New Pictures!
ByJanuary 6th, 2005
I've been taking a few more pictures lately so I've put them up in
my personal
gallery for you to enjoy. There are some from the family
Christmas get-togethers and some from our (me and Ashley) trip to
Banner Elk this past week. Unfortunately it was in the 60's every
day so there was no skiing and there was no snow anywhere except
the fake stuff they were blowing on the slopes. I imagine it was
mush most of the time.
I think the next step in the progress of DM is to fix the photo gallery. It's one of the most popular pages on the site (right behind ERROR 404 and messageboard.php) and it looks like crap right now. I bought a book on XML and it's been very helpful. I'm on page ~200 and just to chapter four. It's a big book! Anyway, I'm going to go work on that now, so enjoy the photos and have a great weekend!
I think the next step in the progress of DM is to fix the photo gallery. It's one of the most popular pages on the site (right behind ERROR 404 and messageboard.php) and it looks like crap right now. I bought a book on XML and it's been very helpful. I'm on page ~200 and just to chapter four. It's a big book! Anyway, I'm going to go work on that now, so enjoy the photos and have a great weekend!
Comments
Slackers!
ByJanuary 28th, 2005
Let me tell you about two monkeys (perhaps three) who have become
some serious slackers. One of them even adopted the word itself in
part of his screen name! Notice the last two updates were by me.
Granted Willow and Wesley were away on a fabulous vacation.
But, they've both been back for over two weeks now. Closer to three. Wesley is REALLY slack because he is usually still in bed when I get home from my first job.
You may be wondering why I haven't updated as well. Stop wondering right now. I worked at least 50 hours this week and I am a full time student. I'll cut those hours back to not-so-sucky by this time next week, but until then I am excused from updating except for when three weeks go by and the slackers still haven't done it.
P.S. Both of those slackers are still in the bed.
But, they've both been back for over two weeks now. Closer to three. Wesley is REALLY slack because he is usually still in bed when I get home from my first job.
You may be wondering why I haven't updated as well. Stop wondering right now. I worked at least 50 hours this week and I am a full time student. I'll cut those hours back to not-so-sucky by this time next week, but until then I am excused from updating except for when three weeks go by and the slackers still haven't done it.
P.S. Both of those slackers are still in the bed.
Comments
I'm a BUM (Blissfully Unemployed Male)
By WesleyFebruary 7th, 2005
i have an annoucement that is about 54 days overdue. I
GRADUATED. yes, thats right folks, i have joined the ranks of
the unemployed. lets just say i'm on "vacation." and what a
nice vacation it has been. went to SF right after graduation, then
to the padres house for christmas, then D.C. for a few days, NYC
for new years (times square was a bit of a dissapointment), and
then off to HI for el los padres anniversary. not bad, not bad at
all.
but now i'm back! from outer space! and you see me here with that look upon my face! (*smack!) i mean, back from vacation. so i'm here in raleigh with no money and no job and no car and no money. but one thing i do have is PICTURES from HI. lets see, there are some cool ones of myself, and of Willow... and some of our dorky brothers, i think one or two with Wheedle, and a really sweet one of mis padres in the sunset on their 25th ANNIVERSARY!!! congradulations to them!
so i totally had tons of stuff to put in this update, but i've decided it might be best not to overwhelm you guys. i don't want to overburden your fragile little minds. actually, the real reason is so that i can make another update tomorrow or wed and impress Wayne and Willow. Muahahahahahaha! i'm awesome. THE END
but now i'm back! from outer space! and you see me here with that look upon my face! (*smack!) i mean, back from vacation. so i'm here in raleigh with no money and no job and no car and no money. but one thing i do have is PICTURES from HI. lets see, there are some cool ones of myself, and of Willow... and some of our dorky brothers, i think one or two with Wheedle, and a really sweet one of mis padres in the sunset on their 25th ANNIVERSARY!!! congradulations to them!
so i totally had tons of stuff to put in this update, but i've decided it might be best not to overwhelm you guys. i don't want to overburden your fragile little minds. actually, the real reason is so that i can make another update tomorrow or wed and impress Wayne and Willow. Muahahahahahaha! i'm awesome. THE END
Comments
Mr. Not-so-slack!
By WastrelFebruary 22nd, 2005
Ok so I just wasted a good twenty minutes on trying to change my
icon. But I'm tired and it didn't work. So whilst being called a
slacker I have really been toiling diligently on our next grandious
secret project. And by diligently I mean not-so-much. But the rough
draft is done, now comes the hard part to take care of details.
Seeing as how Wastrel Monkey will spend the entire month of March
traveling for Graduate School interviews and visiting sunny San
Diego (where he got accepted!), I don't forsee much updating on my
behalf.
So in a long-winded fashion I just wanted to say the title slacker suits me fine! In the mean time here's some more pictures to tide you over. (I promised a friend to take pictures of my apartment, and in slack fashion three months later have gotten them posted). There would have been ski pictures too, but our last ski trip was a big ice/sleet/hail/snowstorm adventure. Meaning no kodak moments.
But Wesley and I shall try again at Snowshoe this 'weekend' (really midweek) and I'll get to break in my new skis!
In the meantime enjoy your useless random link(I also like picture 7 I think its cute, mainly b/c I like that type of dog).
-peace
So in a long-winded fashion I just wanted to say the title slacker suits me fine! In the mean time here's some more pictures to tide you over. (I promised a friend to take pictures of my apartment, and in slack fashion three months later have gotten them posted). There would have been ski pictures too, but our last ski trip was a big ice/sleet/hail/snowstorm adventure. Meaning no kodak moments.
But Wesley and I shall try again at Snowshoe this 'weekend' (really midweek) and I'll get to break in my new skis!
In the meantime enjoy your useless random link(I also like picture 7 I think its cute, mainly b/c I like that type of dog).
-peace
Comments
Check it out
ByMarch 14th, 2005
You know that new photo gallery I keep talking about? Probably not.
It's been so long in the making that you've probably forgotten
about it or didn't give it much though to begin with. But guess
what...
