Sky Signal
Posted on | January 22, 2008 at 9:40 am | 3 Comments
It occurs to me I have not updated my loyal out-of-town readership lately on the status of the Denver Digital TV Supertower, of which I wrote so many blog entries decrying the NIMBY (Not In My BackYard) mentality of the residents in the area. Looks like my last entry on the subject was way back here. About a year ago, the US Legislature passed a bill with bipartisan support ordering the tower to be built, and President Bush signed it into law. So that about wrapped it up for the foes of the tower, i.e. the residents of Lookout Mountain who bought their property knowing full well that they lived in a TV tower zone and that it wasn’t going to just go away no matter how much they opposed new construction. Opposing the new tower was especially ludicrous since the new one was going to replace several other ones that would be torn down, decreasing the footprint, visual pollution, and radio frequencies in the area. It’s like if you bought a house near an airport and then the airport people said they wanted to replace all the small runways with one long one which would have fewer planes taking off every day, and you opposed that. These people were just crazy. Of course their ultimate goal was to get all the towers off the mountain. But again, why would you even buy a house there in the first place if you didn’t like that? I just don’t get it. Those towers have been there forever.
But I digress. After some more local legal wrangling, construction on the new tower has begun in earnest. Updates on construction can be found here. It’s supposed to be done by this spring, though I’m not sure when it will actually be on line. Again, at this point I don’t really care that much, except that it’s a victory for common sense and for people who could only get HDTV over the air. The conversion to digital TV is supposed to happen by Feburary 2009, and it looks like Denver will actually be able to make the deadline this time. We are the last major market without high power, long range digital TV. I can get most of the local network stations in HiDef over the satellite (aside from the local CW affiliate), but it will be nice to be able to have the alternate means. Green Mountain blocks my path to Lookout Mountain somewhat, but I can still get the lower power existing DTV stations from there, so I should be able to get the high power ones when they come online.
Here’s a photo (click to embiggen) I took back in June 2006 when I drove up Lookout Mountain to take a look at the existing towers. I assume this will be torn down. I’ve got a whole bunch of photos from that trip that I never got around to putting on Flickr. I need to do that someday. And I’d like to ride up there again sometime soon and see if I can catch them constructing the new tower. The winding drive up that mountain is always a lot of fun and just the thing for a sunny Sunday afternoon.
Latre.
Bionic Dudes Can’t Jump
Posted on | January 21, 2008 at 9:34 am | 5 Comments
I have always been into videogames from the beginning, since the days of Pong and Computer Space and the Atari 2600. But there was nothing that captured my attention quite like the old 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Yeah, the graphics were crappy, especially by today’s standards, and the gameplay was pretty limited, but there was something magical about it. Who can forget the first time they played Super Mario Brothers? I remember my whole family was into it and when we had get-togethers at my place, my dad and my sisters would play along, and they even bought Nintendos for themselves.
But my all-time favorite NES game was Bionic Commando. It was different from most NES games. It wasn’t just straight action – there was a slight adventure/strategy element to it. You didn’t have to do the levels in a straight linear order. You had to gain intel to help you through certain areas. But the coolest thing about it was that the hero had a bionic arm with a grappling gun, which he would shoot at surfaces and use to swing through the game like a one-armed Spider-Man. And you really had to master that swinging skill, since the hero could not jump. If there was a barrel in front of him, he couldn’t jump or climb over it. He had to shoot the grappling gun at the ceiling, swing over the barrel, and land on the other side. So tasks that would be simple in other games required mastering different techniques in this game. It was just so much fun using that thing and swinging away through the levels.
I always hoped for a sequel. At one point, I tracked down a Game Boy version of it, but I don’t think I ever got all the way through it. It just didn’t have the same magic for me, and I remember it had some glitches that made things too difficult.
But finally, Capcom has announced not one, but two sequels to the game. The first is a full 3D version for the Next Gen (360, PS3) platforms. Watch the videos – it looks really cool. I think it may come close to replicating the experience of the original, but in a whole new dimension. I am really looking forward to this, and it’s another great reason for me to buy a PlayStation 3, which I’m still hoping to do soon.
The other sequel is a “reimagining” of the original game called Bionic Commando: Rearmed. It will be available for download on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade. It’s still a 2D side-scroller, but with 3D backgrounds and overall updated graphics and gameplay. It also looks really cool. Check out this trailer (which contains some gameplay from the original game at the beginning, to contrast with the remake). There’s also an interesting interview with the designers, where they explain the differences between the original and the remake.
2008 is going to be the year of the Bionic Commando, and I, for one, can’t wait. Why am I so excited about this? I’m like a little kid. Or a deranged adult, once again trying to relive his youth.
