ThisBoyIsToast V4 >> August 2007 Archives

A little while ago I blogged this link to Ed's comic strip about his old blog (not done by Ed but about Ed). This morning I was going through my referrers, seeking to compare it to Google Analytics (playing around with it), and I noticed a link from Milo to this post from a couple of years ago. It's kind of strange when you start repeating posts without even remembering you had done so. It must come in the "thousands of post" stage of blogging. August 30 07

Ooooo, Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse, a book anthology pretty much written for me.

Mmmmm, a nice Laboratory Beaker Mug (via tom coates who's new font really makes my head ache)

Heh. While we already know there are D&D InJoke Tshirts (like mine) out there, some are a little more InJoke than others. Such as the Kill Bargle shirt. Speaking of, I'd go for Morgan Ironwolf anyday.

Anyone who knows me well enough, has heard me mention my fondness for the original D&D boxed set. For me original means the red-ish box with the blue book inside, the one that came with "chits" instead of dice. This is how I learned (incorrectly) to play D&D as a kid and what established the template in my mind as to what fun could be. There is still a very strong emotional connection to simple concepts such as right-angle hallways and orcs in rooms guarding chests and the Keep on the Borderlands. My original book saw so much wear & tear that I got Gary Gygax to sign the second one I found at a garage sale. I still have memories of great joy from a handwritten character sheet that has everything you need to know about a character on the first side as well as a history in notes in margins and along the bottom. It is very difficult to describe but it is akin to those american ideals in movies & novels where a kid describes his first baseball game with his dad and the feel of the benches, the smell of the hotdogs and the joy of the whole experience.

I have not been able to capture that in current D&D. While I am fond of the whole D&D3.x setup, really fond of the a high is better and a higher AC is always better than a low one, I find a loss in the overall experience. Maybe it is too much, too many details required to make a first level character. Hell, the character sheet just bugs the shit out of me with all the stats you have to keep track of. Going up a level becomes an adventure in erasing and updating. And it's not like the massive amount of stats recorded stops the DM from hunting tables for further information. I find a definate lack of joy in character creation. Something is intangibly missing.

I have been thinking of going back Old Skool D&D. There is definately a similar fondness for it if you browse through some links on my deli but OD&D also lacks. I cannot just go back and have the fun I did then. Now I crave something a little more. So, I understand why people would create Labyrinth Lord, to give an OD&D feel back to people who cannot just run out and buy the Old Skool Feel, or go looking in boxes to find their childhood. But I more like that some has written one with the feel of OD&D but uses a modified d20 rule set -- Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game.

But can that re-create the fun. I wonder, I wonder. (both links via Jeff's Gameblog, my favourite of the whole lot of them) August 27 07

I like body mod'ing more than the average person but all I can think about when seeing Stalking Cat is that this would be good therapy for Furries.

To quote Marmy, "I wonder how many bunnies get hit in the head with apples, by squirrels, every year?" Yes, we saw a young bunny sitting under an apple tree up in which squirrels were hanging upside down collecting apples. Weird city. August 26 07

Hey lookie there, it's Mr & Mrs Kent, are at least gKent and has new wifey-poo. Congrats to Graig and Adrienne.

I like the integrated web community aspects of the new browser Flock. Sure everything can be done with plugins and what you have but I like the integrated nature. I especially like the web-clipboard. Maybe this could be come the official browser of The Flock? What say you my Count?

"Nope, wasn't our plane, nuh UH !! " says China Airline. Eedjits. (via tokyo mango)

When my father was here, we caught a bus. The carpenter in him just had to check out the big city's Home Depot to see if it could compete with his in NS. I don't drive and I only truly feel the weight of that missing piece of my adult puzzle when older relatives are in town. I should be able to drive them places instead of being beholden to the TTC, the mass transit and the taxi cab. As I sat, I watched him approach and immediately grab the dancer's pole that is your support system in a bus and grinned knowingly at him as he balanced himself. Bus drivers only care that you pay your fare not that you have safely made it to your seat.