No, it's not done, but it's a lot closer than it was. It's done enough to show you, in fact. If you haven't noticed already, take a look at the galleries section. It was pretty fugly before, and there was no organization at all. It still doesn't look great, but at least all the sections are listed in some kind of readable layout.
If you click a gallery from that page, you'll probably get some PHP warning (I should turn those off) and then a more easily read error message that says there is no "structure.xml" file. That's because that particular gallery hasn't been "converted" to the new gallery format.
One of the cooler features is the ability to have nested galleries. There's a slight limitation to the way I'm doing that with XML, but I won't get into the details. I may fix it in XMLGallery 1.0.1, but thats a long way from the current version: XMLGallery 1.0 B[roken].
Unfortunately, I haven't finished a major feature of the new gallery, Captions. Right now, you can't add or edit captions, so the gallery simply makes the caption the name of the file (sans the extension).
You may not like the current way you view photos. I don't, especially since you can't use the mouse scroll to scroll up and down the thumbnail pane. There are plently of other CSS issues in the current setup as well, but don't worry, it's not here to stay. The truth is, by using XML it's fairly easy to have multiple layout styles. So if you guys have any suggestions on how you'd like to view a gallery, post them here. I'd like to get that "filmstrip" style layout working, but I'll most definetly stick to the standard "5 x 3" or "4 x 4" or whatever layout.
Here's your extra news update that is more than just babble. I was driving back to Raleigh from home one anti-sunny day and saw these sailboats at Jordan Lake, so I pulled over to take a few pictures. They were going fast though, so they're kinda far away.
Any suggestions are welcome, except those that say "Don't use XML." If that is your response, I hate you and you are stupid!
No, it's not done, but it's a lot closer than it was. It's done enough to show you, in fact. If you haven't noticed already, take a look at the galleries section. It was pretty fugly before, and there was no organization at all. It still doesn't look great, but at least all the sections are listed in some kind of readable layout.
If you click a gallery from that page, you'll probably get some PHP warning (I should turn those off) and then a more easily read error message that says there is no "structure.xml" file. That's because that particular gallery hasn't been "converted" to the new gallery format.
One of the cooler features is the ability to have nested galleries. There's a slight limitation to the way I'm doing that with XML, but I won't get into the details. I may fix it in XMLGallery 1.0.1, but thats a long way from the current version: XMLGallery 1.0 B[roken].
Unfortunately, I haven't finished a major feature of the new gallery, Captions. Right now, you can't add or edit captions, so the gallery simply makes the caption the name of the file (sans the extension).
You may not like the current way you view photos. I don't, especially since you can't use the mouse scroll to scroll up and down the thumbnail pane. There are plently of other CSS issues in the current setup as well, but don't worry, it's not here to stay. The truth is, by using XML it's fairly easy to have multiple layout styles. So if you guys have any suggestions on how you'd like to view a gallery, post them here. I'd like to get that "filmstrip" style layout working, but I'll most definetly stick to the standard "5 x 3" or "4 x 4" or whatever layout.
Here's your extra news update that is more than just babble. I was driving back to Raleigh from home one anti-sunny day and saw these sailboats at Jordan Lake, so I pulled over to take a few pictures. They were going fast though, so they're kinda far away.
Any suggestions are welcome, except those that say "Don't use XML." If that is your response, I hate you and you are stupid!
Comments
Stepping in to save the day
By WheeldleApril 2nd, 2005
since i have recently noticed the lack of updates on the website, i decided
it was time i stepped in to save the day ... again. of course, i am not one
to point fingers since i have not updated in many many weeks ... ok months.
besides all that - i figure it is time for a hawaii update since i will be
leaving the islands in approximately one month.
since my last update, i have been back east for a wedding, made it south for a family and friends visit, had the pleasure of seeing some of the monkeys on my maui stomping grounds, and entertained family as well as family friends from japan. but the most exciting adventure in the recent past has been my hiking ad camping inside haleakela. for the uneducated about hawaii, haleakela (translated into "house of the sun") is the dormant volcano on the east side of maui. i went hiking into the crater and spent the night in one of the cabins before hiking back out the next morning. i am very sore after the outing but walked away with some good pictures and a few nice blisters on my toes (i believe one is the size of yemen).
the whales are slowly becoming more sparse (i havent seen one in days) but the waters are warming slightly. spring is upon us with summer right around the corner. the weather, however, leaves something to be desired. i feel like its been raining forever. i have heard the phrase, "a shitty day in paradise is better than a shitty day at work." but what if you work in paradise? how about that? and when you work on a boat in paradise it is even worse. i say a shitty day in paradise is worse than a shitty day in work because you expect paradise to be perfect whereas you expect work to suck. so there. put THAT on your ugly beach bags.
meanwhile, i will be sending out more pictures to willow, however he alread has many of the hawaii pictures and none of them are on the website, so i should probably not even mention photos.
Editor's note: boo-ya.
one month left ....
since my last update, i have been back east for a wedding, made it south for a family and friends visit, had the pleasure of seeing some of the monkeys on my maui stomping grounds, and entertained family as well as family friends from japan. but the most exciting adventure in the recent past has been my hiking ad camping inside haleakela. for the uneducated about hawaii, haleakela (translated into "house of the sun") is the dormant volcano on the east side of maui. i went hiking into the crater and spent the night in one of the cabins before hiking back out the next morning. i am very sore after the outing but walked away with some good pictures and a few nice blisters on my toes (i believe one is the size of yemen).
the whales are slowly becoming more sparse (i havent seen one in days) but the waters are warming slightly. spring is upon us with summer right around the corner. the weather, however, leaves something to be desired. i feel like its been raining forever. i have heard the phrase, "a shitty day in paradise is better than a shitty day at work." but what if you work in paradise? how about that? and when you work on a boat in paradise it is even worse. i say a shitty day in paradise is worse than a shitty day in work because you expect paradise to be perfect whereas you expect work to suck. so there. put THAT on your ugly beach bags.
meanwhile, i will be sending out more pictures to willow, however he alread has many of the hawaii pictures and none of them are on the website, so i should probably not even mention photos.
