January 2005 Archives

I beat Paper Mario yesterday; I give it a 5.5 out of 10 which gives it the dishonorable distinction of being the worst game that I’ve ever finished. The “story” was the main problem here, the characters just drone on and on with the most pointless and boring dialog. By the end it almost seemed like the game designers were dragging it out as some kind of sick joke. On top of the dreadfully boring dialog, the game was way too easy. There are special items that you can buy and use during fights, but since I could usually beat the baddies handily without the items, I hardly ever used them. Which means my inventory was constantly full (um, what’s up with a 10-20 item inventory?!?!) and I maxed out my coins at 999 since I never bought any of that crap.

So why did I even play this game to completion? I don’t think I even understand it. There were a few good things to be had, I suppose. There were some inspired nostalgic moments and most of the puzzles were fairly decent. The fighting system (excluding the aforementioned items) was also done pretty well with some twitch moments scattered in with the standard turn-based battles. This stuff kept me coming back even with the craptacular story, but it’s not enough to make me recommend this game. Stay away, as I will be from any future sequels.

I got tired of blogging each day (as you might have noticed from the lack of entries in the last week). We’ve been spending most of our time at the beach whenever it’s sunny and most of our time at our condo whenever it’s cloudy/rainy. On the 26th we went up to Haleakala Crater which was pretty amazing to see. We were at ten thousand feet so we could see most of Maui, the mountains of the big island, and into the crater itself (which looked like a Mars landscape). Yesterday was also pretty cool because we hiked down to the Nakalele Blowhole. Kara and I took the long way down and saw some pretty neat lava rocks and water and stuff.

Well, the vaca is really winding down now... We’ve got 4 days left and the depression is starting to set in. I better get out there and enjoy the Maui clouds while I can!

So here’s the deal. I was going to do a top 3 games of 2004 post, but then I played Pikmin 2 for the first time a few days ago. That game is so awesome that it deserves to be on the list as well, so I figured I’d do a top 5... but then I couldn’t come up with a game for the number 5 slot. I mean, I’m sure I have a fifth favorite game of last year, but it wasn’t spectacular enough to list it. So, I guess I’m going to do a top 4 games of 2004, even though it shouldn’t mean much since there are a bunch of highly rated 2004 games I still plan on playing (those games being: Sly Cooper 2, GTA:San Andreas, Rachet & Clank 3, and Half-Life 2). So, with the preamble out of the way, let the list begin.

4. Katamari Damacy - So original and highly addictive.
3. Pikmin 2 - Great lemmings-ish/RTS game with beautiful graphics.
2. Burnout 3 - Best. Racing. Game. Ever.
1. Halo 2 - Multiplayer perfection.

Tonight was a very good night. We had plans to go out to dinner with friends at 8:30, so when I got home I snacked on some leftover Indian food. After that, I pulled out Burnout 3 for the first time in months and played a bit of it with Kara. At 8:30 we met Rich, Hilary, Ben, Brett, & Jess at an Ethiopian restaurant called Queen Sheeba. This was only my second Ethiopian dining experience (the first was with TJ & Michelle about three years ago) and it was so much fun! In case you aren’t hip on the Ethiopian restaurant scene, the meal is ordered family style and it comes on a single platter. Here’s where it gets interesting because you don’t get a plate or silverware, you get this spongy crepe-like bread with which you scoop up the food. The food was very good and I’ll definitely be going back (and hopefully it won’t be another 3 years before I do!)

Once we got home, we watched LOST and Alias. LOST has me hooked completely. I have no idea what’s going on, on that crazy island but I don’t even care. The show could have been the same, minus the weirdness and I think I’d still love it. The characters are all so interesting and I love learning their back stories and watching them interact (and of course the stress of the mystery only makes the character interactions even more interesting). I remember being this excited about another show a few years ago… what was it called? Oh yeah, Alias. But the constant “resetting” of that show has made it hard to be excited about it any longer. Hopefully the slower pace at which the mystery is revealed on LOST will allow that show to stay consistent yet easy to pick up for newbies. I think the reset method might have already run Alias into the ground, it was never clearer than today when watching the two shows back to back.

So there you have it, my wonderful Wednesday night. I swear I did more entertaining things just tonight than I do most weekends! Here’s to more action packed weeknights.

