More mimesis stuff done

By Mike Daly
March 1st, 2003

Howdy, I haven't done a terrible lot in the way of art recently, but I did manage to make myself do some work this morning and got some new models made for the bank-robbery scenario Unreal thing.

shot 1
shot 2
shot 3
shot 4
shot 5

Additionally, last night, Wayne and I held a sort of cookout, and we had some EXCELLENT food. Not just that, but almost all of it is food that is not already in our database, so be expecting some good stuff soon.

And on one final note, I didn't go to bed last night again. That makes 3 times in a week, a new record, I think.

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Site additions

By
March 1st, 2003

So I got an email requesting that for the lazies out there we have an online feedback form so you don't have to load up a program just to tell us we suck. Also this way its anonymous.

Anyway, thats done. Please tell us something, so far this place is where Willow and I seem to just tell eachother whats going on in our lives, even though he's 20 feet from me right now.

I got 2 of the 4 foods we cooked up last night up, but I don't think I'll add sweet potatoes or baked beans. They're pretty simple and self explanatory, but that doesn't take away from the level of satisfaction my taste bud's enjoyed. I did post Shishkabobs and Roasted Corn on the Cob though, both were superlicious. There's even a picture of the kabobs.

Oh yeah, one last thing: I added a new field to the food descriptions called Svg (for servings) so you can see how many people you're feeding. We'll have to go through and change each one, so be patient and ignore the ones that say it serves zero people

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this post has nothing to do with 'Statistical Inferences'

By Mike Daly
March 4th, 2003

After getting the galleries up and scanning some old pictures of friends, I was thinking about the good ol' days, and coincidentally, I got a call from my old high school roomate. He was in town and decided to hang out for a few days. Even with the short notice, I managed to throw together a get-together at Chapel Hill. I got to see lots of old friends, but only remembered later that I should have taken some pictures. Oh well, perhaps I can use that as an excuse to visit again. I had a great time, thanks guys.

Anyway, I guess this is my version of an excuse for not doing anything that can be shown. Because I haven't done anything showable recently, I decided to take some time at work to write a game review on a game I believe needs mentioning. Check out Mechassault if you are so inclined.

Additionally, our server will be down on saturday for some time. I don't know when, but in case you are trying to view our page (yeah, right) and it doesn't show up, you know why. The reason is that the server our hosting company uses is getting upgraded, so now our page should be even faster, woo-hoo! Um... no wait. Wayne actually tells me that the server was upgraded last saturday and that I am an idiot. He is correct on both arguments.

Oh yeah, I am going to Japan for spring break, so don't expect me to post anything for a while, I'll see if I can get Wayne to make an update or two. However, you can expect a boatload of pictures when I get back.

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History repeats itself once again

By Mike Daly
March 5th, 2003

I think that I should make a regular section of articles whenever this happens, for some reason when I'm looking for things to do to keep from having to do my homework and I've exhausted every flash site on the entire internet, I just feel like writing an update, I don't know why.

Anyway, I was thinking this section could have links and critiques of all the flash sites/webcomics I came across during my all-night journey in circles around the net. Oh yeah, by the way, it's 6:58 am and I haven't started my homework yet. I guess I should start soon, I'm sitting here listening to the cool tunes of Guitar Vader, and I'm feeling the effects of the ritalin kick in.

Oh well, during the daytime hours when you are all bored at work or wherever and I'm asleep in class, you can no doubt entertain yourselfs with this flash website as well as my next item. But before presenting you with the golden link, i must say that this is the one of the coolest games I've ever played, it's another skifree at last, but with the powerpuff girls - the best cartoon characters EVER! Anyway, check the fast and the flurrious out. It's great.

Some of the best flash stuff I've seen has come from television station's webpages, which is interesting, apparently people do a better job when they are getting paid. Anywho, good morning, don't let the, uh, ... chair-bugs bite.

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Wayne and his Desert Eagle .50

By Mike Daly
March 7th, 2003

A short while back, I did a comic-book style action picture of myself which was very cool. Just to round out the gallery, I did a little art tonight and made one for Wayne. Unlike mine, I can assure you that this does not look very much like Wayne in real life. Except for perhaps the anger and the handgun. Hope you enjoy.