Editor's note: boo-ya.
one month left ....
Comments
For the People
ByApril 10th, 2005
I was just looking at our web traffic stats the other day and
thought to myself, "Wow, despite our severe lack of content, we
sure have been getting a steady flow of
visits over the past few months." Actually, I had
written the complete opposite, but decided to check my facts...
Good thing!
To be honest, the saviour of this website is our visitors. If it wasn't for you guys reading the message board, which you check more often than you do the front page, our site would slowly die. We're afraid that it's doing that anyway. However, we will keep the site up indefinetly, if for no other reason than to stay in touch and plan get-togethers.
The truth is, Willow and I have come to the realization that time doesn't come cheap, and that's what it takes to keep a website full of new content. We're not going to completely stop doing things we used to, but obviously we've slacked off a lot. I think what we need is a way for you guys to contribute to the site where we have failed. Fortunately, my admin tool will require minimal work for you guys to use, and it's pretty straightforward to use. If anyone would be the slightest bit interested in contributing in either of these areas, please email me with your name and the site name you want (doesn't have to follow the "W" scheme) I'll set up an account ASAP. I'll even trust you to avoid playing with things that are broken or off limits (like the Gallery, Message Board, and News) until I get some "security" worked in.
The good news is, your contributions will immediately be seen, unlike the Movie Exchange (sorry guys) failure. We'd love to see all kinds of content in the form of our usual game reviews, movie bashing, and general rants, but don't limit yourself to just that. Anything you want is game. If we don't have a category for it, I'll make one.
Thanks for staying with us guys. It means a lot to see all those hours put to good use.
Oh, if you're interested in any stat tracking, see our webalizer page. If Drew happens to read this, maybe he can check out why my webalizer cron job isn't working. ;)
To be honest, the saviour of this website is our visitors. If it wasn't for you guys reading the message board, which you check more often than you do the front page, our site would slowly die. We're afraid that it's doing that anyway. However, we will keep the site up indefinetly, if for no other reason than to stay in touch and plan get-togethers.
The truth is, Willow and I have come to the realization that time doesn't come cheap, and that's what it takes to keep a website full of new content. We're not going to completely stop doing things we used to, but obviously we've slacked off a lot. I think what we need is a way for you guys to contribute to the site where we have failed. Fortunately, my admin tool will require minimal work for you guys to use, and it's pretty straightforward to use. If anyone would be the slightest bit interested in contributing in either of these areas, please email me with your name and the site name you want (doesn't have to follow the "W" scheme) I'll set up an account ASAP. I'll even trust you to avoid playing with things that are broken or off limits (like the Gallery, Message Board, and News) until I get some "security" worked in.
The good news is, your contributions will immediately be seen, unlike the Movie Exchange (sorry guys) failure. We'd love to see all kinds of content in the form of our usual game reviews, movie bashing, and general rants, but don't limit yourself to just that. Anything you want is game. If we don't have a category for it, I'll make one.
Thanks for staying with us guys. It means a lot to see all those hours put to good use.
Oh, if you're interested in any stat tracking, see our webalizer page. If Drew happens to read this, maybe he can check out why my webalizer cron job isn't working. ;)
Comments
For Contents Sake!
By WastrelMay 2nd, 2005
So while bored at work... uhhh I mean constantly working hard at my
demanding job... I decided to do some gmax tutorials. Our fiscal
year ended on march 1st so for the month of march I had a lot of
down time. I realize we are in may now, but come on I do do some
work, and I'm not going to post tutorial created work as my
content.
In short and getting back to the point... I decided to experiment with lip-syncing in 3ds max. I used the model head I created from gmax for doing this, and unfortunately the mesh did not export and reimport so well and I have no desire to spend lots and lots of time to go back and reedit a head I shall never work with again (at least anytime soon). So if the mouth doesn't look quite right... well tough it, this was just experimenting, and I figured some content is better than no content. Also the compression is super high so I've noticed that the playback will skip (i.e. the mouth freezes up at times). In the meantime I have also created some other model heads and when I finish with them you will see some more fabulous content filled updates!
So here is your do not forget to read your webcomics link and of course your link to content!
(you'll need a divx codec to actually view the video, and this can be found here.)
-peace
In short and getting back to the point... I decided to experiment with lip-syncing in 3ds max. I used the model head I created from gmax for doing this, and unfortunately the mesh did not export and reimport so well and I have no desire to spend lots and lots of time to go back and reedit a head I shall never work with again (at least anytime soon). So if the mouth doesn't look quite right... well tough it, this was just experimenting, and I figured some content is better than no content. Also the compression is super high so I've noticed that the playback will skip (i.e. the mouth freezes up at times). In the meantime I have also created some other model heads and when I finish with them you will see some more fabulous content filled updates!
So here is your do not forget to read your webcomics link and of course your link to content!
(you'll need a divx codec to actually view the video, and this can be found here.)
-peace
Comments
Graduation!
ByMay 13th, 2005
Can you believe it!?! Tommorow afternoon I am going to GRADUATE
from NC State University! Well, almost. But think! I'm the last of
the gang to finish up here at State! You other guys are probably
pretty old by now; I mean hell it took me five years and a lot of
you were done before I started!
Ok Ok, I know when enough's enough. So I get to walk the walk tommorow but unfortunately I have a single humanities course to take this summer which I intend on retaining zero information from. Personally, I think they should just check that requirement off and let me go.
On the plus side, I made the Dean's List one more time and was oh-so-close to a perfect GPA. One stupid B+ kept me at a 3.933. Of course my cummulative GPA is still a lowly 2.9, but thats not bad after 3 years of farting around.
Some of you may have noticed the "edit post" links below the icons in the message board. I was hoping to get that done by tonight but as I keep getting closer I keep writing messy crappy code that makes me want to hurl. I just can't do it. You've waited 2 years to edit, you can wait another few days/weeks/months. Besides, have I ever announced a project completion date that I met? It would be out of character of me.
What wouldn't be out of character is for me to tell you how cool it's gonna be! Oh man it's so close. I've done so much work on this admin tool, it's almost a full blown website. I think if you had to log in through it to edit posts people might not use the fancy layout you see here. For that reason, we'll have the ability to edit posts in both the admin tool and the main curvy layout.
