I got Wario Ware for my GBA last night. Sweet game. It gets a bit hectic, and some of the mini games just throw you off, but the concept and idea behind it is pretty rad. I can see how it could get a tad repetititve, but so far it's great. And it probably has the coolest instruction book I've ever seen for a game (the website is good to). It's also pretty damn funny.

I also splurged and got a new digital camera, the Canon s230. It's one of the small digital Elph's that Canon makes. A guy I work with has one and it's nice. It'll save me from lugging around my huge old Kodak, which is half the reason I don't take pictures. I should get it just in time for Josh's wedding mid June.

Well I partied pretty hard last night, and drank way too much. This morning when I got up I was still drunk. Great feeling that is. Netter didn't fare so well, she was puking all day.

Funny though, I actually got a lot done today, my full control panel that is. Here it is:

And the guts:

It's pretty sturdy after I taped it all together. Still no wood control panel, but for cardboard it doesn't do too shabby. The spacing is about right, but I'd like to move it in a bit more. I think if I can get it to under 27" it'll fit in my cab plans. Right now it's 29" so I think that's feasable.

Still having a few issues getting the trackball sensitivity just right. It think I need to look into that and get the right settings. It may be dependent on each game, I'm not sure. But it is fun to have.

Well it looks like building the larger control panel prototype is on hold for a few days. This morning Annette decided she wanted to do a weekend project of stripping the wallpaper off our bedroom walls. I didn't think it'd be fun, and while not horrible, it does indeed take a long time. Still once it is finally done and painted it will look 200x better.

I did have the chance however to try my new joystick w/ Q-Bert. See, Q-Bert uses a 4 way stick, but rotated 45 degrees. I figured, because my actuator on the bottom of my stick rotates 45 degrees to 8-way, it's basically the same thing as a Q-Bert 4-way stick. It was just a matter of remapping the joystick for that game and voila! It worked! Now I can play Q-Bert as it was actually meant to be played!

Also I decided that while doing the switch from 4-way to 8-way is nice, it is a bit time consuming to switch for every game. Thus I think I'm going to set my 1 player to 8-way and 2nd Player to 4-way. This way you can just switch back and forth depending on the game and really only have to change the actuator when you want to play a 2 person game, which should happen a lot less.

Last night we also had a party (and busted out the Mario Party 4 again), and I had some people try out my crappy control panel prototype. Our friend Andy went nuts on Commando. I guess he used to play it quite a bit back in the day and it looked like he picked up right where he left off. I was impressed, and I guess so was he. I got the impression he really wants me to finish my cab (he only said that about 20 times ;).

Spent most of last night putting together a small prototype version of my control panel. It's nowhere near what it will be as it's only one joystick and six buttons, but I wanted to try to hook everything up to the I-PAC and plug it all in and see it work. It took much longer than I thought it would for the little bit I did, but it was worth it, and is a fun project. When everything was hooked up I just plugged it into my Mac and it worked! Playing MAME has never been so fun. Here's a pic of the little prototype:

And here's a picture of the guts all wired up:

Since my joysticks can change from 4-way to 8-way I decided to play sevral games of each. The 4-way games work awesome. Pac-Man feels like the original, and there are no "dead zone" areas like there are w/ 8-way sticks. 8-way will take a little to get used to, since the diagonals are a longer throw than the directionals. However, this actually has a slight advantage in fighting games since those tend to use diagonals a lot. It's just that when hitting a directinal, you're used to hitting a litte groove, and hitting something flat feels a bit weird. After a while I got more used to it, though I was still can't do a Dragon Punch in Street Figher 2 to save my life. ;)

Got my second shipment of arcade parts today from ultimarc in England. In the package were my two japanese style joysticks, the I-PAC (a keyboard encoder), the Opti-PAC (an optical encoder), and wiring for everything:

So now I have pretty much everything I need to start assembling a control panel prototype. I'm still waiting on a trackball mounting plate from Happs, which I had forgotten to order originally. Also I'll need to buy a few screws and whatnot for the joysticks. I also have yet to buy a spinner, that may be a bit down the line.

I also started an Illustrator mock up of the control panel layout to exact size. It's much easier to try out different ideas that way than to cut into cardboard. Only so much cardboard to go around! Anyway, now I'm ready to go gung ho, so this should be fun. ;)

Woohoo! Got my first order of control panel parts from Happ's. Basically it's all my buttons and my trackball. Now I'm just waiting on my other order from England for everything else. But here's what I got today:

Annette and I went to the horse races last night. I don't like horses so much, but I like watching them race. I also came out ahead $13 on the night, which only added to the fun. Hopefully we'll go some more, I had a great time.

I went to see the Matrix last night. First my spoiler-free thoughts, then comments on the film.

