MadMup.com

There's a theory I'm sure you've heard that says that anyone in the world can be connected to anyone else in six people or less. "Connected," in this case, means you know someone who knows someone who knows someone. For instance, if you know me and I know Jimmy, and Jimmy knows Honkus, you are three degrees from Honkus. See how easy that is? It's based on a play (and a movie) which I've never seen by a fellow named John Guare. You've most likely heard about the movie-based game called "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" which uses as its base the hypothesis that any actor can be connected to Kevin Bacon in six degrees or less. (For example, Jim Carrey was in The Truman Show with Laura Linney who was in Mystic River with Kevin Bacon, giving Jim Carrey a 2-degree separation.) You can try this out for yourself at The Oracle of Bacon at Virginia.

Sometimes when I'm in a classroom updating a computer, I'll turn on the classroom TV just to have some background noise. Today, The Price Is Right came on. While they were calling the first contestants down, the second name was familiar. The TV was behind my head, so I turned and looked. There, on The Price Is Right, was my brother's brother-in-law. No lie.

I've talked about Josh before. He runs TheForce.net, the biggest Star Wars fansite on the Internet. He's met George Lucas. That puts me two degrees from George Lucas and three from such luminaries as Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Samuel L. Jackson, and Ron Howard.

His very first bid was for $1400, and the item's actual price was $1399. Time after time he kept losing to another bidder - he even pulled the classic "one dollar" routine without success. Finally, on the very last chance, he won the bid. He ran up on stage, hugged Bob Barker...and then kissed him on the cheek. For some reason, I knew he was going to do it, but I was still a little surprised. Bob was, too. He said something like "Most of you could tell I just got hugged, but I also just got kissed. And let me tell you, Josh needs a shave."

Unfortunately, Josh didn't win his game (it was the "here's three items, one has the wrong price, tell us the one and you win all three" game) and he didn't win the wheel-spinning contest, either. Still, it was the most exciting episode of The Price Is Right I've ever seen. There's something about knowing someone on the show that makes it more exciting, even if they didn't get to play Plinko.

Even more exciting, though? Now I'm two degrees from kissing Bob Barker. 4 comments

For the game, not the movie.

Although I did enjoy the movie. Even though they messed up some major parts (please tell me why it is that when they make a movie about a superhero they can't just tell the origin without changing it?!?), it was still a fun ride. It's no Spider-Man 2, but it sure was better than Hulk or Elektra.

Anyway, the game had some fun moments, but was ultimately just a beat-'em-up, which seems like a cop-out when you've got four superheroes to utilize. Ah, well.

Labels: game review

4 comments

It's another review of an N-Gage game, this time for an RPG-ish game called Pocket Kingdom. I think it's called that because you have a little kingdom that you grow and the N-Gage can be carried around in your pocket, but I'm not exactly sure.

This game is not my cup of tea. (It should be noted that a cup of tea isn't really my cup of tea, though, either.) I've played maybe 6 or 7 RPGs in my gaming life, and three of them were either Star Wars- or superhero-related. These no-name RPGs, if they don't have a compelling story, just aren't worth it for me. You spend all your time trying to "level up" your characters, but there's no real point to it other than being "levelled up." It seems pointless to me.

At this juncture, many will hop in to say, "All video games are pointless!" Thank you for pointing that out.

Anyway, there's my review. Read it if you like.

Labels: game review

6 comments

At the end of the work day today, I needed to use the restroom and went off in search of one. The staff bathroom was in need of a cleaning, so I moved on to the next available student bathroom - not a big deal since there aren't a lot of students here in the afternoons in the summer.

While I'm using the restroom as intended, I hear some people talking outside the door and then I hear the lock being turned. "Ah," I thought, "It must be the custodians locking the bathroom for the weekend." It didn't occur to me to alert them to my presence, as I figured I'd just unlock the door from the inside and relock it behind me.

