JF :: Brain Farts :: Archive of February, 2006

Archive of February, 2006

Renew Your Lease, Win a Prize?

February 24, 2006:

After renewing my lease about a week ago I came home to find a package propped against my apartment door. In it was my copy of the lease... and a little radio iFruit-looking thing.

Apparently you can get them custom-ordered if you order a gajillion of them -- mine says "Bent Tree" instead of "Suprema Radio Action". They retail for what seems to be about seven bucks, so with the bulk discount I'm assuming they got they probably filled a back closet in the office with these things for one or two people's rent increase.

Still, it's kinda-sorta a nice gesture. Except for the part where I haven't listened to broadcast radio (aside from the alarm clock) in about five years. Maybe from a distance people will think it's some wacky new kind of iPod.

Update, about two minutes later: And either it came with a set of dead batteries or it was pre-broken for my convenience.

Tech Question

February 21, 2006:

This one actually stems from Katsucon. I hooked up my friend's camera to my computer, but since it's not running XP or OSX I couldn't download the images without Sony's installer disc. And since Sony is the root of all that is bad in the world, I can't download the installer from their site.

My question is: Why can't I just connect to the camera as an external USB drive? Everybody and their brother uses uncompressed JPEGs as their native format nowadays, right?

Katsucon

February 20, 2006:

About a month ago I saw a link on one of the webcomics I read about Katsucon, a comic/anime convention in DC. I've never been to one of these things, so I figured it was worth it to pre-register and take a look.

Friday: Borrowed a camera from one of my friends and hopped on the Metro to ride into town. I figured I'd only have an hour or two to look around and get my bearings.

As expected, there were a lot of people cosplaying (dressing up like characters from a favorite comic or cartoon). Several women were dressed as Sailor Moon-types. Some of these would probably have been better off dressing up as tents. Didn't have a chance to snap any pictures since I was so busy wandering around lost, but it looks like there'll at least be some decent "scenery" there tomorrow.

I tried to get some of my purchases out of the way, but the booths for the webcomics I read (MacHall and Apple Geeks) were both empty. Guess I'll have to stand in line with the rest of the slobs later in the weekend.

Looking at the event schedule there are a lot of panels on comic creation, including a Photoshop panel I missed. I'm not entirely sure I want or need to learn how to draw hentai but tentacles would be pretty much at the limits of my drawing ability right now...

Saturday: "Raynor, who the hell are you dressed as?"

An old roommate of mine from college came down from Baltimore to hit the convention, and I pretty much ran into him by accident -- while trying to find enough small bills for the MacHall guys to sell me a "sell your soul for a cookie?" shirt (scroll down a little). After we shot the breeze for a bit I made my way to the merchants' room.

Good God, the smell of unwashed geek was nearly unbearable. Imagine if the Cyert lobby was 10 times as large in both directions, and twice as densely packed. The only reason I was able to stay upright was because I knew that the fumes would do me in if I passed out.

Lots of manga on sale, and more than a few DVDs (though everyone seemed to have about the same ones). Looking around the tables, I saw Cowboy Bebob at a 20% off table. Unfortunately, 20% off meant that the price dropped from $30 to $24 per disc. And I ain't paying $144 for Cowboy Bebob, even with the free box of Pocky. Another dealer was selling 5 DVDs for $50, far more reasonable, but only had the sixth disc. D'oh. Guess I'll have to try Amazon again.

Saw some fairly cute cosplayers this time around, and got a few pictures. Then my friend's camera ran out of batteries, so I took one more with my phone. Luckily for me the good camera just takes double-As, so I swapped them out for another try on Sunday.

There were quite a few people cosplaying, actually, and these people (usually) put quite a bit of effort into their outfits. Naruto seemed popular, but that may be because it's one of the few I recognized. Also present were several Inuyashas and Kagomes. Didn't spot anyone from One Piece, though that may be because the translated (kiddie) version of it kinda sucks. I mean, it's a goofball show anyway, but painting a sucker on the end of one character's cigarette and pretending they're drinking "bug juice" instead of beer just makes me wonder if there are other jokes that are getting cut entirely.