I brought a banana in to work today but just now when I tried to eat it, I discovered that the top of the banana was too green to crack open the regular way. I tried pushing the stem back as normal but no matter how hard I tried, I wasn’t making any progress. Then I looked down at my WWMD bracelet and thought “Yeah, what WOULD monkeys do?” so I flipped the banana over and opened it "monkey style." It worked like a charm (once I pulled out the icky black thing at the bottom of the banana)... Monkeys are SOOOO smart.

Tonight was the exact opposite to last night, and whaddaya know it was fun too! Kara wasn’t home so I had the house to myself. I watched some news, ate a variety of things (Froot Loops, beef jerky, and some homemade stirfry), and played the piano. I still haven’t signed up for lessons yet so I’m just learning on my own. I can play a couple of classical songs, but lately I’ve been working on the underwater theme to Super Mario Bros.

Today while I was practicing it, I hit a wrong combination of notes, HOWEVER it sounded just like Lady Madonna by the Beatles! So I hopped up and popped the CD in... It sounded fairly easy to play so I started searching for sheet music on the internet. I never found it, but I did find this site which has some Radiohead songs transcribed.

Before yesterday I wouldn’t have known one Radiohead song, but Billy has turned me on to them and now all I can think about is their music! Anyway, I downloaded the sheets for Everything in its Right Place and I’m able to play it near perfect already! (the song is pretty repetitive and pretty easy, but it still sounds SO rad when I’ve got the keyboard set to sound like an electric piano). I had a lot of fun just chillin’ and experimenting on the piano tonight. Here’s to more low-key weeknights!

Last weekend Kara and I checked out the new Seattle Central Library. It’s kind of a neat building, very modern architecture that is better for looking at than navigating though. While there, I picked up Fall of Hyperion which I am now reading (and loving).

While in Maui, my parents gave me some cash for Christmas and one of the things I bought was the graphic novel Watchmen. I had borrowed Peter’s copy a few years ago and read it and was pretty impressed with it. This weekend I finished reading it for the second time, and this time I was less impressed. And here’s my ironic complaint with it... it was too wordy. The characters go on and on about stuff that doesn’t progress the plot, I dunno, I found myself getting bored with it.

Before Watchmen was Goblet of Fire and again I was only passably entertained. The wizard competition seemed like a waste of time... the threat of injury/death didn’t feel real, and the competitions weren’t all that interesting. Which helped me realize what I like and dislike about these books. The world that Rowling created is definitely fun/interesting but the day-to-day events of the three kids doesn’t interest me much. The back story, however, does interest me and I would love to see a more grown up series of books chronicling the rise and fall of Tom Riddle. Anyway, Goblet was only so-so, and I actually liked Azkaban better. Angela agrees with me that Azkaban is the best of the Potter books while Reese says it’s Phoenix and Kieran says it’s Goblet (I don’t think Jess said what her favorite was). BTW, am I the only dude reading this books? I think so...

Got home later than expected tonight. Kara cooked blackened salmon steaks, they were delicious. Played tons of Halo 2 (23 games) with Dave, Rich, Brett, Micah, Kara, but mostly strangers. Guess I’ll go to bed now.

I was down in Portland the last two weekends. Last weekend there was an ice storm which made it a little interesting. Here's Coop standing on a frozen pond.

This weekend there was no ice, but there was plenty to do. Here is the rundown of what I did.

Thursday night:
Drove down to Portland, thought about linked list implementations and BST sorting algorithms in anticipation for the next day's interview. Arrived at my parents' house, got a haircut from my mom. Started feeling sick. (cold/flu) Went to bed.

Friday:
Woke up, got out of bed, dragged a comb across my head. Drove downtown and interviewed with e***. Billy was in the room while I was interviewed. I thought it was going to be awkward, but it turned out alright. I think the interview went pretty well, supposed to hear back sometime this week. Ate lunch at Bush Garden with the e*** crew; Tomo took a picture of where we ate and put it on his blog. After lunch, I was feeling tired because I was definitely coming down with some illness. Went back to parents' house and slept from 1:30-6:30pm. Got up, hung out with parents and Chloe, played piano. Went to Billy's, hung out, talked to Dave J., listened to Belle & Sebastian, drank beer, and talked 'til we fell asleep around 1:30am.