I didn't like it as much as the first film. I didn't think it was very well put together, and it jumped around a bit. They could have cut an hour out of the movie and I wouldn't have minded. Too many special effects, some good, some cheezy. I was more interested in the plot, which only seemed to progress in spurts. It was sorta like, 2 big action sequences with eye candy, then 10 minutes of straight dialogue to catch up on the plot. Because of this you go from mindlessly watching crazy CGI shit to having to pay close attention to every word someone says or you'll miss what's going on. I didn't like that. The movie made ya think afterward, but I found myself enjoying trying to figure out what happens next more than I did watching what just happened. And with that...

****WARNING : SPOILERS****

From the begining I wondered how Agent Smith could be transported through the phone lines into the "real" world. Towards the end of the movie, I sorta figured out why, and as I thought about it more it made sense.

At the end Neo stops the sentinals somehow with his powers. Except he's in the real world, he has no powers! That is of course unless the "real world" is yet another matrix. If that's the case a lot of what happened makes sense. The fact that the architect said there's been 6 Neo's, that Zion has been destroyed numerous times, that it's been going on much longer than 100 years as Morpheus and everyone in Zion thinks it has. Hell it even explains the blackened skies. With no stars, there's no way for them to tell what year it *really* is!

This would explain why Neo can use powers in the real world because it's not a real world at all it's a second matrix. The architect said that 1% of people reject the original matrix. Thus, they need to build a second matrix for those people to *think* there is a reality, and a purpose for it. Thus, everything we've seen thus far in the movies is a matrix, we haven't seen reality yet.

Therefore we have no idea what the real relationship between man and machine is. And apparently Neo will be able to see past this second matrix, in a way the others will not. Remember when the Oracle gives him some candy? He takes it but does not eat it. She does, and it's red. A red pill? Will Neo find this in his pocket in the next film and "get out" of the second matrix like he did the first?

The other thing that made me think was the architects comments about how Neo is different from the others because of his love for Trinity. I thought, why is this weird? Then I figured, perhaps Neo isn't human at all, perhaps he's a program like everything else. It would make sense then why the architect is surprised, since all the other programs of the matrix don't seem to be capable of true love, and how could a program fall in love with a human? This could also explain the test of the kiss in the bathroom, to see if Neo really is capable of true human emotion. It could also explain why Neo can see the future. Has he been through this before? Everyone seems to be "expecting" him, they too must have been through this before with him as well, this is just the next time in the continuous cycle.

In a sense I think this is where it gets a big foggy, and there are a lot of questions. I think most people will get the matrix in a matrix thing, but I don't think many people see Neo as possibly being a program like the rest of them. It could be the real kicker at the end. Perhaps with Trinity having to choose a life in reality without Neo or one in the Matrix with him. Or, perhaps everyone is a program, with Neo being the main reason the program is running, to attempt the ultimate in AI, each time getting better and better, until the AI (Neo) reaches a true state of consciousness. Who knows, I guess we'll see.

Anyway, that's what I saw in it all. I loved the stuff w/ the architect, and the oracle. The philosophy and psychology of that stuff was top notch, it's just that there wasn't much of it. It will be interesting to see how it turns out, assuming my theories are correct. If, however, they are instead turning Neo into some sort of God figure and Agent Smith into some sort of Devil, and metaphysical BS, I don't think it'll even be worth my time.

I welcome comments and speculation.

Well I ordered the first parts for my control panel today. Dropped $230, and here's what I got:

Japanese Ball-top Joystick (x2)
White Push Button (x4)
Green Push Button (x2)
Yellow Push Button (x2)
Red Push Button (x2)
Blue Push Button (x2)
1-Player Start Button
2-Player Start Button
Golden Tee 3" Trackball
Keyboard Encoder
Optical Encoder
75 Ft. of Wire / 100 Connectors

Basically I got everything except the spinner, which I'll probably get at a later date. The joysticks have 8 to 4-way actuators on them, which means I can play games like Pac-Man in true 4-way mode, and not sloppy 8-way mode like most sticks. I also found some nice carboard in the garage that will be great for prototyping different layouts with. Hopefully I'll get all this stuff next week and then I can go nuts. Should be fun. :)

Yesterday was D-Day at the Walker. The layoffs happened. The good news is that I still have my job. But that's really about the only good news there was.

We had a meeting yesterday morning at 9:15. Steve (my boss) brought us Krispy Kreme donuts. We of course thought this was weird. It's just not a normal thing. He came in the office and said, "I'd like to introduce you to your new boss", which is Robin who works in our dept. Yup, one of the layoffs was my boss Steve.

We were all in shock. As the day progressed we found out more news. Diane who works in our dept of six, also got laid off. There were 7 people laid off total, and of the other 5, half of them had direct ties to New Media, my dept. It was like a fucking shot in the back.

