I'm watching C-SPAN. This is something that I do rather often. Currently, they are replaying footage from the "Taxpayer March on Washington" which was a conservative gathering in DC earlier today which generally was protesting Obama's policies vis-a-vis health care, bailouts and other topical issues. Though I disagree with much of what is being said, it remains interesting due to the "seeing the other side" aspect. Said feeling came to a halt like a car hitting a brick wall when the introduced Hi-Caliber as "the only right-wing hip hop artist in America". Listening to a lousy white rapper touting the benefits of right-wing ideology was too much. I could feel the part of me that doesn't actively hate all of humanity slowly dying. I decided to watch something else.

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I just booked my flight back to Indy for homecoming. I'm going to end up taking like 3 days off for the whole thing because the only reasonable flights into Indy leave LAX at like 6-9am. Similarly, the only reasonable flights out of IND are at like 7am, so I'll be flying back on Monday. Regardless, I expect to arrange a 004 show even if it'll just be Tom and I and maybe Phil fielding it. Since I finally broke down and got a Skype account, I'll probably be using it in order to pipe in any "remote" people who might be involved. Either that, or we can just patch in real telephones.

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So, the mandatory evacuation line is now a few hundred feet (maybe less) from my apartment. I've managed to pack up most of my computers (the ones with irreplacable data, at least) and am now throwing the last few bits that will fit into my car. Hopefully, all my preparation will be for naught, but it may be difficult going in the meantime. I intend to stay in contact via AIM and LJ, but who knows what with vicissitudes of fate.

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I've had a standard land telephone line since I moved out here over two years ago, as it was necessary to get DSL. I have not, however, bothered to install a telephone since I didn't really want people trying to call it. As such, I've had an active phone line that never would ring through to a real person. With my gaining of a Google Voice number, it became reasonable to have it as an extra ringing line in my bedroom so that I might be awoken by it (cell service is spotty in my bedroom). Since then, I've gotten about a dozen phone calls. Those that I can remember:

- Trying to sell me a newspaper subscription
- Trying to get me to donate to some random cause
- Robocall about car warranties
- Robocall about home mortgages
- Trying to get me to support some bus thing
- A wrong number
- Robocall with no explanation, just a number given and instructions to call it
- Trying to upsell my Charter service

Initially, I was somewhat polite to the people that called. Now, only 3 days later, I have started cutting people off mid-sentence with the phrase "Hold on one second, I don't care" about 30 seconds into their explanation. I then demand (1) to know how they got the number since I've never given it to anyone, ever and (2) to be put on their "Do not call" list. I'm especially irritated about the Charter one because their telephone system correctly recognizes my cell phone number as the one associated with my account, yet they still answered that the landline number was the one on my account when asked. This is, at best, a blatant lie.

I don't understand why this doesn't happen to my cell phone, but I'm beginning to regret attaching a phone to the line. If this continues, I may just disconnect the line again. It is quickly approaching the territory in which I ask myself "Is this really helping?".

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I finished watching Death Note yesterday. For those unaware, the premise of Death note is that there exist notebooks which, when names are written in them, cause the named to die immediately. One of these notebooks winds up in the hands of Yagami Light, your standard genius high school student. He then decides that utopia justifies the means and begins killing any person who he considers evil in order to create a perfect world. I found the show very compelling primarily because, even once I got to the last episode, I wasn't sure which side of the grey and grey morality would win. I highly recommend it.

Much like Code Gaess, the show features both protagonists and antagonists who seems to be aware of and able to correctly use the Evil Overlord List which makes it much more interesting than many other shows with idiot villains and/or idiot heroes.

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I finished reading Atlus Shrugged a few days ago. Much like my completion of The Last Remant, I have been working my way through the book since at least March. If you're unaware, AS is Ayn Rand's largest work on Objectivism. The book itself is a novel describing a sort of dystopian evolution of the United States wherein "collectivist" and what could probably be called "socialist" ideas have taken hold within the population to an extreme extent. Especially prominent is the idea of people who refuse to take responsibility for their actions or to try to better themselves--such people being generally implied to having arisen from the advance of the "collectivist" state. Honestly, there is a lot to this portrayal of Objectivism that I am sympathetic to; however, I am still wholely unconvinced as to the feasibility of many of her ideas. Completely unfeasible is the notion of a return to gold and silver coinage for everyday use. There simply isn't enough of either on the planet to be used in daily exchange. Also, the thought of a system in which consumer protection, even in its most basic forms, seems severely problematic.

Regardless, the book is something of a beast. My copy weighs in at over 1100 pages of somewhat dense prose. Most of it is well written, but there is one entire chapter which basically boils down to a 40 page long mini-lecture on Objectivism. It was what caused me to put the book down for an extended period of time until I finally decided to just skim it rather than trying to force my well through perhaps the single least interesting point of the book. I don't think I'd recommend it generally; it is simply a huge commitment to get what one could otherwise find in an overview on Rand's philosophical ideals. I read it so that I could tell if people who were comparing our current recession to "Atlus Shurgged moments" had any idea of what they were talking about. I'd say there are some parallels that can be drawn, but I'm not convinced that we were ever in the sort of terrible world that Shrugged presumes.