Alright, now send me an email or post a new thread congratulating me on this most difficult task that all of you have already completed with less effort (or at least in less time) I'm sure. Get to it!
Ok Ok, I know when enough's enough. So I get to walk the walk tommorow but unfortunately I have a single humanities course to take this summer which I intend on retaining zero information from. Personally, I think they should just check that requirement off and let me go.
On the plus side, I made the Dean's List one more time and was oh-so-close to a perfect GPA. One stupid B+ kept me at a 3.933. Of course my cummulative GPA is still a lowly 2.9, but thats not bad after 3 years of farting around.
Some of you may have noticed the "edit post" links below the icons in the message board. I was hoping to get that done by tonight but as I keep getting closer I keep writing messy crappy code that makes me want to hurl. I just can't do it. You've waited 2 years to edit, you can wait another few days/weeks/months. Besides, have I ever announced a project completion date that I met? It would be out of character of me.
What wouldn't be out of character is for me to tell you how cool it's gonna be! Oh man it's so close. I've done so much work on this admin tool, it's almost a full blown website. I think if you had to log in through it to edit posts people might not use the fancy layout you see here. For that reason, we'll have the ability to edit posts in both the admin tool and the main curvy layout.
Alright, now send me an email or post a new thread congratulating me on this most difficult task that all of you have already completed with less effort (or at least in less time) I'm sure. Get to it!
Comments
Conta wha? Grada who? Yay more content!
By WastrelMay 24th, 2005
So as promised more content! In honor of wayne's recent
accomplishment I decided to revamp my original idea and add a
little flare to the concept. I could continue on and rant about dvd
burners that do not work and wasted money, but less talking more
content.
And for your useless random link click here.
Latas,
And for your useless random link click here.
Latas,
Comments
Back from Hawaii at last
By WheeldleJune 4th, 2005
well, i have some bad news. i have left the island of maui and
returned to what people are calling "the real world." i dont
understand what is so real about it, to be honest. most people just
go to jobs that they hate, sit in traffic forever, and end up at
home later than they want and dont have time to partake in their
hobbies and things that they enjoy. sounds to me that people are
kidding themselves. shouldnt the real world be where you are happy
and everyday you wake up is a day you cant wait to live? thats what
i think.
dont get me wrong, i am thrilled to see all my monkey friends (and even my nonmonkey friends) back on the east side. why cant there just be some beautiful black sand out our back doors, though? and how about some clear blue water and ... just for kicks ... a volcano on either side of the house. that would be swell.
meanwhile, ive been putting many miles on the ole hyndai (which will heretofore be referred as my cadillac because it is upper class to me compared to what i just left) going to the triangle area and back, to the triangle area and back again, to charleston and back, and soon to come another trip to the triangle and back and then practically to tenessee and back! she'll need some tlc soon.
lastly - im finally learning to drive a stick shift. and i SUCK at it! that's putting it nicely. i've nearly given my mother a heart attack because, lets face it, her mercedes is a tad higher on the car social ladder than my caddy. i need to get down and dirty with first gear because she don't like me.
in true hawaiian fashion: alooooooooooooooha!
dont get me wrong, i am thrilled to see all my monkey friends (and even my nonmonkey friends) back on the east side. why cant there just be some beautiful black sand out our back doors, though? and how about some clear blue water and ... just for kicks ... a volcano on either side of the house. that would be swell.
meanwhile, ive been putting many miles on the ole hyndai (which will heretofore be referred as my cadillac because it is upper class to me compared to what i just left) going to the triangle area and back, to the triangle area and back again, to charleston and back, and soon to come another trip to the triangle and back and then practically to tenessee and back! she'll need some tlc soon.
lastly - im finally learning to drive a stick shift. and i SUCK at it! that's putting it nicely. i've nearly given my mother a heart attack because, lets face it, her mercedes is a tad higher on the car social ladder than my caddy. i need to get down and dirty with first gear because she don't like me.
in true hawaiian fashion: alooooooooooooooha!
Comments
The inevitable return of the great white dope
By Mike DalyJune 12th, 2005
So unless my records decieve me, this may be the first time I've
posted on the front page in something like 7 months. I'm sorry for
dropping the ball - my bad. In this post, I WILL NOT take you on a
fantastic and magical journey through all my excuses. I WILL NOT
host bitch-about-having-no-time-a-pa-looza. Instead in the
old-school fashion, I will relate an anecdote from my recent life
which will no doubt HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH WHY I DON'T MAKE
UPDATES ANY MORE OR HOW ANYTHING I SAY RELATES TO YOU, YOUR LIFE,
YOUR VISITING THIS WEBPAGE, OR MY OBSESSION WITH
ABSURDLY-LONG-HYPHENATED-WORD-SLASH-PHRASES!
*gasp*
Chapter A: the anecdote
So when I first started my job, one of my coworkers commented on my reluctance to purchase things. He said something to the effect of "you are not a poor college student anymore. You have large volumes of expendable income and before you know it, you'll be walking down the street and decide to buy a CD just because you feel like buying something." At the time, this was crazy talk! Spend 15 bucks on something that only provided about an hour of background entertainment? My frugal mind rejected the idea completely.
However, in the end, Dan's wisdom has finally shown through. While at Best Buy the other day, I decided to buy a music CD. Why, you might ask? I will tell you - just for the hell of it.
As a side effect of my little rampant-consumerism-binge, I can bring some wisdom of my own to the table - the "Hooray for Boobies" Bloodhound gang album is good, but not as good as "One fierce beer coaster". It is of course light years better than "Finger licking good", which is a little ironic I guess.
Chapter 2: And now for something completely different
It was a little difficult to find anything that might be of some visual interest to post here out of the things I've worked on at home recently. This is mainly because I don't turn my computer on at home much anymore. I did discover that I had a backlog of quick sketches that had accumulated over time. I had enough to throw together some quick collages. So if you are interested in what my tablet and I have been up to recently, take a look.
