The Haiku
My first post to see
if the new upgrade is cool
like the sleek layout.
They re-did the entire authoring environment. Very nice that the dashboard has widgets and stats now and the design is as sleek as the rest of the fun.
Film Footage Used with Permission from the Galactic Alliance
A grizzled human who, appropriately enough, looks like he’s survived a war stares at the camera, obviously now in a studio.
“I don’t know how much has already been said. We had a pretty limited perspective. At first we thought it was just a coincidence: the station crashing, the tidal wave, the rampant fires. We had set up our homestead only a few years previous. We were a limited commune, but we got by. Then The Day happened.
“On that day we thought we’d bought it. We hid in our homes praying to whatever guides the galaxy that the fires and earthquakes would pass over us. Then some fool fishhead – sorry, Mon Cal – comes busting open the door telling us to run to the landing platform. These privateers had landed to save us. We approached hesitantly. A Corellian was barking orders for people to cram into a retro-fitted cargo hold. This ship was unlike any I’d seen. [Galactic Alliance records indicate that the Scimitar had been a part of the rescue effort. It had last been in service by then-Senator Palpatine in tracking down Qui-Gon Jinn on Tatooine. Since then it has transferred ownership. Jedi scholars claim that "the presence" still remains.]
“That same Mon Cal came running in asking if his Kel Dor friend had made it back yet. He barked some orders, ran to the back of the ship, and jumped on an Old Republic speederbike heading straight into the fire.
“The Corellian, the pilot, and the man in the katarn armor all rushed us on board, which was a difficult task for those of us who just lost our livelihoods. When we were airborne, we could see the fire had shifted in the wind. For the longest time the ship just waited with no sign of their friends.
“Coming out of the fire was that Mon Cal holding a Kel Dor, the struggling Kel Dor holding an unconscious teenage girl. As the Kel Dor began to black out, the handlebars of the bike twisted and sent the entire mess into a flat spin.
“I never thought the adage about Corellians was true, but the co-pilot swung the back of the ship in time, eased it enough to slow the crash, and blasted out of the atmosphere with everyone alive.
“As we left we could see that the destruction planetside was nothing compared to the bloodshed above. Even the bright, shiny New Republic overkill rescue cruiser that had probably never seen action was ripped in two. That freaky Kel Dor coughed under his breath mask, ‘I told you, Admiral.’
“I still don’t know what happened to those guys, that crew that picked us up and risked their lives in the flames. After we got transferred to another ship at the rendezvous point, we hypered out of the area. I could have sworn as we left I saw some claw-shaped craft closing in on that Old Republic masterpiece.”
(Out of character – Nice Natural 20 (to co-pilot the Scimitar into picking us up), Gary! Yay living! I like my Kraka.)
A’yup, that’s space junk, mate.
The Haiku
A farmer found space junk
in Australia – now he flies
and spits a black goo.
Straight from the people who brought you the LOLcats is now GraphJam, in what I think is an even nerdier display of humor.
The LOLcats were funny, but this strikes me as something I would do and that scares me:
I still remember making the Science club’s blood drive music video (yes, I was one of those students) and hardcoring it in the front yard of my friend’s house. I do remember a trombonist coming out of the dryer in the front yard. Very Hard Days Night.
What was the super awesome gift my wife gave me for an early birthday present? A Nokia that has a removable SD card and connects to the MacBook. And remember Zamzar? It converts to 3GP, which just happens to be how videos are displayed on the phone.
My wallpaper is straight from the computer. AND it plays .SWF files. Having not upgraded our phones (my wife got herself a RAZR) for four years, these are huge culture shocks.
I think I’ll go play Brawl with my daughter now.
The Haiku
Livin’ the good life
with paper and pencil last night
and tricked phones today.
The Haiku(s)
My wife was going
to update my haiku while
I lay in bed sick
Instead she got me
some uber tech that was cheap
renewing phone plans
The Haiku
Old school portable
Where’s your envelope now, fool?
Five and a quarter
When I saw this message title from my friend Jason I got kinda scared. But then I saw the image:
Nicely done! And from an iPhone, no less!
The Haiku
How many of us
could take a loud alien
repeating wrong names?
Playing Brawl I’ve been checking out fan sites while I feed my daughter a bottle. I stumbled across this forum and wondered:
Are they flipping serious?
Now, I’m not one to judge. I, being a fan of alternate universes. Do I think I’m a Jedi? Only when the doors open for me at the grocery store. But do I attempt to strike my students down with chain lightning? No. (Although I’m glad it’s just a fantasy power when a staff member called me up in real life to ask what my phone extension was.)
