Last year around this time, Gabe and Tycho of Penny Arcade rand across an article online that said, essentially, videogames are stupid and evil and all they do is teach kids to be stupid and evil. This, understandably, pissed them off. So they started Child's Play, a toy and donation drive for the Seattle Children's Hosptial. In about three months, they raised more than two-hundred fifty thousand dollars in toys games and cash for sick kids stuck in intensive care over the holidays. There was so much stuff, they had to move to a larger warehouse not once, not twice, but thrice. It started as a way to spite the people and media who look down on video games and video game culture, but ended up being one of the most worthwhile things I'd seen in a long time.
This year, they're doing it again, but they've expanded it to include children's hospitals in Oakland, San Diego, Houston and Washington, D.C.
Visit the Child's Play site. Check out the Amazon.com whishlists that each hospitial has set up and buy something for sick kid. Gifts range from four bucks for a coloring book, to $170 bucks for an XBox. They'll also take cash donations through PayPal.
Also, spread the word. If you have a site or a blog or whatever, tell people about Child's Play. If you're able to, donate some server space for the charity. If you're in the neighborhood of one of the hospitals, give them a call and see if you can volunteer your time in some other way. You'll feel good, I promise.
BTW, the guy who wrote the article apologized, and I soon as I figure out how, I'm gonna put a CP banner up instead of just a text link.
Saturday, October 30, 2004
Thursday, October 28, 2004
Pimpage
I am a big fan of webcomics. I think that it's an awesome medium for young artists and writers to flex their creative muscles and anyone who can pound out even the most mediocre, semi-regular webcomic has my respect. My wife and I have been talking about doing a webcomic for a long time, but have yet to put pen to paper.
I especially like when like when a webcomicist (I'm tossing that word around; see if it sticks. It's a little like 'publicist.') is able to take their hobby and turn it into something profitable, but this is extremely hard to do. For every Penny Arcade or PvP there are literally a thousand Supreme Auranations and Oriyans. Good comics, funny comics that simply don't have hundreds of thousands of readers every day. Some don't want webcomicry to be a full time thing while others are desperately trying to make enough money in the real world so they can keep doing the thing they love. Tahuid Bondia is one of the latter. Tahuid is on the verge of obtaining the Holy Grail of webcomics: Syndication. Together with writer Eric McCurdy they have a brand new comic called Suzie View up on Comics.com, which is the internet arm of United Media. Some United Media alums include For Better or Worse, Get Fuzzy and Peanuts. Suzie View has been very well received by the internet viewers and there is talk of syndication in printed media. Tahuid has recently quit his job to devote all his time to Suzie View and his other really excellent webcomic, Spells and Whistles. He is very close to living the webcomicist's dream, but needs help. He need everyone who reads this to also read Spells and Whistles and Suzie Veiw. If you like Suzie View, write you local paper and tell them to request it on their comics page. If you like S&W, buy some swag. As soon as he gets some. For my part, I'm pimping him here, and am adding him to my links table.
Good luck Tahuid. I'm pulling for you.
I especially like when like when a webcomicist (I'm tossing that word around; see if it sticks. It's a little like 'publicist.') is able to take their hobby and turn it into something profitable, but this is extremely hard to do. For every Penny Arcade or PvP there are literally a thousand Supreme Auranations and Oriyans. Good comics, funny comics that simply don't have hundreds of thousands of readers every day. Some don't want webcomicry to be a full time thing while others are desperately trying to make enough money in the real world so they can keep doing the thing they love. Tahuid Bondia is one of the latter. Tahuid is on the verge of obtaining the Holy Grail of webcomics: Syndication. Together with writer Eric McCurdy they have a brand new comic called Suzie View up on Comics.com, which is the internet arm of United Media. Some United Media alums include For Better or Worse, Get Fuzzy and Peanuts. Suzie View has been very well received by the internet viewers and there is talk of syndication in printed media. Tahuid has recently quit his job to devote all his time to Suzie View and his other really excellent webcomic, Spells and Whistles. He is very close to living the webcomicist's dream, but needs help. He need everyone who reads this to also read Spells and Whistles and Suzie Veiw. If you like Suzie View, write you local paper and tell them to request it on their comics page. If you like S&W, buy some swag. As soon as he gets some. For my part, I'm pimping him here, and am adding him to my links table.
