If you don’t know what a Wii is, or why I have been so excited by it, please spend more time on the Internets. It’s a lovely place.
Fortunately Nintendo had the good sense to actually try and meet demand, unlike Sony, so with only minimal camping I managed to acquire one. It was worth it.
I don’t want to go into too much detail, simply because every other site on the internet has already done so, but Nintendo did right by this console.
It should go without saying that I procured Zelda on launch day along with my Wii. Spending the last two weeks playing through it the new controls just felt natural. It took me around 40 hours to beat the game and never did I find myself cursing the new controller, never did I find my wrist tiering of waiving the controller back and forth to attack. In fact I found myself enjoying the new interface; now when I became frustrated I could wave the controller harder when I needed to attack, as opposed to just button-mashing harder, which felt much more rewarding. Lets also not forget the ability to shoot things on screen by aiming at them. I’m really looking forward to Metriod after the small bits of FPS within Zelda.
Shortly after I buying it had a bunch of friends over to try out the multilayer games in Wii Sports. I’ve never seen people have so much fun flailing their arms around looking like morons. The time it took them to learn the controls was almost non-existent since the controls were always similar to how you would do said task in real life (bowling? swing your arm back. tennis? swing it like you’re holding a racket).
The games are fun, simple, and often innovative. The hype surrounding the Wii was justified.
Animated short someone did for their master’s thesis. I couldn’t resist the urge to make you watch it.
In my daily crawl of the intertubes I came across references to a group on Flickr called Six Word Stories. There I was introduced to a story by Hemingway:
Ernest Hemingway was once prodded to compose a complete story in six words. His answer, personally felt to be his best prose ever, was "For sale: baby shoes, never used." Some people say it was to settle a bar bet. Others say it was a personal challenge directed at other famous authors.
For some reason I find myself really taken by this concept. There is just something about conveying a story in as few words as possible that I can really appreciate. Each word is deliberate, planned; no fluff, no waste. I assume it has to do with my existing love of efficiency (it’s a coder thing).
Further digging around the ’tubes returned some others I really liked (although many not really as "true to concept" as Hemingway’s, they were still noteworthy). Figured I’d post em:
I couldn’t help but to try one myself: "Content detached, until he met her."
Filled with weddings, moving (not me for once though), and projects the past month has made that concept known as free time an elusive little beast. Nothing new, I guess.
Last Thursday the family plied into a van and made the long trek over to Ohio for my cousin’s wedding, making a brief stop on the way to pick up Amanda who wanted to tag along for the festivities (and possibly egg Ohio State for kicking Penn State’s arse in football the week before). The ride there was actually pretty painless even though the DVDs I burned for entertainment got scratched beyond usability (sure mom, put them on the floor where Nicky is sitting, they’ll be safe there). It helps when you can just curl up and sleep in the back seat and not worry about driving.
Friday was social day — I was asked to go out with The Guys and golf all day while The Girls went out shopping for various items needed for the wedding (like my aunt who didn’t have a dress). As such a good chunk of Friday was spent following a bunch of people I don’t know around in a golf cart while reading American Gods (by Neil Gaiman, good book so far). Late Friday night, during a small-ish family party at my uncle’s, Nicky (sister’s kid, four years old) decided Amanda was his girlfriend and she needed to break up with her current one. He was really crushing on her, and continued to throughout the weekend.
As I expected the reception after the wedding on Saturday was the highlight of the trip; with dancing, food, and open bar. The DJ used an iPod for all the music; I was very amused by this. While we were dancing together Nicky came up to Amanda and me, and with a dead-serious glare told me I needed to go find someone else to dance with. I wasn’t sure if I should laugh or worry he may attack my knee-caps so he could dance with his new girlfriend. He seems to do this with any girl I’m close to — he had a terrible crush on Arielle back in the day (at least back then he couldn’t tell me to get lost). Anywho the evening came and went too quickly and we were heading back to PA by the buttcrack of dawn the next morning.
