hello RABID FANBASE, what is up with you all? Friday night (not really - i just honestly wish it was!!) Busy times at the office, some press has been about, games radar put up a new look at our game, a little yammering on the forums about the studio.. all good things. A bad thing is that a fellow got let go yesterday, which makes me sad. Hopefully he will be back on his feet ASAP, I will do all that I can to try and see if I can be of any service. Getting fired, well, that's a long blog post which I haven't written on in awhile (though there's a lot to say on the matter, to be sure).
Lots on my mind, business-wise. A bunch of fools are playing Smash in the other room - my buddy expressed his undying love for Call of Duty 4 the other day, I keep keep keep hearing how awesome awesome awesome this game is (hell I have wanted to work for that studio in the past, my friend Todd is there). I guess I will have to give in and PLAY AN FPS (shudder). Must be like everyone else. Must! The world waits with baited breath as GTA 4 ekes ever closer to it's ship date.. it's like.. a few days? A week? Something? I remember seeing ads for that thing like.. years ago, in the sides of fences, then they pulled them and cooled off as the release date got delayed. Another game I'm indifferent about, but of course I cannot deny it's significance.
Bad news in Activision-land, I dunno how many folks remember the dev house Z-Axis - they were an indie studio of no small degree of significance back in the day. ROckstar published their Thrasher for PS1 (either right before or immediately after Tony Hawk 1, either way being eclipsed by that title - but being just as good/noteworthy of a game, in many ways. At least critically!) When the Tony Hawk clones hit, they put out some good ones (Acclaim's Dave Mirra BMX, PS2 versions I am aware of - I would suspect PS1 as well). Their crowning achievement would likely have been Aggresive Inline, a game which very obviously copped BLATANTLY from the Tony Hawk mode and method, but in a very complementary/quality way (for a change!).The game scored excellently, I doubt it sold too too well (inline skates vs skateboards, that's a little rough) but yeah the thing was not bad. Anyway thy followed that up with the notoriously--- NOTORIOUS title BMX XXX, best remembered for it's topless chicks on BMX bikes and videos of strippers. Oh, Zed Axis. Sigh. The thing plunked (I think PS2 censored it, ruining the point) as Walmart or whoever (at LEAST) wasn't too psyched. Xbox and Gamecube versions were released as planned, but no matter. Anyway, after that travesty they were strangely picked up by Acti (I guess, hoping to elminate their competition by consuming them.. or putting them to work doing THPS ports.. or they recognized a capable dev when they saw them). Anyway something happened after the acquisition (something always happens folks!) and they kinda dropped off the map. A couple years passed and we heard of "the Iron Man game," I think they did one of the Xmen games as well.. not sure about that. Iron Man never materialized (there's one coming out shortly to tie in with the movie, but it's by Secret Level/Sega, so that would be unrelated). Then, they popped up barely a couple of months ago "Z-Axis being renamed to Underground" and now, a couple minutes later, "Underground studio will be closed in May.. after they finish up their Quake Wars port to 360 (or Ps3, forget which.. either way, they were only handling one). Supposedly they were gonna do one of the next Call of Duty's, obviously that's not happening as they'll not ever be doing anything again. Weird! Sad when things go down that way, especially with a place that actualy made some decent products. Hard to feel "totally bad" when any number of things could have transpired over the course of years, though. After the heads sold out, they could have took their fat paychecks and split.. hated working for their new bosses (hey Activision was certainly a rival of Rockstar and Acclaim, no doubt), maybe they got the boot.. The studio moved and hired a TON of people, a little mismanagement could go a long long way. Hard to tell, one can only speculate. Anyway, the saddest part is that Underground is closing and no one knows or cares what that means, everyone just says "good, so some shitty other ACTI house won't be tarnishing the COD name, and maybe Infinity Ward can stick with it instead." Sad, but also I guess, somewhat irrelevant at this point. Hopefully the HR folks will help place the to-be-unemployed with some new digs.
