July 01, 2005

My Philosophy

"Quoting an old song is not the same as having a philosophy." -- Diesel Sweeties


What about quoting a new comic?

Posted by oblivion at 08:31 AM | Comments (0)

January 14, 2005

LiveJournal Goes Down

Like a two-bit whore, LiveJournal went down this evening (1/15/05 1:31 GMT). Ouch.


Screenshot

The text:
Our data center (Internap) lost all its power, including redundant backup power. We're currently dealing with bringing our 100+ servers back online. Not fun. We're not happy about this. Sorry... :-/ More details later.

For some reason, this amuses me. Can't wait to see the chatter tying this to the 6A aquisition. . . .

Though it does suck for the LJ team - I'm glad I'm not them.

Posted by oblivion at 07:50 PM | Comments (0)

January 10, 2005

Game On

Ok, after our week from hell, this past weekend was a total blow-off. Saturday we hung out with some family and then some friends. Very nice. Sunday, after watching the Broncos get spanked by the Colts (kind of funny if you think about the namesakes of each team), was all about trash TV. While perusing the listings on my Mythbox, I spotted a real gem: Atomic Twister! Just check out this description: Tornadoes threaten to cause a meltdown at a nuclear-power plant in a small Southern town. Sweet. It doesn't get much better than that.

But oh yes it does. While we were finishing up the football game and waiting for enough of the show to record to make skipping commercials possible, my better half started giggling. Oh no, she was hatching an idea. After I asked her a few times what she was laughing about she announced the plan:The Sci-Fi/Action/Disaster Movie Drinking Game.

The Rules
The Rules

I only made it through two beers during Atomic Twister. It could have been much worse.

The Playing Field
The Playing Field

To prove it, we took a dinner break then started in on Stargate. This film was BRUTAL. Because of the number of times the title was mentioned in the film we instituted the "Buy 5, get one free" rule. I finished 3 vodka and kool-aids on that one.



A

M

The Contestants

Fun times. Though Martini-dog was not amused - probably because she didn't get to play.

The Referee
The Referee

Up next: Lost in Space!

Posted by oblivion at 09:21 PM | Comments (0)

The Sci-Fi/Action/Disaster Movie Drinking Game

Each occurrence costs the players one drink unless otherwise noted. If you want to make it competitive, each player could take a different subset of rules to see who's un/luckier.

You also may want to institute a "Buy 5, get one free" rule. E.g., in Stargate, the sons of bitches say "Stargate" about 16 times. Rule #1 will kick your ass in this case, so take it easy on yourself - after 5 Stargates, let the sixth go by with a nod, not a sip.

  1. Title gets quoted in the movie
  2. Nameless character dies at beginning of film
  3. Creaking weather vane *
  4. Leading man named after verb or mineral
  5. Leading woman named after sex act or animal
  6. Leading lady's clothes torn off or come off during/due to disaster*
  7. Hero has a questionable reputation *
  8. Cameo by porn star
  9. Cameo by B actor (not drinkable if you know they are in the movie before you watch it)
  10. Geeky sidekick character
  11. Bad/dirty cop character
  12. Use of a power ballad (including credits)
  13. Computer hacking scene
  14. Death of a minority (2 drinks if this is a nameless minority)*
  15. Vehicle chase scene *
  16. Childhood flashback **
  17. Death of meaningful family member ** (one drink for each one dead) (two drinks if they die due to the same disaster the movie is about)
  18. Ridiculous explosion *
  19. Child in peril/child saved **
  20. Silly technical acronym or jargon ****
  21. Kid sneaks out of the house *
  22. Name of fictional government agency
  23. Evil/Rival scientist * (use a broad definition of scientist)
  24. Renegade scientist
  25. Sex scene anywhere other than a bedroom
  26. Tour group at dangerous location/facility *
  27. Someone is overheard saying something insulting or stupid *
  28. Evil clown/mime/street performer
  29. Looting/robbery/crime after or because of the disaster
  30. Character "coming back" from the dead
  31. Someone is sacrificed or sacrifices him/herself *
  32. Missed warning message*
  33. Communication goes down ***
  34. Someone hangs up in an attempt to fix a cut phone line*
  35. Bad matte painting or blue-screen *
  36. Animals sensing danger
  37. Escape route blocked *
  38. Ridiculous talking computer or countdown*
  39. Person swears at machine*
  40. Rescue team gets trapped/ambushed/lost/killed*
  41. Past/unused/random job or skill comes in handy *
  42. Technology used in a way differently than how it actually works in the real world (prime example from Twister: duplex communication over CB's as if they're telephones)
  43. Something doesn't work because of budget cutbacks
  44. Somebody points out the obvious*
  45. Trying to outrun/drive/fly the disaster **
  46. Dolly counter-zoom
  47. Meal interrupted*
  48. Someone pulls rank *
  49. Someone is asked to do the impossible *
  50. Using untested invention to save the day * (by broad definition, equipment that hasn't been used in X years counts)
  51. A self-destruct device is used
  52. If you need to flip/change DVDs/tapes/hard drives (yes, we actually needed to flip the DVD during Stargate)
  53. If you talk to the screen/TV
  54. If you look anything up on IMDB or Google during the movie
  55. Singing in a foreign/alien language
  56. Chanting
  57. Ridiculous use of English (e.g. Bedouins talking to each other)
  58. Hero contemplates suicide
  59. Character drops/breaks something while realizing/learning something shocking
  60. Character refers to something as, "The Device"
  61. Evacuation (not the bathroom kind)
  62. Gratuitous use of a robot
  63. sci-fi light tunnel effect (e.g. Han gets the Hyperdrive working)