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I just beat The Last Remnant. It had been the game in my 360 since late March (I checked the achievements to be sure). Most of the delay had been due to the very time consuming nature of the gameplay and the fact that I was trying to get the "good ending" which requires completing every quest. I found out a few hours ago that I had missed one unclued quest approximately 20 game hours before my current location and so the final quest was closed to me.

I can't say that I liked the game. On the other hand, I can't say that there is nothing here to like. In a sense, the game managed to keep an odd balance of animosity that kept me from just giving up and shelving it. I think this was due mainly to the fact that, when I did lose, it seemed like a slight shift in the enemy's actions or a few luckier action choices could have changed everything.

I think a lot that is wrong about the game could have been fixed if only they had ditched all of the "one shot" "lost forever" bits.

Regardless, I beat it. I'm going to go get one more achievement and then it goes in the case. I'm actually not sure what 360 game is next in the queue, it has been so long since it last advanced...

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My Gamer Score is quad-nines. I think this should provide in-game benefits.

Visual proof:


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Earlier tonight, I went to see the new G.I. Joe movie with some friends of mine. The rest of this post is devoted to me complaining about the plot. As such, spoilers are ahead.

Firstly, the premise of the movie is that the Nineth Doctor a weapons dealer, using NATO funding, has developed nanomachine based weapons capable of being fired from standard rocket propelled grenade launchers. His first run (of four warheads) are being delivered to NATO by US soldiers when they are attacked by Cobra mysterious bad guys. The soldiers get trashed, but G.I. Joe shows up and the US soldiers manage to hold onto the case with the four warheads. No real problems so far.

Now, Cobra the mysterious bad guys still want to case, so using a tracking device that was placed in the case, track their way back to the G.I. Joe base and sneak in using Subterranean APC. They make it all the way to the general's office and grab the case from his safe (his handprint and iris scan protected safe). This is where my first major complaint happens. They have the general at sword-point, but leave him alive (though presumed unconscious) on the ground. The general then springs up and triggers the base alert. Why would the bad guys, at this point already with body counts in the dozens, leave a captured, high-ranking, high-value target alive? This leads to a completely unnecessary fight scene that could have been averted with a single bullet or head stab.

Now, the bad guys have the case which has four nanomachine warheads previously shown to be capable of trivially destroying a tank and potentially destroying a city if used properly. What do they decide to do? They go to a research lab to "weaponize" them. Now, I don't know what part of the word "warhead" they don't understand, but there doesn't seem to be any more weaponizing to do. They were about ready to be delivered as working weapons. The post-weaponization doesn't seem to make them any more deadly than the "promotional" shots seen earlier. In fact, post-weaponization, the only difference is that the neon-green fluid now has lightning bolts in it. I can't imagine that this is good for the nanites.

Next we have the chase through downtown Paris to blow up the Eiffel Tower. My complaint doesn't happen until the end of this section when two major idiotic decisions are made by the bad guys. Firstly, the Baroness is given the kill switch for the nanites. Rather than putting it in, say, a backpack or satchel, she places it on a belt clip with the control screen facing outward. This leads predictably to one of the characters jumping and hitting the kill switch (while on her belt) before it can do all that much damage. This could have been averted with a plastic case or a confirmation button or even just a reversed direction holder. The big bad then orders the character who just saved Paris to be brought to the secret lair rather than having him killed then and there. Just shoot him.

Of course, later on we have the hanger with the prototype deus ex machina jet being guarded by two henchmen who apparently never have to report to anyone, but by that point the plot holes are already truck driving sized.

I would say that the movie, taken as a whole is only fun insofar as you can suppress your urge to facepalm at everything the baddies are doing. The action sequences are generally well done, even if every one of them could have been averted by proper thinking from the villains. My vote: wait for the DVD.

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I finally beat The Fallen. Beating him had been holding up my progress in The Last Remnant for months. Now, he is dead and I can keep going.

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Recently, I've been wandering Wikiquote as part of an effort to build a respectible fortune file. This led me eventually to the Max Payne quote page. Reading through the quotes (and including a large number of them in my fortune file) made me nostalgic for the game and led me to playing through both the original and the sequel again.

I had some difficulty in getting the first Max Payne to work properly. Apparently, there are some issues with Vista compatibility. I eventually found a fan patch to fix it, but I did end up having to reinstall it at least twice. The second game refused to recognize my disc image and so I had to crack it (I tried reripping my original, legally-bought disk to no effect). I find that somewhat silly.