Also of note, 3 studio high-up guys from Retro Studios (the guy who rebuilt the classic Metroid franchise for the current generation) have reportedly left the studio and were "escorted from the grounds," take that as you will. Retro, not many know, had a little of a weirdo history as well (sigh, who doesn't, dammit?) and I am sure there's a little bit of that lingering. Good luck to all involved over there, anyway! Having worked at Left Field, and knowing folks from SIlicon Knights (previously, they did a lot of high-level Nintendo Exclusives several years ago) I can appreciate the especial difficulty therein.
Alright. My lights are baked. I am hitting the road. The night awaits.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
this is vegas
what did i say last time? "got back from las vegas, that place remins me of a videogame..."
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/33060.html
yeah so midway are putting out "this is vegas" GTA-style game. Here's the first I've seen of it beyond a couple of GTA-inspired screens. This one (and it's ilk) have folks skeptical, and not needlessly so - but I think someone is on the ball with this style of game. As is obvious, one would hope there's "more to it than this" but honestly, take a everyman character and stick him in an unusual and colorful setting, and you do have the possibility of making a very cool game out of it. For instance, using this as a springboard I could think of TONS of ways to make an amazing RPG... I will keep it to myself for the time being.. Let's just say it doesn't necessarily involve running around and kicking guy's asses (well.. not without realistic consequences!) and not just shooting people either, stealing cars, all that tired stuff..
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/33060.html
yeah so midway are putting out "this is vegas" GTA-style game. Here's the first I've seen of it beyond a couple of GTA-inspired screens. This one (and it's ilk) have folks skeptical, and not needlessly so - but I think someone is on the ball with this style of game. As is obvious, one would hope there's "more to it than this" but honestly, take a everyman character and stick him in an unusual and colorful setting, and you do have the possibility of making a very cool game out of it. For instance, using this as a springboard I could think of TONS of ways to make an amazing RPG... I will keep it to myself for the time being.. Let's just say it doesn't necessarily involve running around and kicking guy's asses (well.. not without realistic consequences!) and not just shooting people either, stealing cars, all that tired stuff..
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
holy crap, such pain!!!
so did y'all take care of your taxes yet, hmmm, hmm? Betta hope your ass got that shit all taken care of holmes!! that's right! Don't wanna mess with Uncle Sam.. He's got a bad temper. Send your butt to Abu Ghirab. However you spell it. Rip off your clothes and put a bag on your head and pile you up naked with a bunch of other dudes, watch out.
i am sitting at the desk at may's apartment, trying to type on her laptop and listen to KCRW and some annoying fool out somewhere is plucking guitar strings and it's really messing with me. i don't mind some ambient sound (lies!) but when i am already devoting my hearing attention to something else, it just starts becoming an obnoxious cacaphonic mess. i am good at zeroing my concentration in on things while i am involved with this/that/the other thing, but when i get too much conflicting stimuli (doesn't take much mind you) then my wires will get all crossed, my temper will flare, and my system will start to steam. I mean, that's how it would be if my constitution wasn't quite so ahh perfect.
Anyway I want the guitar plucker to get a case of the shits or something for a few minutes so they can put down their axe and pick up a copy of Consumer Reports and leave me in peace for fifteen goddamned minutes, that sounds appeasing.
I will try to keep centered enough to write, bear with me. I am already exhausted on top of my frustrations. I will try to keep my raging expession to a minimum (well, we will see how it goes). Anyway life has been busy as of late, as usual. Lots to tell. Last weekend (prior to this past weekend) the little lady and I hauled out to Veganas to visit her friend who lives/works out there, and that person's husband. He worked, the ladies shopped, I gambled and put down a couple of Cape Cods. Up and down, up and down, up and down. That night we tried to follow a hookup through to a party at The Palms, but there was some big fancy Exclusive Party going down which kept the plebians from attending, so we crossed the street and drank n danced at the Rio instead. Rio gets a bit of dislike from my crowd, but it fills a need and it was there for us that night, sure enough, so can't complain. Sunday hauled back home of course, followed by a week of work.
