Call me Bob Vila, because I just fixed up this old house.
My dad came down today and helped me pick out some toilets at Home Depot (got two for $200... not bad, all things concidered) and then showed me how to properly install them without having 2 feet of water in the living room. Yay!
I even got a nice comfy seat for Julie's toilet so her bum won't get cold in the middle of the night. I'm so sweet :)
Friday, November 07, 2003
Thursday, November 06, 2003
Since I keep recommending books these days, I have to give a hearty 2 eyes open to the book I'm reading now.
Dungeons & Dreamers: The Rise of Computer Game Culture From Geek to Chic.
It's what it says, a history of computer games and the culture of gaming, both computerwise and pen & paper roleplaying. It's pretty snappy and has lots of neat anecdotes. While I enjoy it because I grew up gaming like a lot of the people in the book did, it's also an interesting insight into why people game and how geeks like me think :)
It does focus mainly on Richard Garriot, aka Lord British, who founded Origin Systems and made the Ultima RPG games amongst others. However, it ranges all over the place with stories about Gary Gygax, Warren Spector and others.
Go read it.
This means you, Liam. I think you'd really get into the book. Plus everyone else out there who wants to have a glimpse into how my brain works (at least partially) would get a kick out of it, as half the stuff in the book describes me and my relationship to games while growing up!
The sad thing is that if you put someone from Wired and someone from CNet together at a keyboard, they can actually write an interesting book. There are a few wierd phrasings that may be either sloppy editing or lack of writing skill, but on the whole it's pretty good.
Dungeons & Dreamers: The Rise of Computer Game Culture From Geek to Chic.
It's what it says, a history of computer games and the culture of gaming, both computerwise and pen & paper roleplaying. It's pretty snappy and has lots of neat anecdotes. While I enjoy it because I grew up gaming like a lot of the people in the book did, it's also an interesting insight into why people game and how geeks like me think :)
It does focus mainly on Richard Garriot, aka Lord British, who founded Origin Systems and made the Ultima RPG games amongst others. However, it ranges all over the place with stories about Gary Gygax, Warren Spector and others.
Go read it.
This means you, Liam. I think you'd really get into the book. Plus everyone else out there who wants to have a glimpse into how my brain works (at least partially) would get a kick out of it, as half the stuff in the book describes me and my relationship to games while growing up!
The sad thing is that if you put someone from Wired and someone from CNet together at a keyboard, they can actually write an interesting book. There are a few wierd phrasings that may be either sloppy editing or lack of writing skill, but on the whole it's pretty good.
This post is aimed primarily at Yvette & Noel.
One last thing I saw today on my way to teach a bunch of n00bs how to type (which I did before watching Revolutions) was an election lawn sign.
But not any lawn sign.
Nope. This one declared, in big bold letters....
VOTE STOATE
Hee hee... sure it's not the proper spelling of stoat, but still, you've gotta love it.
One last thing I saw today on my way to teach a bunch of n00bs how to type (which I did before watching Revolutions) was an election lawn sign.
But not any lawn sign.
Nope. This one declared, in big bold letters....
VOTE STOATE
Hee hee... sure it's not the proper spelling of stoat, but still, you've gotta love it.
I also enjoyed watching the movie and looking for things that had been predicted by various websites as to how everything would wrap up. I will say that most of the things on the various sites don't occur in Revolutions, at least not as blatantly as predicted. Watching Revolutions with some of the theories devised by these nuts did make me wonder about a few aspects of the movies.
Arg. I want to say more, but I want everyone to get to see it first. Then I can spout my crackpot theories and not get anyone mad.
Arg. I want to say more, but I want everyone to get to see it first. Then I can spout my crackpot theories and not get anyone mad.
I just got back home from The Matrix: Revolutions.
I loved it. Hugo Weaving r0x0rs. Keanu may or may not say, "Woah."
Granted, when it was over a) I was sad the trilogy was over, per se and b) I did have some things that niggled at me. However, when all is said and done, it is a great movie and really it and Reloaded are one big movie (duh).
While Reloaded can stand on its own, Revolutions can't. Maybe that's what bugged me about it.
Also, when I first walked out I thought that the biggest problem was that it didn't really have a set piece like the lobby scene in The Matrix or the car chase from Reloaded, but then when I thought about it a wee bit later, I realized there are a bunch of set pieces in Revolutions just as great as those ones, it's just that they're hidden a little more.
And not to spoil anything, but this one doesn't spend a lot of time in the actual Matrix. It's mostly a very futuristic war movie more than anything. But man, what a war!
I won't say anything else here until everyone's had time to go see it. Despite the things I said above, I still loved it and would love to see Reloaded and Revolutions back to back. Mmmm... I also highly recommend that you go watch Reloaded and The Animatrix again, and it couldn't hurt to play through Enter The Matrix just to get every last little detail that will be mentioned in Revolutions.
[sarcasm]Oh, and can YOU spot the religious symbolism in Revolutions? [/sarcasm]
Go see the movie and then I can talk to people about it. That's the worst thing about going to a movie alone. Nobody to compare things with afterwards.
I loved it. Hugo Weaving r0x0rs. Keanu may or may not say, "Woah."