As to the games themselves, I'd say the sequel has aged much better than the original. The voice acting in the latter is somewhat stronger, as is the gameplay itself. The first game relies heavily on the bullet time crutch to make the game playable (especially the bullet dodge immortality that is almost necessary to beat the game). The sequel, however, tightens up the general gameplay such that the bullet time is less necessary. The sequel also brings out the full potential of the weapons compliment to a much better degree. For instance, in the first game, the pump-action shotgun is basically useless except in an "around the corner, perfect-tempo" fight with another pump-action shotgun user. This is because the device is rarely a one shot kill, even at close range, and gets no more than two shots in a bullet-time dodge. In the second game, they've made the stun effect of the weapon significantly greater and decreased the spread of the weapon making it useful in normal combat.

Of course, the plots of the two games are still the stuff of film noir goodness. We still have crazy devil worshipers, conspiracy theories, crooked cops and the like. Honestly, it all makes me somewhat excited about Max Payne 3 (though it isn't being made by Remedy) and Alan Wake (which is).

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Teen Titans season 3 has subtitles in Portuguese. No English, no French, no Spanish, just Portuguese. How is this helpful?

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I ordered the Teen Titans DVDs for seasons 1-5 a little while ago and they arrived yesterday. I've been watching them some last night and tonight and although I'm enjoying the shows themselves, I'm rather irritated at the way the DVDs were mastered.

Firstly, both the first and second seasons (all I've watched so far) only have chapter points at the beginning of episodes. Teen Tians is one of those shows whose standard formula is episode opening/teaser then opening credits then show then closing credits. This means that I must fast forward through the opening credits on every single episode rather than just being able to press the chapter forward button.

Secondly, I like to watch shows, even English-language shows, with subtitles on. It makes is easier to follow dialog when there are large dynamic range changes. The first season of Teen Titans came with English subtitles (and French and Spanish), the second season comes with none. I find this very annoying.

Thirdly, every episode before it does the opening/teaser has a 5 second Warner Brothers eyecatch. I can understand having this once per disc (it shows before the menu screen, by the way), but having it before every episode is just poor design.

I suppose the one nice thing about having them set up the episodes this way is that ripping them will be easy (just rip each chapter as a seperate file), but you can really tell that there was no thought put into the authoring. They also commit the sin of having an "Extras" button that brings up a screen saying "Please check other discs for extras" which I consider to be the height of laziness. If there are no extras on the disc, don't have an extras button.

Maybe these problems are due to the creators not having a clear picture of who the likely buyers of DVD box sets are...

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So, after getting no useful information at the post office with regards to my missing copy of Death Note, I decided to send Amazon an email (through their online system) asking what I should do to find my package. Their response was to mark the original package as lost, ship me a new copy, and upgrade my shipping to overnight at no charge to me. The new estimated arrival date is Monday. I consider this some of the best customer service that I've had from a company. As if I needed another reason to order from the company, they get enough of my paychecks already...

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So, in the last two days I have finished watching two series.

Yesterday, I finished watching Elfen Lied. For those no familiar with the premise, the show's first episode begins with a naked girl with a head shielding helmet walking through corridors cutting people in half with psychic powers, deflecting bullets, and otherwise causing huge sprays of blood. She ends this scene by beheading the just-introduced cute clumsy girl and then using her torso to shield herself from a hail of bullets. The show then morphs into a bit of an unwanted harem with occasional scenes of pure brutality. I think it would be fair to say that every single secondary character could be fairly characterized as being complete monsters. It isn't at all clear to me what the target audience of this show is. It is even less clear to me why ADV thought licensing it (and even dubbing it at that) was going to be good for them. Oh yeah, it also has the implied rape of a 13 year old by her father. So yeah. I think it sort of has a "train-wreck" style appeal due to the sheer horrificness of the universe proffered and wondering how it can possibly get worse next; I think that was about the only thing that kept me watching.

Today, I finished watching Battlestar Galactica. I had previously seen up through the first half of season 4. Yesterday, the second half that I had preordered some time ago finally arrived. I thought it was alright but it irritated me in several important ways. Spoilers ahoy. Firstly, they managed to kill of two of the hypotenuses on the love dodecahedron centered with Starbuck and Apollo and then, despite these deaths, don't end up with them together. What the hell? That's three corpses that were forced to die for this ship with no resolution in site. Secondly, how about any explanation at all for Starbuck's "rebirth"? Series explanation: god did it. Thirdly, why in the name of the 13 Gods of Kobol would giving up all of your technological advancement and reverting back to hunter and gather or hand plowing be a good idea? How did they manage to get 50,000 people to go along with this? Why did the Cylons--who would almost certainly die out in such a situation due to their unreliable procreative abilities--go along with this? Fourthly, why is Gaius Baltar (admitedly, my favorite character in the show) basically the only person to get a happy ending? Fifthly, why does Cavil eat a bullet? It is almost completely out of character for him. Sixthly, must the denouement really be full episode length?
End spoilers

In a tangentially related note, my copy of Deathnote has been in Altadena (the city where I live) since last Saturday according to the USPS package tracking. It still hasn't appeared at my apartment. I find this very annoying. I plan to go to the Altadena post office tomorrow and see if they can tell me anything.

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