Don't Feed the Wookiee

'Where the Wild Things Are' Featurette

noreply@blogger.com (Spyke) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 22:18:00 +0000

>

Make sure to click on the "HD" button after clicking on the video so it spawns on another page. But this is wonderful to see. I read that the people behind the film were working closely with Maurice Sendak, but I didn't realize they were working *this* closely.

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.ungawa

-Spyke

I'm not dead yet!

noreply@blogger.com (Spyke) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 07:05:00 +0000

Many things have happened since I last posted... Some good, some bad.

In short:

- I was let go by Mythic back in February. I've been on the hunt for a job since but the job market in the DC Metro area for an IT Manager/Project Manager/etc is pretty slim right now. Basically I'm too skilled for a grunt position and not skilled enough for others. Plus the lack of training in the gaming industry (read: lack of certifications and schooling) has really hurt me in some ways. But I have a few leads, mostly with the federal gov't in some fashion, so we'll see.

- I've been able to spend more time with my girlfriend, though. No relationship is perfect and they all take effort. If not then you're doing something wrong. =) But I don't know of anyone else I'd rather spend time with then her... So we must be doing something right. All I know is that she is my best friend and that I love her.

- Most of my updates are over at Facebook. Although I'll probably start using this space again for longer posts and thoughts and just link them there.

- I've also got a Flickr page, too. I have a new camera and am trying to take pictures of some of the various cool things that I do.

- I'm days away from being an official member of the 501st Legion. I am still waiting on the armor for my Snowtrooper Commander, so I decided to go with something quick and easy for membership purposes. So I applied as an Imperial Crewman. From this I can do a other costumes like a Naval Trooper or Tie Pilot without much difficulty.

- I am also being dragged kicking and screaming (not really) into the Colonial Marine (from the movie Aliens) that most of the peeps do, too. I'm doing just a basic grunt. I should have my armor, BDU's, etc, ready in a few months.

- Not working a gazillion hours a week has done wonders for my health. I'm down about 20 pounds from where I was when I was working and I feel wonderful. I'm looking at joining a local health club to help with this even more.

That's about it in a nutshell... Have a few things coming up that we'll be doing... The Video Games Live concert... Shoreleave... Maryland Renaissance Faire...

Should be an interesting time.

.ungawa

-Spyke

Where I've been...

noreply@blogger.com (Spyke) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 22:47:00 +0000

You'll mostly find me over at Facebook. I tried Myspace out but it never clicked... But Facebook is like liquid crack.

Very, very dangerous.

Otherwise I've got a fairly solid social life going. Mostly hanging out and doing stuff with members of the 501st. I know, sweet right? I have a girlfriend as well.

Yes... Hell has probably frozen over... but I don't care, I'm enjoying things too much. =)

.ungawa

-Spyke

The best thing I have ever seen...

noreply@blogger.com (Spyke) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 01:15:00 +0000

I cannot say how much this made me smile.

.ungawa

-Spyke

My Grandpa...

noreply@blogger.com (Spyke) — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 18:10:00 +0000

After a short bout of what was onset dementia my Grandpa died this morning at 4am while in hospice care (due to pneumonia from the other day).

I'll be flying up to Ohio on Tuesday for the viewing and flying back after the funeral on Wednesday. My Mom luckily was able to be up there this weekend to spend time with her father before he passed. Although due to the dementia, the man that we knew as Lloyd Spring has been gone for quite a while.

I wrote about my Grandma passing a few years ago... That was his wife. While she was the head of the family he was the one that filled the role of the "man of the house" as long as I knew them up until her death. He was in the Navy during World War II and owned many different businesses (ranging from a gas station to finally an insurance company) there in the small town of Crooksville, Ohio.