Saturday:
Woke up bright and early since I slept on the floor and Kalin got up to watch cartoons. Got ready for the day and met Dave L., Micah, & Karin at Elmers for breakfast (I got the country biscuit breakfast). After breakfast, Dave and I went to his place where we played DOAU for an hour or so. Then we went to see House of Flying Daggers... We both liked the movie, but I thought it was a little slow in parts. Went back to Dave's, he taught me backgammon, I aced him 3 games in a row and let him win the 4th one to give him a little of his dignity back. Went back to Billy's, ate bratwursts & beer with him and Dave J. We left to go bowling but the lanes were booked, so we went to a house party. There were only dudes there, so we all went to a bar called Buddy's. Played darts & a thing like table shuffleboard mixed with crokinole mixed with curling. I lost. Went back to Billy's; talked and finished our half played game of Rummikub. I lost. Went to bed.

Sunday:
Got up, drank coffee, played another game of Rummikub (I lost) and talked for a few hours. Went over to Ryan & Heidi's to visit Kylee (who is thankfully doing well after the surgery). Set up R&H's wireless router, got 2 frozen burritos and a coke in return. Went to Video Only to help Billy pick out a receiver (his stereo broke on Friday night while we were listening to music). Went over to Dave L.'s house to meet him and Micah for some Halo 2 action (I was late because I stopped at Music Warehouse to buy a Belle & Sebastian and two Radiohead albums). Played Halo 2, did good for a while, then started sucking. Left Dave's house to drive back to Seattle. Watched Arrested Development & season premiere of Stargate:SG1 (yay). Played piano, and wrote my first song ever. Even though I wrote it, I still can't play it perfectly... how does that make sense? Typed about my weekend, and coughed like crazy (yes, still sick). Haven't gone to bed yet, it's after 3am...

Brett's friend Joe was in town a few weeks ago and we snapped this pic of our Halo 2 clan 'Who Dey 2005.'

Well, it's official, this Friday is my last day at MS. And so then what am I doing? Going to New York City! Next week I will be jobless while Kara will be still wrapping up her employment at Seattle Sun. So instead of sit around the house and play videogames like a bum, I've booked a plane to NYC for a whole week! I've never been, so it should be quite an adventure exploring the city all by myself. I'll be staying in Manhattan about one block away from Times Square; I'm bringing the camera and laptop so expect blog entries chronicling my experiences.

I'll be back in Seattle on Feb. 5th to pack up whatever we're taking with us to Portland. Since we have to pay rent through the end of February, we are leaving most of our stuff there until we find a place in Portland (we'll be staying with Michelle & TJ while we're looking). Sunday will find us at Brett & Jess' superbowl party, and then our triumphant return to Stumptown where Kara and I both start our new jobs on Monday Feb. 7th.

Now that Stargate SG1 & Atlantis have started back up on the same day as Enterprise, the last day of the work week has officially become Sci-Fi Overdose Friday! But should I stop there, or should I pick up Battlestar Galactica as well? I asked myself that question last week and tonight I should know the answer.

First off, I haven’t seen the mini-series that aired in 2003, so I would need to watch that before I started the series. My first thought, of course, was to get the mini-series through bit torrent, but I couldn’t find a torrent file. So then we tried to get the mini-series legitimately (Kara called around to a few video rental joints) but no luck. Finally with a little help from my bit torrent addicted friend Scott (I’ve created a monster!) I was able to find a torrent and start it downloading. It, along with the first two episodes of the series, is now complete and is waiting to be watched.

Tell me, Sci-Fi channel, why you would be upset at me for downloading these shows? If I like them, I’ll become a regular viewer of the program. Had I not had this option, I simply wouldn’t have ever watched the show. Yes, you didn’t make ad revenue on them from me... think of it as investing in my future. My lazy, bloated, couch-ridden future.

I've put a better recording of my first song online (and this time it’s a much smaller mp3). It's still not perfect, but at least I mostly keep tempo in this one. As for what the song is called? Kara says it sounds like a lullaby, I can see that. I guess the standard naming convention for lullabies is to just call it "Lullaby" and then people refer to it as so-and-so's lullaby. That works great if your name is Brahms... but “Jake’s Lullaby”? That sounds more like a strip club than a song you’d want to sing to your kid.