As he sat, I noticed that the direction of my smile had caught the eye of a young lady riding with her mother. She then caught my eye and gave me a shy smile. It was one of those moments of public contact, like in "A Wonderful Day in the Neighborhood" by Trish. No story passed between the girl and I as I had parents to focus on, but I had a feeling she had one pass through her head. I am definately one of those people creates stories for those strangers in my wake but I wonder how many stories I have been part of? August 21 07

My parents were in town last weekend. If I needed anything to make me feel NOT near-40, it was that. Yes, even after all these years and the fact that I have been away from home almost as long as I was in their care, I still feel like a sullen teenager in their company. Oh don't get me wrong, I like my parents fine. We get along decently enough. But I didn't really interact with them then, being locked in my room acting all emo before the word was ever applied to sullen teenagers, but we got along OK. And now, 20 years later, without the regular contact I hear about from other people ("you talk to your mom once a week?!?!?!") I don't know what to say or worse yet, what to do with them.

We watched a lot of TV. My mom did the dishes -- she insisted. We did a bit of walking -- I have not come to terms with the fact that Dad is getting old. And we did a bit of eating out. But all in all it felt a little uncomfortable, completely due to EmoToast feeling un-sonly and un-accomplished and out of sorts. Hopefully they did not sense it is as much as I felt it.... but they probably did as they returned to Dad's sister's place earlier than planned.

I wish I knew how to interact with them properly cuz they are pretty cool for parents -- not a lot of baggage. Just don't get me started on Dad's family... Nothing like being "uninvited" from a family BBQ. August 21 07

After watching this video of Keepon, the robot that not only dances but also reacts to voice & eye-contact, I can imagine a group of those creepy dancing Santas getting even more creepy.

Neurotically inclined to spend every weekend guilty for not spending all weekend catching up with all the housework I never get around to doing (we are talking years of this bubs), I rather like this Handle Chores, House Cleaning and Errands with Simple Systems article. Good site too -- I deli'd it.

Holy Moley, they gave Sophitia a pair of new weapons !! I ask, what is the point of the two sheer covers?

So... Survivorman is real but 'survival king' is a fraud. But even the wikipedia entry of Survivorman mentions a nearby camped support team. How authentic does that make him if he can crawl over to their tent??

It will force me to turn in my geek creds if I don't comment on Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition but really all I've got to say is, "And you expected otherwise???" At least the video is pretty irreverant. P.S. As they abandoned the paper magazines of Dungeon and Dragon, the last scene on the video suggests they might abandon D&D hardcovers. There is a disturbance in the Force, to mix geek canon.

I wasn't the fan of Transformers as some of my friends are so this MP3 playing Sounwave will be pretty cool to them. Actually it's pretty cool to me too.

Yep, this is exactly the kind of journal schtuph that I love. You might buy it but really you could just make it. But people sooo love having someone do it for them so this will probably do well. Often my personal journals just became scribbling pads and not whatsoever journals of days.

As chance would have it, I have won the Pulitzer Prize, and so I am qualified. Speaking in my official capacity as a Pulitzer Prize winner, Mr. Schneider, your movie sucks.

Oh, I have to have this book.

I found out two things the other night. One -- I cannot do simple math. Two -- I am a year older than I thought. So this year I turn the big four-zero. But not for a couple of months.

My first reaction? Ahhhhhh... fuck. I don't want to turn 40 yet. I haven't done anything yet. I am still trying to have a career. And while it's more cliche than it ever has been, I am still trying to find myself. I was actually scared out of my pants. Forget about telling me I still have plenty of time to do things and accomplish things and figure out things. And those over 40 forget about being offended by my fear. This is about me and what I have not done, of time I have wasted, of opportunities I have overlooked, of weights I hoped I would have been lessened by now.

But of course, when the reality of it comes and just passes me by, like most birthdays, I will be the same person I was the day before. The problem is that I don't see myself as that age. I see myself about 32 or sometimes younger. It clouds my interactions with others, especially others my own age. I always see myself as the inexperienced kid around them. And yet simultaneously, I feel the old man around people of that age. Old, curmudgeonly, looking more backward than for forward. I think I am going to think more about it in the coming weeks than I have in my entire life. And it's not completely about the actual age but where I am in my life at this change of age.

And I still want my red sports car and 18 year old floozie model. August 15 07

I am of the same opinion about the electronic organizing. While electronic can do so much for you, The Advantages of Keeping an Analog Work Journal speak to me.

