Month: September 2007

Funny enough, I was slightly expecting the Seventh Doctor…

D'Arque Bishop

Stolen from Ginny…

Your Score: The Tenth Doctor

You scored 30% intelligence, 48% compassion, 41% sense of humor, and 8% weirdness!

You’re a charming, friendly, easy-going sort — the type who looks just as comfortable in a suit and tie as in a bathrobe. Nothing fazes you…until someone starts picking on somebody you love. Then you get all intense and pull a face not unlike an angry bullpup. Yeah, it’s hard to take you seriously sometimes, but you’re nobody’s fool. Your turn-ons include pinstripes, Douglas Adams, incoherent mumbling, Elvis, Scots accents, and Kylie Minogue, apparently. Your turn-offs include Christmas angst, long-distance relationships, jealousy, and other people’s stubborn parents.

Link: The Which Doctor Who Are You? Test written by TottersLane on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Taking a break from MK for a while…

D'Arque Bishop3 Comments

Those who have known me at Mortal Kombat Online (and even back when it was called MK5.ORG) know that with the work I do on the site, I need to do a complete disconnect every once in a while or I suffer from burnout. Usually said vacation occurs a month or two after the last major game’s release. Unfortunately, my last real vacation from the site was shortly after the release of Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks. I kept meaning to take a vacation from the site after the release of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, but with Scott Howell resigning as webmaster and various other things, said vacation never happened, and now I’m closer to burnout than ever before.

So, after talking to CCShadow last night, I’ve decided to take a month away from the site and channel. As soon as I’ve finished this post, I’ll leave #mortalkombat (leaving MKBot there just in case), close the channel stats page, and be a hermit, so to speak. I’ll still be available to everyone for non-MK-related issues (if you know where to find me… heh), but otherwise I’m doing as much of a disconnect as possible so I can return refreshed and ready for the build up to Mortal Kombat 8.

So, for the most part… to those of you in the MK community, I’ll see you all in a month or so. :-)

This building came down in a hurry…

D'Arque Bishop

Some people might remember the building on the East Loop that was gutted by fire back in March. Said fire was set by a vocational nurse hoping to cover the fact that she didn’t do some needed paperwork. As a result, three people died, several businesses were destroyed, and she’s in jail on felony murder and arson charges.

Well, the building was demolished today. What was most interesting about it, in my opinion, was the fact that they actually got video of the demolition. In the end, all one backhoe had to do was grab one specific beam and the entire building came down like a house of cards.

Take a look… it’s rather interesting viewing. :-)

Having fun with games and music…

D'Arque Bishop1 Comment

It’s kind of amusing in a way. I have an Xbox 360, but I can’t remember the last time I bought an actual disc game for it. In fact, the only three native games I have for it on disc are Gears of War, Rainbow Six: Vegas, and Sneak King. I have far more games off of the Xbox Live Arcade service. Granted, once Stranglehold, Halo 3, and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars come out, I’ll be grabbing those so I’ll have a few more games available on disc. The funny thing is, though, that the game I’ve been playing most often on my 360 has been Texas Hold Em. With me going to Vegas in November and planning on hitting the poker room, I need all the practice I can get. I’ve not been doing too badly, either; for the most part I’ve been playing single player tournaments and I get no lower than third place for the most part. :-)

Last week, though, one of my favorite classic arcade games came out for Xbox Live Arcade: Cyberball 2072. When I was playing Midway Arcade Treasures 2 regularly on my GameCube, I’d play Cyberball 2072 almost as much as I did Mortal Kombat II and Mortal Kombat 3. I’m enjoying the game on my 360, and have gotten a lot better at it than I was when it was in first in arcades. However, I have one serious complaint about the XBLA port: the only multiplayer is cooperative. I would REALLY like the opportunity to play against other people in the game, instead of only ever having the choice to play against AI opponents. Oh, well…

On another subject still relating to gaming, the folks over at OverClocked Remix have released yet another site project album, this time based on Final Fantasy VII. The release, called Final Fantasy VII: Voices of the Lifestream is massive, taking up four complete discs. I’ve since downloaded it, burned the WAV file versions to audio discs (which are now in my library), imported the MP3 versions into my iTunes library, and have given it a listen. It’s pretty damn good, and definitely worth having in my library. I just need to burn a MP3 CD of the album now to put into my car… heh. If you want to download it and give it a listen (it’s free, after all), just head on over to http://ff7.ocremix.org/.

