Monthly Archives: June 2006

Jun 15 2006
Technology

Vacillation

So right now, I’m shopping for an apple laptop. I do know it’s going to be an Apple laptop, but I don’t know which one. I’m starting to feel the processor pinch on my PowerBook G4. The machine is stable, and it checks the email and posting of blog entries just fine. Movie editing up to five minutes is doable.

It really is time, though. I’ve had this PowerBook for a bit. I’m thinking that I’ll reassign it to travel duty. It’s small, dependable, and with the new battery (the only part that flaked out on me in three years) it’s got a decent run time. There is however, one dead pixel, that I really had to look for after I remembered I had one.

Of course, the hard part is deciding on a make and model.

The MacBook Pro is of course the right decision. Dedicated graphics card means I basically own two laptops with boot camp.

On the other hand, that BlackBook is just so damn alluring. Too bad about the integrated graphics card.

To be fair, either one is a good upgrade. I’ll have more options, and with external storage, I’ll be able to do a little more editing than I’ve been doing lately. Not that I’ve posted anything since Chinatown.

Of course, on the other hand, I could just up the ram in my PowerBook to 1GB and hope that improves performance enough for me to get past the technolust.

Jun 09 2006
Games

Ace Attorney

Finally finished Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.

The game is entirely too entertaining than any Lawyer Adventure game should be. A lot of that has to do with the script, which does a good job with character development and plot.

It’s not perfect as an adventure game. As I’ve come to expect with most adventure games, there are sometimes solutions that are sometimes not intuitive. Phoenix Wright did not have any “put banana in the salt shaker” moments, but sometimes you had to present the “correct” piece of evidence. Which can be difficult, considering at one point I had over twenty pieces of evidence to pore over during my final trial. This can be somewhat frustrating—even when you believe that another piece would lead to the same conclusion, the game will not allow you to progress until you’ve presented the one that it wants you to.

Overall, a fun title, you play from the viewpoint of Phoenix most of the time, interviewing witnesses, collecting evidence from crime scenes and cross examing witnesses in the court room. All that may sound not so intruiging, but the story and characters kept pulling me back to the DS.

Of course, that may have had something to do with me being a fan of Perry Mason when I was younger.

Jun 09 2006
Uncategorized

Rockland's

Rockland’s doesn’t have much table space. Actually, they only have one large table, a huge slab of slightly curved wood with some stools around it. On the table is a large bowl of peanuts, a just as large ashcan for shells, and a small wooden pedestal with half a dozen bottles of different hot sauce. Their labels contain words like “Scotch Bonnet,” and “Habanero.” These words promise warm sensations and a little bit of pain for the adventurous. The total scoville units ensconced in little bottles on the hot sauce wall number in the millions.

If you face Wisconsin Avenue, you can watch the lunch crowd roll in just after noon but you would miss the smokey wonder of the kitchen. The grill is wood fueled, and the cooks will stoke the fire every now and again through the doors. Once the orders start piling up, the grill starts piling up, and the scent and smoke of barbecue fills the entire restaurant.

Yesterday was sunny, and the light from the skylight lit the smoke from the kitchen just wonderfully. I’ll have to come back with a camera.

Oh, and the food is great. The sandwiches are full portions and the ribs are fantastic.

Rocklands’s is conveniently located near JP’s and Good Guys, two bars of local repute. If that’s not your flavor, then it’s also conveniently located by Max’s Best Ice Cream, an ice cream parlor of local repute. The Mexican Vanilla comes highly recommended.

That’s the ice cream.

Jun 06 2006
Uncategorized

Perfect for Ice Cream

Great day outside today.

Although I still have to wonder what the weather is like in Hell. . . Michigan.

May be raining. May be sunny. I’ll never know for sure.

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