FistCar

Heavenly Bodies

I lived in big cities for years, and because of this I forgot what the stars look like. I currently live on the edge of town. There is my neighborhood, a school, then cows.

Battlestar Cat

This cat really has one eye.

2001 Starz

Super Pause No More…

When x-box 360 came out I remember reading a few articles about how this next gen system was not so next gen. The main argument of these articles were that besides the graphics being better, there was not too much that was revolutionary. Of course, when the wii came out no one doubted that the next gen was here.

I bought a wii to play the latest entries in the Zelda and Metroid series. After I beat both of those, there was not even more game for the wii that I found even remotely interesting. So, last x-mas I gave my wii to my youngest brother and that pretty much sealed in his mind just how cool I was. It reminded me of when I was young and my uncle who was just out of college was living in our basement. He had an Atari and when he got his own place, he left the Atari for me.

The only exercise any of these systems induced was forcing me to getup after sitting down and deciding to play a game.

Being wii-less and having literally no friends to hang out with anymore, I picked up an x-box 360. Very quickly I realized that the 360 was indeed a next gen system. For starters you could turn the unit on from the controller. This sounds like the simplest idea and feature to add to any system. However, the 360 was the first system I am aware of that had this feature. It literally blew my mind. You must understand that I had owned or played extensively an atari 2600, sega master system, sega genesis, sega cd, sega saturn, sega 32x, dreamcast, nintendo, super nintendo, gameboys, nintendo 64, gamecube, and more. Excluding the gameboys which have the controller embedded into the system itself, not one of the aforementioned systems could be turned on from the controller.

There are plenty of other x-box features that made gaming so much more convenient, but my second love was super pause by pressing the x-box button. I thought “At last!” Now I could pause when the phone rang, the pizza guy showed up, I really, really, really had to go to the bathroom, and all of those other real life events that interrupt one’s immersion into a virtual reality. Previously each game had to make their own pause system, and the fact that Microsoft took care of that issue for all game programmers put me in a blissful state of 360 love.

Then I bought GTA IV. Of course, in my rush to play it I realized I had just been out shopping for hours, and had not gone to the bathroom in quite some time. In the middle of the opening scene I press the x-box button to run off to the bathroom. If you have played the game you should be able to guess what happened next, my 360 bliss was utterly destroyed when the non-interactive scene kept going. I thought something was broken, I tried pressing the button a couple of more times, the damn scene would not stop. My next course of action was to press what used to be the pause button, which is now labeled start, but that just skipped the opening scene entirely.

Various people who worked on GTA IV photographed the exact moment they uncontrollably crapped them self.

I can understand that in an online multilayer game that pausing could allow for some cheating depending on the game. However, game programmers who override this x-box 360 function in single player mode should all be cursed to have explosive diarrhea at the most inopportune times. For example: Flying on an airplane when sitting in a window seat; When sliding into two their pants should be filled with goo; When at the DMV and number 59 was just called, they have number 60, and have been waiting since person 25. Excreta, excreta.

Facebook Silliness

I don’t have a facebook account. After myspace, I gave up on the social networking sites. I remember when I first heard about cyworld. It was a social networking site based out of Korea which launched in the late 90’s, or 2000. I signed up for an account. However, it was a south Korean company so I could not convince anyone else to join and be my friend. As a result I gave up pretty quickly. I just checked their site out and they have given up a presence in the USA altogether.

A few years later I was more than happy to sign up for friendster when one of my friends encouraged me to do so. Then when many of my friends joined it was great, what I wished for in cyworld was happening in friendster. I liked friendster greatly. However, then myspace came along. All of my friendster friends moved to myspace, and all my friends who were not on friendster started using myspace. I was happy that almost everyone I knew was on myspace, but myspace was pure crap compared to friendster. Myspace was buggy slow and looked awful. However, I put up with its crap because almost everyone I knew used it.

Then everyone moved from myspace to facebook. At this point I said enough. I found it pointless to load up all my favorite books, films, music, etc, etc to yet another social networking site. I have been very content without a facebook presence. I also came to realize that social networking sites did not offer me any value over email. Using a social networking site involves primarily sending messages to your friends. Email allows you to perform the same functionality. At this point you may be thinking “But wait, social networking sites offer more than just email, everyone can see your messages, and they have games, and virtual gifts to give!!!” Email provides all of the same functionality. Did everyone forget what the CC: field is for? Alternatively, did you know that you can put more than one email address into the To: field? They also have email games that are too numerous to mention. If you really want a virtual gift I can send you a png or animated gif of just about anything if you like.

Today my head aspolded when I read this: “Save Time Replying to facebook Messages via Email.” Great, now everyone can email their friends by routing their messages through facebook. Why is everyone brainwashed when it comes to facebook? What happened to just emailing your friends?

On a final note, the best irony of facebook lately has been furor over their privacy policy: “facebooks-great-betrayal.”

If you hate facebook’s terms of service so much quit using email->facebook->email, and just use email->email. Nuff Said.

Trying to use the web more

In the ’90s I used to be on the internet for hours on end. These days I find the web drab and boring… The thrill is gone. Oh well, I have had a webserver for years, but never did anything with it. So, I have been needing a log for work and I plan to use this. Since I will be recording my work very often on this, I figure I should also use it to publish the crap I: Think, find, love, hate, do, etc. Well let’s see if this will keep my interest.

Married

Well, I suppose I should say that we got married for the record. YAY! We have pictures that I will put on here eventually…

The day after tomorrow!

We’re safe and sound in LA–and look forward to seeing everyone who will be here with us! Please do not hesitate to let us know if you have any questions about our big day.

Lots of love!

What Am I Going to Wear?

Around the time Eric and I were moving toward realizing we wanted to marry each other, I read a book about Martha Washington, and its description of her wedding very much spoke to me. I will share just this little bit: “Brides wore their brightest-colored and most beautiful silk gowns. The very idea of their friends dressing in matching gowns or the groom in mournful black would have sent them into fits of laughter. The wedding party and guests, men as well as women, were like a rich, silken flower garden in the vibrant colors and combinations that suited their fancies.” We aren’t designating theme colors, rather I want it to be colorful. I plan to have as many colors as possible represented in the decor, allowing you, our guests, to look like the aforementioned flower garden in the colors that suit your fancy.

Hotel Reservations

Hello Out of Towners!

There is a block of rooms reserved at the Hacienda Hotel for you. Here is their site: http://www.haciendahotel.com/

Make your reservation by calling 800.421.5900 or 310.615.0015 and saying you are part of the ELLINGTON GARVEY WEDDING GROUP. The rate is $81 ($75 + tax) per night. The hotel provides a complimentary shuttle service to and from LAX, you need only call the hotel (so keep the above numbers on hand) once you’ve arrived and obtained your luggage.

For those of you looking to rent a car, this can of course be done with one of the many national options, however Discovery Rent a Car is located right next door to hotel. This is their website https://websolutions.tsd-inc.com/discoverycarrental/
I will leave determining the competitiveness of this place up to you.

For those of you not wanting to rent a car, we are happy to arrange the necessary transport to and from the wedding, just let us know so we can set something up!

The block will be reserved through April 1, so to guarantee this rate and your room, please make your reservation before then.

We look forward to seeing you there!