I kind of got bored part of the way through this one and tried to go all fast, and it has taken it's toll. But after I finished all the highlights, it's just hard to think about where you can go back to to change and improve without starting parts over. Even being brisk, it still took about 4 hours from pose idea to posting.

As an extra bonus, I decided to put the two pictures together. This only took about 10 minutes. Awe at the Dueling Monkeys!

Anyway, I'd like to take a moment to congratulate myself on the site's 50th update! Saying as we've only been around for a couple months, I'd say that's a pretty good rate. In honor, I was going to make a new icon for the top left pose/cool-thing picture. But I really don't feel like doing that now. 50 posts may seem like it doesn't have any meaning, but I assure you that it has more meaning than celebrating 100,000 hits. Plus, I need more things to celebrate.

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Spring Break

By
March 9th, 2003

Early this morning Willow got on his plane to Japan to visit (newcomer) Wesley in Japan. Sounds like a fun trip doesn't it? Yeah, it looks like this will be a good spring break.

If by good you mean, stuck in nofunland all by yourself because of work, then yes, it's a great spring break. That's the predicament I'm faced with. I went to the beach this past weekend, only to return to a normal week (minus class). It only makes it worse to know that 90 percent of all college students are anywhere but here having fun. Especially when your friends call you and remind you of how much fun you're not having. What are friends for?

Here's the kicker: Apparently at work, Spring Break is an accepted time to just skip work, since so many college students work at my company. Evidently these folks won't get fired for missing a week of work. This could have been brought to my attention yesterday while I was still in funland. Oh well, not only would I not be making money at work, I'd be spending a lot more at the beach.

Who am I kidding? I don't want to be here!

So anyway, if you happened to see this post earlier, it said that I'd finish later. I had gone to Best Buy to buy some outdoor speakers (its getting warm here, time to stay outside). The selection was less than decent, and none of the models they had seemed worthy of their price tag in my opinion. I'll look around elsewhere. I did pick up a wireless router since they were on sale for $69 (after mail in rebate, of course). If you're in the market for one, and don't mind D-Link (no problems to report as of yet) then I suggest you head over the Best Buy and pick one up.

Yeah, this is the end. No updates to the site, no links to click on, no pictures to stare at. I know, my news posting cannot compare to Willow's, but what can you expect from a Spring Breaker spending his vacation at work?

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Dear penpal

By Mike Daly
March 11th, 2003

I am in Japan right now, it's really cool here. In fact its extremely cold. I'm freezing. Anywho, be expecting a gallery of crazy japanese pictures soon. Peace out. I'm going to go eat dinner at 'Hell Kids' now.

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The virtues of a bathtub too often go underappreciated

By Mike Daly
March 18th, 2003

I just took a shower, and let me tell you what, it was great! I didn't have to worry about the shower curtain attacking me and sticking all over my body, or about keeping perfectly still because a wayward step of only an inch would send me toppling over the bathtub wall into the toilet. Yes, my bathtub is enourmous. I feel like I can run laps in it. well, maybe it's not that big, but it sure feels like it after using the cute little 'pocket shower' that I washed myself in for a week.

Yes, I am reffering to Japan, the magical land where an entire apartment could probably fit into your pocket if it weren't connected to a bagillion other pocket apartments. Now that I think of it, many many things in Japan can conveniently fit into a pocket. I suppose the Pocket Monsters are only a natrual extension of that mentality.

What was I talking about?

Oh yeah, Japan. But first, let me forgive myself, I mean you ... please forgive my incoherence of language for a while, for some reason, I was not able to sleep on the plane either too or from Japan, so I've kind of been awake for a while. The whole way back from the airport I was stuttering like a stuttering stanley (a la the sixth sense), you should have heard it!

Where was I?

Oh, right, Japan. Oh wait, first let me get something out of the way: I am a dog-faced liar. I said on at least two occasions that I would have pictures up when I got back. This, however, is not true. I have two disposable cameras full of pictures, but I have to develop them then go through the painstaking process of scanning resizing and thumbnailing each one. As I don't look forward to any step of this process, do not expect it to be done soon. As an additional bonus, we have used up most of our hard drive space our hosting company allows. Oops.

