ARGH
Unbelievable. I made a long nice Halloween post. And this stupid blogging page decided it was not to be. Well, I had some nice comments and links, and etc. Like this and this. And especially this. But now my rage hath consumed me, so I will not add the previous eloquent comments I had here.

Stupid blogger.
- posted by Pootenheimer @ 5:17 PM | 4 comments

 
Today is Thursday
It's All Hallow's Eve tomorrow! What are you going to be for Halloween? There has been some spooky stuff going on lately. For one thing, the sun's been misbehavin'. Halloween preparations have people all up in jitters. Both props and costumes.

Well, I'm still debating on my costume selection. There's so much to consider. Which I'm considering. The skills I possess that have some "cool factor" points are substantial. The question comes down to effort and cost. How much is it really worth?

I've been playing Wrestlemania XIX on the GameCube lately. I have created a behemoth of a character, aptly titled "The Beast". He's large and in charge, with a cool eye scar and no hair. He's able to administer a beatdown to all those who stand in his way. So winning the World Championship and the WWF Championship was small potatoes. If only he could take on all the tag teams on his own. But I've won the game, it's been fairly entertaining in a weird sort of way. It's an easy time-consumer. The biggest plus point is the ability to create your own character, and modify them in absolutely any way you want. Seriously. Want him to have a chin that is big enough hurt himself? Sure. Want legs four times as long as their arms? No problem. Want to make them have a concave head? Okay. Really, it's up to your imagination. I've made quite a few characters, although I'm partial to The Beast, Freak Boy, She-Bitch and Bondage, Inc. They each have their own lovely attributes. Including picking their whole entrance display. If you want fireworks, pick out what kind, where, and when during the entrance they happen. Choose lighting. Music. Camera angles. And how they walk their walk to the ring, selectable for several different points in their entrance. I'm telling you, it EATS TIME FOR DINNER. And it's rather fun, too.

Oh, and I recently had a viewing of Iron Monkey at my place. Excellent movie. If you had any enjoyment of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (AKA Hidden Crotch Dragon), then this will show you what kung fu movies really should be. (Quentin Tarantino was the one to make the comparison, really - he helped bring the re-release to the states.) And please watch it with subtitles, if you can - English dubbing never does the original voice acting justice.
- posted by Pootenheimer @ 4:18 PM | 0 comments

 
My ads are special
Is it just me, or are you seeing ads on my blog for sparring gear and martial arts stuff? I find that funny. My sparring gear probably needs replacing, seeing as how I've ripped up some of it. Not on purpose, of course, just because I'm that fierce. I actually stopped using headgear a while back. Go ahead, make the obvious derogatory comment about that, but I find it helps to be more aware of your surroundings. That, and you can condition your head! Fun stuff. The only other student that doesn't use headgear is the senior student. Makes me feel special.

Some cool stuff is coming soon. One that some people might be aware of is a little movie called The Matrix: Revolutions. Comes out a week from today. Simultaneously across the globe - first time it's been done. I think it arrives here at 8 AM. It will get some attention, I believe.

For the link today, I found Penny Arcade's comic rather amusing - if not sad, because it's true.
- posted by Pootenheimer @ 1:16 PM | 0 comments

 
Couple of days off
Yeah, I took a couple of days off. Actually, I didn't have much time. I was busy doing other things. Imagine that. Anyway, I said I'd answer those riddles, so I will. Don't read the next paragraph if you still want to figure them out.

