Monday, March 31st, 2003 - I have a film recommendation for all Game Developers and IT Professionals if you want a good laugh. It's called How To Make A Monster (a remake of a 1958 film) and it is fantastically (though unintentionally) funny! I was laughing to hard I almost wet myself.

The film focuses on a game development company that consists of three programmers, a biz guy and an intern and apparently these four people are so massively talented that they're going to single- handedly create a Triple A title, bring it to market and make millions with it. This crack team consists of Tyler Mane (who "designed the weapons"), Jason Marsden (who "did the sound effects and music), Karim Prince (who develops the mythical "AI chip" and apparently works as an animator as well since he motion captures Julie Strain jumping up and down, etc.), Clea Duvall (their intern/gopher/office manager) and Steven Culp (their greasy, yet more socially adept than the other three guys, biz guy).

Some of the highlights include a mainframe (does anyone really use that word anymore?) computer closet that could house the WOPR computer from WarGames (and this was made in 2001) which basically consists of a handful of Cat 5 cables, a bunch of video cards jammed sideways into some sort of rack mount unit and a few stripped down motherboards for that "high tech" look. What's even funnier is how difficult it is to turn the thing off. Apparently it involves crawling under it with a flashlight looking for the magical "off switch."

In addition, apparently all of their game assets and entire company network system backup will fit on a single 750 MB CD. That's comical in and of itself, but not quite as comical as Karim Prince staying after hours to do a "full system restore" from the magic CD that chugs along on a "restore progress screen" at 1 or 2% a minute. What is that, a single speed CD-ROM drive?

It's one of those movies that I would describe as "so bad, it's good." If you know anything about games, game development and/or Information Technology, you NEED to see this film. You will simply die... It's a horror film, in case you were wondering, in which the main "boss" monster from the game comes to life and starts killing...and killing...and killing.

You'll love it...

Wednesday, March 26th, 2003 - I would like to take this opportunity to warn people to stay away from the movie Dreamcatcher. Mere words alone can't describe how disappointed I was in this film (read: I thought it was terrible).

The nine minute long Animatrix feature that was on before the movie was probably worth the price of admission, but I seriously wouldn't pay full price to see this movie. If you must go see it because you are a Stephen King fan or just a horror fan, do yourself a favor and see it as a matinee.

Something was definitely lost in the translation between book and screen, as is often the case with King's work. It's just unfortunate that I was so much looking forward to this film. *sigh*

Monday, March 24th, 2003 - After last night's Oscar escapades, Michael Moore has vaulted to the coveted number 1 spot on my shit list. Congratulations, Michael, on achieving what few people have... How about you stick to "movie" making and leave politics out of it, eh? Jerkoff...

A pretty uneventful weekend this weekend... It was nice and relaxing and the weather was beautiful. What a shame Monday has come so soon. Well, back to work...

Thursday, March 20th, 2003 - No updates for three days is a pretty good indication of how busy I've been lately. Jeez... No sign of it letting up, either.

I found this great website along with a fine, worthwhile petition that everyone should sign. It's called OriginalTrilogy.com and it's dedicated to encouraging Mr. George Lucas to make the original Star Wars trilogy available on DVD. And when I say "original," I mean not the bastardized bulls**t of Greedo firing first and Luke screaming like a little girl while falling down the Bespin air shaft.

I'm resisting the urge to discuss the War and, more specifically, the anti-war protests going on across the country right now. I wish our troops the best and I encourage all of you picketing f***s to put down your signs and visit OperationSoldierSupport.org to send our troops the letters, encouragement and supplies they need until they are able to return home safely.

As Forrest Gump says... "That's all I have to say about that."

Monday, March 17th, 2003 - Happy St. Patrick's Day! And Happy Birthday to my good friend Stu who turns (*gasp*) thirty-three today!

Another great episode of Dragnet last night... My favorite bit was when Joe Friday says "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Benjamin Franklin said that. He would have made a lousy cop." Great dialogue, there...

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by...

Friday, March 14th, 2003 - I'm getting too old to party like a rockstar on a "school night." My friend Kim and I got liquored up last night while watching movies and I am draaaggging today. Ugh... I miss my younger years when I could drink three times as much, not have to sleep at all and be totally fine the next day. It's hell to get old...

