eric: maybe you should apply some really strong adhesive to your panels or dust them for prints. i think i'd go insane with anger if it was my bike.

justin: has she called you since?
posted by ivan at 12:11 AM

Eric: what about the other phrases you used to describe your landlady? heh.

oops i just realized i have nothing more to say at the moment.
posted by yodaslap at 4:58 PM

Justin: Is she hot? Is her place bigger/nicer/more convenient than yours? You just got yourself a sugar mommy, aaaaannnnd, she's got a dog already, so you won't have to buy one yourself. Bonus. You're at a win-win situation. Unless she's hideously fugly, why are you complaining??

Dan: B/c if my landlady didn't do it, it HAD to be someone at work. Do you want to work for a company KNOWING someone is fugging w/ your stuff? What's next? Loose nut at the wheel? Jam the throttle cable?

I didn't go anywhere else. Work and weather prevented me from even stopping off for more than 1 minute at the local Mickeys.

Ah well.

I think we'll be referring to it as "MRev". I just want the screener DVD version so I can re-watch it.
posted by asiliat at 3:05 PM

Justin: whoa, interesting story. while im not about to say you brought it upon yourself, that IS quite a bit of time you spent with her, and judging from what you guys talked about as well as stopping off both at your place and hers, i cant say im overly shocked or surprised she wants to keep in touch. as of late i havent even been spending half that time with ppl i DO know, let alone an admiring stranger :) now of course most ppl i know probably wouldnt do that, but i cant speak for everybody obviously. how old is she anyway? you only referred to her as "a woman" and offered no further specifics. well anyway, at leaste ive never run into a scenario like this (unlike Roberta, anyone else? Ivan perhaps?) so i dont know what kinds of suggestions to give. has she called you anymore since?

Eric, why do you wish it was your landlady who vandalized your bike? i thought you guys got along, or at least that was my impression while i was there. i dont get it.

as for that matrix post, i actually kinda like it, except for the claim that neo isnt entirely human. maybe its a pinnochio story, where in the end he becomes a real boy. nah, still thats still a bit unsettling that he hasnt been purely human all along. anyway, ill just wait til revolutions comes out (are we gonna refer to it as MR again?) and see what happens. until then, i thought it was quite an interesting theory. certainly different.
posted by yodaslap at 11:11 AM

can you say STALKER? ah!!!!!!!!!
posted by jylo at 9:05 PM

read the whole article from Dan, read some of it from Ivan.

I just gotta say that some people have too much time on their hands, and too smart for their own good.

I get a headache just reading it.
posted by asiliat at 10:10 AM

I posted this yesterday on my blog, deleted it, but now I'm posting here

I work in a small office of 2 people. HappyFeet is what I call him (He loves to tap his feet to his music.)

We have a part time co-op who comes in at times to sit with us. No TV, no .mp3s, no games, nudda. Nice and quiet.

But as soon as the co-op isn't here (today), he turns the TV back on nice and loud. My repeated attempts to get him to turn down his speakers have not been successful. He insists on being an A$$|-|0|_3.

I mean, just buy a freaking set of earphones and be done with it right? He won't, and I'm getting to the point where I want to tell a manager about it. Well, I'm not a rat, but I don't think it's fair that I have to wear a headphone 24/7 just to get myself some thinking room. I usually jam those earbuds up my ears, but I don't turn on any sound. It gets that bad.

Oh well.
posted by asiliat at 9:38 AM

never tried playing any emulator games...just stuck with good ol' nothing until a year or two back when i got my friend's PSone [the newer, smaller kind] and after that it was just GT2 and tenchu2 [ninja fun]. besides those two games, i don't play much else. not much of a gaming person. not much of an anything person i suppose.

here's another semi-related bunch of articles.

http://www.kurzweilai.net/meme/frame.html?main=/articles/art0553.html
posted by ivan at 10:20 PM

like Lawrence, i too grew up with minimal exposure to nintendo and the like, and i guess my general lack of interest in videogames is somewhat of a result of it. now dont get me wrong, i can still appreciate a good game (GT2 & 3, Crazy Taxi, and most fighting games, for example) and sometimes ill even go out of my way to sit down and play a few rounds, but i doubt ill ever feel compelled to go the emulator route. maybe thats a good thing, as ive managed to find plenty of other ways to use up my free time.

anyway, check out this here article. probably the most interesting explanation of the matrix trilogy ive read/heard of so far. perhaps itll shed some light on some of the inconsistencies of MR. its a bit long, so read at your leisure.
posted by yodaslap at 9:18 PM

Wow. Actually for once I think my short attention span will help me out. But that just means I'll drop into something else afterwards. Let's hope it'll be something like aeronautical engineering... but the last time I ever did anything educational as a pastime was, well probably never.