I went to a few of the panels instead of wandering around lost like I did on Friday. One had a couple of the voice actors from Inuyasha (which is apparently getting ready to end), one had the MacHall guys talking about their strip and other stuff (it was kinda freeform), another talked about how Japanese culture appears in anime and manga, and one was about webcomic writing in general.

One I caught the last few minutes of was basically some sanctimonious prick talking about how scanlations -- (badly) photocopied manga with fan-translated English dialogue -- are the devil, because publishing companies won't publish a comic that's freely distributed online. Apparently they forgot to tell Dark Horse that; they've been selling Megatokyo compilations for three years and it's a webcomic. There's never been a time when MT wasn't available online.

Yes, the author's copyright should be respected, but if the legit channels are taking too long, or just plain aren't distributing what people want, they shouldn't be surprised when others fill the gap they've left. And blaming the fans for liking their work that they were too lazy/incompetent to distribute properly seems to be pointing blame in the wrong direction. And it's the same reason I think region-encoded DVDs are a crock. There's no such thing as a regional, or even national, market anymore. Release worldwide or you may find that someone's taken the liberty of doing it for you.

Of course, these are the same execs who don't realize that people who buy scanlations will often buy the true release just for the quality of it. But that comes back to the whole "incompetent" thing.

And finally, even people from northeast Ohio get cold when wearing a t-shirt under a medium jacket when it's 16 degrees out. It wasn't this cold here in January.

Sunday: Not much going on since it was the end of the con. Got a couple more pics and attended two more panels: The comic creation process and comic reviews and critiques. Both were informative, though I was hoping for something a little different on the first one. Like a quick primer on how to draw something more complex than a stick figure.

Overall: I enjoyed the panels and some of the anime they showed. The dealers were all right, though most of the stuff they had out wasn't anything I'd buy and the stuff I would have bought I was too ignorant of. Walking around the con was actually the least-fun part, owing in no small part to my general anti-social-ness. Cute girls in skimpy outfits were nice, but unfortunately few and far between.

Another of my favorite webcomic artists is going to be at Otakon in Baltimore later in the year; I may go up and give that a look too. I'm just deciding whether I'll really be inclined to drive the hour-plus to and from Bawlmer for a weekend.

Things To Do With My Copious Free Time

February 13, 2006:

Back in elementary school and middle school, I used to be good in art class. That ability seems to have left me over the years; I doubt I could draw more than a stick figure nowadays.

Since I was at the Office Depot anyway -- the second roast beef incident generated a bit of paperwork and I needed a binder to keep it in -- I picked up a clipboard. After some digging once I got home I found a set of pencils I got for Christmas a couple years ago. These are just plain ol' #2 pencils; I don't need expensive equipment for the quality of stuff I'll be turning out.

Now I just need to find the time to do some drawing. Maybe in-between watching the Netflix movies that have been sitting on my desk for two months...

Esophagus Update

February 10, 2006:

The procedure itself was pretty quick; if my admittedly hazy memory is correct, I first woke up less than half an hour after being conked out. They took a look around and didn't see anything out of the ordinary, aside from my hiatal hernia. (What's a "sliding" hiatal hernia, by the way?)

Once they made sure everything was OK they expanded the part of the esophagus I was getting food stuck on. They used a balloon this time instead of cutting and stretching, and as a result there was no irritation to deal with. I got to eat non-soup for dinner!

I was tired as hell that night, though, so even though I probably could have made it home it's better that I had someone drive me. And yes, I do find it odd that I consider driving tired to be more hazardous than driving drunk.

So the end result is that as long as I stay on the Prevacid I should be OK. I have a follow-up appointment in six months to discuss other long-term options.

Super Sunday Ecks-Ell

February 07, 2006:

Before I start on the Super Bowl stuff... I found a food that can cut through Prevacid: Domino's pizza. It may not have been terribly acidic; I think my stomach was just appalled that I sent "pizza" of that quality down the pipe. How they stay in business serving that garbage I have no idea.

Now on to the game. Well, not quite:

Pre-Game

Attention, Mike Tirico... This is not the 40th anniversary of the Super Bowl. It's the 39th. Since there was no Super Bowl Zero, there has only been a 39-year span between the Green Bay-Kansas City game and today. SBXLI will be the 40th anniversary. When in doubt, do the simple math: 2006 - 1967 = 39.

