Category: Toiling In The Pixel Mines

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Gaming Toiling In The Pixel Mines

The one about the gaming expos

This was originally part of my previous post, but on going back and re-reading that post, I thought maybe it’d be a tasteful thing to split the two topics apart.

As I’ve got a funeral to attend on April 10th, I’m obviously not going to Oklahoma City for the OEGE (Oklahoma Electronic Gaming Expo) show on the same day, which I had been planning on doing. As an admittedly slightly weak way of compensating for that, I’ve revived the Christmas special pricing – and the amusingly Christmas-y graphics! – on my documentary DVDs; the special ordering page can be found here. Feel free to spread that link around anywhere you think it might be welcome and relevant (i.e. don’t spam the world with it). These bundles are actually a hell of a price break on these if you’re looking to get the whole collection(s) in one short, sharp shot.

At this point I’m uncertain if I’ll be able to make it to CGE in July/August or not. I put in for the time off from work months ago, but still haven’t heard back on that request. Given the recent string of bad luck at home, not the least of which is an entire heating/air conditioning unit which has to be completely replaced, and my wife replacing the car she wrecked in January with a similar car that, ahem, Needs A Little Work, I’m just not sure that funds can be freed up for something as relatively “frivolous” as CGE. Sales of the existing DVDs haven’t been spectacular for several months. One might think “Hey, taking a chance on shooting material for a new DVD will result in a new product that everyone’ll want to buy,” but given the relatively low adoption rate of the CGE ’03 and ’05 DVDs (neither of which has been out for a full year), I’m not sure I can afford a blind gamble on going in the hopes that a new CGE DVD would sell. I’m also still waiting to hear back on whether or not I have a machine on which I could theoretically edit a new DVD project; I may not have gotten out of that incident as unscathed as I thought. (While I’m at it, let me give a huge shout-out to Karl Luedke for sending me a new power supply for the aforementioned editing system; I’m biting my nails and hoping that’s the only thing that needs replacing.)

Everyone take lotsa pics at OEGE this weekend. Oh, and tell Ralph Baer I said hi. For the record, the inventor of home video games remains awesome, and I heartily recommend going to see his presentation via Skype at the show.… Read more

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Toiling In The Pixel Mines

A certain show in 35 minutes

Sometime back I threw together a fun little video mash-up celebrating the entire history of a certain long-lived, apparently-indestructible sci-fi series in the space of 35 minutes. I briefly posted it to the web and a few folks seemed to really enjoy it. Now I just happen to be working on a new version, completely from scratch. … Read more

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...And Little E Makes 3 Critters Toiling In The Pixel Mines

Jam-packed pre-Christmas update

The Daddy & Evan ShowSorry I’ve been neglecting you, blawg (and any readers still left out there). I’m still getting used to the whole rhythm of having a steady job. You’d think (and I would’ve thought) I would’ve gotten used to it by now, but it still hasn’t happened for whatever reason. Evan has lots of overnight outbursts, and sometimes I think they’re all about making up for lost daddy-and-Evan time. He just wants me to hold him until he falls back asleep. Daddy can do that… but it robs me of sleep on the flipside, and I have to try to get some nap time in after Evan goes to day care, and the end result is that it often seems like I do two things: work and sleep. My hours have normalized a bit – no more radical changes in my in/out times from day to day – but the sad part is, the hours have normalized to where I’m only home to tuck Evan into bed two nights a week. At this point I think I’m having more trouble with that than he is. I miss my Evan time.

I do make the most of it while I’ve got it though – he’s been wanting to sing along with the ABC song and Jingle Bells a lot lately, and I’ve been trying to accommodate him, especially since his musical tastes aren’t developed enough to know that daddy can’t really sing worth two craps. He also listens to every word I say on the drive to day care in the morning. Case in point: one day I had some choice words for the driver ahead of me. Evan then repeated those choice words all day at day care. Thank God the words were only “NICE TURN SIGNAL, BUDDY!” (In case you can’t tell, some vital portions of my trash-talking-other-drivers education took place during one of my visits with my grandfather; the classroom was the maze-like street grid of New York City.)

