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Wednesday, May 26, 2004
Beer Bread
So apparently you can take 2 2/3 cups self rising flour and pour in half a 12-oz bottle of beer, stir to mix thoroughly, then add the rest of the beer (no sipping) and stir thoroughly again. Thwok the resulting wet dough into a margarine-greased loaf pan or two and bake at 350 for 50 minutes. And you have bread. Two ingredients- that is it. Moist on the inside, crispy crusty on the outside. Now I made this as a sort of science experiment (I have the self-rising flour, what else will I do with it?) and J-dog's comment was "I think it needs a third ingredient". So I thought I'd take it to work to secretly unload it, by leaving it out in the kitchen. Not only did folks actually like the bread and eat it all (it is good warm with butter, by the way) they found out it was me that made it and commented on it. Imagine my surprise... must watch out for the grapevine here.
Speaking of surprises... looks like Surge has been actively campaigning to get Tad to move out of Parka and into his stupid town: Dilley. Why can't you understand: the frog is MINE!
.: posted by Zemlet 6:20 PM
Nice Weekend!
Laura and Jim came and stayed with us this weekend, which was great! When they arrived, we had some dinner and shared some wine out by the pool and then Saturday night, we all saw the Dido concert together and ate at Beckett's Pub in Berkeley, which I love. The concert was fabulous! Every song was amazing and Dido was such a crackup. There were two full percussion sets with everything from drums to bongos to rain sticks to a big plastic taiko drum. It was incredible. We had balcony seats, which worked out well, since I forgot to bring cotton or anything to plug up my ears.
Then Sunday morning, after they left, we cruised on over to Santa Cruz with the top down to see Seattle Riot play some Ultimate. Even though they were utilizing some tryout team members, they were totally ruling. And the final game was so so close- but they lost to Fury, a local team. Then we took the long trek back through some horrible traffic, but were entertained continually by Britta, who let us know exactly what she thought of every song in my 6-CD changer. We were followed most of the time by a carload of her teammates, who would call us on the cell phone if three was a good song on, then sing along, which we could hear out the window. The car was packed, so it was quite a scene. We then hung out at Tim and Amanda's (can you believe Penelope is 1 yr old already?!) where we were regaled by stories of bathroom remodeling. It was at this point that Britta revealed she has finally obtained the long-coveted "saws-all" which, as the name implies, can saw through pretty much anything. I believe this is the main reason there were active campaigns by both her husband and her friends' husbands against her getting one. It seems none of them really want to see what happens should she be set loose with her "sawsall" in any of the houses they happen to own. It cuts through walls, it cuts through pipes, etc... use your imagination. She is especially excited because "it has a battery pack so I can go anywhere with it". Again, use your imagination... while thinking about how Britta drives.
PS I put sunscreen on, but forgot the front of my neck, so I only got sunburned there, but I had my locket on, so there is this bizarre white oval in the middle of the pink V on my neck. Everyone required an explanation.
.: posted by Zemlet 6:07 PM
Friday, May 21, 2004
*yawn*
I was really tired all this week. See, J has a "programmer's schedule" where he goes to work from like noon to 8PM, so by the time he gets home and we dine together, it is my bedtime for chrissakes. But what I find myself doing is staying up late to hang out with him- especially when we get involved in a game/movie/good conversation- but then still getting up around 6AM to go to work. By the time Friday rolls around, I'm exhausted and waste prime weekend time catching up on sleep. While I love sleeping on the weekends: lounging in bed, Dagwood-esque naps on the couch, sleeping after a picnic; this behavior produces a kind of jet lag when I get back to the work week. This tired feeling is starting to affect me- I’m not as effective at work and I am cutting corners in my fitness routines.
