Thanksgiving

Nora and I ate Indian food and had beers at the premier dive bar in Seattle for Thanksgiving today. Then we came home and played some Lego Star Wars. It's been a good day.

The bar was The Blue Moon, which is a landmark in the University District which has served Jack Kerouac and countless others over the last several decades. They only accept cash, but have a cash machine which no doubt charges notable surcharges.

Iraq

I'm afraid that if we leave Iraq, the nation will erupt into genocidal civil war. We've already allowed this to happen in Rwanda and Darfur. While I also can't see what good we're doing there anymore, the situation most definitely could be worse.

Unfortunately, I don't think the United States can fix that situation, and I doubt the current administration will admit that we need help from other Middle East nations, and I'm not referring to Israel.

Gaming notes (Lego Star Wars, Pandora Tomorrow...)

I had been hankering for something different for my Xbox. I recently struggled with a few Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow levels, but found it immensely dissatisfying. I think my tolerance for gaming frustration is much lower than it was when I played the first of the franchise. I've been told that the third, Chaos whatever is better, and its been very well reviewed, so I may eventually try that one. Maybe I just don't like stealth games. I may also try Thief when I'm feeling ready.

Prior to that I played and enjoyed Ultimate Hulk. It is what it should be: a large, sprawling Rampage for the next generation. I still haven't finished it, there's only so much tearing shit up that a gamer can do at a time. I do see myself returning to wrap it up and explore the unlockables.

Gun was a lot of fun as well. It delivered on the western shootout themes and high drama of the revenge tale. I don't know if the game's early portrayals of the American Indian was a parody of early movie portrayals, and therefore intenionally offensive, or if it was merely lazy with its ugly portrayal. Later in the game, the indian characters are fleshed out in interesting ways, so the game designers don't seem to have a racist agenda.

Cut to Friday, and my desire for something different: I bought Lego Star Wars. Usually anything from the Star Wars franchise is very much 'more of the same' even when well executed and exciting. This, however, is a departure from the others. Most importantly, this game is playable by novices and advanced gamers, and offers much to all styles of play. If you want to burn through the missions, destroy robots and other villainy, destroying the forces of evil with your light saber, you can do that. If you don't care for the violence all that much, you can spend time poking into the corners of each level, solving puzzles and finding ship parts.

The two-player game play isn't optimal, and the camera is not controllable by the players and ranges from okay to awful. Since both characters must stay on the same screen at the same time (no split screen) Gauntlet style, I've found it's easiest if one players follows the other, even during exploration. This limits the open, exploration available during single player mode.

The characters don't speak, so Jar Jar's return is palatable, and even enjoyable. Jar Jar jumps good.

I returned to video gaming four years ago, a few months after I'd met my (now) wife. I can remember her touching my X-Box controllers exactly one time, and that was to play Tetris. Lego Star Wars convinced her to try gaming again. While I don't think she'll ever be interested in Halo 2, or Gears of War, I forsee the purchase of Lego Star Wars II in our future.

Life

Life is really interesting right now. I'm recently married. I started a job two months ago, and am really getting into the swing of my new work (even though it's still difficult). We have a diabetic cat, that we give shots to twice per day. My car died, and instead of replacing it, I'm going carless for the first time since 1992. It's all about the motorcycle, the bus, Flexcar, and the occasional rental.

So far, it's working. Getting the diabetic to the vet for his glucose checks is a challenge for a few reasons. It usually adds up to running around to the flex car, back home, to the vet, back home, to drop off the flex car, and off to work. And the cat hates the whole process. They love him there because he's quiet and docile, but it really stresses him out.

It's interesting to see how cranky he gets when his sugars are low. We were wondering why he was the way he was. He's generally much easier to get along with nowadays.

Researchers identify "male warrior effect"

NORWICH (Reuters) - Men may have developed a psychology that makes them particularly able to engage in wars, a scientist said on Friday.

New research has shown that men bond together and cooperate well in the face of adversity to protect their interests more than women, which could explain why war is almost exclusively a male business, according to Professor Mark van Vugt of the University of Kent in southern England.