While Grandma spoiled me Grandpa was the one that always taught me the ways of the world... and what it was to be a man (from his point of view, of course). He also was heavily involved with one of the main Protestant churches there in town. I forget what his "title" was, but he was heavily involved in the donation plates as well as sometimes going up to read a bit of the Scripture. One of the things he was most proud of was teaching Sunday School to the middle-school kids. When Mom and I lived in Crooksville for the year my father was stationed in South Korea I would go to his Sunday School classes. Not by choice, mind you... but in the end I found them to be very educational and hardly ever "preachy". I think those Sunday School classes is what sparked my interest in researching all religions and let me make the choices that I have as far as my faith goes.

He also was a consummate fisherman. He and some of his buddies would go up into Canada every year to fish. They would share this small and dingy cabin on the edge of a lake for a couple weeks. He'd always come back and we'd have a fish roast with the fish that he'd bring back. He kept doing this well into his late 60's to early 70's. He was also the first one that taught me how to fish.

I remember one of the few times that I'd ever hear him curse was due to me. We were at the small lake there near Crooksville during a vacation. I was no more then 9 or 10 at the time. He was baiting my hook and I accidentally jerked the pole causing the hook to go into his finger. "Well shit, John!" Needless to say that hearing him actually cursed made me REALLY scared for my life that day. Looking back at it I brought it up later and we would laugh at it some.

With his passing a chapter in the book of the Springs closes for good. Mom is now the defacto head of the Family for various reasons that are too complicated and too damning of some of her family members. This is going to be a tough Holiday season for her... but in some ways now... things are done. I am hoping that she will be able to heal up from this and finally get some relaxation into her life. At least she'll be up in Crooksville for T-day with Dad and the rest of her extended family. Grandma's sisters (Joyce and Mary-Jo... her are more like sister to Mom now) will be there as will their families. So she will be in good hands.

I write this to let y'all know what kind of a man my Grandpa was. And to say that he will be missed... dearly.

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.ungawa

-Spyke

NXE - New Xbox Experience

noreply@blogger.com (Spyke) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:00:00 +0000

So as widely covered pretty much everywhere Microsoft has rolled out the NXE or New Xbox Experience.

I updated my 360 this morning and I must say that so far I'm digging things. Sure I've got the whole "wow this is new and different" going on... But I can see how in another month or so I'll be completely comfortable with the new interface.

If nothing else I'm all for the Avatars. I can't wait to see what they do to expand the clothes... Mostly from the standpoint that who wouldn't want to have a suit of armor from Mass Effect, Halo, or Gears of War to be able to wear on their Avatar?

Speaking of which, it looks like there's a service where you can use your Avatar on the web/in emails by this simple URL:

http://avatar.xboxlive.com/avatar/[gamertag]/avatar-body.png

Just change out where it says [gamertag] to be your GamerTag (use %20 if you have a space in your Tag) and you get your Avatar.

This is what mine looks like:

I'm pretty happy with how I turned out. =)

.ungawa

-Spyke

And soon I can sleep...

noreply@blogger.com (Spyke) — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 15:47:00 +0000

WAR has a release date!

Soon... Yes... soooooon.

.ungawa

-Spyke

Muppets on YouTube

noreply@blogger.com (Spyke) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:45:00 +0000

So it looks like the Jim Henson Company has started to branch out a bit more and started to use YouTube. They've created accounts and pages for:

Sam the Eagle, Beaker, Swedish Chef, Gonzo, and Statler & Waldorf

Each has a single video uploaded so far but with a few extras from Statler & Waldorf. And the two grumpy old men show up at the end of each of the other videos as well. So far they fit very well with the various characters and immediately bring me back to when the original Muppet Show was on the air.

I'm just happy that Animal shows up in a couple and shows off his awesome drumming and singing skills. That made my day. =)

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.ungawa

-Spyke

WALL*E

noreply@blogger.com (Spyke) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 04:32:00 +0000

Saw a late digital showing of WALL*E that I just got back from a little bit ago. I'm literally blown away by how good this movie is. To put it in perspective the last time I checked it had a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes. That's pretty damn good.