Now I know I can alleviate some of this tiredness by not getting sucked into fun things I know will keep me up all night: good books, Halo, trips to San Francisco; but that doesn't solve the basic problem that in order to have enough of my free time overlapping with Jonathan, I have to sacrifice sleep. I guess I always knew this was kind of a problem, but didn't pay a lot of attention to it until now, as it starts wearing on me. This week I drank at least two cups of coffee every day and yesterday drank a double latte plus two cups of American coffee. I'm starting to get the caffeine headaches, I used to see other people get. What all of this adds up to is that it is time for some drastic changes.
First of all, I’m quitting drinking coffee. I’m not giving it up for good, though, so if you see me drinking some in a month or so, don’t, you know, get up in my business about it. Why not for good? Well, last time I gave it up for good, I went to Europe where every cup of coffee they serve is the best one you’ve ever had. Half of my time in Paris was spent pausing at this or that café, sipping Lavazzo or Illy and contemplating my existence. If you ask for decaf abroad, however, you’ll get instant. Once back in the states, I had given up coffee again, but then I moved in with my New Zealand roommate who reintroduced me to really good black teas. She made tea every day and it was so so so good, so I got back into tea very seriously. I really love coffee and tea, so I figured if I drank tea and coffee with caffeine in moderation, I would be ok. This plan worked great, until I moved in with Jonathan and stopped getting enough sleep. So here I am. I just have to get out of the cycle of drinking caffeine instead of resting. I brought a whole load of really good green tea with me today and made myself a deal to only drink that.
I think I will also have a serious conversation with Jonathan to compromise him getting up perhaps one hour earlier, so I can be in bed by ten or eleven and still spend around three hours with him in the evenings. Hopefully soon, I’ll be describing renewed energy and talking in loving detail about all the decaf drinks I’m enjoying. (Come on, work with me here.) I know this isn’t as drastic as Munin giving up fizzy drinks, but I thought if I wrote it here for all to see, it would stick.
.: posted by Zemlet 12:56 PM
Tuesday, May 18, 2004
Halo 2
OMG the Halo 2 demo at E3 looked so sweet. J-dog and I are playing Halo again on the highest difficulty setting (Legendary) we are so excited. And, as Eric G aptly puts it, it is something to do while we wait for Pikmin 2 to come out. They also had some Legend of Zeda eye candy at E3- looks like you can fight from Epona's back in all of the 3D goodness. The bad guys and fighting styles are classic Zelda, so it is strange to see it done in a non-cartoon style. Damn, I love video games. I am so very odd and sleep so very little.
I'm going to Phrontisterion in Oregon next month- the conference thingee on interactive storytelling. It will be interesting to go as an artist, not a programmer. To prepare, I am reading a large stack of books, including Chris Crawford's "The Art of Interactive Design". I have only begun it, but he is going into detail as to what he considers "interactive" to mean. Movies and books, for example, are not interactive, they are only reactive. He says theater isn't interactive with the exception of participatory theater and other expereimental pieces that incorporate the audience. So some types of live theater are interactive, but most are not. If you look at the current state of "interactive games" it is similar to comedians who ask the audience various questions, like "where are you from" then process and deliver custom responses based on audience input. They also tailor their jokes and style to the mood and apparently likes of the audience. When I see a comedian, especially a bad one, it is a highly interactive experience. Or what some would call "heckling". I do not heckle in order to undermine the performer, I do it out of a sense of duty to the audience. If the stand-up is really sucking, SOMEBODY has to entertain these people. It is my job to entertain people. Not a lot of people, granted- we all know I have a target audience of about 5- but I still feel a responsibility to do it. For example, when, on the day before Thanksgiving, all the computers in the grocery store went down, I felt it was my duty to not only tell jokes and try to start mini contests between different lines, but to negotiate for distribution of free food and drinks. I never expect thanks in return- I'm just doing my job entertaining people. (To end that story, the store DID end up breaking out the free grub per my entreaties and over a month later somebody recognized me in public and introduced me to her husband as "that girl from Vons I told you about"!)