Only... I couldn't. Since it's a student bathroom, it makes sense that there wouldn't be a manual unlocking knob on the inside. Students would be locking themselves in all the time and it just wouldn't be good. But, there is also no keyhole on the inside to allow for unlocking from the inside should someone have a key. All there that's there is a flat piece of metal with a semi-slot in it so it looks like a big regular screw.

I am totally locked in the bathroom. It's 3:30 and the custodians are gone for the day. It's Friday. My cell phone has no signal this far inside the building. (Note: my cell phone fits into a side pocket on my jeans so it's always with me - I don't specifically carry it into restrooms. I just thought you should know.)

My MacGuyver-like mind kicks into action and I take out my pocketknife-screwdriver. Alas. It is too small and accomplishes nothing.

So then my MacGuyver-like mind comes up with ... nothing. That's all I got. I have no idea how to get out of this room.

I start to imagine the long weekend, trapped in a restroom. I'm supposed to be moving this weekend! People might wonder where I am! I imagine I'll get hungry. I'm looking around for the best place to sleep. Even if I do get to sleep, though, the lights are motion-sensitive and any time I shift in my sleep, the lights will go on. Things are looking bleak.

I pull on the door handle in desparation. The deadbolt rattles rather loudly, and I'm left with one idea: keep rattling the door and maybe someone will hear it. So rattle I did. First one hand and then the other. Steady, rhythmic rattling. No sense in yelling, the rattling will do it, I figure.

Five, maybe seven minutes after I start rattling, the door is unlocked. A custodian! She still works second shift, even in the summer, and she heard my rattling! Huzzah!

I thanked her profusely, and I didn't even mind that she was chuckling at me. Freedom!

William Wallace's got nothing on me. 6 comments

And, oddly enough, it is to the east side.

Yes, folks, I'm moving. Same town, different place. The cats and I are tired of the neighborhood and all its yelling and thumpings and the lease is up, so it was decided we should move.

The clincher, really, was the dead body found about two blocks from my apartment a couple months back. I'd been thinking about moving for a while, but that really solidified the idea for me. Granted, murders happen all over the place, but I was looking for an excuse, so there you have it.

The new place is actually a townhouse - a 2 bedroom, 1.5 bath, 2 floor townhouse. It's a bit more expensive, but not crazy, and it's a LOT nicer than my current place. It's the kind of place I could see being in for a long time.

I was looking for a house to rent when I stumbled across this. I was tired of sharing walls with people. More specifically, I was tired of people using my ceiling as their floor and I was tired of the constant commotion. I wasn't too keen on having to mow a lawn and do any yard work, but I figured it was a small price to pay. Turns out "small price to pay" isn't a term you hear much in relation to renting houses. Anything in my price range wasn't a place I wanted to live.

So the process has begun. I paid my first month's rent yesterday and got my key. I moved a few boxes over last night and will move more tonight. Saturday is the day for moving the 5 or 6 "big" things I have, and that'll pretty much be that, except for the unpacking. I also need to get utilities switched over, and that never goes as planned, especially the cable. "Between noon and three" is the biggest scam on the American people since Lee Harvey Oswald landed on the moon.

So I apologize for the light blogging lately. Between work and move preparations, it's kind of fallen by the wayside. I'll get back to it eventually. You know you can't shut me up.

I could really go for a slice of pie.

Mmm, pie. 7 comments

So I'm doing my standard comic run this morning, which, depending on the day, is anywhere from 35 to 40 comics, and I get to Theater Hopper. Tom's been busy moving the last week or so, so he's had guest strips going. They've been okay, some better than others, of course, but then I get to today's.

And my freakishly large head is right smack dab in the middle of it.

What the heck?!?

I'm freaking out!

For reference: Link to comic. 4 comments

It's my first review of a game for the Nokia N-Gage, a cell-phone/gaming system that does fine on both jobs, but isn't outstanding at either.

Anyway, the review is here.

Sorry about the lack of updates here lately - I know you're crushed. It's the natural ebb and flow of blogging. I'm sure that some day soon I'll have a flood of posts and you'll weep from all the reading.