I got back to my apartment in the evening to Isaac and all his stuff. Yeah, he moved in with me, oh how life is humorous (for those who forget I lived in his apartment for near a year late ’04 - ’05). We’re not quite sure how long he’ll be staying with me yet but it will be for at least a year though. I’m looking forward to it because it guarantees that I get access to plenty of good music, movies, and humorous web-links much quicker than if he was across town. Between the two of us the apartment is now home to over four terabytes (that’s 4,000 gigs for the non computer-savvy out there) of hard drive space. Huzzah!
Speaking of computers I replaced Robin (my G5 Power Mac). She served me well over the past few years, and was still performing at a speed I was happy with, but I needed a change of computer-lifestyle. With Isaac moving in things are a bit too cramped for two computer desks. In addition I’ve been getting tired of working at a computer for eight hours at work and then coming home just to sit at a desk all night chatting and surfing. I’d much prefer to spend the night on the couch reading and putting a computer in my lap when I need it. The solution is something I’ve been considering ever since I lived on a laptop in Japan: get a MacBook Pro.
So say hello to Lilith my new primary computer from which I type this post. She is a beautiful machine: 15" widescreen 2.16gHz Intel Core Duo. She can even boot into Windows (perish the thought of dirtying my hard drive with that!) if I ever need to run a VB Script (Windows-only programming language) or something along those lines for a client. Plus I can now play those games which don’t get ported to mac (which is becoming increasingly rare, but still happens, like Half Life 2).
As a result I’m selling my PowerMac (dual 1.8gHz G5s, 1 gig of ram, ATI 9800Pro SE) with its LCD (20" widescreen apple display). If you know anyone interested please let me know (hoping to get around $1k for it, which seems to be the going rate for my model + monitor on eBay). I’m sad to see her go, but happy to spread the mac-love to others.
I’ve taken up Aikido (martial art) at dojo that Craig is in (my manager from Circuit Shitty and fellow D&D dork). So far I’ve been enjoying the class, aside from the fact I keep screwing up my left-side rolls and therefore my shoulder is ready to mutiny. I could really use some mats at home so I could practice outside of class without the fear of being in even more pain when I screw up repeatedly.
Oh and I’ve upped my running to five miles on days I don’t have Aikido. I’m really surprised at how little that doubling of distance hurts me.
I must be in shape. WTF?
Amanda and I have started working on a little project — a web comic. If you remember last year I worked on coloring the Megatokyo strips to get comfortable with the CG process in photoshop. Based on the last one I did I think I’ve got at least a decent handle on that part, so now it’s time to move on to the non-digital aspect of the process: sketching. The comic is meant to force me to work on that aspect of my artwork (a part which I’ve never been that strong with, at least when needing to come up with my own characters and such). She’s going to be in charge of the writing and I’m the art bitch. Our humor and style seem to match up pretty nicely so I think it will be a good partnership.
We’re still in the very early stages of flushing out ideas and characters (although she is making notability more headway than I am, but hey she doesn’t have to draw!) so there isn’t really much to show just yet. I figure it’ll take me a month or so to get my sketching up to something usable and get all the characters designs figured out. I really want to force myself to make a lot of time for this in my schedule, because it’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time (get back into sketching, do my own thing with it) but never had a good reason to.
This of course will make that beast known as free time even harder to catch.
One of the few consistencies in my life seems to be moving. Since my freshman year of college I’ve managed to move at least once a year (not including the normal moving home over breaks that every college student endures). Keeping with tradition I’ve moved again; back to West Chester.
But first, we can’t forget about Tokyo.
(I apologize for the length of this post - I really shouldn’t have put off posting this for so long.)
The hotel arrangements were nice, aside from the travel agency lying to us about having internet in the room (save for the unsecured wireless network someone nearby had set up... arigato gozaimasu sir whoever you are). Getting around within the city on the rail system wasn’t nearly as bad as I had expected it to be. In fact, after using it for the week I’d probably prefer taking the railway instead of driving everyday to work.
Half of the week we spent walking around Tokyo as there was plenty to keep us entertained. To be expected Tokyo was filled with lots of sight-seeing opportunities - including the four-story Apple Store in the Ginza district, and Tokyo Tower.
The highlight for us though was Ahikabara (the technology district).