I can't find a good N64 emulator. They always glitch. Either that or my computer is too slow, which is probably true.
posted by Larry at 11:21 AM

I used to play with emulators, but then I got some friends.

I have a lot. I used to have all the mame roms up until .5x releases.... I have all Neogeo roms, running cracked versions of WinKawaks for the 2001+ games.

I have the N64 emulators w/ all the original working games, I have the Shark emu that ran all the good shooters. I have the Impact emu that ran the 3d Street Fighter games. (cant' remember the system name). I had all the CPS1 roms (Capcom hardware) for Callus and all the working CPS2 roms for Finalburn.

In essence, I was really into emulation. I remember first time seeing Super Mario World w/o sound on my PC. Almost made me cry.

I was going to try finishing Zelda on N64, but never got around to it.

Have fun. Just don't be obsessive like me.
posted by asiliat at 10:33 AM

While you all are playing your Bespelled and such, I've been playing much higher-IQ games: Super Castlevania IV, Super Street Fighter II, Super Mario World, etc. That's right, I've fallen into the endless world of emulators. Having been deprived as a child of Nintendos (which I'm glad for in retrospect. I might have failed high school otherwise), I can now go back and relive all my adolescent dreams... for free. I can literally feel my IQ drain away as I play each game. And yet, I can't stop. The 32-bit world calls to me...
posted by Larry at 8:21 PM

heh, i guess im just easily entertained.

i cant honestly say that i watched MR for the storyline. even if it had no plot whatsoever but was just continuous nonstop action clips, id still probably love it. i can see why a good plot/story is important to some people, but really, you cant expect that from ALL movies. if its a sci-fi action movie, then i look for just that: sci-fi action, and of course if its a drama or something then yes id hope that the story was good. imagine if i watched all movies expecting good action. id end up hating a lot of movies.

now im not saying that the ppl who disliked MR are wrong of course. im just questioning whether or not their expectations of it were a bit off, perhaps. the way i see it, the first matrix was nice and organized, because they had to explain the whole concept of the matrix without confusing the audience while, well, showing the movie at the same time. second time around, ppl know whats going on so lights, camera, ACTION baby!

i do agree with one thing tho. the make out scene was a lot longer than it needed to be, and whats up with the mass orgy on the eve of possible destruction?

this is nuts, i should go to bed.
posted by yodaslap at 2:56 AM

well, MR costs $ to make. I'm sure they got endorsement of some kind. I wonder how much Ducati had to pay to get their bikes in there....

I used to bump into someone I knew everywhere I went out. My string of dates would be constantly amazed at how many people I knew. Of course, this no longer happens anymore. Not popular and all that....

[M A T R I X ___ S P O I L E R ___ B E L O W]

The original Matrix made sense in its own convulated way. There were rules in and outside of the Matrix that was adhered to. If you believed in the concept of the Matrix, then everything else was plausible. People were superhumans, but not superheros. MR killed all that.

First instance of me hating the movie was how Agent Smith was able to get inside of Bane. That made no sense. There was always this clear cut division between the two worlds. Why they are blurring it made no sense unless of course, the third movie reveils that it's a Matrix within the Matrix..... Which would be super-cheese.

Secondly, Neo becoming invincible was stupid. The flying bit sucked, and it's too easy of a cop out for him to get from point a-b too quickly. He might as well have teleported.

Killing agents also became too incosistent. If agents can dodge bullets point blank, why would you try using a sword?? Hmm... I can't remember, that's how the agent died right?

Why must they stay off the highway? Is it because agents can morph into any vehicle and then run you over? If that's the case, wouldn't it be even more dangerous in a crowd? And if we remember correctly, there were plenty of crowds in the first one....

The Zion speech by Morpheus was less than rousing, it actually made me roll my eyes. Terribly cliche to say the least. The love scene in the cave was stirring, but cutting to the rythmic writhing of the bodies was stupid. I understand they're trying to convey the energy of the people being channeled towards the ol' bump and grind.... Still, it was unnecessary and somewhat of a filler.

There were no really good comedic moments in the movie, save Trinity when they were in the washroom.

The ending part was atrocious, what can't Neo do??

The whole movie stinks of the old 60's Batman TV shows, where no matter what bind the dynamic duo found themselves in, there was always something that would save them in the utility belt. That belt must weight several hundred pounds.....

I think the problem were the special effects. They wasted too much time choreographing the intricate CGI ladden scenes to have much time writing the script. I didn't go in there to try and analyze any of the new age babble, so I didn't think of plot holes or the like.

