Well, this has been an interesting week. My mom, her sister Norma, Jennifer, and I went on a road trip to the San Antonio and Austin areas for a few days for vacation. I got to see a lot of areas I had never been to before, and all in all we had a great time. While I did post quite a bit about the trip on my Twitter, I figured I would go ahead and post a recap of the trip here…
Read more “And now, the Worldwide San Antonio/Austin Tour…”

Sometimes, it’s interesting what we forget from our childhoods…

Late last week, I happened to be in my coworker Deborah’s office when she happened to show me a fundraising catalog given to her by another coworker. The catalog was typical stuff for school children’s fundraising, including Christmas wrapping paper and ornaments, magazine subscriptions, and chocolates. However, while showing me the catalog and discussing it with the other coworker, mention was made of a particular chocolate item and it took me back to my childhood.

I don’t know how many people reading would remember, but years ago (ending in probably the mid to late 80’s) department stores like Sears sometimes had areas in them where they would sell candy by the bag. My parents and I would go to the mall on a regular basis; if it wasn’t weekly it was at least every other week. When we did, I would always ask for a bag of chocolate covered raisins. I didn’t always get one, but when I did it was a real treat. It was never anything else but chocolate covered raisins, at least until I got to junior high school or thereabouts, when I started eating gummi bears on a regular basis instead.

The weird thing is that I haven’t had chocolate covered raisins since. In fact, I almost never ate them outside of those mall trips, either. It wasn’t that I had developed a dislike for them. For some reason, I just stopped eating them. Over time, I had completely forgotten about those things, to the point that I didn’t even remember Sears (and others?) having the candy counters to begin with. It’s a shame, really… the raisins really were rather good.

I ended up going ahead and ordering from the catalog too. Now I’m just waiting for my two boxes of chocolate covered raisins. :-)

All right, I have to admit it. A lot of you probably knew this by now, but I figured I might as well put it out there.

I had the original LP of Pac-Man Fever by Buckner & Garcia.

Back when Pac-Man first hit arcades, I was rather obsessed with the game. I’d play it every chance I got, and I had all sorts of Pac-Man memorabilia. I had a bedspread, I had a book bag, I had a table-top electronic game, and I even had a watch that could play the game. So, of course, when I heard of the album, I just had to get it.

My parents were kind enough to humor me and got me the record. I got to listen to it every chance I got, and being a kid I overlooked the fact that the songs were almost beyond cheesy. I mean, a perfect example is the song “Goin’ Berzerk”, where a beautiful piano solo starting the song is interrupted by sound effects from the game Berzerk, complete with robots saying, “Chicken, fight like a robot!”

Of course, I grew out of the record, and over time I had forgotten I even had it. I moved on to other games, although I would occasionally put Pac-Man on cell phones I owned for nostalgia purposes. I even got Pac-Man Championship Edition for Xbox Live Arcade when it came out. The record itself, though, is still sitting downstairs in my collection.

A day or two ago, something prompted me to remember the album, and I did a bit of looking. Interestingly enough, I found that Buckner & Garcia had released it to CD, and that it was now available on the iTunes Store. I resisted getting it, as I wasn’t sure I wanted to have it in my music library, especially as it might enter rotation on my office music queue. Finally, though, I purchased it as it was only $8.

So, how has it held up, you might ask? Well, it’s as cheesy as it was twenty-five years ago. However, the interesting thing is that this is not the original recording of the album. As near as I can tell (according to Wikipedia), Buckner & Garcia weren’t allowed access to the original master tapes, so they had to re-record all of the songs from scratch. They’re the same songs, but they just sound different. It’s a tad jarring, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it.

Ah, well. I fully admit I submitted to the retro temptation. I wasn’t expecting a classic album. In fact, I knew it was going to be so bad it’s good. I just can wait to see what my coworkers’ reactions will be when/if this album starts playing on my work iTunes queue…

The following is my post on truTV’s Operation Repo message board, and is a followup to this post. I’m sure the post will end up being deleted by the forum moderator, but you know what? I don’t care. I wanted to get it off my chest, and so I went ahead and posted it. If it’s not deleted, you can read the original post here.

