October 31, 2002
Halloween Pictures!!!
Well, not of anybody. Just thought you would enjoy this radar picture of the storm over us right now.
I hope I make it to work tomorrow. Accumulation is over 6 inches now.
Storm Tally 2
The storm tally for today is fairly light, as I only caught the beginning of the storm. Still, I have two items for your reading pleasure. One is from the end of my drive, the other is brought to you by the lovely and talented Alison, who saw it on her way home.
Sedan, ran stop sign and fell off the embankment on the other side. Prospect Blvd
4 SUV pileup, Timberline road.
Tomorrow should be a banner day for this feature, as it is slick out there tonight.
Happy Halloween!
It's Halloween again. That special time of the year that all the boys and girls get all decked out in fanciful costumes and prepare to gather monumental amounts of candy. Well, at least that's what's supposed to happen. This year, however, Mother Nature had other plans.
It's around 8'o'clock, and trick-or-treaters have yet to darken my doorstep. That's probably due to the 5 inches of snow that have accumulated in the last 5 hours. It could also be blamed on the temperature, which was 18 degrees, with 5 degree wind chill. In other words, welcome to Halloween in Colorado.
Still, good things can be found. Today, Andy from The World Wide Rant, celebrates his birthday. Happy Birthday, Andy!
And, to anyone unlucky enough to stumble upon this site, a fond Happy Halloween to you, too!
October 29, 2002
They must know the same dogs I know
Yes, I know, DailyP already hit this one, but in my opinion he missed the best one.
My owners' mood is
Romantic--I lie near their
Feet. I fart a big one.
This describes not only most of the dogs I know, but both of my cats. Cat owners out there, be warned... Do not change the kitties food from diet to regular at a time of the year that requires your windows be closed to conserve heat. Good God.
I accept that my sense of humour is, to put it charitably, juvenile. This one nearly made me shoot beer out of my nose.
Sweet video
Amon Tobin, a DJ of reknown, evidently (I'd never heard of him...), has a new video out on the net. Requires a fast pipe and Quicktime. It's a fairly sweet sampler mix, with an awesome video. I mean, come on. He's got a psychedelic Lamborghini, for Chrissake!
Now if I could just identify the other two cars... Ferrari F50? Maybe a Lotus?
Found via MetaFilter
Storm Tally 1
Well, we here in Colorado are getting snow. And ice. And some more snow. Woohoo.
However, everybody knows this already, which is why I'm going to try out a new feature. I call it "Storm Tally," and it will basically be a listing of all the people who didn't quite grasp the fact that snow, and indeed ice, are slippery.
You know who these people are. They are the people who automatically respond "Well, I have four wheel drive/anti-lock brakes!" when informed that the roads are in bad shape. The ones that don't understand the phrase "Too fast for conditions." The ones that proudly proclaim "I'm a good driver," in that indignant tone of voice that sets off warning bells in the heads of prospective passengers. In short, the people that we Coloradans see littered along the freeway like so many broken toys after every bit of winter weather.
Todays tally is a small one, as the weather didn't really kick in 'til afternoon. So, without further ado, here we go.
Morning:
One car, sideways through a barricade at Exit 229. Probable cause: High speed exit maneuver went horribly wrong.
Evening:
SUV: On its side, center median.
SUV: High centered on it's bumpers, center median.
Package Truck (Big, boxy thing): On its side, southbound I-25
Semi-Trailer: Stalled behind package truck
Jeep: Backwards, center median
SUV: Backwards, center median, rather large chunk of rear end missing.
SUV: Southbound I-25 shoulder, huge chunk of front end missing, 1/4 mile from previous SUV
Sedan: stalled, Northbound I-25 shoulder
SUV: Sideways in center median, no front end
Sedan: Sideway across northbound on-ramp, stalled
Budget rent-a-truck: Fell off road head-first, shoulder eastbound Harmony Blvd
There may have been more, but this will do for a start.
Disclaimer: I commute almost 100 miles a day to work, and see a LOT of accidents. I'm not doing this to make fun of people, and I'm well aware that I could end up on the list. So please, save the "There, but for the Grace of God, go I..." lectures.
I'm doing this for two reasons.
One, because the writing is good practice.
Two, because there's a chance, however small, that some complete stranger will read this, remember a word or two, and SLOW DOWN the next time we get hit with bad weather. I've seen enough accidents. One less would be awesome.
With that said, anyone who has any spectacular examples of bad driving or suggestions on how this could be more interesting, please drop me a comment.
October 27, 2002
Ooh, my head...
What a weekend. Hung-over out of my mind, and still not sure it all happened. God, my head hurts.
