The Year Without A Schunk

On December 11th, out of the clear blue sky, a got a text from my old arch-rival in life, Matt "The Sexecutioner" Schunk. The text exchange went as follows:

Schunk: The world needs another blog post about me
Dan: I'm not sure the world is ready
Schunk: It is
Dan: Well, I'll see what I can come up with

Just got my degree and shot some aliens

The two events in the title are unrelated.

I'm wondering, would it be a bad idea to list this as my personal website in a professional portfolio? I have a feeling some potential employers wouldn't appreciate some of the things contained here.

Oh, before I forget, I might as well announce it here: I (semi)officially completed my studies at SUNY Institute of Technology this past May. I received an A on my thesis/capstone project, and unless something awful arises in the office, I will be getting my diploma in the mail sometime in July. I have earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer and Information Science, which is easily the most respectable-sounding piece of paper I've ever owned.

So, the job search has commenced. I'm signed up online for various job hunting services and trying to keep an eye out for great opportunities. Naturally, my mom still highlights stuff she's seen in the newspaper and leaves them for me to find, because that's how her generation does things. She's very hopeful and proud of me. Apparently I'm the first person in our family to get a BS. My mom only has an Associate's, and my dad didn't go to college. Makes me wonder sometimes how they managed to have a combined gross annual income over $100,000. It always sounds like a lot to me, but you know, taxes and all drain that quickly.

Also, I have a feeling my productivity in job hunting will be slightly hurt by the fact that I've just started Mass Effect 2 (and have purchased the third installment). I'm pretty hooked to this thing so far. I don't play video games like that daily, but once the game console is turned on, I have a difficult time turning it off. Anyway, a lot of Mass Effect jokes suddenly make sense to me, and I've decided that if Garrus and Kasumi Goto were able to conceive a child, it would be the most phenomenally amazing, charming, and lethal bad-ass in the history of fiction. Or maybe it'd grow up to be an accountant. There's no telling with kids.

Also again, I'm typing this at 4am. I started living in the daylight like a normal person for a while there, but apparently my circadian just has no rhythm, because here I am in the wee hours again. I might pull and all-nighter and try to reset my internal clock again. Hell, it worked once this year.

That's all for now. Peace and love, readers. Speak softly, but carry a big Arc Projector.

Just thought of something else

This semester is over. It ended officially for me on Tuesday. I feel pretty good about how my classes ended, aside from one thing: for some reason, my teammates whom I'd been working with on group project apparently didn't turn in their work on time this week. I'm hoping it's just a little miscommunication or something, but I'm kind of worried; this project is a huge part of our grade for the course. Hopefully we'll sort it out soon.

I'm also just thinking now that, after my last post, I'd really like to try to lighten the mood. I've been entirely too bitter, cynical, jaded, and generally a miserable person to talk to. I guess it's fortunate I don't really have a social life, and relatively few people will ever has the lousy fortune to read this mess. With the holiday season upon us, I'm hoping to avoid too much rest and relaxation if I can help it. I'd really feel much better about myself, and life in general, if I could really accomplish some things. I'm thinking about finding work, but I somehow doubt that would make me feel fulfilled at all. Plus, I'm bound to get my fill of work in the spring when I become a college graduate.

Anyway, I won't say what I'm actually doing or even hoping to do this season, because making plans usually backfires for me. Instead I'll just ask that you wish me luck, and more importantly energy to meet life's little challenges. Sound good? Great, thank you. Peace and love, and I hope you have a happy and/or merry whatever-you-celebrate this month.

Just a few things

To anybody who happens to find their way here from LinkedIn:

I am so very sorry.

Oh, if anyone's curious what I've been up to with classes lately, my game journal sums up a lot of it. I don't recommend reading it too long though, as there's nothing too deeply insightful. It's for a grade, after all.

There isn't much else to report on right now, though it occurs to me that half the reason my blog and twitter are so silent is because my every inane thought is usually wasted elsewhere on the Internet (I won't say where; they don't need the traffic and I don't need the shame). So here are some of my recent thoughts and anecdotes:

"I only started using Chrome because my Firefox install somehow got horribly corrupted and I didn't want to bother fixing it. I really don't understand the dislike, though. The only thing I've run into lately that it can't do is play animated PNG images, and those are stupid anyway."
~
"I'm not sure why, but it just makes me so happy to know that the word defenestrate exists. I hope to use it in a proper context someday. I kind of want this date to be a holiday too."
~
"Just when I start to think modern rock may actually be as good as classic, George Thorogood or Stevie Ray Vaughan comes on."
~
"Last night I finally got around to installing the device drivers and software to try out my new drawing tablet. It seemed pretty cool. Then a few hours later my computer crashed. Recurring blue-screen and all. Thank god I had the good sense to back up some of my files beforehand. I almost lost an important project I've been doing for a class.