Riddle 1: The light switch thing. So how would you know? Patience, my friends, patience. You'd flick on one of the switches, leave it on for a while. Read a book. Take a shower. Whatever. Then come back, turn on one of the other switches. Go upstairs. (Your only allowed trip upstairs in this mysterious location.) Ah! Is the light off? Then it's the switch you left off, the only one. Is it on? Touch the bulb. If it's warm, it's the first switch you turned on and left on. If it's not, then it's the most recent switch you flipped. Yes, yes, use of more than just one of the senses necessary for this riddle. On to the next! Riddle 2: Death sentence, morbid riddle, indeed. You are doomed, eh? Both your papers are the death papers, huh? So what do you do? When you pick a paper, immediately eat it! This is the easiest, quickest, and most effective way of immediately removing one of the papers. So since they can't check which paper you chose, they have to check which paper you didn't choose, which is... well, look at that. The DEATH card. So you had to have chosen the LIFE one, right? A life is saved! All right, the final riddle... Riddle 3: You may have heard this one before, in a different environment. But if you didn't... you have two paths, one of certain doom, the other happy and safe. You also have two curious fellows, one who tells the truth always, the other who never, ever does. And you don't know which is which. You're allowed one question, so what do you ask? "Which road would he tell me is the safe one?" Ah! It doesn't matter who answers, you know not to go to the road he points to. There's a single lie in there somewhere. It's binary math, simple! It's an XOR thing. If a lie is 1, when you combine a truth and a lie, you get a lie (0 XOR 1 = 1). Two lies is a truth (1 XOR 1 = 0), two truths are STILL TRUE (0 XOR 0 = 0). XOR is "exclusive or", for those who don't know. And in this case you've got a 1 and a 0. Yeah, so maybe I've got a degree in computer science. It works.

Okay, enough of riddles. What else today? Well, I recently got a friend into an older game that's easily in my top ten games of all time. It's a little thing called ICO, for the PS2. The whole thing is very well put together. The story, the environment, the imagery, all of it. And it's an intelligent game. Requires a bit of puzzle-solving. (Not riddle-solving, mind you.) I highly recommend it. Only bad thing is that you can only go through it for the first time once. But it's a great experience.

And I have no link for today. Nothing overly weird to point to. Yet. But I do have a counter! I got one, it's at the bottom, to show me just how many people love me.
- posted by Pootenheimer @ 10:48 AM | 0 comments

 
Tired of suing
Everybody's suing nowadays. It makes me sick. Especially when it's for no decent reason. Yes, yes - let's blame someone else for things that are our own damn fault! I just really hope lawyers don't figure out a way to blame some of the horrid things that sometimes happen on other, innocent people.

Enough, enough. I need to get away from that. Hey! It's almost time for me to give away the answers to the riddles I left you a week ago. Tomorrow. If you think you have the answer, you can e-mail me. I'll tell you if you're right or not. Also, while my contact information is now public for all to see, I'm trying to write some music. I need topics to write songs about, though. Words, not so much an issue. Music itself? Definitely not an issue. Just something to write about. So if you have any brilliant ideas, send 'em my way. I'll see what I can do.

Here's your random link for today.
- posted by Pootenheimer @ 3:16 PM | 0 comments

 
Sweet relief
I've been working on a school project for a few days now, and I'm finally done. Sweet, sweet relief. Now I have time to play! Games, guitar, the such. Oh, and naturally, movies.

CNN has a story about a woman in a coma on the front page today. A big tumult about whether it's correct to pull the plug, so to speak (cut off her food supply), or continue feeding her. Her husband insists she didn't want to be on life support in a case like this, and her family has hope for recovery. The Governor (Bush) has stepped in, but other people are stepping in now to make it a big battle. No idea how it'll turn out. Although every time I see her picture on the CNN page, it somehow disturbs me a little bit more.

I got my first credit card today. Yes, my first. I'm nervous, but excited all at the same time. All that money, all that power... dangerous, in the wrong hands. We'll see if my hands are the wrong ones. It's funny how you really need a credit card to build credit, but you can't get a credit card without built credit. Catch 22 sort of thing. It took me a while to get past that. But now, my credit building adventures begin!

And that's all. Well, except for this.
- posted by Pootenheimer @ 4:08 PM | 0 comments

 
Time for fun links
I've got lots of them! Okay, let's begin.

First off, there's the latest in Japanese music fun. That is to say, technologically, not so much Japanese music. Not out in the states yet, but they should do it. Because it would be good.

Everybody's suing nowadays, so why not sue NASA? Yes, that's right, we all must know if our conspiracy theories are valid or not. So the Sci-Fi Channel will tell us. Maybe.

And Apple's doing fairly well with their new iTunes for Windows. This is how it should be done. Embrace new technology! Find out what people actually want, and work with them. I personally think that's probably slightly better than just going out and suing everybody that doesn't do everything in a way that makes more money than is civilized. Boy, that was a long sentence.

And of course, we need just a random link, for no good reason.
- posted by Pootenheimer @ 2:53 PM | 0 comments

 
Interesting news
I'll answer those riddles in a week or so, so you have time to try to figure them out. But for now, I've got some interesting news of the day.

