that does more harm than good and in fact, didn't really accomplish the goal they said they were going after.

But in the end, the president gives an invigorating, inspirational speech, then gets to go onto the battlefield, flying a jet fighter and saving the world from the aliens.

Seriously, isn't that Bush's dream presidency right there?

Daring To Be Stupid

So I've got Ubuntu and stuff. I go out of my way to put myself in contact with all my adoring public (all 0 of you... u_u) then immediately go radio-silent. I'm clearly ADD.

For instance, it's thundering and lighting outside.

A few days ago, I saw an episode of Transformers Animated(!) featuring Wreck-Gar. In the original series, he was a Junkion, de-facto ruler of the Planet of Junk, which wasn't so much a planet as a floating junk heap in space. In the new cartoon, he himself is a pile of junk, brought to life through he power of the All-Spark. And he has one question. "What Am I?"

Through the episode, he gets varying answers from varying sources. He is impeding a police action. He is a criminal. He knocks over armored trucks. He is an Autobot. He catches the bad guy. He could never be an Autobot. All he is good for is Garbage. He is a Decepticon. He dares to be stupid. I don't think that got all of them, but you get the idea.

In the end, Ratchet, who has been hurling most of the insults at him, tells Wreck-Gar that he can be whatever he wants to be, no matter what anyone tells him. So Wreck-Gar decides to be a hero, and sacrifices himself to save the city. He ends up being okay, but not only does no one notice he's gone, but no one really cares! Ratchet ends up the hero. But that's not what really bugged me.

Wreck-Gar's plight REALLY struck a chord with me. After doing what everyone else told him to do, he finally does what he wants to do, and becomes a hero. I don't know why, but for days after watching it, I could bring myself nearly to tears just thinking about that. I'm still a little choked up by it. Took me a while to figure out why, but I think I got it.

The day after I saw it, I went to church and listened to a sermon about how we need to put God's needs before our own. I'm still not sure what God's needs for me are, and that didn't really bug me. But it occurred to me, I don't really know what MY needs for myself are. My whole life, at this point, seems to revolve around what others want from me.

Yesterday I got up at about 11 o'clock to help my mom take out kitty litter. Being smeff has its advantages I suppose. After that, I got a call from Grandma Katie. She needed some computer help, and I was more than happy to oblige. Except I couldn't get that done in one day, so it was left to be continued. After that I got to come home to find my water has been shut off. Mostly my fault, and I'm kicking myself over the fact that I let it happen, but I needed my Granddad's help to fix it. After doing that, I ended up helping HIM with his computers as well.

Sigh. I'm venting now, I'm coming off as a lot more pissed off than I really am about it, I think. Maybe that's part of my problem.

Anyway, today was more of the same. After a therapist appointment (because, let's face it, I do need it) I went to help Grandma Katie AGAIN with her stuff. We got an external hard drive (500GB for 90 bucks, nothing to sneeze at, even if the software disk was BROKEN IN TWO PIECES! O_O!) to save he hard disks off an old computer, then back up their new one at regular intervals. Of course, the old computer's drives took hours to back up, and the first time was a false start because you apparently can't copy XP while it's running. Luckily, Linux boot disks solve all of mankind's problems. Still, a four hour copy session was started, so during that time, my Aunt had her birthday dinner. Afterward I got to go back an finish up with Grandma's stuff, which was nice.
That's all done.

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!!!

I've got a trip to go to Philly on Friday. Before that, I need to pack (natch), which requires laundry. I should also clean up some of the mess around my house for whoever shows up to feed my kittens while I'm gone. I also need to find someone to feed my kittens while I'm gone (again, natch). And Thursday I've promised to go with my Grandfather to visit a sick relative of some kind. I need a family tree to consult things, I think.

And just thinking about all this makes me exhausted.

And hungry.

