Almost forgot

by Matt | Apr 26, 2004 | Imported Entry

There’s a few links I was going to pass on.

Check this out techno fans…. a Danny Howells action figure! I kid you not. That company, Sweatfrog, has some really interesting figures for those of you who are into odd little desktop thingies.

I also found the weirdest t-shirts humanly possible. Some are actually kinda cool. I doubt any of them are cheaper the $40 those. Yeah, those “trendy” t-shirts no one really understands.

Does anyone want to take a vacation to Russia? Apparently you can shoot uber-high-powered sniper rifles (like the VSS), jump out of planes and helicopters and drive tanks. Ye-haw!

Lastly, the highly anticipated windows port of Konfabulator looks to be very very behind schedule. Apparently a programmer was fired after not really working and being confronted and asked to show code that he had obviously not written… hmmm. Anyway, looks like they’re working on it again but it’ll be a while. Why can’t you Mac people get on the ball and just write everything cross platform. (that was sarcasm)

That is all. You are dismissed.

Zombies are the best

by Matt | Apr 26, 2004 | Imported Entry

The era of zombies not running for you is officially over. 28 Days Later didn’t really feel like a proper zombie movie when I initially went to see it. Mostly because the zombies didn’t shuffle and moan after you and they didn’t really “eat” anyone, just kind of spit blood at them. Yesterday Lauren’s dad and I checked out Dawn of The Dead. Now that’s a zombie movie. Not quite as good as it’s 1978 original, but a fun ride none-the-less.

But Matt, you usually only like movie with plots and characters and all that good artsy stuff, what gives?

Well, you see, I have this soft spot deep inside the movie critic portion of my brain, specially reserved for horribly cheesy zombie movies. I love’em, I don’t know why.

Dawn of The Dead had absolutely no story whatsoever. None. The movie starts with a nurse coming home from work and turning off a report of “a disturbance” on the radio. That’s pretty much all we get. After that it’s full on zombie chasing mayhem. Our main characters eventually get trapped in a mall and spend a good portion of the movie there, fending off zombies and trying to figure out what to do next. And, once again, this movie proves that the mighty shotgun is the single most powerful weapon in all of existence. Anyway, good popcorn flick, just don’t be expecting Shakespeare.

Outside of that it’s been a pretty mundane week. Lots of work and the lack of my 6-month review have left me rather disenchanted with going to work tomorrow. I was supposed to have a review 2 weeks ago and it’s yet to happen.

I’m also working on a website design for Lauren’s company. It’s going a bit slowly because I’ve lost all my photoshop settings, styles, actions and all of my windows fonts. I’m working to get them back slowly, finding bits and pieces here and there on backup disks. I’m also at a bit of a loss in terms of motivation. I don’t really like where the design is going. But that’s just half the fun isn’t it. That should take me the better part of this coming week in the evenings.

I’m really tired. I think I might take a little power nap before getting back into designing. Later.

Sunshine Eternal and Boys From Hell

by Matt | Apr 19, 2004 | Imported Entry

We had a bit of a movie weekend over here at the Perry ranch. We ended up seeing both Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Hell Boy. A little artsy and a little campy to balance each other out. Both were quite good. Sunshine was fucking brilliant and Hell Boy was entertaining in that “scifi popcorn flick” sort of way. But, Sunshine was brilliant. That’s how to make a movie folks. Hollywood take take that and run with it and save a whole lot of people from ever seeing another Jerry movie again. For the record: I hate that fool. The only thing he’s ever done right was putting up some bank for a little show called CSI. And even then, thankfully he doesn’t have any creative control. But I’ve spun off onto a tangent. Back to my story.

Saturday, post work, the girls met me over at my office and we headed into town to this upscale “art house” theater. Mostly because it was the last place in town still showing Eternal Sunshine. Downtown Houston doesn’t really compare to most other cities you’d think of. Mostly because it’s “downtown” is about 10 square blocks. The “city” proper however, goes on and on for miles. Basically, it would be like if Boston was stretched out all the way to the NH boarder. Or maybe it NYC engulfed all of New Jersey. Something like that. So, it becomes a case of “where do we go now?” instead of “now what do we do?”. There’s not an “area” to hangout in like Harvard Square or Newbury Street or the Theatre District. Oh well. Enough about the berg.

The movie was great. Fantastic. Best movie I’ve seen this year so far.

I really don’t know how else to put it. I really enjoyed it.

Sunday I skipped church in favor of some much needed sleep and some house hold chores. I had no clean sox left at all. None. Sad and pathetic isn’t it. Anyway, mid-afternoon we decided to check out HellBoy just for kicks. We went to the local cinema 6. It’s a tiny little theater that still has those wonderful things called matinees. Those are hard to come by. Especially when we got in for $3.25 each. Beat that.

Most of the movie was good. Mostly entertaining with a few slow spots. There’s a few “logic” bombs I could drop into the story but nothing as horrible as the last Harry Potter movie. And we all know how I felt about that one. Hell Boy was about average for a scifi/action/adventure/shoot’em movie. And paying on $3 for it made it all the more enjoyable.

After that it was back to our place to put together a shopping list. I was sent off into the wilds of Pearland to do some shopping. Target seems to be the place were yuppie white folks shop I’m afraid. I felt almost out of place. Like I wasn’t white or yuppie enough to be there. Young couples with their 2.5 children, shopping for high priced groceries with sweaters tied around their necks in case there should be a sudden ice storm in TEXAS. And me in my “lounge clothes” that consist of a pair of ripped jeans, and old Boston Red Sox t-shirt and my sandals. Hopefully I offended someone’s fashion sense enough to be the topic on conversation at Olive Garden that night over crappy martinis and painfully uninspired pasta.

Damn, I love being a sarcastic opinionated SOB. It gives me the most wonderful sense of accomplishment and joy down deep in the tacos of my heart.

Yeah.

Today there was a quick stop at the nearest Jiffy Lube for some new oil for the Mazda. Most of the day was actually spent thinking about web-ish things. I’ve now been commissioned by Dena Brody Interiors to redo their website. I also have to redo Ladd Photography’s website AND I’m still working on my design for this page. There was actually a break through in that and I’m happy to say that I’m getting nearer to finishing my own site. I spent a good long while today pouring over CSS help sites and tutorials. I now have all my DIVs in a row, so to speak. I actually also thought about a variation I could do on my theme with (and don’t gasp) Flash. I know, I know, I’m supposed to hate Flash. I do hate it. But my idea is cool enough to give it a try. I’ll have to think about it.

This evening I think we’re watching Mister Smith Goes to Washington, because Jimmy Stewart is fantastic, followed by some image retouching on my part and eventually some CSI:Miami. The single TV I watch.

Lastly, I’ve gone a little “Pinstripe” crazy. Originally designed as themes for Mac only versions of FireFox and Thunderbird, crazy windows theme enthusiasts were quick to port them. Now my collection is complete and it looks damn nice. Which is why you should click here to see them. Sorry I can’t share any of the details about the themes. I had to beg people for them and I promised I wouldn’t share until they’re released.

And that’s all for tonight. Later.