Author: D'Arque Bishop

Tancharoen’s Mortal Kombat is now a reality…

D'Arque Bishop

Several months ago, I had made a post talking about a trailer for a new Mortal Kombat movie that appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Starring Michael Jai White as Jax and Jeri Ryan as Sonya, this trailer (popularly referred to as “Rebirth”) was a completely new take on Mortal Kombat, with a more realistic urban setting, and characters such as Reptile and Baraka reimagined as deformed and/or mutilated insane humans. It later came out that the trailer was the work of a director named Kevin Tancharoen, who financed it himself and was making it as a pitch to Warner Bros. to make the next Mortal Kombat film. The trailer was definitely controversial, but also was very well-received. Even Ed Boon liked it, but he said that it probably went too far. The trailer was soon pulled off YouTube, and nothing more was heard from it. It was pretty much assumed “Rebirth” was dead.

As it turns out, we were wrong.

A report over at Bloody Disgusting is saying that Tancharoen is getting to helm a Mortal Kombat ten-episode web series, under the Warner Premiere brand. Michael Jai White will be returning as Jax, though there’s no word on whether Jeri Ryan will be returning as Sonya. She’s not listed in the article, and I didn’t get a response to my query on Twitter. In fact, it’s not even certain yet that it’s based on “Rebirth”. It’ll start filming in Vancouver next month.

If “Rebirth” is anything to go by, I think it’ll be really good. While I hope the series will be based on “Rebirth”, I’m fairly doubtful it would be, simply because it’ll be in wide circulation on the web… and “Rebirth” was definitely a pitch for a hard-R film, complete with gory deaths. Still, while it was a very different take on the Mortal Kombat mythos, it was also VERY reverential to the source media, and it showed that Tancharoen knows his stuff. There’s no word on a release date, but I would imagine it would probably be this summer, especially after the new game hits stores.

I’m definitely looking forward to it. :-)

After eleven years, I’m moving on.

D'Arque Bishop

Changes have been happening in my work life.

A month or two ago, it was announced that a company called Robbins & Myers would be acquiring the company I work for, T3 Energy Services. While I had been through acquisitions before, most of the time it was T3 doing the acquiring. The only time I was on the acquired side was when I started at T3; I had been working as the IT guy for a company called Walker Bolt, and their parent company was acquired in late 2001. I moved from Walker Bolt to T3’s IT department, and a couple of years later Walker Bolt was sold off. It was going to be interesting being through it again…

… or it would be, if I was going to stick around for it.

A couple of months ago, a former coworker contacted me. About a year and a half ago, the VP of process improvement at T3 was offered a job at a company called Kem-tron. Since then he’s become the president of the company. Also, said former coworker, the manager of pressure control engineering at T3, went over to Kem-tron as the VP of engineering. They contacted me, and asked me if I’d be willing to come work for them. I went over and interviewed with them, and gave it some thought. After thinking on it, I decided to accept their offer. I start tomorrow as their new IT person.

Leaving T3 has been rather sad for me. I’m going to miss my coworkers, and it’s been great having a boss who’s so good to work for and looks out for his employees. Also, as I’ve put it in the past, working at T3 has shown me exactly where I went wrong with Walker Bolt. However, things are definitely changing at T3. Many of my now-former coworkers (especially in the corporate side) are leaving. Also, after the acquisition is finalized, the IT department is going to be moved to a new office at I-45 North and FM 1960. While this would have been nice had I still been living with my parents, it would be a 40 mile drive from my current home. I’m personally done with the long commutes.

I’ve been working up until the end, too. Even now I’ve got my T3 laptop sitting next to my monitor here in my home office, and am working on some database maintenance that needs to be completed by the start of business tomorrow. Still, first thing 8 AM, I’ll be at Kem-tron reporting for work and learning about my new job. I’ll be doing all of the IT work for them. It’s a much smaller company, but it’s definitely growing, and if I’m lucky I’ll end up with an IT department of my own.

It’s been a wonderful run. I’d been at Walker Bolt for two and a half years and T3 Energy for nine. However, it’s time I moved on. I’m hoping for the best to those I leave behind, and I’m looking forward to what challenges lie ahead. :-)

Mobile site, yes. App… probably not.

D'Arque Bishop

(Note: the following represents my own views and do not reflect those of Mortal Kombat Online or any other of its staff.)

Well, it’s been a tad difficult separating myself from Mortal Kombat Online’s day to day operations, but more and more ~Crow~ has been proving himself up to the challenge of taking my place and in fact is doing a better job than I ever did. Nowadays, though, my site work has consisted of helping do database maintenance and working on supporting CCShadow’s efforts towards V.8. So far, things have been coming along swimmingly.

