Failed Attempt at a Speed Run

Posted on 31st March 2011 in Something Daily

When I miss a day of blogging, it’s pretty often for one of two reasons. Either I’m working really hard and obsessively on something and I let it carry me into the evening without looking back, only to realize at 1:30 AM that I didn’t write today, or I’m video gaming. Somewhat predictably, yesterday was the latter – I foolishly attempted a speed run of Ocarina of Time in one sitting. This is of course something that I’ve tried before, and, historically, it’s always had the same outcome. I start off so enthusiastic, celebrate when I finish the Deku Tree in ten minutes, get annoyed by the long interval between that and Dodongo’s Cavern, and push doggedly onward until about the point where I get the horse. At that point, about halfway through the forest temple, I get really sick of it and I’m forced to quit. Maybe it’s too long of a game to do in one sitting – I mean I literally tried to do it in one sitting, like I didn’t stand up at all. My legs were starting to go numb, which is bad. The experience of failing at the one-sitting run of OoT yet again just makes me want to eventually do it even more. I think it’ll happen one day, I just need to really have nothing else to do, and be willing to stay up all night. And a treadmill or something. But if I can watch all of the Lord of the Rings movies in a day, I can certainly do this. So that’s why i didn’t write yesterday.

On the topic of my developing website, I today implemented a tagging system for the entries in the gallery of creative work I’m including on the site, which the user can use to filter the list by any of a set of chosen criteria. I’m learning PHP very well during this process, and it also occurred to me that it could be a very viable option for me to do freelance web design jobs for extra money. So I’m going to start getting my name out there, which will be made a lot easier once I have a site to show for myself. Coming soon – probably within the next week or two. Not probably, definitely.

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An Incomplete List of Movies and Music that have Made Me Cry

Posted on 19th January 2011 in Something Daily

I don’t know if I’ll ever get tired of listening to Enema of the State. I don’t listen to Blink-182 for the middle-school nostalgia, despite the fact that that would be a great excuse. I actually got into them just before coming to school. Pop-punk is sweet, don’t worry about it. I like how shiny and ‘produced’ Blink sound on that album, like that one Sum 41 album that has “Fat Lip” on it, and Dookie by Green Day. Those have the sound that I love, and the whiny teenage lyrics that I don’t really care about pretending not to love. I mention this because, as i sit here in my parents’ dining room, my laptop, trackball, and external drives spread out around me, typing whatever pops into my head, I am blasting the previously mentioned Blink-182 album in my earbuds and mentally adding a major 3rd harmony to every single vocal line, because even if it’s not ‘there’, it’s still there – and if it’s not, it should be. It’s not like I have any big memories attached to Enema, I guess it’s just the feeling. – I just noticed that at the beginning of “The Party Song”, you can hear Mark saying “here we go, motherfuckers”. As I mentioned, this album will never get old to me.

Also, the Green Day American Idiot broadway show was fairly rad. I don’t know if it’s still running, but I liked it when I saw it back in September. I cried a little bit during the title song.

  • Also at the end of the Peter Jackson King Kong movie, when the planes keep shooting him and his girlfriend is freaking out;
  • also during the Extras finale when Ricky Gervais looks right at the camera and apologizes to Maggie;
  • also at about six different points throughout the Lord of the Rings trilogy, including “You shall not pass!” and Theoden’s pep talk before the battle of Pelennor Fields where he hits everybody’s spears with his sword;
  • also the first section of “Echoes” from Pink Floyd’s Live at Pompeii;
  • also when Largeman and Sam kiss in the rain to Simon and Garfunkel in Garden State;
  • also at the part in the live version of “And You and I” where the build ends and they go to the “I listened hard but could not see” section;
  • also the second verse of Yes’ “Sound Chaser” from Relayer

That’s enough for now; seriously, I could go on.

I have this bad habit of getting totally obsessed with a project until it’s finished. It happened a few weeks back when I reworked my automatic data backups, and when I thought I was going to get totally into drawing, both to varying degrees. Something similar happened this morning when I got it in my head that today was the day I would finally draw the new header for this website. I worked from about 11 AM to 6 PM without stopping or eating, scanning each section of this new monstrosity separately, eventually creating this…thing right here.

I think it looks wonderfully homebrewed. We’ve got a stegosaurus, a Gameboy, an LED, a capacitor, and a little pink guy all hanging out and playing some classic video games. They’re having fun. I wish I had a sentient Gameboy to chill with. Break would have been significantly more fun, at least. I realize that there’s only one stegosaurus on it, and no moon to be seen. Don’t worry about it. Anyway, I hope you like it, but that’s where my involvement with your opinion on the matter ends. If you don’t like it…..GTFO. Or wait a few months for the day when I get bored with it and make a new one.