Labels: game review

0 comments

Yesterday it so happened that I was listening to "Turtle Power" by Partners in Kryme. If you've seen Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the movie), it's the song that plays over the ending credits. If you haven't seen Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the movie), please go do so.

Your first question might be "Why were you listening to that song?" It turns out that I have an affinity for rap songs that re-tell the story of the movie they're associated with. I'm not sure why, but I think they're fun. In fact, it's possible that "Nod Ya Head (Black Suits Comin')" by Will Smith (and featuring TRA-Knox) is actually better than the movie to which it was attached (Men in Black II). When it says "There's this chick, right? Serlena./Earth is worthless to her/She be trippin' like/Threatenin' me and my mens tryin' to get The Light," you've pretty much seen the whole movie. It can be a real time saver.

So I was listening to "Turtle Power." In typical fashion, it lays out the events of the movie with a chorus that suggests that anyone who does heroic deeds possesses this "turtle power." Tonto and the Lone Ranger even get mentioned at one point. There's this one point in the song that irks me, though. Greatly.

Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Donatello
Make up the team with one other fellow -
Raphael. He's the leader of the troupe
Transformed from the norm by the nuclear goop.

It's super-catchy, but it's just plain wrong! Here's the breakdown on your Ninja Turtles:

Michaelangelo: wears orange, uses nunchaku. He's the party guy, always goofing around - more so than the other Turtles, anyway.

Donatello: wears purple, fights with a bo staff, just like Napoleon Dynamite. He's the smart one, always fixing stuff, whether mechanical or electrical. He was always my favorite, partly because he was the geeky one and partly because I thought it was so cool a person(?) could do so much damage with a stick.

Raphael: wears red, uses sai, which are kinda like knives, but look like the heads of tridents. He's the hot head of the group. If a temper is found lying around somewhere, it's probably the one Raphael lost.

Leonardo: wears blue, fights with katana, which are your basic ninja swords. He's your serious guy, your leader, your teacher's pet. He's all about doing what Splinter would want them to do.

Splinter: wears a robe, fights with his walking cane if he has to. He's a rat, but he's a teacher rat. He's the one that taught the Turtles all the ninjitsu.

There's also April O'Neil (the hottie reporter that hangs out with the Turtles) and Casey Jones (a Turtle ally who uses sports equipment to thrash baddies) and Shredder (the big bad bad guy), but they're not really important to my point, which is this:

If you're going to do a rap song that sums up the movie, get your facts straight. Leonardo is your guy if you want to talk about the "leader of the troupe." You might think it was Splinter, but he rarely goes into battle with them. He's more of a teacher.

I await other movie raps from Partners in Kryme where we'll hear that Doc Ock is a pediatrician and that Batman's a really nice guy, once you get to know him. 7 comments

In no particular order, I give you the following vacation highlights:

Sunburn

This is my own stupid fault, as I did not use sunscreen of any sort. I didn't think we'd be on the beach that long, and I paid the price. I was LizardMan on the trip home, horrifying children and pilots alike.

Red Tide

Florida stinks. Maybe not all the time, but when they're having "Red Tide" it sure does. Red Tide is some sort of algae that basically kills fish (and stingrays, apparently). These dead fish then wash up on shore and smell like ... well, dead fish. Ewww. The condo we stayed in was right on the beach, Gulf-side, so we got to experience the smell any time we walked outside.

Karaoke

I participated in karaoke for the first time, and I have one question: why have I not done this sooner? Thoroughly enjoyable! I learned two things while doing karaoke: 1) Maybe choose songs where you're fairly certain the lyrics are, well, decent. 2) Bon Jovi's Livin' on a Prayer is maybe the best karaoke song ever.

Art Museum

We went to the John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, FL. The grounds also had a Circus museum (see, he's one of the "Ringling Brothers" you've heard so much about - the youngest one, actually) and the mansion John & Mable summered in. Mansion: neat. Circus Museum: kind of lame. Art Museum: impressive, especially from a circus guy's collection. They were hosting an exhibion called "Duane Hanson: Portraits from the Heartland" which featured life-sized body-casts of real people in ordinary situations. You can see some pictures on the site I linked. They were very interesting, but a little freaky. What made them freakier is the way they were displayed - just kind of out in the middle of various rooms. If there were other patrons in the room, it actually took a minute or two to determine which were the art pieces. Freaky.

