Cellphone pic Thursday.

Fall.

Weekend review 5/24, 25 and 26/14 and the Midweek update.

 Well from the title I got a three day weekend and fell behind on posts. This is actually pretty rare for me to get three day weekend. Let's see, Friday night I watched Pompeii 2014. It had Emily Browning from Ghost Ship and Sucker Punch. Carrie Anne Moss, Trinity! Kit Harington and Kiefer Sutherland amongst others. I actually have always been fascinated by Pompeii. The story of the volcano erupting and instantly turning the people into cement like statues. I would actually go there and see it if I ever traveled. The movie was kinda slow but the main star of the show is the ending, the volcano, so how are you really supposed to make a long movie with the inevitability of death. If that makes sense. It had good acting and graphics. I would buy it.

 Saturday:

I had to mow the lawn and all that. Saturday night, we rented The Nut Job and About Last Night. The Nut Job was horrible. I didn't like it. We actually fast forwarded to the end. About Last Night was funny in parts and extremely slow in others. Movie night was pretty disappointing. 

 Sunday:

We went to the Value Village sale they had going on. I had told Melissa that I was going to find a console so I can take it apart. Low and behold I found a PlayStation 1 for five bucks. I couldn't pass it up. This is my first step in my Raspberry Pi endeavour. Sunday afternoon I did a seven hour car stereo install for our friends son. I used to do installs all the time, but I was a little rusty. The son had never worked on a car stereo before so it was very slow going. The car was a 94 Acura Integra 2 door hatchback. So the whole back seat had to come out to get to the interior side panels that had to come out. 

 On an Integra, there is a grommet just underneath the battery. I pulled the grommet off and started fishing the power cable through it. It wouldn't budge. I did some quick research and found out the heater core is right next to the grommet, so you have to push the cable down, not straight in. We finally got the cable through. Long, long story short we got everything all setup. It sounded pretty damn nice too. The only thing he didn't have was the farad capacitor. This was an integral part. Without the farad cap, the battery could die all the time. So I had to rig the stereo so we could hear it, but I disconnected all the jumper wires I had so he couldn't use the stereo without the cap. I know, I know, it's cruel, but he's a teenager and would blown his shit without the cap. Live and learn I guess. 

 Sunday night:

We rented the movie Her with Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson as the the voice of Samantha. It was kinda weird and slow in parts, but I thought it was an altogether really good movie. And I know the end would actually probably happen if this ended up being a reality. (It will make sense if you watch the movie.) 

 Monday:

We did our normal Sunday chores and just relaxed. We had an amazing dinner. Well that was my three day weekend. No for the Midweek update.

 Writing:

Is basically a no go for awhile. My brain is not focused on writing at all. I'm drawing a blank on all of my stories, even the ones I have an outline for. So maybe later, in a few months I can retry. So I will leave out writing in future midweek updates unless I actually have something to write about. 

 Music:
Again I have no new music. Summer is really starting to kick off, so I'm hoping new summer music will too.

 Video games:
I found a rom for The Legend Of Zelda: Links Awakening DX. I couldn't even remember to talk to the dancing lady twice to continue the game. Ha ha. Then I tried The Legend Of Zelda: Oracle Of Seasons. RoboCop 1, 2 and 3. And Mario 64. Mario 64 I am stuck on trying to remember how to beat level 1. For being a metal covered person, RoboCop sure can't take much bullet damage. It's still fun playing my old games.

 Well that's about it for my weekend review / midweek update mash-up. I hope you had a good weekend. Till next time. 

Cellphone pic Thursday

Some days are just black and white.

Midweek update.

 Wednesday, Wednesday, what a day it is. Let's get into it. Writing: I have not worked on any stories, outlines, or anything at all having to do with it. I have had writers block and hopefully it will be un-blocked soon.

 Video games:

This will probably be my biggest video game section ever. So I have still played Castlevania 4. I have tried Terminator, Terminator 2, Batman, Golden Axe and Duke Nukem 3D for the Sega Genesis. Man, these games are hard. I feel really old and defeated. I can't even get past the first tank looking Terminator in Terminator. I can't even find a gun in Terminator 2, let alone pass the truck stop level. Duke Nukem, I need to reconfigure the controls.

 Super Nintendo:
I have tried Death and Return of Superman, Incredible Hulk, Jurassic Park, Harvest Moon, The Adventures of Batman and Robin, Terminator, Terminator 2, Aahh Real Monsters, Alien 3 and Captain America and The Avengers. Harvest Moon, I don't even know what I'm doing. I had to read a walk through to figure out how to chop stumps, smash rocks, move fences and even how to jump over fences. I'm completely lost. I haven't planted a single thing. Alien 3, I'm stuck on the first level. Aahh Real Monsters, I have to figure out how to jump properly. Captain America and The Avengers, I just have to figure all the controls out.