“Get the heck out of here you nerd!”
Latre.
Happy 4th Blogiversary To Me
Posted on | January 20, 2008 at 9:45 am | 6 Comments
Or Happy Blogday, or whatever. Today marks the 4th anniversary of my first blog entry. I started this blog on January 20th 2004, when it was called Distance, Redefined and was hosted off the Reign of Frogs domain (my band website). On Sept 6th 2005, it moved to its own flasshe.com domain and was renamed FlasshePoint.
And this is a total coincidence, but this is also my 600th post. Weird that it worked out that way. If I had not posted every day since Oct 30 2007, it would not be so. Little did I know my intention to keep up the streak would have that side effect. So… 600 posts in 4 years. That’s close to a post every 2.5 days on average. But I’ve always been a sporadic poster… compare this latest streak of 83 daily entries in a row with Summer 2007, where I wrote a whopping six posts in three months. Most of those four years are somewhere in between those two extremes. (Speaking of this streak, I’m still in a tight race with Steve, who has also been posting daily since 10/30/07 and who has just had his 1st blogiversary, to see who folds first and skips a day.)
In many ways, these last four years have been the most momentous in my life, especially the last two. In that time, I’ve had to deal with the reversal of the child/parent role and have had to take over the life of my father. I’ve lost some very dear friends and gained a very special someone. I feel like I’ve suddenly had to grow up fast after all these years. I’m not sure I like it, but it’s probably a good thing.
So what I have learned about blogging and about myself these last four years? I’ve learned that I like doing it a lot, but that it’s also a tremendous time-consuming chore and I get burned out on it every once in awhile. But I sure do love the results, even if no one else sees them. There’s nothing like looking at a pristine new blog entry at the top of the page, unencumbered by smartass InfK comments (kidding). I’ve also learned that I’m not really a writer, or cut out to be a writer, and I’m glad I didn’t try go into that profession. There are so many people (like all my blogging friends) who do it much better than me. But my writings are not totally without their charms. I crack myself up, at least, and that’s important.
I’ve also learned that you can write about absolutely anything and someone will be interested in it. I’ve learned that there are things I’d like to write about, but really shouldn’t in a public forum (sex, the job, bowel movements, the girlfriend, okra). I’ve learned that I like to lie (which is easier to do in writing than in person) and that I frequently get things wrong. I’ve learned that my friends are still my friends no matter what I write. I’ve learned that I can make new friends and reconnect with old ones through my blog. I’ve learned that my family really doesn’t care about what I have to say. I’ve learned that my words can be of needed comfort, and that’s the greatest feeling of all.
I’ve learned that I definitely need an outlet like this in my life, and that when I stop doing it for awhile, I get depressed.
So, hopefully, I’ll keep doing it. And hopefully you’ll still be along for the ride, and that I’ll pick up new riders.
Drink a beer for me and for FlasshePoint today. It’s the write thing to do.
And thanks for listening.
Latre.
Stop Winking At Me!
Posted on | January 19, 2008 at 7:49 am | 3 Comments
I’m tough enough to admit when I’ve been a moron. So it’s time to man-up and come clean. This post about the Impala taillights was really stupid. First of all, since I posted that entry, I’ve noticed that there are a heckuva lot of cars with round taillights. It’s pretty common, actually. I don’t know why I never really noticed them before or why those Impala ones really struck me the way they did – although I do think the Impala taillights are still the most interesting and unusual looking ones of the bunch. I like those irises in the middle.
Okay, I can live with myself for that kind of stupidity. But it gets worse. As I was driving to work a few days ago, I found myself behind a car with round taillights. And they even had little irises in the middle and looked kind of like the Impala lights. In fact, they looked the closest to those lights of any car I’d seen lately, though they weren’t as big.
And what was that car I was behind? It was an Acura RSX.
And what was the car I owned before I bought the Prius? A 2002 Acura RSX. Here’s a picture of the back of it:
Yeah, feeling really dumb right now.
But I do feel somewhat vindicated by the fact that none of you pointed this out to me.
Latre.
Tomorrow: Two milestones!
It’s A Commodore 6!