Three Amigos

Evan’s been getting along just fine with the other new addition to the family too. Actually, everyone’s getting along with Puck, the new black cat (code names: Puckalufagus, Puckbill Cat-a-puss). Puck also got some of his education on the mean streets, and it shows: now that he’s in our house, he has absolutely zero interest in going outside (unlike Oberon). We’re still experiencing a bit of a learning curve with convincing him to stay off the kitchen counter, out of the trash cans, etc. etc.; I gather he’s had to dig through a few trash cans to find dinner in the past, and it’s a habit he’s having some trouble breaking. But he’s not being destructive or terribly messy – on the contrary, he doesn’t leave a single crumb when he eats – and he’s emerging as a very benevolent alpha male, keeping the peace when the other two cats fight. Puck has been allowed to keep his claws intact because he’s very choosy about using them, and that give his enforcement of household feline peace a little bit of authority too. It’s not uncommon to see all three cats curled up together, which may be a new ground speed record for universal adoption-to-acceptance in our house. He sleeps with me at night; as yet, I don’t know if he picked me or if I picked him. Considering that he showed up at my workplace on the first night of my new job, I’m leaning more and more toward the former.

Speaking of Oberon, today marks three years since we adopted him. December 19th being the life-changing day that it is in our family history, that also means three years since I saw Sultry drown right in front of me, three years since I gave my notice at the station where, ironically, I’m now working again (though in a very different capacity), and all of those events directly or indirectly are tied in with Evan… happening. Looking at where I am now is kind of eerie: I’m back to working at the same TV station, where a black cat showed up to replace my sorely-missed black cat… more than once I’ve looked around, worried, to make sure that I get to keep my kid out of this deal. It’s nice to have the job (and even nicer to have the cat), but there are some parts of the status quo that I don’t want restored.

Oh, and by the way…NICE TURN SIGNAL, BUDDY!

I’ll try to blawg a bit more often. In fact, there’s some really startlingly inconsequential blogging just around the corner…… Read more

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Funny Stuff Toiling In The Pixel Mines

The job that isn’t on my resume

Film at 11I’ve spent a lot of time here lately wondering about the viability of my resume. You wanna know what humiliation is? Humiliation is signing up with three temp agencies, all of whom tell you that they probably can’t find anything for you unless you suddenly sprout several years’ experience in welding.

Thus far, I’ve resisted that nagging urge to second-guess the current state of my resume. It lists Fox 46 and KFDF, WACY, 40/29, and explains that I’ve been a stay-at-home dad since 2007. That explains the gap in any employment history between 2007 and now.

But what about the gap between returning home from Green Bay and starting at 40/29? That’s a whole different story: the shortest length of time I’ve ever held a job. … Read more

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Gaming Toiling In The Pixel Mines

Books and DVDs, DVDs and books…

A few announcements, since I’ve been asked…

  • I am planning on having copies of my DVDs available at the CCAG show in Cleveland this October. There won’t be a huge number of copies on hand, because frankly, CCAG falls on exactly the same day as OVGE in Tulsa, and I just don’t have it in my budget to do a build-up of a huge number of copies for two simultaneous shows, but there will be some there. These will be at Tim Snider’s table, and all of the DVDs I’ve done so far (PDF, CGE 2K7, Best of CGE ’03 and Best of CGE ’05) will be available there.
  • Did he say Best of CGE ’05? Yes he did. I’m editing Best of CGE ’05 right now, it’s looking good, and although it’s not true HD, it’ll filler yer HDTV with a great big widescreen picture. Best of CGE ’05 will be a two-disc set, however it’ll be a buck or two more than Best of CGE ’03 because one of those discs will need to be dual-layer, and dual-layer Lightscribe discs aren’t cheap (see also: CGE 2K7). This set will be ready in time for both OVGE and CCAG, with online ordering beginning after both shows.
  • What about that book? I had been crazily trying to get VWORP! together in time for October as well, but I have to announce that it’ll be delayed until the beginning of 2010 now. There are several reasons for this: with the OVGE/CCAG weekend being the target date for Best of CGE ’05, that’s the item that needs my attention most right now. Putting VWORP! out anytime before the end of 2009 is kind of like writing a book on everything you need to know about the New World in 1491. There’s a heap of interesting stuff happening right as VWORP! would have to cut off for an October publication date: the tenth Doctor’s final episodes, Sarah Jane season 3, the Hornet’s Nest audios with Tom Baker… it just seemed like the least desirable cut-off point possible. VWORP! will wait until January 2010, where it’ll make a hell of a lot more sense to release it.
  • And the next book after that? A little thing that we around here like to call Phosphor Dot Fossils. Like I was gonna leave that off the list! Hopefully no later than late summer 2010. After the book, I’d think that the next step for PDF – aside from it being the cool web archive that we all know and love – would either be as a TV project somewhat grander than the existing DVDs, or maybe as a brand name for a line of fine cat care products. Between you and me, I’m holding out for TV.

That’s all for now. Whether you’re in Cleveland or Tulsa on October 24th, in a way, I’ll see you there!

Oh, and one other thing – today is the absolute last day for Summer Byte Bundles! Those ordering links will stop working in the wee hours of the morning. Last call!… Read more