Broke up mid-week for a party up the street from my pad, open bar so it was hard to resist (plus I wanted to hang out with my buddy Justin). I'd not really been drunk in about a month, and the week of work wasn't too punishing so it wasn't difficult to squeeze in. The party was alright (like I said, close to home and open bar, downside is that it was a VFX wrap party which means 95 percent industry nerdlingers) anyway I somehow made it home to my bed, my trusty trusty bed, my trusty trusty alarm clock managed to snap me awake the next A.M. to get ready for work, and I did. Got hit halfway thru the day with a devilish little hangover, not bad/sick just annoying/hard to focus. Dumbasses, Listen - if it's open bar, don't waste the evening downing shots. Get loaded elegantly with more expensive, complicated drinks, stretch out the night, enjoy it, perhaps even remember more than a quarter or two. You know. Ah it's business as usual, I have an excuse, I am not used to that speed.
Friday was my buddy Niki's birthday, over on the West Side - it was at this little reggae-ish-kinda joint, as I was driving out from work (and then home) that meant I would put down a single beer and call it a night (drinking-wise), still wound up enough with my boundless energy that I was due for some dancing with the ladies. As the night wore on, I texted my girl who responded with a story about how she was presently being detained in a movie theater in El Segundo, apparently some punk shot a couple cops (in the movie theater lobby!) and they gunned him down right there. As they don't take too kindly to the wasting of police officers, the whole theater got locked up tight as a drum and everyone had to sit tight for.. oh, like 4 hours or so (no, not watching any actual films, or even being allowed to use any restrooms!) while SWAT rolled in and picked the place apart for any possible accomplices. Poor May!!! Anyway she showed up back at my place somewhere around 4:30 that morning.. sucks.. but I was happy she made it home in one piece. BTW don't tell her dad, if you've just read all of that.
Saturday.. this past saturday, of two days ago, it was a retardedly hot day (like 90 degrees in the city!) Hopped out of bed, threw on my shorts and some flipflops and headed over to get Robeks and then go for a hike in the park, it's been awhile. They CLOSED OFF THE PATH. Fuckers. I don't know where to begin to vent my anger for this, so I won't continue to try. All I gotta say is, I hope it reopens sometime in the next year, sigh. Anyway I grabbed May (as she's got up by this time) and we decided to try to head out to the beach. Never make it out there, but today seemed like it was made for such a plan. We hopped in the car bound for Venice, apparently everyone born since 1926 had the exact same idea as the fwy was packed all the way to the coastline. Parking prices were horrible as well ($15-20) but lucked out and found a $7 steal (sorry, I date an Asian girl, I am starting to say how much ('little') money I pay for everything). We hit the sand pretty late in the day, but it was still very relaxing, passed out for a few.. woke up and headed back to town, then another night out for me as a friend invited me out to his Goodbye Dinner (he took a job in Canada, leaving in a couple of weeks - very suddenly!)
Sunday, another heatwave, May and I visited or buddies in Atwater Village, hung out and ate some BBQ and drank some beers and played some Rock Band, a full day of relaxing with friends.. can't ask for much more. And today? Today was Monday, back to real life. We got a deadline fast approaching at work, once again, ad I am getting slammed every which way trying to wrap it up nice and tight for the end of the week. It's these times "when I shine" but dubious circumstances are conspiring to stress me ouuuuTTTT.
i am sitting at the desk at may's apartment, trying to type on her laptop and listen to KCRW and some annoying fool out somewhere is plucking guitar strings and it's really messing with me. i don't mind some ambient sound (lies!) but when i am already devoting my hearing attention to something else, it just starts becoming an obnoxious cacaphonic mess. i am good at zeroing my concentration in on things while i am involved with this/that/the other thing, but when i get too much conflicting stimuli (doesn't take much mind you) then my wires will get all crossed, my temper will flare, and my system will start to steam. I mean, that's how it would be if my constitution wasn't quite so ahh perfect.
Anyway I want the guitar plucker to get a case of the shits or something for a few minutes so they can put down their axe and pick up a copy of Consumer Reports and leave me in peace for fifteen goddamned minutes, that sounds appeasing.
