An Awesome Classic Videogame

Well, thanks to this post by adamg over at Universal Hub, I've found an online emulator one of my favorite video games of all time: Qix. (I don't really know who Ed Harding is, nor did I really digest the post over on his site -- I just saw the word Qix and redirected my brainpower to more important things - like playing the game and writing this blog post!)

Its a pretty simple game to play, but requires a lot of patience to earn a great score. For the best score, you want to claim as close to 99% of the screen as possible. My strategy has always involved creating many thin blocks, thereby forcing the Qix itself into a smaller and smaller space. Once you've got it trapped, if you've set up your blocks the right way, you can make a slow dash to claim up to 99% of the space.

Also, the sound effects totally rule. The game is from 1981, and I still friggin love the "soundtrack".

There's a few sites that have this Qix emulator - its just a simple shockwave application. And, pretty much every site you see has the same app running. I'm not sure why, but this is the link I like the most.

What's your high score?

Stuff I Don't Know - III

How can people walk around listening to headphones? I really just can't do it. I like to hear everything that's going on around me. I like to hear if people are running up behind me. I like to hear if there is a car coming around the bend before I cross the street.

I just like to hear what's going on around me.

Besides, I don't know how many times I've seen headphoned folks drop something and can't hear the nice folks yelling "you've dropped something." I'll be honest, when that happens, I simply shrug and say too bad.

Do these folks who listen to headphones all day hate the real world that much? Do they really hate people so much that they have to live in their own private world?

Like I said, I just don't know.

I'm Still Here - I Swear

Hey all - I'm sure you're all wondering why I haven't created any posts in the last few months. The only reason I have is that I haven't really had anything interesting to say. It was a fun summer, and so far its been a fun autumn. Now that its getting colder outside, I'm sure I'm going to have many more lonely nights at home, which will hopefully drive me to spout out some more random thoughts and jibber jabba.

So, to enlighten all of you trusty readers, I'll reach into my inbox and answer all of those amazing questions you've been sending me. Let's take a look at my inbox:
Oh, geez. Well, I guess I'm not answering any of your fan mail tonight. So, ya know what I'll do -- I'll just have a little Q&A with myself! Let's begin.

Q: Dude, what have you been up to the past few months?

A: Well, I watched my beloved Chicago Cubs finish atop the National League, and they promptly CHOKE in the playoffs. I watched my second favorite team, the Red Sox, stumble into the playoffs and lose to the upstart Tampa Bay Rays. (I DID watch game 5, and thoroughly enjoyed the entire series -- it was a great battle. I'm disappointed the Sox didn't win, but I'm not distraught.)

I watched Tom Brady go down 10 minutes into the Patriots season. On the other hand, I've watched none other than Kyle Neckbeard Orton lead the Bears offense like a super star. Is this some kind of bizarro world?

I found my inner nerd and attended the Ajax Experience conference over in South Boston. Yes, I'm a javascript geek - and yes it was totally friggin awesome. And, in case you're wondering, my javascript library of choice is Dojo.

Besides all that, I've had plenty of beer, played plenty of kickball games, had plenty more beer, and a lot of fun.

Q: Dude, that's boring shit. What about you love life? Where are all the ladies?

A: Really? Is that all you care about? You just wanna know whether I've scored?

Q: Yes

A: Well, that's not a question.

Q: I don't care. This isn't Jeopardy. Answer the damn question.

A: Fine. I went on a handful of first dates, but never felt any sort of connection. I did, however, go out with an awesome girl for a few weeks - and had a great time. Again, though, it didn't pan out. I guess I just didn't feel that certain spark, even though it was awesome.

Q: What do you mean you didn't feel that "spark"?

A: Dude, I don't know. I guess my heart just wasn't in it. Ya know what I mean?

Q: No, I don't.

A: Well, there's just that certain feeling, that certain je ne sais quoi that I'm looking for.

Q: Je ne sais quoi? WTF does that mean?

A: It means you're a shithead. In French.

Q: You're calling me a shithead?

A: Yes.

Q: Dude, you're calling yourself a shithead.

A: That's not a question.

Q: You're the one who's making up these stupid questions!

A: All right, this is getting stupid. I'm having a fake argument with myself in a fake Q&A post.