I wonder if it's a sign, though. I finally get up the motivation to even think about drawing again, and the universe throws a wrench in the works. Maybe somebody's trying to tell me something.

Or maybe it's somehow Chrome's fault."
~
"I have mild asthma. If I could, I would punch my own lungs in the face."
~
"I really want my own Curiosity Core now. Do they make plushies of those anywhere? They really should."

That's it for now. Peace and love, all.

Just getting started

Fall '11 classes are on. I'm taking two courses: Computer Graphics (so dull it's ridiculous), and a theory of game design course. For the latter, I'm required to keep a game journal, reviewing new games I play and relating them to our course material. If anyone would like to read it, it's located here, and in all likelihood I'll be updating it more often than I update this thing.

I'm "on call" for work, but it appears I'm basically done there. It's fine, I knew it'd be a temporary thing anyway. I still have one or two paychecks to wait on, and they may call me in again if they need help with ad-hoc testing. We'll see, I guess.

Also, I'm single. I kind of already was before, except now there are no girls at all that I'm hoping to have a relationship with. In related news, the list of people who hate me has grown by at least one, so... hooray for that. I always knew I had problems communicating my thoughts and feelings, I just never knew it could make me look like a monster to some people. It's surprising I haven't stuck to this blog more, since one-off monologues seem to be the only form of communication I don't always fail at. I don't know, there might be hope for my love life yet, but I'm not about to pursue anything else for a while.

To further shoot myself in the foot, I'll go ahead and mention here how I got a new drawing tablet for my birthday (yeah, I'm 24, and don't really place any significance on it). I'm hoping that the medium of tablet drawing will someone be enjoyable enough to me that it'll motivate me to work on my comic again, but I'm clearly going to jinx myself by saying anything about it here. Every time I proclaim that I'm turning over a new leaf, getting motivated and getting a serious start on this thing, I always end up abandoning it again. I hope that won't happen this time, but... well, why be unrealistic with my expectations?

It also occurs to me I won't be able to keep up this stupid post naming trend much longer, but I'll no doubt push it as far as it'll go. Or at least, just a little farther.

That's basically it for now. I'll return to my previous regular sign-off, if only because neither of these things are very abundant:
Peace and love, everyone.

Just realized something

I never updated this thing about some important things that happened this summer.

For one, the fact that I got a job is kind of a big deal. It's like an internship thing, and it's temporary though I don't know how temporary. The pay is good but on a 2-week delay roughly. Also there is the minor problem of having to work 9am to 5pm every weekday. It's pretty hard on me, being a career insomniac, and spending that much time around so many people hasn't been totally easy either. I'm exhausted in every sense of the word.

Still, it's nice to have money, or it will be when my check comes on the 31st or so. Still on schedule to return to SUNYIT part-time on August 30th though, so will have to work things out with the job by then. Not sure if I'm going to be let go by then or not.

Also, I've been trying to have some kind of long-distance relationship with somebody I met online. It hasn't been easy. Aside from the distance, we seem to have problems communicating and getting along sometimes. I'm hoping we'll be able to work it out though. She means a lot to me, and I'd hate to see things end abruptly on a sour note. Naturally, I fear that could happen on pretty much any given day. I'll keep trying, but I guess only time will tell if we are really right for one another. Here's hoping love can find a way.

That's about it right now. Guess I'll check in next month, unless I suddenly feel inspired to write more. Signing off.

Just felt like bitching and moaning

The title says it all. This is meant to be therapeutic for me, mainly, so don't expect anything especially captivating or interesting in this post.

For those who haven't heard, I dropped out of school. Again. Apparently I can't handle real life very well. Honestly, I had the easiest semester you could possibly imagine while still maintaining full-time status, and I still couldn't handle it. I've been too mind-numbingly depressed for any kind of responsibility at all. I have definitely lost all faith in the ability of medicine to help me manage my symptoms. I need to make some serious changes, that's for sure.

