Saturday, November 29, 2003
I am getting really sick of the spam problem. There was a time that I could tolerate it, but it's really true that I'm getting as much or more spam than I am getting legitimate email. I'm starting to look around for spambuster programs. I know that some of the leading anti-virus companies have them, and I might actually invest in one in the new year. I've written enough articles on spam and how it affects businesses, but the spam I used to get never bothered me (because I frankly didn't get enough of it to warrant trying to stop it). These days, the problem has got way out of hand...and aside from buying software to stop it, there's not a damn thing anybody can do about it.
Just opened my email inbox, and one of Jacquie's cousins had dropped by the site. Seems this person found it rather open and honest...y'know, people hate that sort of thing. Apparently said cousin was a tad worried about me talking about his or her (I won't say which -- keep reading, you'll see why) family. This cousin even threatened me -- something about cutting off all my hair. I guess i should...y'know...get a restraining order or something. I'm very particular about my hair. :P
In fact, I'm so particular about my hair that I had a really poor night's sleep a few weeks back when Jacquie woke up in the middle of the night and asked me, "Is your hair thinning?" ... Dude, you have no idea how many times I checked for a receding hairline the next day. The horrors!
In fact, I'm so particular about my hair that I had a really poor night's sleep a few weeks back when Jacquie woke up in the middle of the night and asked me, "Is your hair thinning?" ... Dude, you have no idea how many times I checked for a receding hairline the next day. The horrors!
Thursday, November 27, 2003
I'm a bit of an animation nut. As an artform, I found it quite fascinating, but also some of the stories that some animators come up with are truly amazing. This all probably comes as a result of growing up on Looney Tunes cartoons and Disney animated films (not to mention the whole bunch of after school and Saturday morning cartoons).
The truth is, I'll watch just about anything animated, but I'm especially fond of Japanese animation. I first delved into anime before I knew what it even was. As a kid, I watched Battle of the Planets and other imported Japanese cartoons. These days, I mostly watch anime that's more aimed at teenage and up audiences -- Cowboy Bebop, Record of Lodoss War, Serial Experiments: Lain and others. In fact, I need to get some new anime series on DVD. I've watched everything I have several times. ;)
The truth is, I'll watch just about anything animated, but I'm especially fond of Japanese animation. I first delved into anime before I knew what it even was. As a kid, I watched Battle of the Planets and other imported Japanese cartoons. These days, I mostly watch anime that's more aimed at teenage and up audiences -- Cowboy Bebop, Record of Lodoss War, Serial Experiments: Lain and others. In fact, I need to get some new anime series on DVD. I've watched everything I have several times. ;)
Wednesday, November 26, 2003
Musically-speaking, my tastes are somewhat ecclectic, and I'm pretty sure that ecclecticism drives Jacquie nuts most of the time. See, Jacquie's an '80s pop-rock girl. Bon Jovi, Def Leppard and a whole slew of other '80s pop-rock bands that just refuse to go away are her idols. While I will admit to enjoying some music from that decadent era, I've pretty much given up on it, except for a few key bands that paved the way for what 102.1 The Edge calls "modern rock." (That said, I've given up on The Edge and its pathetic lineup of music.)
When it comes to my musical tastes, you're not about to find much in the way of pop-rock music in my CD collection. I tend to ignore much of what's on the radio these days and focus on digging up either music that is obscure, truly alternative or simply not mainstream. For instance, one of my favourite bands is a goth rock group called Judith (although I haven't picked up the band's latest album--I'll probably have to get it through mail order). On another extreme, I'm a big fan of grinding guitars and trash metal (Metallica's Kill 'Em All is a classic), jazz (Thelonious Monk is a god on Earth), classical (like Phillip Glass), goth rock (like Bauhaus, Judith, Faith & The Muse, etc.), classic rock (CCR, Bob Seger, The Doors), heavy metal (Judas Priest, AC/DC), industrial (Nine Inch Nails, Kraftwerk, Rammstein), old country and western (Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings)...and the list goes on.
Walking into my office, it's impossible to guess what sounds will be coming out of the stereo's speakers. Since all of our computers are in my office, and both Jacquie and I play EverQuest, my girlfriend spends a bit of time in my office each evening. It annoys me quite a bit, though, when she walks in and either turns off my music or turns down the volume. There was a time I used to fall asleep listening to the tunes of Green Day (yeah, that's right, hammering drums puts me to sleep), but Jacquie can't sleep if there is any noise whatsoever. Imagine my frustration of taking much of the music I listen to out of my life and listening to it only when Jacquie's not around.
That said, Jacquie probably has her own complaints. After all, I refuse to tolerate Britney Spears or any other pop "artist" that she's interested in.