 Nintendo:
I have tried, Goonies, Donkey Kong, Dr. Mario, Marble Madness, RC Pro Am 1 and 2 and of Course Super Mario Brothers, The Legend Of Zelda and Bubble Bobble. Marble Madness definitely, lives up up its name. Goonies, I'm trying to figure out the controls, which should be easy since it's only the d-pad and a and b buttons. I'm trying the games that I have played in the past and trying to re-live the magic. Sometimes the magic is fleeting at best. But, it is a lot of fun remembering the past. I am going to keep finding my old games and I will beat finish them.

 Music:
I haven't found any music.

 Inspiration:

 That is a Raspberry Pi mini computer in a Nintendo case. That is inspiration and borderline obsession. Well that's all I got for this update. Find inspiration for what drives and compels you. Do research and what projects you want to attempt. You will be surprised by the confidence you get from doing research. Till next time.

Weekend review 5/17/14 - 5/18/14.

 Friday night:

I, Frankenstein was at Redbox. I told Melissa, it doesn't even matter, I will get this movie. Melissa said she read reviews and said people didn't like the movie and a that it was stupid. I was like it doesn't even matter, I'm going to watch it. I, Frankenstein, was amazing and I really liked it. It had two of my favorite actors in it. Arron Eckhart and Bill Nighy. I've told you before about Bill Nighy. This again, was a great performance from him and Arron Eckhart. Aaron Eckhart was in Battle Los Angeles and of course Batman Begins as 2 Face. So the premise is Gargoyles are fighting demons. Bill Nighy is the leader of the demons who is going after Frankenstein's monster to learn how he was brought back to life. Anyways, again it was a really good movie. After I, Frankenstein, we watched That Awkward Moment with Zac Efron and Miles Teller. It was pretty good. Nothing to write home about, but it had it's funny moments.

 Saturday:
We had to get an oil change for one of the cars and then we played bingo with some friends. Melissa won, which was awesome. I won awhile ago, so I knew I wouldn't be winning again. Ha ha. After bingo, we went to the restaurant called The Ram. Food was pretty good. Well done burger, needed to be a little more well done and less greasy for me. The chocolate chip cookie platter was amazing, as was the fries. Kinda spendy for me. My single patty burger should not cost 10 bucks. Sorry, especially with as much grease as it had on it. Saturday night, we tried watching 2 Days In New York, with Chris Rock. I turned that movie off 10 minutes into it. After that we tried Netflix. We found a documentary called The Queen Of Versailles. It's about multi millionaire, that loses money on the bank collapse. At first you kinda start feeling sorry for them, then you just think, you're complaining about losing money as you're talking about building a 100 million dollar house in your fur coat. It was very interesting though.

 Sunday:
We went to the movies and we saw Godzilla 2014. It was an absolute amazing movie and I can't wait to buy it when it comes out. There was very small slow parts, but an all out amazing movie. I definitely recommend seeing it. Then the rest of our Sunday was chores. It was a really good weekend, but I wish it could have been longer. I hope you had a good weekend. Till next time. 

Cellphone pic Thursday.

Sunshine down on Charlie Brown's tree.

Midweek update.

 Here we go again, it's Wednesday and time for the midweek update. There's actually not much going on. Today is supposed to be mid 80s for our high. Seattle doesn't know how to handle those kind of temps. It's 82 already at almost 2 pm. That's crazy.

 Writing: I haven't got anything done with writing at all. I actually have been sick with a cold so my head is all sorts of congested and stuffed, so the last thing I want to do is try and write. I will work on it again soon.

 Video games:

I tried that Castlevania rom awhile ago and haven't touched video games since. I have been thinking about making a raspberry pi computer for emulators. Thinking is the key word here, but I think it would be absolutely amazing and fun to build and program. I have read really cool build stories and the end product are very interesting. 

 Imagine playing Nintendo roms on a Super Nintendo computer. Or playing Super Nintendo roms on a GameCube computer. Or playing Sega roms on a PlayStation 2 computer. The possibilities are endless. 

 Music:

Here's another one that I just haven't found anything for awhile now. 

 Inspiration:

 This place is actually in Washington state. I would love to find it and sit there for awhile and just take in the scenery. It looks really scary with no handrails or whatever, but it still would be cool. Well that's it for now. Here's to feeling better and a clear head. Till next time. 

End of the week, midweek update.

 As I was perusing Instagram, I noticed all the wcw (women crush Wednesday) hashtags. I was like holy shit, it's Wednesday and I didn't do my midweek update. So here we are, it's Friday and I'm playing catch up. Oh well, good things are always worth the wait.

 Writing:

This is the hardest time I have had trying to write. I started working on a project, I got a paragraph done and lost my train of thought completely. What the hell? So I don't even know what's going on.

 Life has been very, very busy lately, so it's probably that. 

