Kaavya Viswanathan is a loser

2006.04.26 11.45

See for yourself. Very disappointing.

In other literary news, I'm heading to Philadelphia today and reading The Da Vinci Code during my flights and layover. So far it's pretty good. I'm imagining Tom Hanks in the lead role since I already know they shot the picture. Anyone a DaVinci Code fan?

rps with farkette's boyfriend

2006.04.23 13.32

scissor paper rock fark Here's a variation on my rock-paper-scissors game that I originally did with Richard Simmons. This time I'm using a PhotoShop challenge image from FARK.com. Enjoy! Select: SCISSOR! PAPER! ROCK! Ready!

ntldr is missing

2006.04.22 14.57

My ever faithful m280n HP Media Penter PC has died. The harddrive failed so now I can't boot. I am still tinkering with the idea that there is some kind of hardware issue. If I can't fix it then the only real problem I foresee is that my iTunes songs and my tax return weren't backed up recently. I may be complaining excessively about harddrives soon. I bought this machine from Circuit City on September 8, 2003 with an extended warranty. My data is backed up on a Netgear Storage Central SC101 with two 400GB Seagate Ultra ATA/100 harddrives running software RAID 1. That little thing is cool. It's a little picky about getting unplugged but I've figured out the quirks that come with it. Hmmm. Ugh. I'm crabby, now. If you watch my episode 3 podcast today you may notice it slightly changed from what I posted Thursday night. I tweaked it down a notch. That helped me get over a little bit of my Astroworld Is Lost empty feelings. Not helping me today is the fact that I'd planned on checking out the local theme park in Minneapolis -- Valley Fair. Geez, I'm glad I checked on their operating hours because the park doesn't open for another month! It was 40 friggin' degrees this morning when I woke up. What's going on here? I think they're scheduling summer for one week in the middle of August.

UPDATE! My primary master and slave harddrives switched places for some reason. Whew! I took the slave out (which the computer now saw as the master) and everything is back to normal. Now I need to play some Depeche Mode to get this out of my system. No pun intended.

lost in german translation

2006.04.21 11.36

A friend of the Back to the Future community Andreas Winkley has taken all of the parody videos he could get his hands on and translated them to German. Passen Sie auf und genießen Sie! (watch and enjoy!)

From: Andreas Winkler 

Hi,

It took some weeks to collect as many fanfilms as
possible and to get the permissions from all
film-makers, but the new fanfilm-section of ZidZ.com
is now online: http://www.ZidZ.com/fanfilme.php

The films are ordered by their release dates. I think
this is the best solution.

Thank you very much again for your co-operation.

super genius podcast episode 3

2006.04.20 22.58

Click here to watch or download my Astroworld Visit podcast.

I call this one ''You Can Never Go Home'' which is sort of a contradiction since I do in fact go home to Houston. I do visit Astroworld even though it doesn't exist. I also visit my old house and elementary school from circa 1970-1978. I recently re-sampled my Back to the Future 4 pseudo-parody video and include a little sample of that. The quality is really good compared to what I've done in the past. I also play the piano and sing a cover of Tears for Fears' ''Mad World.'' I used this song in the intro to my last podcast so I hope you won't mind the repetition. This is a decidedly more subdued podcast compared to my last one. Don't worry -- I've got some funny ideas for the next one. I delayed my ''Mark Speaks With A British Accent'' podcast until the next one so don't think I've forgotten about that premise. More later. Feel free to offer your critical assessment, of course. Be gentle! Oh, before I forget... I also posted three new videos at my fan site ASTROWORLD.CC so check that out when you've got the time. I posted video that my dad shot of me at the park in 1980. Scary!

I need a second job to pay for this

2006.04.20 15.21

It was either buy this or buy a used car. Geez. Now, the big question is who gets to come with me this time? Hmmm.

   Event: Madonna  
   Venue: Wachovia Center Philadelphia
    Date: 07/12/06 @ 8:00 PM  
Location: Section 3 Row 1 (first row again, baby)
Quantity: 2  
   Total: If my mom found out she would kill me.

i'm back!

2006.04.17 0.02

This is my car parked in the middle of a street called Timberside in my old neighborhood. The reference image from the actual movie is below that. This is just the tip of what I managed to take care of. I need to do my taxes today, however, so you'll have to wait that out.

come on down to south mark

2006.04.15 16.34

I accomplished a lot of my goals for podcast episode 3 yesterday including visiting Astroworld (or the lack thereof). I'm sitting on the floor in my bedroom killing time at the moment. Earlier, I went to the mall (in the DeLorean, natch) which I left covered in the Willowbrook Mall parking lot. I hit up the Buckle store where I bought a nice t-shirt for only $20. There was a visit to Starbucks in there, as well. Eventually, I came back outside to find some guy and his kid were *JUST* about to start removing my car cover. I used my super genius whistling powers (which I learned thanks to ex-girlfriend and loud whistler Rebecca) and gave them quite a startle. Since I was leaving anyway, I gave the family the usual tour of the car. I'm sure they were relieved that I didn't pop a cap in their ass for messing with my wheels. Now what should I do? I dunno. Look how bored I am:

Mark as a South Park character

Clerks II blatant advertisement

when in hill valley...

2006.04.12 21.31

I drive the DeLorean around Houston whenever I'm in town because it's the only car that has fully active insurance. The other cars can't be moved unless I turn their insurance on. It's good in that I save some cash doing this and it's bad in that I'm driving around a car that draws stares and gaped mouths. On the back you'll see the vents I had fabricated. These things are so much better than the scary fiberglass covered cardboard vents that were originally on there. Anyway, I just wanted to post this because I can. :-)

my troubled mind

2006.04.11 9.57

It's lunch time and I'm in the middle of a cool proof of concept we're doing with Plumtree Portal. It's pretty slick. There's a lot to cover and I'll dedicate a Super Genius blog entry to this product soon.

