Independence Day 2009

Welcome to a late, long overdue post on my poor, neglected blog!

So last Saturday was the fourth of July, which means get-togethers, barbeque, celebrating independence, and fireworks. Last year, I mainly tried to take pictures of the festivities, which didn't turn out too well. Even trying as hard as I could, my less-than-steady hands were no match for a long exposure time.

This year, though, I was prepared; I brought the old, trusty, slightly broken tripod! It worked wonderfully, but my timing was off on a lot of the shots. Also, it started raining right after I got into position, so I had to move into the garage and try to shoot at more of an angle. You can see part of my parents' house in some of the pictures...

Overall, I got some pretty decent ones that I'm happy with. They're a lot less squiggly than last year's. This last one was of those things that you set on the ground and they spin and shoot up into the air, showering sparks everywhere. I think it's a neat shot.


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Now playing: Nicola Fasano vs. Pat Rich - 76 Ocean Drive (Apache Vocal Mix)
via FoxyTunes

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Rules for St. Patrick's Day:

1. Drink lots of Guinness.
2. Have fun.
3. More Guinness.
4. Wear green!
5. Meet Smithwick, Bailey and Jameson.
   
6. Be safe.
7. Guinness!
   

Not necessarily in that order... You get the point.

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Now playing: Dropkick Murphys - The Rocky Road To Dublin
via FoxyTunes

Onion Rings

The other day, I was invited to a friend's house for a Spring Break cookout. He grilled buffalo wings and I fried up some onion rings. Wings and rings! It was good times. And in typical tradition, I made way too much food.

The recipe is quite simple, but really? You don't need anything else. Onion rings shouldn't be overly complicated. I like them stringy and messy and delicious with lots of ketchup and these were perfect. The only problem was in using the fryer I borrowed from my mom. I put way too many in the basket at a time. It was pretty much impossible to stir and the result was a collection of onion ring bricks. We tore into them anyway and everyone loved it.


One thing I substituted: I used chipotle chili pepper powder instead of the cayenne pepper in the recipe. I just happened to have it on hand - it worked well enough. To be honest, I'm not sure if there's much of a difference as I'm not into spicy food that much.

If... no, when I make these again, I'll probably just use a large pan. You'd probably have a lot more control over the rings that way so they won't stick together. The recipe (with one onion) will serve 4-5 pretty easily depending on the size of the onion. Or you can use two like in the picture and have a ton leftover. They were good the next day, too. Oh, one more note, when she says to go nuts with the pepper grinder, do it! You need an awful lot before it shows up in the flavor.

Recipe courtesy The Pioneer Woman Cooks. Go check her site out; I've found a ton of recipes I've bookmarked to try sometime.

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Now playing: Gogol Bordello - Smarkatch
via FoxyTunes

Mr. T is the "T" in I.T.

This is it, my friends. The shining pinnacle of everything awesome I've had the fortune to witness, compressed in a 3-minute, 23-second video.



There's nothing more to say.

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Now playing: Franz Ferdinand - No You Girls
via FoxyTunes

Typefaces & Misc

This is one of the most awesome things I've ever seen.

When I was big into graphic design (seems like ages ago) I would search for hours on end for just the right set of characters for what I was making. However, I've never actually purchased any. All the typefaces I've used were available for free. I sort of feel bad about that; I mean, I don't even have Helvetica! That's pretty much a sin for typeface enthusiasts.

Thanks to David Malki ! for the link.

My love for typefaces goes hand in hand with my fondness of calligraphy. I've even created a couple calligraphy hands just for fun. At one point I looked into turning it into an actual typeface. It seemed like a lot of work at the time, but maybe there are some different tools available now. I might check it out again now that I'm all interested. If I have time. That seems to be in short supply these days.

In other news, HurleyCon went well! I didn't end up with my own table, but I helped set up, tear down, and I ran the concession table pretty much all day. My original plan was to sell chainmail jewelry, but my partner in crime couldn't make it, so we just scrapped the idea. Next year I'll be ready though. I didn't have enough time to make enough pieces for an entire table myself. I certainly tried though! (That is mainly why I haven't been blogging lately).