While browsing through my old game dev and modeling galleries, despite the fact that I was practially drowning in nostalgia, I still managed to realize that I never really actually posted any screenshots of the games I worked on (now over a year ago) as they became complete. Thus, I took it upon myself to take a few screen captures of the beautiful grassy fields of Catan Island and throw them up. If you need your daily dose of primary colors, check it out. Okay, one more.
Chapter D: TEH END
Well, that was anticlimactic (as usual). I guess I must already be back in my old groove. Well, I'll talk to you all later. If my statistical analysis is correct that will be sometime around January ... 2008.
*gasp*
Chapter A: the anecdote
So when I first started my job, one of my coworkers commented on my reluctance to purchase things. He said something to the effect of "you are not a poor college student anymore. You have large volumes of expendable income and before you know it, you'll be walking down the street and decide to buy a CD just because you feel like buying something." At the time, this was crazy talk! Spend 15 bucks on something that only provided about an hour of background entertainment? My frugal mind rejected the idea completely.
However, in the end, Dan's wisdom has finally shown through. While at Best Buy the other day, I decided to buy a music CD. Why, you might ask? I will tell you - just for the hell of it.
As a side effect of my little rampant-consumerism-binge, I can bring some wisdom of my own to the table - the "Hooray for Boobies" Bloodhound gang album is good, but not as good as "One fierce beer coaster". It is of course light years better than "Finger licking good", which is a little ironic I guess.
Chapter 2: And now for something completely different
It was a little difficult to find anything that might be of some visual interest to post here out of the things I've worked on at home recently. This is mainly because I don't turn my computer on at home much anymore. I did discover that I had a backlog of quick sketches that had accumulated over time. I had enough to throw together some quick collages. So if you are interested in what my tablet and I have been up to recently, take a look.
While browsing through my old game dev and modeling galleries, despite the fact that I was practially drowning in nostalgia, I still managed to realize that I never really actually posted any screenshots of the games I worked on (now over a year ago) as they became complete. Thus, I took it upon myself to take a few screen captures of the beautiful grassy fields of Catan Island and throw them up. If you need your daily dose of primary colors, check it out. Okay, one more.
Chapter D: TEH END
Well, that was anticlimactic (as usual). I guess I must already be back in my old groove. Well, I'll talk to you all later. If my statistical analysis is correct that will be sometime around January ... 2008.
Comments
did you miss me?
By WesleyJune 19th, 2005
Wow, how long has it been?! do you even remember a time when i once
graced this sacred site with my splattered feces freshly flung from
my hands?! well, i have very sad news. this sad news is not the
fact that i have not flung my dung in the monkey household since
march, but it is in fact the fact that nobody told you that i no
longer in fact fling ANYTHING in the monkey household since march.
why?! well thats a very good question, i'm so glad you asked. get
yourself a cup of tea dear reader, single, solitary reader, and
prepare for the tale i am about to tell. i moved. the end. what?!
what!!?! come on! that was a tale of epic proportion!
ok, so what do you want from me, huh?! come on! i'm a busy guy! can you really expect me to drop whatever useless, waste of time activity i'm partaking of just so i can provide a useless, waste of time post for you to read?! wellllll, okay. but just this once.
so actually, i do have some news. no really, this is serious! i am building a house. now, i know what you're probably thinking, "well, duh dumbass, you work for a construction company!" but i mean i'm building a house FOR ME!!! yes, way out in the boonies i am constructing a 1400 sq. foot home out of fallen treelimbs, bark, and twine. you can come visit anytime! party at my place!
so thats it for officail announcements. now back to your usual useless programming. now, i'm not really "in" with whats going on on the internet these days, so you may already be familiar with this (in fact, i might have linked it long ago and just can't remember) but if you have never seen Red v.s. Blue then you should definatly check them out. but you should start at the beginning cause other wise it won't really make sense.
and now that you have your useless link of the day i'm out. see you again in a few months when i might once again fling excrement for your enjoyment!!! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
ok, so what do you want from me, huh?! come on! i'm a busy guy! can you really expect me to drop whatever useless, waste of time activity i'm partaking of just so i can provide a useless, waste of time post for you to read?! wellllll, okay. but just this once.
so actually, i do have some news. no really, this is serious! i am building a house. now, i know what you're probably thinking, "well, duh dumbass, you work for a construction company!" but i mean i'm building a house FOR ME!!! yes, way out in the boonies i am constructing a 1400 sq. foot home out of fallen treelimbs, bark, and twine. you can come visit anytime! party at my place!
so thats it for officail announcements. now back to your usual useless programming. now, i'm not really "in" with whats going on on the internet these days, so you may already be familiar with this (in fact, i might have linked it long ago and just can't remember) but if you have never seen Red v.s. Blue then you should definatly check them out. but you should start at the beginning cause other wise it won't really make sense.
and now that you have your useless link of the day i'm out. see you again in a few months when i might once again fling excrement for your enjoyment!!! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
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When drawings go bad
By Mike DalyJune 28th, 2005
I have a lot of things that I like to do with what few shreds of
free time I have. Occasionally I like to draw stuff on the
computer. A couple of days back, I decided to start a new drawing
with the intention of posting it here. Things went downhill from
there. I'm going to take this news post to relate to you how a good
idea for a drawing evolves into a bad drawing in a few easy to
swallow steps.
Step 1: The thumbnail - a quick sketch of the idea gave me the impression I was off to a good start.
Step 2: The rough sketch - for some reason, going over the thumbnail with some rough lines didn't turn out nearly as well as I thought it would. I would almost be willing to say the thumbnail was better.
Step 3: The lines - after I get done inking the lines in, the rough sketch suddenly looks good. Looks good in a bad way because it only looks good because the lines look bad.
Step 4: The flats - just after adding the basic colors was definately the all time low for this picture. For some reason, it just doesn't look good.
Step 5: The light at the end of the tunnel - I added the shadowing as a seperate layer, and by itself, it actually doesn't look that bad. Let's just hope that when we combine it with the colors we get a pleasing result.
Step 6: DENIED - Nope, doesn't look better. New all time low for this picture.