When it comes to my musical tastes, you're not about to find much in the way of pop-rock music in my CD collection. I tend to ignore much of what's on the radio these days and focus on digging up either music that is obscure, truly alternative or simply not mainstream. For instance, one of my favourite bands is a goth rock group called Judith (although I haven't picked up the band's latest album--I'll probably have to get it through mail order). On another extreme, I'm a big fan of grinding guitars and trash metal (Metallica's Kill 'Em All is a classic), jazz (Thelonious Monk is a god on Earth), classical (like Phillip Glass), goth rock (like Bauhaus, Judith, Faith & The Muse, etc.), classic rock (CCR, Bob Seger, The Doors), heavy metal (Judas Priest, AC/DC), industrial (Nine Inch Nails, Kraftwerk, Rammstein), old country and western (Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings)...and the list goes on.
Walking into my office, it's impossible to guess what sounds will be coming out of the stereo's speakers. Since all of our computers are in my office, and both Jacquie and I play EverQuest, my girlfriend spends a bit of time in my office each evening. It annoys me quite a bit, though, when she walks in and either turns off my music or turns down the volume. There was a time I used to fall asleep listening to the tunes of Green Day (yeah, that's right, hammering drums puts me to sleep), but Jacquie can't sleep if there is any noise whatsoever. Imagine my frustration of taking much of the music I listen to out of my life and listening to it only when Jacquie's not around.
That said, Jacquie probably has her own complaints. After all, I refuse to tolerate Britney Spears or any other pop "artist" that she's interested in.
Monday, November 24, 2003
I decided to retire Sarius, my 8th level paladin on EQ's Tarew Marr server, today. I really hadn't been enjoying the character, and he was filling up a useful character slot. So long, Sarius!
The Monday blahs still haven't gone away. It's my lunch time, and I'm just killing a few minutes in EverQuest by trying to clean up a few things (like the above-mentioned Sarius). With Sarius deleted, now I've only got six characters on Tarew Marr server. ;)
You know how some Mondays just feel like a Monday? ... This is one of them. Bleh.
Sunday, November 23, 2003
I'm renaming Stupid Cat (aka Molly) to Extremely Stupid Cat. She caused quite the panic in the house this morning all because she's dumb enough to crawl into any space she'll fit (even if that means she's unable to get back out).
This morning, Stupid Cat went missing, and Jacquie went looking for her. This has happened several times, and it usually just means Stupid Cat has found an even better hiding spot than her usual hiding spots and has decided to make herself comfortable there. But Jacquie gets pretty upset when she can't find her "girls." So she started looking and calling "Molly!" over and over and over again. At the time, I was in the basement playing a little EverQuest and getting ready to start writing at an article for ConnectIT. Of course, earlier I had made a mental note that Jacquie had forgotten to close the door to the basement (it's a no cat zone) when she had come up last night after playing EQ.
Anyway, Jacquie ripped the whole fucking basement apart looking for Stupid Cat. Of course, you have to realize we have a storage room downstairs that resembles ground zero of a nuclear catastrophe. In theory, that was where Stupid Cat was hiding. After well over an hour of searching the house top to bottom, bottom to top and back again, Jacquie finally came across the feline moron stuck in a corner somewhere within the storage room.
Yes, Stupid Cat had wandered into the storage room and crawled into an area that she was unable to get out of. If not for Jacquie's persistence, I'm sure she would've died in there. So again, I reiterate: I'm changing Stupid Cat's name to Extremely Stupid Cat.
This morning, Stupid Cat went missing, and Jacquie went looking for her. This has happened several times, and it usually just means Stupid Cat has found an even better hiding spot than her usual hiding spots and has decided to make herself comfortable there. But Jacquie gets pretty upset when she can't find her "girls." So she started looking and calling "Molly!" over and over and over again. At the time, I was in the basement playing a little EverQuest and getting ready to start writing at an article for ConnectIT. Of course, earlier I had made a mental note that Jacquie had forgotten to close the door to the basement (it's a no cat zone) when she had come up last night after playing EQ.
Anyway, Jacquie ripped the whole fucking basement apart looking for Stupid Cat. Of course, you have to realize we have a storage room downstairs that resembles ground zero of a nuclear catastrophe. In theory, that was where Stupid Cat was hiding. After well over an hour of searching the house top to bottom, bottom to top and back again, Jacquie finally came across the feline moron stuck in a corner somewhere within the storage room.
Yes, Stupid Cat had wandered into the storage room and crawled into an area that she was unable to get out of. If not for Jacquie's persistence, I'm sure she would've died in there. So again, I reiterate: I'm changing Stupid Cat's name to Extremely Stupid Cat.
Saturday, November 22, 2003
Puppy discussion continues. I think I've won on the poodle thing, though. Jacquie tried to gain support from my parents about a poodle (she claims otherwise ), but they both hate poodles as much as I do. However, Jacquie is just as unrelenting about my Welshi corgi as I am about the poodle. That's fine...as long as I don't have to worry about ever having a poodle living here.
We have a couple possibilities of dogs to get:
-Chihuahua
-Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
That's right. We could only agree on two breeds. Both are not cheap dogs. We looked. It would likely cost at least $800 for either of those, with prices going as high as $1200 or so. ... Maybe we should just forget about breeders and go to the Humane Society. There are always dogs who need good homes cooped up there.