I will try to keep centered enough to write, bear with me. I am already exhausted on top of my frustrations. I will try to keep my raging expession to a minimum (well, we will see how it goes). Anyway life has been busy as of late, as usual. Lots to tell. Last weekend (prior to this past weekend) the little lady and I hauled out to Veganas to visit her friend who lives/works out there, and that person's husband. He worked, the ladies shopped, I gambled and put down a couple of Cape Cods. Up and down, up and down, up and down. That night we tried to follow a hookup through to a party at The Palms, but there was some big fancy Exclusive Party going down which kept the plebians from attending, so we crossed the street and drank n danced at the Rio instead. Rio gets a bit of dislike from my crowd, but it fills a need and it was there for us that night, sure enough, so can't complain. Sunday hauled back home of course, followed by a week of work.
Broke up mid-week for a party up the street from my pad, open bar so it was hard to resist (plus I wanted to hang out with my buddy Justin). I'd not really been drunk in about a month, and the week of work wasn't too punishing so it wasn't difficult to squeeze in. The party was alright (like I said, close to home and open bar, downside is that it was a VFX wrap party which means 95 percent industry nerdlingers) anyway I somehow made it home to my bed, my trusty trusty bed, my trusty trusty alarm clock managed to snap me awake the next A.M. to get ready for work, and I did. Got hit halfway thru the day with a devilish little hangover, not bad/sick just annoying/hard to focus. Dumbasses, Listen - if it's open bar, don't waste the evening downing shots. Get loaded elegantly with more expensive, complicated drinks, stretch out the night, enjoy it, perhaps even remember more than a quarter or two. You know. Ah it's business as usual, I have an excuse, I am not used to that speed.
Friday was my buddy Niki's birthday, over on the West Side - it was at this little reggae-ish-kinda joint, as I was driving out from work (and then home) that meant I would put down a single beer and call it a night (drinking-wise), still wound up enough with my boundless energy that I was due for some dancing with the ladies. As the night wore on, I texted my girl who responded with a story about how she was presently being detained in a movie theater in El Segundo, apparently some punk shot a couple cops (in the movie theater lobby!) and they gunned him down right there. As they don't take too kindly to the wasting of police officers, the whole theater got locked up tight as a drum and everyone had to sit tight for.. oh, like 4 hours or so (no, not watching any actual films, or even being allowed to use any restrooms!) while SWAT rolled in and picked the place apart for any possible accomplices. Poor May!!! Anyway she showed up back at my place somewhere around 4:30 that morning.. sucks.. but I was happy she made it home in one piece. BTW don't tell her dad, if you've just read all of that.
Saturday.. this past saturday, of two days ago, it was a retardedly hot day (like 90 degrees in the city!) Hopped out of bed, threw on my shorts and some flipflops and headed over to get Robeks and then go for a hike in the park, it's been awhile. They CLOSED OFF THE PATH. Fuckers. I don't know where to begin to vent my anger for this, so I won't continue to try. All I gotta say is, I hope it reopens sometime in the next year, sigh. Anyway I grabbed May (as she's got up by this time) and we decided to try to head out to the beach. Never make it out there, but today seemed like it was made for such a plan. We hopped in the car bound for Venice, apparently everyone born since 1926 had the exact same idea as the fwy was packed all the way to the coastline. Parking prices were horrible as well ($15-20) but lucked out and found a $7 steal (sorry, I date an Asian girl, I am starting to say how much ('little') money I pay for everything). We hit the sand pretty late in the day, but it was still very relaxing, passed out for a few.. woke up and headed back to town, then another night out for me as a friend invited me out to his Goodbye Dinner (he took a job in Canada, leaving in a couple of weeks - very suddenly!)
Sunday, another heatwave, May and I visited or buddies in Atwater Village, hung out and ate some BBQ and drank some beers and played some Rock Band, a full day of relaxing with friends.. can't ask for much more. And today? Today was Monday, back to real life. We got a deadline fast approaching at work, once again, ad I am getting slammed every which way trying to wrap it up nice and tight for the end of the week. It's these times "when I shine" but dubious circumstances are conspiring to stress me ouuuuTTTT.
