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We had the Battle of Concord Reenactment at Bothell Landing today. Apparently, the bridge is so similar that they just *had* to do it. Picture taking conditions were not optimal as they were across a small river and under shade. The day being hot and very bright and sunny. But here we go...
( Pictures under! ) |
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ROAU
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Jul. 4th, 2009 @ 01:35 am
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Why is this?
And why are there so many more?
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Raising a Healthy Gamer - Ars Technica - Good article here are parental awareness and tips on playing games with kids. Most of it sounds like common sense, but as we all know, common sense is not all that common. The article speaks on ESRB ratings and how general they are and also comments on sites like Commonsensemedia.org which I write for - which not only reviews and rates games for kids, they also have tips and informative articles, as well as recommended games & other media.
Let's take two games as an example: Halo 3 and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Both games are rated M for Mature. Both games have almost identical descriptors on the back of the box—the difference being Halo 3 says "Mild language" while Wolverine's rating says "Language." The difference in tone and level of graphic content in the two games couldn't be more stark, however. Halo 3 is a science fiction first-person shooter that feels more like Star Wars than an R-rated film; this is something that wouldn't be too harsh for many children aged 10 or so, in my personal opinion. If my seven year old walked in on me playing Halo 3, I wouldn't be in a rush to pause. In contrast, when you play Wolverine, you'll see men decapitated. The violence is brutal, with the main character killing great swaths of enemies using only the blades on his hands. The language is rough, and the cut scenes are even more graphic than the gameplay. This isn't the best thing for children, and much of the content would get a hard R if it were rated like a movie.
There's also that lovely example, Hello Kitty Roller Rescue which is rated "E" for Everyone. Hello Kitty is on roller skates and goes around bashing other characters with her wand, and her little Penguin friend has a frying pan with which to whack nasties with. Yes! Just what every 7 year old girl needs to learn. :P
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so i got the word back that Rocket's blood work is relatively normal. no problems with the kidneys or liver, and that is mostly what they were searching for. white blood cell count was slightly low, but not low enough to warrant a concern. The vet thinks the cell count was low due to a possible infection that the Panacur took care of - now that he's off the medication, we'll see what happens.
more wait and see.Current Mood:  hopeful Current Music: box fan |
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Happy first birthday,
Isaac! A year
ago seems like just yesterday.
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SoE's Fan Faire was held in Bally's Las Vegas this year, and the consensus seems to be that Bally's is a better hotel for the event. It is smaller than the Hilton and the Convention rooms aren't a hike through the casino from the towers where the guest rooms are. I had a great time as I usually do, and came back with enough material for several articles, which will mostly go up on MMORPG.com
I met up with friends I get to see only once a year. Ha! Sounds like the SCA and Pennsic. Except that I haven't been to a Pennsic for over gosh... 8 years now? 10 years? |
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He's not vain. This entire song IS about him!
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It's been 30 years since I was sitting in my bedroom, with a wire wrapped ROM emulator, writing code on my little Apple ][ computer and making changes to existing Atari 2600 games, so I could learn 6507 assembly language and the art of video game programming. Sitting in my garage and in boxes around my house, are thousands of classic video game cartridges I've collected over the years. Some, I bought brand new in the stores, others, I've gotten from other collectors, and some I created, like the Apple ][ hosted ROM emulator that I used to write the Avalon Hill Atari 2600 games.
I was recently contacted by another collector with whom I've done business with over a decade ago and he asked if he could take my collection off my hands.
For years, I've lamented about my collection. I felt I wasn't doing it justice since I didn't have the time to make displays and share it with other affectionados. It's not doing much just sitting on shelves in my garage. I guess it was fate, but combined with his generous offer and my hopes that he will be able to properly catalog, archive and even display some of my best pieces; I've decided to sell him my collection.
Today, I'm grabbing every little thing related to the collection that isn't nailed down (And if it is, I'm using my hammer to remove the nails), and boxing it up for a cross country jounrey across the USA.