Good luck Tahuid. I'm pulling for you.
Sunday, October 24, 2004
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
Thursday, October 14, 2004
Way To Go, Baby
Even though I casually tossed out the news of our impending child like a penny found in the dryer, it really is huge, life-altering news, and will likely be the subject of many posts to come. If I haven't mentioned it already, my wife is due around May 30. Due dates can always be plus or minus a week or two, which means there is a chance the baby could arrive on my birthday, June 15. That would be cool.
So far, I've learned that once you announce a pregnancy, the number of would-be obstetricians you know goes up markedly. Everyone is suddenly an expert, or has some kind of advice to impart. My father assures me that this will only get worse as time goes on. I was even given birthing advice by a man who didn't even get married until his late 40s and, to my knowledge, has never raised so much as a goldfish. I politely thanked him for the info, as I knew he, and so many others, are only acting in our best interest.
My wife has become very susceptible to advertising, particularly any advertising involving food, but only for a short time. (Upon hearing this, a coworker with a kid of her own said, "Just wait until she starts crying for no reason.") Case in point, it was late and she was very hungry, so we went to a local IHOP. As we were looking over the menu, she complained about all the pancakes on the menu. I asked her if she knew what the 'p' in 'IHOP' stood for. She said she did, but followed that with, "I don't like pancakes." The waitress arrived and Nomi asked what could be done about all the dishes that come with pancakes. The waitress began to explain that toast or hash browns could be substituted, but Nomi cut her off saying, "You're taking too long answering my question. I'm having the biscuits and gravy," which does not come with pancakes.
My shrimp arrived, as did Nomi's dish, which came with two eggs and two sausage links as well. She ate the eggs and half a sausage and suddenly did not feel well and couldn't eat anything else. My wife pushed the plate away and lay her head down on the table, where she got a whiff of the syrup jars kept there and said, "Ohhh! I want pancakes!"
So far, I've learned that once you announce a pregnancy, the number of would-be obstetricians you know goes up markedly. Everyone is suddenly an expert, or has some kind of advice to impart. My father assures me that this will only get worse as time goes on. I was even given birthing advice by a man who didn't even get married until his late 40s and, to my knowledge, has never raised so much as a goldfish. I politely thanked him for the info, as I knew he, and so many others, are only acting in our best interest.
My wife has become very susceptible to advertising, particularly any advertising involving food, but only for a short time. (Upon hearing this, a coworker with a kid of her own said, "Just wait until she starts crying for no reason.") Case in point, it was late and she was very hungry, so we went to a local IHOP. As we were looking over the menu, she complained about all the pancakes on the menu. I asked her if she knew what the 'p' in 'IHOP' stood for. She said she did, but followed that with, "I don't like pancakes." The waitress arrived and Nomi asked what could be done about all the dishes that come with pancakes. The waitress began to explain that toast or hash browns could be substituted, but Nomi cut her off saying, "You're taking too long answering my question. I'm having the biscuits and gravy," which does not come with pancakes.
My shrimp arrived, as did Nomi's dish, which came with two eggs and two sausage links as well. She ate the eggs and half a sausage and suddenly did not feel well and couldn't eat anything else. My wife pushed the plate away and lay her head down on the table, where she got a whiff of the syrup jars kept there and said, "Ohhh! I want pancakes!"
Friday, October 08, 2004
A Blogger's Miscellaney
You know what you never see anymore? Playground equipment made out of old tractor tires.
I like Bill Maher, but only when he's not on his show. When he's on his show, it's mostly about him being right and his guests being wrong. (True story, during the last episode of Politically Incorrect I saw, which featured an all female, all black panel, Bill would not admit that he did not know what it was like to be a black woman in America today.) But on Last Call the other night, he had an interesting point about about food. Basically, he said that food can kill you just as easily as any drug. He also said that getting gastric bypass surgery to lose weight is like quitting cocaine by super-gluing your nostrils shut; it doesn't really solve your problem.
Conan will be taking over from Leno in a few years. I hope the higher profile time slot doesn't cause him to mellow out.