Dear Lazyweb, do the Seahawks have a cheer? I'm going to be needing it in a couple hours.

Commercials. They're starting early this year. Some Mountain Dew knockoff called Vault got the ball rolling with a Vault drinker building a better scarecrow. "And why stop at crows? Rabbits... gophers... hippies!" Hippies fleeing the automotonic monster is the early favorite for best commerical.

PrimeTime, or whatever ABC calls its "news" "magazine", apparently just discovered the concept of payola. Odd that it took them that long to figure out, seeing as how it's been around since before rock 'n' roll was called that.

First Quarter

13:28. Looks like Seattle's taking a page out of Pittsburgh's strategy: Jump on the opposition early.

12:25. Except for when their linemen get confused by the 3-4 setup. Punt away.

Commercial. Not a terribly good one, but at least Burger King finally admitted the king character is creepy. (Or at least "freaky".)

10:20. And Seattle had its defense ready. (Pittsburgh's pair of false starts helped too.) Three-and-out for the Black-and-Piss.

Bud Light commercial. OK, the "magic fridge" was good for a chuckle.

7:00. Hasselbeck's dropping back awfully far. When a fifteen-yard completion only nets you half a dozen that's not a good sign.

5:48. Another punt, making a total of three punts for three posessions. I am heartened by the fact that the Seahawks employ cheerleaders; surely this will bring the favor of the football gods.

Toyota hybrids. It'll take a decade for the gas savings to be worth it, but you can feel like a good little hippie for buying one. "For your future" possibly means when they plan on figuring out how to dispose of the batteries.

Cavemen and FedEx. Meh.

4:14. The Squeelers go three-and-out again. This game might end up with a FG being the only score.

Diet Pepsi. Is P. Diddy still famous?

3:06. "Most catches in the first quarter of a Super Bowl." Baseball stats have truly come to football.

2:15. My prediction earlier in the week was the cliché "first score wins". Seattle looks on pace to do this.

2:00. And they almost did it, except for that penalty call.

0:27. A pair of failed runs sets up a bad throw to the back of the end zone. They almost backed themselves out of field goal range there.

0:22. Field goal, Seattle. Score: 3-0 Seahawks.

Leonard Nimoy apparently has some bills to pay.

0:00. Three × three-and-out for Pittsburgh.

Acura couldn't be assed to come up with a new commercial. Which would be fine if the existing one was any good.

Second Quarter

14:44. Good return for Seattle, into Pittsbugh territory. Er, never mind. Holding on the play.

"Streaker." I still prefer "that ref's a jackass", but that was a good one. Why are beer companies about the only ones capable of producing a good commercial?

12:07. Holy shit, Jerome Bettis is from Detroit? Why wasn't I told?

11:18. Doing their best impersonation of the Browns, Pittsburgh just got their first first down, nineteen minutes in.

"I work with monkeys" was only vaguely funny the first time around. The sequel was not. Maybe they should've played "Push It"...

Some things never change. Cadillacs are still ass-ugly cars.

10:10. Interception; Seattle starts deep in their own end but ends the Pittsburgh drive.

8:15. Note for Antwaan Randle-El: Don't go airborne if there are more people waiting to hit you.

7:10. Nice tortured reference to the Lake Placid Games there, Al.

3:54. Roethlisberger just got sacked out of field goal range. Let's see what they do on third.

3:39. Well, that wasn't what I wanted to see. Nice throw and catch though.

GoDaddy uses some implied nudity in their commercial. I couldn't find the "more" at their site, but I doubt it was worth the effort to look for.

They're remaking Poseidon Adventure?

1:55. Touchdown and PAT, Pittsburgh. Score: 7-3 Steelers.

I think ABC may have overcharged for these commericals... lots of ABC and Disney ads tonight.

1:47. The Seahawks do their best impression of the Browns by having a kick return called back on a hold.

1:13. Seattle doesn't seem to be running a good two-minute drill.

0:26. So... Seattle wants to go into halftime losing 7-6 instead of up 10-7?

0:07. And they may not even get the three after that incompletion.

0:02. Wide right. Did Holmgren take the -4?

Halftime

You ain't watchin' it, I ain't watchin' it, so I ain't bloggin' it.

Tracked down the GoDaddy internet-only ad. To paraphrase one of my favorite sports writers, it was regrettably tasteful.