Granted, when it was over a) I was sad the trilogy was over, per se and b) I did have some things that niggled at me. However, when all is said and done, it is a great movie and really it and Reloaded are one big movie (duh).
While Reloaded can stand on its own, Revolutions can't. Maybe that's what bugged me about it.
Also, when I first walked out I thought that the biggest problem was that it didn't really have a set piece like the lobby scene in The Matrix or the car chase from Reloaded, but then when I thought about it a wee bit later, I realized there are a bunch of set pieces in Revolutions just as great as those ones, it's just that they're hidden a little more.
And not to spoil anything, but this one doesn't spend a lot of time in the actual Matrix. It's mostly a very futuristic war movie more than anything. But man, what a war!
I won't say anything else here until everyone's had time to go see it. Despite the things I said above, I still loved it and would love to see Reloaded and Revolutions back to back. Mmmm... I also highly recommend that you go watch Reloaded and The Animatrix again, and it couldn't hurt to play through Enter The Matrix just to get every last little detail that will be mentioned in Revolutions.
[sarcasm]Oh, and can YOU spot the religious symbolism in Revolutions? [/sarcasm]
Go see the movie and then I can talk to people about it. That's the worst thing about going to a movie alone. Nobody to compare things with afterwards.
Wednesday, November 05, 2003
Oh, one last thing I just got a chuckle out of.
The end of the book I'm reading, The Secret House, is about how to end a dinner party. The author has gone on about the science of day to day stuff in the house for the entire book and has been funny, but more or less normal.
I guess he was just not a big fan of dinner parties or something because the whole segment of ending a dinner party is almost surreal. First he states that one option for getting away from boring guests is to start howling like a madman and then jump out the window. After that, he goes on for about 4-5 pages about the various ways to kill your guests, starting with the most statistically likely (falling in the UK, getting them to clean your loaded gun in the US) and then going further afield for some of the more unlikely methods of death (having them stand outside for a few billion years to wait for a meteorite to hit them).
Still, it was pretty funny.
The end of the book I'm reading, The Secret House, is about how to end a dinner party. The author has gone on about the science of day to day stuff in the house for the entire book and has been funny, but more or less normal.
I guess he was just not a big fan of dinner parties or something because the whole segment of ending a dinner party is almost surreal. First he states that one option for getting away from boring guests is to start howling like a madman and then jump out the window. After that, he goes on for about 4-5 pages about the various ways to kill your guests, starting with the most statistically likely (falling in the UK, getting them to clean your loaded gun in the US) and then going further afield for some of the more unlikely methods of death (having them stand outside for a few billion years to wait for a meteorite to hit them).
Still, it was pretty funny.
Well, I'm off to watch The Daily Show. It's so nice that a Canadian channel has finally picked this up. If you haven't seen it, it's essentially The Weekend Report segment of Saturday Night Live only it's half an hour long and actually good (and funny).
Last night they did a segment on the Do Not Call list for getting telemarketers to leave you alone, but they were concerned because then the 'H-h-h-h-h-hot!' (their words, not mine) telemarketer they were interviewing would lose her job, and that would be sad. The best part was the guy they had doing the interview. He had some great lines like, "What floor do you live on? BECAUSE I WANT TO KNOW WHERE YOU GET OFF!" and so forth.
Hee hee.. it was funny.
Last night they did a segment on the Do Not Call list for getting telemarketers to leave you alone, but they were concerned because then the 'H-h-h-h-h-hot!' (their words, not mine) telemarketer they were interviewing would lose her job, and that would be sad. The best part was the guy they had doing the interview. He had some great lines like, "What floor do you live on? BECAUSE I WANT TO KNOW WHERE YOU GET OFF!" and so forth.
Hee hee.. it was funny.
Tuesday, November 04, 2003
And I'm taking Thursday off this week so after my shift tomorrow, I'm just going to go over, watch Revolutions and then I'm ON VACATION! WOOP WOOP! I haven't had a real vacation since January, and even then it was a painting vacation. This time I can actually go away, relax and not do work (beyond the toiletectomy and wall painting going on this coming weekend).
Phew.
We're going up to Sir Sam's Resort up near Haliburton. It'll be nice, and Julie's even buying me a massage. Hopefully they won't tickle me to death.
Phew.
We're going up to Sir Sam's Resort up near Haliburton. It'll be nice, and Julie's even buying me a massage. Hopefully they won't tickle me to death.
I spent some time this morning before work playing Call of Duty. Holy jumpin'!
What an amazing game. I finished the initial American campaign and have just started the British one. It's insane how intense the game gets. I actually have been finding myself turning it off after about 20 minutes or so of play just to get a breather as the firefights are so crazy that I am holding my breath while I pour round after round into the encroaching Nazi horde...
And I'm just in the first part of the game. From what I've read, the REAL action is in Stalingrad... sigh.
What an amazing game. I finished the initial American campaign and have just started the British one. It's insane how intense the game gets. I actually have been finding myself turning it off after about 20 minutes or so of play just to get a breather as the firefights are so crazy that I am holding my breath while I pour round after round into the encroaching Nazi horde...