Anyway, it stank.


posted by asiliat at 2:36 PM

up until september last year, i would always see at least one person that i knew every time i went up to chinatown. it was kinda creepy because i could pretty much count on it every single time. one time it was at 3am, and i was certain that the streak would be broken because hey...who in the world goes to chinatown at 3am? [uh, don't ask why i was there] then sure enough, just as i was about to leave...i crossed paths with my friend's old roommate [who was supposed to be in Japan] walking through a dark alley.

about MR...it's the 2nd movie out of a trilogy so it can't be that great. i mean, take a look at middle children...they never live up to the younger nor the older and are constantly being pushed around and mocked.

the action scenes were pretty good though. [note: besides an old BMW 5-series, every single other car that i saw in the movie was GM. those detroit fools.]
posted by ivan at 1:50 AM

just noticed Justin's living a year ahead of us....

check out his homepage. Read his webpage revision history... hmmmmm.
posted by asiliat at 2:28 PM

Roberta: Here's a similiar version:

* Decided to go to Montreal only 1 week before actually going. Don't ever recall if I've been there before. Odd, ain't it?
* Decided that going to Montreal one week before the long weekend rush would be smart.
* On the morning of the drive, I push ahead, skipping the most popular rest-stops to gain some distance on traffic
* On the less used stop, I bump into a work colleague. (BIG conincidence)
* The next day, in Montreal, while walking along the waterfront. We bump into each other again!
* That night, although we lived on opposite sides of the town, guess what? Yup.

All in all, three times in two days, at a different city. I call that fate. Too bad it's a HE... or else that's God telling me about soulmates.

Now, if you bump into him again.... nah. You shouldn't ever go out with him. I am so jealous that there are men out there who pass #s, and actually get a call back. I would never be so dang lucky.
posted by asiliat at 1:47 PM

Justin says he hasnt seen the MR but he doesnt care if we go ahead and talk about it. ill still try to refrain from revealing too much detail, but enough so that those who have seen it will know what im talking about.

well ok im at work so i dont have time to say all that much. in my opinion the trailers do not give away all the best parts. obviously itll have snippets from each action sequence, but certainly not the best parts of each. thats why i was still blown away despite having seen the trailer half a million times and drooling over the preview scraps. i will admit that the agent smith fight was a little sensory overload for me. after a while my brain was having trouble keeping up. also ill have to rewatch it again for the dialogue, as those background monitors were really distracting and i kept accidentally zoning out what the architect was saying. i must say the freeway sequence was probably the best. oh, and Neo didnt fly out right away because that wouldnt have made for quite as cool of a fight sequence. plus the smiths wouldve thought he was chicken and he wouldve lost his temper and something bad will happen. wait, thats Back to the Future, nevermind.

interesting story Roberta, very serendipitous. are you going to ebay the books off now and retire? in the movie Swingers, Trent waits 6 days to call his honeys. are you waiting that long too? the poor guy must be in pieces by now. oh, and how often are you downtown Naperville? i sometimes venture out there (either to go to Barnes or Noodle & Co), but not terribly often i guess. i dont know which bookstore youre talking about although there might be a chance ive somewhat driven past it before, but then again im not too familiar with the area aside from the two locations ive mentioned, which are on the same street anyway. not too long ago i saw the actual riverwalk for the first time. very nice place i must say. and no, i wasnt there with a girl.
posted by yodaslap at 12:25 PM

Wow lots of activity. I want to hear more about Ivan and his charming ways. I'm just happy to talk to a girl, even if she's just asking for directions. Recently, though, I've taken an interest in this one Korean girl. I was hoping she would have come to my talk last week so I could impress her (or depress her, depending on how it went), but she didn't show up. I'm going to have to ask a friend in common if she's seeing anyone.

As for MR, I'd have to agree with Dan. I saw the trailers and got exactly what I expected: really cool fight scenes (especially the one in the "lobby" and the one with the ghost twins). Yeah, it could have been better, and there were plot holes everywhere, but I never really thought of the first one as being much more than cool effects too. The thing that really bothered me about this one though is that Neo became the deux ex machina, so why didn't he just fly out of there in the first place instead of fighting the 100 agent smiths?
posted by Larry at 8:06 PM

That's why for movies I really look forward to seeing, I avoid all ads like the plague. I taped a bunch of TV specials on MR but didn't watch a single one before seeing the movie. I did the same for "Two Towers" and I'll do the same for "Return of the King." (And yes, I'm reading the books after. Nothing kills a TV/movie adaptation for me faster than having read and liked the books first.)

The first "Matrix" was one of those movies that I was kinda ambivalent about while watching but as I continued to think about it several days later I began to really like it. Right now MR's falling into the first part of that pattern, so we'll see. Well, I'll say when it's great it's spectacular, and when it's slow it really drags, and some of the characterization could've been more subtle. Can we discuss specs yet?

My book-signing story...Preface each of the following bullet points with the phrase "Just Happened To..."

