Monthly Archives: May 2008

Is that a default?

Posted on by
4

Last night at Harkins San Tan I was watching trailers and such. Then the ads came on their mini-screens in the lobby. What did I hear? Broadcast_News_Medium.aif followed by Medal_Ceremony_Short.aif. I can spot them anywhere because I just finished three weeks worth of iMovie classes with students and staff.

The big question: are these used just at San Tan because it’s new or are these songs throughout Harkinses everywhere? Crazy to think about.

Also, if you want to see what I taught a kid about ActionScript, check out his game. (Great, more GarageBand!)

The Haiku
It is tough to find
Good songs to use, like right now
when default won’t pass

Things of Beauty, Nerdly and Otherwise

Posted on by
Reply

Caspian

  1. I have decided that if I have to charge in for a covert aerial assault, instead of riding broomsticks I would much rather fly in the claws of a griffin, silent through the night until the last minute when the sound of my blade severing helmet rings out.
  2. Reepicheep has the best theme song so far for any character this year (yes, I know Friday that will change with Crystal Skulls and such, but give a mouse his time to shine). (Enemy soldiers disappearing into the grass by a rampaging mouse? Yes, awesome.)
  3. Saw a trailer for Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Will you watch it just to say you did? And Baghead? Tom and I did that video back during our Sitcom Pilot.
  4. Apple making a videogame console inside Apple TV?
    Apple TV Video Game
  5. Improv Everywhere turned a Little League into a Big League game, complete with Jumbotron. I await a Brooklyn Bridge explanation and find myself browsing for Cloverfield clues. (I still think it’s Mega Telephone.)
  6. My wife predicted Archuleta from the start. We’ll see tomorrow night’s results show and check her February 19 foresight.
  7. Bubbles at a wedding:
    Teddi and Bubbles
  9. Nerf clips. Because Nerf clips mean that there’s a group of groomsmen loose in a church at 1am listening to techno and playing real-life FPS with automatic dart fire.


    Remnants of just one gun’s Nerf apocalypse.
  10. My pants:
    Skorts?
    (I also love Amp Tall Boy (and irony) after a long day at work followed by a long rehearsal in the sun.)
  11. This hat:
    A Day at the Races
  12. My family:
    My family
  13. My trained killer pinstripe and daisies outfit:
  14. Ballet recitals:

The Haiku
People scream for pop
and the young crying singers -
give me knightly mice

Sports world deja vu

Posted on by
2

The weirdest turn of events have happened in the NBA this year. All I can say is, wow… Either David Stern(NBA Commissioner) had a master plan to have these 4 teams meeting for their respective conference finals or God has a sense of humor.

The two teams of legend, quite possibly the most historic franchises in all of sports, with exception to the yankees, are the Lakers and Celtics. The two teams of the past decade that have been constantly the most horrifically boring teams to ever play the game are the San Antonio Spurs and Detroit Pistons.

With that being said, this year, the Western Conference Finals has the Lakers playing the Spurs(this was the case in 2001, 2002, and 2004), and the Eastern Conference Finals has the Celtics playing the Pistons(This was the case for a majority of the late ’80′s during the Larry Bird/Isaiah Thomas rivalry).
I read something hilarious on the internet that said this year’s NBA Playoffs have seen TV ratings sky rocket to being the highest they’ve been since 2002. It went on to say people chose to watch PBA bowling over watching any of the NBA Finals appearances that had the Spurs involved.

If you’re an avid basketball fan, this year’s NBA Playoffs have been intense, although the Suns had the most nightmare-ish series to open the 1st round with. I am predicting the Lakers will take the Spurs out in 6 or 7 games, and ultimately go on to win the title against the Celtics. I will laugh so hard if after these two epic Conference final match-ups, the NBA Finals ends up being the most boring series ever, “Spurs vs. Pistons”. If that ends up happening, this year will be one of the first times ever where the Conference Finals were widely more watched than the actual title series.

For a playoff preview check this out: http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y274/theblackpearl3/1zxmj53.gif

Photoshop of Horrors

Posted on by
1

High School Musical
“Together, forever, our arms will merge as one!”

While you wait for photos from the wedding and the Nerf Apocalypse, I give you a fun web treat: Photoshop Disasters. It’s almost like Worth1000, except for not on purpose.

And did you see Edd Hifeng, the Second Life AI experiment?

Here is video of him acting as a security guard, passing an inference test.

The Haiku
I gain confidence
in my art skills when I see
lazy Photoshop

Mind trick? It’s just wine.

Posted on by
Reply

The Haiku
If you’re prone to fight
Avoid wine-inspired mind tricks
And garbage bag capes

(Here’s the church website.)

Man Dressed as Darth Vader Spared Jail for Attack on Founder of Britain’s Jedi Church

Tuesday , May 13, 2008
HOLYHEAD, Wales —

A man who dressed up as Darth Vader, wearing a black garbage bag for a cape, and assaulted the founders of Britain’s first Jedi church was given a suspended sentence Tuesday.