One of my definite hopes with V.8 is that we finally create a mobile-friendly version of the site. As an iPhone user, I’ve found myself using my phone’s Safari for more and more web browsing. V.7’s layout is definitely not mobile browser friendly, and it would be nice to make it where it can be so. It’ll be much more of a design issue than anything else; for example, adding mobile browser support to my personal site really required nothing more than a small plugin which detects the browser’s user agent string and chooses the layout based on that.

Another site called Kamidogu has taken a rather interesting approach. Its webmaster actually developed an iPhone native app for accessing his site. Admittedly I haven’t tried it, but it’s a neat concept. Kamidogu is hardly the first website to make an iPhone native app, but it is the first Mortal Kombat fansite to do so. So far reviews have been very positive regarding the app, and I wish them the best of luck regarding it.

Now, would MK Online ever release such an app? Personally, I would say no, and I say this as an iPhone user. Considering we’d not likely be creating any other apps, it doesn’t make sense for us to pay the $100 or so for the certificate needed to publish apps from Apple. Also, it’s much easier to create one universal layout for mobile devices than it is to create separate apps for iPhone, Android, Blackberry, etc. Finally, it comes down to time. CCShadow is a very busy guy and just developing V.8 is taking the bulk of his free time. I just don’t see him developing separate apps.

Ah, well. Like I said, it’s an interesting concept. I just don’t ever see it being implemented for MK Online.

Stepping down from one of my hobbies…

D'Arque Bishop2 Comments

It’s kind of funny how some things begin.

Back in 2001, I was hanging out in an IRC channel called #mortalkombat. It was being run by an alliance of sites, one of which was a site called MK5.ORG. Back then, the future of MK was pretty uncertain; no one really thought that another MK game would come out. Then, near Christmastime, Midway announced they were making Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, the fifth fighting game in the series. One of MK5.ORG’s founders, Scott Howell, knew the game would be at E3, but neither he nor Joey Schorr (the other site founder) could go. So, he asked if I would go, provided I covered the game for the site. I said sure.

I don’t think any of us expected me to become a central figure to the site. However, I ended up being one.

The years since have been great. Once Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance came out, we became Mortal Kombat Online. We became the top ranked Mortal Kombat site. We ended up releasing exclusive news, like the first render from Mortal Kombat: Deception and the revelation of Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe. We’ve been to many Midway media events. We’ve been to several E3 shows. We’ve done live online chats with the development team. It’s been a blast.

However, lately, I’ve been finding myself with less and less free time. I’ve got a wonderful girlfriend that I spend my life with. My job has gotten far busier. I also have projects of my own I want to pursue. They may not be as popular as MK, but it’ll be my own work, and not my extolling the virtues of someone else’s work.

So, effective today, I stepped down as MK Online’s webmaster, and have moved myself into a purely technical role at the site. Others (namely ~Crow~ and Tyrant-Cenobite) will take over the site’s day to day operations.

I have to admit I’m a bit melancholic. It’s something I’ve been meaning to do, and the site is in good hands. Plus, I want to give my projects the time they deserve. On the other hand, MK Online has been a big part of my life for the past nearly nine years. It’s a bit hard to walk away from it, even if I don’t plan on going anywhere. Still, I know it’s for the best.

So, what are the projects I’m working on? I’m keeping them close to my chest right now, as I don’t want to jinx anything. I hope to announce something within the next couple of months, however. We’ll see.

In any event, I enjoyed my time as MK Online’s head honcho, and am proud of my accomplishments over the past several years. I’m thankful for the opportunities afforded to me, and all in all… I’m content, and glad the site is in good hands. :-)

And speaking of movie theaters…

D'Arque Bishop

In my last post I had mentioned that we have our home theater set up for watching movies at home. We’ve also changed how we watch movies out as well. Up until a few weeks ago we would catch movies at the AMC over at Gulfgate or (in one case) at the Cinemark in Pearland. However, Jennifer pointed out a better option recently that we’ve started to take advantage of.

