underactive.net

Pics from my summer trips to New York and Colorado are up.

Got some new toys over the weekend. I hung out with Tracy for her birthday, and decided to make a stop at the Apple store at UTC so she could check out some laptops. I had my eye on the new keyboard that was just released along with the new iMacs and after trying it out in-store, I got one for myself which I’ll probably use at work. I’m finding my typing to me much more accurate and it’s a bit quieter too, without sacrificing any tactile feedback. Also saw my old friend and co-worker, Rich, who was on PlanetSide with me during my stint at SOE. So that was a cool surprise. After that, we went to Best Buy so Tracy could check out some XM radios. As luck would have it, they put up a sign near the Wii section that said they were in stock. This was a little freaky since just a few minutes before I was saying that that’s the only thing I’d want to buy, knowing that they’re never in stock. Well F me in the A… So I asked an associate if they really had them and he said that they just got a random shipment of 20. It took all of 5 seconds for me to decide if I wanted to get one, and a few minutes later, I walked out with a Wii, and Tracy with her XM radio. Nerds!

Spent Monday playing Wii sports and also picked up some cheapie games — FarCry: Vengeance and Resident Evil 4. I decided to start with FarCry since I played the PC version so I felt I could just jump right in and play it. The controls took some getting used to but I think I have the gestures down. The dumbest thing I did (so far) was I accidentally threw a grenade right in my face when I reached up with my left hand to scratch an itch on my neck. This just happens to be the same gesture you use to throw something, haha. Despite this, I think most of the controls make sense, with the exception of the Zoom toggle. I don’t know who thought it would be a good idea to make that a punching type motion because you lose your sights every time you do it. So if I’m sniping, I end up zooming, lose my aim, and then end up panning around trying to find my target again. Gameplay is similar to the PC version, although they place less emphasis on the “stealth” type combat, but I’ve been employing that anyway since it seems more natural than the run-and-gun style. Other than the crappy FMVs, it’s keeping me entertained.

the norcal distillers road trip kicked ass, except for the part where my cough got worse the last 2 days and was feeling shitty. BUT, getting these 2 pics made it all worthwhile:

if i have the time, i'll write up another mega-post on this part of the roadtrip. i just wanted to get on and share these pics. =)

i finally got around to posting my pics from the Distiller's roadtrip to Anaheim and Mammoth. they can be found myah.

yeah i'm a few weeks late in posting this, but things have either been so busy or i've been to lazy to post, but i've got time so i'm gonna post now while i can still remember… =)