I'm sure the whole situation wasn't helped by how jaded I've become to the notion of finishing my degree. Especially since learning just how little all my CS studies have actually prepared me for a career in programming. Look at any careers or help wanted site; the demand for programmers right now revolves almost entirely around people who are experts in .NET, Flex, PHP, the Android environment, the Facebook platform, and pretty much everything to do with social networking, mobile applications and various other up-and-coming web platforms that I NEVER learned a thing about.

All I learned from some 5 years of college was some Java (not enough to make anything really cool with), C++ and C#, a semester of Scheme (which is great because 1, nobody fucking knows what Scheme is let alone uses it, and 2, I can't remember shit about it now anyway), a little Unix experience (again, not enough to do anything with), and a stockpile of general theoretical bullshit relating to operating systems and application development. I'm sure at least some of it has better prepared me to learn new languages or platforms, but that's not what employers are looking for now. They're not looking for interns to spend weeks teaching how to do shit in the hopes they'll be useful employees someday. They want people who already have training and experience working on these kinds of projects. That's something I never really got.

Seriously, higher education is a giant waste of money in absolutely every way. I'm essentially one semester away from having a degree, and I almost don't want to bother anymore. The only way it helps me is if I find an employer stupid enough to think a Bachelor's is any kind of substitute for actual contract work.

Also, I'm pretty sure now I thoroughly hate the general concept of dating and all the drama that surrounds it. I definitely hate relationships, and not just the romantic variety. I genuinely despise interacting with other people in virtually all settings.

It's probably worth mentioning, I definitely hate the way things have been turning out with a certain girl I know. I knew from the start we were better off just being friends, but she expressed what I thought was a serious interest in me. We kept hanging out, and God help me, I started falling for her. I liked her as more than just a friend, and I was attracted to her both physically and mentally. Then, just when it seemed like things were getting serious, and I had come to actually welcome that possibility, she kindly reminded me that she's still not over her ex, and likely won't be anytime soon.

So, we float now in the friend zone, slowly drifting further apart with each passing day, and I'm pretty much sick from the whole thing. I shared things with this girl I never share with anyone. I let myself get closer than I ever do with anyone, and made myself vulnerable because I wanted to believe it might work out. Well, as it turned out, I was right from the beginning. We would've been way better off if we'd stayed friends like we started out, but no, things had to get complicated. It's just a rotten mess. I can't talk naturally and candidly with her like I used to. I feel awkward and stupid, and I basically just don't even want to talk to her anymore, because whatever connection we had before got all fucked up.

Anyway, I don't know what's next for us. I'm guessing we'll slowly just stop communicating altogether, just like every other friend I've ever had. I don't want that to happen. I'd love it if I could go back to being comfortable talking to her again, or even take things further than that, but I know me, and I know it's very unlikely I'll ever be able to really care about someone like that again.

I find lately that I will cry during some romantic movies or family-type things. I know why it happens, too. It's never when something tragic is happening; it's always when someone is talking about true love or something similar. I cry when that happens because I know it's all bullshit. I cry because those moments remind me what a total farce the whole concept of love is. It's not the beautiful interpersonal connection it's portrayed as.

Here's what love is: you open your heart to someone, and sometimes they'll open theirs to you as well, and for a few fleeting moments you can be happy together. Mostly, though, when you open your heart to them, all you've really done is made it possible for them to injure you emotionally. And they will. A lot, whether they mean to or not. In all likelihood, if you were in sync enough, you'll be hurting them at the same time. You can probably still make each other happy if you really try, but the happiness is pathetically fleeting. The hurt lasts much longer.

On a different note, the dream blog I started isn't seeing much use, since I'm remembering my dreams even less than I used to. I guess I have to work on my diet.

Things I currently should be doing that I'm not: working out, sleeping regularly, watching my diet, bathing regularly, finding a job, writing, drawing, reading, playing Wii games (to improve my endorphine levels or whatever), trying to get published, practicing my C# skills, learning a musical instrument and/or how to sing. Really, any one of these would be nice.

What I am doing most of the time is finding any way I can to waste time and temporarily distract myself from the fact that I wish with every fiber of my being that I was dead. Don't worry, though, I'm sure I won't try to kill myself. That would require some form of commitment on my part, and God knows that won't happen. I never achieve anything I aspire to regardless of the level of effort I put in, so why knock myself out?

So, I think I'll sign off for now. I'd close with another 'peace and love,' but why keep perpetuating bullshit myths?

