12.28.2002

So after alot of cajoling, empty promises and the covenant that if anything happened to his beloved I would make amends with the soul of my first born, I managed to wheedle the PS2 out of my (lovely) older brothers possession and into my clutches for the next week.


It's like having a redheaded stepchild to entertain you but with the whole bound-in-the-closet thing.


He was apprehensive at first, worried about it being trampled on or lost, which I told him was just silly because I'm the most responsible person he knows. After convincing him that the only reason why I never beat games when I do play them (PS/PS2 game playing falls under my 'Blue Moon' catagory) is because certain parties take them away from me before I ever get the chance, he gave up. Now I can play and beat Fatal Frame to my little black hearts content. Want to know something extremely sad? I've had the Playstation to myself for three days now, and haven't even turned it on. That in a nutshell is the whole reason I've never bought one, becides the fact that it plays DVDs, the lure of playing games isn't strong enough for me. Unless people start making more games that don't involve Barbie or sniper rifles, I probably never will get one.


Oh well.


I ran out to The Book Bin today. The Book Bin is a small Northwest chain that mixes a little bit of Borders with some local used book store love, combining all the greatness of new titles with the ohmigod of being able to buy those titles at three-to-whatever bucks off the cover price. They also carry rare and hard to find books, and if they don't have it, they'll get it for you. The Salem store covers two floors of a lovely building right smack downtown and I'd live in their basement if they'd let me.


I did some browsing, and found a couple titles I couldn't find at Borders when I was there yesterday (and some I did, but cheaper at Book Bin), and some I wasn't even looking for. I'm going to pack up a box and take it in to exchange for some store credit, and move some of the library that has burrowed its way into my garage out on it's hiney. It wouldn't be so bad if 80% of the books that have been abandoned on me didn't have the redolence of a backed up sewer pipe in July. I just hope that the Book Bin is less harsh then I am. `Cause I need more books, man.

12.25.2002

Ahh...Christmas. Have I mentioned I hope everyone has a good one? I have? Good then. Eat some pie for me. More about pie later in the post. My plans for today? Not a thing. I'm doing diddly. Diddly = Gosh Golly Darn Good. We love Diddly. I haven't had much slacking time and I'm going to milk it. Nothing else about milk in this post, sorry, but moving along...

I'm going to win back the $6.35 I lost yesterday in penny point Rummy (and some change after, mark my words), going to play some more Fatal Frame (And give you my 'post beating' review, which I know you're waiting with baited breath for. Perfect Christmas game, blood, gore, horror, ghosts! WOO!), going to cook a couple pies (mm..pie. This is the only time of the year I eat pie. Why? I don't know, pie is good. Runner up Snack of the Gods. The first place snack being snacky cakes, of course. Pie. It even sounds pretty. Pie. Piiie. Pieee. Ok, I'm done.) and a ham (I have an alphabet wall decoration at LKP, which has P (of course) and for P it's Pudgy Pig loves to eat Pizza. I wanted to redo it to have it say 'Pudgy Pig loves to eat Pork Pizza' and see if anyone caught it, but the company beat me to it...he's eating Pizza with Pepperoni on it. Think anyone but me'll notice?) watch a couple movies (Scary ones, of course. Maybe a couple Christmas ones...maybe.), and call my sister (Who's at her Dads with my youngest brother and according to the phone call they got this morning, having a crappy time. Her Grandparents took them to their Dads, and they knew they were coming, and didn't get them anything (not that presents matter, but they do when 20 other kids are there and they all have presents) and to make matters worse, their Grandmother unwrapped someone elses socks, and rewrapped them and gave them to my Brother and gave my sister a new toothbrush that was ment for someone else. I think they win the shitty Yule award for this year.) becides that, I have no plans.


I'm just going to enjoy being lazy while I've got the chance, I've got to get right back to work tomorrow. The state is withholding all the money they owe us until Thursday (wasn't that nice of them? So nobody has presents, because we didn't get paid, which dosen't matter but does, especally when you're just a kid.) after we get our check we're going to go do a bit of shopping and have a little Family day next week with all the kids and let them open a few presents then. But in the mean time, if you'll excuse me, I've got to reavenge my card-virtue and wollop some people at Rummy.


Merry Christmas everybody.