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Lasers

Posted on 4th December 2010 in Something Daily

I just got back from the completion of my multi-state LOTR marathon, which culminated in the second half of Return of the King in the basement of Gramercy residence. I didn’t cry this time, but it was close. I was also able to hold back on the gay jokes this time (sorry you weren’t around to see that, Quinn). My watching partner for RotK, Jen, successfully outnerded me during the film, knowing a lot more about the books than I do. It’s good to watch LOTR with someone who understands. Otherwise, where’s the fun?

I was hit on by several gay men today. I just wanted to get that out there. The first one was at lunch at Third North – he came up to my table where I was eating alone and was all “My friends and I think you’re really cute…are you gay?” I told him no, shook his hand and introduced myself. I realized that it also wasn’t the first time that had happened. I’ve been asked to settle bets for strangers before over my straightness. I don’t know what it is…at least someone’s appreciating me, I suppose. The second one was just a few minutes ago, when I was coming back home. A couple of guys walking out the door as I was entering essentially whistled at me…WTF OK? It’s just funny that this happens to me. It gives me good stories.

In other news, I got the urge to play around with drawing a bit more today. I wanted to make some big block letters in neon colors with cool logos, so I did. Here’s a sample of what I did earlier.


Yes…RAD LASERS. I know it’s startling, but don’t worry. It’ll be ok.

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Lord of the Cheese

Posted on 29th November 2010 in Something Daily

So I’m back in the New York again, this time with a disgusting cold that I picked up in Downingtown. I got about 5 hours of sleep last night after laying in bed for an hour not sleeping, so I feel pretty awful today. Lots of tissues and jackets, for sure. I’m getting really good at Bach’s 8th Invention on piano, though, as that’s one thing that it’s easy enough for me to do even in my current state. I actually just got kicked out of one of the studios because apparently my practicing was too loud. I’m still going to classes today, even though I completely don’t feel like it. It’s ok, Mondays are my easiest days. I’m going to keyboard harmony in a few minutes, and then it’s back to my dorm to do some laundry and sleep.

I learned a lesson about Windows Media Player yesterday. Noticing that my book of Bach’s inventions came with a CD, I wanted to put them on my iPod. My laptop doesn’t have a working optical drive, though, so I had to use my family’s desktop (which runs Windows 7 and doesn’t have iTunes installed). Instead of installing iTunes, I saw that WMP can rip from CDs too, so I just did that. Turns out, though, the format they rip to isn’t one that iTunes supports! So I had to use VLC to convert them to .mpg, which is still not very well supported by iTunes (you can’t make AAC versions or apply album art). It’s really dumb, and I should have just brought the CD back to the city with me. Anyway, lesson learned. And I have the recordings, it just required a lot of manual transcoding on my part.

Lord of the Rings is awesome. I just watched the first two-and-a-half movies this weekend and they are still so good. I did notice, though, that after just eight years they’re already starting to show their age. The CGI and greenscreen effects are obvious and clunky in a lot of instances, and there are a lot of sets (Isengard at the beginning of ROTK, Fangorn forest interior, etc.) that look totally fake. I love these movies to death, but I really think they’re going to be complete cheese in a decade or two. Even compared to something that’s visually top-of-the-line today (hate to say it, but Avatar), they’re already clumsy and artificial looking. I mean, we’ll see. I love Lord of the Rings so much, don’t worry. It’s just an observation.

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They’re Taking the Hobbits to Isengard!

Posted on 27th November 2010 in Something Daily

I’m still at home, which means not much is getting accomplished. Other than practicing and slowly but surely mastering Bach’s 8th Invention, I’m not doing a whole lot of anything over Thanksgiving break. I did finally get my secret santa match yesterday after a longish delay, apparently the matching process was taking an especially long time to run. After being matched, I have my work cut out for me. I’ll have to find an appropriate gift for this guy despite the fact that he’s only ever made seven reddit comments and one post, and lists three interests on his profile. I’m sure I’ll be able to find something though. It’ll just be interesting.

I’ve been reading up on designing and building computers recently, and I plan on building one of my own next time I need an upgrade. Unfortunately, that’ll be a while, since I just got my MBP last December. It’s fun to look at parts, though.

I’m going out now to have an all-day Lord of the Rings marathon. I’m really excited, haven’t seen those movies in ages. Because this is what a break from school is all about: not doing anything and enjoying it.

Here’s Tim and Eric, the best IRL trolls I’ve ever seen.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ey-Sy4Qh8vI&fs=1&hl=en_US]

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