I do not post this to mock. I submit entries, entreating your opinion. Help me.
Evidence 1
Evidence 2
Evidence 3
Evidence 4
For reference, here’s a gardevoir:
The Question:
Are they flipping serious? Or are they the best role-players ever?
I have no clue.
The Haiku
Scan for sentience
Science Officer reports
“How fascinating.”
Yes, Mark, Dan was on stage. And I had fun, as well. The best part of the video is when it shakes violently. Pastor John greeted Gavin.
The Haiku
Yes, He is risen.
Jesus is no longer dead.
It’s just like he said.
If you didn’t notice, my sister-in-law has a new feature on the site: Funky Foods.
Very fun. She is on a quest of procurement, much like a certain archaeologist, to acquire every taste. She’s gotta taste ‘em all! (Okay, so it’s much cooler than talking electric rats, I swear.)
Listen to what she says – the restaurants do. After her personal suggestion from previous weeks Nothing But Noodles has now fixed one of their recipes.
Oh, and she’s a bounty hunter. Just so you know. More Bossk than Dengar, even though she just passed her motorcycle test today.
I have begun a habit of harassing my “little” brother at work every Saturday night. He works at Nothing but Noodles, a restaurant with a deceiving title since there ARE things besides noodles on their menu.
My goal is to attempt to try everything on their menu and review it for the brother. This is my progress thus far:
Tonight:
Historical tastings:
Do they not realize we’ve seen the manila envelope thing done before?
Only if it’s to use as a bludgeoning device. I had a ThinkPad in college. Yes, we all made mistakes freshman year. I know I’m a MacBook snob, but I know there’s some other good laptops out there. But a ThinkPad? Words fail to describe.
From the depths of Sheol arises an accursed spawn, a Chimaera possessing the laugh of Fran Drescher, the facial hair of J. C. Chasez, and the Bitter Tears of a Hot Pocket left in the microwave all night.
Seriously. That laptop had the most annoying start-up beep all the way to the hard disk failure. It was cool to have a laptop to work late nights in the hallways of Cowden (instead of keeping Mike up as I typed Intro. to Ed. entries for my “scrapbook”-thing that were supposed to be a part of a daily journal. To be fair, the one night I decided to go to bed early across the room he’s cursing the TV, mutedly. “Yeah, sure, watch the game.” Little did I know that it would be the 4/13/99 game versus the Dodgers. (A hint: 16 innings.))
I find it interesting that on this “Shape of the New Thin” they’re running Windows XP Professional. Is Vista not an option for new computers? Do people have a choice anymore? Without having to fly the Chinese Skull and Crossbones?
As of 3/22/08 you’re looking at $2,799 without the $250 basic service plan for the ThinkPad versus $1,799 without the $250 full Apple service plan for the MacBook Air.
I usually don’t make comparisons like this because I don’t want people to feel bad after they’ve made such a big purchase, but wow! That photo was hilarious. Manila envelope… what next, a silhouette gyrating in front of neon colors holding a Zune?
The Haiku
A wise man once said
“Thin manila envelopes
Do not make one great“
I finished Haddix’s Found earlier this week and loved it. Since I had already read Flanagan’s Battle for Skandia, equally satisfying, the next big book was Patterson’s Final Warning. (I’m a movie fanatic and waiting for Max Ride 4 after Ranger’s Apprentice 4 was the same feeling as waiting for Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and The Dark Knight.)
Usually it’s my duty to hype books. I understand that sometimes it’s easier to just watch a TV show, so I understand the importance of finding a great book quickly. I especially understand a need for lots of action in a book. A few explosions never hurt anyone (okay, so maybe explosions do hurt, but they make for exciting reads).
The Maximum Ride series by James Patterson always has lots of action and short chapters – a great combination. Number 4 has the short chapters…
I’m not saying that it doesn’t have action, mind you, but the action is not like the other three. It has action like an average book. But in Max Ride you expect giant aerial combats, betrayals by covert operatives, and general craziness.
Well, there’s a scene where the Flock flies over the Pentagon and a jet is scrambled. But the Flock immediately dives for cover. Realistic, but a distinct lack of explosions.
The main villain? Global warming. Yep. There is a significant amount of time spent where scientists and congress debate the causes and effects of global warming. (It’s not like I’m anti-Earth. I’m looking at getting CFL bulbs through an offer from SRP.)
Most of the book is a re-telling of character development from previous books. It’s almost like Patterson wanted to get his global warming message out and needed a popular venue. It makes more sense for Max Ride to look at global warming issues than Alex Cross.