Pearland has two movie theaters (that I’m aware of). One is the aforementioned Cinemark at 288 and FM 518. The other is a “Premiere Cinemas” further east down 518. A couple of weeks back, we decided to go see Resident Evil: Afterlife at the Premiere Cinemas for a change. It’s a much older theater; it reminds me of the old AMC (like North Oaks 6) or General Cinemas. However, the price for an adult ticket was $4.50. So, for (less than) the price if one ticket at the Cinemark, we both got to go and see a movie. :-)

Of course, it’s not perfect; there are obviously no IMAX screens and they don’t support 3D films. (The posters for Jackass 3D had notices that said “in 2D” on them.) However, it’s not often a film comes out that I want to see in IMAX and/or 3D. For $4.50 a ticket, this theater pretty much provides us the best value for the money. We may end up seeing more movies out as a result.

It’s nice to know we have another good value method for watching movies. :-)

We finally have our home theater.

D'Arque Bishop

One of the things Jennifer was looking forward to when I moved in was the integration of my audio/video equipment with hers. While she already had a DVD player and HDTV, she didn’t have a sound system to go along with it. On the other hand, I DID have a home theater setup, consisting of an Onkyo receiver and Aiwa speakers and subwoofer (the speakers were part of a “home theater in a box”; the original receiver was long destroyed). When I moved in, we put my receiver in place, along with my DVD player (as it was upconverting). While I hooked the DVD player to power and had it ready, we left the receiver disconnected for a few months.

The problem wasn’t that we didn’t want to use it. The problem was that we didn’t know what to do about the rear speakers. Our floors are hardwood, so we couldn’t just run the wires under the carpet. Also, we had NO desire to run wires through the wall. I did that before at my parents’ house, and did NOT like it. That’s also the reason my office at home is linked to the home network through a wireless bridge.

A few weeks ago, however, I came across the perfect solution. A company called Rocketfish had a universal wireless rear speaker system. We picked one up from the local Best Buy, brought it home, and I spent the evening wiring up the receiver to the speakers, TV, DVR, DVD player, and Wii.

The end result was very satisfying. The sound came through very crisp and clear, and the rear speakers were clear as well. Even my friend Mike, who has the most impressive home theater room I’ve ever seen, was impressed by how well the wireless solution worked.

In fact, the home theater setup revealed a weakness in how I had the speakers set up at my parents’ house. When we wired them up at my parents’ house, we put them up by the ceiling, facing out… but not down. The sound as a result was always subpar, and I thought the speakers themselves were probably very low quality. It wasn’t until I listened to them at ground level on the new setup that I realized why they seemed low quality: they projected across the room, but not down to where I could actually HEAR them properly. Oops. At least now they sound great at room level.

Since we put it together, we’ve gone ahead and added a Blu-Ray player to the mix, and use it to watch Blu-Rays and instant viewing from Netflix. We ended up getting a decent little player from Samsung for about $140; a number of people had recommended that we get a Playstation 3, but we didn’t think it was worth it. It cost twice as much as the Samsung (which does everything we’d want the PS3 to do), and we wouldn’t be using it to play games. It’s worked out beautifully so far; the best test was when my parents came over to visit a week ago last Sunday. As I sat Dad down in front of the home theater, he asked if he could borrow my copy of Avatar… and then sat, mouth open, as the Blu-Ray version of Avatar finally finished loading and started showing. He asked Mom for a similar setup, but I don’t think Mom’s going to go for it. :-)

Since then, it’s gotten plenty of use. We still have two movies waiting to see for it from our Netflix disc queues (Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Cloverfield), and my entire instant viewing queue. Looks like it’ll be serving us well for quite a while. :-)

Wait, what? My employer’s being acquired?

D'Arque Bishop

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-10-06/robbins-myers-agrees-to-acquire-t-3-for-422-million.html

Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) — Robbins & Myers Inc., the industrial- equipment maker with operations in 15 countries, agreed to buy T-3 Energy Services Inc. for about $422 million to boost sales to oil companies.

Owners of Houston-based T-3 will receive 0.894 share of Robbins & Myers and $7.95 in cash for each of their shares, the companies said today in a statement. The deal values T-3 at about $31.80 a share, 17 percent higher than its closing price yesterday, according to a calculation by Bloomberg.

Excluding one-time transaction costs, the purchase will start increasing earnings for Dayton, Ohio-based Robbins & Myers in the company’s first full year of owning T-3, according to the statement. The companies said combining operations will yield about $9 million in annual cost savings.

I have to admit, that was a fun bit of news to come in to work to yesterday. On the other hand, I’m not really worried per se. According to the press releases, there’s going to be very little overlap between the two companies, so layoffs are not guaranteed. In addition, they’d likely need the IT people to help in the integration. I’m fine for the foreseeable future, especially as the sale hasn’t even closed yet and won’t for a few months at the very least.

I suppose we’ll see what happens.

I’m settled in, but there’s still more to be done.

