:: Guy in a Suit Productions ::

Thursday, August 29, 2002

posted by Travis at 5:28 PM

Something to check out: Trailer. I posted some stills from this a while back in the movies section. If you like animated stuff, these could be something you'll like.

Wednesday, August 28, 2002

posted by Travis at 3:35 PM

We're in Kentucky now. Compared to California, Kentucky is very green and flat...and humid. The change is nice, though.

Sunday, August 25, 2002

posted by Travis at 5:32 PM

Yesterday, Kim and I spent all day driving around in the desert looking for a closer location to shoot my Project Greenlight short. I already have a location, but it is about 3 hours away. We got about 15 miles from Barstow and decided that we couldn't find anything that was comparable to the other location, so we'll just have to shoot there and stay the night. Hopefully the people I find to help out will be allright with this.

Also, we picked up a couple DVDs this week that were on sale for $15.99 each.

After watching Pulp Fiction again, we noticed something very familiar in a particular scene.

Yes, hidden on the other side of that bridge is the Oakwook Los Feliz Apartments that we moved out of last month. Pretty cool...

Thursday, August 22, 2002

posted by Travis at 8:54 AM

For the third time in a month, I was awakened at around 2:00 am by the sound of a helicopter circling my condo at an uncomfortable altitude. Just to make sure they woke me up, they also were shining a light with the approximate candlepower of a small star into my windows. Now, I've seen Blue Thunder, and I thought they put that thing in whisper mode when they were spying on people. I'm going to place a call to the North Hollywood police today and request that they find somewhere else to practice their FLIR strafing runs.

Oh, and I found the biggest downloadable game demo of all time: Neocron Beta 4 client - 1,106.4 MB.

Wednesday, August 21, 2002

posted by Travis at 11:09 AM

X-Men 2 teaser is up. Not the lame one, this one is brand new and features actual footage.

posted by Travis at 9:29 AM

I am bothered by the cover of this book. First off, I agree that Todd Beamer is a hero, and I feel sorry for his wife. However, since he is the hero and the book is about him, why I am looking at her shining visage on the cover of the book? And what kind of writing is this: "Big men move quickly up a narrow aisle, accompanied perhaps by a flight attendant or two carrying coffeepots, spilling boiling water on themselves as they run. A food cart is used to ram the enemy." Maybe she is using a shorthand style with few interesting adjectives on purpose, but I think it is bad writing. I mean "big men move quickly" sounds like something out of a Learning to Read book written by Tanto. I'm not looking for changing the facts, but the description could be punched up a bit. How about this:

"With the attack plan in hand, several passengers arm themselves with nearby objects; coffeepots full of boiling water, dishes, a drink cart. The men of the group cast a watchful eye on their guard, waiting for a moment of weakness or distraction. When the moment comes, they seize it and the battle is joined. Horrified, the terrorist guard screams for help as the cabin comes alive and a wave of desperate people charge towards the cockpit."

This book should have been ghost written.

Sunday, August 18, 2002

posted by Travis at 1:54 PM

Kim and I went to the Fangoria Weekend of Horrors in Pasadena this weekend. It was very entertaining. I had never been to one of these conventions, but I'm familiar with the fans. It gave us the opportunity to buy some stuff that we would not have been able to get anywhere else. We bought a Battle Royale T-shirt, saw an advance copy of the Near Dark 2 disc DVD set, picked a Japanese horror movie The Ring(which has since been remade by Dreamworks and is coming out soon. See trailer:). However, the best purchase had to be the Star Wars trilogy on DVD in widescreen with DTS sound. I've seen these on the internet, and now I own a set. The DTS sound is actually not as good as the Dolby Digital, and the menus are a little screwed up in places, but the sound and video is as good or better than VHS and will not degrade with each viewing. We also got to see some cult sci-fi and horror celebs like that guy from Beetlejuice and Demolition Man, the bad guy from Remo Williams, the girl from Buck Rogers, the bald guy from The Hills Have Eyes, the bartender from The Shining and the guy who played Tyrell in Blade Runner, and a slew of other people. George Romero was also there as well as Bruce Campbell, but we didn't bother Mr. Romero and we didn't even see Bruce Campbell.

John Landis was also there, and Kim and I almost invited him to eat dinner with us. We had left the convention and were waiting for a table at a restaurant. As we were being lead to our table John Landis and another guy walked in. There was about a 30 minute wait, so immediately after we sat down, I went back to the front of the restaurant to see if they were still waiting. We figured maybe they wouldn't want to wait and would join us for dinner. Sadly, I guess they opted to go somewhere else, because they were nowhere to be found. John Landis is pretty good friends with George Lucas (no link, you should know this name) and we thought it would have been pretty funny if he had said, "So what did you get at the convention?" and stumbled across my illegal Star Wars DVDs. Funnier still would have been if Landis had said, "Mind if someone else joins us? We're meeting a friend of mine," and Lucas himself had sat down and seen them. What's he going to do, though? He keeps demanding that everyone watch Episode II digitally, but he forces me to watch the first three on analog tape. And it is not as if I won't buy them when they do come out, or that I don't have 3 different versions of the first three on tape already. I deserve the illegal DVDs.