We watched the Battlestar Galactica mini-series last night and I now have a hopeful excitement for the series. Here’s the thing, I never watched the original show. I was pretty young when it was on, so all I have are these weird memories of seeing bits of the show; the image of Cylons stands out vividly in my mind (and actually I just realized why*). I also remember bits of the Buck Rogers opening sequence and that little robot dude. But these shows confused me or something, because I remember feeling upset or annoyed at them. I guess I just hadn’t learned yet to embrace my inner geek.

*One of my traumatic childhood memories was the Universal Studios lot tram ride thingy. The train passed the Bates’ house on the hill and turned into a cave that was filled with all of these sci-fi things. Off to my left was a Cylon coming toward me shooting lasers and it freaked me out completely. I was screaming and crying and my parents were trying to tell me that it was all pretend.

I just searched the internet to see if I could find support for my story and hit GOLD! (follow the link, then click the “Studio Tour” button on the lower left). What kind of bastard parents take their little kid on this ride? C’MON!

I’m laid over in Las Vegas for an hour; enjoying free WiFi. I’m flying on a budget airline, America West, and you definitely notice the difference. I snorted in disgust when I opened my tray table to discover it plastered with an ad for Growing Up Gotti. The flight counter lady just announced that meals will be available on the plane… for purchase!

I’m wrapping this up quick because I think I’m going to get some Taco Bell before boarding starts.

I’m debating whether to play the slot machines since they have notoriously bad odds at the airport. Maybe just 1 quarter... I’ll let you know if I become a millionaire!

Well, I ended up playing one dollar on the slots... I won nothin’. The line was too long at Taco Bell so I didn’t get that either. The bag of beef jerky that Kara got me kept me fed enough until I got to NY. Some crazy lady kept smoking in the bathroom on the airplane; we figured out who it was but since she wasn’t caught in the act, they weren’t able to fine her.

Once we landed, I got my bags and headed out of the airport. As I crossed the street toward the taxi stand, a guy said “taxi?” I said “yeah” and he motioned for me to follow him. We talked a bit as I followed him into the garage; we arrived at his car, which was not a taxi cab. I said as much to him, at which point he said that half the taxis in NY aren’t yellow cabs. I said that I’d rather take a cab and started heading back to the taxi stand. He wasn’t happy at being denied so he called me scared and told me I better stay in my hotel room while I was here. I laughed at him and kept walking. The ACTUAL taxi driver was much nicer, we talked about the weather and traffic and generalities. The fixed cab fare from JFK to Manhattan is $45, it was spendy but I didn’t want to learn the subway with all my bags etc.

Once I got to my room, I settled in and then realized that I was hungry! I walked down to Times Square (which is 1 block from my hotel) and started looking for food. Times Square at night is pretty amazing, there are so many lights coming from all the signs that it’s almost as bright as day. I found an all-you-can-eat Chinese place and, well, ate all I could eat. I walked around a bit more and finally headed back to my room. The heater in my room was making TONS of noise so I called the front desk and they sent a repair guy. He worked on it and said it should be fixed, at 2am I discovered that it wasn’t when it went all noisy again. I had to turn off the heater and rely on blanket heat the rest of the night.

I went to bed around midnight EST the night before (9pm to me) to try to get myself in sync with the time debt I incurred due to cross-country travel. It did no good; I was in bed until 11am this morning. I’m chalking it up as the first good sleep since the weight of the world has been lifted, I intend to not repeat such slothfulness for the rest of the week.

Once up, I decided to visit the American Museum of Natural History which is over 30 blocks from my hotel. Fortunately, 20 of those blocks were through Central Park! I headed north on 7th, through Times Square, toward the park. On the way I stopped for breakfast at Lindy’s; judging from the prices it must be a tourist destination because my bacon & eggs & coffee cost me $21.50! Full, I continued my trek northward. After a while I realized that I must be nearing Central Park because the skyline was becoming skyscraper free. Thanks to last week’s snow storm, Central Park was a winter wonderland. Kids were sledding down hills, families were having snowball fights, dogs were making yellow snow. I took pictures. Central Park has tons of crisscrossing pathways and a few roads and before long I wasn’t sure if I was still heading north! I pointed my way in what I guessed was a northwest direction in hopes to escape this gridless chaos of nature. When I popped out at 77th and Central Park West I realized that I had not been turned around, that I had actually been heading northwest, and had I had the fortitude to continue onward for two more blocks I would have reached my destination unmolested. But no worries, I made those last two blocks on Central Park West and all was saved (hurray!)