Speaking of movies... If you're a horror fan in general or someone who likes Werewolves, more specifically, then check out Dog Soldiers. I absolutely loved this film. I think you might like it, too.

Have a great weekend, people!

Thursday, March 13th, 2003 - I've added my Gaming University Columns to the Writing Page, so isn't that special? Heh...

On another note, I watched Below (2002) the other night after buying it on DVD at Best Buy pretty much on a whim. I would highly recommend it, actually. Here's a link to the review I posted of it on the IMDB.

Tuesday, March 11th, 2003 - In what promises to be the first of many NFL rants this year, I really don't understand what the Green Bay Packers are doing... They've apparently given up on Vonnie Holliday (our best run-stopper), they just released Nate Wayne (their leading tackler for the past three years) and Terry Glenn (their most experienced receiver), they're about to lose Matt Bowen to the Redskins and Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila could find his way into an Eagles uniform next year.

They're also not going to sign Tyrone Williams, a solid starting cornerback (the second most difficult NFL roster spot to fill next to starting QB) or Tod McBride, our nickel corner, so they can take a chance on Bryant Westbrook (risky at best, reckless at worst).

Good Lord... The Pack's defense was a huge headache last year. They played "average" at best. The only reason they did well was because of their "ball hawking" style that gave them a ton of turnovers. They couldn't get any pressure on the QB and couldn't stop the run at all.

Mortgaging the whole defense to sign a second string fullback and a second string safety and HOPE to retain the rights to an undersized, though potentially explosive D-Lineman (KGB) seems questionable at best. We have two starting linebackers and a defensive tackle to find as well as depth in the secondary, a potential QB of the future to develop and some insurance on the offensive line in case Chad Clifton and/or Mark Tauscher can't make it back from injury.

I don't have a problem with cutting starters if you're upgrading the position or if you at least have a PLAN to replace them. I get the feeling the Packers are slashing and burning with no regard for who's going to start this year. At this rate, they'll be lucky if they can find any warm bodies they can afford to fill the starting roles.

Call me crazy, but I have a really bad feeling about this year... Prove me wrong, please!

Monday, March 10th, 2003 - I trust everyone had a nice weekend? Mine was okay... Still dueling to the death with a sinus infection. Oh boy. Guess I will be headed to the doctor this week. That's always fun.

Even more fun... Raven is hiring seven new people between now and April 7th. Guess who gets to set them all up? Wheee....

Friday, March 7th, 2003 - Happy Birthday to my brother, P.J., who turns 28 this weekend. Sadly, I'll still hit 30 before you...

Have a great weekend, everyone! I'm planning on drinking heavily...

Thursday, March 6th, 2003 - The digging of the trench has begun outside of Raven and the whole building is shaking. We're putting down cables between our current office and the building next door so we can move a full team over to new space. We're packed in like sardines right now, so this is a welcome site. Well...for everyone but me, that is. This move is going to be a nightmare for yours truly.

My cold is getting better, but I'm still zoning out every few minutes. I'm pretty sure I shouldn't be operating any heavy machinery right now.

GameSpy has posted its latest Gaming University Column featuring my answers to some game related questions. Check it out here (and ignore that horrible picture of me playing SOF2)!

I've added an Archives Section to the bottom of the news page where all of February's News now resides.

Wednesday, March 5th, 2003 - Well I feel like the North end of a South bound mule today. Man am I sick... I took a half day off yesterday. That brings my total sick days for the last 16 years to 1.5 days. Not too shabby, eh?

I'm a sicko who prides himself in never missing work. The other day I missed was actually because of a hangover. I woke up on my bathroom floor and was laying on the heat register, which was burning my face. I think that's the only reason I woke up. I was a young and foolish lad of 24 at that time. I hadn't learned yet that copious amounts of hard liquor = Badness.

Well, back to work... *cough cough* I think I'll live.

Monday, March 3rd, 2003 - Another month has come and gone... Wow. Where does the time go? Happy Birthday to my sister Carmen! Her birthday was March 1st. My brother's birthday is coming up on the 8th.

Lucky me...I'm battling a cold right now. It's a truism for me that when everyone around me gets sick, I get it last...and I get sicker than anyone who had it before me. I guess the virus has to mutate into killer form before it breaks down my immune system. Bitchin', eh?

Archives:

 February 2003

 March  2003

 April  2003

 May 2003