Pretty much everything about this movie was impressive... The animation, the sound production, to the character development. For a movie that has most of the characters unable to talk more then R2-D2 with a few words added it is simply incredible how touching and emotionally attached you feel to them all.

There certainly were a few very moving scenes as well... and if you don't feel those then you're a pretty bit jadded then. =)

It reminded me of the classic Looney Tunes cartoons in that both adults and kids can see it and both enjoy it. Heck men and women can see it and both enjoy it. I think they've managed to create a movie that has something for *everyone* on it... Which is damn impressive.

It's a good sci-fi flick as well as a good date flick as well. There's a combo that you normally don't see together.

Plus the homage/cameo of Animal from the Muppet Show (or at least his manerisms, ergo the homage primary) wins some massive bonus points from me. =)

Go see it as soon as you can. Pixar is going to make a mint from this movie... I think it might end up being one of their highest grossing films of all time.

Oh, and the short that's in front of it is side splitting hilarious. Most of the audience had a hard time breathing during that one... And it's a great primer for WALL*E.

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.ungawa

-Spyke

ZOMG... I might actually finish L.O.

noreply@blogger.com (Spyke) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 02:57:00 +0000

So I finally buckled down and finished the "Temple of Enlightenment" section of Lost Odyssey. Horrible, horrible dungeon. What made it worse is that I had to go BACK as I had somehow missed the item from the Shopkeeper in Saman.

But... I'm out! I just turned in the Orichalcum and am ready to finish the remainder of the Backyard Battles.

With any luck I'll get a chance to finish things before August (stupid trips). =)

.ungawa

-Spyke

Gizmodo: Cylon Baseships run XP

noreply@blogger.com (Spyke) — Thu, 29 May 2008 15:52:00 +0000

This is quite hilarious. Some of the comments are also brilliant. =)

http://gizmodo.com/393426/cylons-baseships-run-windows-xp

But this certainly explains *SO* much.

/wink

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.ungawa

-Spyke

Lost Odyssey - Disc 4

noreply@blogger.com (Spyke) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 03:33:00 +0000

*FINALLY* made it to Disc 4. It didn't help that I wasn't able to play it for about a month.

It's one of those things where I knew I was in an area where I'd need about 2+ hours between where I was and where the next Save was going to be.

I am glad I waited, though. I'm still enjoying the story and the characters... Although I must say that once you get Sed it's almost like cheating. There are a couple of abilities of his that once in even one of your Immortal's hands things just start to happen and explode all over the place.

I've actually run out of Accessories for one of my Immortals to learn anything from. Well I take that back, I just got the +5 Skill Slot item... I just need to do a few fights... Heh.

Anywho... No idea when I'll actually get back to the "plot" as I'm in that point of every JRPG where it goes... "Listen... You can continue with the main storyline... OR you can start doing all of these optional side quests that get you major phat loot and booku experience. So what's the choice?"

So I figure with how my schedule is I'll get back to LO around 2010 or so. But at least I get to be OCD and finish all the side quests and whatnot. That's the fun part. =)

.ungawa

-Spyke

Mass Effect DLC

noreply@blogger.com (Spyke) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 19:37:00 +0000

So even with how much I love Mass Effect. I don't think I'll be picking up the new DLC package: Bring Down the Sky

It looks like they did a good job with it, but the fact that I have to use a new character or a character that I have *not* finished the game with... That kinda sucks.

If I had nothing else to play through right now that would be one thing... But that isn't the case.

I guess I can just hope that they'll have this content (and any other DLC content that they add) available for the PC version when that comes out in May. That way if I happen to play through that since I'll *have* to (since no save games) then I'll finally be able to go through the new content.

Looking around I guess I'm not the only one that feels this way. Which is a shame.

Now if they had allowed characters that had finished the game to play through the DLC (which I had thought that's what the point was, but guess I was wrong) then that would be all sorts of rocking. =)

.ungawa

-Spyke

Newest Iron Main trailer

noreply@blogger.com (Spyke) — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 22:57:00 +0000

I was a bit perplexed that it was an exclusive for Myspace.com until I found the "make fullscreen" button. It's the one down in the lower right hand corner of the movie player. If you have pop-ups turned off (who doesn't) you'll want to disable it for this.