Monday, April 14, 2008
does.not.compute
..i probably just read that somewhere. what's up, User created Community, another week of work has passed and i am checking in. no big big news out of me for the moment - just doing a bit of research with the 2D sprite related genre, trying to pick up old sidescroller NES titles, there's a lot of underappreciated oldies that never got a real shot - for various reasons, in some cases you can see that there was some heart in their creation but they never really had it together in the vein of, say, a mega man or something. too bad for them. it's hard to pick up a game like the Krion Conquest and NOT ogle the graphics, in spite of the ugly-ass main character and not-so-fun design. These games were being pooped out relatively regularly, at some point, and a few of them may've been worthy... lost to the ages, by now. Some titles i intend to unearth, shortly.. 8 Eyes, Monster Party, Dr Chaos (whyyy?), Goonies II (ohh.. so brown!), Holy Diver (pretty weird pedigree on that one!), of course the Power Blade and Shatter Fists.. Kick Master (that prospect always kinda made me laugh). If you look back, there's alot more love lavished towards the 16-bit titles than these eight-bitters, but honestly, when the time and effort (and love) was put into the eight-bit games, you'd see a lot more delicate pixel work, attention to milking all that an artist could out of those severe palette restrictions. It makes the 16bit style seem a bit exhorbitant and lazy by comparison (a trend that continues to this very day, honestly!) This is how some PSOne games can still look well-put together (in spite of their criplling ugliness, relatively) compared to the onslaught of Gunmetal Unreal Engine titles which are flooding the landscape.
In the news, Dan Hsu has stepped down as the head of EGM/1Up/etc (I guess that's all-encompassing, anyway). This might seem useless to many on the actual dev side of things, but to someone like me it's notable - I grew up a huge EGM fanboy (it sure helped get me feeling "connected to games" in a lot of ways when i was a kid) and though he was not ed-in-chief in those days, he's since kept Electronic Gaming Monthly ina lofty status since. I have listened to the guy speak in many podcasts, heard him break down many thins during interviews, and so forth. Definitely one of the most influential people on the media side of things. It is so weird, lately, how game journalism is sort of suffering in many ways due to the nature of things (print is wrapping up, as online takes over in a big way.. witness the demise of games for Widnows mag, almost as recently)
It's 2am, my foot is asleep, perhaps time for the rest of me to follow suit then.
In the news, Dan Hsu has stepped down as the head of EGM/1Up/etc (I guess that's all-encompassing, anyway). This might seem useless to many on the actual dev side of things, but to someone like me it's notable - I grew up a huge EGM fanboy (it sure helped get me feeling "connected to games" in a lot of ways when i was a kid) and though he was not ed-in-chief in those days, he's since kept Electronic Gaming Monthly ina lofty status since. I have listened to the guy speak in many podcasts, heard him break down many thins during interviews, and so forth. Definitely one of the most influential people on the media side of things. It is so weird, lately, how game journalism is sort of suffering in many ways due to the nature of things (print is wrapping up, as online takes over in a big way.. witness the demise of games for Widnows mag, almost as recently)
It's 2am, my foot is asleep, perhaps time for the rest of me to follow suit then.
Sunday, April 06, 2008
unvirtual nonreality
Greetings from Videogameland! Lots going on lately. As mentioned in my "real life blog" some screenshots from Alpha Protocol got posted to the internet, one of them was a shot of a level of mine. It's been a little while..
I have been enjoying my GP32 lately, eveyr so often I will dig it out of the depth of my backpack "oh yeah, i have this thing still" and get sucked in to like 45 games on it. It is front lit (like the old Gameboy SP) so in my memory it is barely legible - obviously that isn't the case! The screen has an annoying smudge under the surface, but if i open it up i will likely mess it up worse in trying to clean it, so.. c'est la vie. Anyway it's not perfect but it is really nice, smudges and all, and the nice big screen kills the crap out of my otherwise singularly-used Gameboy Micro (still the champ, since it's so small and nigh-invulnerable). Oh well, they can coexist. The GP32 plays WAY more games, overall (excepting, of course, actual GBA ones) and I can fit more games on the switchable card than the single GBA flashcart. But like I said, I am able to enjoy them both. On a related note, I saw my friend's new PSP 2000 or Slimline or whatever the hell it is called - the Mark II - first time a week ago. I haven't touched a PSP in ages, one forgets how gorgeous the screen is! Anyway it's (slightly) more compacts, and way lighter. Still not for me, but impressive regardless. Anyway, I'd still more likely buy a DS Lite at this point if I was in the market for a portable, but PSP obviously isn't like.. TERRIBLE. Just kind of useless. haha.