For one, David Blaine has actually finished his stunt. It's apparently been a very good and learning experience for him. Seems like a lot of people are skeptical of the validity of the effort, which I think is too bad. I think he simply wanted to have a personal experience that is superlative enough that it will garner a lot of attention. Hopefully he'll recover, physically, without issues.

Also, this should cause some conversation in the "do you choose to be gay?" question. 'Nuff said.

And there are advances in science happening all the time. This happens to be a fairly major one. Good stuff.

Maybe more later. It's time for class.
- posted by Pootenheimer @ 10:43 AM | 0 comments

 
More riddles
For those who think they're good at riddles, here's a couple more.

-----
You've been sentenced to death in an obscure foreign country which has a strange law. Before the sentence is carried out, two papers - one with 'LIFE' written on it, and one with 'DEATH' written on it - are folded up and placed in a hat. You are permitted to pick out one of the papers (without looking). If you choose the one with 'LIFE' written on it, you are set free. Otherwise, the death sentence is carried out. But someone has substituted the paper with 'LIFE' written on it with another one with 'DEATH' written on it. You are informed by this person of what he has done and that you are doomed to die.
You are not permitted to speak to anyone about this misdeed, nor will you have a chance to switch the papers yourself in time.
-----
There is a road which splits into two lanes. Each lane disappears into a dense forest and then into town. One lane runs through quicksand within the forest. There is a house at the split in the road, in it live two men. One only tells the truth and the other only tells lies - and you don't know which is which. You have to get to town and you can only ask one question - what do you ask?
-----

Try to solve them on your own. Good luck!
- posted by Pootenheimer @ 1:56 PM | 0 comments

 
I like Fridays
Yes, it's finally Friday. Finally. Long week for me, possibly long week for you, as well. Some interesting stuff for you. First of all, I always wondered about Stonehenge, so hopefully they'll figure some things out about it soon. Also, computer graphics are cool, but complicated. In case you didn't know, most companies use a program called Maya for the big stuff (i.e., movie special effects). Now you can try Maya yourself.

In other news, I'm worried about a guy named David Blaine. He's decided to try yet another stunt. This one he says makes his previous stunts seem like a cakewalk. Considering his previous stunts include being buried alive for a week and frozen in ice for 58 hours, this can't be easy. He's got two days left - check the link to find out details.

And logic puzzles! I like them. Here's one for you, see if you can figure it out. Without resorting to outside means (cheating).
You are on your own in a new house. On the 2nd floor is a lamp. In the basement are 3 switches, one of them switches on the lamp but you don't know which one. You can switch them on and off as much as you like, but you can only go and check the lamp once. After checking you should now know which is the switch for the lamp.
- posted by Pootenheimer @ 10:39 AM | 0 comments

 
Week half over
Yeah, I guess I missed a day. It's been busy. Work is keeping me nicely stressed, plus getting back into the class routine thing. Kung fu is actually toning down a little bit, which is good. I'm hoping to go see a movie, something leisurely, maybe play some Viewtiful Joe, so forth. View-ti-ful Joe!

I've decided there's something I need to get for Christmas, even though I'll probably get it for myself. Just too cool. Speaking of which, an update on my guitar pleasures - I'm actually playing at least once a day, which is a step up from where I was before. I can't help myself, I just have to do it. It's too much fun. Maybe someday I'll be good enough people might say, "Wow." Like some other guitarists I know. Well, know OF.

Looks like I'll need to upgrade my internet connection soon. The 2.1 MB/s I get isn't fast enough anymore.
- posted by Pootenheimer @ 1:35 PM | 0 comments

 
While on topic
I found this to be interesting. Technology just gets cooler by the minute.
- posted by Pootenheimer @ 3:08 PM | 0 comments

 
Weekend madness
It's been a pretty crazy weekend. Had my second mid-term on Friday, so I was up until three studying on Thursday (well, technically Friday). Got up for work, finished a few last-minute memorizations, then took my test. Went okay, just had two problems I had to BS a bit for, hopefully my BS skills are up to par. Then work, crazy project stuff, had to finish something before I left, so I was pedal to the metal on my software development. And THEN, pack up, gas up the car, and drive about three hundred miles to Columbia, Missouri, for a martial arts tournament.