Then you can really see how good the HD version looks. =)

Iron Man Exclusive Trailer HD

Add to My Profile | More Videos

It's looking REALLY damn good. This trailer answers a lot of questions that I had (like why did the Iron Monger suit just look like a bigger version of the Mk. 1, etc). I cannot wait for this movie.

.ungawa

-Spyke

Lost Odyssey: Sarah Sisulart

noreply@blogger.com (Spyke) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 22:11:00 +0000

I'm still loving this game. It's exactly what I wanted and needed it to be. I'm about 20'ish hours in now.

I will say... The first time I see a lass doing a great Sarah Sisulart cosplay... I'll probably fall in lurve. =)

And I don't even dig cosplay normally.

.ungawa

-Spyke

Anyone else looking forward to Lost Odyssey?

noreply@blogger.com (Spyke) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 04:15:00 +0000

I never realized how much this game was, to me, a true sequel to Final Fantasy (after FF X). I picked up the strat guide and am just blown away by how close to the FF series this is.

And I love it.

I've been dis-liking the FF series more and more which each game they come out with. FFXI (Online) was interesting but didn't do it for me. FFXII felt like a single player MMO. FFXIII looks like more of the same. Don't get me wrong, the graphics in FFXII were amazing... But if I wanted to play an MMO, I'd play an MMO.

I don't want realtime combat. I don't want things that really aren't Final Fantasy, to me.

Blue Dragon was close... But there were enough things that were "off" to me that it just ended up not working for me. That's why I'm really looking forward to Lost Odyssey. I've got no chance in hell of actually finishing it. That's one of the reasons I have the strat guide... To try and help me through it. If I can find someone that wants to play through it with me (Calling all co-pilots!) that'd certainly help, too.

I mean beyond the turn-based combat they have someone named "Sed". Heh. Everything else I've seen and read about it makes it feel like it's what a Final Fantasy game *should* be. About the only thing I haven't seen so far is their version of a Chocobo.

But if that never shows up, I'm sure I'll be able to live. =)

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.ungawa

-Spyke

I'm not dead yet!

noreply@blogger.com (Spyke) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 19:50:00 +0000

I feel happy!

/cough

I mean that I'm doing okay... No really. Just been a bit swamped with work and all. Who knew that working on the production side of an MMO in development was such work?

/sarcasm

Anywho, I'll get back into the habit of updating things once I can think straight again. Everyone keep gaming as I know I need to get gaming through other people at this point. =P

.ungawa

-Spyke

Better yet...

noreply@blogger.com (Spyke) — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 00:10:00 +0000

Just heard this from the Hobbit and I'm certainly going to use it from now on...

Merry Wookieemas!!!

=)

I think it works out very well indeed.

.ungawa

-Spyke

Merry C'mas to all!

noreply@blogger.com (Spyke) — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 23:12:00 +0000

Whatever your denomination happens to be this Holiday season (nickel, quarter, half-dollar) I wish you and yours a very Merry C'mas and a Happy Holidays!

Unless you're a gamer, then you also got a Merry WOOT!

Or you do Ren Faires... Then you also get a Happy HUZZAH!

=)

.ungawa

-Spyke

Dublin

noreply@blogger.com (Spyke) — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 22:41:00 +0000

Just wanted to drop in a quick line to let everyone know that the trip to Dublin was a blast. The work side of things went REALLY well. I was very happy with how that all went.

On the non-work side of things I think I drank a LOT of Guinness. It's a law there in Dublin. I saw it in paper even.

So I've got a certificate showing that I know how to pour the Perfect Pint.

So it's all good.