Marmy !! You like Dick. No not THAT kind of Dick, the undead Richard kind, but he is a dick too. And you like Disney classic animations. So, you will love this:

I think that Minesweeper The Movie should be the next movie by My Man Boll. (the last two via wonderland)

Honestly, I have wanted one of these Apple iMacs since they came out with the crayola colours. But really, this is my adult version. Alas, I have no money (yeah yeah, shut the hell up... there are kids in Africa stuck with free laptops) so I will have to live with this:

August 08 07

LOL. This was a most unfortunate shipping prank. And I am sure they did it on purpose.

Well lookey there, a MySpace page that is not entirely annoying, though I still dislike the layout paradigm the place in general.

Wow. These book cover designs ...by Henry Sene Yee are absolutely incredible. Thus I am inspired to begin my design of books never written, designed by me? Probably or probably not.

We are watching John From Cincinnati by way of downloading each episode every monday or tuesday as soon as it appears via the BitTorrentMachine. I look forward to it every week. If I could, I woudl talk about it the way this post on The House Next Door did.

Considering this is the only way I play D&D these days, it's nice to know someone is creating 1 on 1 Adventures.

What the hell is wrong with me? I am suddenly very very, as in head nodding, sleepy. Ever since I had something eat, it's been this way. Is it because I didn't have any breakfast and ate lunch waaaay too late? Not my fault on the latter as the vendour I thought was going to treat me to lunch ended up being treated to cold water by me -- silly man walked from Dufferin to here in a pin-stripe suit. Is it because I might have a bug coming on? gKent just killed his bug but you know what they say about something viruses not going away until they are passed on. Is it because it's been a long hot week? I find myself sleeping decently even if the heat is stifling, but last night was finally getting to me. Is it because it's friday after this long hot week? This is my brain on David -- Fridays always bring me down, based on their loss of potential. If I have nothing planned for the night or the weekend, Friday is my last day to ignore that day before it becomes written in stone. I still have that 14 year old boy who stayed at home on friday nights with a can of coke, a bag of chips and a comic from the spinner rack, who desperately wanted to do on friday nights whatever the other kids did on friday nights. Age has been added but the kid is basically the same. It also forces me to notice how I didn't do half the things I planned to do all week. But at least this week I can blame it on the heat -- I mean, who really wants to spend time sorting out a guest room when it's 45 celcius in there?

Nope, typing didn't wake me up. Gug. August 03 07

Cute idea -- Copy and Taste, a blog about a couple learning to cook and accepting recipes. (via the cool kids table)

Hmmm, I have seen a lot of anime but I am not really interested in reading manga (tressss expensive in NA) unless it is very good manga. (via drawn)

Wow. The "hyper realism" of sculpter Ron Mueck is stupendous and more than a little disturbing. And he worked on Labyrinth.

Back when gKent I saw the Gerard Butler Beowulf & Grendel, I was convinced I had heard of another more Hollywood style version being made at the same time. I guess it was the Zemeckis animated Beowulf Movie. And if you have seen the trailers on TV you might not have caught that it is indeed fully animated, ala Polar Express. And Neil Gaiman has done the script work !!

After having watched Nesbitt as Jekyll, I think I would be a bit scared of him as the new Dr Who.

At some point in this blogs infancy, I commented how I was not doing enough "journal style" entries. I mean, the whole point was to allow people not in the same city and/or province to see what I was up to. Now, it just shows my surfing habits and occasional TV watching and commonly, my gripes. But for today...

It doesn't matter how early I get up or how late I get up but if I intend on leaving earlier than usual, I will inevitably end up leaving late. Yesterday, i wanted to hit the Bus Pass line at Eg station, as today is the first. Didn't happen. In fact, it ended up being one of those go-back-and-get-forgotten-things kind of morning. iPod -- check. work keys -- check. lunch -- check. work pass card -- fuck. sunglasses -- fuck. and then later when I am crossing the street, cell phone -- fuck. travel USB key -- fuck. Yeah, I have too many things to keep track of when it should be just: lunch, keys, pass, shirt, pants -- check.

I always have commute negative fantasies. It's as if the drama of the morning is not stressful enough so my brain invents possibilities and tempts the world with them.