I gave up on Operation Repo months ago. I only kept coming back to the message board to make my opinion known that I did not think this show belonged on this network. It’s not “reality”. It’s not “actuality”. There have been many examples given of how this show, if it were real, breaks repossession laws pretty blatantly. The fact that the “repo agents” are not licensed (despite some people’s unsupported statements that they have “temporary licenses”) has also been well documented. I’ve even complained to truTV directly using the contact form on the site, as suggested by Coldwater (note: the forum moderator for the Operation Repo forum). It’s obvious I’m not the only one who feels this way.

However, it’s also now becoming obvious that truTV does not care whether this show is “reality” or “actuality”. In what I’m guessing is a move made under pressure from truTV themselves, suddenly the discussion about how fake the show is is closed and removed from the sticky topics (thus guaranteeing it’ll be moved to obscurity), and instead a topic about “this is the best show on TV” (that last I checked wasn’t as active as the “fake” topic) takes its place. It looks to me that instead of addressing the valid criticism, truTV would rather sweep it under the rug and pretend that the show is real and that there are no problems.

In other words, they’re taking the dishonest and morally bankrupt route. Well, I’ve had enough. I’m not supporting a business that shows such shocking disregard for their customers. I don’t appreciate being lied to and willfully ignored, and I don’t see why anyone else does. If you want to, go right ahead, but I’m not standing for it.

It’s a shame, really, because there are a number of programs on this network I did catch on a regular basis like Forensic Files, The Smoking Gun Presents: World’s Dumbest, Most Shocking/Most Daring, and Inside American Jail. No more. I’ve deleted the shows from my DVR, I’m not coming back to the network itself, and I’m done with this message board as well.

I’m sure there are those who would see me giving up and leaving as a victory. I wouldn’t see it as such, as while I’m no longer fighting… I’m also a lost customer, and a rather unhappy one at that. I’m going to be sure to tell friends and family about what I think of this network. A network lives and dies by its viewership, and while I might be just one person… I’m not being quiet about it, and I doubtless am not the only person walking away.

I’m not sure what this means for truTV, but I do know I won’t be here to see it. Goodbye.

Well, as many people know, a few weeks ago I went to Dubai on a business trip. It was an interesting experience, and one I would very much hope to go through again…

I flew to Dubai on an Emirates Airlines Boeing 777. For the most part, the flight was comfortable even if a little long. I must be more used to intercontinental flights than I thought, though, as the fifteen hour flight really didn’t bother me all that much. If anything, the only real drawback to the flight was that my iPod Classic malfunctioned, preventing me from watching or listening to any media on it. Fortunately, the airplane’s media system had more movies than I could have possibly imagined, so I entertained myself by watching Watchmen and Disney’s Atlantis… when I wasn’t sleeping, that is.

Going through immigration and customs was a breeze, and fortunately there was someone from the hotel waiting outside of customs to pick me up and get me to the hotel. The hotel is located in an area called the Green Community, which is a bit distance outside of the city proper and kind of in the middle of nowhere. As we drove to the hotel, I was amazed by the sheer amount of construction that was being done; it was as if they were building a completely brand new megalopolis. I even saw the Burj Dubai in the distance. I tell you, even from far away that building is highly impressive.

Once I got checked in at the hotel, I decided to have some dinner (as it was around 6 PM local time when I landed), and checked out one of the hotel restaurants. I ended up sitting outside right by the pool, availing myself of the barbecue on the buffet, and especially the chicken and lamb. That’s where I realized just how hot it got in Dubai; it was around 8 PM and the sun had set, yet it was still at least 90 degrees outside. I ordered some water with my meal, and sweated as I ate and drank. As soon as I was done there, I wandered over to the hotel bar. In the United Arab Emirates, alcohol is only allowed to be served in hotels, so I figured I might as well have some there. I ended up sitting on the balcony with a cold Heineken, adjusting to the heat, and communicating with friends and colleagues back home via my iPhone. After I was done with my drink, I headed to bed.

