New Phone...

I figure I'd better try to get one more of these in before the end of March. Actually, my goal was to try to actively do this (blog) on a regular/semi-regular basis for one year and see how that goes. I was also going to try to do one drawing a month but that has failed so far, only did the Tiger Mask one at the beginning of the year and I was going to do one "Where's Scott" a month (which I have done so far over on Facebook).

Anyway, I got a new phone last week. Been playing around and customizing it as much as I could so far. The new HTC HD2! Pretty impressive so far. I've always been one who never really cared or criticized the size of the screen on my portable devices but WOW! Watching videos and seeing things on this phone is pretty amazing. My Slingbox plays in full screen mode without any lag and looks pretty good. I would always watch it in portrait mode on my old Xperia X1 which didn't fill up the screen. And the new snapdragon processor in this thing makes the phone almost lag free. I'm still getting used to the no keyboard thing though and the "swype" keyboard is pretty impressive for words that are common.

Speaking of the Slingbox, the HD2 comes with MobiTV built in with one months free subscription. I have always wanted to kind of check out these in phone TV system/networks and they are pretty cool and would be useful but because I have a Slingbox set up at home and the software on the phone, the MobiTV isn't really necessary. It's a $10 subscription to keep the MobiTV running on my phone but the Sling is already paid for so I'll probably cancel after the first month.

BTW, I attempt to use my own pictures of things I post here but if for some reason I'm rushing or I can't, I may use one off of the internet. Today's picture of my new HD2 is from the official HTC website.

I better get back to studying...that real estate pre-licensing exam is tomorrow and if I don't pass I gotta take the whole blasted class again!!!

iPod Touch games

Picked up the Street Fighter IV game for the iPod Touch the other day. It plays a lot better than I thought it was going to...pretty fun too. I was also able to challenge a friend over the bluetooth connecton and it was smooth. I didn't really think it would be such a gaming machine...I mean, I heard the stories and read the articles and reviews but some of the games are really good.

I also picked up the Simpsons and of course Dragon's Lair, Space Ace and Cobra Command. The games are playable, graphics and sound are good but most of all they are pretty fun. The only minor gripe is that as responsive as the controls can be, they "stick" at times. Maybe it's my thumbs or something but once in a while I have trouble controlling some of the games.

This came in the mail today. Actually a pair came in the mail. It's a pretty bright, compact flash light with the Bat-signal laser etched on it. I got one to carry with me and another for the collection. I'm thinking of getting one more for car.

Perhaps I should get a laser etcher LOL! Seriously though, I have a lot of things that I either place a Bat-signal sticker on or use the Bat-signal stencil and spray the signal on.

Honolulu Festival and more...

We got to meet Sasaki Isao yesterday at the Honolulu Festival. He sings a bunch of tokusatsu songs as well does voice work for various anime. There was a little concert that we got there just in time for. It was awesome to hear him sing Himitsu Sentai Goranger live! The guy is a performer, playing up each song.





Earlier in the day, passed Heavy Rain. It was an interesting "game". Actually, it was like an interactive movie. Interesting story and one where you can change little things that change things that happen later in the story. Twists and turns made for the interesting story but I wonder how much different the story will be if I make different decisions while playing next time.
*SPOILER* I tried to play each character in a "nice guy" kind of way...having them make decisions that a good person would do in a similar situation. I was particularly rooting for the Scott Shelby character who at the end turned out to be the Origami Killer! 8/10


Hachi: A Dogs Tale. Like I posted the other day, I love the story. The movie was an modernized, American-ized version of the Japanese tale of a dog who waited for his master for 10 years at a train station. I enjoyed the movie and the take on the story. From what I've read about Hachiko over the years, the movie is pretty faithful to the story. The only thing I think they missed was the dedication of the original statue at the station. Hachiko was alive and there when they unveiled the statue way back when. The ending did say that the movie was based on a true story and about the statue that stands at the Shibuya station.

Finally, I've had this shirt since 2008 and for some reason 3 totally random people told me that it was a nice shirt and talked a little Batman with me.

It's actually one of my favorites and I have one more for when this one gets to the point that I shouldn't be wearing it anymore because of holes or fading or something.

Sniped!

I basically have this jacket. I have had a large sized one since high school but it was always a little big. Last year I found one on eBay that I won but it was a size small. Unfortunately, it was a little too small. So I was happy to find a medium sized one on eBay last week. I put in a bid and waited. No one had bid on it the jacket but 2 questions were asked in the week it had gone up.

I checked on the auction an hour before closing this morning and no other bids than my own. I thought I was going to win and my max bid was 3x the starting bid so I didn't think I would lose. I decided to check on the auction to see if I had won and someone put in a winning bid 1 minute before the auction closed! I guess I have to keep looking for this jacket...

..."I am the type who is liable to snipe you
With two seconds left to go, whoa..." - "Weird Al" Yankovic

Remembering Hachiko...

While visiting Japan in 2003, we came upon this statue at the exit of the Shibuya station in Tokyo. Bert or Grent told us that it was a famous meeting place in Tokyo...everybody knew where to meet when they were suppose to meet at Hachiko.

They also told us the story of Hachiko. The story of a dog who patiently waited for his master to return for 10 years. I just wish that we didn't get there while a film festival was going on or they didn't drape that banner over him.

Anyway, today is the 75th anniversary of the last day that Hachiko waited for his master to return home at that train station. 75 years ago today, he was reunited with his master who he waited to greet for 10 years. It's a great story. Tomorrow on the 9th, the Richard Geere movie Hachiko: A Dog's Story will be released on DVD, it's supposed to be a take on the Hachikō Monogatari movie from 1987.

First Amazon mp3 download.

I bought my first Amazon.com digital download today...It is usually more convenient to just buy it off of the iTunes music store but the blasted m4p format makes it more difficult to move my music around.

I bought over a hundred songs off of iTunes and they all play perfectly fine on my iPod but if I wanted to load it onto my phone for a ringtone or for some odd reason listen to it on the phone I can't. I also wanted to burn a CD of the songs I bought off of iTunes so I can play it in my car but I can only make audible CDs of the music I bought off the iTunes store. That means that it'll be like a .wav format and I can get maybe 20 or songs on the CD as opposed to the near 100 or so songs if they were in mp3 format. I can burn the mp4 songs to a CD and then rip them back into an mp3 format but why should I have to go through the trouble.

With the iPod Touch I just bought, the iTunes store is right on the player and it would be so much easier to just buy it and download it there right to the device but for now I think I'll go through Amazon...it's usually the same price.

BTW...Linger by The Cranberries is the first Amazon.com mp3 purchase. My first purchase off of iTunes back in 2004 (I think) was Mr. Brightside by The Killers.