Step 7: Cut losses, learn lesson - In one last final ditch effort I added some highlites, but to little avail. At this point, I surrender. This image cannot be salvaged. It sucks.
Step 8: Post findings on internet - The experience of trying to create this failed drawing did not teach me anything new or interesting. Therefore I figured it belonged where the rest of the worlds useless and uninteresting junk is kept.
I congratulate you if you've actually made it this far through my post. I will reward you with a little bit of irony. I spent probably 5 or 6 hours of my precious free time to make that crappy picture I've been yapping about this whole time and it looks like crap. This, however took me about an hour, I did it while I was at work, and in my humble opinion, it looks about ten times better. Isn't that funny?
Step 1: The thumbnail - a quick sketch of the idea gave me the impression I was off to a good start.
Step 2: The rough sketch - for some reason, going over the thumbnail with some rough lines didn't turn out nearly as well as I thought it would. I would almost be willing to say the thumbnail was better.
Step 3: The lines - after I get done inking the lines in, the rough sketch suddenly looks good. Looks good in a bad way because it only looks good because the lines look bad.
Step 4: The flats - just after adding the basic colors was definately the all time low for this picture. For some reason, it just doesn't look good.
Step 5: The light at the end of the tunnel - I added the shadowing as a seperate layer, and by itself, it actually doesn't look that bad. Let's just hope that when we combine it with the colors we get a pleasing result.
Step 6: DENIED - Nope, doesn't look better. New all time low for this picture.
Step 7: Cut losses, learn lesson - In one last final ditch effort I added some highlites, but to little avail. At this point, I surrender. This image cannot be salvaged. It sucks.
Step 8: Post findings on internet - The experience of trying to create this failed drawing did not teach me anything new or interesting. Therefore I figured it belonged where the rest of the worlds useless and uninteresting junk is kept.
I congratulate you if you've actually made it this far through my post. I will reward you with a little bit of irony. I spent probably 5 or 6 hours of my precious free time to make that crappy picture I've been yapping about this whole time and it looks like crap. This, however took me about an hour, I did it while I was at work, and in my humble opinion, it looks about ten times better. Isn't that funny?
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Old School
ByJuly 6th, 2005
Wow, we're old school today. I swear I did a backup of the site since we upgraded to DM 2.0. Fear not, not all is lost. We got moved to another server (and I won't say it's the last time) and I don't have my old box in my hands, so it might be a little while before I can get everything the way it was.
As you may have noticed, the message board is down. I did back up the database just before we went down, but importing it has not worked so well. I blame it on phpMyAdmin.
Anyway, all your message posts are safe. In the meantime I'll try to set up a temporary message board that I'll later merge with the old one once it's alive again.
Sorry!
As you may have noticed, the message board is down. I did back up the database just before we went down, but importing it has not worked so well. I blame it on phpMyAdmin.
Anyway, all your message posts are safe. In the meantime I'll try to set up a temporary message board that I'll later merge with the old one once it's alive again.
Sorry!
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A Week Without Willow
ByJuly 30th, 2005
Willow left yesterday afternoon for a week in L.A. I'm already lonely. The cat helps, but it's really quiet around here. I think once the work week starts the time will go by fast enough. I already have most of the beginning of the week planned out.
I always thought that after I finished with college that I'd have more time. I guess I do, but it quickly gets filled up. I think a lot of my free time that is now missing is the wee hours of the morning when I could stay up late and work on the website or play games or drink beer. I'm usually in the bed between 11 and 12 now. That gives me at the maximum six hours a day to get other stuff done, including cooking, eating, and cleaning dinner, showering, and occasionally excersizing. To be honest I think we should work M - Th and have three day weekends ALL the time.
I have started to make a Dueling Monkeys skin for mambo, that thing I mentioned earlier that will supposedly make this site easier to manage. It is going slow, but you can check up on it's progress here. It's in bad shape at the moment, but it's coming around.
Alright, I will spend no more of my free time typing here. I have work to do! In the meantime, check out today's random Word of the Day. HA!
I always thought that after I finished with college that I'd have more time. I guess I do, but it quickly gets filled up. I think a lot of my free time that is now missing is the wee hours of the morning when I could stay up late and work on the website or play games or drink beer. I'm usually in the bed between 11 and 12 now. That gives me at the maximum six hours a day to get other stuff done, including cooking, eating, and cleaning dinner, showering, and occasionally excersizing. To be honest I think we should work M - Th and have three day weekends ALL the time.
I have started to make a Dueling Monkeys skin for mambo, that thing I mentioned earlier that will supposedly make this site easier to manage. It is going slow, but you can check up on it's progress here. It's in bad shape at the moment, but it's coming around.
Alright, I will spend no more of my free time typing here. I have work to do! In the meantime, check out today's random Word of the Day. HA!
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Move out of the way, I have content!
ByAugust 3rd, 2005
For the first time since October of 2004, I have written a rant! I can't believe that we haven't done a game review, rant, or reflection since then. There is plenty to write about, but we really do suck at writing these days. Therefore, I'm going to write a review on a game and come back to this news update in a few minutes...
[exit wayne]
[re-enter wayne]
Alright, done. Now feast your eyes on a brand new game review of Burnout 3! I hope I didn't compare it to Project Gotham Racing too much. That's a tough standard to hold. Well I feel that with two sources of time wasters I can end this update early and go to bed now. So everyone have a great weekend and hopefully we'll be able to start up some more frequent updates.
[exit wayne]
[re-enter wayne]
Alright, done. Now feast your eyes on a brand new game review of Burnout 3! I hope I didn't compare it to Project Gotham Racing too much. That's a tough standard to hold. Well I feel that with two sources of time wasters I can end this update early and go to bed now. So everyone have a great weekend and hopefully we'll be able to start up some more frequent updates.
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Drawing contest
By Mike DalyAugust 21st, 2005
So today I skipped out on movie night with Stephen and Leanna because I was going to be way late anyway. Because of this, I found myself with a whole hour of free time before I had to go to bed (being a grown-up sucks). I start to sketch a little in photoshop with my cool-daddy tablet. Wayne walks in to my room (undoubtedly to bitch and moan about something totally redundant) and is struck with two brilliant ideas. Following is the chronicle of these two ideas - their rise to glory and their fall from grace.
