Nick.

The other day I went to the dentist and then saw the Transformers movie. I didn’t expect to be writing this, but the Transformers movie was more painful…

Now I should explain that the trip to the dentist went well (no cavities or other problems, yay!) and was completely painless. I should also note that the movie wasn’t completely bad, it just had painfully bad moments. I’ll try not to spoil it for anyone who has yet to see it, but I’d like to make a few observations that don’t give away the (thin) plot.

It seems that every “blockbuster” to come out recently breaks new ground!… in advertising and product placement. After being subject to 30 minutes of pre-movie advertisements, I was battered with advertising for another couple of hours during the movie. Aside from the obvious toy and car shilling, glowing portrayals of Ebay and the American Army were also worked into the storyline.

It didn’t stop there, every few minutes some other company or product was brought into the limelight: Nokia, Taco Bell, Mountain Dew, Xbox 360, and a while host of other companies. It was worse than Tom Hanks’ Cast Away (the whole point of which appeared to be for him to sell you Wilson sports gears via FedEx). Seriously, why did I have to pay for a ticket? Did this movie cost anything to make?

Another thing that irritated me about the film was how incredibly cheesy it was. Ham acting aside, the worst offender was Soundwave Frenzy, who was made to “talk” via infantile noises and moved with incredibly hammy mannerisms. The movie was cheesy to the point where it just didn’t make sense (eg. calling robots from outer-space by projecting an Autobot logo onto some clouds… are they Batman?), and felt very much like a Saturday morning kids movie.

Onto more objective factors. I didn’t like the characters at all. They were all very one-dimensional glamorisations of what the producers probably expect members of the target audience want to be. The main character is a whiny middle class boy who fawns over this hot girl he doesn’t really know, but hates how she goes for hot guys who she doesn’t know (huh?). The Transformers themselves have no real personality and few interactions; As a result, they feel more like background scenery than foreground characters.

If there is one thing that saves Transformers, it’s that transforming robots are incredibly cool. Even if you make then look animalistic and give Optimus Prime a mouth (ack!). Anyhow, these considerations bring me to my conclusion…

Conclusion: The new Transformers movie is incredibly true the original: It was devised to sell crap, it’s made for kids, and it doesn’t really make any sense. That said, it’s pretty cool at times… but it could have been cooler.

I came home today to find an unfamiliar pair of sunglasses on the side table in the hall (near where I put my hat and gloves) and a single roll of film placed standing on my desk. Heidi was nowhere to be seen, and the house was eerily quiet… I came to the obvious conclusion: Blackmail!

While mulling over what could be on the film (so that I could decide whether or not to get it developed at the nearby chemist), Heidi called. Apparently the glasses belong to her brother (who visited today), and the film is hers. I suppose that explains everything: They must be in on it together!

I was a little surprised that Heidi would be seeing me as a ruse in order to gather some dirt on me (she seems so genuine). Finally, I decided that it probably isn’t blackmail… (if it were she would keep the film and send photos instead.)

I’m planning a snowboarding trip in August. Khan is working at Thredbo and I figured that I would actually visit him this year (last year… I never got around to it).

Anyone else up for a trip to Thredbo? I figure it will be around $1000 for flights and accomodation if you’re in Perth. Less if you’re in the eastern states.

One of the more difficult things to organise for the OneTwenty Trivia Night was the data projector. We didn’t really want to hire one, and sort of assumed that some friend of some friend would have one that we could borrow. No an ideal situation. Especially not if it inconveniences people. So I made a mental note to think of a better (more permanent) solution.

A few weeks ago, Kmart had a Sansui projector on special for $699 ($799 RRP). That’s very cheap for a brand-new projector. Moreover, it has a built-in speaker and DVD player that can be used to show a slideshow of JPEG images from a CD. Perfect for presentations since we wouldn’t need a laptop! I put it to OneTwenty for consideration, but it was deemed to expensive (and would’ve been too much of a rushed decision).

Jim and I were at Kmart the other day (Jim was buying a present), and I saw the projector behind the Audio/Video counter. I wondered what it was like, so I asked the lady behind the counter if I could have a look at it. It looked perfect; much less “cheap looking” than I expected and it came with all required cables, a remote control, and decent lamp life (“3000 hours STD”). I figured that I would check how much it was:

Beep! $649

Harh. I guess they aren’t selling as well as expected. I thought it was weird for Kmart to have projectors. Maybe they were testing the market waters and it didn’t work out. Still $50 cheaper probably wouldn’t change anything. But then…

Oh wait, I don’t think this scanner is registering today’s 15% discount. Let me scan it again… Beep! $552.20.

$552.20! That’s crazy! I asked Jim what he thought. We should get it. I called people. We should get it. Okay! We got it.

Here it is setup on my dining room table:

and here is a photo of the projected image (from Rushmore, one of my favourite movies):

I think it perfectly suits what we were after:

1. It’s “plug-and-play” in that it has a built-in speaker and DVD player
2. It’s portable and comes with all cables (VGA, s-video, RCA)
3. It has a remote control (for DVD playback and projector settings)
4. Image quality is fine for presentations, games, and DVDs (800×600 native resolution)
5. It’s quiet
6. It’s cheap!

Needless to say, there will soon be a Wii Sports gaming night. Lifesize virtual tennis, golf, and bowling… oh yeah.

Conclusion: Highly recommended for the price!

Ah, blog. It’s been a while. Ever since starting work it seems I haven’t been posting… yes, there appears to be a very high correlation!

I hope people are still out there. Although I haven’t been writing much, I’ve still been reading (other people’s blogs) and feeling that I should start contributing back to the community. I appreciate the effort that others put into posting, and I know that (at least some people) enjoy my posts as well, or find them informative.