Executive summary -
Went to a Halloween party with Steve, met Tim Blair, drank waaay too much vodka, ate far too many Jello shots, generally acted like a fool, got 3 hours sleep, ate breakfast, got 3 hours more, ate dinner, and drove 2.5 hours home. Now, I'm trying to get this down before sweet, sweet slumber gathers me into its gentle embrace.
Highlights -
Partying with the VodkaMan and the VodkaBride. Always a good time to be had when these two are around. I laughed so much that my face feels like it's been ripped off, stretched over a basketball, and reinstalled with rusty nails and aircraft epoxy. Of course, that could be the hangover.
Tim Blair is a stud. Coming equipped with really bad wine, he proceeded to totally cement my absolute awe of him by drinking prodigous amounts of alcohol, consuming many Jello shots (there's a first time for everything, right?), and staying entertaining and witty despite these incumberances. Not only that, but he's a gearhead like I am, willing to spend hours discussing the finer points of hot rod bikes and cars. Truly a gentleman and a scholar.
An amazing weekend. Now, I think I'm going to go pass out.
G'night.
October 24, 2002
Upgrade
Just finished the upgrade to Movable Type 2.5. Actually, I just installed clean, as that seemed easier. Note the use of the word 'seemed.' It was actually kind of a pain.
If you saw any strange pages, or couldn't find the site, now you know why.
Little green footballs - MIA?
Can't get to LGF today. Was able to get there this morning, but now I'm getting "Cannot find server." Anyone else having this problem?
Also, can't get to WorldWideRant, but that has an easier explanation. An instalink is a beautiful thing, except when it crushes your server like a bug.
Update: He's back as of 2:30 my time. No foul play suspected.
October 18, 2002
The Pain!!!
Charles, over at Little Green Footballs, is the latest victim of the blogger broken molar. You might want to hop on over there and leave him a tip so he can get that thing fixed, cause if it's anything like mine, he's gonna be worthless until it's taken care of.
I'm speaking from experience here. It hurts.
October 16, 2002
I suck, redux
I've got the most amazing case of writers block, and can't seem to get anything out. So, in honor of my suckage, I give you this picture. I think it sums up my mood.
You're welcome.
And, Andy?
Phbbbbbbt
October 09, 2002
Drunken Late Night Posting: Part 1
I haven't been very good at keeping this thing going, and for that I apologize. However, I'm not sure that this is going to be an improvement... So, to my regular readers (Hi, Andy!), I offer this bit of alcohol-fueled insanity - a drunk review of Soldier of Fortune II! To clarify, this was brought on by me getting my butt royally kicked in UT:Tactical Operations by Andy and assorted twelve year olds earlier this evening.
If you're like me (which I hope is not the case, for your sake), you grew up on Wolfenstein, Doom, and Quake. If you're not the type to play first-person-shooters, I will attempt to fill you in. The goal is to kill. Kill faster, better, and stronger than the other players and/or computer.
Which brings me back to SOF II. The idea behind this game; the theme, if you will, is that you are a "military consultant" named John Mullins. The goal is to complete the missions that you are given, killing the enemies that you encounter, and save the world from bio-terrorism.
This theme is not terribly original, as most of the FPS games out there use some variation of this as their basis. What sets SOF II apart is the engine, which is disturbing at best, and gross at worst.
Most FPS games use the simple "blown to pieces" model, also known as gibs. You shoot your opponent with the rocket launcher, they either fall down dead or fly apart into dog food like chunks. Nothing that would be considered disturbing to most computer game junkies.
SOF II, on the other hand, uses two technologies: per pixel damage mapping, and something like 36 damage locations. In layman's terms, this means that, when you shoot an enemy, the spot you hit shows damage. Further, if you hit a vulnerable point, you can dismember enemies. This is where the "Ewwwww!" reaction comes in.
Gameplay is smooth, running well on my Geforce3 Ti500 equipped P3 800 (512mb RAM), at 1280x1024 with all details maxed. The game uses a modified version of
Visually, this game is stunning, with photo-realistic textures and beautiful lighting. Expect to spend the first few missions gawking at the scenery. Very nicely done.
What really makes this game different, as I mentioned above, is the damage modeling. When playing Quake or Doom, we'd joke about blowing one anothers heads off. Well, this game, you actually do that. As well as arms, legs, jaws, and so forth. SOF II offers a whole new level of realism to the FPS genre. Nothing quite like the feeling of dropping an enemy from a distance, walking up to the body, and noticing that half the head is missing, and you can identify which half. Or using the shotgun on an enemy, and blowing an arm or leg clean off, while they whimper and groan. Disturbing is an understatement.
If you have children, I would recommend you not buy this game, as it is emphatically unsuitable for anyone under the age of 25. If you don't, I highly recommend you buy this, as it is an addictive blend of strategy and balls-to-the-wall blasting.