12.24.2002

I want to wish you all a very merry Christmas. I hope that you have great ones :)

12.23.2002

I managed to snag a few minutes last night after all the big Brother birthday stuff was done (I did a little party at my house for him) and played a tiny bit of Fatal Frame. (A game about a girl who's brother vanishes in a haunted house in Japan and she goes in looking for him - armed against the ghosts that occupy it with only a camera that captures them) I'm only about two minutes past the intro, but so far I'm enjoying it. Some things, for those of you who are thinking about checking it out:


1: The controls aren't as bad as all the reviews I've read say they are. They, like every other game, take a few minutes to orient yourself to, but once you've got it down, you'll have no problem with it. My only complaint is that in the intro, once you go into camera mode you stay in camera mode, but once out of the intro you don't (You have to hold down the circle button to go into camera mode, and keep it held to stay that way). I'm not sure if I like this or don't, but it does take a few minutes to get the hang of popping in and out of camera mode, and holding buttons down while doing stuff in camera mode. No big deal though.


2. The characters do move a bit slow, (but then again so would I if I was in that situation) and when your characters run it's not much of an improvement over walking. Once you get going, you really don't notice it anymore.


3. The intro (and flashbacks) are grainy and dark and mostly in greyscale and dark colors. The actual game (so far) isn't nearly this bad, and you can actually see outside of the beam of your flashlight. On a survival horror scale, this one is lighter then Silent Hill but a bit darker then Resident Evil. Just so you know. The game also has a kewl feature that lets you move your flashlight without moving your person, it's great for checking out dark corners.


4. All the characters are on valium, so be forwarned - the voice acting is bad. (Like most other games) They all sound like they're floating on a cloud of drugs.


5. The ghosts are super cool. They've made them the way I think ghosts should be: see through people who fade in and out. They talk too, sometimes what is being said is hard to catch, so paying attention is probably a good thing.


6. Examine everything, even if you've examined it before, examine it again. Sometimes things because of the camera angles and lighting is hard to get at or see, don't let it get you down, there are things that you need to know hidden all over the place.


7. The background music/sound effects can make you a bit wary, especally when you're trying to learn the controls while slinking around the house getting your barings hoping no Ghosties pop out to get you. Don't let it get you hyperventilating. I've noticed in most games, plot points circulate around the sudden change of background music or noise. This one is kind of the same, but also has that fun little tweak of changing for absolutely no reason other then changing rooms. One thing I've noticed so far, ghosts don't really pop out with no warning at all, there is a heartbeat sound and/or a rumble from the vibration (if you're doing the whole controler that vibrates thing) when one is there or is going to show up. So you don't have to be worried about getting caught completely unaware. Unlike the sudden chanting that starts out of nowhere, that's just plain creepy. The game also is sweet enough to give you a quick tutorial the first time you encounter a ghost you have to catch so you can get a feel for the controls.


Anyway, that's my assesment so far. I'll post some more when I've got more time to play, which unfortunatly won't be till probably this evening for me. I've got a whole crudload of stuff to do today (including cleaning up dishes from last night, I'm so bad)and tomorrow, and it stinks because I really wanted to slack off and play. Oh well, maybe I'll con Kev into letting me hook it up at my house. Whee.
I live in a town that has a pretty good balance between city conveniences and small town atmosphere. Seperated from Salem by a 4" thick 'Welcome To' sign, anything we don't have can be found by crossing the limits line. Keizer manages to keep itself feeling with the times and family friendly all at the same time. On one hand you have everything you'd really want in one spot and plenty of things going on (and the big city downfalls - too much traffic, pizza and coffee houses litterally on every other block) but it's small enough that everyone in the stores and banks know your name (and the small town downfalls - stupid city council decisions, rumor mills).


I spent alot of time growing up here. My family has been in Keizer for ages, the house my mom lives in (and three more houses on the block) were built by my family. When I was growing up the home I lived at wasn't very stable, (as in, we spent alot of time moving and living in strange places) my mom did a good job of making my childhood as stable as it could be, but we lived in such strange ways that what we lived in was just never concrite. I spent alot of time at my Grandparents house (the house my mom lives in now) and I actually went to most of the 5th grade here. I like this neighborhood, I know almost everyone here, and when I was living here there was a whole pack of kids that I hung around with. I like Keizer, it's not as busy as Portland or Seattle (or even Salem) but it's a good town. Like alot of other towns, it has festivals and activities it does every year. They decorate for Christmas (like they should, of course) and one of the cutest tradition Keizer has during the holidays is Candy Cane Day.