I have a bit of meloncholy as I am packing this up. Many of these things, as I hold them, trigger the memories of the time that I acquired them or in some cases, made them. *sigh* I can't live in the past. I hope I'm remembered for my part in it.
On the bright side, I'll have room again in my garage for my car. :)Current Mood:  nostalgic Current Music: S.t.a.r.S-Marina Inoue-Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann |
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You have to love the way they found an angle. |
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We have been pretty busy this week:
Father's Day on Sunday, we went to the South Coast Botanic Gardens
Art Zone Camp for Henry on Monday
New Food Fun Class for Mummy and Henry on Tuesday morning
Meeting up with Layla and Rebecca at Noah's Ark and Superhero exhibits at Skirball Center on Tuesday afternoon
Visiting the Wild Animal Park on Wednesday, particularly to see their new Dino Mountain exhibit
Thursday morning, ballet/tap class for Henry at Hype Studios
Thursday lunch at the Euro Cafe in Claremont and then on to the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology in the afternoon
Check out all of the photos at Henry's Photos 2009 (April to June). Also, started a flickr album for the Dinosaur Project, though there is some crossover there with Henry's Photos.
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So The McLandsborough and I had some bonding time the other weekend with his dad and dad's girlfriend.
( I may be that girl. )
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Packing for Epic Canyoneering Adventure now. Sarah has the humongous Luggage-O-Tron, on account of having all the abseiling rope to pack in it. Have been assigned a small case of a disgusting pink shade and unknown origin, that I will be embarrassed to pick up from the carousel.
Sarah wants me to pack her helmet. I put in both helmets, my harness + webbing sling, two pairs of shoes and my new wetsuit. It's looking rather full already. I can stuff the helmets with my swimsuit and neoprene wetsuit socks, but... I think I may need other things on my vacation as well. Clothes, maybe, or perhaps camera equipment. What to choose, I wonder? What's optional?
 Current Mood: pensive Current Music: Myself going "Hrmmm" like Marge Simpson |
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This sounds pretty cool:
So finally, here is the skinny on the Sunday, July 19th in the big
conference room at Franz Inc:
6:00pm ~ Meet in front of the Franz office (2201 Broadway, Suite 715,
Oakland, CA 94612). The kind folks at Franz Inc will herd us cats up
to their big conference room before 6:15.
6:15pm ~ Introduction to Clojure
Amit Rathore will give an introduction to Clojure aimed at lispers.
6:45pm ~ Milk and cookies (http://www.meetup.com/balisp/polls/189504/)
7:00pm ~ Coders at Work: The Lisp Perspective
Peter Seibel talks about the interviews from his new book Coders at
Work (http://www.codersatwork.com/),
particularly what his subjects had to say about Lisp and Lisp related
topics. Will include bits that didn't
make it into the book.
7:30pm ~ Coders at Work QA
7:45pm ~ &optional Belgian beer outside and around the corner at Lukas
Thanks for staying tuned, hope to see you there. For more info see:
http://www.meetup.com/balisp/calendar/10589286/
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yep
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Jun. 24th, 2009 @ 09:36 am
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i've done just about as well as i expected to do keeping up with journal entries again...
*shrug* |
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chaos
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Jun. 23rd, 2009 @ 01:22 am
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On Saturday, having cut up some European olive into small turning blanks (it's okay to not know what that means), and wanting (nay, needing) to seal them up with my 2-gallon bucket of Anchorseal (again, unimportant), I picked up said 2-gallon bucket to walk it over to the work area (that part's important - reread it). I had dropped the lid lightly on top after using it earlier, as I knew I'd need it again soon. I got my left foot hung up on the roller stand really well, and lurching forward, threw the contents of the bucket out in front of me. It had been 60% full of the paraffin wax based emulsion, like thick, gloopy white cream. The bucket was now completely empty, and my garage was sealed against rapid moisture loss. Here's the result. Also, my shoes, already in need of replacement, are just beyond all reason now. I managed to get about 3" worth back in the bucket by dropping a small sheet of plywood in the huge puddle, lifting it and flipping it over, and skimming it back into the bucket with a piece of wood. I hurt my foot pretty badly when I tripped, so I spent the next day limping.