Anyway, time for me to get a bit more poker time in on the 360, especially while Misty’s watching Lady in the Water. At some point I’m going to have to get a game going with Dad and maybe Mom, especially after they’ve started playing Texas Hold Em using PokerTH. (Though, I had to send Dad a link to the rules from the World Series of Poker website yesterday.) Ah, well… we’ll see how that goes. :-)

The reputation some fast food joints have is well deserved.

D'Arque Bishop2 Comments

The following was emailed to me by my friends Brian and Becky. I am horrified and disgusted by what it said, and it’s more or less proof that fast food workers WILL do what they can to fuck you over. Brian and Becky were kind enough to give me permission to repost this, so read on…

Hey everyone,

Becky had a nasty little experience at the McDonalds on 4803 W 1960 this afternoon, and we felt that all of you who live in the area or may pass by should know about it.

Becky went through the drive-through lane, ordered, and when she moved forward to pay at the first window they realized that her order was incorrect, and the cashier told her to pull forward to the next window to pay. She pulled forward, gave her card to the girl, and her drinks were given to her…the drinks were incorrect and Becky realized that her order was completely messed up – no problem…right? She and the cashier/drink girl discussed it and still she couldn’t fix it, and proceeded to charge her for an extra drink (which Becky never got in the end). After Becky figured it was resolved she noticed that the girl still had her credit card. Becky asked for her card back and the girl DENIED EVEN HAVING IT. Becky and the girl argued about it for a minute until Becky actually pulled up a bit, got herself and the girls out of the car and went into the establishment. She asked to see the manager and demanded her card back, which was finally done without apology. Next Becky began to tell the manager about the problems…and when she looked over at the girl who had given her problems she saw the girl SPIT INTO A DRINK – A DRINK THAT WAS GOING TO BECKY!

Becky told the manager what she saw and all of a sudden the manager was “no compredo…no English…”

She tried to argue…tried to get her money back…tried to give the food back but everyone in the store started acting like they didn’t speak English and the ones that were OBVIOUSLY English speakers refused to speak to her.

Needless to say, she threw the food out immediately and never received a penny back.

Normally little problems happen at this McDonalds…every time we go there we’ll have a problem with the toys or the size of a drink or a simple mess up and we don’t really fuss much, but this time it’s gone WAY too far.

I know that some might think it silly, but I really encourage each and every one of you to avoid this restaurant and let others know about it so they can help. We’ve already contacted (via email) the corporate office with the complaint.

We just thought everyone should know – seems that the consequence for requiring adequate service at this McDonalds is spit in your food…but you decide…

My personal advice for people if you encounter this situation? Don’t just threaten to contact McDonald’s corporate. Contact the police… because not only were they trying to steal Becky’s credit card, tampering with food as was described is actually a felony. Still, this helps vindicate why I don’t go to many fast food places anymore…

How to make your girlfriend’s outlook a lot bleaker…

D'Arque Bishop

All right, so, I made a pretty big gaffe on the way home.

As usual, I was talking to Misty on the phone when driving home, and she was telling me about a conversation she had had with an old friend of hers. At one point, Misty sighed and said something along the lines of, “The whole point of marriage is spending time with the one you chose to be with.”

In what I thought was a lighthearted manner, I replied, “Oh? I thought it was because of the tax breaks.”

The resulting silence was more dead than Kevin Federline’s career.