Well, I have totally got off the subject of interaction- sorry. Perhaps it is because I'm not sure how much hope to have for it. Right now it is difficult enough to have a good converstaion with a person; what makes us think interacting with computers or simulations is going to actually be better? I think Jonathan would argue with me that finding extraordinary interaction with regular people is difficult, because regular people are just regular. But that we could make computers or simulations be increasingly extraordinary, to elevate the interaction. Two opposite opinions about the same thing. One with faith in content creators and technology (him) and one without (me). It is like our favorite TV shows. I like "Survivor" because they are real people in extraordinary situtaions- but what makes it compelling is that they are normal people and it is not a scripted set of reactions. The experience is guided and crafted to make sure it isn't boring, but it is still largely organic interactions between real people. Jonathan likes "West Wing". He prefers the above-average intellect and repartee of created characters to real people because he finds them more interesting. He is right, the characters on West Wing are smarter and say more clever things (in clearer English) than the characters on Survivor, but I think it is bo-ring. I'd rather witness real emotion and dialogue instead of contrived and canned. I think an audience would be more entertained in a experience like being on Survivor or Anti-theater or in other participatory entertainments involving real people than just playing an interactive story where the interactions, while good, are still contrived and canned. Even the action in LARPs seems canned, with no way of changing the storyline or outcome. Participatory entertainment is exciting precisely because you CAN change the story and the outcome. Nobody knows what is going to happen. I just never see interactive storytelling getting to that point. Even totally dreamed up models like are presented in Neal Stephenson's "Diamond Age" were always the result of enhanced human interaction, not pre-determined fiction.
Geez I'm only one chapter into this book. How will I be able to keep my mouth shut at Phrontisterion?
.: posted by Zemlet 3:23 PM
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
Gorilla Whale
The Original Godzilla is playing at The Castro Theatre before it got all Americanized, it had a totally different message and was a metaphor for Nagasaki and atomic doom. No Raymond Burr in this one. It is playing another week... anyone want to go with me? Because let's face it, nobody should go to the Castro alone.
In work news, I was named EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH. I was totally stupefied. Folks said I became very flushed. I couldn't believe it. I've only been here since February and didn't think people even really liked having me around because of my marketing craziness. Imagine that. I have not got an award like this since I worked at the Solvang Bakery in high school and won the sales award every month I was there. But I mean... that was easy. I was selling chocolate and butter cookies. Who doesn't want to buy that? A lot more difficult to sell someone a water treatment system.
Whoa. I still cannot get over it.
.: posted by Zemlet 5:10 PM
Monday, May 10, 2004
crafty weekend
This weekend was the weekend of making things. I just kept making stuff and couldn't stop. First off on Saturday, I made a killer breakfast with savory cheese scones I baked from scratch. Then I got on my sewing machine and finished a blouse project that has been rattling around in my head for quite some time. I had sketched this out and designed it late last year and finally it is done! You can change the ribbons for a different look. So then I had some ribbon left over, so I made a bunch of things out of ribbon and it just went on and on.
I'm really glad to be back in the swing of making art. Lord knows I've got the supplies and the ideas, so it is good to be getting some things actually done. Speaking of supplies, I've got to show one of my new favorite things- a travel origami case. It is designed to stack as two trays for sorting the paper when in use and then has a cute retractable handle for when you take your origami on the road. Let's face it, life is all about what stuff you have.
