October 31, 2008
Halloween!
Possibly the best Halloween costume that I have ever worn:
2 Weeks of Halloween - Thursday 30th
October 29, 2008
2 Weeks of Halloween - Wednesday 29th
The History of Halloween, presented by the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre:October 28, 2008
2 Weeks of Halloween - Tuesday 28th
The MN Zoo had its scarecrow competition without me, I just didn't get done in time.Looks like I actually didn't miss much, the top three are all comical pun-inspired stuffed animals, not really scarecrows. I wonder, had mine come together, might I have won? Or would I suffer the fate of so many Halloween enthusiasts who put forth their most scary and dark creations only to be defeated by bright fluffy cartoon characters...
Ah well, for this year we may never know. I probably wouldn't try for this next year, since the animal themed aspect tends to dull the supernatural feel that Halloween is supposed to instill. Also, the winner was called "Scare-Moose," that is a pretty harsh indictment right there.
October 27, 2008
2 Weeks of Halloween - Monday 27th
PumpkinRot.com
Part of what activated my Halloween enthusiasm last year, PumpkinRot is the king of scarecrows. The pic to the right is his creation for this year, the Hollowman. He also puts together a pretty amazing yard haunt as well, definitely among the best I have seen. I have found myself formatting my own Halloween around the way his site is organized, with one central project each year, and a series of smaller ones that will hopefully grow my haunt into something worthwhile in a few years.Actually, it bears mention that one of the criteria when Vicki and I go looking for a house will likely be how 'hauntable' the yard is.
That picture is still my favorite, one of his earlier 'Crows, Johnny Appleseed. My project this year still needs some work, right now it looks painfully stiff and all-together un-scary. It also looks a bit too much like garbage bags for my taste, so I will need to layer something else over it to dull that shiny look. I always find myself looking to PumpkinRot's projects for ideas on how to make my own better, and combining them with stuff that I find across the net.
October 24, 2008
2 Weeks of Halloween - Friday 24th
Make A Cool Hologram Illusion! - video powered by Metacafe
October 23, 2008
2 Weeks of Halloween - Thursday 23rd
Resources galore:
October 22, 2008
2 Weeks of Halloween - Wednesday 22nd
My major project for this year, the crow, needs some work. Right now it looks more like a garbage pile than anything actually scary. Hopefully I will be able to work on it this weekend and have something to show for Halloween.In other news, I know that everybody wants more Cthulhu mythos to read, especially near Halloween, so here is a classic that has been reimagined in that vein, see if you can pick up the original setting:
"This quest led me into mouldering libraries, cramped basement antiquaries, far-flung correspondences, and, on one occasion, frightening and persistent telephone conversations with a lunatic in Boston. The last raised alarms in my family. I promised them I would turn away from my studies, all the while resolving to continue them in secret. I committed everything I knew to memory, burned all my papers, and embroidered my most unfathomable and precious secrets in near-invisible thread on my security blanket, which as you can see, I carry still.Read the rest of the story.
October 21, 2008
2 Weeks of Halloween - Tuesday 21st
I've seen many absolutely fantastic Halloween ideas this year, but the ambiance of this one is pretty unbelievable:
I plan on putting a few of these up this year, on nice long wires so that they have a hearty sway to them. Lighting is always a bit of an issue, I am wary of having cords running all over the place, but stuff needs to be lit well or else the ambiance is all lost. I think some strategically placed candles just might do the trick!
October 20, 2008
2 Weeks of Halloween - Monday 20th
All Halloween themed posts this week and next, and I've been saving this one for exactly a day such as this:A Murder of Scarecrows
Gotta love it when someone gets the style of something spot on. The game is extremely simple, but extremely creepy and elegant.
Check it out, and ask yourself if Halloween is not the best holiday of the year.
October 17, 2008
League of Conservation Voters Scorecards
The LCV has its most recent representative scorecard up. They go through and take a look at every bill that went through the legislative branch, check it for environmental content, and look at who voted for and against it.Obviously, Democrats are far and away more willing to engage issues surrounding the natural environment, so they are clearly in the lead.
Minnesota is an interesting case, though:
Scores for Minnesota Sorted by Last Name
Senate
| Senator | State | 110th, 2nd session Score |
| Norm Coleman (REP) | MN | 73% |
| Amy Klobuchar (DEM) | MN | 100% |
House
| Representative | District | 110th, 2nd session Score |
| Michele Bachmann (REP) | MN-6 | 8% |
| Keith Ellison (DEM | MN-5 | 100% |
| John Kline (REP) | MN-2 | 8% |
| Betty McCollum (DEM) | MN-4 | 100% |
| James Oberstar (DEM) | MN-8 | 92% |
| Collin Peterson (DEM) | MN-7 | 85% |
| Jim Ramstad (REP) | MN-3 | 62% |
| Tim Walz (DEM) | MN-1 | 77% |
What is interesting to me is that the only two people that have low scores are Bachmann and Kline. Bachmann is obvious because she is completely nuts. Kline I have not really heard of, but this makes me very wary of him. Both Norm Coleman and Jim Ramstad, however, are actually not looking too bad (Ramstad got a 95% in 2007, and a 82% overall this year, I'm impressed). Their scores aren't great (a C+ average), but it shows that they are willing to at least vote for some environmental initiatives that they might support, as opposed to a big null across the board.
Check it out here for links to each representative's individual scorecard.
October 13, 2008
Another Sexy EV
These EVs are getting to be more sexy and modern than normal ICE cars.
Venturi Volage
Daaaaaamn.