And now, drinkable quotes (none need to be exact):

  1. "I was out of line" *
  2. "We're going to need all the manpower we can get." *
  3. "We need to bring the [system] back online." *
  4. "What's going on?" + one additional drink for each cuss word/phrase added (e.g. "What the fucking god-damned hell is going on!?!?" = 4 drinks).
  5. "It's/that was a long time ago." *
  6. "It's not responding - I don't know why." *
  7. "I need some help in/over here!" *
  8. "Stay with me." *
  9. "We're not out of this yet." *
  10. "Not by a long shot."*
  11. "There's not enough time!"
  12. "We're losing it/him/her!" *
  13. "No! It's too dangerous!"
  14. "Don't you understand? We're/you're/they're all going to die!"
  15. "Just hang on - I've got you!" *
  16. "There's only one MAN who can help us" (2 drinks)
  17. "There's only one PERSON who can help us" (1 drink)
  18. "It's quiet - too quiet."
  19. "It's coming right for us!" *
  20. "It's like nothing I've ever seen before."
  21. "Armageddon."
  22. "I'm not leaving you!" *
  23. "But that's impossible."
  24. "Worst/biggest [insert disaster or event here] ever." *
  25. And . . . "Are you coming back alive?" (this one is actually a joke - I said it to the rebooting Mythtv box and A. thought I was suggesting it for the list. It's close enough to be on the list, she thinks.)

* inidactes these rules took their toll as we watched, Atomic Twister.

Enjoy! Let us know how it goes.

Posted by oblivion at 08:44 PM | Comments (3)

December 13, 2004

Spam

Some spam just has to be memorialized:

The new revollutionaary peenjs enlaargment tool! alcoholism

Sweet.

Posted by oblivion at 11:03 AM | Comments (0)

June 16, 2004

Tales From the Undergrad Information Line

I found this somewhere in my archives while I was touching up my Mikey page. I forget where he posted this and how I came across it. ===== [H]ere are true stories from the information line of Northwestern University Undergraduate...
Excerpt only - click for the full entry.
Posted by oblivion at 10:35 PM | Comments (2)

June 02, 2004

You Got the Internet on That There Computer?

In case you were wondering who to blame when the web is wonked, you've got to go to a tiny little back office in quaint Grayslake, Illinois. Internet Main Office around back And I'm guessing that door on the second...
Excerpt only - click for the full entry.
Posted by oblivion at 09:40 PM | Comments (0)

December 04, 2003

Tellin' Stories

So, this one summer evening several years back, a few neighbors on our block were hanging out around a firepit in the driveway nextdoor to my parents'. You know, one of those Webber firepits, not like a rusted out 55...
Excerpt only - click for the full entry.
Posted by oblivion at 03:27 PM | Comments (4)

July 11, 2003

Obligatory Funny Photo

Excerpt only - click for the full entry.
Posted by oblivion at 05:05 PM | Comments (2)