Last Saturday (and every other 21st of December as far back as I can remember) Santa climbed up on a KPD Fire Truck and was escorted around town by some of the locals best. They drive around in front or behind him, because he spends most of his time walking, and helps him give out candy canes to anyone who braves the weather (usally rain, did you know Santa wears a poncho?) to come say Hi. You can tell Santas coming not by the jingle of bells, but by the magnified "Ho Ho Ho's" that come over the loud speaker as he waves at everyone who's watching from their windows. Kids of all ages (and some adults) run out there to give Santa a hug and get a candy cane. It's also neat to watch how good people behave when Santa's going by. Sure, all the adults know it's probably just the Cheif all dressed up, but they still slow down and smile and wait behind the firetruck, because after all, it's Santa and what kind of scrooge gets mad at Santa for holding up traffic while he gives little kids candy and hugs?


The treck around town lasts for about four hours, and you know, It's probably really lame, but it's one of the things that I most look forward to during the Holidays. I like listening to the belting "Merry Christmas"es echo across town, I have for as long as I can remember. I don't remember when they started doing it, I'm sure they had it when I was a kid. And as silly as it is, I really like it. I always have, and it never fails that every year, as soon as the fire truck decides to make it's slow way down my street, I jump to the window with a grin to wave back at Santa.

12.19.2002

The countdown is on, 17 days until LKP offically opens, and I've got a good 30 days worth of work left to do. I managed to get a small chunk of things out of the way today (ABN forms (I need two more, don't let me forget), more wall decorations (I make most of ours, since they're expensive), pricing on other things we need, things like that) I also found a guy downtown who's selling very nice trees for five dollars, so tomorrow I'm going to go down and get one.


Everyone around here is broke, so so far we can't afford to do any sort of Christmas thing. My sibs are probably going to their other Grandparents, my brother and his girlfriend are coming up here and everyones going to my house, but nobody can afford anything for anyone. I've managed to squeeze a bit of money to do a little shopping today, so hopefully it rounds out that everyone will get one or two things and dinner. Here's to hoping right?


My older brothers birthday is the 22nd, and he's coming down Saturday and staying through Christmas I think (I don't think they're going back down to turn around and come back up) and the sweetpea is bringing me Fatal Frame for my birthday! Is that just the best or what? I can't wait to play it. (Incase you're wondering, I got him ############ ####### for his birthday (object censored incase subject stumbles upon this journal in hopes of finding out what he got) ) Now I just have to get other presents and food. We're supposed to get paid, but if the check dosen't come into USDA by Monday, we won't get it until the 3rd of January, which is bad because I'm so broke I'm going to lose my power and water and apartment.


Oh well. I'll think positive. TreetreetreeI'mgettingatreee....
I found the peice of music. It's "At Dawn" from the William Tell Overture. Aren't you glad I found it? I am, now I can get that flash thing done.



Since I've still got Preschool songs on the brain, I leave you with my (long winded!) version of "Boom Boom, Ain't It Great To Be Crazy?" Complete with finger/body movements (for those of you into those sort of things)


What's that? Oh. You're welcome.


Boom Boom, Ain't It Great To Be Crazy?

A Horse a Flea and Three Blind Mice, [Hold one finger up for the horse, one for the flea, and three for the mice]

Sat on a curbstone shooting dice, [Squat like you're sitting, shake your fist like you're shaking dice - parents love that]

The Horse he slipped and fell on the Flea, [Teeter like you're going to fall while flapping your arms, and then lean on the person next to you standing while standing on one foot]

"Whoops" said the Flea "There's a Horse on me!" [Shrug and give the person leaning on you a little push]


Chorus:

Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?

Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?

Giddy and foolish the whole day through.

Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.


Way down south where banana's grow, [Point south, peel an imaginary banana]

A Flea stepped on an Elephants toe, [Lightly step on your neighbors toe]

The Elephant cried with tears in his eye, [Fake cry]

"Why don't you pick on someone your size?"[Shake your finger at the person who stepped on your toe]


Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?

Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?

Giddy and foolish the whole day through.

Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.


Way up North where there's ice and snow, [Point North, and shiver]

There lived a penguin his name was Joe, [Walk like a penguin]

He got so tired of black and white, [Make disgusted faces]

That he wore pink slacks to the dance last night. [Show off your pink slacks]


Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?

Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?

Giddy and foolish the whole day through.

Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.


Eli, Eli he sells socks, [Pull up your pant legs and show people your socks]

A dollar a pair a nickle a box, [Pull out your 'wallet' and count your 'money']

The longer you wear `em the shorter they get, [Stretch really high then shrink really low]

Throw `em in the washer and they don't get wet. [Shake around like you're a washing machine]



Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?

Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?

Giddy and foolish the whole day through.

Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.


