Iterating on Light and Dark

Yes, indeed, we are (as a society) due for some form of earth (nay, existence) shattering event:  the kind that strains apart the very fabric of civilization, leaving nothing but the frayed, tattered ends of culture to pine for its once lustrous, cohesive weavings.

Indeed, we are due for an apocalypse, and truly, there are only several kinds of apocalypses we could realistically have:

• Astronomical apocalypse:  bodies from space destroying us all
• War-related apocalypse:  weaponized bodies launched from earth that fall from space to destroy us all
• Zombie apocalypse:  deceased bodies searching for brains to destroy us all
• Robot apocalypse:  metalized, mechanical, soulless bodies bent on destroying us all

Let’s air on the side of realism here and eschew the first two:  I mean, the likelihood that we’ll all die by meteor is, well, astronomical, and if we haven’t managed to kill ourselves already (we had such a quaint acronym for this - “M.A.D.”, which was actually quite ironic if you think about it, and I’m not sure if its creators were very clever or simply oblivious) I’m sure we’ll somehow survive.  Oh no, gentle reader, the truth is, the only realistic apocalypses to be had are either robotic or zombiatic in nature.  In today’s essay, I will describe how Google ™ has demonstrated the only truly concerning apocalypse is of the zombie variety (and thusly, driven me to buy a shotgun).

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I’m typing this while watching an “original” movie, though it might just be a “presents” sort of scenario:

Lake Placid 2

I have to once again admit to appreciating the original movie, the one that was actually released in the theaters.  That was amusing, entertaining, etc.  So far, this “sequel” is about as bad as it gets.  I’m disappointed in Cloris Leachman for starring in this movie.  Special bonus for being the marquee name, listed as “…and Cloris Leachman” at the end of the opening credits.  While we’re at it, shame on Sam McMurray and John Schneider.  Shame indeed, especially for Sam McMurray’s terrible “accent”.

Things that are bad so far:

• Acting
• Line-reading
• Clear over-dubbing
• Script
• Faux-letterboxing
• Sets
• Editing
• Soundtrack

What’s not bad:

• The SciFi channel bug in the lower right hand corner looks pretty tidy
• Time between commercial breaks isn’t too long

I hate shilling, and I’m not.

I also hate this concept that’s been thrown about that the iPhone is a gaming platform.  It’s not.  Let me repeat this again, so that everyone can understand (including the iPhone fanatics / fanboys out there):

The iPhone, while a passable communications device shrouded in “the shiny”, is not a gaming platform, and lacks the most basic of controls to appropriately, effectively provide a solid gaming experience, mobile or not.

There.  I said it.  There’s nothing wrong with this fact.  The sorts of games you can get on the iPhone that play the best are simplistic games like Bejeweled that require little in the way of precise controls and more about providing momentary diversions.

That said, I found a game that I can absolutely recommend from here on out till all of eternity:  “Fieldrunners”.  (continue reading…)

I like all sorts of sci-fi.  Not just because I grew up on things like Knight Rider and Star Trek.  Science Fiction plays towards my nerdy tendencies - the likes of which I can’t pretend to hide given the fact that I have so many blogs, work in the Internet industry, prefer riding scooters more than motorcycles (and sold my last motorcycle), and have a Wii, PS3, PS2, DS, and PSP sitting on my home theater right now.

No, I’m a nerd, and I like scifi.  Hell, look at my DVR list:

• Fringe
• Terminator:  The Sarah Connor Chronicles
• Dollhouse
• Battlestar Galactica

But, that’s not really much a confession these days - hell, tons of people like scifi related things.  The real confession here is that I like SciFi Original Movies.  I know, I know, but hear me out… (continue reading…)

I am normally not really huge on blogging about politics.  There are a lot of really good reasons for this:

• Everyone thinks about politics differently
• It is almost always intensely personal - people take politics as personally as they would insulting their mother
• Much to the contrary as one might imagine - people do not think nearly as much as they should when it comes to politics - they merely react, and those reactions are generally strong and visceral
• People make huge value judgments on each other based off of politically charged statements

So, I’m never in the mood to discuss politics.  But for now, I will.  And ironically, all the things I’ll mention are pretty much perfectly geared towards hitting all of those particular points.  I’m sure most people will get irritated by any of this, but whatever.

Oh, and by “Loose Change”, I am in no way referring to that annoying “the government did it” video about 9/11.  Let’s just get out of the way.  Instead, I want to talk about what people mean when they say the words, “change”.

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Occasionally I’d like to pretend that my posts would be astute or insightful, but they won’t always be.  This post is an example of that.  Today was best summed up by my parting words for my work day.

As I left my desk, I turned to my coworkers and opined, “the internets are hard.”

This actually fostered more conversation than I was expecting considering all I really wanted to do was go home.  Other things brought up:

• “Yeah, what’s the point?”
• “It just seems to keep going.”
• “Does it end?”
• “I don’t really get why.”

It seems flip and all that, but really:  we all understand the Internet as this thing we’re all absolutely dependent on (at least, middle class America and the select other countries) - something that we have actually developed psychological disorders over such as addiction.  It’s supposed to revolutionize the world, provide a source for all information, enrich our lives, etc.  Hell, entire careers and industries focus around it (e.g. my own industry and career).

So what does anyone expect from the Internet?  Is there anything really to expect?  Is it truly about information sharing?  Or is it about communication?  Or is it a good way to find that episode of “24″ you missed because your TiVo decided to not record it?

The internets, indeed.

While I can’t say I should be proud of this, there is an update to this whole “epic break FAIL” thing:

Aaron’s bike doesn’t actually work as intended, either. I feel better, as terrible as that sounds. Mostly because it means, as schadenfreude suggests, I feel as if not just my work was in vain slash for not.

Aaron was trying to fix his gears and stop them from slipping out of gear, he tore it apart, put in new gears, etc., and it’s still misbehaving.

Our bikes are broken, and they’re being assholes about it. Excellent.

Sometimes Casey gets really angry for no particularly good reason (well, I’m sure she has her reasons but she’s not that great at elucidating upon them), and we have to take her into “her” room (really it’s the spare room) and put on some music for her to listen to while she plays with her toys.  That seems to calm her down for the most part.

Have you ever listened to children’s music?

I find it to be strange, and in particular as a “musician” (or someone who pretended like he used to be one).  I’m sure I’m going to sound like an asshat in a second, but here we go:

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Aaron and I reassembled our bikes.

His works fine.

Mine’s still suckin’ air from somewhere. EPIC FAIL, unfortunately - spending 3-5 days rebuilding a bike and still having it exhibit the exact same problems it had before.  Weird.

How anti-climactic, and frankly quite upsetting.  I had a lot of hope and excitement built up around this, and lo - it didn’t work.

I’ve got a few ideas left but honestly, this bike has officially pissed me off beyond recognition.  As Aaron put it, “I want to fist-fight your bike.  I would like to anthropomorphize it and punch it.”

Indeed.

We’re actually at the end of the break period now for my office.  I can tell because last night I basically had nothing but stress dreams.

Stress dreams are a forte of mine I do quite well.  They’re almost always about work, and almost always about something I can’t quite fix or didn’t quite get done.  My dreams last night were all stress dreams (one actually “followed” me through several interruptions of awakenness.

This one signaled what I knew was impending but hadn’t managed to think about:  today is Sunday, and it’s the day before I have to go to work again.  This is not a bad thing per se:  work is actually something I enjoy a lot.  Instead, it simply means that I’m going to be going back to my regular routine which I’ve somehow managed to have forgotten entirely (or so it seems).

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