.ungawa

-Spyke

Mass Effect = zomg!

noreply@blogger.com (Spyke) — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 13:15:00 +0000

Mass Effect looked like it was one of those games that couldn't necessarily live up to all the hype. Even after going gold and seeing all of the near perfect scores it was receiving I was dubious. Heck I even read one sort of "meh" review about it that sounded more realistic then hype based...

Then I actually played it.

ZOMG!

...As they say. Mass Effect is certainly made of win.

I'm about 12 hours into it now and it is amazingly fun. Once you get past the initial mission and manage to get off of the Citadel for the first time the game really starts to open up. It reminds me of a more modern version of Starflight with about 1/1000th of the planets. Trust me, if you've played Starflight, that's still a bunch to explore. It's certainly a leg up on the very few locations we had in the KOTOR games.

Speaking of which the one partially negative review I read said he was disappointed as M.E. was nothing more then the same game as KOTOR just wrapped up in a pretty new bow. That's like saying that Quake and Half Life are the same game. In a very raw way, they are, but it's the differences that make them stand apart.

Same here.

Oh... and let's talk about that pretty new bow. WOW. They've got some visual tricks going on that are just amazing. A nice motion blur and a movie like "film" ends up somehow making this one of the best 360 games I've seen.

I also think changing the combat from the pseudo-turn-based that the KOTOR series was built on to a more true to form real time combat really helps. It actually makes the combat a bit difficult in places. The AI still could use some help (especially your companions) but the combats are more enjoyable in M.E. then most of the combats in the KOTORs.

And this is coming from the guy that loves all things Star Wars.

So at the end of the day I'm glad I didn't pick up Assassin's Creed and waiting a week for Mass Effect. I'm sure I'll go back and play AC at some point. But not until I've played through Mass Effect at least twice. =)

Anywho, time to finish packing for my work trip to Dublin. Everyone have a great week!

.ungawa

-Spyke

Happy T-Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Spyke) — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 00:27:00 +0000

So while I get ready for the gluttony that will happen tomorrow I just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone that's reading this a Happy T-Day!

Woot!

I'll be going over to Mum and Da's house tomorrow. No... Not my parents... Mum and Da are two wonderful people (with wonderful offspring) that I got to know really well this year during MDRF. They offered for me to come over and I accepted... Little did they know...

MUAHAHAHAHAHAH!

But... While Mum said I didn't need to actually bring anything other then myself... I had to. So I've got six bottles of the blue label Chimay for various people to drink. I've got a nice German after dinner wine for Mum. I have some Chocolate Gilato and some Coconut Sorbato for desert type stuff.

I'll probably bring Apples to Apples along just because that's ALWAYS fun.

For the rest of the weekend it is going to be pretty busy. I've got to hit Hole in the Wall and get my comics; get ready for my trip to Dublin next week (work trip will post about it later); continue to rock out with Rock Band; start Mass Effect.

My work is never done! =)

.ungawa

-Spyke

The cake is a lie!

noreply@blogger.com (Spyke) — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 17:02:00 +0000

The cake is a lie!
The cake is a lie!
The cake is a lie!
The cake is a lie!
The cake is a lie!
The cake is a lie...

.ungawa

-Spyke

Made it back!

noreply@blogger.com (Spyke) — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 22:23:00 +0000

We were delayed slightly, but otherwise the flight back was "normal". So that's good.

But, I had a great time seeing the 'rents. It was very relaxing and enjoyable overall.

.ungawa

-Spyke

My luck with flights continues...

noreply@blogger.com (Spyke) — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 23:10:00 +0000

But this time around it was a new twist on the whole thing.

So not only was the flight down to my parents delayed (due to weather)... We ended up having to divert to a different airport about 15 minutes out due to a malfunction of the plane. It took close to 5 hours for them to get things back up and running and everyone back on the plane.

Altho, there were about 36'ish people on the flight initially... after the delay in the other place there were only 9 that got on for the final leg. The rest changed to connecting flights or just drove the rest of the way.

I'm glad that I'm here seeing my parents... But I'm not looking forward to flying back home on Monday. =)

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.ungawa

-Spyke