Iago – Scribblings From The Public Restroom Stalls Of The Gods

Critters

A family portrait.

By Earl
June 25, 2006
2 comments

The recent photo organization project inspired me to finally get around to doing something I’ve been threatening to do for year – create a family portrait out of pictures where no two animals were in the same place at the same time. Here are the results:
Earl's family portrait of critters - Xena, Chloe, Iago, Sultry, Othello, Olivia
Wallpaper (without names): 1200 x 900 | 1024 x 768 | 800 x 600 | 640 x 480
Wallpaper (with names): 1200 x 900 | 1024 x 768 | 800 x 600 | 640 x 480

Wallpaper (without names): 1200 x 900 | 1024 x 768 | 800 x 600 | 640 x 480
Wallpaper (with names): 1200 x 900 | 1024 x 768 | 800 x 600 | 640 x 480
I don’t know who in the heck would want wallpaper of my pets, but I sure do, so I’m leaving it here, more or less for myself. … Read more

Critters

R.I.P. Iago, 1994-2003.

By Earl
December 3, 2003
0 comments

And God asked the feline spirit
Are you ready to come home?
Oh, yes, quite so, replied the precious soul
And, as a cat, you know I am most able
To decide anything for myself.
Are you coming then? asked God.
Soon, replied the whiskered angel
But I must come slowly
For my human friends are troubled
For you see, they need me, quite certainly.
But don’t they understand? asked God
That you’ll never leave them?
That your souls are intertwined. For all eternity?
That nothing is created or destroyed?
It just is….forever and ever and ever.
Eventually they will understand,
Replied the glorious cat
For I will whisper into their hearts
That I am always with them
I just am….forever and ever and ever.
Author Unknown
Iago
Good night, my sweet, sweet boy.
Iago
July 11, 1994 – December 3, 2003… Read more

Gaming Home Base

Game Room Remodeling Diary, Episode 4

By Earl
April 18, 2003
0 comments

Still concentrating mostly on wiring (and I still need to go pick up and extra power strip), but the Intellivision and Colecovision are now set up in their new homes, complete with backlit marquees:
PDF Game Room Remodeling
Tabletops are topsides with some more marquees (again, backlit). The Four shelves of rectangular objects are the magazines for my Pioneer CD changer.
A look at what’s up and running so far, with and without overhead light:

All video is now hooked up, and I’m only a few cables away from having some consoles hooked up and ready to rock (I’ll do that on Saturday, in addition to putting the 2600 into the small shelf below the TV seen at right). All of the consoles requiring RF adapters will, as before, run through a VCR with dead tape mechs but a functioning tuner, only this time audio will also run through an ancient Archer stereo reverb unit, giving their audio more presence (and even, if for some reason I’m feeling kinda wacky, lotsa echo; most times I just put a little minimal echo in to give it a stereo effect).
Coming soon: more backlit marquees, more consoles, and an experiment to see if I can keep 10+ consoles hooked up on hot standby without requiring a single wire swap.
My electricity bill just jumped 40% taking these pictures. Probably won’t leave the marquees on all the time.
Here’s a rough floor plan of the room as it stands now, so you know what the heck you’re looking at:
Floor plan of the PDF Game Room
Now, probably of little interest to anyone, a look at the spider web of stuff running into my A/V amp, one two input channels of which are devoted to games of one kind or another:
PDF Game Room Remodeling
I still haven’t figured out how to remote control my amp with the video touch pads.
A look at the now-fully-functional video setup (whose rewiring yielded some tremendous unexpected benefits):

I’ve tried playing some PSX stuff with that joystick at standing height, and all I gotta say is FREAKIN’ COOL. I wanna get a coin door with the slots and hang it from that shelf just for the feel of it.
And a closer look at the INTV and Colecovision shelves:
PDF Game Room Remodeling
Just you wait, though. I’m not even CLOSE to done here. Though not everybody likes the new look yet. Ever had a big sleepy white cat give you a look that says “Would you stop movin’ everything around, and get Expansion Module #2 out of my damn way?” I sure have.

More goodness tomorrow. Enjoy!… Read more

Gaming Home Base

Game Room Remodeling Diary, Episode 2

By Earl
April 15, 2003
0 comments

Othello and Iago As I type this right now, I’m drenched with sweat, my hands are shaky, my muscles are achy, and my cats are happy. For today, I jostled the dresser, bed, computer desk and the drawer unit I use to store cartridges into their new positions. Everything worked as planned, and I’m sitting next to an open window as I type this, with a glorious breeze blowing on me and happy cats curled up, looking out at all the yummy birds and taunting the neighbors’ irritating little dog.
My back is actually to the only-occasionally-accessed closet, and putting the desk in this corner has not only opened up a ton of walking space, but makes the room seem so much bigger from where I’m sitting. I’m not facing directly into a wall just two feet ahead of me anymore.
PDF Game Room Remodeling
Whenever I move my PC, it’s a hard-and-fast rule that it be hooked up again, online and fully functional the same day I move it. (Same goes for the bed, which is now just behind the desk – so whether they’re in the window or snoozing on the bed, wherever my cats are, I can see ’em. Sounds silly, I know, but it works wonders for my peace of mind and generaly happiness.) So this concludes today’s moving.
Ouch…ouch…ouch…need vacation…need massage…need more sleep…
I promise I’ll get around to showing something to do with game consoles within the next two days. But I can see my Intellivision and my 5200 from where I’m sitting, beckoning me to hook ’em up and play ’em. … Read more