Where would I be without blogs? Without Enjoy Perth, I wouldn’t be going to see OK Go (a band I wouldn’t know about without blogs in the first place) or The Cure. Without Planet OneTwenty I wouldn’t really know what some of my friends are up to. I love the personal internet.

Iraq veterans protest the war by acting out, in New York City, everyday scenes from the war in Iraq:

Their protest is called “Operation: First Casualty” because:

The first casualty of war is the truth.

Via IVAW.org

I really like this video.

via Japan Probe

I spent some time yesterday going through my video games and deciding which ones aren’t worth keeping for one reason or another. Some are just plain bad, but a fair few are very well-regarded games that just aren’t my cup of tea.

I figure that I will either put them on eBay, trade them in for store credit at GameTraders, or give them away. I may consider giving some of them away as prizes at future OneTwenty events… but most aren’t suitable.

Here’s the list (organised by console, with older consoles towards the end; everything is in excellent condition with all packaging unless otherwise noted):

Nintendo DS:

• Tenchu: Dark Secret: I got this game because I really liked the original Tenchu. Unfortunately, this game is extraordinarily bad. It’s worth playing (to witness the spectacle), but definately not worth keeping.

XBOX:

• Freedom Fighters: I mostly got this game because of the physics engine (to see how it holds up), but also because it was well-recieved. I couldn’t get into it because of the control scheme.
• Unreal 2: The Awakening: I really, really liked Unreal, and wanted to play the sequel. I don’t really play PC games anymore so I picked this up on XBOX. Played it for a while, but the load times were killing me!
• Deus Ex: The Invisible War: Highly praised in-depth first person RPG. People I have lent it to love it to bits. I should have remembered that I don’t like in-depth RPGs…

Gamecube:

• James Bond 007: Nightfire: One of the first games I got for my Gamecube. A good FPS with novel third-person gameplay elements. Not something I will ever play again though.

Playstation 2

• Jak II: Renegade: I rather liked Jak & Daxter, and this had better graphics and tight controls… but why do you make me collect so much stuff? Why? Why!?! I don’t have the time for this sort of game anymore; particularly with so much competition.
• Automodellista: Anime-style car racing? Oh yeah! But the gameplay is too strongly geared (har har) towards a simulation (rather than arcade) style for my tastes.
• Gungrave: You shoot stuff, look cool, and it keeps track of how many bullets you fired over the course of the game! Awesome!… no real replay value though.
• The Thing: Highly praised for it’s story, suspense, and multiple character gameplay. Turns out I don’t really look for any of those things in a game though.
• Batman: Vengence: Simple graphics (like the TV series). Decent gameplay. Just nothing to make it stand out.

Dreamcast

• Bangai-O: I think I bought this because it was from Treasure, which is a Japanese games company famous for it’s shooters. I’m told this game is absolute bliss for Treasure fans. I realised that I’m not a Treasure fan.
• 18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker: Hmmm… it was cheap… never buy things because they are cheap… that said, I can do a great price on this one!
• Tech Romancer: Fighting game with giant robots. Nothing special. Maybe someone out there is collecting Dreamcast fighting games?
• Trickstyle: One of my first Dreamcast games. Fun, but can’t see myself playing it again.
• Jo-Jo’s Bizzare Adventure: Well regarded fighting game from a popular license. Meh. Again, anyone collecting Dreamcast fighting games?

Gameboy Advance:

• Doom: Picked this up cheap. Wondered how it fared on GBA. Guess what? It’s the same old game that I didn’t really like the first time around.
• Sheep: Sounded like a potential hit with me; a novel concept well-executed with unique gameplay elements. Turns out that herding sheep is actually pretty boring (see: Herdy Gerdy)

Gameboy Color:

• Bionic Commando: Elite Forces: Bionic Commando!… now a bit too old-school for me.

Gameboy:

• Metroid 2: Return of Samus: I realised after playing this game that I don’t really like old Metroid games. Metroid Fusion for GBA is far better IMHO. (No packaging, permanent marker writing on cartridge)

If you are interested in any of these games, please let me know!

Note: I also have a number of games that I am undecided on (whether to keep them or not) and I’ll be evaluating them on weekends over the next month or so (hopefully with the help of fellow Onetwenty-iens!)

I like doodles.

I’m thinking of adding an oekaki message board to the OneTwenty server… would anyone out there use it?

Note: I thought that this was a funny story until I told it to spinboy (who gave it a 3 out of ten). Maybe it’s something that you need to have been there for, or to know the people involved. Tone gave it a 6… anyhow, here it is.

Heidi, Jim, and I decided to try out this new dessert parlour called Icey Ice. We had no idea what to expect, but the name was appealing. After perousing their menu for a while, we ordered. Heidi and I asked for a Strawberry Snow Ice and Jim asked for a Watermelon and Strawberry crushed ice drink.

Seemed normal enough. Then just after Jim ordered, the woman behind the counter cocked her head to one side and glared at him. After a slight pause she said:

You want a drink?

Perfectly delivered in a you-can’t-be-serious kind of voice! She continued with:

This is your first time here right? Our specialty is Snow Ice. You can get a drink anywhere. Nowhere else does Snow Ice… Are you suuure you want a drink?

We were flummoxed. Jim wanted to buy something and he absolutely got told off by the salesperson! Things don’t work like that! However… her argument made sense… and Jim changed his order to a Mango Snow Ice.

In other news, Snow Ice are pretty good. They taste like the sound of butterflies in a fruit orchid on a cold winter morning… (hmmm, that only sort of makes sense) … oh, and we got a plush Icey Ice mascot with our order. Jim kept it as a momento of his getting told off. 🙂