Like kids in a candy store, we spent an entire day walking around looking at all the technology and anime goodies the seven-story stores had to offer. Mike ended up buying $300 worth of game/anime soundtrack CDs that aren’t sold in the US (except for outrageous prices at Otakon). I travel half way around the world and what do I get? I Tachikoma model and a Macros Zero action figure. Yes, yes, I am a dork.
Since we weren’t planning on making trips to Tokyo a yearly thing, we figured we’d go all-out and schedule a few tours. The first of which was a tour of Kyoto (the old capital). We had to take the Shinkansen (bullet train) down the night before as Kyoto is a good two hours away and the tour started at 0800. It was a fun ride, great alternative to an airplane (cheaper and almost as fast). While Kyoto is just as modern as Tokyo is, a lot of the original structures from earlier eras still intact scattered throughout the city. The tour included going to Nijo Castle (old Shogun residence), Golden Pavilion (nice Japanese-style garden), Kyoto Imperial Palace, Heian Shrine, and the Kiyomizu Temple.
The second tour was of Mt. Fuji. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t quite as nice as the first day of tours we went on; it wasn’t raining, but the clouds did prevent us from seeing the top of the mountain. It was still worth it though; the tour took us up to the highest station you can reach by vehicle. It was up there that I got to see the only snow I’ve seen since last winter (the only down-side about going to Japan in January, I missed out on skiing).
If (when?) I go back I’m going to make it a point to hike to the top of Fuji, as it’s only supposed to take seven hours from that station (easily done in a day).
Upon returning to the states I was faced with the grim reality of needing to find a program to work for within Lockheed in a time period of about a month, or else I’d be let go. To Lockheed’s credit, most companies would just let you go right away instead of giving you a month to sit around and find a job.
Maryland was proving to be a bit dry for jobs within the company (government spending cutbacks hit hard in the DC area), so I was being asked to look elsewhere; specifically Virginia. Not a fan of having to move to yet another new state only a year after coming to Maryland I figured I’d see what else I could swing, perhaps up in Pennsylvania. Moving back home is better than moving to yet another unfamiliar state, right?
Coincidently while all this was going on Mike’s manager mentioned a need for people back up at the King of Prussia facility, and that he should pass my resume up to her if I was interested in a job back in PA. Within a week of getting back from Japan my resume had been bounced all around the management in KoP and one of the programs snagged me up to be a software developer for them.
Housing was fun for the first month back in the states. I lived in MD for a week, then moved back to Isaac’s couch while I apartment-hunted for three weeks, until I finally moved into my new apartment at Marchwood (the complex behind the Exton Diner). The apartment is much cheaper than the one I had in MD (not that it’s hard to be cheaper than anything found in MD), and it’s actually a bit nicer.
Life back here has been keeping me busy.
Almost immediately after I got back in the states Mike, Katie, Maura, Gerry and I went up to Canada to attend Anime North (anime convention). It was a good time, not as large as Otakon, but it was a fun way to spend the weekend. We stopped by Niagara Falls on the way back as I had never been there. I’d say I’m doing pretty well with the "travel more" goal I set.
All of us also went to Otakon in the beginning of August down in MD. I was forced to cosplay (dress up as) Wash from Firefly as we had others going as Simon (Mike), River (Amanda), and Kaylee (Maura). Going as Wash required hair bleaching which worked out much better than I expected. Not that I’ll be keeping the hair color, but it’s not a bad one. Isaac went as The Doctor (from Dr Who), specifically the Tom Baker (season 15) version. Maura made him a 17-foot replica of the scarf from the show, along with making me an awesome Jayne hat (from Firefly). The convention itself was reasonably fun, although most of the panels sucked this year. The anime music video contest however was the best I’ve seen in years. We stuck around until Sunday night as it was Maura’s birthday – which meant balloons and cake.
I quit World of Warcraft (oh no, say it ain’t so!). Yeah, I know, I didn’t see it coming either. While in Japan I made lots of headway to get to the "end of the game" (level 60). Once there all I could do is run instances five nights a week in order to get better gear. No more plot, no quests, just the same group of people running the same instances over and over hoping your ultra-cool armor or weapon drops. Obviously at this point the game stops being fun and becomes more like a job; although this one you have to pay a monthly fee to work at. I’d rather spend that two hours a night reading or being social with people I’ll actually meet in real life.