Dancing Fool

I played Dance Dance Revolution for the first time. Maybe you're not familiar with this videogame. Basically you stand on a dance pad that has four arrows (up, down, left, and right) on it. As a song plays, arrows float up the screen and you have to step on corresponding arrows at the right time, in time with the music. It's fun and it's a workout. The arcade version has side-by-side dance pads so you can compete with someone else. Matt thrashed me both times we played, but I did much better the second time. I plan to play more of this game, and soon.

Old School

While we're on the subject of videogames, I should mention that I also played Donkey Kong and Pac-Man at the same arcade. To be honest, Donkey Kong actually played me. I am out of practice and didn't even make it past the first screen. Sad. I more than made up for it on Pac-Man, however, getting one of my highest scores ever and certainly the high score on the machine for the day: 70,540. My next attempt a few days later only got me in the 37,000 range, but it was still good.

What Is the Matrix?

Turns out, it's a fun little car to drive. I rented one for a trip I took on Saturday, and thoroughly enjoyed myself. It's the Toyota equivalent of a Pontiac Vibe, pretty much, and it made me realize even more that I am done driving minivans. Rather, I want to be done driving minivans. I'll never buy a Toyota, as that would be the death of my worked-for-GM-almost-his-whole-life father, but it was certainly fun, and it cemented my idea to downsize. The only trouble now is coming up with the cash...

Axe Murderers

The trip I took on Saturday was to meet a couple of people I met on the Internet. I made sure my last will and testament was in order, as I was sure to awaken in a tub of ice with my kidneys missing. Turns out, there are some people on the Internet that are regular folks who are nice to be around. Who knew? I met up with Angie and Charley (and Charley's wife) from the THorum in Ocala, FL. More specifically at the Olive Garden in Ocala, FL. Olive Garden, you might recall (you'll have to, as I can't find it to link to) is also where I met fellow THorumites Joe and Mark last year in Indianapolis. Anyway, Charley (and his wife) and Angie are some of the nicest people in the world, and I recommend you meet them as soon as you are able. Rumor has it there'll be a video of the meeting available at some point...

FORE!

On the last leg of our journey home, driving from Indianapolis to Lafayette, Kat and I stopped at a Wendy's to get some food. After going through the drive-through, we parked in the Wendy's lot to eat. The fellow in the car next to us got out of his car, went around to his trunk, took out a golf club, went to the grassy area in front of his car, and started taking practice swings. Two things about this behavior struck us as odd: A) After each swing, he'd look off in the distance as if he were tracking his shot. B) It was pushing midnight. We wondered what his deal was and after much discussion it was decided that Kat should ask him. She rolled down her window and did so, and his mundane reply had something to do with keeping awake because he'd been driving for a really long time. Dang. I was hoping for something along the lines of "mob hit man" or "around-the-state air golf tournament."

So there you go. Sure, I did other things. I ate food, for instance. I watched more Wimbledon tennis than I ever expected to, as well. These are just some of the highlights. My plan was to intercut them with pictures, but I'll have to save those for another post.

Peace out, yo. 1 comments

I was thinking about doing a day-by-day breakdown of vacation, but I'm leaning more towards doing one "highlights" post instead.

Just so you know.

Oh, and here's my ranking of the four airports I was in over vacation, based on assumed sleepability:

1. Dulles (Washington, D.C.)
2. Tampa, FL
3. Charlotte, NC
4. Indianapolis, IN

Dulles wins for two big reasons: temperature and the fact that the seats in the waiting areas don't have arms, so a person could stretch out across many seats rather than having to sleep on the floor. 2 comments

Despite the Florida sun's best efforts, I have arrived back at home. I look a bit like someone who is participating in lizard/human gene splicing experiments, but I am alive...for now.

Details to follow after much sleeping. 1 comments