Road trips are cool. Just better when you've had plenty of sleep. Made it there okay, though, thankfully. The tournament started nice and early next day. Our lion dance went quite well, people seemed to like it. That, and my instructor's demonstration of breaking two arrows against his throat seemed to impress. I competed in three events; one of which I didn't know I was going to compete in when I got there, so that was a little suckier than it should have been. Then me and the senior student from my school competed in the "sparring set forms" division, and we each entered separately, so we did two different sparring sets. (Sparring set - a set sequence of moves with two people, made to look like they are sparring.) There were three other sets of guys who entered, and they all did the same set. We did two completely different sets, and I think those impressed a lot of people. We got comments, and right when we came off (after getting first and second place awards, I might add) we were interviewed by three different people. Students, I think they all were, but it was funny. Then sparring, which my instructor decided only then that I'd be entering the black belt division (for the first time), since my unplanned solo set was entered at black belt level, for some reason. So I was sparring against black belts. Went okay - didn't win (this time), but I got my experience, and it was fun. I was faster than all of them, but need some work on my approach, I think. Experience counts, and I'm pretty sure I was outdone there in this case. The senior student from my school won for the weight division (same one I entered, lightweight) and competed for "Grand Champion", against the winner of the heavyweight division. The guy from our school is about 5'7" or so, and weighs 160 or so. The guy he had to fight was around 6'6", maybe more, and I can only guess his weight. So it was an interesting battle. It actually came down pretty tight, but the big man took the championship. Was still pretty good.

And then dinner with everyone from our school and the guy who held the tournament, and then the five hour trip home. I think I was even more tired driving that one. Didn't get back until three or so (sounds oddly familiar), and then crashed for a nice ten hours. Sunday was all about trying to catch up with my laundry, etc., for the previous days I missed, and then church and choir (which went well, I think), and chillin' with friends. And now my week begins anew. Hopefully it'll be a little less strenuous. Hopefully.

How about an interesting link? Well, who says we need fancy foreign sports cars, when we have our own?
- posted by Pootenheimer @ 10:22 AM | 0 comments

 
I like music
Got a new album a couple of days ago. By a band named Sevendust. The album is Seasons. Sevendust is a pretty heavy rock/metal band, I was introduced to them by a friend who's into heavy metal. At first I was skeptical, but after listening to their third album (Animosity) a few times, I was hooked. If you're a fan of rock, I highly recommend trying them out. Animosity especially. Seasons I'm still trying to get a full taste for, but I'm liking it more and more the more I listen to it, as each song is reaching individuality. There are a couple specifically that are really great. Just a warning - their earlier stuff (first two albums) are really really heavy, chunky metal, screams and rage (with more intermittent singing), that type of thing. Their newer stuff still keeps a lot of the chunk, but the musicality has progressed immensely. That, and the lead vocal (Lajon Witherspoon) can actually sing well. Try 'em out.

Oh, and just so you know, I bought the album because it wasn't one of the big five EVIL companies associated with the organization I mentioned below. So it was only $12, AND included a bonus DVD. A tad bit closer to what CDs should really cost.

Lately I've been getting a kick out of Viewtiful Joe. It's my alternative to scary game action, when I just want something a little fun, without having to be distracted. It's getting a lot more fun the more I figure out how to really play.

One last thing to leave you with. It's good to hear about people who have sense to think in tight situations.
- posted by Pootenheimer @ 10:46 AM | 0 comments

 
Busy week
I've got a crazy busy week this week. I have a test today. I don't like tests. It makes me want to play. I do have a few games, it's one of my vices. Sadly, my test comes first. For the curious, I will be writing of what my jam-packed brain has retained from the subject of Secure System Administration. Then I get to do the same thing about Computer Networks in two days. Fun fun. And then, a seven-hour road trip to go compete in a tournament of martial arts! Yes, that should be interesting, indeed. Our school will open the tournament up with a Lion Dance. We'll see how that goes.