This would normally be where I would post lots of fun pictures from this event, but we couldn't find the charger for the batteries in the camera...and still can't. As soon as we get our camera charged up, I'll take pictures of the stuff we got. I may need to scan in the covers of the Star Wars DVDs, the errors are funny.

Last thing, we also got tickets to a screening of Fear Dot Com, which sucks. So don't see it.

I also updated the games page with some background info on Ravenloft.

Tuesday, August 13, 2002

posted by Travis at 11:30 PM

I'm putting a little bit about the module in the games section.

posted by Travis at 7:54 PM

Pictures for you to gaze upon

Here are some pictures of our new speakers:

Center channel

Satellites (DVD for size comparison)

The sub and our components.

Also, here is our wonderous new window unit complete with remote control:

Kim and I had our groceries delivered today instead of going to the store to get them. It costs an extra $10 to have all the groceries you want delivered to your door. I hate going to the grocery store and all its phases. You have to (1) go to the store, (2) buy the food, (3) drive home, (4) unpack the food, and (5) put the food away. Granted, I still have to do steps 4 and 5, but not having to go into a store is worth the $10 for me. I suppose there is a drawback. Look at this bag of chips, for instance. I know it is a cliche to complain about a bag of chips not being full, but this bag is over halfway empty!

posted by Travis at 3:48 PM

New font!! Don't anyone freak out now. I think verdana is a more casual font without all that serif cluttering up the page. I have updated the three main pages with the font change, but I will not be changing the FAQ to match or the archives. I'd like the site to show some passage of time.

My boss's boss has moved his site to a new place, and my coworkers continue to update their respective blogs: Brad, Pat, and lest I forget the other Mike. Since I'm linking, check this one out, too.

I made mention of publishing my Amazon wishlist, but my webdesigner is too busy with her paying jobs to make another button for me. I'm sure it is simple enough, but I'd hate for her to not feel needed.

posted by Travis at 12:11 PM

I am playing with fonts...

Sunday, August 11, 2002

posted by Travis at 6:54 PM

I put an update in games concerning the Ravenloft module.

Saturday, August 10, 2002

posted by Travis at 9:18 PM

It is so hot up here. Kim and I bought a window unit for this godforsaken loft, but she has told me that I should wait for our friend Rick to come over to install it. I suppose that is a good idea since we are 3 stories above the ground up here, so if a huge air conditioner fell out of our window and hit...say...a child.... Well, that wouldn't be good.

We went to Best Buy to buy a sub on Saturday and ended up buying all new speakers for the same price. They sound great. My speakers were about six years old, so it was time for an upgrade. I didn't see any reason to just get a sub for $300 when I get could a powered sub and five other new speakers for the same price. Our credit cards are thinning. After watching the beginning of Saving Private Ryan in DTS (my favorite audio benchmark), I am confident the money was well spent.

We went to see XXX today at the Arclight. It was obscenely loud. We both enjoyed it. There is no reason to go into detail, it is popcorn fluff and good action. I was pleased to see Thomas Ian Griffith as the short-lived Bond-esque hero at the beginning. Also, I thought it was a wise decision to have Tony Hawk driving Xander Cage's getaway car at the beginning. Matt Hoffman also makes a cameo at a party. All in all, worth seeing, but strangely, not worth discussing. You'll either get into the action and enjoy it, or be offended by its Xtremeness and hate it.

I'm going to attempt to work on the module, although the heat diminishes my motivation.

Thursday, August 08, 2002

posted by Travis at 11:21 PM

Kim and I are back on DSL...and still over 1MB down. I guess Earthlink doesn't suck.

Wrath of Khan was brilliant. I'll write more about it later.

Wednesday, August 07, 2002

posted by Travis at 11:09 PM

Bad News: Sometime, during the day today, someone made two ATM withdrawals in the amounts of $21.50 and $460 from my bank account. Now, I never use the ATM because of the heinous fees...let alone twice in one day. I have called it in and taken care of all that, but now I'll have to change all the direct billing that I have on that card. That will suck. Still, my curiosity is peaked. The bank assured me that these were ATM withdrawals, which need a physical card and PIN. I still have my card. So either my card has been cloned and the PIN beamed from my brain where I keep it, or someone stole my identity, went into the bank, got a duplicate card and changed the PIN. Either way, the worst part to me is that out there...in the world...is a person smiling to himself/herself and flipping through a roll of $20s that used to be mine. I hope they buy some bad crack with it, and my money indirectly kills them...and the guy next to them.

I consulted someone from work (the kind of person who *would* know how to do this) about cloning an ATM, and he told me it can be done, but you wouldn't need the card. It can be done electronically. Then he sent me this appropriate .wav. OBSCENITY WARNING.

posted by Travis at 2:44 PM

Last night I picked up Clash of the Titans, Fellowship of the Ring, and Resident Evil on DVD. Sadly, Best Buy was sold out of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Director's Cut. The consolation prize is that FOTR is only $15.99 available in fullscreen and widescreen...as if there is an option.