I picked up a Nintendo DS Lite, and I recommend you do the same. I was never a big fan of the original DS as it always felt too bulky and the screen was terribly lit. However the newer, much prettier, DS Lite coupled with the new games (New Super Mario Bros. and Tetris DS) forced me to pick up one. Email me if you have Tetris or Kart and want to exchange friend codes, I’m always looking for new people to kick the crap out of me.
Snakes on a Plane was a terrible, terrible movie; although I’m glad I saw it. I’m a bit concerned for the mental health of the person who came up with the idea and genuinely thought it’d be good.
The manga for Battle Angel Alita is much better than the anime, read it.
In a few more weeks I have another track meet, and then wedding for my cousin. On top of those social events I find myself with a pile of books recommendations tall enough to kill a small child (with many more to follow, I’m sure). I haven’t been this busy since senior year of college.
Truth be told though, it’s good to be back in PA.
I really should just move here. The food is great, awesome scenery, and I’m considered tall for the first time in...ever. That is of course until I go on the air force base; then its back to being short. Me feeling like I could kick Godzilla’s arse aside, this place rocks.
The island itself is, well, a mixture of many things. The southern half feels like one big tightly-packed cement city. You see, the Japanese are very smart when it comes to dealing with their yearly Katrinas. Instead of insisting on nice large wooden houses like we Americans, they build everything out of cement. Doesn’t fill the drive to work with many "ooh"s and "aahhh"s (aside from when they use odd combinations of bright paint), but it does save them a lot of flattened houses and money.
This savings translates to every car having some form of DVD player with GPS system, and every kid having a Gameboy DS – leaving very little room for caring about pretty houses. They know what’s important – the toys.
The northern half of the island isn’t that populated. It is however home to many of the cooler tourist attractions (aquarium, beaches, water falls, and parks). I didn’t get to see all of the stuff up north; it’s a bit of a drive. I did see the aquarium though, and damn it puts anything we’ve got state-side to shame. Only 15 bucks to get in and you get a dolphin show too, one with cute Geishas none-the-less. Eat that SeaWorld. The zoo wasn’t as impressive in terms of size, but they did have a wider variety of monkies then I’ve seen back home. And hey, you can’t go wrong with more monkeys.
Another highlight to the trip, aside from the many touristy-things I did, is the fact that I made the time to get Scuba certified and go diving. The water here as you would expect is much cleaner then what we call water back home, making the coral-reef just that much cooler. The classes were a bit annoying, such as making you constantly practice taking off your mask underwater (while the teacher grins smuggly at us), but well worth it.
Getting around the island is a lot easier then I expected. Surprisingly I never had any issues adjusting to the "driving on the wrong side of the road" concept. Only thing I did have problems with is that they also switch the side the turn signal and windshield wipers are on.
For the first few weeks anyone new gets here the windshield is always very clean.
We can’t forget the food; oh how I love the food. Most importantly it is amazingly cheap here. Going out to dinner costs me around $15 for what would run me at least $25 state-side. This means most tasties for less! My favorite sushi dishes from back home even taste better here. Of course it almost goes without saying that they have a much wider selection too. Many things I have never seen before, most of which I’m still playing "name that meat" with –
I do regret getting that question answered a few times.
Pig-snout aside, the food here is just so much tastier than the fried lard we call food back home. I went to dinner at Chili’s on-base with one of the other people here from Lockheed (one of the only times I’ve eaten American food here) and I found myself not liking what used to be my favorite dish there (cajun chicken burger).
I am so screwed when I get back to the states. I think its time to invest in a rice-cooker.
Work was very laid back; there wasn’t much that needed to be done around the building. As such this has been a great time to catch up on all the things I never seem to have time for back home: books, dvds, learning more Java, hell I’m even running 5k a day and working out.
Alas though my time here is coming to an end. At the end of the week I’m done with work. I’ll be heading to Tokyo on my way back though, Mike will be joining me there. Figure a nice six-day vacation on the mainland will be a great way to top this whole thing off. I’m still open for any suggestions on what to see while I’m there. We have come up with quite a few, Mt. Fuji and going to the city of Kyoto among them, but we do have six whole days to fill so keep those ideas coming.
