Beyond the Dots: I
New article over on Gamer-Geek.com: A series called Beyond the dots, where I talk about how to take your role playing character beyond the dots on the page, and make them into a more three dimensional character.
Archive for 'Nerd'
Nerd Alert
I’m not going to say “Does wanting this make me a nerd?” because…well, the answer is yes, but I don’t care.
Marc Ecko’s Boba Fett Hoodie.
Now, let’s be realistic here. This is so far outside what I am willing to spend on a hoodie. But…common! Its Fett! You know…Fett from before he was a lame ass kid in the prequels. Fett from when he was AWESOME.
So nerdy-cool.
<3 and h8
First off, let me say that I love me EEE PC. I positively less-than-three it. Its so portable and durable, that I can pretty much just toss it into any bag that I’m carrying, and go. Its light and barely adds anything to the weight on my shoulder.
The downside for me, is the Operating System. The EEE PC uses a simple linux interface, which is quite easy to use, compared to some other Linux versions. However, when it comes to installing software that I use all the time on my usual PC, either this software doesn’t have a Linux version, or installing it is just too damned hard. I regret not getting the version that had Windows XP installed.
I know that I could just install WinXP myself, but all the instructions I’ve found to do so make my brain hurt. Seems harder than it should be. Anyone actually know how to do this, who can explain it to me relatively simply?
Then recently, I saw this: the Acer Aspire One, and I drool. Its price is comparable to what I paid for the EEE PC, and its running WinXP, so I know I can install what I want on it. Its got more disc space, memory and whathaveyou. And its just generally downright sexay. Totally want.
Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na LEADER
Yesterday Jess and I went out to watch the Dark Knight. First thing we did was wisely go to get our tickets. We had wanted to see the film in IMAX, but the show we wanted to see was sold out. The next available show was 7PM, which would have had us wandering around for over 4 hours waiting to see the movie. I figured that was a bit much, so we got tickets to a non-IMAX showing. Then we went for lunch at a new-ish Japanese place on Queen West.
I don’t know if it was a downside to all the hype, but I left feeling…a bit let down. Not that the film wasn’t good: it was. But it didn’t blow me away.
Heath Ledger was excellent as the Joker, and personally I think that character should just be put on the shelf and considered done. I don’t think anyone else could ever create a better Joker. His joker was truly insane and terrifying, and I don’t think anyone else could ever create a better interpretation.
After the movie, Jess and I walked for a bit. It wasn’t too hot out and Jess wanted a coffee, so we went in search of a Starbucks that was open on the holiday Monday. We did not want to go to the one at Queen and John, which is always annoyingly crowded with teenagers. So we walked East. We were psyched out by one that we saw from a distance at Bay and Adelaide, which looked like it might be open till we got to it. We walked along Adelaide towards the one we knew would be open at King and Yonge.
As we passed the Fairweather on Adelaide, Jess stopped in her tracks and started walking towards the window. I thought that she spotted a dress in the window that she liked. I knew I was wrong when I saw her move to the side of the window. She wasn’t looking at the dresses. She was looking down. She was looking at the lights. She wanted to see what kind of lights they were using in the window [She’s studying theatre tech, so she comes by the curiousity about light being used honestly].
This is Jess realizing that she’s been busted looking at the lights in the window.
She’ll hate me for posting that, but it was too hawesome to leave out.
NERDS UP IN ARMS!
Some Trek nerds got up in arms over a cake.
Yup. A cake. A Star Trek themed cake. Here’s the cake in question.
Now, I will admit that I’ve watched some Trek in my day. Some original trek when I was younger. And TNG when it was on. I would count myself a fan of the shows. But the comments this cake has elicited are something else. My favourite nerd-rage moment:
THIS IS A DISASTER I CAN’T BELIEVE THEY PUT SCOTTY IN THE NAVIGATOR’S POSITION I CAN’T BELIEVE THESE PEOPLE ARE SO CLUELESS ABOUT THE BASICS OF STAR TREK THIS IS A DISASTER
I dunno what the rage is all about. Its a pretty awesome cake.
If you wanted to, I’d let you bake me one.