Saturday:
* Go to lunch in downtown Naperville and take a walk afterwards. * Decide to walk to end of block despite the only store there being a bookshop I've never liked and haven't been to in years. * Decide to go in for the heck of it, despite the fact that I've never liked it, and see a sign saying Terry Pratchett would be here on Monday. What I found out much later was that he was making only 2 stops in the US. One's at a Barnes & Noble in NYC, and the other's this dinky little no-name bookshop in Naperville.

Monday:
* Look online to see if there's any info on the signing, and find out you have to get there an hour early to get a line number. * Run out during lunch to a nearby Borders to buy a couple of books for him to sign, in case I'm too busy standing in line later. * Get stuck in a meeting at work, and leave for the signing later than planned. * Despite lateness, find a parking spot just at the front door. * Have a last-minute attack of uncertainty and decide to leave my newly-purchased books in my car, in case the bookshop demands that you buy your books there. * Go in and don't see anything resembling a line, and don't feel like asking, so wandered around shop instead. There was actually a line, though! Had I joined it, I would have been #4. * Hear announcement that they'll start handing out line numbers now, but you need a book in hand. My books are in my car! Anyway, I suddenly decide I want one of the ones I didn't already buy. * Pick up a book and stand in checkout line. At this point I would have been #11 or thereabouts. * Get to cashier and discover I've left my wallet in the car! I forfeit my place in line, dash outside (remember my car is at the front door) and come back in in time to be #14 finally. * Terry gets there early and decides to do some signing while killing time until his talk starts. They call up the early numbers. 1, 2...11, 12, 13, oh, out of time. * Terry gives his talk. Afterwards, we line up again starting with #14, me. I'm at the head of the line for a good long while while they get ready. This is how the guy spotted me. * Decide to hang around another 15 minutes after getting my book signed, because how often do I get to share a bookshop with Terry Pratchett? Which turns out to be just long enough, 'cause had I left any earlier, the guy would still have been stuck in line and wouldn't have come over to chat.

There ya have it. In the middle of all this was Sunday, the day I took my ego-hit. I won't go into details, but it couldn't have happened at a better time. Oh, and I did get the rest of my books signed eventually.

posted by Roberta at 4:35 PM

ah, to be popular again.... I don't remember when the last time....

I wish I was cool like ol navi. I really do. All I can muster up is my crooked smile and my cracked fairing-ed bike. I got checked out the other day by a girl in a GTI, and then as soon as I flipped up my lid, she sped away quicker than you can "fugly."

I held a female's hand on Monday, but that's only b/c she was a friend and we were blading down the hill. She made a point to say "I don't really need to hold your hand, it's just a psychological thing." Granted, she is attractive (in my estimation), and I felt pretty manly for being associated with her. But boy, do I feel used.

I'll tell you why Reloaded sucked. Teasers/trailers/commercials. When you add them together, you basically get the best bits of the action, and then there's the weak-ash story to tie it together. If the story wasn't so gosh darn b-movie-ish, with so much Zen-like gibberish thrown in, maybe, just maybe, the action could have held up.

My problem was that all the movie moments were already in the trailers, and it really killed it for me.


posted by asiliat at 2:06 PM

liar. Ivan is a plethora of knowledge when it comes to getting hit on by girls, getting asked out by girls, hanging out with girls, fought over by girls, staying up all night with girls, eating with girls, bringing home the girls, i could go on.

my little opinion is that anyone who can overlook the special effects to the point of thinking the movie was even remotely bad obviously went into the movie with way different expectations from mine. i watched matrix reloaded for the mind-blowing action sequences, and i was not disappointed to say the least. ok i think thats more than anyone has said so far, so ill stop here. i think we're just waiting on Justin as of now, right?

back to work.
posted by yodaslap at 11:26 AM

sometimes i think that all i do in this blog is second other people's opinions. well, time to start echoing i suppose.

in regard to Roberta's situation, i agree with the previous posts [big surprise] and say that your best bet would be to ask the guy out to a more public place with lots of friends around [that is if you call him back at all]. although i can almost guarantee that Dan will call me a liar, i've never ever been in that sort of situation so i suppose i know little of what i'm talking about. ah well.

i envy Dan and his girl. i can only hope for the day when i'll be able to afford a used car [i'd get one now but i have to go to college]. i think i'd be set once i have a car...who needs a real girlfriend? bah...i'd probably be too poor anyways since i'd be pouring every spare penny into my little hatchback. aish...i hate it how money seemingly rules our lives. $_$

has "Reloaded" been confirmed safe for discussion yet? i thought it was way too long-winded.

my apologies for a scatter-brained post. i haven't been feeling well lately.
posted by ivan at 1:32 AM

true, but i never said i wasnt gonna do my best to take good care of her :)