Unfortunately, Jacquie's not really the type to take to a Humane Society. She'd want to bring every animal home.
We have a couple possibilities of dogs to get:
-Chihuahua
-Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
That's right. We could only agree on two breeds. Both are not cheap dogs. We looked. It would likely cost at least $800 for either of those, with prices going as high as $1200 or so. ... Maybe we should just forget about breeders and go to the Humane Society. There are always dogs who need good homes cooped up there.
Unfortunately, Jacquie's not really the type to take to a Humane Society. She'd want to bring every animal home.
Back from my parents. Jacquie and my mother did a lot of work on their crafts, and I just hung out with Sean, talked games and showed him my new Website. Sean's a big MUD fan (that is, Multi-User Dungeon). MUDs are kind of the pre-cursor to games like EverQuest. They were (er...are) text-based with no graphics outside of colourful ASCII characters, and Sean's been playing World of Phoenix for about three years off and on. Personally, I'm kind of happy MUDs have evolved into fully-graphical games like EQ and such. I just can't go back to text-based adventures...although I'll admit to having some good memories of BBS games like Legend of the Red Dragon (I think that's the proper name).
Anyway, I gave my Nideo camera a try tonight to see if I could grab a few pics of the fam. Out of the twenty-six shots I snapped, only these ones were worth posting...and even then, the quality is utter crap...
My brother Sean's message for my loyal *cough* readers.
T the Terrible demands his treats.
Anyway, I gave my Nideo camera a try tonight to see if I could grab a few pics of the fam. Out of the twenty-six shots I snapped, only these ones were worth posting...and even then, the quality is utter crap...
My brother Sean's message for my loyal *cough* readers.
T the Terrible demands his treats.
I think I just played the most mind-numbingly boring session of EverQuest I've ever played. I started up a Vax group in Overthere, and while it was good XP, my brain was shutting down in protest. Never, ever again will I do that. Bah!
That said, I'm finished with EQ until tonight. Jacquie and I are about to head over to my parents' house so Jacquie can work on some crafts for Christmas and I can...well, who knows what I'll do? My brother Sean, who lives on the other side of the city, is home for the weekend (he doesn't drive, so he only comes home every third or fourth weekend now--and then he stays until Sunday), so I'll probably hang out with him for awhile.
I'm going to take my little Nideo digital camera (it's smaller than the size of my palm) with me. This is something I've had for awhile now. I got it when I was working on Toronto Computes!, and while it only takes 640x480 resolution pictures, it's sometimes kind of fun to tote around. If you hide the camera in your hand, you can take a picture without people noticing (and no, I'm not a "shoe cam" type of guy :P). I'll throw the pics I take up onto the site a little later. I'll try to get a good snapshot of T (aka Trouble, aka T the Terrible).
That said, I'm finished with EQ until tonight. Jacquie and I are about to head over to my parents' house so Jacquie can work on some crafts for Christmas and I can...well, who knows what I'll do? My brother Sean, who lives on the other side of the city, is home for the weekend (he doesn't drive, so he only comes home every third or fourth weekend now--and then he stays until Sunday), so I'll probably hang out with him for awhile.
I'm going to take my little Nideo digital camera (it's smaller than the size of my palm) with me. This is something I've had for awhile now. I got it when I was working on Toronto Computes!, and while it only takes 640x480 resolution pictures, it's sometimes kind of fun to tote around. If you hide the camera in your hand, you can take a picture without people noticing (and no, I'm not a "shoe cam" type of guy :P). I'll throw the pics I take up onto the site a little later. I'll try to get a good snapshot of T (aka Trouble, aka T the Terrible).
Friday, November 21, 2003
Talk around the house since Jacquie and I moved into the place in July has often moved to discussions about getting a dog. Both Jacquie and I love dogs, and we were both excited to get out of our apartment and start thinking about what breed to get.
You see, the only pets right now in the house are Jacquie's cats--Misty and Molly (or as I prefer to call them, Fatass and Stupid Cat). Both of them are spoiled rotten by Jacquie, and they pretty much hated me almost from the day I started dating Jacquie more than two years ago. Since then, Fatass and Stupid Cat have come dangerously close to being thrown out on several occasions (usually as a result of them making me bleed--I told you they hate me). However, I've tolerated them...knowing full well that I'll get my revenge by outliving them by several decades. The cats are actually the topic that is the cause of most of our worst arguments (and nobody takes my side--woe is me).
Anyway, seeing as we're both dog lovers, we've been talking about getting a pooch...but we probably won't actually get the dog until next spring. However, there is a bit of a disagreement as to what kind of dog to get. Jacquie wants a sissy dog like a poodle or a bichon frise or any number of mop dogs (but definitely a small lapdog). Me, hell, I want a dog that looks like a dog.