Re: Nostalgia

Alright, Schunk, are you happy now? I'm talking about you on the Internet. Jeez...

For those who don't know, while I was at Marist I had, and sort of still have, an arch-rival. He was the Joker to my Batman; the mongoose to my rattlesnake; the obnoxious man-child to my... well, you get the idea. This lovable bane of my existence goes by the name of Matt Schunk.

When it came to WWE videogames, our rivalry was unmatched. Legitimate matches usually degenerated to insults and accusations of cheating from both sides. I'd win through some clever but underhanded move, and he'd call me a cheater. He'd pull the same kind of thing in our next match and celebrate like it was Wrestlemania. Schunk was a sore winner, and he raised trash-talk to the level of an artform. Looking back now, I can't think of anyone else who succeeded at pissing me off quite as much as he did. On one occasion, he actually got me pissed enough that I snapped and attacked him with a hockey stick. I'm not sure where I got a hockey stick, but fortunately I came to my senses when I remembered that, with the shape I was in, he could probably kick my ass blindfolded.


(Still the most viewed video in my YouTube channel)

Honestly, I do miss his antics some days. He always was the life of the party, even if he let it go to his head a little too much. We don't talk much anymore, aside from random updates and favorite wrestlers dying.

(Seriously, Umaga's gone now too? Is there anyone cool left in WWE?)

Still, I get the feeling our rivalry isn't destined to end just yet. Someday, we'll have that big rematch we'd been planning, or at least get together and catch up. In the meantime, I guess I'll have to settle for plotting to kill my roommates instead. Just don't tell them I said that.

Re: I'm not dead yet

Just letting you know. I've been pretty sick lately, and on top of that I've been busy with club stuff and school. The weather officially sucks again, so I guess I'll continue being inactive even after I'm over whatever stomach bug I've got.

Anyway, if anybody from Marist is reading this, I miss you guys. We really have to figure out a time to meet and hang out sometime. Maybe in the spring before the new semester starts. I don't have the energy to think about driving anywhere now, but we'll see what happens.

So, I'm the leader of a school club

How the hell did that happen? :/

Michael Pittarelli Raped My Mind

I just got out of one of the most excrutiating lectures of my life. And believe me, that's saying something. I've had some awful teachers before, but this one takes the cake. I can sit through mind-numbingly boring and ineffectual lectures, but most professors I've had, however dull and convoluted their lectures become, usually stop short of being physically painful to listen to. Mike Pittarelli crosses that line running. Seriously, I've had bouts of food poisoning less painful than the experience of listening to this man talk for two hours.

First of all, he takes the full class period, and in fact runs out of time at the end, to discuss maybe 30 minutes of material. This is because he has a very confused, misguidedly casual approach to lecturing. It's never really clear what point he's trying to get across, just that he's trying like hell to make it. You can only hope to guess at what information he's hoping to convey, while he aimlessly circles the point of the story for what feels like hours, occasionally straying close to the point but never really reaching it. It's kind of like watching a bashful young schoolboy trying to work up the courage to ask out the preppy cheerleader.

Then, after ten minutes of ambling about like a late-onset Alzheimer's patient, just when you think he's about to make the point he's been working toward the whole time, he stops and switches to a new topic, wandering off in a completely different direction than you expected. If there is a more perfect living example than this of a functional adult with severe ADD, I have yet to encounter them.

I also don't understand how he can possibly justify jumping back and forth between chapters the way he does. There's a reason the more advanced stuff is saved for 200 pages later in the book: if you present them all together just because they seem related, it makes the whole discussion too confusing for new students to follow. At least, I'm pretty sure the discussion would've been confusing, if I in any way had the ability to continue listening, but by then I had lost all will to go on living, let alone keep listening to him prattle on about decomposing and rejoining database relations.

In short, I don't have a RateMyProfessors account, but this experience made me consider it. Guys like this may have some talent in their given field, but Mike clearly has done too much acid in his heyday to adequately teach his craft to impressionable youngsters like myself, and it's a terrible shame that he's allowed to continue doing it. If anybody else has him, I'd love some tips on how to survive this class, which is a requirement for pretty much every other class in my major.

EDIT: I found his profile on RateMyProfessors:
http://ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=74984
I guess I'm not the only one who's noticed. Of course, not many raters on the site had him for 350, which I do. I think the only reason people like/pass his class is because he does the same open book/notes tests that Sam Sengupta does, except Mike has a weird grading curve where having 53% on a test can net you a B+ or so. And at least Sam was bearable to listen to in lecture. I learned quite a bit without even reading the book. Mike lost me in a hurry. I think I might be better off just reading the book and sleeping through his lectures.