Last weekend, we were privy to some multicultural shenanigans at our condo. For the entire day Sunday, one of our neighbors was playing Mexican dance music at around 6000 db. Kim and I have kept a low profile, but if these folks want to play the Annoying Stereo Game...they will find themselves on the losing end. Once I get a new sub, our system will be complete. Then I will walk out onto my patio and exclaim, "Now witness the firepower of this fully armed and operational battle station!" At which point the games will truly begin. After a day of Apocalypse Now, Black Hawk Down, Saving Private Ryan, and Full Metal Jacket...they will think war has broken out and maybe they won't even come outside. The chopper attack set to Wagner's "The Ride of the Valkyries" from Apocaplyse Now is still one of the best ways to demonstrate sonic superiority.

Lastly, one of two things is apparent in mi barrio: either the ice cream man has "La Cucaracha" on his truck or someone just likes blowing their custom horn a lot.

Tuesday, August 06, 2002

posted by Travis at 10:55 AM

So, Kim thought it would be funny to post my Earthlink story to a Earthlink hater site. Unfortunately, it seems to have backfired. Please hit the link, head to the message board, and read the thread about "a conversation with Earthlink service". Her post is the first one. When I heard about the replies, I took over. WARNING: There is obscenity involved.
earthlinksucks.net

Monday, August 05, 2002

posted by Travis at 4:28 PM

My days of dial-up dwindle. The broadband masters at Earthlink have found it in their hearts to turn my DSL back on at my new address on Thursday August 8th. Earthlink has an interesting system. Here is the conversation I had with the guy when I transferred my service:

Me: I'm moving and I want to cancel my DSL.
EL: You know there is a fee for that, right?
Me: No fee, there isn't a contract.
EL: Well, there is a contract...
Me: I never signed anything.
EL: Well, you kind of sign it by accepting the equipment.
Me: So what is the fee?
EL: $200
Me: I'm not paying you $200, so lets transfer.
EL: What is your new address and lets see if you can do that.
Me: What do you mean?
EL: Well, your new address may be outside of our service area.
Me: So then I'm out of the contract, right?
EL: Not exactly, you still have to pay $200.
Me: What?! I have to pay $200 because you guys can't give me DSL?
EL: ...Yes.
Me: Well, I can't offer you DSL either, so I'll charge you $200 and we'll call it even.
EL: ....
Me: I'm just kidding...
EL: Oh, OK..., so what is your new address?
Me: *new address given* Seriously, though, I'm not paying you guys $200.
EL: Well your new address will work out fine.
Me: I've had your DSL for about 9 months now, so in 3 more months I can cancel and get someone else, right?
EL: Not exactly...the contract starts over when you move.
Me: Starts over?
EL: Yes, every time you move the contract is renewed for another year.
Me: You're kidding me...and I don't have to sign anything for this to happen?
EL: Nope, that is just the way it is.

I need to open a DSL provider, cold call people to offer them service, then charge them $200 a piece when I can't actually provide them with service. Brilliant! I can't believe this is a real business.

Sunday, August 04, 2002

posted by Travis at 2:40 AM

We bought a new water heater, shower head, bathtub, bathtub wall, ceiling fan, lamps, and a caulking gun today. So much money spent and nothing I can really play with. I updated movies with my thoughts on Signs.

Saturday, August 03, 2002

posted by Travis at 12:36 AM

Well, Kim and I are online, so to speak. Thanks to XP, I could very quickly set it up so that she can dial out through my modem. We should be back up on DSL soon enough. Tomorrow, we venture back to Home Depot to get a new bathtub, water heater (ours sounds like a coffee maker) and probably some lights. We are also going to try to catch a matinee of Signs, so I'll write something on it tomorrow...maybe.

I put a brief bit in the videogames section.

Friday, August 02, 2002

posted by Travis at 3:33 PM

Ok...blogger appears to be working with my page now.

Our internet is not hooked up at home yet, but even when it is, it will be in the form of dial-up...which I loathe. I will get our computers hooked up tonight so that we will have some measure of an online presence over the weekend. I did get our surround sound (sans the rears) hooked up and it sounds nice in there. It would sound much better with a sub, so that may happen sooner rather than later. Also, I really like Direct TV. The picture is infinitely better than cable over coaxial and the sound does not fade from stereo to mono like it did on our cable. I'm very pleased. I did fall into what I like to call the "new room trap". This happens to a man whenever he moves a sound system into a different room and he must reconfigure everything: the distance the speakers are from the listener, from each other, the size of the speakers, etc. Also, I have to compensate for not having a subwoofer, which the amp desperately wants to have. I have to configure it so it sends at least some of the bass signal to the satellites. I think I have it setup as good as it will get for now.

One other thing...most people have probably stopped reading by now anyway. I found a design flaw on my TV. Apparently, when you plug in an S-video cable, it disables the RCA video in on the back. So, I have to run my VCR into the input 2 port on the front. I think that sucks. The VCR doesn't get much use so it won't stay plugged in, but still...it just seems stupid to me.

posted by Travis at 11:45 AM

I am trying to implement some blogging software, so the posts will look just slightly different.