Uh … hmmmmm … this is interesting. Well, I suppose this video is sort of related to one of my other recent posts.

I discovered an interesting Blog this afternoon, and one of the authors posts was so insightful I felt that I had to quote him. He’s writing about humans and our desire to feel empowered, and all of this relates to gaming. This excerpt was taken from a post where the author had been working on his solar panels at his retreat when the batteries became unexpectedly depleted:

“You’d think life would be miserable if you didn’t have basic things like electricity or water. But, to me, it all seems like a really fun game. In the city, people have most of their basic needs fulfilled. Flip a switch, the light goes on. Turn the faucet, you get water. Talk into a phone, pizza comes to your door. Yet, somehow, people are still stressed. While people don’t have to worry about electricity or water, in exchange, they have plenty of other things to worry about. The boss, the client, the landlord, the upstairs neighbor who moves furniture around at 2am, your friend who’s inexplicably mad at you, the cable company who double charged you, the phone company and their shitty service, the waitress at that restaurant you went to for dinner who took too long to bring you your appetizers. A lot of these stresses are caused by the fact that, in the city, you’ve delegated so much of your life, that you’ve given control over your life to complete strangers. You no longer have agency over your destiny, and when something goes wrong, you’re at the mercy of other people; people who actually don’t really care about your problems, even if they’re in a position to do something about it. So, people escape to games. They play Farmville and World of Warcraft for hours and hours, because games give you back your sense of control, and you are rewarded (albeit in virtual points) for the effort you put in. It satisfies the basic human desire to solve problems, to be rewarded for doing so, and feel empowered. It satisfies a desire that, sadly, modern civilization has taken away, for the sake of comfort and convenience.”

This excerpt was taken from the Blog, “Laptop and a Rifle” by Ryo Chijiiwa. Read the full post here.

I never really liked Captain Caveman, but I remember it being on the TV on Saturday mornings. I think that either my sister watched it or, because we only had three channels back then, we left it on while we played because there wasn’t anything else on the other stations.

Yeah, I know it’s Sunday morning, but I’m just finding all of these great videos right now. Here’s another classic from my childhood where, once again, I liked the opening title sequence more than the actual cartoon.

This brings back so many memories. I recall a Saturday morning in the winter. I think I was about six or seven years old. There was snow outside, which reflected a lot of light, making the living room bright and cheerful. There was a crisp coolness to the air in the house because it was so cold outside. I don’t know what month it was, but it wasn’t Christmas time because the living room didn’t have any tree or decorations. I was sitting on the gray scratchy carpet with a small aluminum folding TV tray over my legs eating hot tomato soup with toast. I can’t remember what picture was on the TV tray, but I think it may have been Muppets or Superfriends. Although there were several opening sequences for the Superfriends, I specifically remember watching this one. I was also eagerly awaiting the Super-Host afternoon movie because he was showing another Godzilla flick.

I remember watching this cartoon while sitting on the carpet of my childhood home. I think I loved the opening title sequence more than the cartoon itself.

Some Star Wars fans dress up, some write fan-fiction, others make short films. These guys … they make Star Wars Rock music.

In the 1970’s and 80’s I was a huge Star Wars geek. Not as big of a geek as some, but certainly bigger than the average fan. I studied the original trilogy of films. I read everything I could get my hands on that provided any insight into the story, the history, the creative vision, and the magic of the special effects. I read the novels, the interviews with the actors and crew, and I even memorized the cast lists. So, whenever I heard George Lucas say that he ALWAYS intended to make six films, I always thought that he was working with a little bit of revisionist history. I feel a little ashamed to admit this, but I don’t recall ever hearing anything about his intention to make more than three films until the early 90’s, while the second trilogy was under development. I swear that I don’t remember ever hearing a peep about six movies. Well, I wish the internet had existed back then. Judging from the comments attached to the video below on YouTube, Lucas apparently talked about his six-movie arc all the time and apparently intended to make six films as early as 1976, when Mark Hamill signed his contract. This awkward interview from 1980 proves it. An option to view part two should appear in the navigation when the video finishes.

I don’t even drink coffee, but I would if I could drink it sitting next to the Flux Capacitor!