friday 3/12:
took the day off work so i could pack up and take care of stuff for the trip to anaheim and mammoth. went to AAA to pick up some maps to cover the drive. packed up way too many clothes but figured i'd play it safe since i didn't know what mammoth would be like. got some cash at the ATM. picked up Heather at noon and drove up to Anaheim. complained about shitty OC traffic along the way. got there at around 2 and stopped by Downtown Disney. used Heather's annual pass for free parking — score! had lunch at this place (forgot the name) that had New Orleans/Cajun style cookin. was the first time Heather ever had catfish. i had the shrimp. tasty treats. drove across the street to the Sheraton and checked in. nice digs but the air system was kinda weird and ghetto. hung out for a bit and then went to find some drinks for some preshow festivities. went back to Downtown Disney and rushed over to the House of Blues to catch the 5 o'clock reservations we made so we could get in on that “fast pass” deal and get into the show 15 minutes before everyone else. met up with Joey and had some dinner. we thought we'd be able to get away with ordering desserts (since we weren't really hungry) but we had to get an entree to qualify for the free pass deal. after stuffing ourselves we had some time to kill so we went back to my truck and partook in some drinking festivities. went back to HoB, Joey and I got our tickets scanned and got in, but Heather couldn't find her ticket. d'oh! headed back out to go back to our room and get the backup tickets i printed out (which already came in handy since i forgot mine in SD). found Heather's ticket on the bed. d'oh!! snagged the ticket and rushed back to HoB. came about as close as i ever have to drifting sideways in my truck. heh. got back in line. Heather got her ticket scanned. then Joey and I got ours scanned and drama ensued. the ticket nazi told us that exit and re-entry was not allowed and said something along the lines of “what a big mistake” we made or somethin. after explaining our story he let us go in. whatever. the opening act, Kill Hannah started to play so we went inside and checked it out from the balcony. couldn't see much so we headed downstairs. after a good set from them, Icarus Line played and they kinda sucked. the only thing that kept our interest was this dude in the back who played the maracas or tamborine or just head banged, depending on whatever song they played. think angry grown up Star Wars kid. after a set which seemed to take forever and another stage break which seemed to take even longer, the Distillers finally hit the stage. the pit quickly started up and Joey jumped in while Heather and I hung around the back of the pit. after a couple songs and getting pushed around a few times, Heather and I got out of the pit and went back upstairs. she met up with one of her ass grabbing friends and i hung out for a bit. went back downstairs with Heather and kicked it where it was HOOOTTT. they performed this cover tune (still don't know what it was but i've heard it before) where Brody strutted around on stage and got alllll sexy-like. after the show, we went outside to wait for Joey, only to find him walk out with his head all bandaged up. he got a gash that required stitches so we took him over to Anaheim General Hospital, which took awhile since the street addresses got all weird and we started going the wrong way. so after he got this 3 stitches, we drove back to Disney to drop him off to his car and then Heather and i went back to our room and crashed.

saturday 3/13:
woke up at 9 or 10-ish to check out, and started the long drive up to Mammoth. stopped near my old stomping grounds at Monrovia to fill up on gas and get some lunch for the road. this was the longest drive i have ever made so i was feeling pretty excited about it. the 395 was an interesting drive. drove past some really really small towns along the way, and stopped at this place midway up the 395 to get some gas and some snacks at the mini-mart there. took pics of a cute cat that was sleeping on the bench in the front of the store. we continued to drive up and after getting an eyeful of breathtaking snow and mountain views we arrived at our hotel at exactly 4:20. heh. after checking in, we crashed for a bit and then drove up to check out the Canyon Lodge and pick up our tickets, where the show was going to take place. (Side note: at that high altitude, my truck felt like it was a 4-banger… trippy!) after picking up the tickets i wanted to go look around to see where they would be playing at, since ski lodges aren't really the norm for concerts. we went up one floor and saw this open area and stage, and there they were. Brody and the rest of the group were just hanging out. Heather walked over to these stairs nearby and I was whisper-yelling to her “Heather!! Heather!!!” and nodding with my head toward Brody, thinking that she wasn't aware that they were in the room. turns out that while i was trying to get her attention, they were a few feet away from me headed outside to smoke. Heather and I walked up the stairs, and ended up on the roof of the lodge, and she was telling me that she would have freaked if they also went up the stairs. but they didn't cuz we were able to lose em like that. heh. there was still a lot of time left before the show so we headed back to my truck to drink some beverages. at around 8 we went back to the lodge and waited for the show to start. Heather went looking for her friend who said she was going to be there, but wasn't. Icarus Line started, sans Star Wars kid. i thought they sucked less, but Heather reminded me that i did have a few more drinks than the previous day. so i prolly had beer ears or something. after their set, The Distillers finally came on. Heather and i watched a good amount of the show from the side of the stage and got some nice views of Brody's butt. =D towards the end of the show, we watched from the main area and during City of Angels, some clowns set off a thing of firecrackers and scared the shit out of a lot of us. didn't interrupt the show at all but it might have explained why we didn't get an encore. great performance, brody was hot, but kind of a weird venue was cool getting to travel though. chances are we're going to do this again in May when they play up in the bay area. more good times.