"What?? It's the 31st fucker, not the first, this bus pass STILL WORKS."

"She's not going to move her arm, she's not going to move her arm, she hit me in the head on purpose.."

"Gods, he just turned around so he could fart in my direction. Fuck !!"

OK, that last one really happened. But I tense myself expecting the worst ride on the train and usually I get it.

Work was... work. People, usually people from The Store, ask how I like my job, do I enjoy it and is it fun. Fun? No. I like it fine, not that it is stimulating and incredibly rewarding work. I buy computers, I dole out computers, I keep track of computers. I order software & services, I make sure I's are dotted and T's are crossed on service contracts. I sign people up for stuff. I make sure we have what we need to have and occasionally I put out brush fires. I only have fun when I yell at other customer service people -- no, not seriously. I just wish people understood that CS means more than just doing your repetitive list of tasks. It involves helping someone's incomplete task become complete...

Ooops, rant.

So the day passes and I scratch things off my To-Do Lists. These are on paper and are crossed off manually with a pink highlighter. I tried a bunch of electronic ones and web-based ones and the only way I trully paid attention to them was the note book. And such satisfaction to seeing a page full of pink stripes. And I even ended the day by starting one of my, "This would be a good idea but is not really required," kind of tasks.

Lunch, as in don't blog about what you had for lunch? I had a home-made sandwich of sliced kielbasa loaf, shaved red peppers & cukes, swiss cheese and wasabi mayo. I like my frankensandwiches.

The trip home, bathed in the sounds of Thom Yorke, was pleasant enough. I didn't do what I had intended on doing, which was hitting Kensington for fruit and tabouli ingrediants. Yeah yeah, the fruit was for Marmy as I still don't eat fresh fruit beyond apples. Somehow my brain convinced my feet that I could get everything Marmy asked for at the Yonge & Eg groceries and health food stores, even the Ginger Beer and Vanilla Ice cream for the heatbeating floats she wanted to try. The heat? I was supposed to be oppressive but I didn't really notice? Either it's not as hot as previous years or I have adapted.

At Yonge & Eg I was stymied time after time. Nobody had heard of Bulger Wheat, the ginger beer was sold out but for these lame cans of "all natural" stuff that tastes like mild Schweppes and the fruit selection was ... unappealing. But I did pop into the Stress Central for a visit. You see when I left The Store, they were down two managers. In the time since I left, they have lost three or more, including the Store Manager and the Assistant Manager. That leaves a salaried Visual Manager, a salaried Associate Manager (usually referred to as a Store Manager Without A Store, but I guess he now has a store) and a Lead Sales manager. For seven days a week, 8am to 9pm -- three managers. And the fact that they didn't immediately promote my friend the Lead Sales guy, considering he is now doing all the jobs of the missing other Lead Sales, Assistant Manager and most of the Store Manager's job, is just... insane. But that is the place I left.

Back at home, Marmy had thankfully started on the evening's salads as it was freaking 8:30pm when I got home. Still, the heat wasn't bothering me. But the salad greens did. Eeeeewwww, we just bought those the night before and they were slimy. Green goo is not appealing. So, I brought those back (thankfully our usual grocery is about 5mins away) and asked about a replacement. The trouble was that I could not find the same brand anywhere in the produce section. But the CSR just immediately replaced it without question and I remembered there were massive gaps in the section where the greens should have been.... so I was not the only complaint and the whole thing was probably recalled. Yum.

Salad was yummy, I loves my avocadoe in a salad. And I had rented Zodiac to watch with the supper. We had already watched John From Cincinnati and the conclusion to Jekyl the night before, and no anime is down, so despite the fact they reactivated our cable for free, I rented a movie. Zodiac was.... OK. Longish in the tooth and in the style of the "based on a true story" dramas from the 70s and 80s. Definately not a Fincher classic but some of the digital widescreen effects used for panoramics were just.... stunning. But the story was lacking.

Ended the night with a cool shower, some more music transfers to the iPod ("Oh yeah, I have Howie Beck encoded from one of the three disks I bought since moving to TO.") and into bed. And once again, sleep was surprisingly not so bad despite the killer heat. At least we are not Europe or Manitoba. August 01 07