At the convention, I was able to hang out with some of the artists I knew, and I met some new ones. Several were coloring their artwork with watercolor and it looked amazing! So now I have a renewed interest in drawing and coloring. I got a watercolor starter kit to try it out and see if I like it. I sketched something up really quick and took the paints to it. For a first try I don't think it's too bad! The ink smeared from the eraser though, so it looks kinda bad. I definitely need to work on technique (especially evenness) with the paint. Also, I need to develop a feel for how much of a color I need to mix up for a certain part. Needing more purple when all you've got is red and blue and the section is only half done is bad news.

More news and maybe some pictures soon!

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Now playing: Polysics - I My Me Mine
via FoxyTunes

Vacation Pictures Episode 4

So here's the final set of pictures that I'd like to share from our family vacation. This set contains a bunch of tropical flowers, most taken with the macro setting. I love that setting as some people know. Anyway, I don't know the names of some of the flowers, so I'm just gonna post 'em.



Oh yeah Happy Valentine's Day I guess.

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Now playing: The Fratellis - Flathead
via FoxyTunes

Google Reader Sharing

Just added a new widget to the blog - Shared Items from Google Reader. I never really understood the point of sharing items from my reader unless I actually went around telling people about it. Now there's a little box on my blog that shows the five most recent items, so that's pretty cool. I come across a lot of neat stuff in my reader and I always end up emailing it to people.

It reminds me of an interesting article I read a while ago (5 minutes on Google and I couldn't find it, oh well) that compared Twitter with email and instant messaging. The basic premise was that email was a fairly heavy medium. Most people feel compelled to respond to email (that isn't spam anyway) since the author obviously took time to write out his or her thoughts and send them to a specific person. But there's also some pressure to take time for composition, spelling checks, revisions, that sort of thing. Instant messaging holds a similar demand, but the response must be immediate. This can lead to potential miscommunication and/or frustration. Putting something on Twitter (or, to relate it to this post - a Reader Share box) doesn't ask for a reply, at least not nearly as much as other internet social media. Simply putting it out there is usually enough; if the audience decides to respond, that avenue is open, but it's not expected.

I'd actually like something like this for YouTube videos. I'm always sending links to those to people I know. Heck, there's probably something already out there that does it. If not, maybe I'll look into how difficult it would be to make something like that. Could be a fun project.

tl;dr - I probably think about social networking way too much to be healthy.

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Now playing: The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army
via FoxyTunes

Vacation Pictures Episode 3

It's no secret that I love taking pictures of clouds and sunsets. So this post really just couldn't be helped.


The sunsets on Oahu didn't really cooperate with me too well. The first picture up there was taking while driving around there one day, but we didn't really catch any great views on that island.


The other three pictures were all taken on Maui. I was worried that we wouldn't be able to catch a sunset since it rained a lot, but it always seemed to clear up just before the sun started going down. We didn't see any really spectacular, calendar-quality ones, but I'm quite happy with the shots I ended up with since I was able to enjoy them with my family.


Okay, so I didn't post once a week, but I still got 4 posts for the month of January! That counts, doesn't it? I'll work on discipline throughout February I guess. I've still got a round of photos from the trip that I want to post. Also, I've been gearing up for a convention in March where I'll be selling the chainmail jewelry I alluded to in a previous post. So I'll have a bunch of pictures of the pieces I've finished so far that I'd like to blog about.

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Now playing: Jason Mraz - I'm Yours
via FoxyTunes

Chrono Trigger

I'm a big fan of role-playing video games. Especially 2D, 3/4-view ones. Chrono Trigger, originally released in 1995, is one of my favorites. Definitely top 3. So when I heard news that it was being re-re-released for the Nintendo DS, I was quite excited.

I've been playing it for a while now, and I've noticed some things that I really like, and some things that I'm not too keen about.

The good:
The art and gameplay are as good as ever. The animated cutscenes created for the PSX re-release have been included. The menu system doesn't take 5 seconds to load (this happened in the PSX version - not sure if it was just my copy but it was annoying). The use of the dual screens and touch screen is good. The battle menus are displayed below and can be operated by touch, but are still easier to use with the buttons.

The new content is neat. The first addition is a sort of minigame where you raise a monster and use it to fight in an arena. Your monster grows stronger through training, with more available areas being unlocked as you visit them in the main game. The battle system is fairly simple, with attacks going off automatically. Special attacks are triggered by giving your monster an item between rounds, which it may or may not use based on a "Trust" score. You can battle against the game or with a friend through DS wireless connection. Winning a bout versus the game will net you a prize - some of which are actually quite powerful.