sunday 3/14:
i sorta had a hard time sleeping which kinda sucked since i knew i had a long drive ahead of me. some dude outside was being really loud at around 2am just talking his drunk head off, along with some really loud banging noises around the building, as if someone was just constantly trying to crash into the wall. don't know how Heather slept through it but she apparently did. and then when i did go to sleep i woke up again because we had the heater turned up a bit too high and it was getting uncomfortable. i got up and stumbled around, while trying not to wake Heather up, so i could turn down that thermostat. anyhoo, woke up at around 9-ish, showered (heather finally got to see my just-out-of-the-shower poofy aZn fro), and we pigged out on the breakfast that was served. tons of not-so-healthy danishes, cereal, outmeal, etc. checked out of the hotel, got some gas and cleaned 300+ miles worth of bugs off my windshield, and started the drive back to San Diego. midway through the drive we stopped at this joint called the Roadhouse for some lunch. pretty decent food. as we passed by the Ontario area, Heather got a call from Katie. loved seeing her face just light up when she talked to her. at work i know how angry and frustrated she can get with the clowns she has to put up with, so it was just really cool seeing her in a completely happy state. i should have taken pix. =D so anyhow about an hour or so later, we finally make it back home. we thought we were going to die sometime during that trip but we managed to survive. Road Trip pt.2, here we come…

notes:
- joey almost got busted for bringing in a can of sparks into downtown disney but somehow convinced the disney thug that it was an energy drink. haha!
- heather lost a ton of cash at HoB, and her sweatshirts that a friend was holding for her, but later got kicked out of the venue for drinking
- some random girl recognized heather from her site. only a matter of time before we start seeing heather fan sites. =P
- my car stereo was tainted with one of heather's britney CDs. the scary thing is that it was catchy and i sorta liked it

spent new years eve at Heather's. the whole evening went by pretty quick — which is appropriate since 2003 just absolutely flew by. i got there at around 6:30, bringing along 6 bottles of Newcastle with me. after showing me around her place (we had joked about which one of us has smaller rooms, and i think we're about the same. heh), we headed out to find a place to cash her paycheck, and get some food and booze. we walked since it would be easier to get around that way, and gave me a better chance to check out the area (Hillcrest). i dig it. lots of shops and all kinds of restaurants within walking distance. cool vibe — kinda reminded me of santa monica / venice up in LA, but all within walking distance of each other. we found a place that cashed her paycheck, and looked around for some liquor. we ended up getting a bottle of vodka, 2 six-packs of Sparks, and a 4-pack of Kahlua mudslides. next was fooood! Heather asked me what i was in the mood for since according to her, they had pretty much anything in the area. i called her on it and said i was in the mood for Armenian food. turns out there aren't any Armenian places around there. heh… (i might have to kidnap her one of these days and go to Zankou's up in LA for some killer chicken). my 2nd choice was chinese, so we found this place… i forgot what it was called. something Wok. after that we headed back to her place, and Heather's friend Joey was already there along with his friend Alysa. Heather and I start eating our food and that's when i realized i shouldn't have ordered the Kung Pao chicken. it was tasty but daaaamn hot — made me sweat like a crazy mofo. i think it was around this point when we took our first shot of the night. Grey