Ok, so Japan. Whew, I'm kind of tired of writing now. Maybe I'll catch you all up tommorow.

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Cruel Muses, abandon me not!

By Mike Daly
March 20th, 2003

Coming up with interesting update subjects is really quite entertaining. I suggest you try it sometime, I'm thinking of adding it to my list of hobbies. Anyway, once again I must declare myself a deciever, it seems to be happening more often these days. In this particular infraction, we shall discuss the subject of the subject (me) dicussing Japan.

Well, I was supposed to write an update today (err, yesterday technically) about what Japan was like. Well, after sitting down at the keyboard ready to tell you all, I've come to a realization. Being immersed in a foreign culture is not really something that can be described. The real thing you get out of it is not just what you see or do, it is something completely indescribable. It's experience for your heart instead of your head.

Anyway for that reason, I'm not reall going to say much other than if any of you have an opportunity to go abroad, you should take it with a vengeance. In other news, I'm hoping to work more on mimesis soon, so hopefully I will get some fresh screenshots out of what I've done. Come to think of it, I may want to make a gallery out of my game design work. Hmm... maybe later when I've got more to post.

Expect pictures from Japan within the next year.

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The thirty-first hour

By Mike Daly
March 20th, 2003

Is when it happened. It is not usual for the wall to arrive this late. I don't know how many of you are familiar with the physical effects of pulling an all nighter, but it has kind of become on of my hobbies lately. Usually around the 20th hour of consiousness, you "hit the wall", that is, it suddenly becomes extremely difficult to stay awake, this lasts for an hour or two, then passes, and it is not difficult to stay up for the rest of the following day.

I didn't sleep last night (for no good reason), and I noticed an odd phenomenon: I didn't hit the wall. Throughout last night and most of today, I felt no sleepiness. Usually, when you hit the wall, you feel yourself getting very tired and it becomes a struggle to keep your head up and your eyes focused. This time it was different. I didn't notice it was here until I woke up. I was at a presentation on computer animation and art. I knew that sleeping in such a place would be very disrespectful, therefore, I made sure to keep my head up and pay attention. Then I woke up again. This is starting to get disorienting because I have no idea what he is talking about. After the third time I wake up, I start hoping the presentation ends soon so I don't embarass myself, but I know that I'd only been there about 20 or 30 minutes, and it was an hour and a half presentation. At least that is what if felt like. I was obviously misjudging the time I had been there.

I woke up a fourth time to the sound of applause, he had just shown his main movie. Hopefully he would be letting out early then. I checked my watch, it was 5:18; the presentation had already carried over by 18 minutes.

The fact that I had no warning that I was going to fall asleep was kind of new, and the total time disorientation is always fun. Staying up is awesome!

Oh yeah, last night, while not sleeping, I wrote a little php file for opening pictures all pretty like. If you head on over to the galleries you will see what I mean. Also, I started work on a new piece of art for the gallery, but I haven't completed it yet. You'll see it soon.

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There's a spider

By
March 21st, 2003

As I'm thinking of what to title this news update, I glance over to my left and see a spider just sitting on the floor, acting like he pays some of my rent. What he doesn't yet realize is that unlike Willow, I am not afraid of these pests, and my foot is about to inflict a great amount of pain.

As I unsuccessfully try to think of a better word than "inflict", the spider makes a run for it, but his 8 legs are no match for my wingspan and I squash him inside a plastic bag. If you are a spider, tell your friends about this story and assure them that the same fate will come to them if they invade my home again (that is unless Willow sees you, then he will just freak out).

Anyways, to the point of my post. It's been a while since I've graced the news section with my presence and I see that Willow has been doing more coding than I have lately and that just isn't right. So I made an improvement on the galleries section. Since its getting bigger, I decided it needed its own link in the menu again, and I make Willow's imageviewer open a window that is the same size of the image, so you shouldn't have to scroll unless the image is too big for your resolution. There are a few bugs to work out though. I'm working on it.

