Author: RTOlson

I was quite fortunate to score a pair of tickets to the sold-out Chico Microbrew Fest on Saturday. That was a boon to be around the office Friday night — being new to the area, I didn’t realize that the event sells out.

There were 35 breweries and a winery there. There were the “greats” including Sierra Nevada, Stone, Gordon Bierch. There were some local brewmasters there that I didn’t know existed. A ton of food was on hand for sampling too. All for the price of a $30 ticket that I got gratis (I gave the other ticket to a co-worker to give to a friend).

It was nice sampling all the different beers (I made it to about 17 of the total 36). I definitely liked the reds and pilsners that were being offered. I definitely enjoyed the pear cider from Fox Barrel.

I paced myself through the afternoon, taking a break for food or diet cola after every four or five samples. In the end, it worked out and I cruised to the bowling alley knock down some pins.

During the clean-up drawing to give away the prizes that hadn’t been picked up, I heard my number being called for the ultimate prize — 3-day use of a dumpster from Waste Management. Woot!

Well, all the event proceeds go to the Soroptimists so it’s a worthy cause.

I don’t actively seek out anime programs to watch, but [adult swim] has a funny way of introducing me to new shows. After I get my fill of animated absurdity from their comedy block, there’s always some weird anime show. That’s how I got hooked on the Big O and now I find myself attracted to the mystery of Paranoia Agent.

I’m not a huge anime fan, so I can’t impress you with trivia about how this show is from the guy who did this other supposedly great series or whatever. Further, this show doesn’t have big robots or big-eyed children running around with swords. Paranoia Agent is a deliciously twisted take on people’s insecurities and fears and the extents that people go to resolve their conflicts. The show’s presentation is mostly realistic but there are out-of-sync elements.

The premise of the story is that there’s a mysterious young man on gold in-line skates that goes around bashing people in the head with a golden bat. The thing is, while the attacks are brutal, most of the victims are somewhat relieved by their encounter with the boy, known as “Li’l Slugger.”

While that in itself may seem weird, there are two detectives who are running around trying to catch Li’l Slugger and find a connection between the attacks. Each episode so far is a standalone take on one of the character’s issues and how they’re resolved. There are some things connecting everything together — the detectives and Lil Slugger for starters. Additionally, there’s some mysterious old infirm guy (who I think is the real Li’l Slugger) and some weird purple puppet named Marumi which somehow seems connected to it all.

The thing that brought me into this show was the main credits — everyone is laughing through a series of shots of weird settings while some insidious J-pop anthem plays in the background. Why are they laughing? Why are they standing on a table, in a ruined building, on a mountain top or on a microwave tower with a mushroom cloud in the background?

There’s so many little mysteries about the show that I just wait to see how they unfold.

Paranoia Agent airs Saturday nights at midnight and 3 a.m. on [adult swim]

At 10:28 a.m., the next phase of Macintosh development officially began — toward Intel-based systems. Steve Jobs made his announcment this morning at Apple’s WorldWide Developers Conference in San Francisco.

Two more years of PowerPC and then we’ve got Intel-inside. Still don’t know if Intel’s going to be creating a unique chip for Apple or if Apple is going to use the x86 architecture. The later sounds most likely given Jobs’ unsurprising admission that Mac OS X development has been on both PowerPC and x86 for years.

Based on the press release from Apple and follow-up comments, Apple appears to be moving to the Pentium line. The $999 dev kit will include a 3.6 GHz P4

I’m kinda concerned about what’s going to happen next. I know it’s silly, but when I think of Intel-based computers, I think of beige boxes or clunky hardware designs. Hopefully, Apple will retain its design crown as we move forward.

Yeah, I’m mixing a lot of different analogies with my headline, but today may be the moment of truth for Apple. There’s been a ton of speculation that Apple may announce that it’s getting into bed with Intel. This MacNN article sums things up.

For me, it’s possible for the newest Macs to come with the “Intel Inside” badge. Apple’s done a lot of unexpected things over the years, some of it good and some downright debacles (like not allowing clones, and then allowing clones when it was too late). I, like many other commentators, don’t see what strong advantages switching to Intel has to offer — especially if switching to the Pentium-line puts the Mac OS X in direct competition against Microsoft Windows. There may be some cost or development advantages, but is it worth eliminating the relatively closed hardware environment of the Mac?

I don’t know. We may have some answers in a few hours.

Visited the Visited States Web site. It’s a pretty interesting way of graphically listing all the places I’ve visited. Don’t let the map fool you though — I’ve only driven through a lot of those states. Still, I’m impressed that I’ve managed to touch 40 states (gosh, I’ve been to 22 of them in the past year too). And Ontario.

create your own visited states map

Notice anything missing? Yeah, the Keweenaw Peninsula is missing … again. I’m perplexed about how I look at two maps today (this and the Weather Service site) the Keweenaw is missing from _both_ maps. Me thinks I’ve finally got a project to go into my “Other” section.

I’ve been eating too much Mexican, but I found the cheapest restaurant in town.

Tuesday —
Lunch — Enchiladas, rice and beans. Diet Coke.
Dinner — Two slices of pizza

Wednesday —
I had a Sprite because my stomach was woozy. I later found some Pepto and that worked much much better.
Lunch — fajita burrito, rice and beans. Diet Coke.
Snack — peanut butter M&Ms

People in my neighborhood tend to be loud, especially on weekends. Weekends are a weird beast here in Chico. In the so-called “student ghetto,” students seem to start loosening up on Wednesday night and are in full swing Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

For some reason, people walking around at 2 in the morning think they have to yell to be heard. They also like yelling “Woooo!” at random intervals. Needless to say, it can be a triffle annoying.