Goose. gooood stuff. chased it down with some Sparks. we watched some TV, switching between all the music video channels. Drain The Blood played which made our night. i told Heather to tell her wife Brody to stop looking so hot. tried looking for Heather's and Joey's friend Katie on TV, who was in NYC that night. i talked to Alysa for a bit. got a huge compliment when she tried to guess my age and thought i was 22!! ha! i wish! but it's great to hear that i could pull that off (check out my user info if you wanna do the math and figure out what an old guy i really am). a Pearl Jam video played and i got really stoked when i found out she was a Pearl Jam fan. there are people who like their music, but there's not that many PJ fans around. so that pretty much opened the floodgates and i shared my PJ stories. we were talking about our favorite PJ songs and for some reason, i couldn't remember the name “Save You”. i was mentally playing the CD in my head and the best i could do was say “track 2 off Riot Act”. oy, how embarassing. i'm blaming the shots. time flew by some more and we were all counting down to midnight, and then we all went outside and lit up some sparklers that Joey had saved from July 4th and used them to draw some things on the street. Alysa and I raced down the hill with our “torches”. i think i won..? we commented on how eerily quiet it was outside and Joey did another one of his inward-screaming Raptor-sounding screams. we went back inside, drank some more. took another shot celebrating Brody's bday. i think this was the shot that brought me over from buzzed to silly-drunk. Alysa took the bottle cap from my Newcastle and read something from the bottom of it, and i said “oh, is that gonna be your motto for this year?” she said yeah and i wanted one of my own, but i was too lazy (or drunk?) to get another bottle. Joey was a bitch (ha!) and didn't get one for me, so Alysa picked up this Maxim mag on the table and said my motto would be found there. we flipped through the mag and as we were nearing the end of the mag (i used to subscribe and they always try to sell / tell you what's cool towards the end) and i settled on “Cheese is not for wearing.” you heard that right. that's my motto for 2004. Cheese? Don't wear it, Eric. there was this quiz thingy on the last page and she quizzed me on it. i don't remember a thing about it, other than I answered “C” a lot. i think it was around 3am when things were starting to slow down and got tired. Alysa wanted to watch a movie so she popped in American Beauty. i fell asleep and woke up during the middle of the flick. i looked over and saw that Alysa was sleeping so i managed to figure out the array of 20 remote controls on the table, turned everything off and went back to sleep on the couch. woke up at around 8. heard Heather coughing in the bathroom. turns out she was throwing up. she came out and told me that she didn't get any sleep, felt like crap and took some ibuprofen, which gave her an upset stomach, and threw up from that, which made her throw the medicine back up, and took some more pills. i felt sooooo bad for her, and in hindsight, i should have offered to make a run down the street to get some aspirin or something that wouldn't fuck with her stomach. =/ i left shortly after that, and went back up to my place and crashed for a bit and then made the drive up to my parents house to pick up registration tags for my truck. i'm still here in LA. sucks cuz it's raining right now, and all i brought to wear were shorts and a t-shirt. dreading the day i have to go back to work. had such a good time just hanging out with friends and not having to worry about work for an extended amount of time is the best (i've been off for over a week now). i can see it now — i am going to be such a whiny little bitch when i get back to work. >=O