Went to Vegas over the weekend. Vegas is like... a big videogame, in so many ways. It's such a weird, unruly place. It's just not like anywhere else in the world (and I say this, living as i do smack-dab in Hollywood!) All the different locales, the casinos - each one like a different themed level, different background graphics (haha), all of them representative metaphors of real places, ideas, portrayed in gimmick, cheap, cartoon form, all bunched up agaist each other. Treasure Island next to Eiffel Tower beside Miniature New York City, and so on and so forth.. the contents of each properly espousing each theme. Ad never mind the whole actual gaming aspect contained within - well, there are games, contests of skill (to a degree), winning and losing, extra chances, bonus levels, stages of advancement. In videogames, there is a defined path, to whatever degree, an outline, a beginning and end. In vegas games, they are a cheat really, a trick - they operate on a twisted system of greed, of lies (thinly-veiled, but even so). Repetitious in nature (well.. that's similar to videogames, i will give them that.. but in a different manner). Yeah it's interesting to draw some parallels.
I have been enjoying my GP32 lately, eveyr so often I will dig it out of the depth of my backpack "oh yeah, i have this thing still" and get sucked in to like 45 games on it. It is front lit (like the old Gameboy SP) so in my memory it is barely legible - obviously that isn't the case! The screen has an annoying smudge under the surface, but if i open it up i will likely mess it up worse in trying to clean it, so.. c'est la vie. Anyway it's not perfect but it is really nice, smudges and all, and the nice big screen kills the crap out of my otherwise singularly-used Gameboy Micro (still the champ, since it's so small and nigh-invulnerable). Oh well, they can coexist. The GP32 plays WAY more games, overall (excepting, of course, actual GBA ones) and I can fit more games on the switchable card than the single GBA flashcart. But like I said, I am able to enjoy them both. On a related note, I saw my friend's new PSP 2000 or Slimline or whatever the hell it is called - the Mark II - first time a week ago. I haven't touched a PSP in ages, one forgets how gorgeous the screen is! Anyway it's (slightly) more compacts, and way lighter. Still not for me, but impressive regardless. Anyway, I'd still more likely buy a DS Lite at this point if I was in the market for a portable, but PSP obviously isn't like.. TERRIBLE. Just kind of useless. haha.
Went to Vegas over the weekend. Vegas is like... a big videogame, in so many ways. It's such a weird, unruly place. It's just not like anywhere else in the world (and I say this, living as i do smack-dab in Hollywood!) All the different locales, the casinos - each one like a different themed level, different background graphics (haha), all of them representative metaphors of real places, ideas, portrayed in gimmick, cheap, cartoon form, all bunched up agaist each other. Treasure Island next to Eiffel Tower beside Miniature New York City, and so on and so forth.. the contents of each properly espousing each theme. Ad never mind the whole actual gaming aspect contained within - well, there are games, contests of skill (to a degree), winning and losing, extra chances, bonus levels, stages of advancement. In videogames, there is a defined path, to whatever degree, an outline, a beginning and end. In vegas games, they are a cheat really, a trick - they operate on a twisted system of greed, of lies (thinly-veiled, but even so). Repetitious in nature (well.. that's similar to videogames, i will give them that.. but in a different manner). Yeah it's interesting to draw some parallels.
Friday, April 04, 2008
one-way world
3am, and i should be asleep. Why? 'Cause it is THREE A.M.!!!
Another week almost wrapped up. Work is a bit lethargic lately - some screenshots of our game got published to the net this week, one of them is a level I have been working on. Interesting.. I am trying to take the barbs with ease. Anyway it's a Work in progress, what do ya want!