Late last night I had a real strange dream, [Close your eyes and act like you're sleeping]

Ate a nine pound marshmellow my Mom gave me, [Pretend to gobble up marshmellows]

When I woke up I knew something was wrong, [Wake up, look really worried]

I looked around and saw my pillow was gone. [Look around, scream]


Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?

Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?

Giddy and foolish the whole day through.

Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.


I bought a suit of combination underwear, [Put your 'underwear' on]

Guaranteed not to rip or tear, [Try to rip or tear your underwear]

I wore them six months and to my consternation, [Hold your nose]

I couldn't get them off I'd lost the combination. [Pull on your clothes]



Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?

Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?

Giddy and foolish the whole day through.

Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.


I take a swim in my swimming pool, [Swim]

I jump from the board 'cause that's the rule, [jump up and down]

I hit my head on cement and mortar, [Rub your head]

Forgot to look - there was no water. [Slap yourself on the forehead]


Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?

Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?

Giddy and foolish the whole day through.

Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.


That one-eared cat who used to sit, [Squat, cover one ear]

Watching Grandma rock and knit, [Rock back and forth, knit]

Swallowed a ball of bright red yarn, [Pretend to swallow yarn]

And out came kittens with red sweaters on. [Pretend to pet kittens]



Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?

Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?

Giddy and foolish the whole day through.

Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.


Way up north and a long way off, [Point North]

The Emu's got the whooping cough, [cough]

He coughed so hard with that loud hard cough, [Cough really hard, fall to the ground]

That he coughed his head and his tail right off. [Cover your head and your tail]


Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?

Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?

Giddy and foolish the whole day through.

Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.


There was an old doctor and his name was Peck, [Pretend to be a doctor]

Fell down the well and broke his neck, [Fall to the ground]

Served him right, he was doing wrong, [Shake your finger, lots of finger shaking in this song]

Should have tended to the sick, and let the well alone. [Groan, that was bad, that dosen't even rhyme, sue the writer]


Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?

Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?

Giddy and foolish the whole day through.

Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.


I call myself on the telephone, [Pretend to talk to someone on the phone]

Just to hear my musical tone, [Talk to yourself]

I ask myself for a heavy date, [Well, ask yourself already]

And I pick myself up at half past eight. [Pretend to drive your car, get out, and get back in]


Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?

Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?

Giddy and foolish the whole day through.

Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.


I love myself. I think I'm grand, [Pat yourself on the back]

When I go to movies, I hold my hand, [Hold your hand]

I put my arm around my waist, [Put your arms around yourself]

And when I get fresh, I slap my face. ['slap' yourself]


Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?

Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?

Giddy and foolish the whole day through.

Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.


Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?

Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy?

Giddy and foolish the whole day through.

Boom, boom ain't it great to be crazy.


Told you it was long. There are variations on all those lyrics I've seen, as well as a few more 'animals ate this' lyrics. That's about as far as you can go before kids (I) get really sick of it.

12.18.2002

I'm working on some flash elements for a website. I've been especally searching today for a peice of music that I know I've heard in countless cartoons, mostly Looney Toons and the majority of the time being used during Sunrises. I've tracked it down to a movement that very well might contain it, I just have to wait till it's done downloading to see. If it is, I'll pop it up here so you can revel in the peice of music that's been bugging me all day long.


In a few minutes I'm going to head off so I can take care of some LKP stuff. I have music to make copies of and things like that. While we're on the subject of music, especally childrens music, I have stumbled upon something that makes me very sad. I've noticed with all the childrens music I've been exposed to lately, that the lyrics of songs that I used to sing as a child (good, wholesome, meaningful songs) have been changed to be 'politicly correct' or 'less abrasive'. For example:


Little Bunny Foo Foo Hoppin' Through The Forest

Scoopin' Up The Feild Mice And Boppin' `Em On The Head

Down Came The Good Fairy And She Said:

Little Bunny Foo Foo I Don't Want To See You

Scoopin' Up The Field Mice And Boppin' `Em On The Head

I'll Give You Three Chances, And If You Don't Behave, I'll Turn You Into a Goon....



'Little Bunny Foo Foo' is an awesome, silly, wiggle kids song that has a good message. The Bunny (for those of you who aren't familiar with kids songs) dosen't behave and in the end gets turned into a Goon. There are all sorts of morals that can be taken from the song, becides 'Hare Today, Goon Tomorrow', especally the importance of being nice to others. Of course, the fact that Foo is bopping upsets tender parents so much, that they changed it to:


Little Bunny Foo Foo Hoppin' Through The Forest

Scoopin' Up The Feild Mice And Kissin' `Em On The Head

Down Came The Good Fairy And She Said:

Little Bunny Foo Foo I Don't Want To See You

Scoopin' Up The Field Mice And Kissin' `Em On The Head

I'll Give You Three Chances, And If You Don't Behave, I'll Turn You Into a Goon....