While the theory makes sense to me, the study is a little abstract:

In experiments with 300 university men and women students, Van Vugt and his team gave the volunteers small sums of money which they could either keep or invest in a common fund that would be doubled and equally divided. None of the students knew what the others were doing.

Both sexes cooperated in investing in the fund. But when the groups were told they were competing against other universities, the males were more eager to invest rather than keep their money while the number of women contributing remained the same.

Extrapolating a male warrior effect is consistent with the findings, but is a bit of a stretch given the nature of the study.

Draft Results, Part II

Here is the result of my draft in a different format. Parenthesis indicate overall pick order.
Zombie Robot Pirates
1. (9) C. Portis
2. (16) C. Williams
3. (33) D. Davis
4. (40) M. Hasselbeck
5. (57) D. Mason
6. (64) D. Branch
7. (81) D. Rhodes
8. (88) M. Muhammad
9. (105) D. Stallworth
10. (112) B. Favre
11. (129) K. Winslow
12. (136) J. Brown
13. (153) Denver

ebay and half.com disputes

I recently had a dispute with seller "vgamestklopp" on half.com regarding Steel Battalion. This seller didn't specify that the controller was not included, listed the condition as 'like new' and refused to give me a refund.

The good news is, the half.com dispute resolution system seems to be working. They've promised to refund my money, once confirmation of the returned item is received. It is a very slow system, but that's not so bad. At least I didn't have to go the credit card rejection of charges route.

Just a few days ago, I had another run in, this time with a buyer on ebay. "nirvrock_96" bid on some tickets I had listed, then refused to pay. The event came and went, so the tickets quickly became useless and were wasted. I even had another bidder lined up. This guy even had the audacity to request that I not leave negative feedback, after he backed out of the deal and cost me money. Really, he's the very embodiment of a bad buyer.

I haven't decided about feedback yet, but I definitely will report him as a non paying bidder.