The next day was a Saturday. The people at the facility I was going to be working at were going to be there that day working, but I felt I needed a day to try and recover from what jet lag I had. It turned out to be a good thing I was, because I ended up sleeping for most of the afternoon. I also encountered a rather unpleasant shock that showed how much more expensive Dubai could be: while internet access is generally free at US Courtyard by Marriotts, here it was $20 or so a day(!). Needless to say, for the most part, unless I was at the work facility I ended up using my iPhone for internet access for most of my trip.

Now, before I go any further, I suppose I should describe what the culture was like there. If it wasn’t for the lack of clouds and the signs being in both Arabic and English, for the most part I could have sworn I was back home. In fact, I saw more signs that were English-only as opposed to Arabic-only. The range of cars one would find there was about the same as one would find here, including even Dodges. The food available to me was pretty much the same as one would find here, too. Sausage and bacon wasn’t a problem, as places would serve beef or turkey versions as opposed to pork. Men wearing thawbs (called kanduras there) and women wearing hajibs were commonplace, though not all women kept their face completely covered. Finding Arabic books was a bit interesting, as I had intended on getting a copy of Twilight in Arabic for friends, but in the bookstores I went to most of the books were in English.

After having lunch at a Chili’s Too in the shopping center connected to the hotel and resting for the afternoon, I decided to take a free shuttle to the Mall of the Emirates. To say the place is huge is an understatement. The entire place was two to three levels, and had at least two food courts (one with full-size restaurants), a movie theater, an entertainment complex, and of course Ski Dubai. At least one part of the place was set aside of traditional Arabic wares, while many sections were nothing but Western stores, including places you’d expect to see in the States like Marble Slab, TGI Friday’s, Border’s, Virgin Megastore, and the like. I spent a full two and a half hours looking around, seeing what they had compared to us, and overall being very impressed. A friend asked me if I stood out like a sore thumb (as an Arab in a thawb would here), and the answer is, “Certainly not.” There were about as many Westerners as there were Arabs that I could see, and even many Arabs were wearing Western clothing.

Another thing that one notices over there is how many foreigners there are working there. For example, most of the “working class” grunts I saw over there were primarily Indians, working to send money back home to their families in India. In restaurants, that I saw, the women working as waitresses were primarily Asian. As for the “working girls” in Dubai, well… believe it or not, I never saw any. They mostly congregate around the hotels in the city, and the Green Community is far enough out of the way they apparently don’t consider it working hanging around.

After two and a half hours of wandering around the mall and taking in the sights, I headed back to the shuttle pickup area to head back to the hotel. Once there, I went straight to the hotel bar and had a Heineken and people-watched, while communicating to friends/family back home via iPhone. I ended up going to bed early, but didn’t sleep too well as jet lag was still being a pain.

The next day was the big day for me, as I had to get to work at the facility. Posts about that will be forthcoming in the next couple of days. :-)

It’s kind of funny. With the advent of the fourth edition of Dungeons & Dragons, it’s been appearing more and more in things I read like Penny Arcade, PvP, and Something*Positive (though, to be honest, tabletop RPGs have come and gone in S*P throughout the comic’s history). It makes me sad, in a way, as I never really got into D&D, even though I always wanted to. I’d been wondering why I never did, and it finally occurred to me recently why that was.

Now, keep in mind, I’m not against tabletop RPGs as a whole. During the 1990’s, I used to play the various World of Darkness games (especially Vampire: The Masquerade and Werewolf: The Apocalypse) with two different groups, and I loved playing them. However, while I got into those and enjoyed playing them, I still couldn’t get into Dungeons & Dragons. I have no idea why, as “sword and sorcery” fantasy tales are something I enjoy watching and reading. I thought it might have been just the whole “hack and slash” nature of D&D as opposed to WoD, but talking to my friend George recently helped me put it into perspective.

