gewgaw

Best quote from work mail today:

“A survey of creative professionals found that on average they had about twice the number of sexual liaisons as non-artists, scientists said.”

The scientists then cried…all alone…late at night…in their labs…

It’s official – I am swamped.

We hit alpha this week and so work has been crazy. I spent most of today staring at a computer screen, with breaks for impromptu design meetings and meals at my desk. Fun work, but work none the less – and the last thing I wanted to do when I got home (at 9:30) was do more of the same.

Yet… here I am. First it was paying bills and setting up various accounts (so much to get on top of when you are new at a big company). Then it was catching up on non-work email… then, this entry. I figure – why not post, since I’m too tired to much else.

As my grandmother would say (quoting Chuck Berry), I’m Too Pooped to Pop!

Casey is an old man who wants to be a teen
He goes to all the dances and they call him cha-cha king
He cha-chas when the band is playin rock and roll
He tries to keep in time but the beat leaves him cold.

(Chorus):
Because he’s too pooped to pop, too old a soul
Hips gettin weaker when he tries to do the stroll
And every time his feet get to goin one way
Here comes a new dance and it’s goin to stay.

Chicks told Casey, you better move man,
This is only a one night stand. Casey wasn’t in time but he was dancin awhile
Till a cramp caught his leg and he had to change his style.

(2x Chorus)

Casey finally learned to do the hoochie koo
This might have been fine back in ‘22
Now, I’m gonna give you fellas just a little tip
If you wanna keep your girl you’d better get hip

Or, you’ll be too pooped to pop, too old a soul
You hips are gettin weaker when you try to do the stroll
And every time your feet get to goin one way
Here comes a new dance you’ll be left to stray.

I suppose it’s always been true – that as soon as you get used to doing something… get good and comfortable at it – life throws new dance steps your way. Now that I’ve got a place, am somewhat unpacked, and managed my first holiday in the bay area (photos coming soon – I promise)… work is getting busy.

Forecast for this month is more of the same – so I’ll be working on scheduling, prioritizing and … reprioritizing, if I know myself at all. Before the break (I’ll be in the bay for xmas) there is a ton to get tuned and tested. In my spare moments I’ll be shooting for regular exercise, a better diet (Damn that plush cafeteria! Damn those free dinners!) and weekend walks in Glen Park – which is literally steps from my apartment. I cannot believe I hadn’t been there before this weekend.

Wasn’t there something else? Oh, right.

*snore*

Check out this full writeup on the new Me and My Katamari… courtesy of pspupdate!

Woot!

As a regular commuter now, I totally sympathize!

From The Best Of Craigslist.

Last night they had a sneak-preview screening of the new Harry Potter flick for us at work. Yaaay, fringe benifits!

I have been thinking about it a lot today… partially because the narrative was so compressed. They squeezed so much together that I found it difficult to follow at times – even tho I read the books. I was also disappointed by the brisk treatment of Hagrid’s love affair with the visiting giantess, the tri-wizard tournament competators, and Ron’s evolving appreciation of Hermoine. I would have sat longer, to see more of these characters!

Overall, this film is pretty tense and grim, compared to its predecessors. The book begins with a nightmare and ends just after a funeral – so I suppose that’s to be expected. But still – it’s a darker tone, throughout, with lots of scary faces, screams and the like.

Best line from the viewing experience:

Child (in that ‘Let’s vocalize during creepy bits’ whisper): “He… he sacrificed himself for Harry Potter!”

Adult (in the ‘Jesus H. why bring children to films’ snarl): “SHUT UP!”

My $0.02: if you were planning to younger kids (6/7/8 being the boundary that’s hard to really call) – skip the theater release, and watch a rented DVD at home. There is a lot of action and plot to process – and being able to pause and discuss the really spooky bits would be good with little ‘uns.

Exhibit A and Exhibit B.

The Euro and US dates for PSP handheld KD have been announced! From what I saw at TGS it’s incredibly responsive and fun to play! And it has multiplayer!!!

So – the Sims 2 Holiday pack is now available for download – you can get it here! See the dancing snowman! Place wreaths! Be merry!

My favorite is “Saving Private Hasslehoff”. Hilarious.

Still haven’t had enough? Try the recursion.

As John said to me the other day: this dude deserves a trophy or something. What an awesome resource!

Team HP has posted photos from the opening last night. I love hanging out with them cause it means I can leave my camera at home!!!

Props to Kozy/Dan for the successful opening – the shit just gets better (and more unreal) with each show!

Need a tester this spring? Looking for a bright intern?

Aspiring game designer Peter Buchardt will come to your company and work for free – from Feburary till… whenever, as part of his government-sponsored internship program. That is one hefty offer!

Contact details on his site.

Kim has posted his notesfrom a variety of Montreal Game Summit talks – including Clint’s next-gen design talk (which everyone I spoke to just *raved* about) and the Game Design Challenge. Good Stuff!

No elves, no spaceships… no babes? How refreshing!

I get a lot of mail from program directors asking about candidates for these types of jobs – but the emphasis on advanced degrees is usually a limiting factor. This job posting is one of the first I’ve seen that explicitly values experience over education.

Considering a teaching career? Ready for a sabattical? Why not take a closer look? Deadline: January 15!

KD was featured on Wikipedia’s front page today – right between German S-mines and the Peterborough Chronicle.

:)

Thanks, Sean!

A Sims flick won bitfilm’s machinima competition…

… and users begin posting to the Movies fanpages!

Looks like Second Life has some competition…

Keita takes the games industry to task once again. Tho from what I hear, he’s not planning to quit *just yet*…

So one thing I forgot to mention in the last post was how Brian Sharp stole most of my Friday and part of my Saturday with the awesome, amazing thing known as Guitar Hero. It is like – so awesome. In fact – I think that will be my Metacritic comment for this game.

“9.5 – SO AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Maybe I can get some leet speak in there too?

Seriously – if it weren’t for the fact that my hands are acting up (long story), I would be camping out at Brian’s house and playing it all day – foregoing work and sustenance. It has a nice difficulty curve, and you really feel like you are rawking out even when you play on easy. And OMFG on hard, it is so insane. But in the good way!

Unlike previous Harmonix games (which intrigued me but eventually left me in the dust, difficulty-wise)… this one is really accessible. I’ve seen person after person pick it up and even super non-gamers were able to crank through without failing on first attempts. That’s such an accomplishment for something so unusual w/r/t its interface and interaction paradigms.

So….. I know it’s expensive and probably won’t sell zillions of units because of that so IF YOU KNOW ANYONE WITH KIDS TELL THEM TO BUY IT FOR CHRISTMAS!!!! And then go buy a copy for yourself. The one with the dueling guitar controllers!

Turns out Red Octane is having a little party for the game here in Redwood City tonight… and Mr. Sharp was kind enough to secure us a spot on the guest list (thanks Greg!) and I am really looking forward to seeing a bunch of random people rocking out to the likes of Honest Bob, Freezepop and… Jimmy Hendrix!

Wow – when was the last time those three names came up in the same sentence?

Another awesome Pat link on skill ranking from MS/XBox Live.