Posted by pookzilla on October 4, 2009
Awhile ago I got it in my head to do these pixel perfect paintings based on frames from Super Mario 3. I fired the game up in an emulator (the Super Mario All Stars version with the 16 bit graphics) and found three frames I wanted to do and from these frames found a subsection focusing on an element within. Two of them were Mario (one in the racoon suit and the other in the tanooki) and the third was of a piranha plant spitting a fireball. I figured this would be a laborious undertaking but not so terrible – after all the canvases are only 8 x 10 or so. I also decided to use oil – the first time I’ve ever used oil paint.
Twelve hours or so later and I’m about half done. I’m really enjoying the oil and I think it’s actually making the process go faster given how I never have to worry about the paint drying. However, the shear amount of detail that I’m trying to achieve is a lot more time consuming than I had hoped it’d be.
Posted by pookzilla on September 27, 2009
So I have a new template for my website now. I don’t know why – I didn’t exactly hate the last one. I was just… in a mood. It’s still a work in progress – I imagine I’ll find a way to include more argyle at some point.
Posted by pookzilla on September 19, 2009
Wow, what a week. A recap in point form because I am well beyond sentences at this point:
- Dinner with friends, concert performed by another friend, then off to a third friends birthday party
- Baby shower for another friend
- Lexy gets tattooed for seemingly the 100th time this month
- Picked up Scribblenauts (which is just as good as everyone says it is – so far it’s only let me down on one word – Klaxon – although I’ve just discovered it’s a trademarked term so maybe it didn’t after all)
- Got my laptop back (deserves a post of its own considering how I pissed and moaned about it, but bottom line is that the manager made things right)
- Drove to Toronto, saw Nick Cave and U2 and then drove right back before the hipsters could infect us further (helluva 24 hours there)
- Saw Nick Cave again in Ottawa where he autographed my journal and held my hand. *swoon*
- Saw a friends tiny, adorable little baby boy. Man, those baby things are pretty cool aren’t they?
- Managed to put Snow Leopard on the machine without any hiccups at all and re-Christened it in the process: The Mollusk (our other machines are Ocean Man and Buckingham Green, with The Golden Eel or The Blarney Stone reserved for the future-eventual laptop replacement)
I really need a nap.
Posted by pookzilla on September 14, 2009
So, it’s day 16 of my 3-5 day laptop repair. This is par for the course for me customer service wise – something ALWAYS goes wrong and nothing is ever simple. First problem is that they forgot to actually enter my system into theirs so while they had the part in stock they were waiting for me to come down and pick it up. After the first call they assured me it’d be another two days. Three days later I call again and I’m told that the computer STILL isn’t in the system and that it’ll be another 2 days – by the end of weekend the assure me. Monday (today) I call again and I’m given even better news – they have no record of the repair at all. Dave (we’ll call him Dave because that’s his name) takes my contact info and says he’ll get back to me.
I get off the phone and I start putting together all the stories they’ve told me. Given that the only consistent piece of information is that they don’t have record of me dropping off my laptop I can’t help but come up with the idea that they’ve it. I call back and talk to Dave again, expressing this fear. Dave, in turn, channels Kanye and turns into a douchebag. No, he can’t find more information – the room with all the computers and technicians is locked and apparently KNOCKPROOF. I’ll just have to wait until they call, fuck you very much.
At this point my anxiety and stress is causing a crushing pain in my chest. No longer is it simply the Old Hag that rides my ribcage, but rather a grinning, evil Steve Jobs.
Thankfully I just received a call – the 1 hour piece of work that has taken 16 days to complete has finally been completed and my lappy is ready to be picked up. I’m not sure what to do now. I’m really quite angry about the whole situation. I’ve been dicked around for over a week now and if I just go down there and pick it up I’m going to be very unsatisfied. This is not the first time Apple service has screwed me over. Hell, this isn’t even the second time. I keep hearing about their incredible customer service reputation but I’ve yet to personally experience anything that can generate better than contempt.
Advice?
Posted by pookzilla on August 30, 2009
So, yah. My laptop harddrive died. I was holding out hope that it could be salvaged but unfortunately I was wrong – she wont take a formatting. I trundled off to the Apple store today to see what my options were. She’s out of warranty unfortunately, but the cost to repair her is low enough that I can’t really justify scrapping her in favour of a new one (and let me tell you – I sorely want one). Ahh well, maybe in February…
Posted by pookzilla on August 23, 2009
Ok, time to get nerdy. RPG nerdy at that – the very purest form of the disease.
First up, my impressions of Geist: The Sin Eaters from White Wolf. Capsule one line summary for the uninitiated : Sin Eaters are humans that have died (or nearly died) and were brought back from the brink by Geists – ghosts who have shed some degree of their humanity by becoming iconic aspects of death itself. I haven’t absorbed it well enough for a proper review (something I’m terrible at under the best of circumstances) but at first blush my impression is quite positive. The book design and layout is superb, almost certainly the best of the new World of Darkness lines. Similarly, the mechanics behind the Sin Eaters feel novel and flexible, and the particulars of the underworld feel very usable (contrary to previous attempts at this space by White Wolf, which have been frankly a bit of a mess). The Key/Manifestation system in particular is wonderful and I can only wish that they had used something similarly dynamic for Changeling a few years back (which, IMO, is gaming frickin’ Nirvana – it’s near flawless).
