Wow, things have changed since I first played Left 4 Dead 2. I was up at Valve in May, prior to the announcement, to get the scoop, and at that time I played through the entirety of The Parrish campaign, which was awesome because Valve only had the first two levels playable the following month at E3. Those two levels comprise the demo that’s available now, and Valve’s done some tinkering. The biggest change is the hazmat zombies don’t seem to be around anymore. Instead, we’ve got the new riot trooper zombie, who is awesomely tough because of all that armor. You can’t shoot them in the front; they’re only vulnerable from the rear. I also like the new weapons; they feel more “real” than the spray-and-pray guns of the first game. The visuals are also a lot more polished, but that’s not surprising since I played on builds that were compiled the morning that I visited. Can’t wait for the rest of the game.
About 20 years ago I amassed the entire Robotech RPG collection. I was a huge Robotech fan, and the RPG books from Palladium were absolutely wonderful. I never really played, but they were chock full of so much information and detail that they were pretty much must-haves if you were a fan. Then, I put them in storage when I went off to college. And–you can probably guess what’s coming–the parentals threw them out/sold them so they could turn my bedroom into a sewing room. Every now and then I get the urge to reform the collection for nostalgia’s sake, but complete sets rarely appear on eBay, and when they do the price isn’t worth it. You can’t even buy them from Palladium anymore because it ran out of stock in the early 90s and the books haven’t been reprinted since.
And then this week I found out that someone had scanned the books and turned them into PDFs. As soon as I discovered that I warmed up the bit torrent client and grabbed them. The quality is pretty good save for Book #1, which is a bit low-res but still totally readable. Ahhhh, 1989 here I come!
My father told me on today that he wants a Mac.
Really?
Said goodbye to a friend today. Rannie passed away from cancer on Sunday, at an age far too young. I had known her since her very first days at Linn PR more than a decade ago, and it’s not hyperbole to say she was the nicest, kindest, most thoughtful person I’ve ever met in this industry. You could tell just by the sheer number of people who stood in the hallway because the chapel was overflowing. I’ll consider myself a fortunate man if half so many people show up for my memorial service. Lots of familiar faces, some I’ve known since my very first days in this industry.
I also was able to hang out with a dear friend, Victoria, who flew up from Orange County for the service. I picked her up at the airport, which wasn’t easy considering the sudden shut down of the Bay Bridge the night before due to structural failure. Naturally, that resulted in havoc on the highway. Then it was off to breakfast at The Pork Store on Haight (delicious Eggs Benedict), then the rest of the morning and early afternoon spent at the wonderful California Academy of Sciences. The digital planetarium is absolutely fantastic, and there was a different presentation from what we had experienced last September, when EA held a Spore party at the place weeks before its grand opening. Back then, only the lobby and the planetarium were accessible. This time we got to check out the penguins getting fed, go atop the “living roof”, explore the tropical rain forest in the terrarium, and then check out the aquarium, which includes an American swampland exhibit complete with albino alligator.
Under the Sea
After that, it was off to the Legion of Honor to take in the views on an absolutely idyllic October day before we went to the memorial service. Then, I drove V back to the airport, once again dodging the traffic nightmare.
So I’m exhausted, physically and emotionally. And I’m both happy and sad.
According to websiteoutlook.com this site is worth $153.30
At this rate, I can retire is about a thousand years.
Downtown Seattle on an absolutely frigid winter day a few years ago. I went out on a ferry to Bainbridge Island a couple of days after Christmas and stood out on deck; despite being heavily clad the ice cold wind still managed to chill me to the bone. Not my smartest idea. I ended up getting horrendously ill that night.
As I was transferring my photo archive to Lightroom I stumbled upon these photos that I shot two years ago (April 28, 2007) at about 6 in the morning. I’m looking eastward, toward the rising sun and downtown San Francisco. There’s some really amazing cloud formations at work here. There appear to be airliner contrails at the top of the photo, but I’ve wondereed what’s causing that quill-like structure that’s descending toward the Pyramid. Anyway, this is what can happen when you wake up hideously early in the morning.
Here’s a panorama of the Bay Bridge. Taken from the rooftop of a friend’s Jackson Square condo. Click to embiggen!
Saw this Friday night and it’s a fantastic movie about a young British schoolgirl who gets caught up in a whirlwind affair with a much older man. Sounds kinky, yes, but it’s fascinating watching Jenny (an outstanding Carey Mulligan) wrestle with the temptations of a easy life, especially when compared to the day-to-day drudgery of school and family. Mulligan is a revelation, and it’s clear as to why she’s a favorite going into the awards season. The rest of the cast is spot on, including Alfred Molina, Olivia Williams, and Peter Sarsgaard as the older man. The movie portrays 1960s London effortlessly, and its Paris sequence is like a love letter to France. A definite recommendation.
Took this a couple of weeks ago from Crissy Field just after the Blue Angels wrapped up practice for the day.
I shot this one the day before, from the Marin Headlands. As always, click for the big versions.