In other news, I'm slowly realizing that the funk I'm feeling started right after I built my Astroworld appreciation site. I mean, it has really, really affected me. It's depressing to lose this place that was so much a part of my childhood. From what I can see in the recent demolition pictures, it looks like a nuclear bomb went off and flattened everything. That area is probably going to be used for more urban franchise garbage sprawl. Another Wal-Mart. Another Target. Another Home Depot. It's very sad, really. You can never go back, now.

Here are some fan sites that I've found comfort in:

• MikeRobinson.net: lots of pictures of gone but not forgotten attractions
• Six Flags Houston: A fan based website
• Astroworld Park: For former employees
• Save Astroworld: Reported on the latest news
• AstroWorld.cc: The Super Genius Astroworld Fan Web Site

i know i'm a cute 6 year old

2006.04.10 12.44

astroworld forever

2006.04.09 16.28

I created an Astroworld memories site using some videos I found on Google Video, YouTube, MySpace, and on some news sites. I have a slew of my own photos and videos that I'm also going to scan to contribute to the site. There are about 4 or 5 Astroworld ''tribute'' sites out there which I'm also going to link to. Yay.

I need to do something outside now. I keep locking myself inside and doing stuff like this.

lightning strikes

2006.04.08 15.11

I noticed this today on FARK and couldn't help myself. Scroll below the story for my contribution.

PITTSBURGH -- A lightning strike this evening hit the Carnegie Library on the North Side.

Witnesses say the lightning struck the clock tower at Allegheny Center. Robert Herrera was standing at his Allegheny Center window when he saw lightning hit the clock tower. ''You could actually just see the chunks of cement fly off the tower,'' said Herrera. ''That's when I saw people running. That's when I called 911.''

The force of the strike sent several large chunks of concrete falling to the ground. Some of the concrete broke through the library's roof and ruptured a water line. One eyewitness said he saw people picking up the debris and running away with it.

There are no reports of any injuries. Building inspectors are examining the building to see the extent of the damage.

Officials with the Carnegie Library say the Allegheny Center branch will be closed this weekend as they try to assess the damage the library sustained. They cannot determine the extent of the damage until firefighters let them inside the building.

This particular branch of the Carnegie Library is one of the oldest in Allegheny County. It was one of the first funded by Carnegie himself.

southpark on itunes

2006.04.05 17.51

I was just talking to some of my new coworker friends today about how several of us don't have cable television. The biggest downside we figured was that we wouldn't be able to see new South Park episodes. I didn't think about that again until just now when I got back from running three miles around Lake Calhoun. I sat down to check out the new music in the iTunes store. I was super surprised to find out that not only were previous seasons of South Park available, but you could also sign up to receive each new episode of the current season the day after it airs! Heck yes I want that! So I signed up for the season pass. Looky!

©
Thank you for your purchase of a Season Pass for South Park, Season 10 for your iTunes account. Your Season Pass includes the following:

South Park, Season 10
Released: 2006

Episodes available for download:

1. The Return of Chef
2. Smug Alert!

You will receive an email when future episodes of South Park, Season 10 are available and the episodes will be downloaded automatically to the account listed above the next time you sign in to iTunes. If you would prefer not to be notified when an episode becomes available for download, click here to edit your Account preferences.

Note: Reruns, episodes that have previously been aired and made available for download, will not be resent.

countdown to superman returns

2006.04.03 8.40

ansi graphics using thedraw

2006.04.02 21.23

I ran a BBS on a Texas Instruments BusinessPro XT PC from 1988 to 1995 or thereabouts. You couldn't do real graphics back then, but you could use MS-DOS extended ASCII characters to make pretty pictures. I used a DOS program called THEDRAW to do my work. It was a huge pain in the *ss to work with, but I managed to master it. Here's a few examples of stuff I drew from back in the day. The first example was an alternate opening logon screen from the BBS. The second one was put up when I was on vacation in Europe in 1992. My assistant Jason (Hotdogger) was in charge of the site so I drew up a little cartoon about it since I couldn't be contacted. The last one is a borg I drew for something else although I don't recall what I used it for. Check out my Youthenasia page if you want to see a couple other examples.

joined a gym

2006.04.01 16.20

I joined the Calhoun Beach Club today. Now if I can only get the other two gyms that I was a member of back in Philly to stop charging me. Cheesh! At least that's one good thing about Bally's -- they stopped billing when they said they would.

In other news, I made an experimental purchase of a VCR to DVD recorder. Terrible quality! It was some Best Buy brand that they sell themselves. Bleah. I returned it today in exchange for a 50 foot SIRIUS satellite antenna extension. Now I have my S50 home dock next to me on my computer where it was previously on the other side of the apartment. Did I forget to update you on the S50? It's nice. A little glitchy on occasion but otherwise great stuff. I'm using it in conjunction with a Sony TMR-RF960 wireless headphone transmitter. Very convenient whenever I want to watch something on TV or listen to SIRIUS without bothering any neighbors in the middle of the night. Aren't I nice? Don't answer that. The bonus is that the Acoustic Research wireless speaker that I have also picks up the same frequency as the headphones. Technology is teh cool.

Check out this weird bug I found in iTunes when trying to look up the new Madonna video ''Sorry.'' I can't wait this long.