The thing that had never come into my mind before then was that D&D ISN’T inherently all “hack, slash, get the gold” like I had imagined. Reading tales of the D&D games played by the Penny Arcade guys, Scott Kurtz (of PvP), and Wil Wheaton hammered that point home. What, then, made it that way when I played? It then dawned on me while talking to George.

Another friend of mine who was in the RPG group with George was Chris, who I’ve known since first grade. The other RPG group I was in (headed up by Malinda and Jeff, aka my ex and her now-husband) didn’t play D&D, but instead played only WoD at the time. Chris was the center of the D&D group. However, Chris has never taken much to actual roleplaying. He gets the most enjoyment out of hack and slash. A perfect example is one of the times Chris and George played together in EverQuest II; George would want to read the NPC’s dialogue and find out why he was killing these particular monsters they were hunting, while Chris would impatiently drag him on to the next one, saying, “Come on, come on! Let’s get the next one!”

In fact, if it wasn’t for the nature of WoD itself, I’m sure Chris would have been the same way in those sessions. In WoD, for the most part, going in and hacking/slashing will get you nothing except very dead very quickly, especially considering some of the monsters out there. Chris had to do character roleplaying as a result, but he mostly only ever played one type of character. Still, it would explain why Chris preferred Werewolf out of the five WoD games, as it was easily the most violent and combat-intensive of them. We ended up playing it far more than Vampire, and almost never played the other three games.

Since those days, I’ve only done one RPG session with Chris et al, and that was a D&D fourth edition campaign run by Chris’s former roommate Preston’s wife. Even then, the hack and slash mentality was there; Chris complained that there wasn’t enough combat, while I was the one who worked out the riddle behind the entire story and came up with the plan to fix things. It was fun, but the combat wasn’t something I was thrilled with and even was any good at.

So, where does that leave me now? Well, the answer is… in the cold, I guess. I don’t have any real RPG groups to play with, even though I would like to try D&D with a non-hack and slash focus. I play these games to act out a different role. If I wanted pure hack and slash gameplay, I’d play either Diablo II or Gauntlet. Heck, I have a couple of board games like Talisman and Dungeonquest that would fit that category. It’s not just D&D, either; I’d even like to try something like Paranoia, Shadowrun, or even Dark Heresy. I’d been thinking of going into World of WarCraft or Warhammer Online, but then I like the versatility that comes with a tabletop game. (There’s also the MMO burnout to think about, but that’s a whole different subject right there.)

In the end, it’s just a bit of geek culture and entertainment that I wish I had had a better opportunity to get into. It’s not too late, I know, but for now, I’m just going to wait and see what comes up. Here’s hoping I actually do get to enjoy D&D on its own merits sometime soon.

I spent most of yesterday over at my friend Dave’s place. In the evening, while he and I were discussing something regarding movies, Dad gave me a call. He suggested that I stay the night over at Dave’s, as the air conditioning at the house was out. I decided it couldn’t be that bad, as I endured two weeks without A/C after Hurricane Ike, and made my way home when it was time to go. (I also had other reasons for not wanting to stay, but I won’t get into them here.) It wasn’t too bad when I got home, so I decided to ride it out.

I’m beginning to wonder whether that was really a good idea.

What I forgot to take into account was that temperatures in Houston dropped significantly in the aftermath of Ike, and Houston is presently in a record-breaking heat wave. Right now, the temperature indicator on my system keyboard says it’s 99 degrees in my bedroom. Fortunately I have the ceiling fan going full blast, and also have a desk fan sitting elsewhere in my room providing circulation. My main server’s faring a bit worse, though; the LCD temperature gauge on the front of the case is reading twenty degrees higher than usual. Probably most horrifying of all, I’m also having to wear a pair of shorts and a muscle shirt in order to keep cool. Those who have met me in person will tell you that I almost NEVER wear shorts (and haven’t in public in probably over a decade), and I don’t have anywhere near the physique that can carry a muscle shirt well. Fortunately, with it being nearly 5:30 PM, it should start cooling down in the house within the next few hours.