My parents have had a beagle for the past five years, and while T is a great playmate, beagles are a little too...uh...nuts for our small house. Frankly, we have to get a small dog. However, it could at least be something cool...like a Welsh corgi. They look like dogs, not like mops (and I could name him Ein after the dog in Cowboy Bebop).
Of course, neither Jacquie nor I want to budge on this. I figure she has her two cats, so I should choose the dog. She disagrees (well, duh). Whatever the case, there's no bloody way I'm getting a poodle. Mark my words!
You see, the only pets right now in the house are Jacquie's cats--Misty and Molly (or as I prefer to call them, Fatass and Stupid Cat). Both of them are spoiled rotten by Jacquie, and they pretty much hated me almost from the day I started dating Jacquie more than two years ago. Since then, Fatass and Stupid Cat have come dangerously close to being thrown out on several occasions (usually as a result of them making me bleed--I told you they hate me). However, I've tolerated them...knowing full well that I'll get my revenge by outliving them by several decades. The cats are actually the topic that is the cause of most of our worst arguments (and nobody takes my side--woe is me).
Anyway, seeing as we're both dog lovers, we've been talking about getting a pooch...but we probably won't actually get the dog until next spring. However, there is a bit of a disagreement as to what kind of dog to get. Jacquie wants a sissy dog like a poodle or a bichon frise or any number of mop dogs (but definitely a small lapdog). Me, hell, I want a dog that looks like a dog.
My parents have had a beagle for the past five years, and while T is a great playmate, beagles are a little too...uh...nuts for our small house. Frankly, we have to get a small dog. However, it could at least be something cool...like a Welsh corgi. They look like dogs, not like mops (and I could name him Ein after the dog in Cowboy Bebop
Of course, neither Jacquie nor I want to budge on this. I figure she has her two cats, so I should choose the dog. She disagrees (well, duh). Whatever the case, there's no bloody way I'm getting a poodle. Mark my words!
This SeattlePI.com story shows exactly why it's dangerous to blog about the workplace.
Okay, I've been dicking around with some of the settings and seeing what I'm able to do with the template. The Blogger.com interface isn't too bad, I must say. Now I'm just trying to play with some of the features to see what I'm capable of doing with this thing...and trying to re-learn some HTML because the template app is purely text-driven. Yay!
Well, at least I figured out how to add a mailto tag to the "//posted by Chris" line. ... Hmm...I'm thinking of being a masochist and letting Jacquie post comments to the site, too. I wonder if that's just begging for trouble. :-/
Well, at least I figured out how to add a mailto tag to the "//posted by Chris" line. ... Hmm...I'm thinking of being a masochist and letting Jacquie post comments to the site, too. I wonder if that's just begging for trouble. :-/
Since my tables site kinda sucked, I went looking for an easier and better to deal with a blog site. Well, I guess I found what I was looking for. Welcome to the new ChrisTalbot.com, with blogging layout done by Blogger.com.
There were some problems bringing things over from the old site. For instance, every timestamp before this is...well...fucked up. Just ignore them. From here on out, they should be just fine, though.
There were some problems bringing things over from the old site. For instance, every timestamp before this is...well...fucked up. Just ignore them. From here on out, they should be just fine, though.
9:40 a.m. -- This must be Ego Search Month. Over the past week, I've had two other Chris Talbots stumble onto this site and email me. Of course, this isn't the first time I've had other people who share my (or am I sharing their name?) contact me after they saw this site. It usually happens at least once a year, sometimes twice. I've had Chris Talbots from England and the U.S. contact me.
This week, I received email from a Chris Talbot who works for a telecom company in New York and another from a Web design firm in Australia. The latter CT accused me of being an impostor. Heheh. Well, mister, who owns christalbot.com? Impostor? Sheesh! ;)
Wait. Speaking of ego searches, I just punched my name into Google and the first hit was a link to RottenTomatoes.com. Seems I made it onto their critics list. Seems they only have links to my reviews on Game-Over.net, though. Interesting that they haven't discovered my reviews on TotalGamer.ca. Hmm...being listed on RottenTomatoes....does that mean I should be insulted?
This week, I received email from a Chris Talbot who works for a telecom company in New York and another from a Web design firm in Australia. The latter CT accused me of being an impostor. Heheh. Well, mister, who owns christalbot.com? Impostor? Sheesh! ;)
Wait. Speaking of ego searches, I just punched my name into Google and the first hit was a link to RottenTomatoes.com. Seems I made it onto their critics list. Seems they only have links to my reviews on Game-Over.net, though. Interesting that they haven't discovered my reviews on TotalGamer.ca. Hmm...being listed on RottenTomatoes....does that mean I should be insulted?
Wednesday, November 19, 2003
12:00 p.m. -- I usually don't find The Onion all that funny, but my friend Lawrence forwarded me this. I have to admit I laughed pretty hard: Mom Finds Out About Blog
Not that I have to worry about that. My mom already knows what kind of ass I am.
Hi, Mom! ;)
Not that I have to worry about that. My mom already knows what kind of ass I am.