Next time, I’ll just remember to keep my trap shut. Though, I should say that Misty did state later that her silence was actually her rolling her eyes at me. Still… heh. That wasn’t one of my best moments.

Timberlake and Samberg earn an Emmy nomination for their SNL song…

D'Arque Bishop

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/330795_emmy08.html

LOS ANGELES — There are dozens of surprises among the more than 400 Emmy nominees, but none quite like the one we can’t name in this story.

It’s in the Original Music and Lyrics category, a holiday-themed music video that aired last December on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” with an off-color title. Performed by Justin Timberlake and “SNL” cast member Andy Samberg, the fake music video describes packaging a certain part of the male anatomy in a gift box and presenting it to a loved one.

We’ll just call it “(Blank) in a Box.”

Given the subject matter, little wonder some of those involved were caught off guard by the TV academy’s acknowledgment.

“I was not aware until this year that there was (such) a category at the Emmys, and I’m not sure whether it’s in the big Emmys or the little Emmys,” observed longtime “SNL” producer Lorne Michaels, “but we were thrilled.”

Actually, the Original Music and Lyrics category is in the “little Emmys,” aka Creative Arts Emmys, to be presented Saturday night and airing Sept. 15 on E!, the night before the Primetime Emmy Awards on Fox.

“I was just super excited that somebody important at some point will have to say (the title) at an otherwise classy broadcast,” said skit co-writer Akiva Schaffer.

“(Blank) in a Box” is up against two songs from “Scrubs,” one from “MADtv” and one from “Family Guy.” If “Box” wins, six co-writers will go home with Emmy gold: Timberlake, Samberg, Schaffer, plus “SNL” mates Katreese Barnes and brothers Jorma and Asa Taccone.

I’ve actually linked to the video in a previous entry, and I have to say it’s a pretty catchy song, if a bit silly. I’m hoping it wins. :-)

EDIT – September 16 10:28 PM – Guess what? It won.

With apologies to A Few Good Men…

D'Arque Bishop

I saw this on Slashdot a few minutes ago, and just had to share it. The funny thing is, I can fully agree with this version of Jessup’s famous speech…

http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=291431&cid=20517087

YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH!!!

Son, we live in a world that has firewalls, and those firewalls have to be maintained by men with root access. Whose gonna do it? You? You, with your blogging buddies? I have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom. You whine about port blocking and you curse the administrators. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: That blocking ports, while frustrating, probably saves bandwidth… And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves packets. You don’t want the truth because deep down in places you don’t talk about at LAN parties, you want me on that firewall, you need me on that firewall. We use words like source address, port 80, destination… We use these words as the backbone of an access control list. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain why I block access to YouTube to a man who points and clicks on the very network that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a whitepaper, and create your own web 2.0 app. Either way, I don’t give a damn what you think you are entitled to.

This almost sounds more like something the Adeptus Mechanicus would do…

D'Arque Bishop

http://news.aol.com/story/_a/appease-sky-god-airline-sacrifices-goats…

KATHMANDU (Sept. 4) – Officials at Nepal’s state-run airline have sacrificed two goats to appease Akash Bhairab, the Hindu sky god, following technical problems with one of its Boeing 757 aircraft, the carrier said Tuesday.

Nepal Airlines, which has two Boeing aircraft, has had to suspend some services in recent weeks due to the problem.

The goats were sacrificed in front of the troublesome aircraft Sunday at Nepal’s only international airport in Kathmandu in accordance with Hindu traditions, an official said.

“The snag in the plane has now been fixed and the aircraft has resumed its flights,” said Raju K.C., a senior airline official, without explaining what the problem had been.

I have to admit, when I read about stuff like this, I think more along the lines of the Adeptus Mechanicus from Warhammer 40,000 than anything else. I mean, I’ve made jokes about making blood sacrifices to appease the computer gods when cutting my finger on PC cases during computer assembly, but this is just a tad ridiculous… :-)