Dad’s already arranged for someone to come out first thing in the morning to fix the air conditioning. I wish it could have been today, but never mind. For now, though, I’m just going to go downstairs, have a cold drink or two, and help my parents figure out what the heck we’re going to do about supper (as none of us want to work over a hot stove or oven).

All right, let’s get the obvious news out of the way. Michael Jackson is dead. If you’re one of the very very very few people who didn’t know that already, now you do. (And if you didn’t, how the hell is it you’re reading about it on MY site?!)

Moving right along…

One of my old friends from junior high and high school, Kerri-Leigh, has had a rather different take on the whole thing. While everyone else is seeing fit to give their RIPs and condolences to Michael, she is instead giving RIPs and condolences to Navy enlisted and officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty. Unlike Michael, these are people who, other than their shipmates, friends, and family, aren’t known to the public at large and gave their lives in the service.

She’s been posting them on her Twitter, which you can find here. Please take a minute to read through the list; while these are not celebrities, they are people with friends and family who died in the service of this country, and do deserve be remembered.

It’s pretty obvious to anyone who knows me that I’m a pretty big fan of Mortal Kombat. So, it really should be no surprise to anyone that I have the first movie on DVD, and also on my iPhone/iPod. I’ve stated before that one of my little traditions is that if I go on any trip for Mortal Kombat Online, I watch the first movie on the flight. Well, there’s one confession that I kind of need to make, that I really haven’t told anyone before today.

When I saw the movie in theaters, I was actually a bit disappointed.

I should explain. About a month or two before the movie came out, I had bought the novelization of the movie from Waldenbooks. I had already read it before the actual movie came out, so when I saw the movie I was expecting something pretty close to the book. As it turns out, I’m guessing that the novelization was based on an earlier version of the script than was one filmed, as there were some pretty significant differences. In fact, I would personally say that the story of the book was better than the story of the movie. The book differences added more character development and exposure; on the other hand, being closer to the book would have meant the movie would have lost a major fight scene and three major game references (two of which were played for laughs).

Some of the changes that come to mind are…

• Jax is seen after Sonya boarded Shang Tsung’s boat in a minor sideplot, investigating the tournament and eventually reaching the Temple of Light and meeting Liu’s grandfather.
• There is a scene after the dinner, where Art Lean is looking for his quarters, is confronted by three or so belligerent fighters, and easily dispatches them.
• Sonya’s first fight is with Jade. After Johnny comments that he’s heard she’s pretty tough, Sonya begins the match by bowing to Jade. Jade responds with a deep bow, and when she’s at her lowest point, Sonya kicks her in the face with her combat boot, killing her instantly.
• Sonya refuses to kill Kano during their bout, as it would have meant doing what Shang Tsung wanted and she’s having none of it.
• The Scorpion/Cage fight ends right at the point where Scorpion created the portal in the movie; Johnny shadow kicks him and knocks him unconscious. At that point it’s revealed that Art saw the whole thing, and comments he thought the shadow kick was a special effect done for movies. Johnny offers to teach it to him after the tournament.
• Goro is portrayed as a much less blatantly evil and more honorable warrior. After he defeats Art, instead of contemptuously telling Art it was time to die, he says, “You fought well.” After Art’s death, the other Earthrealm fighters give him a funeral/memorial service.
• After Johnny makes his deal with Shang Tsung, Raiden confronts him with Sonya and Liu. Johnny chews him out, and it is at this point (in front of all three) that Raiden says, “At last, one of you has understood.”
• In both the book and the movie, Raiden tells Johnny that because of his fear, he’ll rush into any fight to prove he’s not a fake, fight recklessly and foolishly, and lose. His fight with Goro in the movie seems to still be reckless and off-the-cuff, seemingly showing Johnny hasn’t learned anything. In the book, the fight is much longer, and much more brutal. More, Johnny has a definite strategy he uses, including the use of a chain as a weapon and dodging in and out of obstacles to avoid Goro.
• In the movie, it’s never shown why Goro couldn’t pull himself up from the ledge he was holding onto with one hand, and Johnny makes a smartass remark to him before he falls. In the book, Goro couldn’t lift himself up because Johnny had broken his other wrists using the chain. Johnny offers to help him up, but Goro refuses, saying Shokan die in battle. Johnny acknowledges it and gives a word of respect before Goro falls.
• In the book, the nature of the light show on the boat, the island itself, and Raiden’s lack of authority there are explained: Liu realizes that they crossed over into Outworld during the light show, and that the island itself was an illusion. It’s when Liu says it that Raiden says, “I have nothing further to teach you.”
• When they return to the Temple of Light at the very end, they meet up with Jax, Liu’s grandfather, and Raiden. They also see Kano, and Sonya and Jax arrest him. Kitana asks Liu to return to Outworld with her, and Liu asks if Raiden knew it would end like that. Raiden responds with his “I didn’t have a clue; you humans are so unpredictable” and vanishes, ending the book. There’s no confrontation with Shao Kahn.