Q: Fine. One last question: Phillies or Rays?

A: I'm rooting for the Phillies, however I really have no idea who's going to win this series. The Rays are a great team, and it wouldn't surprise me if they won the whole thing.

Well, I've run out of material for this post. However, I think I like the idea of answering random questions. I think I'll start a new "Ask a Bachelor" gimmick. I'm sure, everyone out there is just dying to find out the opinion of a single 30-something bachelor.

So, got any questions? Ask a bachelor. I'll give you the honest bachelor answer.

Yay. Its Friday

Why is it that in college, everyone looks forward to going out and parting on a Friday night, but nowadays, I look forward to going home and doing nothing on a Friday night?

Well, I can tell you that tonight, I'm just completely wiped. I've gone out for the past 5 nights in a row, and I'm just all set for a break. Besides my daily partying, its been a mentally draining week at work too. I've not only been working on my current project, but I've had to pick up the work of 2 other co-workers, plus our outsourced team in Belarus.

I'm looking forward to SLEEP!

Thanks Starbucks!

Thanks Starbucks! I had to walk around work all afternoon smelling like Frappuccino with a big coffee stain all over the front of my shorts. It's not fun trying to explain to everyone that I didn't pee in my pants - its a friggin Frappuccino stain.

How the heck did I get the stain? I'm still not quite sure what happened. All I know is that the bottom of this particular glass bottle of Frappuccino simply broke off while I was holding the bottle and the entire contents spilled all over my shorts! How the heck does the bottom of a bottle just fall off?!?!?

Now I have to go de-Frappucinno my shorts. Yay.

Chicago Defeats Boston? Dewey Defeats Truman?

This afternoon, the Chicago Cubs had a 1948 throwback game. The Cubs wore their 1948 jereseys and the Atlanta Braves wore their 1948 Boston Braves jerseys. In the end, the Cubbies won in 10 innings with Reed Johnson's walk-off Hit By Pitch! (I'm sure that HBP felt pretty good!)

The most interesting part of this game was the WGN throwback broadcast. The Cubbies broadcasters (Len & Bob) dressed up in their 1940s suits and hats. For the first few innings, WGN broadcast the game in black and white and only used the camera angles that were common at the time. In the 9th inning when Jim Edmonds (I still can't believe he's on the Cubs!) smacked a home run to left field to tie the game, WGN displayed some old school "Hey Hey!" graphics as Len did his best Jack Brickhouse imitation. And finally, when the Cubbies won the game in the bottom of the 10th, he let out Harry's famous "Cubs Win! Holy Cow!". I really wish I could have seen this game! What an awesome day at Wrigley!

Here's a few clips over at MLB's website that give a good taste of the game:

• Jeff Francoeur smacks a 2-run Home Run in the 2nd inning (black and white)
• Jim Edmonds ties the game with a Home Run to left field (HEY HEY!!)
• Reed Johnson's game winning Hit-By-Pitch (OUCH!)

Enjoy!

Bizzaro Night at Fenway

For some reason, tonight is bizzarro night at Fenway Park! Its not a full moon tonight, so I'm struggling to explain this chain of events:

• Manny smacks (slams! CRUSHES!) home run 503
• Parking attendant on Lansdowne Street gets his 30 seconds on TV for finding the ball
  
• Coco Crisp hit by pitch, charges mound, throws a few punches, and then takes quite a few more
• 3 players ejected
• Carter takes over in left field, Elllsbury moves to center
  
• Ellsbury makes a great catch and rolls up on his right wrist
• Ellsbury taken out of game
• Drew moves to center field, Youkilis plays right field (for the first time in his career!)
• Youkilis and Manny get into a fight in the dugout! WTF?!?!
• Remy and Don get into a (hilarious) scrum in the broadcast booth
  
• Manny tweaks right leg checking his swing , ends up with a walk, and trots to first base
  
• Francona checks on Manny, says he's OK, and returns to dugout
• 30 seconds later, replaces Manny with pinch runner Kevin Cash
• When not playing DH, Cash runs back out to bullpen to help warm up pitchers
• Lester, Timlin, and Aardsma limit the Rays to 1 run and win the game

Tom Caron on NESN sports desk says its all because of Stephen King was on the pre-game show. I can't think of a better excuse, can you?