Arwel Wynne Hughes, 27, attacked Jedi church founder Barney Jones — a.k.a. Master Jonba Hehol — with a metal crutch, hitting him on the head, prosecutors told Holyhead Magistrates’ Court. He also whacked Jones’ 18-year-old cousin, Michael Jones — or Master Mormi Hehol — bruising his thigh, in the March 25 incident.

Unfortunately for Hughes, the incident was recorded on a video camera that the cousins had set up to film themselves in a light saber battle.

“Darth Vader! Jedis!” Hughes shouted as he approached.

Hughes claimed he couldn’t remember the incident, having drunk the best part of a 2 1/2-gallon box of wine beforehand.

“He knows his behavior was wrong and didn’t want it to happen but he has no recollection of it,” said Hughes’ lawyer, Frances Jones.

District Judge Andrew Shaw sentenced Hughes to two months in jail but suspended the sentence for one year. He also ordered Hughes to pay $195 to each of his victims and $117 in court costs.

Barney Jones, his brother Daniel and cousin Michael set up the Church of Jediism, Anglesey order, last year. It claims about 30 members.

Jedi is the faith followed by some of the central characters in the “Star Wars” films. In the 2001 United Kingdom census, 390,000 — 0.7 percent of the population — listed Jedi as their religion.

New Star Wars Trailer

Posted on by
2

With the exclusive Indy trailer a while back and now an exclusive Clone Wars trailer, I can see why Microsoft wants to try and buy out Yahoo.

Here’s the fun trailer (walker going vertical) if you haven’t seen it. I had trouble with Tartakovsky’s style at first, but it has grown on me. This new style is different than I grew up on but I think I’ll adjust. (Yoda looks goofy no matter how he’s drawn. So tough to capture that faded muppet grey.)

I think our definitions of Super Cowboy are different.

Posted on by
1

I truly think that when I say Super Cowboy, this is not what I should see as a result. I took this on a phone in reaction to a book a student checked in today called Draw 50 Monsters (ISBN 0-385-17639-2, if you want to purchase your own).

Wow. Just, wow. Lasso privileges need to be revoked.

The Haiku
Scarier than Jaws
and rabid ninja werewolves
are tights and lassos

Dragon Ball

Posted on by
1

In a recent post about the best cartoons of all time I felt the need to check out something I’ve never seen before….THE END OF DRAGON BALL GT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (There is DragonBall(original), DragonBall Z(2nd series), and DragonBall GT(3rd series).
All throughout High School I was a huge fan of Dragon Ball Z because of the action, the characters, the story, and the atmosphere of the whole show. It’s awful to think that just a few years ago the timeslots from 3-7PM were filled with great shows on CartoonNetwork(Toonami), and now they’re replaced with shows that make you feel like you just got slapped the crap out of with sunshine in the face by Spongebob or some other freakish absurd thing. For those of you who are avid fans of the Dragon Ball series, you will understand that Goku is not the ideal husband figure or father to his family. The reason I say that is because the dude is constantly taking off on them to go fight monstrous freaks that come from out of nowhere, and they somehow find planet Earth, and oh yeah by the way they want to destroy both Earth and Goku for some reason. The reason I bring up the father/husband role in the character of Goku is that in the very end of Dragon Ball GT, Goku is seen walking away from his family after this monolithically epic battle against the Dragon Ball universal equivalent of Satan(source of everything evil), and then the narrator starts to speak and says basically that Goku is leaving his family to go into solitude somewhere, and then when there’s a threat to Earth again he’ll come out of hiding with guns blazing, and he’ll fight it….WHAT!?!?!
Theoretically speaking, couldn’t he have accomplished the same thing by sticking with his loved ones? I may be crazy for having that thought come through, but if I had just gotten done fighting the source of all evil in the universe in this massive epic battle, I would want to spend some quality time with people I cared about. Ah, but nonetheless, the show is still awesome, even with a disappointing ending to the whole story of Goku. It’s so funny to listen to some of the lines in that show, like where Goku’s wife makes mention that it’s nice to not have to fight any creature, and then Goku’s response is, “Yeah it is, but even though I’m enjoying the peace and quiet, I really miss the fighting.” Just hearing that is hilarious to think about. What kind of lunatic would take that kind of pleasure in fighting?

Anyway, here’s a link of the kind of weird, yet cool stuff I’m talking about:
(Super Saiyan 4 was my favorite transformation in the show)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnNEXNu2YD4

In which I continue a phone obsession

Posted on by
2

Only because of a need for haikus do I not leave the letter to G.I. Joe as the top article.

Darth Maul is Storm Shadow. George Lucas is rolling in his carbonite-encrusted grave. (That is a droid, right, on the Episode III Making Of?)

