BTW

Erin and I ended up going back to Toys R Us yesterday and getting the last 3-month XBL kit that was on clearance. So I have my own gamertag now: DigitalA1chemy.

Microsoft hates money

Following up on my previous (and boring, probably, to most people) post, Darrell Waltrip did okay in the Busch race. He started 37th and despite a record number of caution periods he raced his way into the top 20 before some dumbass ran all over him. He had a good showing though, so I was happy.

I had a really good weekend. Friday Erin was off so we went out and saw Monster House, which was pretty good. We also went by the mall and to O'Charley's to eat where I had the most delicious steak I've had since...well probably the last time I went to O'Charley's. I'm not sure what they do to make their steaks so good, and maybe I don't really want to know, but whatever it is I hope they keep doing it.

Saturday Wes came by and let me know he was trying to get enough people together to do a Halo 2 LAN. He came back later that night to pick me up, and I even got Erin to come along too. We had 8 people in all, until Garrett left and we had 7 for the rest of the night, which was pretty good. Erin, who really hasn't played the game very much at all and never competatively, even won a few rounds of Fiesta Survivor including an overall match, so that was pretty awesome. Wes's brother mostly kicked everyone's ass, like he usually does.

Afterwards Erin, Wes and I all went to Perkins to grab something to eat, at about 3 in the morning. I completely forgot it was Saturday night and when we got there the placed was absolutely packed-- mostly with drunk people. I think I remember one guy dancing and/or singing, and at one point we thought there was a fight going on outside. At Perkins.

Then yesterday, still fresh off of the LAN party Erin decided she wanted to play Halo 2 some more so that she could get better before we have the next LAN party. So we went out and got a used Xbox, and extra controller, Halo 2, and Crimson Skies. Since it was used, the guy that owned it before us already had Xbox Live installed. So we tried to make a new XBL account using the aptly named "New Account" option. Everything went smoothly until we got to a section that asked for a "subscription code." Simply having a credit card and a willingness to give that information to Microsoft in exchange for something they have, you want, and that they can deviler digitally does not make you good enough for an XBL account. No, you have to go out to a retail store and purchase a "subscription card" (which I thought was just for people who didn't have a CC) in either a 3 or 12 month form. What happenes when your 3 or 12 month subscription runs out? They charge your credit card. They just won't do it intially, so you still need to have one despite buying a stupid subscription card. And it can't be an Xbox 360 sub. card either, those are different. The stores nearby are out of subscription cards? Well too bad, you can't get online. And most places around here ARE out of orginal Xbox Live subscription cards. EB has some 12-month ones for $50 and Best Buy had a 12-month Starter Kit (comes with a headset) for $70, but after buying all the other stuff I mentioned, Erin wasn't about to dish out that much more money...she wanted to buy this month, this month. And next month's, next month. Luckily, Toys R Us was having a nationwide clearance on a bunch of game-related items, one being a 3-momth XBL Starter Kit w/ headset for $9.98. I didn't think they'd have any left since it started on 07/11, but Erin stopped by on the way home from work yesterday, and sure enough, they had a bunch left.

So...I'm on Xbox Live now. Me and Erin are currently sharing an account, and since she's paying for it she chose the gamertag, which is "GoatS1ayer" (incase you can't tell the "l" in the name is actually the number "1"). So if you read this, feel free to send me a friend invite if you want. When I get some money I suppose I'll make my own seperate account and she'll keep this one.

That's pretty much it. I'm back to work on my game, which STILL isn't quite to alpha yet. Everything involved in the development is so unpredictable since I've never been through the process before, so I'm sucking ass at giving aproximations of milestones. But that's something for my developer blog.

"I hope he chokes on that $250,000."

This week's NASCAR Busch Series race starts in about an hour, at 3:30. I've been up since 11:30 or so, when Erin left for work. I figured I would work on the game some until the race came on, but I've been unable to. I'm a huge NASCAR fan. Well, let me rephrase that. I'm a huge fan of my favorite NASCAR drivers. I grew up watching and liking Darrell Waltrip. Ironically, I never got to see him when he was truly great, instead cheering him on during the lackluster last years of his career. Actually, the race in which I decided I liked him was probably his finest moment--the 1989 Daytona 500. It was all downhill from there. Towards the end of his career I latched on to ex-World of Outlaw turned NASCAR Busch Series regular, Dave Blaney. As it turned out, his first year in (what used to be) the NASCAR Winston Cup Series in 2000 was Waltrip's last. That provided a pretty great experience throughout the entire season. Waltrip pretty much sucked as he had throughout the previous 5 or so seasons (due to, in my opinion, the driving mentality of an older driver and poor equipment...mostly the latter), and Blaney went thought he usualy rookie growing pains, but did manage to notch a few top 10s nefore the year was up, while Waltrip grabbed the pole at arguably the second biggest event of the year, the Brickyard 400. When the 2000 season was over Waltrip retired and I've been cheering for Blaney ever since.

Waltrip has since raced in a few NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races since his "retirement," but I've somehow managed to miss all of them, inlcuding what was to be his last NASCAR race ever, his "One and Done" race at Martinsville last year. So that sucks pretty bad. However, earlier this year, out of nowhere, Michael Waltrip and Aaron's announced that DW was going to race in this year's Busch race at Martinsville this year, the first time that series has been there since 1995. Even though since the announcement DW has said he wouldn't rule out racing a few more races here and there as long as he feels he can "still get it done," I really have a feeling this will be it for him. And I get to watch it this time. I orginally thought Blaney was going to race in this race as well, but as it turns out the Busch car he usually drives is going to be in the race, but with a different driver. Raguardless, I'm still really, REALLY excited. So excited that I can't really pull myself to do anything productive at all. I've just been scowering the internet for any interviews with Waltrip from this week, looing for practice times, and glancing at the clock about every 5 minutes. That might sound silly, but like I said, I'm a huge fan of my drivers. Huge.

I think DW can win today, but I don't think he will. Call it the James Mountain curse, if you will. DW and Dave are both incredible drivers, but always seem to have some pretty crappy luck any time they have a good car, which I attribute to myself for some reason. Waltrip said earlier in the week the car raced really well, but wouldn't be all that great in qualifying. In the Busch Series you've got to practice, then you qualify. There's no practice after qualifying. Since the #99 car he's driving is locked into the field via owner's points, he said they would focus on the race setup during practice. It's showed, as in both practices he was in the middle of the field. If they're doing what he said, thats actually pretty good, as most of the cars ahead of him we're probably practicing with much faster qualifying setups. However, qualifying itself has be pretty worried. Waltrip only ran the 41st quickest lap. Qualifying has never really been his strong point, and I still think the car will be reasonably good during the race. If this was a 500 mile race I would feel a little bit better, but it's not, its only 250 laps and track position means alot. Personally I think they should have put more effort into qualifying the car. I just have this sinking feeling that being mired back in the field like that is going to see him involved in some kind of incident before the race is over.

One thing is sure, DW thinks he's still got what it takes. The car he's in has run well everywhere it's been. The track is one of his best. If he doesnt run strong today...then he doesn't. Personally, I don't care. It's not like he has anything left to prove. I'm just glad I get to see what is likely to be his final race.

That is all.

My game development blog is alive again.

Don't fuck with electricity.

Took this picture while in the drive-thru with Erin at Chick-Fil-A yesterday:



It appears to be some kind of creature made entirely out of electricity that has manifested itself, and is killing someone. Electricity looks pissed. My theory is it has finally gotten tired of its slave-like treatment and wants equal rights. Or it could just be a mindless killing machine.