This really deserves a full post of it's own, but my wife is pregnant. It was suspected for a few days, and confirmed earlier this week. She is due somewhere in the neighborhood of May 30th. More details as they are made available.
Soul Calibur II's 'Extremely Hard' mode does not fuck around.
Something else that probably deserves a full-blown post, my wife and I just celebrated our one year anniversary. We had a pot luck lunch in our back yard with friends and family. The weather was awesome, and a good time was had by all.
Allow me to paraphrase my Grandfather: Summer and Winter are nothing to shout about in the Treasure Valley. Summer is just hot and dry, and the mercury will break 100 on a daily basis, for weeks on end. Winter is cold with hardly any snow. What little snow we get, is immediately followed by either rain, or warm day. But Spring and Fall, especially Fall, are done right. For the last three weeks or so, we've days in the 70s, and nights in the 50s. Not too hot to go get stuff done, and warm long evenings, though those will come to an abrupt halt once Daylight Saving time ends. The leaves are just hitting their prime, and it is a golden opportunity to hit the Greenbelt. If you have a bike and any time whatsoever to spare, I insist you take a trip along the river; your soul will thank you for it. I suggest you park your car at Ann Morrison Park, cross to the North side of the river, then head down stream. You'll pass through Shoreline Park and Veterans Memorial Park. That's not a bad place to turn around, but you really should continue on to Willow Lane Athletic Complex. The cottonwood, oaks, maples and black walnuts particularly, are absolutely stunning. Since you've gone all that way, you might as well head down to Glenwood bridge area; the path runs along some very cool wetlands preserves (I'll bet you didn't know Boise had wetlands!). The trip I just described is about 10 miles round trip, so you may not want to tackle it all at once if you don't bike a lot, but trust me, even a portion of the trip is worth it.
I like Bill Maher, but only when he's not on his show. When he's on his show, it's mostly about him being right and his guests being wrong. (True story, during the last episode of Politically Incorrect I saw, which featured an all female, all black panel, Bill would not admit that he did not know what it was like to be a black woman in America today.) But on Last Call the other night, he had an interesting point about about food. Basically, he said that food can kill you just as easily as any drug. He also said that getting gastric bypass surgery to lose weight is like quitting cocaine by super-gluing your nostrils shut; it doesn't really solve your problem.
Conan will be taking over from Leno in a few years. I hope the higher profile time slot doesn't cause him to mellow out.
This really deserves a full post of it's own, but my wife is pregnant. It was suspected for a few days, and confirmed earlier this week. She is due somewhere in the neighborhood of May 30th. More details as they are made available.
Soul Calibur II's 'Extremely Hard' mode does not fuck around.
Something else that probably deserves a full-blown post, my wife and I just celebrated our one year anniversary. We had a pot luck lunch in our back yard with friends and family. The weather was awesome, and a good time was had by all.
Allow me to paraphrase my Grandfather: Summer and Winter are nothing to shout about in the Treasure Valley. Summer is just hot and dry, and the mercury will break 100 on a daily basis, for weeks on end. Winter is cold with hardly any snow. What little snow we get, is immediately followed by either rain, or warm day. But Spring and Fall, especially Fall, are done right. For the last three weeks or so, we've days in the 70s, and nights in the 50s. Not too hot to go get stuff done, and warm long evenings, though those will come to an abrupt halt once Daylight Saving time ends. The leaves are just hitting their prime, and it is a golden opportunity to hit the Greenbelt. If you have a bike and any time whatsoever to spare, I insist you take a trip along the river; your soul will thank you for it. I suggest you park your car at Ann Morrison Park, cross to the North side of the river, then head down stream. You'll pass through Shoreline Park and Veterans Memorial Park. That's not a bad place to turn around, but you really should continue on to Willow Lane Athletic Complex. The cottonwood, oaks, maples and black walnuts particularly, are absolutely stunning. Since you've gone all that way, you might as well head down to Glenwood bridge area; the path runs along some very cool wetlands preserves (I'll bet you didn't know Boise had wetlands!). The trip I just described is about 10 miles round trip, so you may not want to tackle it all at once if you don't bike a lot, but trust me, even a portion of the trip is worth it.
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