These gas prices are getting insane.  $60 to fill up for my car is just out of control.  I feel sorry for people in California and I always have, but I feel sorry for me here in Austin, TX.  I don’t think anything is going to happen to get the gas prices lower.  I just don’t see it happening.  I will have my car paid off in December of this year, about 6 months away.  I’ve been contemplating buying a nice new motorcycle but I’m not sure my Keinbock Diseased wrist can take the strain a sport bike would give me, and I know I can blow through a 5 gallon tank of gas on a sport bike in one night, I’ve gone it many times years ago.  I need something inexpensive for my daily work commute, which is in town and basically from North Lamar and Braker to downtown.  It’s an easy straight shot.  Is a scooter the best solution for me, other than the bus?  I’ve never owned one, but some of them look pretty cool.  Keneda and his bike from the anime Akira comes to mind with some of the latest scooter designs that are hitting the streets.  I’ve been doing a little research and I might actually hit  some scooter shops to take a look at what they feel like and see what happens.  It’s Austin and scooters are being seen more and more and more everyday.  Is it finally here that people are realizing they don’t need their big cars anymore or that they just can’t afford to drive them everyday?  I picture in my head traffic jams of scooters in Austin like they have in the busy cities of china.  I’m sure if I end up getting one I’ll be posting all about it.

This was a great show.  Opening act, Ringo Deathstarr was really good.  I really enjoyed their shoe gazey and often ‘good 80’s music’ sounds.  One song reminded me a little of Echo and the Bunnymen, which is awesome.  Terra Diablo played….then…. Swervedriver.  The performance was great and everything seemed right on.  The whole show was like a time travel trip back to 1995.  Seeing friends that we only see out when our obscure favorites bands come to town.  Reminded me of those great Sunday punk rock soccer games at Austin High.  All the kids we used to play with are now musicians, record labels owners, or other associated type jobs.  And of course those of us that sold out our 9-5 weekdays for a paycheck to support a family, but as long as we still rock and make it to shows, we stay true… in my opinion.
Wow, that was a silly little ramble.

All in all it was a great show and if you are able to catch Swervedriver on their tour, definently hit it.

Oh man…. That was bad.  I had such high hopes.  After watching that movie at the Alamo Ritz, I was speachless at how bad it was.  I thought the whole intro to the movie was fake.  The script was horrible, the acting bad, and worse of all the film treats you like you’re an idiot.  Another thing about the X-Files I don’t like….wait….what?  Don’t get me started.  Save your money my friends.  Wait for the Divx version, or park on the hill above the drive in, just don’t spend any money on this live action cartoon.   “They look like big, strong hands…” - Rock Biter

 I have to say I’m am totally with Patton Oswalt’s time machine idea.

A few weeks ago my dog, Crom, decided it would be fun to chew on the Rock Band microphone cable. This did not completely break it. Rock Band would intermittently recognize the microphone but when you sang, no sound would come out. It was broken. A few days later, Crom had so much fun chewing the mic cable that he decided to chew on the drum set kick pedal cord . Well that was just bit right in half. No kick pedal anymore. Rock Band was turned into Guitar Hero by a bored dog. The dog is no longer left alone with the XBox 360 anywhere around.

I shopped around for USB mics that would work with Rock Band and opted to just spend the $30 for a new one. I figured my Best Buy extended warranty wouldn’t cover dog chewage and I was a little lazy about checking it out. I attempted to rewire the kick pedal but found it useless to really even try. It wouldn’t be the same. In the process of disassembling the kick pedal I was able to disconnect the broken wire from the pedal. I just needed to find this little wire part and replace it.

One day I finally decided to call Rock Band support to order this little wire part or to see if it was even possible. In trying to find a support number for Rock Band, I learned that EA handles Rock Band support. I’ve had issues before with EA’s online website and support in working with the online portions of the game Skate. I was unable to login or create a new login to EA’s support site, which is needed to even get any contact info, like an email address or a phone number for EA. I searched some forums and found that other users had the same issue and another poster posted EA’s support number.

Finally, I called EA’s support and they questioned me why I didn’t try to contact them online…. After I told him my issue, the support rep informed me that I need to call another phone number for Rock Band hardware support. I called Rock Band hardware support and was able to work through the teleprompts to get to a rep that could help me. Jesse was very helpful. I told him that all I needed was the wire for the kick pedal because mine was “accidentally cut”. He informed me that I cannot buy or get just the wire, it would have to be the entire kick pedal. But he also surprised me when he said he could replace it under warranty. In my shock, I simple said, “Ok! Cool.” In setting up the RMA I decided to try for a microphone replacement as well. Told him the same thing, “The wire is slightly severed and doesn’t transmit the sound data.” He then jokingly asked, “What, did your dog get a hold of it?” I just replied, “Yes, yes he did.” In my mind I was cursing that little hellion. I blame it on the new adult food I accidently got for him that made him crazy. But Jesse said he would replace that under warranty as well. HELL YES! Rock Band was saved.

I recieved the kick pedal and microphone and sent back the kick pedal. The did not want the microphone back. Rock Band is back in our lives. Crom has been told that he cannot play Rock Band anymore ever.

This blog is to say that Rock Band’s support was bad ass and top class support. I’m guessing that it was another company that was hired by EA to handle the Rock Band support, but whoever that company is, they indeed ROCK. Thanks to Jesse for his understanding and quick help without any needless troubleshooting beyond what I told him I had already done and knew.