There are also two new dungeons full of side quests. It's basically the same area in two different ages, so most of the quests involve travelling back or forth in time, acquiring an item, and taking it back to the right person. Semi-repetitive, but there's a decent storyline involved and some excellent rewards to be had.

The bad:
Really not too much to say here. As I mentioned above, the arena can hand out some extremely powerful prizes - I got a Prism Helm and Dress well before the Ocean Palace. I opted not to use them so as not to upset the balance of the game. The extra levels and equipment from the two new dungeons made the game play like I had powerleveled, which I really tried to avoid this time around.

The really big thing that irked me though - the retranslation. I didn't have any problems or complaints with the original translation, so I have no idea why they decided to change it. Names of techs and combos are almost all different. Personally, I think Triple Raid sounds a lot cooler than the updated "Triple Attack." A lot of the dialogue is changed as well, some of it to the point that the original feeling is lost. I remember when adding Magus to the party from the end of time, he'd say "Now we've got a winning team!" Now he spouts off something about not hesitating to kill everyone if they get in his way. I'm not sure which version took the creative liberties, but I really would have preferred it wasn't changed. It just feels like a betrayal to the spirit of the game to me.

All in all, I have no regrets in re-re-purchasing the game. Chrono Trigger truly is one of those timeless titles. I have no doubt that every generation of RPG players starting from the original release onward have been and will be captivated by the deep storyline, rich characters, amazing gameplay, and beautiful artwork and music.

And hey, maybe if SE gets enough good feedback from CT they'll finally make Chrono Break! One can hope...

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Now playing: Chrono Trigger - Battle With Magus
via FoxyTunes

Blog Anniversary

Wow, it's already been a year since I started this? And this is only the 38th post... Well, like I said in my last entry, hopefully that's going to change this year. Anyway, happy birthday Blurred Lines!


I've started working on a new layout for the blog. I wanted to have it ready for today, but my weekend was a lot busier than I anticipated. My brother is involved in mixed martial arts and had a fight on Saturday, which he won. He's actually quite good. From what I heard, there was a professional scout in the audience who talked to my brother's trainer about him. Exciting stuff.


This round of pictures is composed of general scenery we saw in Hawai‘i. I'm never satisfied with my photos because they never quite capture the scene as I remember it, but I guess that's the difference between looking at pictures and actually being there.


The most exciting thing we did in Hawai‘i was probably the snorkeling trip. The weather didn't hold out for us to go parasailing or take the giant zipline down a mountain. My dad bought a disposable underwater camera, but the pictures sadly didn't turn out too well. The company running the tour rented out nicer cameras, but it seemed kind of expensive and I really didn't know what to expect. Next time though, I'd definitely shell out for the rental.


I got a lot more familiar with my camera on this trip. I played around with the settings a lot more, and quite a few of my photos benefitted from the experimentation. I think it's fairly evident in the pictures for the next round - sunsets, clouds, etc. A lot of the shots were taken several times, all with different settings. It really gave me a feel for how things turn out just slightly differently with all the different options.


Anyway, thanks for reading, and hopefully this next year will be loads better than the last!

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Now playing: ai otsuka - Birthday Song
via FoxyTunes

Holiday Season Recap

-Statue of King Kamehameha I-

Hope everyone had fun over the holidays!

-Germaine's Luau Dancers-

One of my resolutions for the new year is to blog more. Looking at my post count for last year, I think at least one entry per week is doable. They might be shorter posts, maybe a few without pictures, just discussing current events or linking cool sites, but I would like to have more content here. Also! The blog turns a year old on the 12th! How exciting is that? I feel like I should do something special.

-Germaine's Luau Firedancer-
This was taken with the "Fireworks" setting - lots of light and long exposure.
They turned out to be some of my favorite pictures of the whole trip.

Anyway, the big news is that I spent Christmas with my family in Hawai‘i! We did visited some relatives and did all kinds of neat things. Lots of shopping and beach time, but we also went to a bunch of parks, did some snorkeling, attended a luau, and generally had a wonderful time.

-Manoa Falls-

I'm not sure how many pictures I actually took as I deleted ones that weren't that great as I went, but I ended up with about 500. I've got a bunch that I want to post, so I'll break them up into several posts. This one will be the more tourist-y type photos. The other categories will probably be landscapes, sunsets, and flowers.

Burger King serves Spam for breakfast!
It was delicious

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Now playing: Israel Kamakawiwo'ole - E Ala E
via FoxyTunes