Roberta - sorry i dont have much to comment about concerning dating, considering i know next to zilch about it. i guess if youre really daring you COULD always agree to meet in a public place, like a restaurant for example. there will be plenty of ppl around, but no one you know (critical friends, cling-ons, however you like to label them), and go straight home afterwards (just keep an eye in your rearview mirror to make sure he doesnt try to follow you home). i dont immediately see anything wrong or dangerous about that, but again ive never been in this type of situation before. but yeah, you got the digits so the ball's in your court.*dribble dribble*

nothing really new on my end of things, other than trying to plan weekend trips to new york and DC (yes, 2 separate trips this time). airfare is fickle so its been an annoying task, but hopefully ill get settled on some tickets soon.

thus endeth my boring update.
posted by yodaslap at 11:06 PM

actually, the bike does get jealous. You have to be able to read the signs. Whenever you don't wash her, she gets pretty pissy and doesn't perform as needed. Whenever you don't do her scheduled maintainence (one of these days, I'll be able to confidently spell that word!) she'll not run right. If you don't put her away for the winter properly, she won't play next spring. Trust me. They get jealous.

Can we talk about how much Reloaded sucked the bag yet?

Well, you could always take the risk and ask him out. Somewhere public, with lots of friends around. of course, generally speaking, it's extremely hard to "hook up" when there are critical friends around. He not only has to impress you, but all your cling-ons too. Tough stuff. That's why trying to meet someone at a club cold turkey is next to impossible. Well, impossible for a guy like me. I guess if I was good looking.... anyway I digress.

I mean, how threatening can I guy be if he likes Discworld?? hahahahahaha. JOKING!

I mean, what's he gonna do? Set his phaser on stun? Geez.

I could go on, but I won't. I happen to love my extended family, even if I haven't seen 'em in like a decade.
posted by asiliat at 3:57 PM

as if "bespelled" isn't addictive enough. The oringal game is called "bookworm".

game page: http://www.popcap.com/bookworm.php
direct download: http://www.popcap.com/installer_download.php?src=&url=Bookworm_setup.exe&tag=1
Crack: http://home.peterstar.ru/userdef/filez/popcap/bookwormdeluxe.zip

Have fun kiddies.
posted by asiliat at 3:51 PM

oh btw im curious. does that mean youll unspool the long chain of events now?
posted by yodaslap at 2:33 PM

no romance-related hits to my ego here. shes always there when i need her, not overly demanding, doesnt get jealous, always more than happy to spend time with me, and shes... beautiful.

*sigh*... i love my bike
posted by yodaslap at 2:32 PM

Yeah, getting asked out did make my day. He did score major points by asking me to call him and then leaving immediately afterwards, not hovering at all and thus leaving the decision and timing entirely up to me. Still, there's no ideal way to hook up with a stranger I suppose, since no matter how nice you are you're ultimately still just strangers and one of you could be a closet psycho. I'm not really inclined to call him, but I guess if I were to seriously consider meeting him, I'd invite him to a group event with plenty of my friends around.

Dudstuffin', Eric, hee...

The other interesting thing about that incident was the purely coincidental chain of events that led up to me being in the right place and right time to meet that guy. I know it's no big thing but...sometimes your ego takes a big romance-related hit and you could really do with a boost, you know? That was the state I was in, so it meant a lot to me. It's a long chain of events so I won't unspool it all right now, but ask me if you're curious.

Saw "Matrix Reloaded" on Sunday. Are we clear to discuss?
posted by Roberta at 1:06 PM

im just naturally weak. ive been going to the gym for months now, and apparently still not strong enough to hold up a bike. actually, i did come close to dropping it a few times before and i was able to recover it everytime, but i guess only because i wasnt caught off guard by it. that last time was a complete and utter surprise... the bike was basically on the ground by the time i realized what the heck happened. oh, and i guess i got back on the bike the very next day and forced myself to ride it off. also rode a bit more today (not too much), and im pretty much back to where i was. i plan on trying to walk in to the moto class this coming weekend, so hopefully thatll work out. on the "bright side" at least the weather isnt getting that much better. makes not being able to ride at will that much bearable. yeah right. blah. and oh yeah, thats how i ended up picking it up, since there was no one else around to help. took me a couple tries to find the best place to grab tho, but at least next time i fall ill know what to do. yippee. <-- note the lack of an exclamation point

at any rate, i dont ever recall getting hit on by a girl, not even so much as a smile. oh well, i can only imagine what THATS like. hee hee. ivan, on the other hand...
posted by yodaslap at 1:45 AM

Now to Roberta.....

Women have it easy, I wish a cute girl would come up to me and say hi. Actually, it's sorta happened once or twice. But it's such a non-big deal, I'm not even going to talk about it. Okay, so it made my day. It probably made yours.