Well, it is time for me to go and attempt to further my knowledge, in the second of the afore-mentioned classes. Oh, and so you know, California's now got a Governor Schwarzenegger to call their own.
- posted by Pootenheimer @ 10:25 AM | 0 comments

 
Delays suck
There was supposed to be a good game out on my birthday, but it got delayed. Now news has arrived that there was a leak, and it's been delayed even more. Well, not a leak, so much as blatent theft. There was supposed to be an offer by a fairly well-known company to give this game out with their new card... I'm wondering what's going to happen with that, now. Piracy, when it affects lots of innocent people, is not cool. I was hoping Valve could release this game on time, and it would all be quite cool. But someone's got to go and ruin the anticipation for a lot of people... bleah. So, if you're good, please don't go out and grab the new beta that's being unofficially "released". Wait for the real deal. Even if it won't be until April 2004.

I rediscovered one of my favorite sites today - I find myself continuously amused by reading through it. That, and the title of my blog was inspired by it. I must admit that. But if you have oodles of spare time... go! Read and be enthralled! Laugh at the lack of intelligence and common sense some people have the gall to display publicly! Good stuff.
- posted by Pootenheimer @ 2:26 PM | 0 comments

 
Ooh, so MAD
Okay, so I've got one more that you should read. When I'm a rock star, I'll be finding non-"traditional" methods of selling my music.

Oh, and I might as well put this up. It seems to have been found intelligently amusing by many people, including myself.
- posted by Pootenheimer @ 1:36 PM | 0 comments

 
While my guitar gently sleeps
Yes, my guitar is resting. I pushed it this weekend quite a bit. Sadly, I can't get the same rest I'm giving it. Oh well.

Speaking of guitar and the band my blog entry's title alludes to, a new album is coming out. I think I'll have to make an exception and get it. Why is that an exception? Well, you see, I've stopped buying albums for the time being, because a certain organization is really making me mad. Ooh, they make me mad! So I'm not going to donate to their evil ways. It's not entirely bad - I guess there are at least some good points to be seen.

Anyway, enough of that. I won't get into that spiel now. I will say that I do like the PODxt very, very much. I think I'll have to begin recording now. And I'm going to start the band. I have a second guitarist and a bassist. Openings still remain. Any takers?
- posted by Pootenheimer @ 12:55 PM | 0 comments

 
Friday! Woo!
It's Friday, baby! Not only that, but I found out my POD is here. Pleasure for the weekend. Oh yeah.

I don't have much to say at the moment. Just a very nice story to leave you with for this Friday, close of business hour. I wish that happened more often.
- posted by Pootenheimer @ 3:27 PM | 0 comments

 
More than just guitar
Yeah, like a said, I'm a guitarist. But being as how I'm focusing more on electric guitar, there's some details that are necessary. Up until now, I've had only a few DanElectro pedals for distortion, chorus, and phasing, as well as a nice Vox wah pedal. Nothing fancy, really. Pedals can get expensive! So I decided I needed to save all that and just get one item that'll cover several bases. There's lots of options out there, but being as how I'm on a Line 6 kick (the Variax is made by Line 6), I decided with the PODxt.

I got the POD the same time I got the Variax, sort of a full package thing, but sadly, it has still not arrived. I went to Saied's to try out the xt yesterday, just to make sure it really was what I wanted. FYI, I used to not like Saied's, as they charge silly prices for musical equipment - but after being forced to buy from them, since they're the only place in town to stock Line 6 stuff, I found out you can bargain with them. So I actually got all my stuff at a Musician's Friend price (actually a little lower!), and I was happy about that. ANYWAY, I was saying, I went there to try out the POD. I hooked up a cheap guitar (Strat imitation, naturally) and put some headphones on. Didn't take long to figure out the basics. And once I did...

Dang! It's nice! I'm even more impatient than ever! I only sampled the presets, and it made me realize how much range and potential this thing has to customize your own sounds. The basics are this: you can choose what type of amp you want, from 32 choices, many of which are modeled after well-known tube amps. Then choose one of 22 cabinets you want to use with the amp. (For the amp-impaired: the amp's the heavy thing powering your sound, the cabinet's the big stack, known to others as speakers.) From there, it's choosing all the effects you want to slap onto the combo you chose, and tweak each effect to your liking. Like I said, crazy possibilities. I got some nice sounds out of it, in the forty minutes or so I played with it there. I could easily spend hours with this thing.