The first downside for me is the art. The art is frankly underwhelming. After the first read through there isn’t a single piece that has stuck with me enough to mention whereas I can still recall artwork from previous games (Changeling and Promethean from the new World of Darkness reboot in particular and damn near EVERY piece of artwork from the original Wraith). It’s not terrible by any means, just kind of boring and forgettable. Sin Eater culture, such as it is, is heavily influenced by marti gras and day of the dead imagery which are both very lively and iconic – absolutely none of that character was brought through to Geists artwork, which is a downright shame. Secondly, Sin Eater society is intentionally vague and without any kind of real history (beyond some admittedly superficial poaching of Krewe culture). This is usual to some degree for the new World of Darkness games which shun the weight (and obligation) that the metaplot of original WoD placed on its inhabitants. However, previous games in the new WoD seem to have found a sweet spot – just enough structure to motivate and add believability. Sin Eaters, however, seem almost entirely devoid of any kind of shared history. Even Prometheans, creatures who are forced to keep moving as the world turns against them, have hobbled together something resembling culture and a consistent mythology. Yes, there are provisions and mechanics for large scale Sin Eater conspiracies but those mechanics act to undermine any kind of long term and shared experience – these systems rely on Sin Eaters effectively making up their own mythology. In many ways Geist: The Sin Eaters has taken the toolbox philosophy of the new WoD to the extreme and I’m not convinced it’s a good thing. Finally, (and this is tied to the lack of a shared culture), is the lack of motivation. I don’t have a good feel for what Sin Eaters are supposed to DO. I get that many of them police the dead (or the boundaries between the living and the dead), but that doesn’t explain all of it. I’m just not sure why these critters would get together.
I know I’ve written considerably more on the negatives but I have to reiterate that my impression is overall very positive. The direction White Wolf has chosen to explore death and the underworld in the new WoD is incredibly refreshing and while there are gaps in the story they feel like they could be addressed quite easily in subsequent supplements. The problem with this is that they’ve gone on record saying that they don’t intend on doing any supplements for Geist beyond one (which is a generalized supplement dealing with the underworld). While they can certainly change their mind (and likely would if Geist is a financial success) it’s still a bit distressing that they’d release Geist with these gaps present knowing that they would never address them.
Non review rating of 4/5. 3/5 if I was petty and decided to dock them a point for threatening to sue my friend. 
Next up at the nerd buffet, Eclipse Phase. The PDF ebook was released yesterday and it’s being offered as a bundle with the print book when it’s released. There are so many things about this game that are exciting not least of which is the license. It finally feels like a gaming company “gets it.” Let’s hope this experiment succeeds in such a way that the others take notice. I may or may not get the bundle – the price is pretty steep and after you factor in exchange rate and shipping it’s approaching the grotesque – but one day that book will indeed be mine. Oh yes.
Posted by pookzilla on August 20, 2009
I’ve been toying with the idea of cancelling my emusic membership for some time now. I’ve been a member for years and it’s become a struggle to find new material that I want to listen to – I’ve drained my genres of choice dry.
I think my decision just got easier. I just received a spam message addressed to my one-time use email address I used to register with emusic. Seems like they must have either sold or lost my personal information. Either one of these possibilities is enough for me to cut the cord.
Posted by pookzilla on August 11, 2009
The yearly update and photo of my sponsor child arrived today. Her updates have been incredibly consistent – not the best scholar, but a very hard worker. Health generally okay, but not exceptional. The other consistency? She ALWAYS has a sad look on her face. Never once a hint or a trace of a smile. Except this time. This years photo shows the same arid land, the same palm trees, the same girl (only so much larger) but now she has a bright and beaming smile. It’s really quite wonderful to see after all these years.
I’ve been sponsoring Emelie now for a very long time. I don’t rightly know the exact date, but I’m fairly certain (after some reflection) that I was in my teens when I started, likely 19. Why do I remember this? Well, I know I was in school at Dalhousie and I remember it being incredibly difficult to afford (but did so anyway because it was the first thing in years that my parents actually seemed proud of me for doing). Emelie was 4 when I first started sponsoring her which would make her in her mid teens now.
This is really hard for me to reconcile mentally. In many ways this girl who I have never met is one of my oldest connections. She’s certainly my most consistent. When I saw her picture and started doing these mental calculations I managed to get myself really upset. What happens when she’s too old to be sponsored? Will I still get updates from her? I don’t look forward to the day when yet another tie to my childhood is severed.
She and I haven’t interacted a whole lot. We’ve exchanged a few letters over the years but the relationship has been mostly hands off and financial in nature. I’m feeling a lot of regret over that now. In many ways I feel like I’ve squandered an opportunity to get to know her. In my mind she’s still 4 years and there was always time but now the time is running short.
This is starting to feel like a reoccurring motif in my life.
This post is a lot darker than I intended it to be. I really just wanted to talk about a smile.
Posted by pookzilla on August 3, 2009
After a such a long hiatus…
a new song from The Watchmen.
This makes me SO VERY happy. A Watchmen song has accompanied virtually all of the hard, gut wrenching, and important moments of my formative years and knowing that there is something new to experience from them… well, it’s unreasonably important to me to say the least.
Posted by pookzilla on
Awhile ago my good friend Acidtrix made me this beautiful 10 sided die necklace using dice from the favours that Lexy and I gave out at our wedding. I love it for aesthetic reasons – it really is quite beautiful – but there’s also something else. I love hearing the sound of a die being rolled everywhere I go. It’s a very happy sound for me, and it can really help bring a smile to my face when I’m having a crappy day. Sometimes I dangle the ends together just to hear it.
I am such a nerd.
Oil Painting Experiment