The American Museum of Natural History is huge. Fitting, since my key takeaway from the museum visit is “things are bigger than you think.” There are hundreds of stuffed animals on display and I was constantly surprised to see how big these animals really are. Seeing them on TV just doesn’t give you enough context to determine how big these animals are. And speaking of big animals, they had a life-sized model of the biggest animal that has ever lived, the blue whale... that thing was so big that I can’t even begin to describe it. Think of how big you think a blue whale is, now multiply that by 5 and that’s how big it really is... amazing. The highlight of the museum was the dinosaurs! Every kid’s favorite dinos were put together and on display: T-Rex, Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Pterodactyl, and a lot more! The other big part of the museum was the remnants of ancient cultures from around the world. From growing up in the northwest, I feel a little ODed on Native (North) American arts and crafts. However, I’ve always been fascinated by the ancient cultures of Central and South America. There were some amazing artifacts from the Olmec people including a HUGE stone head. I also found some of the Asian artifacts interesting and I spent a good amount of time reading about Indian (from India, stupid Columbus) culture. Coming from a worldview that doesn’t believe in reincarnation, the caste system of India seems brutal. But I guess that’s the whole point, you must have reincarnation as your hope to make it to a better caste in the next life. One final thing that I loved at the museum was the Hayden’s Sphere. Basically it’s a gigantic metal sphere, and as you circumambulate it, signs say things like “If the Hayden’s Sphere represents the size of the sun, then this model before you would be the size of the earth” and then there’s this ball smaller than a basketball. Wow, the sun is HUGE! The next sign says “If the Hayden’s Sphere represents the size of the earth, then...” etc, and in this manner, you explore scale from the size of the known universe all the way down to a quark. VERY neat, I was exploring something as seemingly mundane as scale and it was absolutely fascinating.

After the museum I headed back into Central Park for a while. I headed north and took a few pictures of the frozen over Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir and then headed toward the east side to exit. I walked all the way back to Times Square down 5th street, saw CBS building and Radio City Music Hall. For company, I had a hotdog I bought from a street vendor. When I made it back to Times Square, I found some street performers playing some new age-y South American music and I sat down on the street for at least a half hour listening and people watching. Started getting cold, so I got up and headed back to the hotel. Complained at the front desk about the loud heater, and got a different room. The second room was right next to the elevator and was even louder than before! Went and complained again and this time got a much bigger room with a heater that is only occasionally loud and with elevator noise that is more subdued. What can I say, it’s cheap for being so close to Broadway...

I was thinking about seeing a movie, and I decided yes after discovering that Kara and Kieran were going to see Ocean’s Twelve. Walked down to the theater and bought myself a ticket... one hour before showtime to find dinner. Unknowingly wandered into Hell’s Kitchen and knowingly wandered into an Irish pub. Had a few beers and bleu cheeseburger. But the fries! Imagine, if you will, potatoes cut into potato chip slices and then fried. Now imagine me dousing them with malt vinegar and saying YUM as I eat them! I had never seen fries like these before, but they were wonderfully crisp on the outside and steak fry mushy on the inside. Paid $20 tab and hurried to the theater.

Ocean’s Twelve was blah. Apparently I was supposed to have internalized the quirks of each of the title eleven from the last movie because the laughs of first half hour of this one relied upon it. However, since 11 was disposable fun I had no recollection of said quirks. The “trick” of this one was dumb, nowhere as tricky as the last one. And, the self-aware “look at us poking fun at ourselves” crap is so played out, it just felt lazy. After the movie, I walked home but stopped at Starbucks to try that new super chocolatey Chantico drink. The ads are right, it IS super chocolatey; it’s only 6 oz. and I couldn’t finish it. You know that magic shell chocolate syrup that hardens on ice cream? Well to make a Chantico, you heat that stuff and add a cup. It’s a nice idea, but the thing should come with a jug of milk to wash it down.