Twitter Added

Now all my ranting and raving at no one in particular are in one place! Whee! Also, since I'm going to Vancouver, I expect to do some more Twittering (Twitting?) and less full posts. And by less I mean I just won't be doing any posts while I'm in Vancouver. I don't suppose that'll get anyone to actually want to subscribe to my Twitterings but hope springs eternal for those of us with no actual contact with reality.

Zune!!!

So yeah, if you look to your left you'll see I've added a Zune card to my profile. Now you can see all the terrible music I listen to.

I've been trying to pitch Zune to anyone I can. To anyone with an iPod already, there's not much compelling reason to make the switch, especially if you've got a bunch of music off iTunes. But if you're just getting started, the Zune Pass is awesome. $15 a month to basically "rent" their music, which means there's really no buyer remorse, if you don't want something, there's no reason to not swap it out. It also has most of the same features as iTunes. Their TV series offerings are just getting off the ground, and there's still no movies, but I'm not too thrilled with the idea of paying full price for a movie I can only watch on a computer or personal media device. The Zune stuff does link rather easily into my X-Box 360, though, so I'd rather buy TV and movies from there.

I'm actually considering buying Battlestar Galactica, one of the shows they have for offer on their marketplace. I'd never seen the show before, but everyone seems to believe its the best Sci-Fi in recent years, so I may have to at least see what it is. Season one is available for 26 bucks, after you make the conversion from MS points, which seems like an OK deal. A quick look online shows that Target.com is offering it for $40, which is marked down from $60 originally. Not a bad deal.

Trick number two is that I'm broke right now. I wish my tax rebate check would show up soon. I need that $500 bucks. ...I need a job. Sigh.

Free Money!!?

Probably not.

(11:10:32 PM) effervescence: hey look!
(11:10:53 PM) TriFrog77: NOOOO
(11:11:00 PM) effervescence: guess what today is!
(11:11:03 PM) TriFrog77: i just got rick roll'ed
(11:11:08 PM) TriFrog77: april fools
(11:11:21 PM) effervescence: international rick astley appriceation day
(11:11:28 PM) TriFrog77: waht? really?
(11:11:40 PM) TriFrog77: pop-up video lmao
(11:11:47 PM) effervescence: of course not
(11:11:49 PM) effervescence: its april first
(11:11:58 PM) TriFrog77: lmao

Happy April First! ((EDIT: Whoops! I'm on central time! X_X!!?))

Also, I need someone with Pokemon Diamond or Pearl to IV battle me. Plz?

And finally, I've decided that "!!?" is the best punctuation ever. Reminds me somehow of "Iie", which is Japanese for "No".

I Miss My Old "Blog This" Add-On...

Ah, for the days when I could simply right click a page, rather than hunting for a bookmark to bring up a tiny little blog-writing-window. Anyway, on to more pressing issues.

Child maths prodigy 'working as a prostitute' - Telegraph

...10 years on, Miss Yusof now earns £130 an hour working as a prostitute from her flat in Salford, Manchester

Hey, she was a math prodigy. I'm guessing she just did and realized that while probably no one was going to hire a 16 year old college graduate, she could easily earn tons of money (£130 is about $259USD according to xe.com) in the world's oldest profession, and for far less real work than most other careers. I suppose she's got plenty of time to pursue other interests. Math is cool!

(This Blogger in no way endorses the criminal act of prostitution.)

Nifty Video Game Stuff

Kings of Power 4 Billion - Not quite a video game, but a movie based on one. It's cool. Direct link to the movie here. I don't think it's on YouTube.

Watching that made me think of all the movies I've got in the air. Watch as I count them down:

PS2:

Prince of Persia - I'm stuck in this one stupid room and I hate it, but I love the gameplay. If I can't figure the room out from the inside, I may just restart the game entirely. It's been a while since I played though... Eh.

God of War - I'm pretty sure I'm almost done with it, I just got distracted. I always do that. But maybe if GoW2 goes Greatest Hits, or Chains of Olympus comes down in price, I should have finished the first one.