Now I'm going to bed. Its late and I'm tired.

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Oops

By Mike Daly
March 22nd, 2003

I think I may have accidentally forgotten to fall asleep again last night. Why do I do this? I am an idiot. In the meantime, I was playing through the demos to Enclave and Dungeon Siege.

Enclave is a beautiful game. It boasts some very impressive production values: it's graphics, sound, and attitude are all right. Right from the beginning, even the menus draw you into it and make you excited to start playing. Then you actually start playing, and immediately decide that you don't want to anymore. I played through the demo, so I bring back warning: the gameplay is completely shallow, loose, and frustrating. Basically, you explore the level, frequently encountering enemies. When you encounter an enemy, you and it basically just run around in strange arcane patters missing each other profusely until one accidentally kills the other. You see all these numbers fly up to indicate damage, but they are easy to miss, and it doesn't really matter anyway.

Dungeon Siege is much less refined in the graphics, sound, and general production the Enclave excels at, but it has it where it counts. Diablo proved that a game where all you do is click on objects (be they enemies, barrels, ect) then those objects explode and reveal random treasure is actually a very addicting gameplay idea. Diablo 2 proved that even if you make a terribly boring tedious repeat of an existing game, it is still fun. Dungeon Siege proves that Microsoft has the ability to clone any gameplay idea they want.

In cooking news, I am generally afraid of leftovers. I don't really even enjoy eating them unless they are cookies or krispy kreme. When I realized that I forgot to eat lunch and dinner yesterday because I was too busy forgetting to go to sleep, I decided to heat up my Sierra club from the panera. I didn't really like the sierra club when I first had it this weekend, but after 45 seconds in the microwave, it turned out to be several fold as good as the original. I am almost considering adding a "leftover sierra club" entry to the cooking section just to annoy Wayne.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot: I did a new piece of art while I wasn't sleeping earlier this week. You can marvel at my latest masterpiece right here. Feel free to give feedback

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Want some spaghetti?

By Mike Daly
March 26th, 2003

Wayne's ladeling privelages have been permanently revoked after this incident. Apparently, he thought it would just be easier to pour out the wet noodles onto the plate when he had a perfectly good ladel there to do it. It's a good thing the counter, sink, and floor was there to catch it.

In other news, someone (who for Sam's sake, I won't mention names) asked me to design them a counter-strike spray paint logo featuring his favorite weapon, the mac 10. I've done this, and I'm so proud of myself for breaking out of my previous artistic paradigm that I've posted it in the gallery. Feel free to enjoy it here.

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<404 - title not found>

By Mike Daly
March 30th, 2003

Well, it's been a couple days since I've updated, so I'll let you folks in on 'the word'.

This past weekend, Wayne and I were both in Atlanta, attending the excellent Cirque de Solei. Seeing that show is definately a lifetime experience. Whether you are in to artsy french (a.k.a. "freedom") stuff or not, you should attend at least one in your lifetime. For that reason, we not only have not updated the site, but also haven't done anything relevant enough to make a worthy update. That's where I come in - the rambler. Or maybe you could call me "Willow - the Ramblinator!"

Right, so anyways; maybe I'll do something cool soon. If so, I'll let you know. In the meantime, I will post some links to older things that maybe you haven't read or have forgotten about:


Well, I hope you enjoyed that little trip down memory lane. Catch you later.

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Freaky Dreams

By
March 31st, 2003

I have had 2 consecutive nights of really wierd dreams. Mulitple dreams in one night that have nothing to do with each other.

Last night in one dream there were lots of snakes running around. I hate snakes. Almost as much as Willow hates spiders. In another dream I was driving my first car. I miss changing gears.

Now that I'm trying to write about my dreams, I can't really remember them. The point is, the past 2 nights I have been putting on music from Cirque Du Soleil and going to sleep with it playing all night. I'll continue this and see what kind of crazy stuff my brain dreams up tonight.

I was going to write a rant, but I'm going to take a nap instead. When I do get it up you'll get to take a look at some really cool artsy stuff I can do (or can't).

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