Hi, Mom! ;)
Saturday, November 15, 2003
10:40 p.m. -- One good thing about this blog, even if nobody but me and a couple of acquaintances ever read it (I have to read it, dammit -- somebody has to proofread this mess!), is that it makes me realize that I need to get out more. I mean, all I'm able to write about is how much I'm playing EverQuest or about my big weekly trips to Wal-Mart. Just to give me something to write about, I'll have to get my butt out there into the "real" world.
Like tonight... I hooked up with my friend Rawl and his girlfriend Tara for coffee at the Just Desserts coffee shop in Pickering. Just Desserts is one of those places that know Rawl by name. In fact, there's a bar in the same strip mall as JD that used to be our regular hangout a few years back. They not only knew us by name but also sometimes poured our beer before we walked in the door (I shit you not).
Anyway, so I got out tonight, drank too much coffee and discussed the bizarreness of existence. I've been trying to convince Rawl to go through with his plan to buy up a domain and launch a Website, but he's been a little busy lately. See, both Rawl, Tara and my own girlfriend Jacquie are all teachers (it's like I'm surrounded by the enemy), and it's report card time. In fact, their reports cards are due on Monday. Anyway, one of these days, Rawl will get around to making his own Website...and I'll just keep asking him about it until he does. ;)
Like tonight... I hooked up with my friend Rawl and his girlfriend Tara for coffee at the Just Desserts coffee shop in Pickering. Just Desserts is one of those places that know Rawl by name. In fact, there's a bar in the same strip mall as JD that used to be our regular hangout a few years back. They not only knew us by name but also sometimes poured our beer before we walked in the door (I shit you not).
Anyway, so I got out tonight, drank too much coffee and discussed the bizarreness of existence. I've been trying to convince Rawl to go through with his plan to buy up a domain and launch a Website, but he's been a little busy lately. See, both Rawl, Tara and my own girlfriend Jacquie are all teachers (it's like I'm surrounded by the enemy), and it's report card time. In fact, their reports cards are due on Monday. Anyway, one of these days, Rawl will get around to making his own Website...and I'll just keep asking him about it until he does. ;)
Thursday, November 13, 2003
9:00 p.m. -- I didn't get around to re-installing Bearshare or looking up any more about The Clone Wars. Jacquie didn't seem all that excited about it tonight, although the email I got from her earlier in the day when she found out about the series was obviously written when she was quite ecstatic.
The last week or so, I've been re-watching the Cowboy Bebop anime series, but this time with the English dubbed soundtrack doing. Well, uh...yeah, English dubs on animes are so rarely done well. While this one is of higher quality than most (which isn't saying much), the voices seem a little too jovial. Spike comes off more as City Hunter than as he seemed to be portrayed through the Japanese voice acting, and Jet's voice should have a bit more edge and roughness to it. Ed is about as close as they could probably get to what I had in mind, so kudos to that voice actor, and the voice acting of Faye is not too bad. It does seem a little off at times, though.
Some people would suggest I'm a little too picky about these types of things, though. ;)
2:45 p.m. -- Note to self: I've gotta start putting times on these things, 'cause there are occasions when I'd like to bitch about multiple things on the same day. Well, here we go again...
As most of my friends know, I'm not a fan of television. That is, I don't watch cable TV. I use my TV for playing video games on and watching DVDs and VHS tapes (often of movies in the latter cases, but sometimes of TV series that have been brought out, commercial-free, in all their glory). The truth is I find very little to watch on TV. If you've seen one sitcom, you've seen them all...and I watched enough sitcoms during the '80s to surely have seen 'em all. However, avoiding cable TV also means I sometimes miss out on things that come out...like The Clone Wars cartoon that recently started airing on The Cartoon Network.
Oh wait, we in Canada get fucked by government regulations. I forgot. We don't get The Cartoon Network. We get the scaled-down, rip-off, craptastic, "Canadian content" version called TeleToon. Anyway, I'm a Star Wars fan (a critical fan of the series, but a fan nonetheless), and I would very much like to see The Clone Wars, but the folks in the US have essentially put a ban on us poor bastards in Canada from watching the show. We don't get it on any station. We can't access the replays on the Cartoon Network's Website (I tried). And frickin' TeleToon won't have the rights to show The Clone Wars until sometime in 2004.
So where does leave me? Well, it honestly leaves me in this position: Wait for the show to either come out on TeleToon (which I despise and quite honestly refuse to pay for) or wait for the series to come out on DVD (oh wait, this is George Lucas we're talking about -- that'll be in about 2015) or break copyright laws and find someone who has uploaded episodes to Bearshare, Kazaa or one of the other peer-to-peer networks. Take a guess at which I'll choose...especially seeing as Jacquie is an even bigger Star Wars fanatic than I am.
I hope that the DVD release of the series will come out shortly after the series ends its run in the US next fall. Whenever it does, I'll buy it...but as a fan, I'm surely not waiting. I guess I'd better re-install Bearshare before Jacquie gets home.
