There hasn't been a gratuitous picture of my cat in a while, so here's one to rectify that situation. This one was taken in September of 2000.

I ordered a few texts on design patterns and effective programming this weekend in preparation for my summer job. Now is about the time that I need to pull my computer science alter-ego out of mothballs so I'm current and ready to be a full-time programmer again. Luckily Java still seems to be the industry standard for large-scale designs so I don't have to learn a new language quite yet.

The first thunderstorm of the year rolled through yesterday and last night so it'll probably be shorts weather again pretty soon. The novelty of Tallahassee weather still hasn't grown old.

Mother falsified scores for 'boy genius' son

On Gaming and Substance Abuse:
"Kids, don't try this at home. Drugs and gaming don't mix, unless it's a six-pack of Jolt Cola. Then you'll play like a strung-out lab monkey. Beer is not a good idea either. Take this from someone who stayed up too late one night drinking beer and playing EverQuest. I woke up the next morning with my character dead and no idea where the corpse was. Doh!" - Gamespy's Mark Asher

On Computer Game Reviewers' Hygiene:
"This game has some pretty bad faults in home-life. A character usually requires a 30 minute shower ... per day which is not a realistic standard since many people shower every two days, and not for as long." - from Strategy Informer's review of an expansion pack for The Sims

My thesis defense was at 3:30 on the 3rd day of the 3rd month in '03. I didn't even consider this until yesterday. Surely this was some cosmic sign to show that the gods (both the old-school vengeful ones and the kinder, gentler twentieth-century model) were looking with favour upon my composition. And surely, that's why I passed. Now all that I need to do is submit my paperwork to the music grad office to be lost, and then submit the CD of the score to the real grad office for archiving. This puts me one step closer to being Master Uri!.

I guess I should go put some slaves on layaway.

Man, he looks old now. 'Hello, Clarice, *cough wheeze*'
How to kill a radio station

One last entry in the Living Room contest, post-deadline, submitted by Kathy Biddick. It's actually pretty close to what I had in mind already. I may switch the couch and its end table, or put the TV diagonally in the corner where the stereo is.

My sister got accepted to vet school at Virginia Tech and is now in the Class of 2008. Congratulations! I guess buying that house out in the middle of nowhere was a good gamble.

I have nothing important to talk about today, so I will leave you with this nugget of a thread from a forum:

Yesterday's notable search terms:

lake barcroft running, maynard transfer starcraft, coniferous and decides trees

I'm taking a week off from work next week to take care of a lot of outstanding errands and projects. One of them will be a moderate update to this site. Do you have any suggestions for the modifications? Sections you visit that you'd like to see improved? Topics that aren't covered enough or are covered too much in news updates? Let me know!

Friday Fragments

The Fun Dip of Internet Culture

Yesterday I released an updated version of my Warcraft III mini-game, Micro Frenzy. You can go download it over at www.nohunters.com or right here in the Games section. It's only got a few minor improvements in it, but I figured that I might as well update it since more people seem to be playing it these days.

An off-duty Alexandria cop moonlighting as a security guard shot up an SUV full of college kids who were fleeing without paying their IHOP bill last weekend. Those kids were morons for not paying their bill, but the cop was an even bigger moron for thinking that an unpaid bill required deadly force, whether he felt threatened by the vehicle or not. In that situation, you just write the license plate number down and radio ahead, or even get in your OWN car and pull them over. If, as the kids in the car say, he shot from the side and back, he gets +1 moron points for making up his story, and if, as he said, he stepped in front of an SUV to make it stop then shot at it because he felt threatened, he gets +2 moron points because he stepped in front of a moving SUV.

In other news, parents of a boy with Angelman's syndrome are indignant that they were asked to leave the theatre after their son laughed loudly and longly. This is stupid -- the Americans with Disabilities Act requires that the theatre try to accomodate them, but definitely not at the cost of the other moviegoers' enjoyment. They all paid their $10 to see the movie, and anyone who is raucous, cell-phone-talking, or obnoxious during the movie should generally be asked to leave. The family should have just talked to the theatre about coming to a late or private showing rather than going to a crowded theatre knowing that their son has disruptive behaviours. Otherwise it just looks like you have a chip on your shoulder and are trying to provoke a reaction.

Yesterday's search terms:
perverted old farts looking for sluts, hybla valley violence, home mmm 100 moms mature cathy, tapered dork, the theme from the a-team, what year did wendy's opened its 2000th store, sam spanks frodo -spanking -spank

Updates Day

RETURNED: On February 15, 2008, Paige, her husband, her dog, and her spawning future baby left Spain to return to the sunny lands of Houston, Texas.