.: posted by Zemlet 12:03 PM
Saturday, May 08, 2004
Go to Hell-sing
Yahoo! News - Weekend Movies: 'Van Helsing' Bares Its Fangs I went and saw "Van Helsing" on Friday and it was SO AWFUL. Usually I'm the person that when everyone else talks about how bad a movie was, thinks it was OK. I thought the Mummy and Mummy Returns were good- they were visually stunning and held my interest. This wasn't even visually interesting- the shots were too crowded and convoluded and the costumes weren't even any good, which was very disappointing, as I love gothic costuming. All the fight scenes were blurry cgi with the only stunts being some people on fire and Dracula was on a wire for a scene or two. Everything else was cgi, which is much more boring than "real" fight scenes. I liked Alan Silvestri's main musical theme, which was good since he pretty much had the same theme going over and over, but carry the movie it did not. I also liked the cgi of the brides flying around. However some parts were so bad that at one point, I literally started calling out "no no no" in the theater and nearby patrons didn't seem to mind. The big mystery of "who Van Helsing really is" and a whole lot of things like that are totally unanswered, leaving the audience bored and annoyed. You know how sometimes bad movies end with the main character waking up, because it was "all a deam"? I wish I could have woke up after this one and it was all a dream. That would mean I could have got two hours of nice solid sleep for my $13, with the opportunity of forgetting the movie very soon.
That, however, is the saving grace. This film was so unremarkable, I am already forgetting it. I thought, at one point, I would try to recall just enough about the movie to make fun of it (for the amusement of my friends and co-workers) but then realized nobody else would see or remember it, so that wasn't even worth it. I don't remember any of the lines already and only a few of the atrocious scenes. I do remember Van Helsing's stupid hat, because it reminded me of "Vampire Hunter D" and Bradley Rhodes. The only thing that didn't disappoint from a camp perspective was that every screen Dracula has to invent a new accent or way of saying his name. This one added slurs and syllables I didn't know existed in those words. Way to go anime hair guy.
.: posted by Zemlet 9:49 AM
Wednesday, May 05, 2004
nicety
in ongoing Parka news, I think I've discovered the ultimate letter:
Dear Bitty,
cute cute town song nice nice nice
Your friend, Zemlet
Yes, it is a masterpiece... I know. But then, Surge STOLE ALL MY PEACHES. The rat. Must still be sore about the whole Tad thing. I can't help it if THE FROG IS MINE. We now have a strange wind sock- we are not sure it has a purpose other than to herald Spring. I almost caught a bee, but not quite.
.: posted by Zemlet 6:24 PM
the Crik
Walnut Creek - Wikitravel is a travel site listing things to do, etc in Walnut Creek. It is so accurate in my opinion, it is hilarious. Things to do? "Leave Walnut Creek" and "Sleep" are mentioned prominently. "After they finish their late evening night caps, which occurs about 7pm, the entire city goes to sleep" har dee har!
At least it is quiet.
.: posted by Zemlet 6:17 PM
Tuesday, May 04, 2004
casa de corky
Ginger's housewarming was last weekend; it was nice to see her and Loretta and taste delicious New Zealand teas again. . Property owners say our deposit refund is "in the mail". What was holding it up? We hadn't turned in the “back door keys" but the same keys open the front door and the back one, which was soon pointed out. Yet another ruse to keep us from our money?
Went to see the movie "Envy”. Christopher Walken: annoying, scary or funny- you be the judge.
I finally won money playing Poker. I know this makes me way too trendy, but I’ve been playing Texas Holdem with a couple different groups and finally feel like I’m getting better. Now that I’ve won money, should I retire?
Later this month, Jonathan is running a Call of Cthulhu game and I’ll be participating as a player. I’ve never done anything like this. I know nobody I’m playing with and some of them are big game design muckety mucks apparently, so I’m nervous, but excited. Hey, it isn’t like it is a game I’ll lose money at, right?
.: posted by Zemlet 7:46 PM
Wastin' Away Again...
My Dad is in USA Today with his car and his wacky Roswell pals. Every year they make a huge VW New Beetle caravan to Roswell to commune with the mother ship. You know, since all VW New Beetles are really just alien spaceship "pods". He and my Mom just got done with "Bugaritaville" a car show/party thing they organize. Do you like the name? If so, I'd like you to know I came up with it. If not, I'd like you to know that Jesus told me to name it that. (That's Jesus, not Jesús.)
.: posted by Zemlet 12:38 PM
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