yesterday i went to the San Diego County Fair with Tracy. it was really nice seeing her again — it was the first time i’ve seen her in 2 months, and we haven’t talked much in that time either. we started our day with a late lunch at Daily’s — a local restaurant that specializes in healthy dishes. after dealing with the somewhat scatterbrained host, we had lunch, talked and caught up on things, and then made our way to the Del Mar Fairgrounds. thanks to the dozens of people pointing out the way to go, and the cones laid out on the road (because the markings on the road aren’t good enough, heh), parking wasn’t too big of a hassle. the first thing we checked out was this Battlebots-type contest. we saw 1 match and i think that was enough for both of us. hehe. i think that TV show just played out the whole fightin-robots thing for me. so after that, we went to check out the photography exhibits, which was one of my favorite things we saw at last year’s show. i’d like to think of myself as an aspiring photographer. there have been so many times when i have said to myself “i wish i had a camera right now” because i see a lot of things that i just want to capture on memory (can’t really say “film”). and the times that i do have my camera and manage to take a shot, i’ve been let down with bad lighting conditions, focus issues, or not being able to get the framing i had envisioned. so anyways, i love checking out the photo exhibits because it takes some talent to be able to take single picture that can tell a story, and that’s what a lot of these do. some make you laugh. others make you sad. a few will make you say “wow” — some because of the breathtaking scenes that you never would have thought existed on this planet, and some because of the realization that the photographer happened to catch that perfect moment and that if it were shot a split second earlier or later, it would have lost that magic. we spent a good amount of time looking at that exhibit. after that, we walked back outside to this area where we could see people get on this huuuge swing (in a prone position) about a dozen stories high, and to the right we saw this evil reverse-bungee setup where people would practically be slingshot straight up into the air. if i had my choice, i’d go for the swing thing. at least i’ve had experience with that. only it was in grade school and on a considerably smaller scale. so after we saw people getting tortured, we went inside and checked out some interesting collections that people put up on display — ranging from My Little Pony collections, to pencils, to antenna ball collections. Tracy and I then decided to go on a quest to get some crazy hats, and we walked throught the convention halls and checked out some of the wares. no crazy hats to be found. we stopped to get some food and got some Australian fried potato things with ranch dressing. oh my god — they were tasty, but from the moment you took that first bite, you knew that they couldn’t be good for you. so between the two of us, we ate about half a plate. oh and yes, they did have a fried Twinkie booth (gross!). after that, we went over to the carnival area. it was time to see some carnies. =) we went inside a picture booth and got some amusing pics taken (i am not retarded! ;-)) i really wanted to get this huge monkey stuffed animal that i saw some people had propped up on their shoulders, so i played one game that had them for a prize, and that was enough for me to realize that this game was going to be a quarter sink. so we checked out some other games. saw a dart game that said that even if you miss, you’ll still win a prize. sounds good to me. played a couple games and shot 8 darts. i sucked badly and missed my target. but i still won a small stuffed animal dog for Tracy. i then played another game and upgraded to a bigger dog. after that, we went to get some tickets for the rides. the first one we went on was the ferris wheel. i’m afraid of heights so it was kinda scary for me, and Tracy as well. i managed to take a hilarious picture of the both of us when we were at the apex of the ride, and the look on our faces was priceless. it could be summed up as “oh ___!” we then went on The Zipper, which was new to me. while we were waiting in line we saw some items that fell from people on the ride — keys, coins, a TAMPON. lol. so it was our turn to get on the ride. Tracy said it’s not as bad if you close your eyes, so i kept that in mind. once we were locked down, i made sure that my camera, phone, sunglasses and keys were secure in my pockets. the ride started up and it started to get crazy. i closed my eyes and i thought it was better with eyes opened, so i looked over at Tracy and saw her with a big grin on her face, as we were just getting tossed around in our cage and laughing our asses off. the ride ended and didn’t lose anything in the process. we walked around and checked out the other rides, then sat down, shared a bottle of water and settled for a bit. we decided to hit the Zipper once again. on the way there, we passed by the booth that we won the dog at and this guy whistled/howled at us to play again and “upgrade” our dog, but we walked straight past them — we got attached to our little dog and weren’t going to give him up that easily. =) the ride was even more crazy the 2nd time around. i think we spent most of our time in that ride upside down during that run. after that, we had 8 tickets between us so we had to find a 4-ticket ride. there were only 3 and all pretty tame. we settled on this “Star Tours” type ride that i forgot the name of. all i know is that it started with my favorite prefix of all time: “Cyber”. so this ride was supposed to be this rollercoaster type thing in a canyon but Tracy made a good call and said it looked like something from Myst. only this had cheesy twangy country type music which i guess is supposed to help you think you are in a desert canyon. lame as it was, it was still entertaining for it’s cheesy factor. it was getting late, so we decided to call it a night. good times, good times… going home was kinda rough. i realized that i’m still “gaga” over Tracy. actually, i realized that when i first saw her that day. i have yet to meet someone that can keep my interest on an intellectual level, make me laugh, and look good while doing it. we can look at each other and communicate without saying a single word. having a good time with her is like nothing else. i have fun with my other friends, but with her, it’s just on a completely different level that i can’t explain. she’s the only person that i trust to talk about anything without being judged or misinterpreted, and i feel i can be myself around her — if it means being silly or geeky or whatever. this is what i miss most about being with her. i’ve probably said too much already. anything more is between me and her. i don’t mean to end on a sappy/downer note, so i’ll end with the running tally that i kept in my head during yesterday’s fair — carnies: too many to count, rednecks: 3, mullets: 5 (including 1 female mullet), hoochies: too many to count.