Posted on | January 18, 2008 at 6:15 am | 8 Comments
One of my favorite shows of the 90s was Mystery Science Theater 3000 (aka MST3K), which went from a local TV show on a Minnesota station, to a mainstay of the Comedy Channel / Comedy Central, and finally ended up on the SciFi Channel for its final seasons. It featured a man (originally Joel Hodgson, later Mike Nelson) trapped on a satellite in space by some mad scientists and forced to watch bad movies with his two robot friends, Tom Servo and Crow T Robot. The three of them were shot in front of the movies as silhouettes and would make comedic quips throughout the movie. Most of the movies were forgotten science fiction or horror d-movies, though there would be the occasional teenage rebellion flick or TV cop movie. It was a very funny show, although the premise kind of ran its course after awhile. Nevertheless, I managed to get most of the episodes on videotape. Frequent commentaur InfK and I initially met because we were both fans of the show and hung out on alt.tv.mstk3 (or whatever it was; I’m sure Ben will correct me). He was local at the time, instead of living on the other end of the world like he does now.
Anyway, the collective unconscious of the universe must have decided it was time to revive this premise, as there are no less than three groups of ex-MSTies now producing similar ventures. The first out of the gate was Rifftrax!, headed by Mike Nelson with help from Kevin Murphy (the second Tom Servo) and Bill Corbet (the second Crow). They produce downloadable audio tracks that sync with a DVD and make fun of the movie. The advantage of this is that they can riff on any movies, not just bad free ones in the public domain – no copyright hassles. The downside is that there’s no visual element – it’s like listening to an extra commentary track on the DVD. They’ve done a lot of movies. I really should check some out. I bet Star Wars Ep 1: The Phantom Menace is a hoot. And there’s always Star Trek V.
And then there’s the flash animated web-only MST3K series produced by original series producer Jim Mallon along with some other people from the show. I haven’t really dwelved into that, but I guess I should.
Finally, there’s Cinematic Titanic, which has the most fan-friendly pedigree of the lot, and which most closely matches the aesthetic of the original show. Creator Joel Hodgson returns with buddies in tow: Josh Weinstein (the first Tom Servo), Trace Beaulieu (the first Crow/Dr Forrester), Frank Conniff (TV’s Frank) and Mary Jo Pehl (original show writer/Pearl Forrester). The five of them watch bad movies and riff on them while you see their silhouettes off in the lower corners of the screen. They are self-distributing their efforts as a series of DVDs, the first of which, The Oozing Skull, has just been released. I purchased it and recently watched it.
The movie is an extremely low budget horror/science fiction romp about a brain-switching experiment gone horribly wrong. There’s a lot of chase scenes, and the final third of the movie or so has many of the principles wandering around in the California (?) hills for no good reason. The “monster” had some of the worst makeup I’ve ever seen – they didn’t even bother to glue his skullcap on completely in the back. It’s perfect fodder for this sort of mockery. The comments by the gang are as witty as ever, and it definitely brings tears of nostalgia to my eyes. Having five voices instead of three gets a bit confusing and manic at times, especially if you’re trying to figure out who is saying what. It hues pretty closely to the MST3K formula without the backstory and out-of-theater skits, though they will occasionally stop the movie in order to riff longer on a single frame, and to use props and guest actors in what appear to be minor attempts at in-theater skits. There are no robots/puppets though, and that’s a shame.
It’s all well done, and I recommend it to fans of the show. Nevertheless, I do feel the concept doesn’t have a lot of life left in it and I was bored from time to time. The movie was a bit too dull and though it was awful, it was maybe not quite awful enough, if you know what I mean. But hey, it’s hard to try to find the next Manos: The Hands of Fate.
Pet Peeve of the Day:The Cinematic Titanic DVDs are distributed sans packaging. All you get is the disc. Really. In a tyvek sleeve that’s also the mailing envelope. The screen printing on the disc is well done though. I know they’re trying to save costs and all, but when I pay some $15.94 for a DVD, I want a little something more to show for it. Also, there are no extras on the disc. The menu has only “Play Movie” and “Chapters”. I would’ve liked at least a little interview with the creators. Maybe next time.
Latre.
Buses Are Terrific
Posted on | January 17, 2008 at 6:15 am | 5 Comments
In an effort to alleviate the intense fear of buses I’ve had ever since I ran into one, I decided to ride the bus to work yesterday. (Well, actually, two buses. It’s kind of cool – they have this thing called a “transfer”, which the driver of the first bus hands you when you pay him, and which you show to the driver of the second bus so that you don’t have to pay again. If only music collections could be shared through a similar system.) And then after work I rode two more buses back home! It was a 4-bus day!
Anyway, my reasons for doing so were many (aside from the getting-over-the-fear thing):
- With the price of gas these days, and the fact that I’m now driving a rental car that gets 24 mpg, it’s actually cheaper to take the bus to work than to drive. (Not so with the Prius, unless you count wear-and-tear.)
- I wanted to see how it was done and to get familiar with the system in case I was ever temporarily car-less, or as an alternative to driving to work on a bad snow day. (Although on really bad days, I can just work from home.)