Kissing? Oh my god, Clarence, that rabbit is kissing strange feild mice!!! Hurry! Do something! It's a subtle change, but it totally throws off the whole meaning of the song, nobody gets in trouble for kissing people (unless you live in the grown up world and it's your boss) but on a kids level, it dosen't really happen. Think I'm being silly? There's more, lyrics have been changed for 'I Know An Old Woman'. Changing from, perhaps she'll die and dying to everything from she went to the doctor and got fixed to she got a tummy ache. Lyrics for 'Bringing Home A Baby Bumble Bee', totally wiping out the second (I'm squishing) and third (I'm wiping up) verses and just sticking to the first one repeated over and over. Lyrics from 'Found A Peanut', removing some of the middle verses (Went To Heaven, Didn't Want Me, Went The Other Way, Didn't Want Me) and changing the ending in a few versions. I've noticed a few other changes in other songs (The Cat Came Back, Nobody Likes Me, Ants Go Marching, ect) and I just think it's goofy. First, it removes any morals that the songs have by removing things that might not be P.C., but it also takes away from their original neatness and fun sing-along-ness. Plus, it messes up the songs people my age (and older) remember from their childhoods, which is just mean.


I've noticed that cartoons and other things have changed too, we opt for more sex and more violence, and that's all ok but God forbid someone puts a graphic that would have been perfectly fine on a game board years ago (IE: a child getting spanked or a child smoking, which can be found on one of the first 'Chutes and Ladders' gameboard.) on a game these days, yet you can find people blowing away other people and walking in their blood. I just find it interesting that we swap one set of weird standards for a whole new set of weird standards.


Anyway, I'm not going to use watered down nice-nice silly songs for the kids, I'm going to teach them the good old fasioned silly songs where people attempt to blow up cats, women eat horses and die, and little bunnies named Foo get turned into Goons for bopping the silly field mice.


12.17.2002

Some questions about the layout I've been asked, so I'm oh so nicely answering them here so I don't have to answer them anymore. Ok, so maybe it's more out of lazyness then niceness, but you can't blame me for taking the easy road.


Q. What?

A. What what?



Q. What's 'Mele Kalikimaka & Hou'oli Makahiki Hou?'

A. 'Merry Christmas & Happy New Year' in Hawaiian. Haven't you ever heard that song? "Mele Kalikimaka is the thing to say, on a briiight Hawaiian Christmas Day"...urm...No? Oh.


Q. Is that snowman giving me the finger?

A. ::sigh::


Q. He's surfing?

A. Yeah, and if I had the time, I'd be really annoying and put all my links in pidgin. (Note: I've decided to, no slaping me now.)


Q. Pidgin?

A. Pidgin is a Hawaiian type slang language. (I'm not Hawaiian, and I've never been there. I have an aunt and uncle who live there and my Uncle is Hawaiian, although that might not get me out of a beating from someone who really speaks it.) I figure, I've got a theme, let's run with it. It's nifty.
Chee! You spahk, yeah?


Q. You speak Pidgin?

A. Oh no way! I know a few words and phrases and can put basic sentances together and can understand it ok, but I can't speak it fluently or anything. If I could, I'd probably get laughed at. I just think it's a neat language. I'll add the new menu and content to the pages when I get time.

12.16.2002

Ok, so far I'm liking how this is. I decided to throw together a layout for Christmas when I was inspired by some christmas cards I saw (and then was conned into designing some). So if I claimed this idea as mine completely from out of the blue, it would be a lie, and lying gets you nowhere but a front row seat in hell. I actually did four different versions of this layout, this was the idea in its simple form. I decided on this one because I was too lazy to make the other ones work. The text isn't exactly how I want it, and the pages the links point to don't have anything on them yet, but I'm not going to nitpick too bad.


I can't promise alot of posts, I closed IBOM before because I honestly don't have a whole lot of time or even the want to post here. If I do post, it will be at my convinence, ok? And probably sporratic at best. So no comments or emails yelling at me to post, otherwise I'll just close it again. Please don't take offense, I appriciate that everyone likes reading my posts (the reason baffles me) I just feel like I'm spending too much time being pressured into thinking up something to write and slapping it up, and not enough time writing for me when it's inspired - which is the point of this in the first place. You're just going to have to think of it like Christmas (or a bad rash) it's only going to happen every once in a while and gives you something to look forward to.
This is just a test to see if this Christmas layout I threw together works.