One of the funniest quotes about the re-telling:
I won’t bore you with the usual duct-taped hands and feet, bound wings, stuck into black body bags, yada yada yada, that we always go through in these ho-hum random abductions. It was like, same old, same old, and I could hardly work up the energy to fight hard enough to get more than a black eye and a sprained wrist about it.
– page 214
I actually feel bad about saying negative stuff about the book. Patterson says on his site that his biggest cause is getting students who don’t like to read interested in action-packed books.
This review is not a pan of Max Ride 4 but instead a hype for Max Ride 1-3. In those books you’ll find gut-wrenching descriptions of jumping off cliff edges into canyons, people fighting thousands of feet in the air while experimental werewolves lash out at mutant heroes. Go with those books. Book 4 is for die hard fans, but I definitely wouldn’t start the series there (even though there’s enough re-telling to catch up first-time readers. It’s almost as if Patterson expects people to jump in without having read earlier books).
I’ll still have a couple of copies of Max Ride 4 on the shelf. And I am waiting expectantly for The Dangerous Days of Daniel X coming out in July. Don’t let me down, James. I need something to booktalk the 8th graders this coming August!
Usually I mention cool websites or general nerd stuff, but if you’re ever in the Phoenix area, you have to visit Canaan in the Desert prayer garden. My wife and I just got back and it was very, well, cool.
What was kindof fun on a separate note is that Channel 3 news was out filming and they interviewed us. If for whatever you read this before 5pm (ha) we will be on the afternoon news. It affirms my belief that the coolest/craziest situations in my life are from following God. (It is a definite addition to the Weirdness Magnet.)
Another cool thing from today: a wife who takes you to a teppan restaurant for your anniversary. Honmachi rocks in a desert.
The Haiku
Go to the garden
for peace and love and then eat
teppan for greatness
(It’s from my phone. Yeah. I’ll do a better screen capture when I buy the DVD.)
I was actually able to pry myself away from Smash Brothers for just long enough to watch Horton this morning with my family.
Funny, funny stuff.
I will admit that I’ve seen bits of Grinch and even less of Cat in the Hat, but I am a huge Seuss fan. (I think it would fall under “Library Blasphemy” to say otherwise.)
I know that Ted Geisel’s widow said that as long as she held the rights, there would be no more live action Seuss films. This being the next big production (if you don’t count various Seussicals) they did a great job (it helps that Audrey Geisel was a producer). Many kids were saying, “Mom, can we buy that?” as we left the theater.
But the best part of the movie (apart from the great “a person’s a person, no matter how small”) is the fact that I got to see my roommate’s name on the big screen.
Pre Vis Modeling
Thomas Leavitt
Woo hoo! Archie would be proud. I know I am.
The Haiku
It’s fun to see growth
from a goofy lumberjack
to the silver screen.
Also, it should be noted that Justin Wright of Pixar fame passed on. Wall-E was his last.
He’ll be missed:
The Haiku
more books need more fights
in midair – whether that’s planes
or bird kids with wings
(page 143 and no air fight yet. come on, jimmy!)
posted from wii
Around the same time Arthur Clarke died, we now get Japan’s foreign minister choosing an anime ambassador.
Great. A giant robot cat.
“I can has Team Rocket world dominationzorz??”
Have you seen Hulu? Pretty cool online viewing of movies and TV shows, and it’s pushed by NBC. Semi-legit, eh? I remember when it was just Lost, Desperate Housewives, and Alias on ABC.com. Now THIS is cool.
Picture a barbarian in the seats at a Mets game:
“Digital TV, you stink!”
Check out one of my favorites: Titan A.E. (Yep, the URL is sweet. I like the lack of ?=w798qwe-ness.) Okay, so no one told me I can watch Battlestar Galactica for free. And The Office in one location.
Also in the Cool Stuff category: GOMoBo. My friend Jason updated Twitter automatically with where he was eating and when. Not much help from me because I wouldn’t be able to meet him at 2 at Subway…in New Jersey. But what’s really cool about GOMoBo is that you can place a food order by SMS and then you will get a text back when it is ready.
“Waiting in line, you stink!”
This is a couple of weeks old, but have you seen the mummified dinosaur skin?
“Smithsonian re-recreations, you stink!”
Only four specimens ever have been found like this.
Make your own joke.
The Haiku
I am so excited
that there’s all this new stuff but
what of Hot Pockets?
The Haiku
You can measure age
by how much mush gets made up
compared to spit up
Go see Horton. Support my friend Tom. I remember when this guy was my roommate and we tallied how many burritos we ate. I also remember playing in the orchestra pit…and the double dates…and stopping Mike from throwing Super Nintendo controllers…and Skull Valley…and…