Fantasy Draft

I'm the commissioner for my Fantasy Football league this year (doesn't it all sound vaguely dirty?), and we had our draft last night. This was the fastest yet, and took a little over an hour, even though we're a 12 team league. We did a standard serpentine draft, and the lower the draft order, the lower your waiver number to start the season. Here is a report of the evening's activity:
Round 1
1 L. Johnson Kirk Reynold...
2 S. Alexander igavechewysy...
3 L. Tomlinson Jersey Jackoffs
4 T. Barber Joga Bonita
5 P. Manning The Hyper-Hypos
6 E. James Bow Down to ...
7 L. Fitzgerald team homer
8 R. Johnson It's On!!
9 C. Portis Zombie Robot...
10 L. Jordan Get Fly
11 S. Jackson When Lobster...
12 R. Brown Jackhammers
Round 2
1 W. Parker Jackhammers
2 C. Palmer When Lobster...
3 T. Brady Get Fly
4 C. Williams Zombie Robot...
5 S. Smith It's On!!
6 C. Johnson team homer
7 J. Jones Bow Down to ...
8 A. Gates The Hyper-Hypos
9 T. Holt Joga Bonita
10 W. McGahee Jersey Jackoffs
11 T. Owens igavechewysy...
12 J. Addai Kirk Reynold...
Round 3
1 R. Droughns Kirk Reynold...
2 B. Westbrook igavechewysy...
3 J. Delhomme Jersey Jackoffs
4 A. Boldin Joga Bonita
5 N. Rackers The Hyper-Hypos
6 M. Harrison Bow Down to ...
7 W. Dunn team homer
8 C. Chambers It's On!!
9 D. Davis Zombie Robot...
10 R. Bush Get Fly
11 Sa. Moss When Lobster...
12 J. Walker Jackhammers
Round 4
1 H. Ward Jackhammers
2 R. Moss When Lobster...
3 R. Wayne Get Fly
4 M. Hasselbeck Zombie Robot...
5 D. Foster It's On!!
6 D. McAllister team homer
7 T. Gonzalez Bow Down to ...
8 Chicago The Hyper-Hypos
9 C. Dillon Joga Bonita
10 Ro. Williams Jersey Jackoffs
11 E. Manning igavechewysy...
12 T. Heap Kirk Reynold...
Round 5
1 T. Houshmandzadeh Kirk Reynold...
2 D. Jackson igavechewysy...
3 P. Burress Jersey Jackoffs
4 D. Culpepper Joga Bonita
5 K. Jones The Hyper-Hypos
6 D. Brees Bow Down to ...
7 C. Taylor team homer
8 D. McNabb It's On!!
9 D. Mason Zombie Robot...
10 Ro. Smith Get Fly
11 M. Bell When Lobster...
12 K. Warner Jackhammers
Round 6
1 C. Cooley Jackhammers
2 J. Horn When Lobster...
3 D. Driver Get Fly
4 D. Branch Zombie Robot...
5 A. Crumpler It's On!!
6 S. McNair team homer
7 L. Evans Bow Down to ...
8 J. Galloway The Hyper-Hypos
9 C. Benson Joga Bonita
10 A. Green Jersey Jackoffs
11 J. Shockey igavechewysy...
12 T. Green Kirk Reynold...
Round 7
1 A. Johnson Kirk Reynold...
2 J. Lewis igavechewysy...
3 J. Witten Jersey Jackoffs
4 D. Bledsoe Joga Bonita
5 T. Bell The Hyper-Hypos
6 N. Burleson Bow Down to ...
7 K. Barlow team homer
8 E. Kennison It's On!!
9 D. Rhodes Zombie Robot...
10 R. McMichael Get Fly
11 A. Vinatieri When Lobster...
12 C. Brown Jackhammers
Round 8
1 K. McCardell Jackhammers
2 Washington When Lobster...
3 K. Johnson Get Fly
4 M. Muhammad Zombie Robot...
5 F. Gore It's On!!
6 H. Miller team homer
7 J. Plummer Bow Down to ...
8 F. Taylor The Hyper-Hypos
9 L. Smith Joga Bonita
10 L. Coles Jersey Jackoffs
11 Carolina igavechewysy...
12 New York Kirk Reynold...
Round 9
1 M. Vanderjagt Kirk Reynold...
2 M. Bulger igavechewysy...
3 J. Feely Jersey Jackoffs
4 Mi. Clayton Joga Bonita
5 R. Brown The Hyper-Hypos
6 D. Bennett Bow Down to ...
7 T. Glenn team homer
8 B. Leftwich It's On!!
9 D. Stallworth Zombie Robot...
10 S. Graham Get Fly
11 B. Watson When Lobster...
12 Seattle Jackhammers
Round 10
1 D. Akers Jackhammers
2 T. Jones When Lobster...
3 Pittsburgh Get Fly
4 B. Favre Zombie Robot...
5 L. Maroney It's On!!
6 Indianapolis team homer
7 L. White Bow Down to ...
8 B. Roethlisberger The Hyper-Hypos
9 Ma. Jones Joga Bonita
10 M. Moore Jersey Jackoffs
11 J. Elam igavechewysy...
12 Mi. Vick Kirk Reynold...
Round 11
1 R. Dayne Kirk Reynold...
2 T. Duckett igavechewysy...
3 Baltimore Jersey Jackoffs
4 V. Davis Joga Bonita
5 L. Betts The Hyper-Hypos
6 Cincinnati Bow Down to ...
7 P. Rivers team homer
8 D. Williams It's On!!
9 K. Winslow Zombie Robot...
10 M. Barber Get Fly
11 B. Lloyd When Lobster...
12 B. Volek Jackhammers
Round 12
1 M. Booker Jackhammers
2 Tampa Bay When Lobster...
3 M. Brunell Get Fly
4 J. Brown Zombie Robot...
5 Miami It's On!!
6 N. Kaeding team homer
7 J. Gaffney Bow Down to ...
8 J. Porter The Hyper-Hypos
9 J. Kasay Joga Bonita
10 I. Bruce Jersey Jackoffs
11 E. Moulds igavechewysy...
12 K. Curtis Kirk Reynold...
Round 13
1 M. Anderson Kirk Reynold...
2 A. Lelie igavechewysy...
3 J. Wilkins Jersey Jackoffs
4 Atlanta Joga Bonita
5 Da. Clark The Hyper-Hypos
6 C. Henry Bow Down to ...
7 B. Troupe team homer
8 L. Tynes It's On!!
9 Denver Zombie Robot...
10 New England Get Fly
11 C. Simms When Lobster...
12 M. Lewis Jackhammers