BORN: Nadia Sophie to longtime URI! Zone reader, Brianne, on February 28, 2008. Nadia weighed fifty-seven pounds and thirteen ounces or possibly some other random set of numbers, and will grow up to be a distinguished trumpet player. In celebration, at least one Museday Tuesday this year will be written "for Jay-Z and violas" or a similar instrumentation.

MOVED: On March 2, 2008, Mike (of Mike and Chompy) finally moved away from Tallahassee, that serenely sluggish cesspool of Southern sloth where the city scenery is selectively speckled wtih slutty sorority sisters and homeless shelters. Recognizing the D.C. area as a place with a strong job market and comprehensive subway system, he rented a house in Georgetown as far from the Metro as you can be without travelling three miles straight up into the atmosphere. As more and more Florida State music alumni illegally immigrate here, plans are underway to create a new School of Music that hires only through nepotism and intrigue, with a well-respected name like the Kathys Biddick School of Music, or maybe the Mikes Catania Composition Academy.

MOVING: Starting on March 2, 2008, BU has committed to a daily regimen of stretches and biking so he's not an out-of-shape blob on his Europe trip. Sedentary sounds a lot like sediment, and BU ain't no barnacle. To ensure an accurate schedule of exercise, he is rewatching Alias from the beginning.

MARRYING: On March 4, 2008, Larry, inaugural member of the "Month of Thanksgivings" phenomenon and Poker Champion of 2007, will be marrying fiancée, Janice. This is also their fourth anniversary of dating, which will make it much easier to remember fifty years from now (and the reason why all of my life events, including births, deaths, and purchases of large kitchen appliances will only occur on 12 of 12 day from now on). Sadly, Larry will be moving to Maryland after the wedding which means he'll have to become a crappy driver and bemoan the extinction of the Maryland crab while waiting for the late night drag races to start.

What have you been up to recently?

List Day: Five Notable First CDs

Don't forget to submit your Name That Tune entries by TOMORROW at noon! Blink tags are for weenies.

These may not have been the very first CDs I ever owned, and there were certainly plenty of cassette tapes and comedy records beforehand, but these were the earliest CDs I can remember listening to continuously in junior high school and high school. Whether it was in the CD player that plugged into the tape deck of the 1994 Dodge Spirit, or through my headphones on the back of the Crew bus to some random river in another state, these CDs became so familiar to me that I can remember almost every single beat and flourish even today.

Your turn! What was your most memorable first CD? Share in the comments section.

Review Day

There are no major spoilers in these reviews.

The Guild, Season Four:
The story in this season of The Guild grows organically from its focus around online gaming and manages to shift around several of the character relationships to support ensuing hilarity. This season (about an hour and twenty minutes) is just as good as previous seasons, although I would have to watch them all again to really pick out a favourite.

Final Grade: B+

The Office, Season One:
When The Office first came out, I stopped watching it after about four episodes. People always looked at me incredulously when I said I didn't like it, but rewatching it today confirms my undeniable prowess at being judgy. The first season is pretty weak, with more uncomfortable moments than funny ones, and the character of Michael Scott is written to be 100% unsympathetic. We're watching the 2nd season now, and I find that all of my perceived issues have been addressed. Note: The first season is only 6 episodes long.

Final Grade: C-

Ten by Gabriella Cilmi:
This is Cilmi's follow-up to Lessons to Be Learned, and though her voice is just as solid, the songs aren't quite as good. There's a larger focus on dance beats, resulting in a CD full of catchy, forgettable pop. This is also not a CD I can blast in the car with the windows down, since most of the songs have lyrics like "I am a woman on a mission (whoa)" that do not reflect well on masculinity.

Final Grade: B-

Weekend Wrap-up

Sadly I did not make it to Oklahoma this weekend, as I felt like my body needed a couple more days of quietude to fully recover. I was feeling pretty weak as my digestive system had just done a hard reboot, and my sleep schedule was abnormally paced after having slept for nearly 72 hours straight last week -- my body was exhausted but my mind was wired and unwilling to snooze. (Final Weight Loss for The Biggest Loser: 6 pounds)

So, while Rebecca went ahead without me to the land of the Gillises (which, I was told, is not actually the Midwest, because that might offend actual Midwesterners), I stayed home, stepping timidly and taking stock. On Friday night, I watched and partially snoozed through the movie, The Family, featuring Robert DeNiro as yet another gangster.

Saturday was March 1, according to the goat in the tree in my monthly wall calendar, and perfect for a round of Spring Cleaning. In addition to cleaning the entire house, I also reoriented three rooms for novelty and maximum efficiency.

On Sunday, I caught up on homework for my online class, followed the churning upheaval about the upcoming snowstorm, and ate Domino's pizza while watching Amazon Prime Pilots.