 Video games:

I started playing a Castlevania rom. I wanted something different from Zelda for a little bit. The last thing I want, is to get irritated or bored with Zelda. It has always been one of my favorite series and one of my hardest to finish. Now that I think about it, I don't even think I finished The Legend Of Zelda, back when it first came out. Now that I'm re-playing it, I want to actually take my time and have fun. Castlevania, isn't too bad, it's just a little different then what I'm used to.

 Music:

I haven't found or heard anything on that front either. I know it will just be a matter of time.

Inspiration:

This is for woosah sessions.

 Well that's it for this late midweek update. Till next time.

Cellphone pic Thursday.

Noel.

Weekend review 5/3/14 - 5/414.

On Friday, I watched 47 Ronin with Keanu Reeves. I thought it was a really good movie. I even feel like it's a buy for my collection. I guess from what IMDb says, it was a flop and and waste of money. This reminds me of John Carter. Disney spent 250 million on the movie and then another 200 million in advertising and the movie flopped. Me, I loved John Carter and I will buy it. Basically I'm saying, a lot of the times, I like movies when other people don't. Was it kinda weird seeing Keanu when it was all Asian actors? Yeah kinda, but he also is a good actor and I felt like he sold his role well. I love samurai and martial arts inspired movies. This was another example and a good samurai movie. 

Saturday:

We got to have a weekend of not a lot going on which was nice. So during the afternoon, I rented  The Legend Of Hercules. I really liked this movie. From all the different shows or movies I have seen of Hercules, this stayed true to them. It will be interesting to see the other Hercules movie with The Rock as Hercules. Melissa, even commented, saying, she wanted to see Chris Hemsworth as Hercules. I think that would have been amazing too. But I know he can ask for a pretty penny now because of Thor and Avengers. Kellan Lutz, actually did really good playing the part. He didn't seem as cocky as I thought he would be, especially playing a god character. Definitely, check out 47 Ronin and The Legend Of Hercules.

After watching Hercules I played Dust An Elsyian Tale. It was pretty good. It's a side scrolling hack and slash, button masher. Not too bad for free. Saturday night, we watched The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty. This was a slow, twisty story, but awesome movie. Melissa, said she didn't like it so much, but after the end of the movie, I appreciated the movie as a whole. I loved the growth of the character. all around good movie.

 Sunday:
We had some chores to do. When we first moved in, we bought a bed set. Our first bed set and we were very excited. It looked good and it went well with our bed.

Now cut to almost five years later. What the above picture doesn't show, is the tears and rips we had in the bed skirt. I actually even tried sewing it, but it didn't work. Cut to the picture below.

 Melissa found this trick on Pinterest. We got two single, fitted sheets and put them on the box springs. This hides the mattress' and makes the bed look way better. I love how you can actually see the bed rails and under the bed a little bit. I did like the bed skirt, but I felt like it was time for a change and this project was only 12 or so bucks. We could have probably waited to get a better deal for the sheets, but we saw how bad the bed skirt was and decided we would do this sooner than later. Clean looks for cheap, can't beat that.

 Another quasi project we finished this weekend. Was our glass checkers / chess board. I actually got the board for free from work. There was a couple scratches and some chips out of the glass, but all and all a very good board. We started looking for glass pieces for the board and they were either too small or right size, but too expensive. We thought we would find something eventually and left it at that. Well we had a care package that never got sent. (Long story) we decided we would go through it and get rid of the spoiled food out of it and salvage what we could. Well we found a chess and checkers set. It was little plastic pieces but we thought it would look good on our empty board.

 I opened the packages and found they were connected to the plastic mold branches. (They were basically like the plastic truck or car model kits. You have to cut the pieces away then trim the stub down.) Well since I am older now, I have a few tools that I didn't have then. I got out my dremel and sanded down the plastic edges, instead of trim them with a exacto blade. No picture was taken of the non fun dremel cutting process, just the after pictures for your enjoyment.

The leather cube at the bottom of the picture, is actually another project that's on our list.

 I think they turned out very well for being dollar store plastic pieces. I want to get the outdoor checker set. This set has five inch diameter pieces. They have a smaller outdoor checker set, with three inch diameter pieces, but I want to display one of the pieces on our shelf when it's not being played. Don't take my idea either. Ha ha. Sunday was May 4th. It's the Star Wars Day. They say "May the force be with you." So the play on words is "May the 4th be with you." Below is a cool picture I found to mark the day.

 If you are even a little bit into Star Wars, you know what shape these things make. AT-ATs! I love AT-ATs. I even did the calculations  Googled the dimensions of the AT-ATs. It comes out to about 60 feet tall and 66 feet long! could you imagine, a six story building walking towards you. I would be amazed, then terrified, then amazed again. I would probably be squished while trying to Instagram a picture of it. I hope you had a great weekend. Live long and prosper and may the 4th be with you. See what I did there? Ha ha. Till next time.

Cellphone pic Thursday.

Frozen reflections.