I guess the problem is that male strangers could turn out to be psycho serial killers, while females are generally less prone to overt violence, altho I hear arsenic and old lace is a fav of sorts.

I think I had a girl smile at me once though, but I am not sure, as I was wholely wasted. Maybe she was laughing AT me. Who knows. I remmeber she was cute, and I wanted to say hi. But this was on the street, and my chick friends grabbed me by the arms and pulled me away. Kinda regret not saying hi.

I'm no studmuffin. more like dudstuffin'. <----Thought of that line 2 days ago, been dying to use it.




posted by asiliat at 3:03 AM

Dan, about your blog entry. All I can say is, "It happens."

They say there are two types of motorcycle riders. Those who've been down, and those who'll go down.

But like I warned before, you should not be riding it a lot before taking your MSF course. If you had, you'd know to use your REAR brakes when making slow turns. More than likely, you grabbed a whole lot of front brakes when you turned. That will make it drop everytime.

Also start working out, and I mean seriously start lifting weights. It'll prevent you from dropping it next time. I've come close once or twice with the bike, but I could save it through sheer arm strength. Give it a try.

Lastly, get on the bike ASAP. Nothing revives confidence like saddle time. Sure, it'll be tough, but staying away from it doesn't help.

But most importantly, don't worry about it! Every professional racer goes down. Every street rider takes a spill. Just be glad it was a parking lot drop.

Oh, to pick up a bike easier, put both hands on the side of the handle bar nearest to ground. bend at the knees and lift with both legs and arms. It comes up much easier, especially with your adrenaline pumping. Don't ask how I know it works. Just trust me on this one. ;)

Are we talking about the Matrix Reloaded? Watched it. D/L divx as we speak (hopefully it's the Real McCoy.) But I know the DIVX is out. I'll keep my opinions to myself for now.
posted by asiliat at 2:57 AM

Yeah I saw it last night. I also won't say anything, but I will at least see it one more time in the theaters, especially if it comes out on IMAX.
posted by Larry at 5:47 PM

wow, ive never been asked out by a stranger before. oh wait, ive never been asked out before, period. bwahahahahaha. anyway, Lawrence i dont know why i didnt think of saying this earlier but i think you have to download the newest version of quicktime to view the trailer with sound. i had the same problem. wait a tick, why am i saying this now, the movie is already out! i watched it 2 nights ago, and i guess before saying anything more about it i want to make sure everyone has seen it first.

in other news, i dropped my bike this morning for the first time, sucked. no one was around either so i had to pick it up by myself. i think i can go without hitting the gym for a week now. still feeling a little sore...
posted by yodaslap at 12:16 PM

Huh, sounds like I'll have to try out this game sometime. I love word games, though I'm also possibly in the same camp with Lawrence re: the short attention span thing. Lately I've been playing Block Breaker, which I've also found very addictive. No words; it's more in the Tetris category of games--where you have to get rid of all the blocks on the screen. I'm sure there's a straightforward strategy for it, like solving the Rubik's Cube, if only I had the patience to figure it out...but I don't, so my best score to date is 1. Right now it's just a fun time-waster.

My last week was fun, what with going to a book-signing by one of my very favorite authors, Terry Pratchett (who's from England, so I never thought I'd ever get to meet him...and then he showed up in my town!). His Discworld series, if you've never read it, is brilliant. As book-signings go, I had a fairly standard experience, except for the part where I got asked out by a complete stranger in the bookshop. (And yes, asked out, not just hit on. Though he's still a stranger in a bookshop, so I didn't say yes.) Then on Wednesday I went swing dancing for the first time. Really very fun, although I've got a lot of learning to do if I ever decide to take it up.

About the gun thing, since I haven't stopped by cousin check in ages: Yes, some church members felt that handling guns, unless you're a cop or something, is morally shaky. I guess I can see their point, although I don't agree. I still want to take the course, though at this point my application is way overdue so I don't know if I'll make it in. We'll see...

Amusing site of the day: I've seen a few sites that re-created scenes from "Lord of the Rings" using such things as Legos and action figures. They're all very funny. I found one today, though, that uses...Peeps. Check it out at www.lordofthepeeps.com. <-- fixed the link
posted by Roberta at 12:36 PM

man this game sounds complicated. red tiles, falling letters, bonuses!? trying to make use of the triple word score box in scrabble is taxing enough on my brain. oh well maybe ill check it out latre. time to get back to work.
posted by yodaslap at 10:12 AM

More tips, now that I remember.

At later stages, try hard to make words that go up or down. So look for words in columns, instead of rows. This way, if all you have are small words that will produce red tiles, there's a better chance you can kill more than one red tile per word. Once the red tiles spread, it's much harder to connect them as one word.