La Pucelle Tactics - I barely started this one. It's supposedly either a prequel to Disgaea, or more likely, a precursor, along the same lines and such. I never got too far, but I suppose I'll play it later, if I ever hit it big, and have tons and tons of free time or something.

Final Fantasy X - I need to level grind. For hours. But I think I'm almost near the final boss. /me shrugs.

Final Fantasy X-2 - I kinda started this, but I suppose I should finish X(-1?) first. It's very silly, but I like it somehow.

*Final Fantasy XII* - Yay for bizarre sequencialism. I talked about this a lot earlier, but I still find it silly that I'm about 7 hours in, and so far, my character has been tossed into, and broken out of, prison. Twice. IN THE FIRST SEVEN HOURS of a FOURTY + HR GAME! O_O! I'm a jailbird.

GameCube (Ya, I picked up a few for my Wii.):

Pokemon XD - I keep looking at that "XD" and thinking its a smiley face. I'm playing it for the Lugia. I should probably go through and finish that. I wish there was a way for me to transfer my other Pokemon in. That would rock.

Okay, so I just picked up two games for it, and I already beat Sonic Adventure.

Wii:

*Super Mario Galaxy* - I'm very close, and the game is a lot of fun. I'll probably pick some time I've got a lot of spare time, but it should be easily and doable.

Trauma Center: New Blood - This game is monumentally hard, but I love the co-op play. Co-op makes EVERYTHING better. Actually, now that I think of it, I never REALLY beat the first game either. That one mission where you've gotta heal 4 people in ten minutes kicks the shit outta me. Even with help. (I traded controllers off with a friend between patients.)

Super Smash Bros. Brawl - I've still gotta unlock Star Wolf, but honestly, "meh". On the other hand, maybe Nintendo will eventually fix their Wi-Fi system and I can battle some friends. Anyone wanna go against me?

Xbox 360:

Mass Effect - I already beat this, but the unleashed a downloadable content episode, so I'm gonna go back and play through that bit, and probably leave the game open for later missions. I also plan on finishing up the other sidequests I never got to. I THOUGHT I HAD MORE TIME! HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THERE WOULD BE ONLY FOUR STORY WORLDS!!?

Dead Rising - Yay Zombies. Honestly, the saving system is kinda annoying. I need to actually get through to the end of the first set of cases one of these days. I'm gonna get so tired of seeing the same cutscenes over and over again.

The Orange Box - Or specifically, Half Life 2 and Episodes 1 and 2. I beat Portal, it was great, and I'm waiting for more, either DLC or a sequel. But Half Life 2 is great fun. Never played Half Life 1, though. Wonder if I should try it...?

DOAX2 - In the long form, Dead or Alive: eXtreme Beach Volleyball 2. Cuz hey, it was like seven dollars. Yay bouncing boobs. I mean bikinis. I mean hot wet bodies. I mean... uh, nevermind. I don't think I'm going to "beat" this game, mainly because it's just ridiculous. Literally. I purchased it for Ridicule. But now, Fuck this game. Seriously.

Rainbow Six: Vegas - Yay peering around corners and shooting people repeatedly. Boo being shot at by enemies in a bizarrely over-ful room. I hate that one room. I should go back and beat it maybe, but... nahhhh.

PSP:

Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness - I've been a fan of SRPGs, or whatever whatever this style of game is supposed to be, since FFTA. Apparently Final Fantasy Tactics Period is the "best game EVAR" according to the Final Fantasy Fanboys, but FFTA was just the perfect mix of strategy and whimsical story without the bizarre emo-epic-save-the-world stuff. And Disgaea is just wacky enough that I like it too, but I'm not enjoying the fact that, once again, I have to level grind. I HATE levelgrinding. I'll probably tough it out though, and usually once I get into a stride, I'll do okay.

Jeanne d'Arc - It's like Joan of Arc! With demons! And on a "Tactics" style grid! AGAIN! I play a lot of these. I may end up with this on hiatus until after FFTA2 comes out and is beaten.