Morning -- Over the last few days, I've been hunting an area in EverQuest called Iceclad Ocean on the continent of Velious. Seeing as my ranger, Crispinus, was only 36th level until a couple of nights ago, I was mainly just hunting snow cougars and pulling them to the docks to fight them one at a time (or at worst, two at a time). Two days ago, I ran into some guy who was just hanging out in the zone all day. Every time I took a break from working and jumped on, he was there. After work, I was for a couple of hours and I got into a bit of a conversation with him.
It seems the guy had been camping a named griffon named Stormfeather, who is used in a high-level quest. Stormfeather is actually one of four named and somewhat rare creatures that spawn in Iceclad Ocean that are part of the quest. By the time he logged off, he had been just sitting there waiting for Stormfeather for twelve hours. I looked the griffon up, and it seems Stormy only spawns every nineteen hours...and even then, he can skip several spawns. I read that one person had camped him for over fifty hours before seeing him. Others, of course, have stumbled upon him by a fortunate accident.
Yesterday morning, before I started working for the day, I popped onto EQ to kill a couple of snow cougars. Well, what do you know? Stormfeather was up and conning dark blue to me (translation: He would put up a fight). I took a couple of screenshots, knowing that I may never see him spawn again. I figured I'd be hunting Iceclad maybe for another few days (a week at most). I checked, and there were no other players in the zone. After a few minutes of thought, I decided to take the plunge and fight Stormfeather. He put up a hell of a fight, and I would've died if I hadn't been snaring him and throwing damage over time spells (I had run out of arrows before even challenging the beast). It took me about twenty minutes to emerge victorious.
The last week or so, I've been re-watching the Cowboy Bebop anime series, but this time with the English dubbed soundtrack doing. Well, uh...yeah, English dubs on animes are so rarely done well. While this one is of higher quality than most (which isn't saying much), the voices seem a little too jovial. Spike comes off more as City Hunter than as he seemed to be portrayed through the Japanese voice acting, and Jet's voice should have a bit more edge and roughness to it. Ed is about as close as they could probably get to what I had in mind, so kudos to that voice actor, and the voice acting of Faye is not too bad. It does seem a little off at times, though.
Some people would suggest I'm a little too picky about these types of things, though. ;)
2:45 p.m. -- Note to self: I've gotta start putting times on these things, 'cause there are occasions when I'd like to bitch about multiple things on the same day. Well, here we go again...
As most of my friends know, I'm not a fan of television. That is, I don't watch cable TV. I use my TV for playing video games on and watching DVDs and VHS tapes (often of movies in the latter cases, but sometimes of TV series that have been brought out, commercial-free, in all their glory). The truth is I find very little to watch on TV. If you've seen one sitcom, you've seen them all...and I watched enough sitcoms during the '80s to surely have seen 'em all. However, avoiding cable TV also means I sometimes miss out on things that come out...like The Clone Wars cartoon that recently started airing on The Cartoon Network.
Oh wait, we in Canada get fucked by government regulations. I forgot. We don't get The Cartoon Network. We get the scaled-down, rip-off, craptastic, "Canadian content" version called TeleToon. Anyway, I'm a Star Wars fan (a critical fan of the series, but a fan nonetheless), and I would very much like to see The Clone Wars, but the folks in the US have essentially put a ban on us poor bastards in Canada from watching the show. We don't get it on any station. We can't access the replays on the Cartoon Network's Website (I tried). And frickin' TeleToon won't have the rights to show The Clone Wars until sometime in 2004.
So where does leave me? Well, it honestly leaves me in this position: Wait for the show to either come out on TeleToon (which I despise and quite honestly refuse to pay for) or wait for the series to come out on DVD (oh wait, this is George Lucas we're talking about -- that'll be in about 2015) or break copyright laws and find someone who has uploaded episodes to Bearshare, Kazaa or one of the other peer-to-peer networks. Take a guess at which I'll choose...especially seeing as Jacquie is an even bigger Star Wars fanatic than I am.
I hope that the DVD release of the series will come out shortly after the series ends its run in the US next fall. Whenever it does, I'll buy it...but as a fan, I'm surely not waiting. I guess I'd better re-install Bearshare before Jacquie gets home.
Morning -- Over the last few days, I've been hunting an area in EverQuest called Iceclad Ocean on the continent of Velious. Seeing as my ranger, Crispinus, was only 36th level until a couple of nights ago, I was mainly just hunting snow cougars and pulling them to the docks to fight them one at a time (or at worst, two at a time). Two days ago, I ran into some guy who was just hanging out in the zone all day. Every time I took a break from working and jumped on, he was there. After work, I was for a couple of hours and I got into a bit of a conversation with him.