1) Tell me to make an update - I haven't updated in so long that I knew I had to agree. It was not until after I agreed that I actually thought about the logistics of such a plan - I wouldn't even be able to get started until after midnight, especially if I wanted to finish a sketch worth posting. Once you figure up content, writing, and wrestling with the int-whore-net to get all this in place, my bedtime would be passed by an unhealthy margin.
2) Play with my tablet - Wayne's resulting work of art speaks for itself. Although you are just going to have to use your imagination for reasons I will soon divulge. I'll just say that he had to put extra effort into the piece to (badly) hide the phallic imagery that his freudian instincts made him draw.
Ok, now for the funny part. I draw my picture and format it for the web then format his "picture" for the web then go to connect and find out that I have no idea how to use this freaking webpage anymore. Apparently, during all the behind-the-curtains improvements that he's been doing that don't involve fixing the galleries he put some sort of security on the ftp site or moved it or something. Now he's gone to bed and I just stayed up late and you all are sitting at your desks at work with no pictures to look at. Stupid internet.
Oh well, I guess you'll just have to settle for some random links from my bookmarks, as usual. If you are interested in D&D or Magic, you will probably recognize the art of Todd Lockwood and James Ryman. So great.
1) Tell me to make an update - I haven't updated in so long that I knew I had to agree. It was not until after I agreed that I actually thought about the logistics of such a plan - I wouldn't even be able to get started until after midnight, especially if I wanted to finish a sketch worth posting. Once you figure up content, writing, and wrestling with the int-whore-net to get all this in place, my bedtime would be passed by an unhealthy margin.
2) Play with my tablet - Wayne's resulting work of art speaks for itself. Although you are just going to have to use your imagination for reasons I will soon divulge. I'll just say that he had to put extra effort into the piece to (badly) hide the phallic imagery that his freudian instincts made him draw.
Ok, now for the funny part. I draw my picture and format it for the web then format his "picture" for the web then go to connect and find out that I have no idea how to use this freaking webpage anymore. Apparently, during all the behind-the-curtains improvements that he's been doing that don't involve fixing the galleries he put some sort of security on the ftp site or moved it or something. Now he's gone to bed and I just stayed up late and you all are sitting at your desks at work with no pictures to look at. Stupid internet.
Oh well, I guess you'll just have to settle for some random links from my bookmarks, as usual. If you are interested in D&D or Magic, you will probably recognize the art of Todd Lockwood and James Ryman. So great.
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DANGER: END OF MONTH APPROACHING!
BySeptember 27th, 2005
I was just reading Drew's
Blog and noticed that he had not updated in over 2 months. I
thought to myself, "Wow, it would suck to have a month not show up
in the archives of Dueling Monkeys because there were no posts." So
I browsed on over to this website and noticed that it had indeed
been over a month since we've updated! Today is the 28th! There are
less than 2 days left before this anomaly comes true!
So what do I give the keepers of time to record into the books? These proverbs that I have learned over the past week:
You will not defy me, evil turmoils of time!
I CANNOT LET IT HAPPEN!
Even if it is a linkless, pointless, everything-less glob (yes glob, not blog... i will not conform) of text, we will have an entry into the records for all to see long after the apocalypse has ended all forms of written communication.So what do I give the keepers of time to record into the books? These proverbs that I have learned over the past week:
- Old people can still have fun.
- Coal gives off a lot of crap when burned.
- Summer colds suck. Hard.
- If you feel a cold coming on, do not proceed to drinking alcohol.
- If you fail to recognize the previous proverb, do not take Nyquil.
- Telivisions should be set at eye level, or at least higher than the top of the bed.
- Cats are very good company when you are sick at home all by yourself.
You will not defy me, evil turmoils of time!
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New Features!
ByOctober 11th, 2005
I finally made good on one of my "promises" and created a user
database so you guys can log in and yes, edit posts! Since the
message board is the dominant feature of the site, I figured it
needed the most attention. While I still think it's a piece of crap
and needs to be redone (if two people post at the exact same
second, it will break), this should please you all for a while.
First let me make this clear: You do not and will never have to
register to post. If you do register, you do not have to be logged
in to post. If you register as Sam and want to change your author
name to Cynthia for whatever reason, you can. The main reason to
register is so you can edit posts. If you post without being logged
in, you cannot edit that post. Ever.
The other reason to register is because you can upload your very own icon to use instead of our incredibly boring set that has not changed or expanded in 3 years. You can upload any gif, jpeg, or png of any size, but it will be resized to 75px square. Therefore, it would be best that your picture is at least close to square and not too big that you won't be able to tell what it is when you shrink it down. Currently, you cannot change your icon after you register, but I will add an "Account Manage" page eventually. Until then, just email me if you want to change your icon. You will still be able to choose from the old icon set too.
Last but not least, some quick guidelines for ediiting posts. You can't edit a post that you didn't author (you must be logged in when you posted it originally). You can only edit a post within 24 hours of the original post date. When you do edit a post, your topic will not automatically float to the top. If you think I should change any of this, please give me your input. Thanks for visiting guys, now get out there and
The other reason to register is because you can upload your very own icon to use instead of our incredibly boring set that has not changed or expanded in 3 years. You can upload any gif, jpeg, or png of any size, but it will be resized to 75px square. Therefore, it would be best that your picture is at least close to square and not too big that you won't be able to tell what it is when you shrink it down. Currently, you cannot change your icon after you register, but I will add an "Account Manage" page eventually. Until then, just email me if you want to change your icon. You will still be able to choose from the old icon set too.
Last but not least, some quick guidelines for ediiting posts. You can't edit a post that you didn't author (you must be logged in when you posted it originally). You can only edit a post within 24 hours of the original post date. When you do edit a post, your topic will not automatically float to the top. If you think I should change any of this, please give me your input. Thanks for visiting guys, now get out there and
REGISTER!