And EA, so many people I have talked to have expressed their hatred and dissatisfaction with your direct support and online support. Please do something with the online login system you have. Get rid of it and try another or you know what? Provide some company contact info without a login at least.

That is all, Rock Band party soon!

 added:  EA Support:  1-866-543-5435
                 Rock Band Support:  1-650-628-1001

I caught this movie opening day last Friday at Alamo Drafthouse South and very glad I did (I love my Moonstruck pizza).  Robert Downey Jr. did a badass job of portraying Tony Stark / Iron Man.  Jeff Bridges was also really good in it and I like Gwyneth Paltrow as a red head, hubba hubba.  This was Marvel’s first movie away from the Sony giant and they proved themselves worthy to be on their own.  The spiderman series was a little big too campy for me and just didn’t quite seem as real as I’d like in a movie that you want to believe is a real world.  Iron Man seemed more real and less comic bookish though retained all the aspects of the comic.  The two hour length flew by and I haven’t heard anyone I’ve talked to not like it.  It was fun, funny, and adventurous…..and the toys…oh the toys.  I need to start saving for my own A.I. voice commanded robotic arm system. Apple, can you help me out? Go see it and have a good time and don’t forget to sit through all of the long credits.  There’s a little Avengers teaser at the very tail end of the credits.

Grand Theft Auto IV is released today. This is supposedly one of the biggest and most anticipated game release in history. I haven’t written anything on this yet because I have been trying to stay away from spoilers and not learn too much about it. It was supposed to be released back in November and then was delayed until today. That really upset me, although with the release of Halo3 and Call of Duty 4, I ended up not minding too much. And I’m glad they did wait to make sure all the glitches were taken care of. The last two release I was excited about I did not pre order and regretted that decision. I had to wait almost a week for Halo 3 and a day and some calling and driving for Call of Duty 4. This time I was smart and paid the $5 pre order price and I’m set and don’t have to worry about not getting it today. So during lunch I will go pick up my copy and play tonight….all night? A mandatory meeting will get me to work on Wednesday but I’ll be taking a personal day on Thursday to get GTA IV out of my system …..and maybe a recovery day from this week’s S&B Night too. ;D

Multiplayers!!! I’ll see you in L.C.

The time for killing, wrecking, and beating is here!

update:  it’s in my hands now.  What’s up with the huge map poster.  Can’t I get a pocket book map?

Well it finally happened. Jet Li and Jackie Chan in the same movie. I seem to remember Jet Li saying he wasn’t going to do any more period/kung fu films, yet Warlords came at last year and now this. It’s fine by me, I love his kung fu films most of all. This film…excuse me movie, was just that, a Hollywood movie cashing in on the kung fu genre with the two superstar legends that are still alive. The fight scenes were great, especially the Jet and Jackie fight. Choreographer did an excellent job of equaling the two giants. For every blow there was a counter blow. A very even match, though I have my own opinions on who would win a real fight….even though he is older ;). And props to whoever wrote in Jet Li throwing a little Mantis Style in there. I wanted to Buddha Palm slap the horrible Boston kid character. He was just annoying and cheesy. Towards the end and he’s leaning down towards one of the other characters, just look at the drip of sweat on his upper lip. It just dangles there for an eternity and I couldn’t keep my eyes off of it, just waiting for it to drip off. Other than his acting, that totally ruined the scene. It was a fun movie and I’d take my kid to see it. The PG13 is for the violence though it really wasn’t too bad considering it’s a kung fu movie.

Marathon training so going ok… Yeah just ok.  I’ve had a pulled muscle and a week of weird stomach cramps.  I started a marathon blog at http://marathon.invidkllr.com to track my progress and thoughts on the whole experience.  Drop by and throw some love there.

I found it kind of comical that a few weeks after I started training, I see trailers for the movie Run Fat Boy Run.  This title was similar to the title of what I was thinking for my blog.  Fat Ass Marathon.com or Fat Guy Runs Marathon.com…  I still haven’t seen that movie.  I think I should just as part of my training.

I haven’t weighed myself in a while but Easter weekend I think I had dropped about 8 or 9 lbs.  I’m curious as to where I’m at now, but I don’t have a scale and I’m just now getting back to eating less bad foods.  I love my buffets.  Fat Carl knows what I’m talking about.   If you haven’t checked out FatCarl.com, go there now and throw him some love.

Run Run Run.  That’s what I’m doing.  About 10 months to go will the marathon and to me that still seems too soon.  Throw me some love or some advice.

It’s been a while…
SXSW went along swimmingly.  The 16Bit party was a blast though there were some technical difficulties that were outside of our control.  Web Awards went off without a hitch with a special appearance from Ask a Ninja.  Chris Gore from G4’s Attack of the Show was interviewing in the party foyer.  The night continued on for me with dancing and drinking.  I was able to make it to a few panels though.
Then the music started.  I’ll just list some of the music I was able to catch.
The Wedding Present
Dizzee Rascal
Sway
Retribution Gospel Choir
Mark Kozelek
Between the Buried and Me
Tim Fite
Necromantix
Roger Merit and the Disasters
and some others I don’t remember right now.

Overall SXSW was a lot of fun as usual.  Again, I needed about a week to recover.  I wasn’t quite as creatively charged as I have been after a week of geekiness and music, but the whole experience isn’t something that I would want to miss.

Kenny and I are DJing the 16Bit SXSW Interactive After Party Sat night.