Back again

So, I'm settling into my new room. So far, so good. The weather is absolute crap, and I spent most of the afternoon being overheated, wet, tired, itchy, and generally pissed off at everyone. On the bright side, my room is mostly pretty nice. The desk is a bit screwed up, since it doesn't have the movable shelves like I had last year. I mean, the shelves are here, but they're disconnected from the desk and there doesn't seem to be any easy way to stick them back in like there used to be. Weird.

Also, my desk has a huge gash in it. I hope there's someplace to report that so I don't end up paying for it.

I did finally get to watch another movie yesterday; Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Thing is, the movie was actually really good, and I somehow feel weird writing a review for a movie that had nothing really bad to rip it a new one for. So, I think I'll just call it a 4/5 and say I'd recommend it.

Well, I'm sure I'll have more to blog about when something actually happens here. In the meantime, I want to spend what's left of my weekend taking it easy. I love you all. Most of the time.

Still not dead yet

Just so you know. School starts in about a week. I'll probably blog about that. Also, started work on my webcomic, though I'm still struggling with the fact that I can't draw my way out of a paper bag, yet am too much of a perfectionist to trust the project with anyone else. More on this later, plus, could the breakfast cereal you've been eating to get more fiber actually kill you? Find out tonight at 11.

For the record:

If I mysteriously disappear in the coming weeks or months, it will most likely be because I have finally snapped and killed my Software Engineering teacher Michael DeMare and have begun fleeing the police. I'll explain further after I've calmed down a bit, but suffice to say he's easily in the top 5 people I most need to kill to make the world a better place. Seriously, if he doesn't hand in his teaching license at the end of this semester, I will murder him with my bare hands.

In other news, I've got a little ear infection. It doesn't really hurt anymore, though, so it's not really bothering me aside from the antibiotics I have to take. And hell, I'll be done with those less than a week anyway.

Also, looking forward to spring break, even if it is just going to be me hanging out at home. That still beats being here with Professor of the Year up there at the front of the room. Alright, I gotta go buy some leather gloves and a large tarp now. I'll see you when I see you, loyal readers. Peace and love.

Oh, what the hell is this?

Look, I'm not in the habit of complaining about dining hall food. I know working in a college kitchen is no one's dream job, so if the food isn't spectacular, I put up with it. But this...

This was in my jello today. It appears to be made of the same material as the jello around it, yet it's shaped like a piece of clear tape, and it has the same taste and consistency as a rubber band.



I ask you, how in the flying flamboyant hell do you screw up jello?! It's jello! You mix it with water, heat it, throw it in the fridge, and you're done. How does something like this even happen? Should I be in fear for my health? Did I almost ingest another alien life form?

Question for you:

Should I even bother doing my taxes this year? My total income last year was on the order of $500. I made a lot of donations to charity, but the cutoff is something like a thousand dollars. I've looked at the forms. Part of me is thinking about trying the free edition of TurboTax just for kicks, but those kinds of thoughts scare me. I mean, who does their taxes for fun?

Well, I should at least think about doing it. I'll need the money. I still haven't bought any of the books I need for my classes this semester. I'm wondering how long I'll be able to get away with this. Can I get through the whole thing without buying any of the books? It's unlikely at best.

More ramblings when I feel like it. Love you. <3

Question for you...

Who needs this much liquor in their lives? Seriously. That's a bottle of merlot in the front there. I think all this belongs to our new suitemate. Did he get shot in the Civil War and needs to have something amputated? Because that's the only time I can imagine a human being needing this much alcohol available to them.

Update:
Well, apparently the merlot belongs to my roommate. Now, I'm not judging him or anything, but I've never looked at merlot as a casual evening beverage, you know? But maybe that's just me. To be honest, I might just be a little jealous he can drink that much. Or at all, for that matter. I think some of you know how poorly me and alcohol go together.

Mom's baking again...

It must be almost Christmas.

Mom's baked goods are easily my favorite part of Christmas. Cookies, fudge, snowballs, and the occasional pie. By the way, for those who haven't heard of them, snowballs are basically little balls of dough smothered in powdered sugar. They're delicious, and I'm pretty sure they have the power to cure diabetes.