And remember, big words feel good, but will kill you in the end. Only make big words when no red tiles exist on screen.

Justin, I don't even know how to look for the highscores, as I've never once entered my highscore into the database ( I don't even know if my zone account still exists (created in 96-97!)
posted by asiliat at 10:48 AM

Well, it's not actually boredom Eric, it's just my short attention span in general. Even when I'm playing Quake or something that's really pulse pounding, I still have to stop after a short time and do something else. I'll try out your tips though, see if that doesn't help. Reminds me of Snood.
posted by Larry at 9:41 AM

Justin, I got over 1.5million on my last serious try. It's all about patience.

The formula for calculating points is thus (from the help page....) :

- Add the value of all the letters in a word together, add the current level, then multiply by the number of tiles to figure how many points a word is worth. Multiply the word value by 10.
- Each GREEN tile is worth a +2 tile bonus.
- Each GOLD tile is worth a +4 tile bonus.

So what does that mean? Well, it means the higher the level, the more points you can naturally get. So the trick to this game is:

- Patience. The longer you play, the more points you get per word, regardless of the value of the word itself

- Bonus. Grab as many bonus as possible. The highest bonus is 40,000 per word. Keep getting those, and you're guarantee to get a higher score.

- Ignore big words and concentrate of killing red tiles. Sounds easy, but until you realize that the #1 goal is not allow the red letters to drop too far down, it's the killer (that and boredom, right Larry??)

- Make many little words and go for the bonus. Um yeah. Kinda tie in with point 2

- Learn when to use the word scamble feature. It saved me twice during my 1.5 mil score, but the third time it was what killed me. Scrambling words will produce red letters. Of course, scrambling letters also removes green/gold tiles. Beware

- Keep yellow bricks on as long as possible. Yes, they produce the highest score, but they also have the magical property of holding up red blocks for at least 2 turns before being burnt. Keeping them around will give you that extra turn when you're stuck with words.

-Finally, it's all about luck. Luck in quickly moving up in the bonus word chain. The earlier going will produce less red blocks when using 3 letter words, while the longer it takes to make bonus words, the bigger each word becomes (i.e.: early bonus words use 3 letters, later on, it moves up to 4, and finally 5 letters - don't know if 6 is possible....) Therefore, the more 3 lettered bonus word one makes, the quicker the bonus points quantify. Maximum bonus that I found was 40,000 - which I made many of. So BONUS words quick and often!!

By following the points above, you can make crappy words all night, make a bonus word, repeat. You will eventually get bored and relax your brain, or just bored and close game. :D
posted by asiliat at 10:50 PM

hello
posted by asiliat at 10:48 PM

ok, enough of this game. it's too addictive. eric, have you checked out the rankings? i wonder how they work: the person right below me in the rankings is almost 135,000 points less than what i have (for best) and it's obviously not sorted by average. new high score (on game two): 398,830. i have to stop playing. i woke up in the middle of the night to continue my game. ah, it's just as well... it's a good thing the game is over. it's time for work anyway.
posted by jylo at 5:26 AM

weird, i was gonna try out bespelled earlier today but for some reason it never finished loading so i never reached the game. at one point i even wondered if it was some cruel joke, but in the end i had to go so i never got to play it. oh well, maybe another day. as for now, i must sleep.
posted by yodaslap at 12:30 AM

No idea Dan, the next two weeks are going to be insane for me. I probably won't know till the very end (the 24th or later). I'm not even sure of the dates still.

One of these days I'll finish a game of bespelled (tried again last night). I didn't even really notice the bonus words so maybe that should make it more exciting for me. I tend not to read the instructions before I play games. Oh well.
posted by Larry at 11:06 AM

well I did end up beating my score. Should have been able to continue, but brain farted, and didn't count the dropping tiles enough to make a word. Apparantly, "CUID" isn't a real word. Who knew.

So my high score thus far is 379,460. That's plenty high for me, thanks. Luck of the draw has as much to do as a good vocab and patience to find words. Getting as many bonus words as possible is necessary. One bonus word awarded me 40,000 points alone.

Splicing? Wow, I would NEVER in my wildest dream be able to find that word. Heck, the longest word in my best game was SNOUTS, and best word was CHOIR (2070 pts). Nothing to brag about at all. Ugh. It's 5:45am, I'm sleeping over at Lisa's (she's got cable), and I'm still up playing and typing this.

I wish I had a life, or at least lie to myself. Alas....
posted by asiliat at 4:51 AM

i probably wont end up getting into it, as i have the smallest vocab of all. im the guy who keeps dictionary.com open while talking to Justin so i can look up all the huge vocab words he throws at me. saves time i guess, instead of me always stopping him and asking him what every word means.