It seems the guy had been camping a named griffon named Stormfeather, who is used in a high-level quest. Stormfeather is actually one of four named and somewhat rare creatures that spawn in Iceclad Ocean that are part of the quest. By the time he logged off, he had been just sitting there waiting for Stormfeather for twelve hours. I looked the griffon up, and it seems Stormy only spawns every nineteen hours...and even then, he can skip several spawns. I read that one person had camped him for over fifty hours before seeing him. Others, of course, have stumbled upon him by a fortunate accident.
Yesterday morning, before I started working for the day, I popped onto EQ to kill a couple of snow cougars. Well, what do you know? Stormfeather was up and conning dark blue to me (translation: He would put up a fight). I took a couple of screenshots, knowing that I may never see him spawn again. I figured I'd be hunting Iceclad maybe for another few days (a week at most). I checked, and there were no other players in the zone. After a few minutes of thought, I decided to take the plunge and fight Stormfeather. He put up a hell of a fight, and I would've died if I hadn't been snaring him and throwing damage over time spells (I had run out of arrows before even challenging the beast). It took me about twenty minutes to emerge victorious.
Monday, November 10, 2003
The obsessive behaviour of massively multiplayer online roleplaying games players can get out of hand at times, but it does make for some funny things going on in the world. EverQuest players who enjoy playing warriors in the game have been whining for a long time that the warrior class gets worse and worse with each new patch and that a lot of groups won't even take a warrior if they can get a paladin or some other tanking class. Personally, one of my main characters is a froglok warrior, and while I sympathize with other warriors in that the class is little more than a meat shield, I'd like to know what they expected. I mean, the class is warrior. To me, that's synonymous with "meat shield." ... I'll admit to not understanding the full extent of their complaints, though.
However, some players have decided to stage a sit-in on November 18th in the Plane of Knowledge in the hopes of causing enough server lag and chaos that the developers at Sony Online Entertainment will suddenly stand up and take notice and listen to a bunch of players who are purposefully trying to crash a zone. Spoiling everybody else's fun to make your point is just bloody selfish, in my opinion. I'm curious to see how many warriors they're going to get out to this little event, however: http://www.thesteelwarrior.org/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4109
However, some players have decided to stage a sit-in on November 18th in the Plane of Knowledge in the hopes of causing enough server lag and chaos that the developers at Sony Online Entertainment will suddenly stand up and take notice and listen to a bunch of players who are purposefully trying to crash a zone. Spoiling everybody else's fun to make your point is just bloody selfish, in my opinion. I'm curious to see how many warriors they're going to get out to this little event, however: http://www.thesteelwarrior.org/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4109
Saturday, November 08, 2003
Earlier this week, I was in New York for a business trip with Veritas Software, which makes enterprise storage management software. Anyway, they brought in media from all over the world and put us up in the Rihga Royal. As we're checking into the hotel on Monday morning, my traveling partner and I start picking out celebrities in the main foyer. Although I'm not much of a celeb watcher, I did take note that I saw one of my favourite actors in the lobby -- Joe Pantoliano, who has played in movies like The Matrix, Daredevil and Memento. He's a truly outstanding actor, but I managed to keep the fanboy at bay and I only glanced from afar. How Canadian, eh?
However, I didn't need to worry about fanboyish behaviour when Angela Lansbury checked out next to me. I can't say I've ever been a fan of Murder She Wrote. Then again, television shows in general just drive me to the point of madness. I'd almost rather be forced to endure Bridget Jones's Diary once again than sit through half an hour of Everybody Loves Raymond or some other meaningless TV drivel.
I was in New York from Monday morning until Wednesday morning. We were supposed to depart on a Tuesday evening flight, but it apparently was cancelled due to high wind conditions over Pearson Airport in Toronto. So the Veritas PR team had to put up with me for another night, and by that time, the lack of sleep was getting to me. I'm sure I was even more obnoxious and self-righteous than I usually am. Apologies to my traveling companions, who were probably happy to be rid of me upon return to T.O.
When I returned to Toronto, the week wasn't over yet, sadly. I pretty much slept most of Wednesday and only made a few important business calls that couldn't wait until the next day. I'm more or less rested up now and back to my regular cycle of playing EverQuest, researching articles and writing all manner of pieces for eCL and others.
Last night, though, Jacquie and I had a visit from ADT. It seems that the Welcome Wagon, which had stopped by a month or so before, had put our name in a draw...and we won a three-night, four-day cruise in the Bahamas, which we can go on any time during the next two years. I'm still remaining skeptical until it actually happens, but if it's true, then all Jacquie and I have to worry about is airfare to and from Fort Lauderdale and drinks on the ship. Thankfully, Jacquie's not much for alcoholic drinks, but I'm a bit of a lush at times (comes with the journalism career, I keep telling myself).
However, I didn't need to worry about fanboyish behaviour when Angela Lansbury checked out next to me. I can't say I've ever been a fan of Murder She Wrote. Then again, television shows in general just drive me to the point of madness. I'd almost rather be forced to endure Bridget Jones's Diary once again than sit through half an hour of Everybody Loves Raymond or some other meaningless TV drivel.