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Just to let you know that I'm still alive
By Mike DalyDecember 4th, 2005
Hey guys! It's me! Remeber me?
... Oh, you don't? I'm such a loser.
Anyway, it's been far too long. So long that I don't really know what to say. I'll just put up some pictures and be done with it.
Picture 1: A while back I posted a series of images demonstrating my art process for making a terrible picture. I made another a few weeks later but never posted it. Slightly ironic, considering the second set was actually worth looking at. Enough talk, here you go.
Picture 2: I tried drawing another character portrait for some random character I came up with, but, as usual, I was very underwhelmed by the result.
Picture 3: This one is my personal favorite. I tried some new things this time. Mainly, I payed a lot more attention to the colors that went into the pallette and I didn't seperate the thing into a bazillion layers - the whole thing is basically just one layer. I'm fairly happy to present the redhead. My apologies for the lack of a real title.
Picture 4: Once upon a time Wayne picked up my tablet and tried his hand at it. What can I say? He couldn't control his subconscious urge to fill the canvas with phallic imagery. I'll let you see for yourself. Here's a neat game: can you spot all 5 poorly disguised phallic symbols in Wayne's drawing?
That's all I got. I meant to write a Rant on Perfect Dark: Zero as well, but I figured that pictures would be a more entertaining way to spend your morning. I also ran out of time. And it couldn't hurt to have something to post next time (if there ever is one) too.
Good night.
... Oh, you don't? I'm such a loser.
Anyway, it's been far too long. So long that I don't really know what to say. I'll just put up some pictures and be done with it.
Picture 1: A while back I posted a series of images demonstrating my art process for making a terrible picture. I made another a few weeks later but never posted it. Slightly ironic, considering the second set was actually worth looking at. Enough talk, here you go.
Picture 2: I tried drawing another character portrait for some random character I came up with, but, as usual, I was very underwhelmed by the result.
Picture 3: This one is my personal favorite. I tried some new things this time. Mainly, I payed a lot more attention to the colors that went into the pallette and I didn't seperate the thing into a bazillion layers - the whole thing is basically just one layer. I'm fairly happy to present the redhead. My apologies for the lack of a real title.
Picture 4: Once upon a time Wayne picked up my tablet and tried his hand at it. What can I say? He couldn't control his subconscious urge to fill the canvas with phallic imagery. I'll let you see for yourself. Here's a neat game: can you spot all 5 poorly disguised phallic symbols in Wayne's drawing?
That's all I got. I meant to write a Rant on Perfect Dark: Zero as well, but I figured that pictures would be a more entertaining way to spend your morning. I also ran out of time. And it couldn't hurt to have something to post next time (if there ever is one) too.
Good night.
Comments
Season's greetings
By Mike DalyDecember 26th, 2005
Hey y'all! (sorry, just got back from the mountains)
Well, the month of December is about spent, and we still don't have any snow to show for it. What we all SHOULD have instead is a big pile of loot from christmas. I know I got away pretty nicely with a new gas grill from my parents and a Sony PSP from my employers.
To tell you the truth, I don't have much interesting to post, but I figured I would update anyway for 2 main reasons: 1) most interesting sites on the net don't update during the holidays, so I'm feeling webcomic withdrawl, and 2) people seem to have more time to waste on the internet during the holiday break. These two factors lead me to believe that it is now an ideal time to post an update despite the fact that it (as usual) is going to be completely devoid of purpose.
Let's make with the linkey! I got two interesting new links just today that I feel obligated to share with the world. Contestant number one is a flash game entitled Megaman vs. Ghosts 'n Goblins. Some good nostalgic fun to be had there. Contestant number two is a flash movie: Ryu vs. Scorpion. I know the idea of doing a flash pitting mismatched fighters together has been done over and over, but this one, at least, is really good animation. For this one, you may want to choose scenes and skip the first bit, it's kind of dumb.
Now that you have those to keep you busy for a few minutes, feel free to move on to the rest of the internet as what I'm going to say next is probably not relevant to any of you at all.
Dude! Xbox Live on the 360 rocks! I've bought 2 live arcade games so far and am immensely enjoying them both (for $10 each, they are already a better investment than most of the rest of my library). I managed to complete Adventure and Tally mode for Mutant storm (I'm ranked about 200 for tally mode), and finally got around to finishing Perfect Dark. I suspect that I'll start playing PD on Live a little bit more often soon. Why don't you guys have 360s yet!? Get you some Xbox Live, yo! Check this out:
Well, the month of December is about spent, and we still don't have any snow to show for it. What we all SHOULD have instead is a big pile of loot from christmas. I know I got away pretty nicely with a new gas grill from my parents and a Sony PSP from my employers.
To tell you the truth, I don't have much interesting to post, but I figured I would update anyway for 2 main reasons: 1) most interesting sites on the net don't update during the holidays, so I'm feeling webcomic withdrawl, and 2) people seem to have more time to waste on the internet during the holiday break. These two factors lead me to believe that it is now an ideal time to post an update despite the fact that it (as usual) is going to be completely devoid of purpose.
Let's make with the linkey! I got two interesting new links just today that I feel obligated to share with the world. Contestant number one is a flash game entitled Megaman vs. Ghosts 'n Goblins. Some good nostalgic fun to be had there. Contestant number two is a flash movie: Ryu vs. Scorpion. I know the idea of doing a flash pitting mismatched fighters together has been done over and over, but this one, at least, is really good animation. For this one, you may want to choose scenes and skip the first bit, it's kind of dumb.
Now that you have those to keep you busy for a few minutes, feel free to move on to the rest of the internet as what I'm going to say next is probably not relevant to any of you at all.
Dude! Xbox Live on the 360 rocks! I've bought 2 live arcade games so far and am immensely enjoying them both (for $10 each, they are already a better investment than most of the rest of my library). I managed to complete Adventure and Tally mode for Mutant storm (I'm ranked about 200 for tally mode), and finally got around to finishing Perfect Dark. I suspect that I'll start playing PD on Live a little bit more often soon. Why don't you guys have 360s yet!? Get you some Xbox Live, yo! Check this out:
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