[yoinked from io9]
New Ron Hawkins
BlogTO has an article about the new Ron Hawkins CD. Being a loyal Hawkins listener, I’ve got to pick this up at some point.
Looking at the list of guest musicians, there’s some interesting Ron Minutia to see:
Mark Hansen plays percussion. Mark was the drummer for Ron Hawkins and the Rusty Nails, and before that was the drummer for the band Dig Circus.
Brian Poirier was a member of Dig Circus with Mark, and after the collapse of that band went on to form the short-lived Hummer with Ron and Dave MacKinnon (also of Dig Circus). Brian and Dave went on to form the Fembots.
Alex McMaster has played cello with Ron in the Acoustic Review, which began as a solo "Every song I ever wrote" show in the early 2000s.
Am I a complete nerd for knowing this stuff?
Edit: yes. Yes, I am a huge nerd for knowing this.
Nerdy-coolness
Sometimes, I’ll read something like this, and think Wow. That’s just so effin’ cool I have to do it. Look to the left, and you’ll see what I mean. Hallowe’en-y witch “kitchen jars”.
The page linked to gives instructions on how to make your own, and the costume-y, prop loving nerd in me says “WANT”.
And then I start talking sense to myself. “Self,” I say with some derision,
“what would you do with them once you finished? Display them in the living room? Put them up on a shelf somewhere? And who would see them? You and the dog?”
Now, I know that my brain is speaking truth and making sense. But that doesn’t change the fact that…well, its cool. And I think it would be awesome to have a spooky shelf just sitting in the apartment somewhere. Not serving a purpose, but just…being there.
Yeah. I’m a nerd.
Nerd!
This is nerd stuff, and probably unimportant to most people.
I have two main sites. I have my blog at Grinningskull.com and my “professional site” at PhilRickaby.com. Both of them have extremely different designs right now. I’d like to have them compliment each other. When I look at the sites, GrinningSkull has the more striking design, so I’ve decided that I’d like to make PhilRickaby.com look more like GrinningSkull.
Here’s the catch though (and where the nerd-speak starts, for those of you looking to tune out): both sites use different Content Management Systems. GS uses Wordpress while PR uses Joomla. Wordpress and Joomla use very different templating systems, so its not like you can just take one template and slap it into another. Its a matter of having to take the one template apart, and then put it back together again as a template for the new CMS.
It can be pretty headache inducing.
And of course, that’s exactly what I’m doing right now. Or trying to do.
For those of you keeping track, yes this does mean that I am not writing at the moment. The play sits waiting for me to return to it. This is another project - and yes…its procrastination. I’m very good at making procrastination look productive. But I promise I’ll get back to writing soonish. I have to. The characters in the play keep popping into my head demanding some attention.
I am a big nerd
Confession time! (though I admit, for many of you, this is not news).
I am a big ol’ geek.
For many years, I have participated in a form of Role Playing that does not involve a table or dice, but instead was (for me) more of an acting exercise: I am a Live Action Role Player. I have made many friends through this hobby, and it has provided me with some opportunities to tell some stories. As well, it has provided me with some valuable lessons both in character development and in story telling.
On the downside, it has also taken up more of my time than it probably should. When I first started participating in this hobby, I have put more into this hobby than I did to my acting career. Sometimes, I have wondered where I might be with my theatre career if I had put as much time into pursuing that than the LARP hobby.
Moving forward though, I have made some decisions about my life. I have made a commitment to myself to do more theatre. To write more theatre. And to generally pursue this theatre thing. I need to put more time and energy into the theatre. I need to write the stories that have been kicking around in the back of my head, and to do that, I can’t put as much time into the LARP hobby as I used to.
Does that mean that I won’t still play? Yes, I will. I just won’t be doing it as much as I used to. Nor will I be able to put as much time and energy into it as I once did. I don’t want to get to age 40 (which isn’t as far off as I would like) still wanting to do things. I’d much rather hit that particular milestone knowing that I was not wanting to do them…but was instead doing them.
It is my hope that as time progresses, I will be reporting more about the things that I am doing theatre and writing wise on this blog. And I hope that you will stick around with me for that ride (and for whatever this future holds).