Today I was thinking…When I ponder the words Internet Christianity, I shudder. I think of forums where people argue about what they hate or how they know every detail of the universe, or I’m reminded of being able to be ordained easier than joining a Usenet, or at the very least images of kittens “hangin’ in there”/flapping doves clip art.
Dove
Consider me flipping inspired.

But here are some cool tech things that I find can help a spiritual walk:

  1. We have friends who went with their kids to a semi-undisclosed Middle Eastern country as emissaries. The kids are kinda lonely. So today we hooked up some Skype, put the MacBook on top of a TV, and I teared up as kids re-connected with friends across oceans. I hadn’t messed with Skype before, but the video is pretty good (much better than Yahoo or Messenger).
  2. The Bible Podcast. Still rockin’ strong.
  3. Here’s the phone obsession – I’ve been loving having books on my phone. I found a Bible that is completely searchable and bookmarkable. Depending on the phone, you may need to download it in parts. My Nokia 5300 has a 1MB limit to Java applications and as one single file it’s 1.4MB.

The Haiku
Wide information
Gutenberg is, like, “What the?”
And the press goes on

An open letter to a motion picture

Posted on by
4

Dear G.I. Joe,

How’s it going? I know it’s been a while since we talked, so we should probably catch up a bit. I’ll go first. Let’s see, since we last hung out much, I graduated high school. Also, I graduated middle school, elementary school, and got married. So, you can see, it’s been a pretty busy couple decades for me. I know you might be a little upset that I stopped spending time with you- yeah, I know, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Nintendo sort of drew my attention away. Sorry. I was young, and these things happen. I hope you can understand.

So, what have you been up to? Actually, don’t answer that- I already know. Yeah, I heard about the movie. Is this your way of getting back at me? I don’t think this is really a healthy way of dealing with it, man. Seriously, holding a grudge this long just seems wrong. And to get your revenge like this? I just don’t understand.

Yes, yes, I know, we’ve gone our separate ways. But, really, I was kind of hoping that the time apart would be good for both of us. But- well, let’s just say I’ve seen some pictures online and I just don’t think you’re making good choices. Sereiously, G.I. Joe, what’s going on? Dennis Quaid? Since when has associating with either of the Quaid brothers been a good idea? Look at Baroness, too- was that the best you could do? I certainly hope you got a discount on the costume design, since it really just seems like you got the surplus outfits from Underworld, and added a strangely huge belt buckle. And any nerd could tell you what’s wrong with Baroness- she needs totally different glasses. Really, and a Wayans brother? I won’t even start with my questions about casting the kid from Third Rock From the Sun as Cobra Commander.

Okay, I wasn’t too upset about that. Disappointed, sure. I know I made some mistakes in the past, though, and you’re obviously trying to get back at me. I understand that. “Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity,” indeed. But now I’m just worried you’re dragging in people who don’t deserve to get hurt. Ray Park? Did he really deserve to get dragged into this? And Christopher Eccleston? Don’t go after Doctor Who, just because you’re mad at me. Seriously, G.I. Joe, now I’m just worried you’re lashing out, and you don’t care who you hurt. That’s just wrong.

Seriously, G.I. Joe, stop and think about what you’re doing. We had some good times, and you’ll always have a special place in my childhood. But don’t destroy that- and hurt other people- just because you’re mad at me. You can be better than that.

WordPress Plugins, eh?

Posted on by
5

The Haiku
Plugins are desired
to manage cache and comments
and other nerd stuff

The biggest resource that I use is the WordPress Plugin directory (http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/)

Even though these are user submitted (what on the Internet isn’t these days? [end crotchety nostalgia]), they’re pretty thoroughly reviewed.

A must is wp-cache. That speeds up your page load times. (You can tell when I’ve emptied the cache because the pages take a little bit longer to load.)

The Math Comment Spam plugin is also necessary. When I re-did some of the files on the site recently, my e-mail started filling up with lots of blargh. I think it works better than the captchas because I don’t have to cross my eyes to see if letters are capitalized or not.

WordPress 2.5.1 is actually pretty sweet. My brother-in-law is setting up a WordPress for our pastor at church. We were joking about how Jeremy would not know the difference between the older versions because this version is where he starts. It’s just like how I was amazed at the jump between Tiger and Leopard (or, more appropriately, MS-DOS 5.0 to Windows 3.1) but other people buying new MacBooks only know Leopard, with its Spaces and Time Machine goodness.

If you’re using your own host server, you can set up the plugins. I think that if you have one on wordpress.org, it’s like blogspot or typepad and you don’t have full access to certain folders.

I think it’s a great idea for you to set up your own blog. (I’m envisioning the Scott Kurtz/Gabe and Tycho linkbacks.)

Any questions and I’d love to add any insight.

But the big question: What’s up with Wipeout? Is it a rip-off of MXC?