However, I think one reason why things are pretty noisy here is that the sound seems to carry. I can hear people singing karaoke, badly, at Madison Bear Garden eight blocks away. The blocks are short here — the distance is probably only four-tenths of a mile.

The televised world of Star Trek sails off to the undiscovered country tonight after the final episode of Star Trek: Enterprise.

I missed most of the finale because the schedule said the UPN affiliate here was airing a freakin’ baseball game. I was watching other things when I notice that the finale actually was on (this station has been good about airing shows). While I’m glad that they aired it, I really wish I was on the ball more — especially because two of my co-workers came home to see it on a whim.

The last episode was not quite a barnstormer with Capt. Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) and crew returning home on the “original” starship Enterprise for the signing of the Federation charter. But wait, that’s not all, there’s two-shows-in-one because they used Riker and Troi from Star Trek:The Next Generation to provide a framing story.

The result is a letdown of galactic proportions. Seeing Riker (who had seven great years on his own show) popping up on the modern show was a distraction, but the final voyage of the first Enterprise was disappointing as well.

There was some jeopardy in a kidnapping situation, but the universe wasn’t at risk. The characterizations were flat as well, in part because the series crew didn’t interact much with each other (they did most of their talking with Riker). A notable crewman dies, but the reaction from his friends and co-workers is relatively weak.

That’s not to say there weren’t nice vinettes like hearing android Data’s voice again or the montage of the ships named Enterprise as their captains recited the immortal “These are the voyages…” Bummed that there was no DS9 reference there, but you can’t win it all.

As I write this, I’m listening to the soundtrack to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, one of the franchise’s glowing moments. This is fitting because the movie deals with seeking a new direction after the passage of time. After 18 years of continuous new episodes of Trek, we all need to find to go where none have gone before — the show’s producers, the actors, the studio and the die-hard fans that helped made the franchise what it is.

For years now, my Trek experience has been more about exploring the human dynamic and less the “kewl” ‘splosions. That doesn’t end now that one step of the journey has ended.

Sheesh, I’m such a geek…

As spring melts into summer, it’s finally time for me to back up the ol’ TiVo and clear off some space. Apparently I’m a pack-rat of all things including media. I imagine it’ll be like a time capsule in a few years to see some old show on TV accompanied by the commercials (sometimes).

I also finally deleted the old season passes since I probably won’t bring my TiVo back to Michigan anytime soon. But my desire to archive and remember weird things continues. So here’s my season passes from Michigan (second edition). I was on Charter Communications line-up.

This might seem silly, but I think it’s part of moving on.

1. Talking to Americans (CBC-CBMT 16) — Wish list for the best production ever from Rick Mercer. Another take: Americans say the dumbest things. The TiVo was supposed to record it over Christmas, but it didn’t work out.
2. Coupling (Wish list) — I was hoping that NBC would burn off the remaining episodes of their failed import of the classic UK series. Alas, it never happened.
3. Angel (WBMK2 24) — A vampire with a soul trying to purge LA of evil? I’m so in.
4. This Hour Has 22 Minutes (CBC) — Sketch comedy show that was like a 30-minute extended version of Weekend Update. Featuring Mercer, Mary Walsh, Greg Thomey and Cathy Jones (and more).
5. Made in Canada (CBC) — AKA The Industry in the U.S. Rick Mercer’s merciless take on the dunderheadedness of the film and TV industry.
6. Star Trek: Enterprise (WMQF 14) — It was nice to not miss it, but season three was probably the best of these voyages. Dislikes — most annoying theme song ever.
7. Arrested Development (WMQF) — The show makes fun of an eccentric rich family in Southern California. Of course, it’s on my list.
8. The Simpsons (WMQF) — For new episodes. Historical note — I received two FOX affiliates (WMQF and WLUK from Green Bay) and I had to turn to the Great White North for my daily Simpsons fix at 5 p.m. Thanks CBC!
9. Stargate SG-1 (WBKP 5-10) — Sure the syndicated run is two seasons behind SCI-FI, but it’s a goofy bit of fun from this ABC affiliate.
10. Scrubs (WLUC 6) — It’s like M*A*S*H, but funny! Just kidding, Alan Alda. I do like how zany the hospital is in this NBC sitcom, but it’s not too zany.
11. Making the Cut (CBC) — Congrats to the six guys “drafted” to try out at the six Canadian NHL teams’ training camps. Next, we’ll try to have a season for you all.
12. Veronica Mars (WMQF) — A fun take at the high school mystery genre.
13. The Tournament (CBC) — A short-run series looking a dad’s attempt to live off of his son’s talent.
14. Walter Ego (CBC) — An hour-long pilot starring Peter Kelleghan as a cartoonist. I think it might have been funny, but I accidentally recorded over it with The Greatest Canadian (Tommy Douglas, BTW).
15. Rick Mercer’s Monday Report (CBC) — Rick Mercer making fun of current events. Gee, that’s unique on this list.
16. Saturday Night Live (WLUC 6). Because I’m usually out on Saturdays.

That’s it. After backing up the TiVo, it’s on to bigger and better things. All right, it’s the same list (on different channels), minus the seven CBC shows and adding Battlestar Galactica. Happy?

I thought I’d see how my cell phone does at recording loud noises (uh, brilliantly performed music). As you can see, it didn’t really cut the mustard.

Maybe CNET or someone could use the “marching band test” for cell phones. Remember, I’ve got prior use! 😉

Still, it was cool to hear “We’re not going to take it” with a mosh pit flailing about in front.