Mélange

Free Comic Book Day!

2009-04-16T16:42:00.001-07:00

Come and join us at Tony's Kingdom of Comics in Keizer, Oregon on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 for Free Comic Book Day!!! Enjoy free comics, artists, creators, and a whole slew of costumed people to have your picture taken with. 10AM to 7PM! Be there!

Greg Raymer on Fox

2009-03-14T09:40:00.000-07:00

Greg Raymer (a former attorney and 2004 WSOP Champion) tells Fox Business News that he thinks the UIGEA doesn't apply to online poker. He also lays out some of the benefits that regulating and formally legalizing online poker could bring to the U.S. economy.

Watchmen Movie Review

2009-03-07T15:43:00.000-08:00

I review Watchmen on my comic blog:

http://comicsimo.blogspot.com/2009/03/watchmen-movie-review.html

Kids playing in the snow!

2008-12-15T19:39:00.000-08:00

Video of the kids playing in the snow today:

Coolest iPhone app!

2008-11-15T15:20:00.000-08:00

Okay, I thought Shazam was pretty cool (and it is), but this new app for the iPhone has taken it's place as the coolest app I've ever seen. Ocarina is a musical instrument for your iPhone! Here is a clip of me attempting (very poorly) to play Amazing Grace on my iPhone Ocarina instrument:

I'll practice more when I have more time and try and make a better video. This video was taken after playing with it for about 5 minutes...

The Bailout - How much is $700B???

2008-10-03T14:24:00.000-07:00

I was reading about the bailout being passed and got to thinking... just how big is $700B? So, to try and grasp how big it is, I had to write it out:

$700,000,000,000.00

That didn't do it for me. I can't imagine a number that big. I had to break it down further. So, I got to thinking how I could do that. I was looking at that number and thought, "Have I even lived that many seconds?" The answer is, "no."

This was how I made that huge number understandable:

28.66 <- Years I've been alive

10,460.9 <- Days I've been alive

152,061.6 <- Hours I've been alive

15,063,696 <- Minutes I've been alive

903,821,760 <- Seconds I've been alive

0.9B seconds... that means to get up to $700B, it would be like handing out $774.49 every SECOND I've been alive.

Pardon me while I faint from shock.

Yes, I checked my math. Do the same math, and for every second McCain has been alive it's only $307 ;)

Ok... just had to share that visualization of $700B with you all.

Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane

2008-09-23T17:20:00.000-07:00

The first 2 issues of Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane (season 2) are out and I finally got around to reading them. Terry Moore is the author and that was my main reason for picking this title up. I'll admit it, I'm a Terry Moore fanboy now. After reading the first 5 issues of Echo and the first 6 trade paperbacks of Strangers In Paradise, I'll be reading anything Terry Moore writes. He's a fantastic writer. He really knows how to make stories personal. His stories are not your typical superhero action comics with very little character development. After reading just the first issue of one of his series, I feel very connected to the character(s). And it's no different for Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane.

The first series of this title was written by someone else and the art had an almost manga style to it, so I steered clear. It also looked like it was marketed towards teenage girls. I am not a teenage girl. I avoided it. But, since Terry Moore has picked up writing the current series, I decided to give it a whirl. Boy am I glad I did.

Yes, this is probably marketed to teenage girls, but that doesn't make it not good. It is a fun, clean, all-ages comic. That is rare these days. It's good story-telling and fantastic art. Here is the cover of issue #2:
So, yeah, I like it. I'm anxiously awaiting issue #3. The first two issues came out right on schedule - it's a monthly title. Since this is a mainstream Marvel title, hopefully they will stick to that schedule. Echo, Terry Moore's sci-fi title put out by Abstract Studios, has not been so regular. Echo has been coming out about every 6 weeks or so. And even that is not bad at all when compared to All-Star Batman & Robin or Fell (almost a year between issue #8 and #9 of Fell). When books come out that irregularly, it almost makes me want to not buy the issues and just wait the 2 years for the trade paperback to come out. But that won't happen :) The new issue comes out and I'm so excited that all past history is forgotten. LOL

Anyway, back to Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane. Mary Jane is the main character in this story. She and Peter Parker are sophomores in high school. It deals with high-school-type issues and is very much about the people, not so much whatever is going on in the story. Aunt May, J. Jameson, and the like are simply side-characters and we don't see much of them at all. This story revolves around Mary Jane and her experiences in high school.

It's a fun read. Not your typical capes and cowls superhero story. I'm liking it :)

Happy International Talk Like a Pirate Day

2008-09-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

09-f9-11-02-9d-74-e3-5b-d8-41-56-c5-63-56-88-c0

Event at Tony's Kingdom of Comics

2008-09-12T20:25:00.000-07:00

My good buddy, Tony, is having a food fund-raiser event at his comic shop in Keizer on Sunday, September 21st. I encourage everyone that will be nearby to come over and check it out. I'll be taking my kids to have pictures taken with the Dark Side Troopers. Mikayla had a lot of fun last time having her picture taken with Jedi :) Maybe this year she'll get to see a storm trooper! There will be artists doing sketches too! Bring in some canned food to help the Keizer Food Bank and you can take home free comics :) Should be a lot of fun!

My Dark Knight movie review

2008-07-19T09:49:00.000-07:00

Progress on the Arcade Cabinet

2008-07-11T08:35:00.000-07:00

I have been working on the arcade cabinet the last couple nights with Zach up in Sherwood. All my photos/videos are posted on my Phone Blog here.