I’m sure there are a lot of people who would disagree with me, but I actually liked the character development with Art Lean, and the fact that Goro wasn’t just a one-note monster. I still have the novelization of the movie on my bookshelf; I’d probably get rid of the movie sooner than lose the book, especially as the book is FAR harder to come by these days. Truthfully, while we’re getting a heck of a lot of remakes of films out there these days (especially ones that don’t need to be remade), I wouldn’t mind seeing the first movie remade, to be far more like the novel. While the movie as filmed had more of a “kick ass” mentality and crowd pleasing action… I simply thought the novel’s story was better.

If you come across the novelization somewhere, and are a Mortal Kombat fan, I highly suggest you pick it up. It’s a different take on the events of the movie, to be sure… and in my opinion, a superior one.

Well, I knew this trip was coming for a while. My bosses had been talking about it, but nothing concrete had been stated until a week or so ago. The details were finally worked out early last week, and now I’m working to get prepared.

I’m leaving for Dubai on Thursday, and will be returning the following Friday.

The company I work for has a joint venture out there, and one of the things that needs to be done out there is to get the computer systems operational and also get their databases set up and the like. While I doubt I’ll have a week’s worth of work to do, it’s better to be out there longer than necessary than have to make a return trip later on, especially considering it’s a fifteen hour flight from Houston to Dubai. I still need to get with my coworkers to decide what exact software I need to take with me, but I should have that all taken care of by the end of the day tomorrow.

Mostly, now, my preparations are something of a personal nature. I’m finishing up converting movies into an iPod-friendly format; I’m taking the iPod as well as the iPhone because the iPod has ten times the storage space, which means it can carry all of the movies I want to watch. So far this weekend I’ve converted the Lord of the Rings extended edition trilogy, The Towering Inferno, and the original Star Wars trilogy. In the next day or two, I need to pick up a couple of new pairs of tan slacks, plus maybe a new pair of shoes and a panama hat. Most of my clothing tends to be on the dark side, which doesn’t help in temperatures of 100-110 F. I also should get an airline power adapter for my iPhone and iPod.

I’ll still be online from there, of course. I plan on taking a camera with me, plus the iPhone has its own camera. I’ll make the occasional Twitter posting and site posting. I just don’t plan on doing as much Twitter posting as usual, as the data service on the iPhone will be disabled (unless I go through a wifi access point). Still, I will be checking email and instant messages. Just don’t try to call me unless you absolutely have to. ;-)

This should be an interesting experience. I’ve never travelled quite this far; ten hour flights are old hat to me, as I’ve been to England more times than I can count. I’ve never been to the Middle East before, though, and I’m hoping a fifteen hour flight is as doable for me as a ten hour flight is. Still, I’m truly looking forward to it, and plan to make the most of it. Right now it’s looking like I’ll be staying at the Courtyard by Marriott; it’s not in the center of the city, but it is close to the facility and it does have a shuttle to/from the Mall of the Emirates. Seeing as I’ll be there on a Saturday, maybe I’ll have time to look around there. We’ll see.

In any event, I’m looking forward to it. I’ll let you all know how it turns out. :-)