I also noticed I'm missing my UMDs for Terminator and Spiderman. :(

DS: (I got a lot, so I'll just list the titles)

Pheonix Wright: Justice for All, as well as the 3rd title in the series, and then I'll buy the fourth when it comes out.
Contact
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass - I hate that central temple X_X!
Kirby: Canvas Curse
Final Fantasy III - Actually I'm just gonna restart and try to get past the first two towns. I seem to get stuck on some weird area I need to shrink to get into? (Or is that my problem with the first???)
Advance Wars Dual Strike
Metroid Prime: Hunters
Sonic Rush
Professor Layton and the Curious Village - ...just the downloadable extras, though.

Phew, that's quite a list. And don't get me started on the BOOKS I've got to get working on... X_X!!?

I Can't Tell If This Is A Joke....

...Or he really thinks that's how the game works: You’re Not My Real Big Daddy

“Don’t shoot me!” said the Little Sister. But was she lying?

Can a request be a lie, really? The only example I've thought of is this:

Please don't hit me with your penis, madam.

...and even then it's circumstantial.

Oh, and if you haven't played Bioshock yet, you should. Seriously, do it. I'm tired of sitting on these spoilers.

WTF YouTube #3

Look! This time it's not a Disney Channel Starlette (yet)!

Anyway, I actually have the manga based off this game (.Hack//GU+ or something). Maybe I should read it and see how much shouting I endure.

WTF YouTube #2

I'm gonna overload. But seriously. Miley needs to stick to the writing by Disney.

Also, this:

In her movie, Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert, there is a scene where she and her dad did not put their seatbelts on and, was labeled by some newspapers as a "bad role model".[38] Billy Ray Cyrus later apologized for this, and said

"We got caught up in the moment of filming, and we made a mistake and forgot to buckle our seat belts ... Seat belt safety is extremely important."

Apparently, I'm weird amongst my friends in that I always buckle my seatbelt. It's not that I'm scared about anything, it's just a habit formed since I was a kid. I feel weird riding a car without a seatbelt.

Oddly enough, I never had a problem with the school bus.

WTF YouTube?

O_O

I may make this a recurring theme.

Also, I remember reading about this movie before in Maxim, but I didn't remember seeing any ads or anything for it, so the ABC logo in the corner confused me. Had the movie flopped so bad it was already on Broadcast? I scooted over to IMDB and found that it's not out till this September. So... why the ABC logo? I'm guessing the clip made it on the news. Cuz, hey, its Lizzie McGuire with a scorpion in her pants!

Cool Stuff

A Victim Treats His Mugger Right. I like reading about people doing the nice thing. I enjoy being nice.

Yesterday, while playing FFXII, I managed to steal a rat pelt from a rat before I killed it. I'm confused. Did I steal the rat's own pelt while it was still alive? Or was the rat some sort of fashion cannibal, wearing the pelt of another rat.

Speaking of bizarre questions on my mind, I've been watching Voyager and had a few. For instance, how does food work on the holodeck? Is it replicated, and thus edible, or just an illusion? Does it taste good? For that matter, why do people keep using the holodecks. Every time you get on, they seem to malfunction. More trouble than they're worth, if you ask me.

This dude won't take a hint. I made it seem like I was going to leave the keyboard to do something, and he won't believe that I'm really gone. I mean, I'm not, but still. How long can this chatlog continue before he takes the hint?

(3:41:24 PM) bubbyaka14411: k
(3:41:43 PM) bubbyaka14411: what he say?
(3:43:29 PM) bubbyaka14411: brb
(3:46:32 PM) bubbyaka14411: so what he say?
(3:47:02 PM) bubbyaka14411 just sent you a Buzz!
(3:48:46 PM) bubbyaka14411: u still there???
(3:49:40 PM) bubbyaka14411: so what u doing????
(3:49:42 PM) bubbyaka14411 just sent you a Buzz!
(3:51:40 PM) bubbyaka14411: u there, hello??????????????
(3:52:29 PM) bubbyaka14411: u still there????
(3:53:27 PM) bubbyaka14411 just sent you a Buzz!
(3:57:48 PM) bubbyaka14411: so what u doing
(4:04:00 PM) bubbyaka14411 just sent you a Buzz!
(4:06:04 PM) bubbyaka14411: so are we going to talk still or no????
(4:07:20 PM) bubbyaka14411 just sent you a Buzz!
(4:16:51 PM) bubbyaka14411: hey u on, whats going on
(4:18:34 PM) bubbyaka14411 just sent you a Buzz!
(4:22:53 PM) bubbyaka14411: hey whats going on
(4:24:17 PM) bubbyaka14411: u there