I have to watch the post-game show and interview with Francona just to see what the heck happened tonight!

Longfellow Trudge?

I noticed today that the Red Line has been trudging oh-so-slowly across the Longfellow Bridge today. When I left work and made it down to the Kendall stop, the trains were simply crawling through the tunnel. I think you could easily walk over the bridge faster than the trains were running. (Note: all I can picture is that scene from Office Space where Peter is stuck in traffic and watches the old man with the walker pass him by on the sidewalk) Despite that, the ride from Kendall to Porter was just as normal as can be.

So, I checked the MBTA's Transit Updates and I saw this brand new excuse for subway delays:

Red Line is experiencing 10-15 minute delays through the downtown area due to a track problem at Charles

I thought I'd seen every excuse from the MBTA. Usually Red Line delays are caused by "Medical Emergency", "Signal Problems", or "Switching Problems".

The thing is, I'm a train guy, and I have no idea what a "Track Problem" is! What the heck is a track problem?

Sports Karma?

So, a bit of history: I'm a born and bred Cubs fan from Illinois. My grandma started taking me to Wrigley Field for Cubs games when I was 8 years old. As a result, I've come up with this fuzzy sports karma for the night.

• Bachelor in Porter watches Oakland vs. Boston baseball
• Oakland defeats Boston in baseball
• Boston defeats Detroit in basketball
• Detroit defeats Pittsburgh in hockey
• Pittsburgh defeats Chicago Cubs in baseball

So, that must mean

• Chicago Cubs watches Bachelor in Porter blog

In Soviet Massachusetts, baseball watches you!

What the heck does this even mean? Does this make any sense? Have I had too much scotch tonight? Are pigs flying? What time is it?

Eh, I know the answer. I blame Global Warming! (Even the NFL is concerned)

Almost Warm Enough

Its 60 degrees outside right now. If it was about 10 degrees warmer, I think I'd be deck-blogging tonight. Its something that I've always wanted to do - but just haven't done so yet.

One of these days I really want to take my laptop onto my deck, kick back, grab a beer, and do a little blogging from the deck. I don't know what I'll talk about - but that's not important. Sitting on my deck and wirelessly typing gibberish is the name of the game.

Stuff I Don't Know - II

I don't know why I find this picture hilarious. I really don't know why.
Why is this funny?

Stuff I Know - VI

There's a few things that I know today:

• Leaving your umbrella at home is stupid. I left it at home today and ended up getting drenched walking from the Porter subway stop back to my apartment. Ugh.
• I don't eat Indian food. There's something about it that just doesn't sit well in my Midwestern stomach. I grew up with Mom-cooked meatloaf, pork chops, pot roast, and fish sticks. Yum.
• Staying out at the bar until 1:30 A.M. on a WEDNESDAY night is downright dumb. However, it sure seemed like a good idea at the time.
  

Time to Get the Heck Out...

Its time to get the heck outta Dodge Dome. Its obvious that domes and the Sox are not getting along very well this season. They've got a mere 2 wins in 12 games - having been swept in Toronto and Tampa. They eeked out a win in Tokyo, and only took 1 of 4 here in Minnesota.

Baseball is meant to be played outdoors on natural grass. I can accept a retractable roof, as long as the stadium has some natural grass - which Milwaukee and Phoenix have done very well. No more turf! No more domes!

Why Remy and Orsillo Rule

During a slow Red Sox game, Remy and Orsillo have some of the funniest banter. This evening was no exception.

In the top of the 8th, after some prodding from Remy, Orsillo finally admitted he stole the pajamas he got on the JAL flight to Tokyo. And even better, he says they're comfortable, and make you look like a chef.

Of course, Remy, in his typical gruff style, couldn't stop complaining about the length of the flight. He's never going to take a flight that long again - his back has finally recovered! Its obvious he's not a big fan of long trips. He admitted that in his opinion, Taunton is too far.

Classic. That's why I love these guys. They're a big reason I love watching Red Sox games.

I've Got Nothing To Say

I've got nothing to say right now. However, does the fact that I'm telling you I have nothing to say, actually mean that I have something to say?