Anyway, we'll see what kind of musical inspiration might strike me once my POD arrives (was supposed to be here Wednesday but NO it's getting later and later). If I have other kind words to say, I may say them here after playing with it a bit.
- posted by Pootenheimer @ 10:23 AM | 0 comments

 
Me? A guitarist?
Yeah, damn straight I am. Which means that THIS is a must. I think my guitar skills will be bending more towards the electric side in the next few months, and this movie is a perfect way to kick that off.
- posted by Pootenheimer @ 5:30 PM | 0 comments

 
The title goes here
I am eating lunch. So I thought I'd put up a link. It's controversial. I personally think it's a Good Thing. But I'll let you make your own decision.
- posted by Pootenheimer @ 1:53 PM | 0 comments

 
Gaming goodness
So I've been playing for the first time in a while. The THING for the X-Box, one of my birthday goodies, which I have to say I like very much. It's an older game (a year old, which by tech standards is ancient), but it's still good. I was pleased to find out that although the title and movie sequences are not, the gameplay IS widescreen. Which is good stuff. It looks to be an interesting game, a possible scary game.

Speaking of scary games, let me give you the list here really quick. Of all games that I know of that have scare possibilities, there are only a few that you should really consider, if you want real scariness. First off, there's DOOM. Yeah, that's right. A very, very old game, but there have been times for almost everyone where they turned a corner to see a cacodemon or something similar and almost wet their pants. I know I jumped more than once while playing that game. Also, another one that must be considered, but is also quite old - System Shock 2. Oddly enough, I never played this. But I've read enough on it to trust that it is, indeed, quite creepalicious. I still want to try it.

Going further, to console-land - we have, of course, Resident Evil. Now this is more of a movie horror thing. Great for lots of people to watch and go ooh and aah, but nothing's really scary. You're more scared you're going to die because you ran out of ammo AGAIN than you are of the fifty-eighth zombie that ambles towards you. I'll give props to the GameCube remake of the original Resident Evil, which had uber-zombies. The first time I saw them it startled me a bit. Let's just say... they're not standard zombies. They don't give you as much time to be prepared.

One that most people don't know about for consoles - on the original PSX, Clock Tower. It's not that great of a game, but the panic it can instill in you after you figure out what you're doing (and get past the pretty poor point-and-click conversational pain) is amazing. Rent it, if you can find it, just to try it out. Give it a chance, and make sure you understand HOW to play in the side-scrolling sections, to give you your best chance at survival. The way they set up the atmosphere for your impending doom is still near the top in my book.

I do have to mention Eternal Darkness. On GameCube - not totally scary, more of a psychological attack approach. Excellent, excellent game. I recommend it highly. There are a few moments that might spook you, but the big stuff is all magic it performs inside your head. I'll simply say this: there's an insanity meter in this game. For the sake of the game possibilities, please let yourself go at least a little insane throughout the game. There are "methods" to sane-itize yourself, but it's worth it to let a couple go by. Trust me.

And finally, the ultimate in what I think is scary-scary-scary gaming... Silent Hill. Try playing this by yourself, late at night, for the first time. Either 1, 2, or 3, although I still think 2 ranks up there near the top for just freaky ambiance. This thing gave me a headache it freaked me out so much. I really had to stop playing after going so long by myself, at night. Even better with a window cracked, maybe a storm outside. Mainly well done for the stuff you see (moreso for stuff you think you see), and definitely for stuff you hear. Sounds add SO much to horror, a lot of people don't realize it. If you play with a bunch of people around, your braveness is boosted substantially. Do yourself a favor. Try it by yourself, one you haven't played yet, so you don't know what's coming. Even if only once.

Anyhoo, I'm getting sleepy, so it's time for bed. Hopefully no dreams of Silent Hill tonight.
- posted by Pootenheimer @ 12:42 AM | 0 comments

 
And ahh...
I must say, it was a very good birthday. Lots of people recognizing my quarter of a century in age, and I actually got a great dinner with some very good friends. That, and a couple of very cool birthday gifts. Quite nice.

I'm still rather tired from the crazy day yesterday, so I don't have a whole lot of inspired things to say. Yet. But I will say this... and I thought Americans were crazy about criticizing women for being overweight.
- posted by Pootenheimer @ 10:10 AM | 0 comments