Throughout the weekend, I also peeked cautiously into old Blizzard games, including World of Warcraft and Diablo 3. All of that Hearthstone action had made me nostalgic for WoW, but after logging in to find completely revamped skill trees, eighteen more UI panes, and a button bar more moth-eaten than the shirt from 9th grade that I still wear, I was overwhelmed by the implied complexity of ever playing it again and ran away.

My experience with Diablo 3 was a little more positive. The auction house is shutting down, and apparently all of the loot has been retuned to be more sensible (no more barbarian belts full of Intelligence). My run through Act I was enjoyable, finely tuned, and had a few new events. It was a little overkill-y to find 4 Legendary items in that short span, since I only ever got 1 Legendary in my whole game time before that, but it was also more engaging than ever before. They probably knew that I was an influential blogger with a million person gaming audience and coded a few extra Legendaries just for the positive PR.

How was your weekend?

List Day: Recent Purchases

Review Day

There are no major spoilers in these reviews.

Meet the Patels (PG):
This is a harmless documentary-style movie about an American-born Indian trying to meet his future wife through traditional means. The ending is telegraphed pretty far in advance, but it had moments of humour and didn't overstay its welcome. Free on Netflix.

Final Grade: B

Inside Out:
The latest Pixar movie is thematically challenging, with anthropomorphized emotions controlling the brain of a pre-teen girl. The setting is inventive and well-done and the voice actors are perfectly paired with the emotions they play (Lewis Black as Anger, for example). It drags a bit in the middle with Back to the Future II syndrome, where continuous roadblocks pop up just to prevent the plot from reaching its conclusion, and is probably better for older kids than the younger set.

Final Grade: B

Mozart in the Jungle, Season Two:
The first season of this show was lightweight fun, and deserving of its awards. The second season goes nowhere, treading plot water with minimal structure. We watched about half of the season, including a useless episode where everyone gets high and has weird dreams without resolution, and then gave up. If I wanted to watch musicians get high around me, I would just go back to grad school. Free on Amazon Prime.

Final Grade: D

Starcraft II: Legacy of the Void:
This is the third and final chapter of the Starcraft II video game, whose first part came out back in 2010. I liked the first act, but the load times in the second act drove me up the wall. The last act was released with so little fanfare that I didn't even notice it for a couple months. The whole affair is technically flawless but uninteresting, with too many polished cutscenes telling a story I don't care about and boring missions with too many unnecessary constraints trying to conceal the age of the genre. Given my history with the series, it almost sounds sacreligious to say that playing Starcraft bored me, but this game triggered that emotion. Farewell, college memories.

Final Grade: C-

Review Day

There are no major spoilers in these reviews.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Season Two:
This remains a fun, no-investment treadmill show that occasionally has some really funny musical parodies. Thankfully, the overarching plot is allowed to naturally shift away from last season's love triangle which was starting to get old even though it was the original premise.

Final Grade: B

The Accountant (R):
I liked this action movie about Ben Affleck as an autistic accountant with surprising skills much more than expected. Good escapist entertainment with some nice character development. The twists are pretty easy to spot miles away, but it didn't affect my enjoyment.

Final Grade: B

Game of Thrones, Season Six:
I was bored for most of this season and I'm glad that the later episodes started showing hints of all of the disparate plot lines starting to come together. Also, how narrow is the Narrow Sea? Seems like everyone started crossing it in minutes once the plots demanded that people be on both continents in successive scenes.

Final Grade: B-

You're the Worst, Season Two:
Season Two is still very profane and funny but with a more serious storyline about a character's depression. I normally don't like shows with morally empty main characters, but the sides characters like Edgar counterbalance the general meanness. The side plot involving a fake rapper grudge was my favourite part of the season.

Final Grade: B

Memory Day: Snapshots

This picture was taken 3 years ago today, on March, 3, 2018.

Maia was about 8 months old and in the awkward phase where she wasn't quite crawling yet. While this was a good time for making sure she didn't get away, it required a lot more intervention to move and position her (or her toys) to reset her rapidly decreasing interest meter.

This particular use of a Walmart mirror of questionable construction integrity probably lasted for about 3 minutes before she needed a new experience.

Thesis Day

It has now been exactly 20 years since I defended my Master's Thesis at FSU. To commemorate this milestone, I've put together this score video of the piece from start to finish.

I've done very little with my music degrees since leaving grad school. Apart from a few sub-in trumpet performances and brass quintet arrangements for my dad, I've been content to be a passive consumer of music rather than a creator. In contrast, I've made at least a million dollars with my computer science degree, most of which went towards Popeyes meals and boxed DVD sets of bad TV shows.

Learn more about each movement: I | II | III | IV | V | VI | VII | VIII | IX