Here is one video showing our progress:

Fireworks! And Lily

2008-07-06T19:51:00.001-07:00

Lily shares her thoughts on fireworks at the end of the video. Here are some of the MANY fireworks we shot off the night of the 4th:

First firework injury of 2008

2008-07-04T21:17:00.000-07:00

OUCH! That hurt like nothing else! Gah! Zing!

Playing in the Pool

2008-07-04T18:28:00.001-07:00

Whirlpool with Brian and Sarah

2008-07-04T18:26:00.000-07:00

Cannonball!

2008-07-04T18:24:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd post some videos from our trip to Tenino for the Independence Day weekend. Here is the first of many :)

A Rant on IM Status

2008-07-01T21:41:00.000-07:00

Instant messaging started out as a toy for me way back in 1996 when ICQ first launched. It quickly became more and more a part of my life. Now, I can’t imagine living without IM (instant messaging). I am constantly logged into MSN, AOL, Yahoo, Google Talk, and ICQ. I talk to people more over IM than I do over the phone (by a long shot). IRC and IM comprise the majority of my daily communication.

After using IM for 12 years, there are some basic IM concepts that I am so surprised that some people do not respect. The most common offense in the IM world is bogus “status”. IM status is a vital part of IM. If you are available or online, you set your status to that. If you are away you set your status to that. If you are working on something or are otherwise not available, you set your status to that. It’s not that hard. The online/available, away, and offline can happen automatically with any IM client out there. I am just amazed how many people ignore this courtesy to others by completely ignoring their IM status.

I have heard several reasons and none of them justify being rude to others by not giving them the courtesy of knowing your status. It has been a part of IM since day one. It makes a lot of sense to let people know what your status is so they know if they are leaving a message while you are away, interrupting something important, or to know if you are online and they can expect an answer/reply.

It’s not that hard. Let me break it down for you:

if you are ______, then your status should be ________

if you are online/available, then your status should be online/available

if you are away, then your status should be away

if you are not at the computer for a significant amount of time, then your status should be offline

some IM clients have idle, extended away, etc...

All I’m asking for is to know! It’s really not hard and it’s a common IM courtesy... have I mentioned that before?

I’m not targeting anyone specifically here, but you know who you are ;o) I know a few people that are flagrant offenders of ignoring IM status, but it is becoming more widespread.

I need to think of a good bumper sticker for this cause... Maybe this:

Be Nice, Go "away"

LOL

Okay, sorry - I had to get that rant out of my system. It's been slowly building up the last few months.

William English '08

2008-06-27T16:16:00.001-07:00

Pure wow

2008-06-04T15:33:00.000-07:00

There are many words that could express this image, but I think just letting it speak for itself is enough:

Indiana Jones review

2008-05-29T16:34:00.000-07:00

Due to the entire review being spoilers, I am linking to it here. Click here if you want to read it, but know that it could very well spoil the movie for you if you read it before seeing it. I am expecting that you've seen it or don't care when you read my review =o)

Bubble Bobble rock!

2008-05-29T09:05:00.000-07:00

Who remembers Bubble Bobble?!

Steven Curtis Chapman Family Tragedy

2008-05-24T08:02:00.000-07:00

I've been a fan of Steven Curtis Chapman for most of my life. I just heard that on Wednesday, his 5 year old daughter was hit and killed by the family SUV. Her brother was backing the vehicle down the driveway and didn't see her. She was rushed to the hospital, but didn't make it. It's very sad and I don't really have anything to say, except to pass this song along. It is one of my favorite recent Steven Curtis Chapman songs.

Photos - 1998 to 2008

2008-05-21T10:46:00.000-07:00

The advances of technology are changing the world in many ways. Photography and the way that consumers share their photos has changed so much in the last decade it’s incredible to think about. Ten years ago we all had film 35mm point and shoot cameras. We shot rolls of film. Rolls of film with a single ISO rating for the entire 24 or 36 exposures. Then the film sat on the kitchen counter for a few days or weeks before the next trip to Costco. Costco would ask if we wanted a single print of everything or a set of duplicates. The 4x6 prints were ready by the time we were done shopping, but family members didn’t see them until the next family get-together (which is probably that day or the next if you’re at Costco stocking up on snacks and other food). The 4x6s got passed around the room and 5 or 6 of the duplicates went to Grandma and Aunt Wilma, but the rest came back around and made their way into a shoebox under the bed. A new girlfriend/boyfriend or a high school graduation party were the only reasons for digging through those shoeboxes full of mixed prints.

Jump forward 10 years. I took my family to Baskin Robins yesterday afternoon and seconds after capturing an image of my wife and kids, it was posted to my Facebook mobile gallery and my camera phone blog. Moments once not shared with family members 20 miles away for weeks or months can now be shared with anyone in the world in a matter of seconds...very easily.

I don’t think it’s excitement or newness of having a camera phone and a webcam built into my laptop. I think this is the world of photography forever changed thanks to advances in technology. The worlds of retail and portrait photography needs to adapt quickly or they will die. People are taking more pictures than ever but buying less prints than ever. The question isn’t how to get them to buy more prints, they won’t. The question is how can you make money from the new model of photography that technology has created. But that’s another topic for another day =o)

Camera Phone Blogging

2008-05-17T16:55:00.000-07:00

I've been enjoying taking pictures with my cell phone, so I decided to post some to a blog:

Bill's Cell Phone Pics Blog

Enjoy :) It's fun, I can post right from my phone.

Mikayla at the park

2008-05-15T08:30:00.000-07:00