- I wanted to get familiar with the routes so I could impart the info to N in case she needed to ride the bus out here or back at some point.
- Saving the environment and all that hoo-haa.
- I enjoy people-watching in new environments.
- Some of my co-workers do it and I wanted to see what all the excitement was about.
- I wanted to see if it was possible to get things done while riding on the bus (listening to music, reading, sleeping, etc). Turns out that’s kind of difficult with the cramped seating, or if you’re not acclimated to the route and are trying to pay attention to when to disembark and all that.
- I wanted to support the system and encourage more mass transit and line expansion. They are building some light rail lines closer to my area of town, but they won’t be done for years.
I decided to do the Local route rather than the more-expensive Express route, even though I’m pretty sure that the Express would get me close to work without having to do a transfer. (Both buses stop within a block of my house.) I wanted the full-on bus-riding experience. I live on the edge like that. It’s just how I roll. I choose a day to ride when one of my co-workers who lives near me (same bus stop) was taking the bus and could edumacate me in the ways of mass transit. Oh, it’s not like I’m totally befuddled when it comes to that – I have rode the light rail quite often, and I even took the bus downtown to work for several months in the late 80s. But there’s always unknowns in the system and I figured it would be best to have someone show me the ropes my first time out. Plus, she leaves work earlier than I do, so I would have a chance to fly solo on my way back.
I wish we could’ve chosen a better day for it. It was bitter cold with a wind chill factor that dropped the apparent temperature down into the single digits or below zero. And it was snowing at the first bus stop, although the city was clear. So waiting around at the stop was far from fun. Luckily, I only had to wait a maximum of 10 minutes or so on both trips.
The experience was neither pleasant not unpleasant – it just was. It was nice to leave the driving to someone else. Although in the case of the first bus driver, that someone else was in a pretty bad mood. At one point, she even refused to open up the door for a late runner, who then ended up smacking the side of the bus with his newspaper. I couldn’t blame him.
There was a sign inside one of the buses that had something to do about treating water right, and there was a bullet point that said “Be sure to tell all your friends to ride the bus and learn about storm drains”. I tried to take a cell phone picture of it, but it didn’t come out:
I couldn’t quite figure it out, but it was a fascinating diversion. There were even some dorky mascots on it (”Joe and Flo” or something).
Oh wait! I found the website.
It took me a little over an hour each way for the bus ride, though that doesn’t count the initial time spent waiting at the bus stop at the beginning of each trip. I assume that time could be cut down by timing things better in the future. I didn’t get lost or take the wrong bus, so that was a plus. I didn’t have to walk far or wait long for the connecting bus either way, though I did almost miss the one on the way home. It was a tight connection. But even if I had missed it, due to some weirdness in the routing, I probably could’ve caught the same bus two blocks away five minutes or so later. My co-worker has done that.
The morning buses got pretty full up, but weren’t quite standing room only. The evening buses weren’t quite as full. I never had any trouble finding a seat. I was carrying my big backpack with the laptop in it, and that combined with the small close-together seats on the bus did make things a little tight. I probably could’ve done some reading, but it would’ve been uncomfortable. I was glad that I’ve consolidated everything into a single backpack, rather than the separate backpack and laptop case I used to carry around.
When I’m on a bus, I’m always wondering which of the people on it are riding the bus because they have to, and which are doing it because they want to. I suppose there’s a part of me that feels smugly superior that I’m riding it even though I don’t have to, but I hope I’m not looking down on the others. I can foresee circumstances where I could be in the same position. You can never tell what the future may bring, no matter how many tarot card readings you do.
One grave miscalculation I made is that I drank a lot of water before leaving work, and forgot that buses don’t have restrooms. When I got home, I had to throw everything on the floor and make a mad dash for the bathroom.
So… will I do it again? Probably. I don’t know if I’ll make a regular thing out of it, but I’m sure there will be some sporadic bus rides now and again.
Pet Peeve of the Day:On the trip home on the bus, I did pull out my iPod (my oldest one, the 3rd Gen 30GB touchwheel), only to have it run out of battery power immediately. I don’t understand that, since it had been fully charged from sitting in the iHome all night, and I only listened to it for less than an hour at work. It’s old, and the battery must be dying. Or maybe the coldness sucked the life out of it. Or maybe the new headphones I bought do suck the power at an extraordinary rate like they say. Bummer. There is no end of iPod problems for me. I guess that’s what you get with devices designed to be obsolete. At least I was able to switch to my PDA, which had a few “emergency” albums on it.
Jogged Today: No way, it’s below zero with the wind chill; even colder than yesterday.
Latre.
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