It was a stressful week anyway. Last week my girlfriend was sick, and dutifully I tried my best to make her comfortable. This week I got to chill out a little, unfortunately my car was having issues (a hose burst, the engine temperature was overheating as all the coolant had drained out!) I was fortunate, my engine didn't get ruined. That's a nightmare waiting to happen. People tell me I should by a new car. I say... sigh.. when I HAVE to.. Anyway, crisis averted, for the moment. I need to head in for a bonafide tune-up at the dealer, though, as soon as possible. Did my taxes last weekend.. yeah it's all wrapping up. As I have mentioned, it's wearing on my mind how often I watch the same amounts of money come into my bank account, then go back out.. in, out... yeah, I know I am being whiny, I am just tired of that. It's getting closer. I want that windfall to come, just sweep away my economic woes, but then.. then what? So I have a couple extra bucks in the bank to sit on. Fine. I guess I'll start some account where I cannot touch it and earn some interest.. yeah, SOME. It feels ridiculous to live in California sometimes. What am I gonna do, start saving for a house now, here? It used to be my plan, not too long ago. Some very large circumstances are really gonna have to come to pass, in my life, for that plan to even be any kind of validity. Ah well, at least i have lotsa company. Also, it's not like I have got any kids (or am stuck in a genuinely shitty living situation) so I can't complain too much. As usual, it's just a monkeywrench in my programming, is all.
I just had an odd thought, about a decade ago i heard of something called "Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf" and that he was voted People's Sexiest person of the year, or something to that effect. It sounded completely farcical from the get-go, then I found out that this was an actual person (still a hoax, kind-of, but you know). Anyway, growing up Howard Stern always seemed like this strange otherworldly thing that was out of my comprehension/culture/need to give any kind of attention to, but honestly after joining the working world, one can see how that stuff can be a valid antidote to yawnfests like NPR (i like NPR, don't get me wrong - I really do - but in the AM, the soothing announcer voice, the chill music, the subject matter - that is a yawnfest de rigeur!) Anyway Stern's been off the normal radio for a couple of years now, I never signed up for Satellite Radio for various reasons (I am not THAT dedicated) but the world of radio has certainly changed in the wake of all that. And, the Janet Jackson boob (and 9-11 and all of that). No short order. Anyway, it's interesting (I guess) for me to be typing about so random a topic as Talk Radio on my blog, but it is actually a genuine part of my life, I listen to talk very much as I am commuting, as I am working.. it's been much less important (vital) since Howard moved on, sadly. Not that I have ever been any kind of diehard fan, but the point is that the rest of that world (the parts of it I survey) is pretty tame by comparison. Ah well - too bad.
Did my laundry tonight. May wants to go to Vegas this weekend, so we'll head there to visit her friends after work tomorrow and undoubtedly win lots and lots of insane cash. I promise! Phewwww, two trips to vegas in like 2 months' time, i can't believe it. The last trip isn't even faded out of memory yet. I am tired of Vegas! It's a super-interesting place though - a wild microcosm - but dividing my time between Vegas, Los Angeles, and (almost, lately) Boston to a much lesser degree, my brains are starting to hemorrhage out of my skull. I.. I need to drive up the coast, relax on the beach. Soon! Maybe!
Possibly!
Anyway Vegas is sort of the farthest thing from my mind right now, I feel like I need to lock myself up in a nice quaint little cell or something for like.. 3, 4 months.. a sensory deprivation chamber, something. Living in LA is a blast, but once in a while just by virtue of living in the midst of it all, your radiation starts to burn, slowly.. the nerves get frayed, the hairs on the back of your neck start to stick up. The madness is either with you or against you, sometimes it's hard to tell were your receptors are.
I guess a good night's sleep is tantamount to dealing with any of it. If I am lucky I can get on 5 and a half hours, if i mosey on up there like now sort-of. Then work, then drive. Shistasomajaponica.
