CaptainOrange

We'll play a little catch-up, here... There is a serious lot of activity here. Take what you will. Things have been pretty busy around my house. Since we've been back from Ottawa and Kitchener , Leora and Anwyn have completed another level each in swimming. They love the pool so much they would have lessons in the morning and then we would take in the "loonie swim" after 6pm. Since the whole family could swim for $2 it seemed like an easy way to kill some time. The below album is from an occasion where we went to George Ward outdoor pool with Erin and her boys Michael and Chandler. Swimming The girls and I managed to sneak away for the day to the Pollard family reunion right at the end of July. It was fun and they wanted to stay longer. As usual, we stopped to enjoy my favourite time of day. Pollard Reunion Jodi and Brad were in town following our excursion. Jodi and I played Rock Band and ate Pizza until 2am. James came over for an hour and rocked out w...

Sometime last year, Dad went to turn on his Playstation 3 and was greeted by the infamous Yellow Light Of Death. It's tough to find a good description of what the YLOD is, but this forum thread is somewhat comprehensive. Essentially, the PS3 does nothing but show a single LED. Apparently there are a number of possible causes. Dad had just bought a new game it was stuck in the Blue-Ray player and no amount of coaxing was getting it out. With a repair price of about $150CAD (+ shipping) Dad simply bought a new Playstation ($300). tiny ribbon cables galore I had some spare time a couple of weeks back and Dad had found a suitable heat-gun to attempt the, by now, common "re-flow" repair. We watched this very good YouTube video (which is in two parts ) and took the plunge. If it failed I was planning to at least crack the Blue-Ray drive to get the game which was M.I.A. Death by a million screws. One of the biggest challenges in this process is remembering where a...

You likely recall that I got Rock Band last January (I considered it a birthday gift from the Universe). I intended to post about my first repair, but perhaps I forgot. I won't bore you with the details other than to say that an integral component in the guitar stopped working. As it turns out, there was a broken spring involved. After 12 or so screws that stood in my way, the repair itself was fairly simple. I feel great when I repair these things because it saves both me and the companies involved money (Well, technically the warranty wasn't expired -- the first time, but who cares, it was fun) I don't have to be without the controller for 4 weeks No one has to pick up the tab for thousands of miles of shipping I (hopefully) learn a bit about the electronics involved So, I refashioned  the existing spring -- simply stretching it out a bit further and making a new loop so it could reattach to where it had fallen from. The repair lasted about 4 months only to surfa...

Most of you are now painfully aware that my fine wife gave me the perfect gift for Christmas. For those of you not in the know, that gift was a Playstation 3. Peace on Earth was actually my #1 pick, but she said Vin and James already went in together on it. I wonder when it will show up? In the mean time, my birthday rolled around and lo-and-behold, what should show up in Saskatoon on the very day? You guessed it -- Rock Band for the PS3. It is now quite clear, I suspect, why there have been no updates to my blog for the last month. MotorStorm - there was a brief time when this was my only 'action' game. In the first couple of weeks, I have managed to get about 75% of the way through the solo game. Eye of Judgment - It's a card game that the PS3 moderates for you, or competes against you via the camera. It is just as geeky as it sounds. I've put about $25 into booster packs of cards, and not played since Jodi and Brad left shortly after the New Year. Kyro, sounds like y...

Just the Q-juniors and dad this weekend. While Ms. Orange breaths deep of the mountain air in Banff, I am being my most indulgent. We slept in a little this morning and took it slow. T1 had a bit of a cough so she road in the trailer all the way there and most of the ride home. T2 was a cycling trooper, per usual, and we set a new record of 30 min. flat to Grandma and Grandpa's house. I had a good visit with the family and then PCarbon and his boys teamed up for some Resistance: the Fall of Man fraggin'. We stayed until 2pm! It was windy on the ride home so we took the opportunity to stop on campus for a little "rest" and photo op. We spotted a rather large magpie nest (24" TV sized, a.k.a. ~24" ) and I was induced to do a bit of climbing myself (twisted my arm, they did). You can't tell where I was because T2 likes to be in nice and close with the telephoto :) Curse my Cannon and its 12x zoom. Daddy Weekend Hey, this pic is a LINK! Click, Click, Click ...

rip on to my blog just to post the raving comments of the illustrator of my favorite comic. I guess there is always a first time for everything. The blog entry in full, taken from Penny Arcade : (in case you try to read this and it has moved off the front page) Oh, and by the way, it is not "family" appropriate, unless you need to teach your children about the more terrible of vices... Here we go again Mon, February 19 2007 - 07:00 PM by: Gabe You might have seen this story on CNN about the teens that murdered a homeless guy and then equated it to the sort of thrill one might get from a “violent video game”. There will be plenty of articles focusing on these kids and their crime. I’d like to take a second and talk about the parents of these teenagers instead. It is the job of a parent to teach their children certain rules. Obviously the rules themselves and the emphasis each family places on them will vary, but there are certain...

I read a relatively lame PS3 line-up article and the responses to it on Slashdot today. I would have posted there, but their threading system seemed to be busted and my response seemed too long for the average attention span anyway. I figured you would be more generous. I'd love to hear your feeling on memorable line-ups when you are done reading... There is an issue here that some people seem to be missing or ignoring in favour of the all too easy jokes. I went to university in Canada back in the 9600/14400 days. Computer registration (for classes) wasn't an option that any but the most visionary had conceptualized and telephone registration was just in the pilot phase also known as the audio labyrinth of terror. I was a disorganized kid with no real knowledge of why I was even at university, much less how to effectively pre-register for my classes (here the discerning reader may read "pre-order my PS3"). If you didn't register by mail early enough, you got in ...

I thought my innocence was lost. Recently, even Bethedasoft's Oblivion has been failing to rouse any interest in my usual frenzied need for videogames. Enter Wednesday night retro-gaming with the Bros. D. Who would have thought that a MAME game with only two colours, that I have never previously played, could have charmed me so? Ripcord ! (klov.com) considering how ancient this game is, the gameplay is awesome. There are only about three things you can do: Jump from the plane, move left or right, and ... O.K., two things! It's the feel and look of the game. The free-fall sensation before you pull your ripcord (oh, yeah, that's three) is terrific. I could almost feel the wind rushing past my monochrome face. A must play! 1979, no less. Curious? Here is the ***WARNING .pdf ICKY*** original arcade manual ***WARNING*** for the game. Cool instructions on dip switches and soundboards. Any of you people have a notable or favorite two-tone game?

After a teriffic audition, I have officially been cast as The Pirate King in GIlbert and sullivan's Pirates of Penzance Still have some scheduling to discuss with the director before I can be full steam ahead on this one, but it is looking good. QT was quiet last eve. James and I played a magnetic varient of connect-4. The board has randomizable magnets beneath each of the board squares and the player pieces also contain magnets which flip-flop depending on their placement on the board. Vin arrived and, as if by magic, a variety of teas (spicey and not so) were served... following which,we moved to Magettigan's for beverages, desserts and wireless internet madness. Conversation fluctuated between the PSP and roleplaying.