And I'm just in the first part of the game. From what I've read, the REAL action is in Stalingrad... sigh.
Ai yai yai!
It was especially crazy foggy tonight on the drive home. Granted, the drive to work was almost pea soup consistancy, but at least once I got down the escarpment into Georgetown and Brampton it was mostly gone as well as the fact that the drive to work took place when it was light out.
The drive home was almost worse than the drive the other day. Thankfully there weren't any chuckleheads with their brights on behind me the whole way like Sunday night, but still... yeesh! I think I went about 60 Km/h the whole way instead of the usual 80-100...
But I love this weather, driving heebie-jeebies aside.
It was especially crazy foggy tonight on the drive home. Granted, the drive to work was almost pea soup consistancy, but at least once I got down the escarpment into Georgetown and Brampton it was mostly gone as well as the fact that the drive to work took place when it was light out.
The drive home was almost worse than the drive the other day. Thankfully there weren't any chuckleheads with their brights on behind me the whole way like Sunday night, but still... yeesh! I think I went about 60 Km/h the whole way instead of the usual 80-100...
But I love this weather, driving heebie-jeebies aside.
Monday, November 03, 2003
I wanted to play Call of Duty tonight, but I got sidetracked talking to someone online and now it's too late. Oh well. I'm home early tomorrow so I'll play it then.
Amazing game though, what little I've played. I am about 5 minutes into the first level and was astounded by the craziness going on around me even then ;)
Amazing game though, what little I've played. I am about 5 minutes into the first level and was astounded by the craziness going on around me even then ;)
I was watching Venture tonight and they are doing a neat thing called, "Back To The Floor" for the next few weeks. They take the CEO's and presidents of major corporations and send them back to the bottom of the corporate ladder to see if they can actually do what their company expects of the grunts on the floor.
Tonight they did the segment on the Delta chain of hotels and it was neat to see the boss of the entire chain busy scrubbing toilets and getting yelled at by the chef when he didn't ladle out the soup fast enough. Even more impressive was that after 3 days of this he actually went back to the boardroom and had a lot of things he wanted to change to help make life better for the grunts as well as improve the chain on the whole.
I think a lot of businesses would benefit if the people running the joint would spend 2-3 days a year going back to the frontlines and getting their hands dirty so that they could see firsthand what policies work and what don't and maybe come up with new ideas.
Tonight they did the segment on the Delta chain of hotels and it was neat to see the boss of the entire chain busy scrubbing toilets and getting yelled at by the chef when he didn't ladle out the soup fast enough. Even more impressive was that after 3 days of this he actually went back to the boardroom and had a lot of things he wanted to change to help make life better for the grunts as well as improve the chain on the whole.
I think a lot of businesses would benefit if the people running the joint would spend 2-3 days a year going back to the frontlines and getting their hands dirty so that they could see firsthand what policies work and what don't and maybe come up with new ideas.
Well, I finished the fascinating and highly recommended The Life Of Pi on Saturday and started reading another fascinating book called The Secret House. It's by David Bodanis who also wrote E=MC2: A Biography... It's a very neat and often humourous look at all of the various science that occurs at often microscopic levels in and around the average house on a normal day.
Just the descriptions of what is in margarine is enough to make me never want to eat it again (not to mention the fact that I already HATE margarine). There's an entire portion devoted to the science behind why chips are crispy and the reasons that the bags are hard to open and the chips never fit in your mouth. It's filled with reams of these little tid-bits that make a lot of sense once you read them but you just never think about them in your daily life.
The section I'm on now is devoted to that most beloved of all household objects (at least in my mind):
The microwave.
Go read it if you want a fun and rather easy to read book about stuff around the house.
Just the descriptions of what is in margarine is enough to make me never want to eat it again (not to mention the fact that I already HATE margarine). There's an entire portion devoted to the science behind why chips are crispy and the reasons that the bags are hard to open and the chips never fit in your mouth. It's filled with reams of these little tid-bits that make a lot of sense once you read them but you just never think about them in your daily life.
The section I'm on now is devoted to that most beloved of all household objects (at least in my mind):
The microwave.
Go read it if you want a fun and rather easy to read book about stuff around the house.
Sunday, November 02, 2003
UG!
It was crazy foggy on the drive home tonight. My 30 minute drive took at least 45-50 minutes. Bleh.
Granted, I like crazy foggy nights. The UG! and Bleh. are from the moron in the van who decided to drive right on my bumper (granted, that may have just been because the fog was so thick you could only see to the end of your headlights and that's why he was so close) from just outside of Brampton all the way to Limehouse, which is almost home for me.
I hate people who drive behind me at night. I like night driving, but not when I have dopes with bright headlights right behind me.
It was crazy foggy on the drive home tonight. My 30 minute drive took at least 45-50 minutes. Bleh.
Granted, I like crazy foggy nights. The UG! and Bleh. are from the moron in the van who decided to drive right on my bumper (granted, that may have just been because the fog was so thick you could only see to the end of your headlights and that's why he was so close) from just outside of Brampton all the way to Limehouse, which is almost home for me.
I hate people who drive behind me at night. I like night driving, but not when I have dopes with bright headlights right behind me.
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