But it didn't end there, no. Since Steve was curator of New Media, they made the bold decision that there was going to be no more new media art at the Walker. We had a large gallery planned for the new building we're building called the Mediatheque Lounge. That too has been scrapped. In essense, the heads of the Walker are now saying that New Media is not a valid form of art!

Steve started the whole New Media dept at the Walker. He started the group 5 years ago WAY before any museum had even heard the term "Net.Art". Our process for New Media is one that many other museums mimicked. There are even many museums that *still* don't have New Media. The Walker has been on the forefront since the begining, from DAY ONE. And yet you want to cut it out entirely?

Now, let me explain something about the Walker. It's a contemporary art museum. Thus, the goal is to get as much new artwork, artwork that pushes the boundaries of art, and too look for the things that in due time will be looked back upon as major forces in art. Thus when you go to a contemporary art museum, there are a lot of things that seem good, but also a lot that seem like crap. Fact is, contemporary art museums need to pull in all types of art, because we simply don't know what in the future will be considered the "next Picasso".

And the Walker is one of the largest and best known contemporary art museums in the country, if not the world. They want to be known as the premiere contemporary art center. Yet, they don't want anything to do with New Media art? That's as rediculous as it is ingorant.

Let's put it another way. If you look at history all major art movements were at first shunned. Everyone thought Picasso was crap, "That's not art". The Renissance had the same things happen. It seems to me that New Media is getting the same kinds of backlash. And it isn't only the Walker, many art schools are treating new media the same way.

But for a museum to be on the forefront of quite possibly the largest movement to come to art in over 50 years and then basically say they're not interested in it anymore is such utter bullshit it's not even funny. I can see now how they view the museum. They view it in dollars and cents. Cut off New Media at the knees and we can save a million dollars a year.

But at what expense? In 50 years time what will people say? Other museums are already ramping up New Media depts that even out do what we had at the Walker, surely they'll only grow larger and bigger. The Walker just fucked themselves out of an entire culture of art. Way to go dickheads!

It is quite depressing. Things were going so well. We were going to have our own gallery in the new building, we had the largest New Media department of any museum in the world, and we thought the Walker was behind us. We thought we were going to be the cornerstone of how the museum was going to view contemporary art in the future. Obviously all that is now a distant memory. Sure I still have my job, I'm thankful of that, but for someone like Steve who worked his ass off for 5 years to build up not only our department, but also the Walker, his thanks is getting his ass shown the door.

Well fuck them, fuck the directors and the Mercedes they rode in on. You just made sure that a whole new generation of people DON'T visit your museum, as well as piss off an entire segment of artists that now view your museum as second rate garbage. Great job assholes!

A few passing thoughts...

I miss Netter already and she hasn't even been gone for a full day. I think that says something.

I didn't know Jason left Metallica a couple years ago. He was always my favorite, so it's good he left, since they're washed up, money hungry has beens now.

Hacking video game music ROMs isn't as easy as it looks, but you get a lot of fucked up sounds out it once it works.

As much as work bores me lately, I really hope I don't get the ax. I don't need that kind of shit right now.

All this free time and I don't even have the urge to play Zelda. Have may gaming needs changed as I've gotten older?

People who choose not to have kids and then go on to piss and moan about how society looks down on them, need to check themselves. Half the problem is them preaching from on high: "Kids? NO WAY!".

Having an entire house to yourself is as scarry as it is exciting.

There are absolutely no good gaming magazines anymore.

Damn, Falco rocks.

Did I meantion I miss Annette?

I was going through the stats for my site and noticed I still get hits from Dave's old site on Geocities. It's fun looking at old sites that haven't changed in years. I especially like that Dave had a "weblog" before there even was the term ('98).

One thing that caught my eye though is his write up of Why I Am Not a Christian. I thought it was pretty well written, and is basically the same type of things I've thought for a long time. Really, it's almost too easy to debunk stories from the bible if you use logic, especailly those who follow it by the word, instead of as a general guideline. Though the whole thing sorta fascinates me. There's this whole mythology, philiosophy and psychology built into it, that can be fun to contemplate from time to time.

Annette and I went to see X-Men 2 tonight. It was pretty good. I must say Wolverine rules. They also set up the third installment nicely. I haven't read many of the comics, but from what I do know, they're following things nicely.

I got an invite to my friend Josh Mueller's wedding. It's in June, and Annette and I have decided to fly out instead of drive. I hate flying, but it saves about 9 hours off the trip, so I guess it's worth it. Still need to book the flight though.

I'm also working on my family tree. My mom sent me a bunch of stuff for her side of the family, and it's pretty complete. My dad's side is gonna be a bit tougher since his side is, well, screwed up. This is definitely putting my information design skills to the test however. I think it's easier for me to wrap my head about an infinite universe than this shit. Oh well, it's a fun side project.