D'Arque Bishop

It’s been nearly three months since I moved in with Jennifer. Honestly, it’s been pretty much smooth sailing here; or, as Jennifer has put it more than once, it’s been the most “non-event” event in her life. We’re pretty much crediting it to the fact that not only did we do a lot of preparation work in advance of my move in, I had been living here pretty much half the time in the months leading up to it. I made every excuse I could think of to spend nights down here… even if Jennifer herself wasn’t the primary reason, it helped that the drive to and from work from her house put together was shorter than the drive between my parents’ house and my office, one way. The one disadvantage of me being down here, so far, is that a good number of my friends live up in Spring. However, we make time whenever we can to go up and visit them.

About the biggest hurdle that I saw regarding the move in was the electronics. Of course, I had a number of electronics, and we had to decide what to do with them. The PC, game consoles, and TV ended up going into my office. The PC was a given, but with the consoles I can play games without bothering Jennifer if she’s watching TV. My home theater and DVD player ended up going into the living room. Jennifer didn’t have a home theater system already, so it made sense to put mine in place. As for the DVD player… her existing one wasn’t an upconverting DVD player, so we put mine in place there and moved hers to the bedroom.

However, our biggest foe so far has been wiring. The first of the two big examples has been in terms of networking. Her office is on the opposite side of the house from my office, and the cable modem and wireless router are located there. We REALLY did not want to run ethernet through the walls, and buying wireless adapters for my Xbox 360 and PC would have been expensive. (Not to mention it wouldn’t have helped my wired-only IP phone for work…) So, after doing some research, I ended up buying a ZyXEL WAP3205 wireless bridge. It basically bridges my ethernet network in my office onto the home wireless network. So far, it’s worked flawlessly. I’ve even been able to play online via Xbox Live with no issues. We’re also considering getting a second one to bridge our Wii onto the wireless network. (No, it won’t join our wireless network. We have no idea why, so the easiest solution is an ethernet adapter and wireless bridge.)

On the other hand, we’re not sure of a decent solution for our other wiring issue. We haven’t actually hooked up the home theater system yet, simply because of the speaker problems. Now, hooking up the front speakers and the subwoofer won’t be a problem (once I retrieve the left/right speakers from my parents’ house). HOWEVER, we really don’t have a good way to hook up the back speakers without running wire through the walls (again). Neither of us like going through the attic, so that’s kind of out. Running it under carpet is out, too, because the living room (like most of the house) has hardwood floors. We’ve tried looking at wireless solutions for rear speakers but have had no luck. So, here’s my question… does anyone have any ideas they’re willing to bounce off us? :-)

Otherwise, life has turned out to be pretty good here. I’m enjoying living with Jennifer, and things are looking pretty good for the immediate future. Here’s hoping things stay that way. :-)

A music meme. Blame Jenn Dolari.

D'Arque Bishop

I know I should be doing an actual post at some point. I’ll do one. I promise.

In the meantime, here’s a musical meme I yanked from my friend Jenn Dolari.

Step 1: Put your iTunes or equivalent on random.

Step 2: Post the first or so lines from the first 20 songs that play, no matter how embarrassing.

Step 3: Get your friends to contemplate your bizarre tastes in music by guessing the songs.

Step 4: Bold out the songs when someone guesses correctly.

1) Hey man, please don’t make a sound. Take a look around, can’t you see what’s right in front of you? Have a little taste, no more time to waste. You don’t wanna get left behind cause it’s all coming down right now.

2) In the time when darkness ruled, no one saw the light. In the cold black emptiness, victims of the night.

3) On his way to dinner, when it took him by surprise, and with one pull of the trigger, he would vanish overnight. Dancing by the roadside, holding on for dear life; then a gun from out of nowhere made a widow of his wife.

4) The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees. The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon the cloudy seas. The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor.

5) You can have my autograph. I think I’ll sign it love to you. But should I sign it just for you?

6) Only came outside to watch the nightfall with the rain. I heard you making patterns rhyme. Like some new romantic looking for the TV sound, you’ll see I’m right some other time.

7) Show me a river that’s so deep, show me a mountain so high. I’ll show you love that’ll last forever. Flyin’ high, so high.

8) You get to feel so guilty, got so much for so little, then you find that feeling just won’t go away. You’re holding on to every little thing so tightly ’til there’s nothing left for you anyway.

9) Uhh! Awww, sookie sookie now! Hey! Oww, uhh! Come on, baby! Hey there, Sugar Darlin’, let me tell you something girl, I’ve been trying to say, now.