A couple of the guys really do their own thing (Neil Rackers went in the third round), and I really tried to focus on fundamentals. Two of my draft choices are questionable: 1) I picked Carnell Williams in the second round, over Stephen Smith. Mine was the safer pick, especially now that Smith has Keyshawn to balance the Carolina receiving corps. Still, he was so stellar last year, and Carnell has significant injury problems, that I really could have gone either way. 2) I probably wouldn't have drafted Deion Branch until later if I'd known he was given permission to seek a trade earlier yesterday. I had my settings wrong, so the computer launched my pick before I could check for recent news.

Overall my later picks have great potential. Players like Muhsim Muhammed and Kellen Winslow didn't do much last year, but have obvious talent and could explode this year. I'm very pleased to have snagged Brett Favre for my #2 QB. Only two years ago he would have gone in the third round; if he can get his act together in a way that approaches his past glory, he was a steal in the 10th round. Alternately, if he falls behind consistently and keeps slinging the ball, that would be okay too.

Pictures from Hawaiian historical sites

Honeymoon pictures!

The First Wave of honeymoon pictures are up on Shutterfly.com. Anyone should be able to click the link and view our day at the volcano.

Joshua A Norton

Joshua A Norton was a supremely interesting figure who lived in San Francisco in the 19th century. One anectodte specifically caught my eye:

During the 1860s and 1870s there were a number of anti-Chinese demonstrations in the poorer districts of San Francisco, and ugly and fatal riots broke out on several occasions. During one such incident, Norton is alleged to have positioned himself between the rioters and their Chinese targets, and with a bowed head began to recite the Lord's Prayer repeatedly. Shamed, the rioters dispersed without incident.

Gaming gone adult

I'm not a true gamer geek. My tastes run in the comics and video game direction. Still, I have great sympathy and more than a passing interest in the activities of my paper gaming cousins.

I'm not sure what to make of this, but I think I like it.

Cars and Motorcycles, Robots and Mechs

Driving a car is a little like piloting a Battletech Mech. Lots of armor, lots of protection. There are ways to hurt yourself, but the human part is largely divorced from the outside world.

Mechs are BIG, powerful and a little ungainly.

Driving a motorcycle is more like piloting Tony Stark's Ultimate Iron Man Suit:

Wedding

Making the seating chart for the wedding is fun.

Mutant hunter or multi functional vibrator?

Rabbit Habbit!

Nimrod!

David Hasselhoff is God

It speaks for itself. Play the video and see God.

New tour visits the subcultures of old Seattle

This is really neat. The folks who run Seattle's Underground City tour are trialing a tour of Seattle's seedy and subversive history. I hope I can find time to go.

Many directions, some good

1. New motorcycle
2. 4th of July / neighborhood fireworks / two 'Mondays'
3. small claims court
4. second job interview
5. waiting for word re: new job
6. condo association project planning
7. condo meeting planning
8. wedding is around twenty days away
9. gave blood a couple days ago, and I'm still feeling 'drained'
10. some jackass on half.com ripped me off, so I've started a dispute
11. cash flow is tight (see 1 & 8)
12. my knee is still sore
    
13. the damned cat is itchy and should go to the vet

It's all a bit much.

Lean Blogs

I've found a few really good blogs that concern themselves almost entirely with Lean:

http://www.dailykaizen.org/ - is written by lean consultants who work for Group Health Cooperative here in Seattle.

http://www.gembapantarei.com/ - this is probably my favorite. This consulting group is also based in Seattle.

http://kanban.blogspot.com/ - this blog is a little less formal than the others and provides a wider variety of topics.

Motorcycle

I've riden about 18 miles on my new motorcycle. Two rides, no crashes, I call that a good start.

I still am working on remembering to cancel my turn signal, and I'm having a rough time with the gears at the beginning of the ride. I'm not sure if it's because the engine is cold, or if it's my own ability, or if it's a little of each. Maybe I'm accidentally shifting into neutral.

I'm getting better at starting and stopping and all that stuff.