Friday, September 30, 2005

Serenity rocks my Socks

My friends got me watching the sci-fi series Firefly so of course I had to go see Serenity. My boss at work had been watching the sci-fi series Firefly so of course he had to take the company to go see Serenity. It was a nice and lazy Friday in Novato. There are a lot of problems with the movie in retrospect but I had such a blast seeing this movie. All the characters are well developed in the series and all strong and consistent. The dialogue is sparce but in character and sounds like what normal people might say. In space. Summer Glau is insane. Not River Tam. But Summer Glau, man can this little girl kick some serious ass. Yes, for a little girl, she is quite limber and adept at action moves. Not to mention her acting is pretty good. And some really funny facial expressions as well.

Let me utter a yee-haw! for Morena Baccarin who plays Inara.


















YEE-HAW!





















HAW-YEE!



















































Broken Glass





















So how many have their picture of Boss looking like a Ghostbuster cleaning broken glass? Huh? Huh? Anyone? No? no? oh... I thought it was just you know... one of those things. Yeah, those things everyone has... Yes... How awkward.

Thursday, September 29, 2005

Icer Jump for Bob

Charter bus to San Fran!
















Don't let that beam of light fool you! For tis Fred, ring leader of Satan's Minions at Toys For Bob. Minions Robert (left) and Peter (right).
















Animators: Mike "Substantial 401k" Dacko, Muscleman Dave, and the other Paul.
















TFB beards. Karl and Jamie.




















"Hey everyone, get your portable gaming devices out!" Give us a break, we make games for a living!






















Ah yes! Keg of Sierra Nevada on bus trip vindicates us for geekism and indites us for alcoholism. Boss Paul, and Adi.
















"Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~!"
















"Cockle-doodle-doooooooooooo!"
















"I just save 15% on my car insurance!"
















"How did you get out of your crate" Dacko and T-bone score sweet roof top vantage point. Get drunk. Fall into woman; Lawsuit.

Saturday, September 24, 2005

Pirate Birthday

The morning started with a hustle and bustle run to get a present for the dedasaur and find my way in to Fort Mason which had its parking closed because there was a Blues Festival there. Eek, there was some wandering about but I eventually found parking and made my way to Black Point Battery which is a nice choice spot to picnic. Which is what we did! Korean pancakes, sushi, croquette, italian rice salad, tamago, noodle salad, sangria, something else? The view was great and the time was nice and relaxed. A couple showed up near us and while others went for a walk, the man managed to perform the biggest display of cliche romanticism. From the checkered picnic sheet, strawberries, wine, guitar seranade, to the "get a room" make out session. Sheesh buddy, get a room!

As camp broke to the bluesy sounds of Fort Mason Blues Festival carrying itself over the hills, a group comprised of Dan, Kevin, Jeremy, and myself took off the chill at Canvas Gallery and Cafe. Drinks were had by others, I had a nap.

Next destination was Gallery Viz in Millbrae to check out some cool art from some old school mates. My camera batteries weren't in very good shape but you'll just have to use your imagination. It was neat.

Dinner at New Hoi Fai Seafood Restaurant in Millbrae. It was really crowded with the line spilling outside. My aunt and uncle took me there once. Menu list: Hot & Sour Soup, Honey Walnut Prawns, Lobster in "Supreme Sauce", Braised Tofu and Vegetables, Chicken and Salty Fish Fried Rice, and Taro Tapioca.

Crappy drive home. Blah.

Thursday, September 15, 2005

You say you want a Revolution?

Awesome.
Awesome.
Awesome.


I don't know if anyone realizes it yet but this controller can be held sideways and used almost like a conventional game controller with the B button on the back side and A button right near the directional pad. I do think the b and a buttons should be bigger, like Famicon/NES buttons b. Or the A button. What else?






Controller attachment.



















The remote sensor can detect what direction the controller is pointing to revolutionize console FPS games. I'm wondering if it can detect obstructions. I could imagine having a blast playing a shooting game and hiding behind the couch. hehe!

Among all this, there a Gyroscope in there somewhere. I think it's in the analog attachment.

Awesome.
Awesome.
Awesome.

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

I can't comment on that...

What's the deal with the Justice Nominee John Apple Pie Roberts not answering ANY questions? This might be how the proceeding do if fact take course but if that's how it's in the law and he is voted in, there is something terribly wrong with the checks and balances system we've been taught since elementary school that is the greatness of American democracy.

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

New Glasses!

I travelled into the future for this picture! Consider yourself fortunate!













Sunday, September 11, 2005

Is this a Devil's Paradise?

I tried 2Ksuck again. After spending 2 hours going through tutorials, I somehow managed to get a better hang of the controls. It still feels overly complex and they throw way too much at you at one time. It's much like learning to fly a commercial airline plane with a toothpick in the time it takes a Kenyan to run a mile. I will resist returning this product as it is not in fact broken. However it does still have crappy framerate hiccups. Bleh. It's 9/11 and a somber day to remember but juxtaposed against that tragedy is that of the Mississippi Delta disaster. I can say with 100% sincerity, "I hope I don't get blown up today." A nanocosm of suffering.

Saturday, September 10, 2005

NHL 2KSuck

Wow, I've been let down. I could not have predicted that the newest iteration of my favorite hockey game would ever so much suck. Some of the menus don't work. Some of the controls don't work. The interface is beyond infuriating. The controls that do work are overly complex to execute. It's pretty impossible to be moving down the ice with your left analog control stick and use the directional pad at the same time to use their "on the fly coaching" system. It's more of an "interruptive" coaching system. I like the intent but it's so confusing and caused other controls I was use to to get messed up. A total waste of 5 hours.

Friday, September 02, 2005

CrockyAid

Unlike the crappy British concert, LiveAid this benefit fundraiser is sans crappy out of tune singers. So instead of our regular Crocky gamblers den, we had a fundraiser for the Red Cross for the Katrina relief. A mountain of prizes was collected from various employees to substitute as the winnings and extra money in the pot bought you an "extra life" ticket. The eventual winner would be the unscathed Toby. In the end our little office pull in around $200? Well I guess the "around" qualifies the question mark. And our parent company Activision will eventually match it when they send in their donations. On a sad note, this would be Crocky's last tour of duty. Through the magic known as the internet and the miracle that is sliced bread, I can report from the future on these matters. Don't you wish you could travel in time? You'd never believe what you told me yesterday.
















Look at all them prizes!
















Terry and Paul have the best "Got Bit by Crocky" reactions. Amusing to behold.





















A victorious Toby displays his money and ticket as proof of having the virgin hand of Crocky.
















Pot of Loot.

Thursday, September 01, 2005

Sorta bad day.
















This sorta bad day started in the morning when my glasses decided to "pop" during my morning commute. To my dismay, they had in fact "exploded." They sorta stayed on my head as I drove but I think it just ended up making me dizzy. Eventually I'd get some Krazy Glue to hold the suckers together but in the end, I took advantage of my company's benefits to go get some new ones. Check back soon for those.
















At work, I had to spend the day with this lovely hat on. Why? It's just one of those quirky TFB things. Punishment for an office faux paus. But I was duped! The wiley Boots fella tricked me leading to my previously perfect dev station disconnection practices. Well, now I'm all the better for it. I was pretty annoying though as this hat is not quite the splitting image of comfort.