October 10, 2008
Top 5 - Serious Games
Ars Technica recently posted an article about serious games, which was interesting, but which I believe missed the mark. They talk about Super Columbine Massacre, and Imagination is the Only Escape in the games as art genre, and mention Metal Gear Solid 4 in reference to the games as political discussion sphere, but it feels like they missed some valuable additions to their list.Hence;
Top 5 Serious Games
5) Shadow of the Colossus
Definitely a part of the 'Games as Art' subsection of serious games, Shadow of the Colossus and its ilk (Braid, Rez, etc.) really stand out in a medium dominated by over-the-top plotlines and scantily clad women. This game in particular strikes a chord due to its sensitive subject matter, dealing with the concepts of what life is worth, and how futile our efforts are at changing the natural cycle of death.The game has provides a sense of scale not seen before its time, and it contains a whole sub-strata of questions about morality, literally laid bare as the hero character goes about murdering massive columns of life in order to save the life of the one that he loves.
Very touching, and extremely unsettling.
4) Second Life
While definitely not art, Second life occupies the social experimentation seat well. It is a real and open world with very few constraints, most of which can be gotten around in one way or another. The experiement centers around the turn of the century ideals of free society, and virtual spaces. What we see, not surprisingly, is mostly fetishistic sex acts, and a few interesting virtual innovations. Very telling, as far as what is on our minds as a species, even when we are supposedly freed from our mortal bounds, the first thing that we want our digital selves to do is screw in every way possible.The sex aside, however, Second life is truly promising in its conception of what an online virtual world could be. It plays with rules, and if they aren't needed, it throws them away completely.
3) Wii Fit
Not a social statement, and not art by a long shot, Wii Fit makes it high on the list because it is exactly the opposite of what a videogame should be. Normally, videogames are there so that you can do something that you normally have no capacity for, like killing Nazis or Driving a car at 200MPH. Wii Fit takes that notion of 'easy' and twists it into something actually productive.It is primarily a way of tricking yourself into exercising, much in the same way that people will watch an exercise video so that they don't have to actually go outSIDE to work out. It works, though. The game actually allows you to train yourself, all the while feeling like it isn't work, it is just a game.
2) Black and White
God is kind of a big deal. He'd tell you so himself, but he doesn't talk. Black and White takes on the idea of god, and turns it into an interesting game based on pretty narrowly defined notions of good and evil. The interesting thing about this game, however, is not that you can decide whether your godly hand helps or hinders the villagers. What is truly fascinating is the way that you raise your creature.The game starts you out with a cute little manifestation of your godly will, an anthropomorphic animal. Throughout the game, this creature learns from you and the world around it, eventually becoming nearly as powerful as your avatar in the game. Most interesting about this is that the creature is actually quite difficult to mold the way you want. For example, I wanted the creature to stop pooping on the villagers, as this would kill them, so I would slap him every time he did that. He ended up learning that it was not okay to poop at all, anywhere.
Expanded out to the limits of the game, and you have a myriad of possibilities for your creature. The hand of god in the game was somewhat limited, but the creature developed a real personality, usually quite interesting due to the player's choices.
1) Sim City 4
Sim City 4 is at the top of the list not only because it is one of the best games ever made, but also because it is one of the most complex games ever made. On the surface, the game is extremely simple. You build roads, and people build buildings in spots where you point them. In practice, however, Sim City 4 is one of the best educational tools that I have ever encountered. The game is balanced perfectly, as your city grows, you need to balance your budget with extreme vigilance, lest you go into the red and people start moving away. It is easy to say that we need more social programs and our schools need to be better, but what if the city budget is already maxed out? What if you have to choose between a new school and the bus stops that people need to get to work?
I am notoriously a tree-hugger, and have been for some time, and Sim City 4 has helped me round out some of my more extreme viewpoints and 'plans' for the world. It is easy to say that we need to live off renewable energy, but what does that actually take? I have run through many cities with many different energy policies, the ones that focus on green alternatives like wind and solar have a much slower growth rate, but they are much easier to manage once the city starts getting dense.
These types of lessons abound in the game. Transportation alone could be a game in itself. Sim City 4 should be a college level course for anyone with ideas of political or social leadership, as it seems like the basic ideas in the game are things that many politicians are completely oblivious to (like a balanced budget).
October 8, 2008
Debate Commentary
"That guy should be named 'Ham'"Debates are much more enjoyable when you can feel free to make fun of everyone involved, including the people asking the questions. It lightens the mood, and makes it feel less like a major world event. It also keeps the candidates from seeming like a couple of bickering kids.
This debate, like the first one, was pretty non-committal. Both candidates answered very few questions directly (YES OR NO, seriously), though each had a couple of places where they stood out a bit. McCain always looks very uncomfortable, he just looks painful and old. we couldn't help laughing at that all night, as each of us took our turn mimicking his tottering old-guy walk. Obama really needs to learn to shut up sometimes. He had some great answers, but a couple of them were really floundering and he just kept on going, way over time, and making it look even worse.
I doubt that the polls will be affected much by this debate, the independents have been leaning toward Obama a bit and that probably will not change due to last night.
October 1, 2008
Whatwhatwhaaaat?!
Has my head just been under a rock for the past few months?How do I miss something like this?
The Pandora
It might not look like the prettiest thing in the world, but judging by everything that has been said about it, it might be the most perfect handheld device of the modern age.Sure, it has the normal suite of PDA capabilities, WiFi, and is open source, running on Linux. These are all fantastic things. Vastly more important than all this, though, is that it is built as an emulator as well, or even primarily. That's right, all those SNES, NES, and even Playstation Roms that are languishing on my hard drive will have a place here. Conceivably, this could even easily play PSP and DS Roms, since the Roms are out there, and there is already Linux emulators for those systems.
I am impressed, and I will buy this once it is out of limited edition, barring any major unforeseen problems.