Another week almost wrapped up. Work is a bit lethargic lately - some screenshots of our game got published to the net this week, one of them is a level I have been working on. Interesting.. I am trying to take the barbs with ease. Anyway it's a Work in progress, what do ya want!
It was a stressful week anyway. Last week my girlfriend was sick, and dutifully I tried my best to make her comfortable. This week I got to chill out a little, unfortunately my car was having issues (a hose burst, the engine temperature was overheating as all the coolant had drained out!) I was fortunate, my engine didn't get ruined. That's a nightmare waiting to happen. People tell me I should by a new car. I say... sigh.. when I HAVE to.. Anyway, crisis averted, for the moment. I need to head in for a bonafide tune-up at the dealer, though, as soon as possible. Did my taxes last weekend.. yeah it's all wrapping up. As I have mentioned, it's wearing on my mind how often I watch the same amounts of money come into my bank account, then go back out.. in, out... yeah, I know I am being whiny, I am just tired of that. It's getting closer. I want that windfall to come, just sweep away my economic woes, but then.. then what? So I have a couple extra bucks in the bank to sit on. Fine. I guess I'll start some account where I cannot touch it and earn some interest.. yeah, SOME. It feels ridiculous to live in California sometimes. What am I gonna do, start saving for a house now, here? It used to be my plan, not too long ago. Some very large circumstances are really gonna have to come to pass, in my life, for that plan to even be any kind of validity. Ah well, at least i have lotsa company. Also, it's not like I have got any kids (or am stuck in a genuinely shitty living situation) so I can't complain too much. As usual, it's just a monkeywrench in my programming, is all.
I just had an odd thought, about a decade ago i heard of something called "Hank the Angry Drunken Dwarf" and that he was voted People's Sexiest person of the year, or something to that effect. It sounded completely farcical from the get-go, then I found out that this was an actual person (still a hoax, kind-of, but you know). Anyway, growing up Howard Stern always seemed like this strange otherworldly thing that was out of my comprehension/culture/need to give any kind of attention to, but honestly after joining the working world, one can see how that stuff can be a valid antidote to yawnfests like NPR (i like NPR, don't get me wrong - I really do - but in the AM, the soothing announcer voice, the chill music, the subject matter - that is a yawnfest de rigeur!) Anyway Stern's been off the normal radio for a couple of years now, I never signed up for Satellite Radio for various reasons (I am not THAT dedicated) but the world of radio has certainly changed in the wake of all that. And, the Janet Jackson boob (and 9-11 and all of that). No short order. Anyway, it's interesting (I guess) for me to be typing about so random a topic as Talk Radio on my blog, but it is actually a genuine part of my life, I listen to talk very much as I am commuting, as I am working.. it's been much less important (vital) since Howard moved on, sadly. Not that I have ever been any kind of diehard fan, but the point is that the rest of that world (the parts of it I survey) is pretty tame by comparison. Ah well - too bad.
Did my laundry tonight. May wants to go to Vegas this weekend, so we'll head there to visit her friends after work tomorrow and undoubtedly win lots and lots of insane cash. I promise! Phewwww, two trips to vegas in like 2 months' time, i can't believe it. The last trip isn't even faded out of memory yet. I am tired of Vegas! It's a super-interesting place though - a wild microcosm - but dividing my time between Vegas, Los Angeles, and (almost, lately) Boston to a much lesser degree, my brains are starting to hemorrhage out of my skull. I.. I need to drive up the coast, relax on the beach. Soon! Maybe!
Possibly!
Anyway Vegas is sort of the farthest thing from my mind right now, I feel like I need to lock myself up in a nice quaint little cell or something for like.. 3, 4 months.. a sensory deprivation chamber, something. Living in LA is a blast, but once in a while just by virtue of living in the midst of it all, your radiation starts to burn, slowly.. the nerves get frayed, the hairs on the back of your neck start to stick up. The madness is either with you or against you, sometimes it's hard to tell were your receptors are.
I guess a good night's sleep is tantamount to dealing with any of it. If I am lucky I can get on 5 and a half hours, if i mosey on up there like now sort-of. Then work, then drive. Shistasomajaponica.
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