Also, I'm getting back to work on weekends. You know, the Meals on Wheels thing. I guess they lost a couple people, so they needed someone to do a route. However, this weekend I couldn't work on Sunday because of the snowstorm. Which sucks, since SUNYIT hiked their tuition and I now owe another $775 dollars. Now, I can't decide which of those to rant about, so how about both at once?

I hate New England winters, man! The people at the bursar's office are nice and all, but they need to get their shit together. It's like 17 degrees outside, and at least two and a half feet of snow on the ground, just from this weekend. You know, I've been pissed at them ever since the start of the semester when I almost didn't get housing because they never even checked for the damn paperwork. And the roads are positively awful, especially in the morning. Plus, they increased the tuition after my room went from a triple to a double, but didn't add the charges until after I had taken out a loan to pay the balance for my room in the first place. I know, it's New England and I should be used to driving in slush and shit by now, but I'm really not. And now I have to deal with this stupid tuition hike, which is worsened because I never borrowed enough money in the first place to pay for everything. I swear, I'm moving someplace temperate as soon as I get the chance. Thus, you can see why I need to work: I need the money. Or maybe I'll have two homes, one in northern England for summertime, and one in Florida for winter.

Alright, I'm all ranted out. I'll see you cats and dogs sometime after Christmas. I'll probably waste a lot of time playing Warioland: Shake It! on the Wii. I'm getting it for Christmas. I know this, because I bought it for myself, and my psycho mother won't let me buy things for myself at Christmastime; it has to be a gift from some family member who gave me a check.

Oh, and just as a reminder, I'll be doing my Festivus celebration publicly this year. At least, as publicly as this blog or a Facebook note can get. There are no doubt some grievances to be aired. That, and I need to do Feats of Strength for once. Schunk, what are you doing on the 23rd?

Gaming Haze

Just thought I'd post, since I haven't in a while. My general rule of thumb is, if I have to log in to Blogger again because the 'keep me logged in' cookie has expired, it's probably been too long. Unfortunately, I don't have much to say right now. It's just school as usual.

I did finally buy Super Smash Bros. Brawl, though. I've been enjoying it a lot, though I've basically reached the point where it's really only fun in multiplayer. I mean, I could keep collecting all the trophies and stuff, but that seems like an awful lot of effort for not much payout. Once you've beaten Subspace Emissary and you've got all the characters and stages, what's the point?

Aside from that, though, I have continued looking over my retro game collection. I played Resident Evil 4 again for the hell of it, and considered playing Tales of Symphonia because there are a few side quests I never discovered. Besides, I'm probably not going to be buying Tales of the Abyss or whatever the new one for the PS3 is. Although, that would be more reason for me to get a PS3, the primary one being Mercenaries 2. I've heard it's not as good as the original, but I'm kind of a fanboy, and besides, how bad could it be? It's still Mercenaries.

Alright, I guess that's enough rambling to constitute a post. Later, lovers.

Something Old, Something New

What's new with me? I'm tired. I have the worst sleeping habits when I'm in college. Oh, wait, that's not really new, is it?

I don't know what it is, but something about the college atmosphere is just really conducive to staying up late and taking naps in the daytime. I think part of the problem is that damn loft bed. Once I'm up there, it takes a serious effort to get up. I can't just "roll out of bed," unless I develop a death wish. If I want to get out of bed, I have to move down to the foot of the bed and over the side like I'm climbing out of a tree house.

Also, to the good men and women of the SUNYIT Facilities Dept., if you're reading this, get your asses to L4 and pick up this extra furniture already. I swear, someone really screwed up when they set the schedule for this furniture pick-up business. The time was pretty specific (between 9am and 12:30pm), but the dates were basically "Beginning on Sept. 2nd, until whenever the hell we get around to it."

Other than that, I've kind of been reexamining the retro gaming classics of my youth. After acquiring the soundtrack to Mr. Bones, I was struck with the urge to make a music video. That might sound strange, unless you realize that the music in Mr. Bones was done by Ronnie Montrose, a legend of the blues world. Even longtime fans of his think Mr. Bones was one of his best albums.

Anyway, you can decide for yourself. I made this video to go with The First Thing, which in my opinion is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I've ever heard. So, without further ado, take a soulful trip with me down memory lane:



(Note: If you buy the soundtrack, the version of this song on the cd is instrumental only. For the video, I kept the version with the voice-over from the game.)