Lawrence: any updates as to what your plans are when youre back in town?
posted by yodaslap at 12:57 AM

That is a cool game. I've played it before, but I've never finished a game. Just don't have the patience/attention span to get through it. I usually get physically tired and my eyelids drop. You guys tried Rumblecube yet? I totally go Tetris on it all the time and end up losing. I know there's a different strategy for the game, but I can't ever break out of Tetris mode for long enough.
posted by Larry at 6:20 PM

ok, much better without the time limit and the money. yeah, that game is VERY addictive. i've only played once so far... but it's been several hours. quite upset, actually. i had the word "splicing" but it's not in their dictionary. neither is the word "stent," apparently. i did, in the end, make use of my "ing" from "splicing" with "innings" so it wasn't a total loss. oh well. i'll play later. the quarter's grades are at stake here and i really can't afford to spend my waking non-work hours playing some word game instead of reserving my wordsmithery for the papers that are due... all too soon. first game score (not to brag, of course): 264,140. you can do better than your high score, eric, if what i got was from my first try. your vocabulary is broader than mine. (i know from reading your blog!)
posted by jylo at 10:43 AM

just click on the "Play now" button, not the cash version.
posted by asiliat at 3:19 AM

nono, I don't play for $. I just play the regular "for fun" version. I have it on the whole time at work.... every spare moment of my time when I'm not working is spent looking for words. My vocab is pretty limited, so I take a long time trying to recognize something. My highest score is a pitiful 228,000 ish. Not high at all I wager.
posted by asiliat at 3:18 AM

i tried the game. it's fun, but i suck at it. with the whole money thing, there's too much pressure. did you deposit cash to play?
posted by jylo at 8:41 PM

well I'm wholely addicted to the game, so there.
posted by asiliat at 10:15 PM

gambling with one's intelligence... somehow that doesnt seem like a good idea for me.
posted by yodaslap at 10:09 AM

addictive game I warrant.

Justin, you'll prolly like

bespelled
posted by asiliat at 3:47 PM

yeah my eyes get bloodshot if i try riding on the highway without a helmet (with eye protection of course). i think its illegal to ride with a helmet with the lid flipped up so my helmet is always closed. for some reason eye protection is stressed more than having a helmet, which is optional here.

dont worry, i only speed when the roads are clear. im not into the weaving-in-and-out of traffic thing. i love riding, but im not gonna risk my life or limbs for it.
posted by yodaslap at 11:42 AM

and never ride w/o a helmet. A lot of times, it's not your fault you get into an accident.

Also don't ride with your lid flipped up. You don't want to lose an eye from a bee. Been done.
posted by asiliat at 3:27 PM

sorry haven't checked in a while here. My page is being sorely neglected as well. :(

Anyway, Dan, you should really learn to take it easy. I'm not saying you don't have the co-ordination to ride, but don't ride too much. You'll pick up too many bad habits that you'll have to unlearn in the course.

I sound like an old fart. Ah, what the heck, just ride er. Keep the shiny side up.
posted by asiliat at 3:25 PM

duh, or if Eric rides down we can race for real... and ill lose, for real... *sigh*

Lawrence: as in the entire last week? well, keep me updated i guess.

ok, no more boring motorcycle posts from me. all i have to say is im in love. *siiiiigh*
posted by yodaslap at 12:42 AM

Duh Dan, well you'll have to get someone to take action shots of you. Then we can digitally add your pic to Eric's so it looks like you're racing in the streets of Downer's Grove.

I'll probably be home at the last week of May, not sure exactly when yet though.
posted by Larry at 4:16 PM

went on my first "real" ride earlier today to a friend's place. its about a 25 minute trip, except about 15 of those minutes is on the same major road, so nothing overly dangerous, although 65mph sure feels a lot faster when youre exposed to the elements. i must admit tho, going thru intersections on a bike is a terrifying experience, as i keep picturing a car coming at me when it shouldnt (thats how one of my good friends got killed, except he was on a scooter). umm anyway, no major problems i guess, although there was one time i wasnt able to shift to neutral for some weird reason so i had to hold the clutch until the light turned green. im still trying to get used to the brakes (i tend to brake too early) and how far to lean for turns. there sure is a difference between riding with and without a helmet (i picked one up at my friend's place). having a helmet on is weird. its like youre indoors but not, and everything is muted. i guess its more comfortable, but theres something about feeling the wind in your face and hearing everything... the environment just soaks in better i guess. as of now illinois law [still] doesnt require helmets for motorcycle riders so im gonna enjoy it while i can. Eric, if/when you visit, youre more than welcome to take a spin my little buzzing 600cc'er :)

time to sleep.
posted by yodaslap at 1:01 AM