If it weren’t for the persistent and intense pressure from so many people, I’d delete my Facebook account and never look back. When I disabled my account for a few months, everyone complained that they couldn’t contact me and that we were no longer able to find out what was going on in each others lives. That is completely ridiculous. Actually, it’s utter bull-crap. I don’t post any personal notifications on Facebook. I am reachable via email every day, with or without Facebook. In fact, I check my email several times a day or more. My iPod updates me instantly when I receive an email. I carry my cell phone everywhere I go. I am reachable via cell phone about 99% of the time; day or night. It’s interesting to note that when I have an active Facebook account, I don’t receive any more instances of personal contact than when the account is inactive. Which means that the feeling of being connected to others is just an illusion. The only thing Facebook offers is an opportunity to waste time and be incredibly annoyed by inane notifications about the games everyone is playing or to read the horribly misspelled ramblings and quips of others. I honestly don’t care if you just won a new jewel or pet in some waste-of-time game. I don’t care if you just bought a new shirt. I don’t care about those small, curious thoughts you might have about pasta, politics, or poop. I hate, hate Facebook. The company doesn’t respect my privacy and their product is a useless distraction from the things that are really important. If my Facebook account suddenly becomes disabled again in the near future, don’t even mention it to me or you might get an earful of rant!

Have you ever tried to sculpt? Have you ever admired someone’s sculpting ability? I bet you’ve rarely seen anyone with sculpting work as amazing as this guy!

I’ve seen similar things done with chalk, but never with fire. I like it.

I found this interesting article on MSNBC.com this afternoon about working in an environment of fear. The quiz following the article is worth a look, too. Check it out.

The CNN headline reads, “Cavs owner’s letter mocked for Comic Sans font“. Excerpt:

After Gilbert posted a rant — in the cutesy Comic Sans typeface — about James’ departure on NBA.com, bloggers, newspaper writers and Twitter pundits lashed back with a collective message that essentially said this: Unless you’re a fourth-grader, or being ironic, or the author of a comic book, or on vacation from the 1990s, never use that typeface.

I highly recommend reading the entire article. The last line of the article is especially funny, check it out.

This post is being written from my iPod. I just found a WordPress app that I’ll be able to use anywhere I can find wi-fi, which is getting easier every day.

It’s been 22 months since the remnants of hurricane Ike swept through the Ohio valley and also brought a powerful wind storm. The storm caused millions of dollars in property damage and disrupted electric service for about 1.5 million people (some were without power for nearly a week, myself included). Since then I’ve been saving money and learning skills to be better equipped for the next crisis, because it was that wind storm that opened my eyes to the fragile nature of our civilization.

I work for the largest grocery company in the United States. They have implemented the same plan for their stock that nearly every grocer and retail store in the country has adopted. It’s often referred to as “Lean” operations or “just-in-time” delivery. That means the store has all of their stock on the sales floor and they keep nothing in the back. It means they sometimes get multiple deliveries per day in order to keep the shelves stocked. The amount of product ordered is carefully calculated based on the amount sold in the past. So, for most of us, we never know about this system because the deliveries keep coming and the shelves are always stocked. This process can break very easily if the deliveries can’t get through or if there is an unexpected spike in demand for any product (milk, bread, gasoline, etc). We see this in Ohio when the weatherman predicts a snowstorm and the store shelves are emptied in only a couple of hours and cars line up at the gas pumps. That broken process is what I witnessed nearly two years ago when we had that wind storm. It wasn’t a hurricane, or an earthquake, or a terrorist attack, or a pandemic …. it was just high wind and it knocked out power to 1.5 million people for nearly a week. Some businesses have backup generators, such as grocery stores and some gas stations. But once all of the backup generators ran out of diesel, grocery stores began to throw away millions of dollars of spoiled foods, produce, and meats. Gasoline pumps couldn’t pump gas. It was really crazy and at times it was quite scary.

In the past 22 months I’ve been working hard to learn and plan for the emergencies where I can have an impact for myself and my family. You can’t plan for every scenario but it’s important to have a plan and supplies for the scenarios where your preparations CAN make a difference. And that could mean that your loved ones avoid great discomfort, injury, or life threatening circumstances. What dangers are possible in your area; heat wave, blizzard, flooding, tsunami, tornadoes, hurricanes, wild fires, earthquakes, terrorist attack, pandemic? What about a personal emergency, like a house fire, burglar, injury, or health emergency? What amount of thought and preparation have you made to protect yourself and your loved ones?

I know it’s wrong, but I laughed so hard at this that I couldn’t breath. Be warned, although these kids aren’t speaking English it sounds one of them is using a certain “F” word.