Archive

Sound Data

Published
by
pikafoop
2 months ago
in Games and Music
. 0 Comments

I’m really enjoying Fallout 3, but I guess the musical score isn’t very memorable.  I say this because, even though I played it for several hours this afternoon, it’s still the music from church this morning that is playing in my head.  On the other hand, it’s almost certainly unfair to expect ambient video game music to stand up to full-blown hymns.

But no, even trying to recall it only brings to mind that there is a low electronic beeping somewhere in the Megaton theme song that always makes me think of computers, even though Megaton itself seems far more “wild west” to me.

Instant Review: Speed Racer

Published
by
pikafoop
2 months, 2 weeks ago
in Culture and Reviews
. 0 Comments

Or, Meteoro La Película

Today, we watched Speed Racer, but in some unusual conditions:

  1. We muted the sound,[1]
  2. We turned on Spanish subtitles, and
  3. We looped the Wipeout 3 soundtrack on shuffle over the film.

It was OK.

  1. Important: we did not just fail to turn on the receiver, but actually turned it on and then muted it.  Not for any particular reason.  It was muted from the beginning, and not because the audio annoyed us at first. [↩]

All At Once Now

Published
by
pikafoop
2 months, 2 weeks ago
in Life
. 0 Comments

I expect the mechanic will call me at any minute, to have me come pick up my car. For your edification and entertainment, I shall now tell you what it feels like to rip off the band aid all at once.  What you are about to see is about $1100 in maintenance and fixes.[1]

Despite what you may think, I’m pretty pleased with this outcome.  I always budget about a grand for preventative maintenance at the first cold weather.  Also, this car is at 120,000 miles, and the longer I can keep it going, the longer I don’t have to buy a new one.  :)

Continue reading ‘All At Once Now’

  1. Hilariously, after he called me and gave me all the quotes and got my approval and decisions, he called me back with an amended total because I had left a $25 coupon as well.  I wonder if he’s like me, in that he worries about how people feel when he gives them big bills… [↩]

Out Of Touch With My Roots

Published
by
pikafoop
2 months, 2 weeks ago
in Geek and Life
. 0 Comments

A Return To Bipedal Hominidism

Okay.  How big a computer nerd do you have to be before you are walking 0.8 miles, and you think, “Man, walking still works pretty reliably to get me around.  The old Biped Two-Step is still pretty easy.”

Granted, I’m not in my usual state of mind.  Why?  Try this:

  1. Stay out late for beers and all-you-can-eat fish+chips at a local brewery, then stay up some more to play with the new PSP firmware
  2. Wake up throughout the night due to restless stomach (oh, fish+chips, why must you be so SALTY and OILY)
  3. Get out of bed unnaturally early (for a Saturday, 6:20 AM will do) to take your car into the mechanic before the 8:00 AM rush[1]
  4. ??? (I’m close to a breakthrough here.  I think “???” might actually be “nap”.)
  5. Profit! (HAR HAR AS IF. I took my car to a mechanic.  I’m in for $188.83 before they even finish the diagnostics on my anti-lock braking system.)

P.S. - Re: “unnaturally early” - For those of you who get up every morning at 5:00 AM and go punch wallabees or whatever it is you do at 5:00 AM, you probably weren’t drowning fried cods in beers at 10:00 PM, so I think we work from different givens.  You can have your dark wake-up calls; I’ll take my dark at night when it seems more natural.  Besides, by working in shifts, we can oppress the wallabees at all hours.

P.P.S. - Also, if my wife - who is always awake before I am - is so sleepy that I’d rather leave her in bed than have her come pick me up in the 45 degree weather, it must be unnaturally early.

P.P.P.S. - Also, I have made claims that I like this weather, but those claims were necessarily based on memories that were at least a year old.  I can now substantiate those claims, though:  I enjoyed taking a chilly walk through dry leaves with my knit cap, fleece, jacket and gloves on.  My face was pleasantly cold, and the rest of me was not too hot. [2]

P.P.P.P.S. - Given that I program the thermostat at my house, you may now pity my wife.

P.P.P.P.P.S. - Small miracle: I dislike Halloween more every year, but my walk turned up just about zero crazy-zealous Halloween decorations.  Unless you count the costumed mannequins in the front window of the… um… “Adult Sleepwear” store down the street.  But they’re crazy-zealous year round.

  1. The rush is not so brutal on a Saturday, but it’s nearly a guarantee that if you bring your car in that early, you will get it looked at before 10:00 AM instead of after lunch. [↩]
  2. Note to future self: Hi!  I left some candy in the back of the cupboard, which you have probably totally forgotten about by now.  Check it for ants and staleness.  If it’s still okay, Enjoy!  Um… unless you already ate it, in which case, it wasn’t me!  Well, it wasn’t me me!  It was the me between me me and you me, so blame him (us).
    Oh.  Also, you can use this paragraph as substantiation for your weather claims in (me me) my future!  Yeah, totally awesome.     [↩]

Final Fantasy: Sharks

Published
by
pikafoop
2 months, 3 weeks ago
in Final Fantasy, Games and PSP
. 2 Comments

No That Is Not An Upcoming Square Enix Title

Look, I understand that Final Fantasy is a Fantasy game.  It’s right in the title.  That makes it hard to miss.  Given this, I am willing to suspend my disbelief in a lot of situations.

Sharks are teal blue?  That one’s easy to work with, because teal is not far from a realistic grey.

I'm a Shaaaaaark!

I'm a Shaaaaaark

Mermaids are pink?  OK, sure.  I don’t know what color real mermaids are, anyway.

All the mermaids are identical

All the mermaids are identical

Mermaids are suspicious of my characters’ ability to breathe underwater.  This is fair.  My party possesses “oxyale” (Magic Fairy MacGuffin #802), with which mermaids may not be familiar.  (I mean, you can’t even buy the stuff.  You have to find a pirate who’s kidnapped a fairy and sold her into slavery to a desert caravan… look, it’s complicated.)

How can YOU talk underwater?

How can YOU talk underwater?

But come on… White Sharks…

I'm

I'm a Shaaaaaark toooooo

…are purple?  They’re not… white?

(This post is dedicated to my wife, who was willing to buy into all the pseudo-scientific claptrap underpinning Mass Effect, including the mysterious Element Zero (Space MacGuffin #2193) - with its ability to produce both the titular gravity distortions, and make unborn humans psychic - until they mentioned running a “negative current” through a device.  “Negative current?!  There’s no such thing!”  Welcome to our household of nerds.)

P.S. - I almost forgot my obligatory FF8 teaser!

A gun? That's also a sword? e_e