Archive for January, 2004

30
Jan

Prince of Awesomeness

I finished Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time last night. Mel got it for me for Xmas, but because my XBox’s DVD drive was dying I’d put it aside for a while. I bought a new laser for the drive on ebay (for about $30), installed it myself and it’s like a brand new machine.

But back to Prince of Persia — wow, what a game. The Penny Arcade guys had mentioned the ending was “masterful” but I was worried that I’d expect too much and be dissappointed. I wasn’t.

And the gameplay was great too, with very few frustrating bits that annoy me and make me give up on other platformers. The combat is fast, agile and fun and the running and jumping parts are wickedly cool.

Top marks, A++

Now, on to Beyond Good & Evil.

19
Jan

Weekend Report

A pretty lazy weekend, but enjoyable nonetheless.

Introduced Pink to Tequila shooters, which worked out well for her (as you can read on her blog — no puking, which for her is a surprise!)

Mel’s monitor died on Sunday. She’d been using my old Dell 21″ monitor that we knew wasn’t going to last long, and it finally crapped out forcing her to go back to the 14″ she’d been using prior to the hand-me-down. Turns out she got spoiled and now finds that too small, so we did some price-searching online, and decided that Future Shop actually had good prices for decent 19″ monitors.

We went in, I pointed out the Samsung 955DF model we wanted to the salesman, and prepared for him to offer the Extended Service Plan. He didn’t. He did point out they didn’t have one in stock but I could order it and it would arrive by about Thursday, and that was fine. He also couldn’t figure out how to ring it up at his local terminal and left to get help.

Five minutes later, he fetches us, brings us up to the helpdesk and says he can do it there as soon as the girl is done with that terminal.

I joked “In other words, you don’t know how to do it and she does.”

He responds “Not true!” with a grin, and then proceeds to fumble through ringing up our purchase and finally a different girl behind the counter stands behind him and tells him which buttons to press to get it done.

But hey, on the plus side, he didn’t ask if I wanted the Extended Service Plan!

Oh, and this reminds me — on Saturday the doorbell rang, which is an odd occurance because our friends just open the door and shout “Hello”. I opened it and a young guy with a bag of some product is standing in front of me. He’s got two spray bottles out and holds them at me as he begins his spiel. I don’t even listen and I say “No” and wait for him to thank me for my time and leave. Instead he adds “I just want you to see what it is, see…” and I say “No” again, a bit more forcefully.

“I just want you to see that…”

This time I stepped forward, fixed him directly in the eye and glared and said in my firmest “Bad dog!” voice, “NO.” and then shut the door on him.

What is it with these jackasses? Does this sales approach actually work? All it did with me was make me angry.

Bah.

But still, a good weekend.

13
Jan

Books You Need To Read

I’ve been talking literature with Gored the past few days, both when we had lunch and then over MSN later that day and continuing through to today (not in a row — sleeping was involved in between) and I’ve decided that I need to give my blog readers (both of you) a list of books that I consder Must Reads. I’ll start with the obligatory Gaiman books and move on from there.

The Sandman (the entire series, available in TPB format)
Good Omens
American Gods
Ender’s Game
Snow Crash
The Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan
Ringworld
Dune
Harry Potter (all of them — they start great and get better!)
The Naked Ape by Desmond Morris
Elric of Melnibone
Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart
The Foundation Trilogy

I’m sure there’s more. When I remember them, I’ll append the list. If you know me, you know my memory is crap.

Additions:
Neuromancer

12
Jan

I told you I was a Bright.

I am an Intellectual



Which America Hating Minority Are You?


Take More Robert & Tim Quizzes
Watch Robert & Tim Cartoons


12
Jan

Standard Canadian Activities #6

Mel, Dave Schneider, Jim Allison and I went ice-skating last night. The last time I’d skated was about eight years ago when some friends and I rented the ice to play some hockey. Before that I used to live down by Twin Rinks and I skated every weekend, so my body has some memory of skating skill.

What I don’t remember is my skates causing my arches a lot of pain. I’ve always had a fairly big arch in my feet, but last night the skates I’ve owned for at least a dozen years were causing me a lot of pain by trying to flatten my feet.

Still, it was fun, and I managed to ignore the pain long enough to remember how to skate. I think I’ll be out to buy some new skates with arch support and do this more often.

This winter season has been pretty sedentary for me, so I need to find a few athletic activities to do or I’ll slide back to my pre-Body-For-Life weight, and nobody wants that.

01
Jan

Also, I can read minds, so this really REALLY fits.

Saw this on Jim’s Weblog

professor x
You are Professor X!

You are a very effective teacher, and you are very
committed to those who learn from you. You put
your all into everything you do, to some extent
because you fear failure more than anything
else. You are always seeking self-improvement,
even in areas where there is nothing you can do
to improve.


Which X-Men character are you most like?
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