Sigh...

Finally, I leave you with this image. I wish my phone looked like it.


Oh, and I had to show you guys this thing. It's awesome. SHEEEEEEP!!!

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And then this too.

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If you start getting bored, it'll go 6km before it stops.

It's TRUE!

It's So True! (And, looking at the date, I'm like a year and a half behind the times.)

So yeah, I bought a copy of FFXII. Not sure why. I'd seen/heard a few old reviews of it, and decided I should check it out. And hey, just $20.

It's kind of interesting at the start, and I'm slightly curious about the storyline. One of my primary... I guess I wouldn't say complaints so much as just "one of the things I notice"... One of my primary one of the things I notice about the Final Fantasy Series in general is that it's basically "Move through Maze, Press X repeatedly to hit enemy, Enjoy Cutscene, Lather, Rinse, Repeat." Playing FFXII feels like they somehow managed to remove like 90% of the Press X part. I'm still not sure if this is a good thing or not, but I did find it somewhat odd that the boss battles were less involving than the dungeon crawling. The Bosses were somewhat engrossing, but in the same way that it's cool to watch James Bond battle some supervillian. Health Bars go down, but I've got my heroes set to auto-heal themselves, and so the whole game kicks into autopilot. So really... I guess $20 bought me a somewhat drawn out epic movie.

I'm only about 3 hours into it, and I've already killed a rogue Tomato (O_O!), robbed a hidden treasury, and then got thrown into prison. And I haven't even discovered that the mysterious beautiful warrior is really the princess who supposedly took her own life years ago. I'm in for a while ride. And by ride I mean series of approaching enemies and watching them get killed.

Oh, and speaking of Penny Arcade: their new XBLA game has been priced. I'll definitely end up buying it, I just wish they'd release a date to go along with the price. x_x

Mario Runs From Bellhop

It's-a MAAArio! ^_^

I think it's CGI, but it may possibly be a guy in a foam suit. *shrug*

Also, I just bought Burnout Paradise for 360. Seriously, if you have a 360 and like driving games at all, you should at least check it out. It's a totally open world to drive in, mess around, run races, blow stuff up... its like GTA without the guy; just cars. It's really really fun. ^_^

Good Weather

Sorry I haven't been posting recently. ALL YEAR LONG, in fact. Just haven't really had anything worth saying.

I do have to say though, this was the PERFECT time of year to let my kittens out for the first time. My perennial laziness kept them from getting any sort of shots or other medical treatment until just recently, with them about 6 months old. (Maybe more, I dunno.) So, before then, I knew I couldn't let them out, even though they obviously wanted to.

Now, with their immune systems immunized and their who-hah's and what's'its fixed (which is to say, broken), they are free to explore nature in all its grandeur. And, as I have said, I couldn't have picked a better time to procrastinate to. For the past few days, it has been absolutely miserable outside. Of course, it's all new to them, but as they're exploring something new, I'm glad they have a clear contrast in their heads. My house is dry and warm, and very nice; outside is wet and cold and miserable. I also have a litter box and readily available food, though I can't necessarily promise that they couldn't find similar facilities outside.

Indeed, even with the outdoors being so terrible of late, trying to coax them back into my house when I wanted has been quite a chore. So instead, I've taken to letting them out when I leave for work in the morning, and then, 9 or so hours later, letting them back in, once they've gotten that out of their system.