Got home, blogged this (boy it’s long) and now I’m ready for bed. Tomorrow I’m taking the subway to lower Manhattan and taking the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Good night!

This morning didn’t go as expected, or actually it went exactly as should have been expected. In my defense, I was up the night before, blogging until 2am, but whatever... I got out of bed around 10:30am and was out of the door by 11am. I promise tomorrow will be different...

The subway blew my mind, it’s like a whole other city below the one on the surface. And the fact that you have to pay to get in this city makes it feel like a grungy Disneyland of transportation. I rode the R train, and there wasn’t even a line! Got off at Whitehall and once I emerged back in the surface city I had to figure out which way was Battery Park. On my way I bought a “breakfast” of Mediterranean chicken and rice and chomped it down outside in the freezing wind. With food gone, I looked around for a blank skyline and headed in that direction. Through Battery Park into Castle Clinton where I bought a ferry ticket and, as per my mom’s recommendation, paid the extra six bucks for the audio tour. Before we got onto the ferry, we all had to go through the standard airport screening procedure (coats through x-ray, people through metal detectors).

A short ferry ride later and we’re at Liberty Island. I’ve seen the Statue of Liberty so many times on TV that I wasn’t all that excited to see it in person; but I think the shiver up my spine I had when I got that first full on view of her was more than just a gust of icy wind. I walked all the way around the base of the pedestal and took a few pictures. I traded up for an orange pass which let me take the elevator to the top of the pedestal and got in line. This time the security screening was even more than I’ve ever seen at any airport. Not only did they have the x-ray and metal detector machines, they also had the air blower/check for explosive residue machines! Checked out the semi-interesting museum (did you know that Eiffel built the inner frame of the statue, and Pulitzer raised the money for the pedestal?) and then up the elevator to the top of the pedestal. The statue itself is still closed since 9/11 but I was able to take a shot up her skirt! Had a dude take a picture of me in front of the Manhattan skyline (I’m wincing because the sun is in my eyes). That was that, got on the ferry and off to Ellis Island.

Ellis Island was incredible. My mom was right, the audio tour is a must. As you walk through the building and see the many exhibits, the audio tour plays recordings of immigrants recalling their experiences on the island. Knowing that my great-grandfather passed through this building made it all the more interesting and personal. I highly recommend visiting this place; I’ve never experienced such a place so alive with ghosts of the past. The buildings were abandoned for many years and it wasn’t until the 80’s that they were restored. There was one exhibit of photographs of the buildings before the restoration and they took me to a very quiet and emotional place. I could practically see the ghosts in the pictures and I had chills as I fantasized about walking the abandoned dilapidated halls on my own. The restoration made the buildings beautiful again, but it feels like something spiritual was washed away with the debris. Anyway, I was dumbfounded by the experience and I stayed until the place closed up. A thoughtful ferry ride and crowded subway ride and BLAM, I was back in the hustle and bustle of Times Square.

It was 6ish, so I ran over to the discount ticket booth to see if there were tickets left for any of the Broadway shows I wanted to see... yup, Chicago for half price. I was worried that it was a bad seat, but I had nothing better to do tonight so I bought it. Had dinner at a sandwich place and went back to the hotel to get all gussied up for the show. The seat was not a bad seat, I was CLOSE! And the show, ahhh, it was wonderful. The movie was a surprise hit for me, and I’ve watched it multiple times since then. The show was less flashy than the movie, but more magical. To hear the music, singing, and sounds coming perfectly together, created for that very moment, is an amazing thing to experience. The “razzle dazzle” of the courtroom scene (not at all portrayed the same in the movie) was, well, dazzling. There is so much to hear and see all at once that it was a serious sensory overload. And Velma, what a part! If I were an actress, I’d kill to play that part. The character is so wild and vivacious that I can’t help falling in love with the actresses that bring her to life. Every time I watch the movie, I’m enamored with Velma/Catherine Zeta Jones. Tonight Terra C. MacLeod nailed the performance with even more ferocity! The desperation of “I Can’t Do it Alone” and the manic performance of “When Velma Takes the Stand” will hopefully never fade from my memory. Man, I wish I could mentally record my experiences and play them back in full vivid detail... but then I guess I’d just stay home and relive the past instead of constantly seeking higher highs.