I was in New York from Monday morning until Wednesday morning. We were supposed to depart on a Tuesday evening flight, but it apparently was cancelled due to high wind conditions over Pearson Airport in Toronto. So the Veritas PR team had to put up with me for another night, and by that time, the lack of sleep was getting to me. I'm sure I was even more obnoxious and self-righteous than I usually am. Apologies to my traveling companions, who were probably happy to be rid of me upon return to T.O.
When I returned to Toronto, the week wasn't over yet, sadly. I pretty much slept most of Wednesday and only made a few important business calls that couldn't wait until the next day. I'm more or less rested up now and back to my regular cycle of playing EverQuest, researching articles and writing all manner of pieces for eCL and others.
Last night, though, Jacquie and I had a visit from ADT. It seems that the Welcome Wagon, which had stopped by a month or so before, had put our name in a draw...and we won a three-night, four-day cruise in the Bahamas, which we can go on any time during the next two years. I'm still remaining skeptical until it actually happens, but if it's true, then all Jacquie and I have to worry about is airfare to and from Fort Lauderdale and drinks on the ship. Thankfully, Jacquie's not much for alcoholic drinks, but I'm a bit of a lush at times (comes with the journalism career, I keep telling myself).
Friday, November 07, 2003
Well, after two-and-a-half years of this site being hosted with 5bucksamonth.com, things have changed. It wasn't exactly a planned change, though. It just so happens that the damn company suddenly decided to shut its doors on November 1st, leaving me out a few bucks and in desperate need of a new hosting provider. After a little bit of searching and a recommendation from an acquaintance who runs his own public relations firm, I chose to go with DollarHost.com, and I must say things got up and running fairly quickly with this new provider (and they're fellow Canucks, so I'm finally being billed in Canadian dollars).
However, I figured that since my old provider up and vanished, I didn't want to just throw up the old site again. Yes, things look a tad dull here now. No more fancy pictures or anything. However, I had been using the same damn graphics ever since I launched the site in 2000. But I trashed everything and started with just the same basic table layout as before. But this time, I'm going whole-heartedly into the unknown regions of running a blog site. Of course, nobody but yours truly and maybe my girlfriend Jacquie will actually ever read this blog, but I guess that's the point of most blogs, eh? With the exception of WWDN, which is a truly wicked and interesting blog to read, nobody really gives a damn about blogs. Right?
Just in case there is someone out there who does occasionally glance at this boring and useless site, I've archived all of my past news under the Past Blogs link at the left...not that there were many past news items, mind you. I've been the laziest Webmaster ever since I launched this site, but I'm going to once again make the vow to keep the site updated on a regular basis...and waste bandwidth by spouting opinions that nobody will actually read (instead, click on over to WWDN now and read something worthwhile).
When last we found our intrepid writer, he had just been laid off from his job and was quickly becoming an EverQuest addict (and discovering why the game earned the nickname of EverCrack). Now fully addicted, I am however employed again. In mid-August, I took a staff writer position at eChannelLine Daily News, and I've been working happily from home ever since. However, I've become even more of a shut-in since taking the gig at eCL because it is a work-at-home job. Believe it or not, a busy day anymore includes a trip to Wal-Mart or the grocery store. ... Yes, just kill me now. ;)
Anyway, I'm about to upload this drivel to my new server. Hopefully everything will go fine and I'll be wasting bandwidth momentarily.
However, I figured that since my old provider up and vanished, I didn't want to just throw up the old site again. Yes, things look a tad dull here now. No more fancy pictures or anything. However, I had been using the same damn graphics ever since I launched the site in 2000. But I trashed everything and started with just the same basic table layout as before. But this time, I'm going whole-heartedly into the unknown regions of running a blog site. Of course, nobody but yours truly and maybe my girlfriend Jacquie will actually ever read this blog, but I guess that's the point of most blogs, eh? With the exception of WWDN, which is a truly wicked and interesting blog to read, nobody really gives a damn about blogs. Right?
Just in case there is someone out there who does occasionally glance at this boring and useless site, I've archived all of my past news under the Past Blogs link at the left...not that there were many past news items, mind you. I've been the laziest Webmaster ever since I launched this site, but I'm going to once again make the vow to keep the site updated on a regular basis...and waste bandwidth by spouting opinions that nobody will actually read (instead, click on over to WWDN now and read something worthwhile).
When last we found our intrepid writer, he had just been laid off from his job and was quickly becoming an EverQuest addict (and discovering why the game earned the nickname of EverCrack). Now fully addicted, I am however employed again. In mid-August, I took a staff writer position at eChannelLine Daily News, and I've been working happily from home ever since. However, I've become even more of a shut-in since taking the gig at eCL because it is a work-at-home job. Believe it or not, a busy day anymore includes a trip to Wal-Mart or the grocery store. ... Yes, just kill me now. ;)
Anyway, I'm about to upload this drivel to my new server. Hopefully everything will go fine and I'll be wasting bandwidth momentarily.
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