The Last Day ...

Short post today. Too much to do before I leave! I just love how right when I'm about to get out, everybody suddenly realizes how many things really need to get done, so they task me with them. As if! Haven't even really started packing either!

Great time last night at Hinder's, thanks to all that made it out for the sendoff. Beer, wings, and stories of rabbit ears were enjoyed by all! Tonight, I'm off to the Nati after work, and tomorrow is the big flight across Canadia and Alaska en route to Japan.

New zany videos to come soon!

Don't Lose Track of those Bugs

Whew! It's been non-stop around here getting ready for my leave for Japan. From preparing to move, getting stuff into storage, seeing friends I will not see for a while, and taking care of my contingency plan for work, I've been busier than ever. This is all good, and especially great that I've been able to spend time with friends I don't see as often as I'd like. The downside of this is that I've had very little time to play the hermit and get in some good work on my game project.

This is killer to the progress of a programmer. When I'm at my peak, I can program for hours. I get inside the code, and understand everything that's going on. If there's a bug in the code, I can generally trap it quickly enough and address the issues there. Not so true when I can barely squeeze in an hour at a time! Since I'm doing all the programming and testing, I'll find that I'm fixing one thing, but without the proper time to check other related items, I've found that this can let leaks and breaks and all the other nightmares of programming out of the bag.

This is all part of the normal programming schedule of the novice: finding out the hard way that your plan wasn't as well thought out as it should have been. Squirrel Eiserloh, technical director at Mumbo Jumbo (Dallas) was quoted on the hiring pamphlet at this year's GDC saying that extra time spent reworking and debugging is a just a result of poor planning. Couldn't agree more! This will become the new mantra for me as I continue to push forward into this field.

More news on the game project will be revealed here over the next few months.

Busy Busy Weekend!

Wow, busy times this past weekend. Cheers to all who came out Friday and Saturday to celebrate my pre-departure bachelor events. Completely made up for last weekend's movefest which rendered me tired and stressed.

Amongst other things, we hit up bars, made a huge barrel fire, blew up lighters, had a pasta party at 3 in the AM, sequenced a self-portrait video, saw some awesome live rock music, saw the Reds destroy the Phillies, grilled pork, bought a new video camera, and still had time to catch my breath too.

This week's going to be busy with finalizing the leftovers before I leave Thursday for Japan.

As for the video, hit the jump!
Self-Portrait 1: RDJ Throwdown

The Fallen

Just heard the news of the fire yesterday in Cincinnati where two firefighters didn't make it out alive. What a tragedy, I don't know even know these folks but its terrible to hear. These people gave their lives to save others! I have infinite respect for anyone that would go into a burning building, especially one with an unstable structure.

Hit the jump for the full story (via Cincinnati Enquirer)

'Mayday' Turns to Mourning

The Attraction to Vinyl

I had some free time on my way home today, and decided to pop into Gem City Records to find a gift for Reiko's brother (who spins in his free time). Sure enough! I found a cool beats record, Ape Beats vol. 5, and decided that would be a good start. Then, the eye catcher: a reissue of an old Big Black album from Touch And Go records.

But it was the name that got me on this one: "Big Black Songs About F*cking". Pure explicit blasphemy! CDs, I typically buy because I've heard of the band or know who produced it or what label its on. But vinyl? The cover art and or verbage! This, I knew right away, pushed some peoples buttons when it came out. Let's have a listen then!

As for the sound, man does it rock. Sounds kinda like of crossover between The Wipers, Mudhoney, and Ministry circa Psalm 69-era. Then I read up and found out this was one of Steve Albini's many older projects. Q Magazine's August 2007 issue named it as the fifth loudest album of all time. Right up my alley.

Big Black (wikipedia)

What's With All The Monkey Hate?

Just got back from Cold Beer & Cheeseburgers, a local chain that offers quality bar drinks at great prices and less than stellar burgers for outlandish prices. Last time I checked, they were using JTM patties (or lesser quality beef-corn mix). Though! The wings were decent and filling tonight, and would definitely go back for those.

After eating, Paul and I perchanced to notice a plethora of free credits on one of the touch-screen Megatouch bar game machines. After an epic bout of erotic photo hunt, we decided to move onto to some of the other games. Monkey Bash! Office Bash! Chug Monkey! All of these involved some form of either physical or psychological beating of monkeys! Great games all with good design, if not ripping off ideas from other games (Monkey Bash is the bar version of the flash hit Kitten Cannon). Nice credit find, yes. The monkeys? Sucks to be them, because our high scores meant they're inevitable beating.

And Just Like That, I Became Homeless!

I just finished 3 days of moving hell, leaving my house of the past 3 years. My roommate Adam, along with the semi-house mascot, Splints, preempted me in moving out at the beginning of the month, and there's no way I could afford the place on my own. As the lease was month-to-month, I could afford to pay for one month's rent by myself... barely. Anyway, I paid it, and now my time was up. And out I went!

As I'm a bit unsure about where I want to live next, I figured the best thing I could do was to temporarily move stuff into storage, stay with some friends with a bit, and finally, a rescue mission (Where else but Japan!?). Got a lot on my mind right now and need to get some stuff worked out.

I would like to thank all of those who have helped me throughout the moving process. Special thanks to Paul and Eli for their willingness to lend a hand in the inevitable ending of my bachelor pad. I really don't know how I could have done it otherwise. Thanks a million!


Where'd my room go?