Third Quarter

14:38. Touchdown and PAT, Pittsburgh. Score: 14-3 Steelers. Shit.

12:37. Seattle's putting together a decent drive now; hopefully that incomplete doesn't kill their psychological momentum.

11:40. Wide left this time. So much for looking strong out of the gate.

OK, that Budweiser commerical was fairly cute. I think they've used up their supply though; the next one better ooze testosteron like usual.

11:32. Ward needs to stop being a good receiver, dammit.

10:12. And Seattle needs to stop tackling their own guys. Eesh.

Um, that H3 commercial was just weird. Fucked up, even.

7:38. Now that's a big play. From trying to keep the damage to a field goal, they're now sitting at the Pittsburgh 20. Nice pick and runback, too bad the guy ran out of steam (and ran into his own blocker).

6:51. Are they only going to get a field goal out of this? If I were the defense I'd be pissed right now.

6:45. No need to settle. Touchdown and PAT, Seattle. Score: 14-10 Steelers.

Working with jackasses is only slightly funnier than monkeys, because you feel like you're getting away with something for saying "jackass" on TV.

Y'know, these photos with the players holding the Lombardi Trophy wouldn't happen in hockey. I'm pretty sure touching the Stanley Cup without winning it is way-bad.

6:45 again. How does somebody on the receiving team get hurt on a touchback?

4:17. And Pittsburgh and Seattle trade punts. Stevens didn't help Seattle's cause by dropping his third of the night. Of course, he is the guy who got the touchdown, but .250 ain't exactly setting the world on fire.

2:55. Another punt. Looks like only the defenses adjusted at halftime.

2:45. Wow, that was dumb. Call a fake fair catch at the 15 or so, then watch the ball bounce inside your own five.

0:00. Yet again, the Seahawks are moving the ball well. Let's see if they can score again.

Benny Hill music is always funny.

Who'd win in a fight, the Geico gecko, or the Budweiser frogs?

Fourth Quarter

12:03. And after a phantom hold (hey, not even Michaels or Madden could see it, and they're contractually obligated to apologize for bad calls) Hasselbeck gets sacked.

10:46. Hasselbeck's turn to get picked. Things are not looking good for Seattle. Not ready to call it game over just yet though. And once again the sportscasters call out the refs on a bad penalty.

8:56. Now it's game over. Touchdown and PAT, Pittsburgh. Score: 21-10 Steelers.

All right, that Macgyver commercial was funnier than it really should have been. And half a generation of sci-fi fans asks, "Why is Colonel O'Neill using a turkey baster to steal a truck?"

8:26. Another bad call, but this one can be reversed.

Well that was odd. A commercial just for beer. Not a particular brand, just beer. I think I may have seen a Guiness with a shamrock in the foam, too.

8:17.And reversed it is.

6:58. I realize you don't want to give the Steelers a lot of time, but given how short your gains have been you may want to pick up the pace right about now.

4:28. Did the umpire just tackle somebody?

3:51. I am so glad I don't live in Pittsburgh any more. Just the Steelers fans I know down here are going to be insufferable for the next year.

3:04. The Seahawks just burned their last timeout. Say goodnight, folks.

2:00. Bet Seattle's missing those two field goals they honked earlier.

0:34. To Seattle's credit, at least they're going down fighting.

0:03. Well, almost fighting. Game over. One for the thumb, an'at.

Cashflow

February 06, 2006:

I swear to god, it's like people know when I'm planning on making a larger-than-usual payment to my credit card. It started out innocently enough -- I had to replace some work clothes so an extra hundred bucks got charged.

Then it turned out I'd used all 84 visits to the chiropractor. Time to pay for the next batch. Twenty-four visits times my copay adds up to a little under $500.

I've had the car for about 60,000 miles now, so it's time to replace the timing belt. I was expecting that to be expensive, since you wind that sucker through a lot of places.

... Except my rear brake shoes were almost worn through and their wheel cylinders were leaking. Tack another couple hundred bucks onto that bill. D'oh.

And there's a double-whammy that I just learned about on the drive home: In the closed-down restaurant on the corner of Old Centreville Rd they're building an IHOP. Because I wasn't spending enough money and packing on enough pounds already.

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