10) Love – Devotion – Feeling – Emotion. Don’t be afraid to be weak. Don’t be too proud to be strong.

11) Wake up in the morning, and I raise my weary head. I got an old coat for a pillow and the earth was last night’s bed.

12) Highway run into the midnight sun… wheels go round and around. You’re on my mind.

13) I tried to kill the pain but only brought more… so much more. I lay dying and I’m pouring crimson regret and betrayal.

14) Time it was, and what a time it was. It was a time of innocence, a time of confidences. Simon & Garfunkel – “Bookends”

15) Every night she walks right in my dreams since I met her from the start. I’m so proud I am the only one who is special in her heart.

16) Hooray for a child who makes it through. If there’s any way because the answer lies in you…

17) As I wake up in a room somewhere, dawn light not yet showing, there’s just a thin horizon between me and her; the edge of a half-dream glowing.

18) Words like violence break the silence… come crashing into my little world.

19) Tell me, Doctor, where are we going this time? Is this the 50’s or 1999?

20) I know you broke up with him, and your heart’s still on the shelf. It’s been over two years for me and I’m still not quite myself.

A move, and other changes…

D'Arque Bishop

Imagine, if you will, a beach on the Texas coast. On this beach, a man sits on a beach chair. It’s obvious he’s been out in the surf more than once, but is relaxing for now. A small table sits next to him, behind which sits a cooler full of drinks. He’s got a Bud Light in a can he’s drinking from, and he’s eating chips and dipping them into a jar of salsa bean dip. He’s wearing cargo swim trunks, a grey tshirt, sunglasses, and a cap. A pair of sandals are waiting for him in the car. He’s relaxed, enjoying the sun and the sound of the surf. The only hints to his geekiness are the SolidWorks logo on his cap, and the copy of Snow Crash he’s reading.

If you had told me a year ago that that man would be me in a year’s time, I would have thought you were insane.

Things have changed a great deal over the past month and a half. At the end of May, I packed my things and moved down to Pearland, moving in with Jennifer. It’s been something of an interesting experience, as neither of us have lived with roommates in several years. Other than the room that we designated as my office (we’re kind of calling it the Bish-Cave), the changes in decor here have been more subtle than anything else, with my equipment or decorations supplementing what’s already here. As for my office, it’s pretty much everything me; I had brought my PC and equipment, desk, books, DVDs, games, artwork, collectibles, TV, TV stand, and consoles and got them all set up here, only needing to add a set of shelves Jennifer donated, and two sets of bookshelves I bought from IKEA. The artwork has changed, too; with Dad’s help I found a couple of my old Mortal Kombat II posters, and Jennifer and I found one of my old Star Trek posters. They’re all hanging now, complete with other collectible items. The only other item of note in my office is an elliptical, which I use on nights when I can’t get to the gym.

My clothing has changed somewhat, as well. Before, I wouldn’t even think of wearing shorts. With it getting even hotter in Houston than is usual, I decided it was high time I got some shorts. While we were over at Academy doing some shopping, I picked up two pairs of cargo shorts. On a whim, I also picked up a pair of sandals as well, which shocked Jennifer no end. I’ve been wearing them regularly since, and I have to admit they’re pretty comfortable. The cargo shorts have been so useful I’ve even gotten a pair of cargo pants… though, the cargo pants are currently out of commission due to a bit of an issue involving the button. :-( The main thing I like about the cargo shorts/pants is the fact that they have enough pockets where I can drop my iPhone in one and not have to worry about needing a belt clip. :-)

We’ve also been doing new things as well. A perfect example is grilling. Jennifer had never owned a grill of her own. Well, a few weeks back, two friends of ours offered to sell us their practically new propane grill dirt cheap. Of course, we jumped at the chance, and with our friend Louie’s help we brought it home. The weather in Houston hasn’t been cooperative, but we have had a couple of chances to try out the grill. The first time we grilled burgers and hot dogs, basically making it up as we went along. Tuesday night we cooked steaks, and we finally got them cooked and decent through trial and error. Tonight, I decided I was going to cook burgers on my own (as I haven’t really cooked for myself in a LONG time), and using knowledge remembered from when I used to cook at my parents’ house and tips online, I cooked the very first Bishburgers. :-) They came out very yummy, and I’m already planning on variations on what I cooked. I’m hoping to serve them when we have friends over for dinner…

So far, the past month has been pretty fun and a learning experience for both of us. I don’t know what the future holds for us, but based on what we’ve done so far, we’re looking forward to it. :-)