so after work yesterday, my lead invited us to hang at his place to check out his new house, new TV, play some games, and have some drinks. two months ago, he ordered a 60-inch XBR Grand WEGA through the Sony employee store, and it finally came in. oh my god, this thing is hella awesome. we had 2 XBoxes plugged into the thing, and the TV has this function where it can split the display in half, so we had the left side showing the first XBox and the right side showing the other. no need for 2 TVs. they were also hooked up using component cables, so it was crystal clear. so we got some 7-player Halo action going on, followed by some Unreal Tournament, and then capped it off with some DoA. we played till 3:30 in the morning but it seemed like we weren’t there for that long. so i have a theory that time goes by faster the bigger TV you have. heh. we’re gonna have to come back and watch a movie on that bad-boy since we didn’t have time. and right now i’m torn about giving in and getting an XBox of my own, despite my feelings toward MS. after last night, it’s clear that the XBox is the best console right now (IMO. it’s also pretty hackable which is a big plus). right now i can easily say “no” since i just recently made a big purchase and need to start saving up again. but what’s bugging me is if i’ll be getting one down the line — a moral issue if anything else. oy!

went to E3 up in LA today and it was KICK ASS. i carpooled with my PlanetSide homies. the expo started at 8am so we met up at work at 6. i woke up at the unholy hour of 5am, and i haven’t woken up that early in ages, so that was pretty hard to do. the drive up there wasn’t so bad, until we got up to LA, and the drive was ass from then on. we also had trouble finding the place due to some incomplete directions we got, but we eventually found it. one of the first exhibits we saw was for Bungie’s Halo2 and that just raised the bar for everything else that we were going to see. we all pretty much agreed that the Halo2 exhibit was the best of show. that and the other game demos for the Xbox has me thinking about buying one of these evil boxes. Square-Enix had a really cool setup for their upcoming games. before we got into the room, we were given these wireless headphone units. when we were waiting for the show to open, they piped in news and info about their upcoming games and how long it would be until the next show would be open. once it was open, we walked into this dark room with a big screen up front which was also synced with the headphones. the standout games that they showed were Final Fantasy X-2 and FF XI. Nintendo’s booth was damn cool as well. they had a circular layout on the floor and in the middle was a raised platform with 2 DJs and some girls tossing out swag. Mario Kart looked like the title they really wanted to show off. there was a huge line to play it but we didn’t want to wait for it. there was also another huge line for Half-Life 2 but it was getting close to closing time, so didn’t get to see it. the booth for PlayStation featured Gran Turismo 4 (i didn’t think things could look better than GT3 but i’m wrong), Socom II, and a number of other games. SOE had a “by invitation only” booth which featured a live demo of PlanetSide (yay!), Lords of Everquest, Everquest Online Adventures: Frontiers, and Everquest II. Namco’s booth was right next to ours, and they were showcasing Soul Calibur II, and had some yummy booth babes as well. speaking of booth babes, there were plenty around the convention and i did get snapshots of a some (hey gary — bibbodee-pow!) as well as pics of exhibits. i’m uploading them as i type this and should be up in the gallery soon. well, it’s been a long day… we actually had some work to do after the convention, so we stayed till 9 to wrap up, and i’ve got work these next 2 days so it’s bedtime for me. l8s…

wow, it’s been a long day. i just spent the last 5 hours traveling to LA and back, to fix the DSL connectivity problem at my parent’s house (which is where this site is hosted). anyhoo, today i went to the Auto Show with Tracy at the Convention Center. took a bunch of pics which i’ll put up soon. i would have taken more but the battery ran out. was pretty cool seeing the new models, concept cars, and of course the exotic and rare cars. if i had the money, i’d get a Lexus IS 300 for Tracy and an Infiniti G35 for myself. (drools) that new Mazda 6 is also pretty sexy. i’ll take one of those too. =)