Last night, realizing I hadn't eaten all day, and starving, I headed out for a very late meal at 1:30AM. My truck wouldn't start. The internal lights flickered, and the engine didn't even try to turn over. I fought it for a bit, but it was no use. I called Toyota Roadside Emergency Service and they dispatched someone, who arrived at 2:20AM. He had me jumped by 2:30, and told me "just let it run for 45 minutes, and the battery will be recharged." I did that, editing together a video while the truck ran outside for 50 minutes. Then I drove to the all-night CVS. Parking, I turned off the engine, and decided to try it again. Dead, as before. I went in and used their phone to call the same guy, did some shopping, then had a snack in the truck while waiting another half hour. The same guy showed up, and declined my request that he just follow me around everywhere tomorrow with his cables. He had me jumped again and I was home at 4PM.
The car of course wouldn't start in the morning, and I hadn't gotten up early enough to do anything about it, so I walked to work - only 1.5 miles, in the heat (thanks, Summer!), with a gimpy foot. A dog came running at me behind a fence, distracting me at exactly the right moment. I tripped hard over a raised sidewalk slab and hurt my other foot pretty badly catching myself. Now I was lumbering like a zombie. A lady with a double stroller eventually pulled out in front of me, blocking me for awhile with its girth, and then she tripped really hard over a raised sidewalk slab. I'm onboard with all the old people complaining about the Ficus trees ripping up the sidewalks now. I was all the time like "These people are whiny - just watch where you're going!" I was wrong. You can't even see the difference when they're only raised a little. Unless the sun hits it all just right, it's a uniform blob of tan. Alas, I arrived at work limping and sweat-soaked, and it wasn't much cooler inside. I really hate summer.
I walked home, had a different guy come jump the car, and at Pep Boys, got the battery replaced, and spent 30 minutes shopping while they did it. They had the brackets that turn 2x8 planks into tailgate-mounted ramps for loading things, which I've needed with all this log-collecting foolishness lately, but have been otherwise unable to find. Sadly, I later learned they put in a battery that's about 2/3rds the size of the dead one. It's a Bosch. I want a very large battery and powerful alternator so I can run my chainsaw, and a new plan I have for a back-of-the-cab mounted winch for pulling heavy things up these slapdash ramps, but I'll just have to cross those hurdles when I get to them. I still haven't tried out that sweet power port in the truck bed, even though it was one of the selling points for me. Maybe it was never enough for the chainsaw.
After work, I did some things in the garage - some joyous successes this time, thankfully - and then back in the house, my cat pal snuck in in the total darkness (I was feeling my way toward the living room lamp), and I stepped *really hard* on either a paw or a tail. Scared the crap out of me. She shrieked and I felt awful. Then she wouldn't come anywhere near me, shivering in corners until she bolted past me and out the still-open back door. I went around the whole house and found her by my truck, but even with the treat can in my hand, she ran away and wouldn't come eat the food that I dropped loudly on the sidewalk in an offering of apology. I came out 10 minutes later, and it was still there. She doesn't even let me put food down on the ground, let alone leaving it entirely. I thought maybe I'd never see her again, but then she came running out of nowhere and circled me, nervously getting closer until she finally let me pet her again, and then went back to her usual purring and walking back and forth over my feet. Phwew. Almost lost my animal pal, and by extension, my animal powers.
I ran to the local mini mall tonight, just after that cat-stomping fiasco, and when parking, found myself face to face with the tow truck and that same guy who jumped my truck 2x. He was in there filling something out, and we exchanged surprised glances. I told him about the new battery, and I guess now we're friends. I said "This may be the last time I ever see you." Maybe it will be.
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http://www.elbeno.com/blog/?p=640 …and Father’s day, if applicable. I’m actually over a day late now… I spent a pleasant day with the family, and trying to keep a cold at bay. |
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