Spelunker!

They've actually remade the video game Spelunker. A little known side-scroller for Mac and Nintendo by the makers of Lode Runner. Even though your character couldn't survive 2 foot falls, it was a pretty great game. I'm downloading it right now. Check out the trailer:

Beerfest 2010

I recently attended the 2010 Beerfest at Benz Beverage Depot. Here is a list of everything I tasted:

Wells - Banana Bread Beer
New Belgium - Hop Ranger
Goose Island - Matilda
Left Hand - IPA
Peace Tree - Rye Porter
Baltika - #7
Baltika - #9
Milstream - 25th Aniversary Double Bock
Boulevard - Double IPA
Boulevard - Golden Bock
Spaten - Optimator
Olde Maine - Red Ale
Belle - Oberon
Anchor - Steam

My favorite was Hop Ranger. Its a new IPA from New Belgium, and had an amazing hop aroma.

There were lots of pictures of the brewfest, and if you look really closely, I ended up in the background of this one.

I'm Back!

After a 2 year hiatus, I feel like updating the blog again. I can't say there will be regular updates, but hopefully I'll find something interesting to post every once in a while.

Prehistoric Beer

In what may be the greatest use of technology ever, Scientists have extracted yeast from amber, Jurassic Park style, and are using it to brew beer. The yeast strain is 45 million years old and offers its own unique tast to the beer. Unfortunately, its only available locally in northern California, so I won't be able to try it any time soon. Here's the details on the brew.

IC Brewfest

Went to the Iowa City Brewfest yesterday. There were a lot more microbrews this year and less imports. My favorite sample was Coniston's Bluebird XB. It was an english bitter made with American hops. Here's everything I remember sampling. There may be a few I forgot:

Bell's - Third Coast
Big Sky - Moose Drool
Boulevard - Saison
Boulevard - Long Strange Triple
Brau Brothers - Frame Straightener
Brau Brothers - Pilz
Breckenridge - Agave Wheat
Coniston - Bluebird XB
Coniston - Bluebird Bitter
Lost Coast - Downtown Brown
Michelob - Pale Ale
New Belgium - Sunshine Wheat
Rogue - Juniper Pale Ale
St. Peter's - Winter Ale
Wychwood Brewing - Hobgoblin
Wychwood Brewing - WychCraft
United Breweries - Taj Mahal

Exercise

I started walking the trail near my house and decided its time to get in shape. The trail is only a 4 mile round-trip. Too short for a bike, but long enough for running. Since I am completely out of shape, I'm going to follow the Couch to 5k Training Schedule.

I'm sure we still have 9 weeks of good weather, so now is the time to start. At the end, I will need to run a 5k, and the Muddy Monster Cross Country Run falls at just the right time. I will also start eating better and lifting some weights with my recently dusted-off free weights in the basement.

FCC to Approve XM-Sirius Merger

Finally! XM-Sirius merger will get FCC approval. Its about time. Its been well over a year since the merger was proposed.

A while back, both XM and Sirius announce their possible post-merger channel packages:
XM Post-Merger Line-up
Sirius Post-Merger Line-up

I hope the new packages are something like that. The ala-carte stuff offers a lot of choices. I think satellite radio customers will eventually need new equipment to get both XM and Sirius in the same radio, but hopefully the old one will still work for a while. It will be interesting to see what will happen next.

New XM Online Channels

I logged on to XM this morning and all my presets were gone. Thats because XM changed the online channel line-up. Here's what they added and removed. I like that there are finally several news talk options such as Fox News Talk, CNN, and BBC. I will miss XM Music Lab though. All that prog rock and psycadelic stuff made for good background noise at work.

New Post - Finally

I haven't posted in a really long time. Here's a couple of cool posts from blogs that get updated more often:
Minesweeper hacker proves that video games cheat
New trailer for Mortal Kombat Vs. DC
Coolest Nintendo mod ever

The Cleanup Begins

Here's a picture of what is left of my favorite Cedar Rapids downtown bar. As if being located downtown during the flood wasn't bad enough, the Piano Lounge was also in a basement. Maybe they'll get some FEMA money to rebuild.

The Flood of 2008

Here's pictures and a video of the Cedar Rapids Flood of 2008. The river is starting to recede now, but we're still feeling the effects of the flood. There is a water shortage that effects Marion too. That means we have to conserve water. No showers, laundry, dishes, or even flushing. My electricity and my cell phone coverage have been unreliable lately too. With all the failing technology, it seems like the end of the world in Iowa. I've attached Slobberbone's Meltdown to this post. Press Play on the object below to hear a damn good song about the world ending:

Cedar Rapids is Flooded

This is a picture of our courthouse on May's Island flooded by the Cedar River. You can see the island and all the bridges under water. This was taken early today. The flood has since extended throughout downtown Cedar Rapids. Fortunately my home in Marion is far from the river. Here's a CNN article about the flooding

Street Fighter IV

Here's the New Street Fighter IV Trailer:

There are new 3D graphics but it looks like they stayed faithful to the old 2D play control. It also seems to have all the original characters plus some new ones. I'm glad they finally started increasing the number from II. Although I'm sure we will eventually see Super Street Fighter IV EX Plus Alpha Turbo Extreme.

New Subaru

Toyota and Subaru annouced that they are jointly releasing a new coupe. It will be sold as a Toyota in Japan and a Subaru in the US. The yet-to-be-named sport coupe will be rear-wheel-drive and have an Impreza engine with a 6-speed transmission. Prices will start under $20,000. It isn't going to be released until 2011, so I have two years to save up the money.

Netflix stuff

Using this box, you can stream Netflix movies directly to your TV. This is kind of cool, but Netflix's current library of streamable movies wouldn't make it worth having. So far the only Netflix movies you can stream are either really old, or really bad. Maybe some day we will be able to stream any movie from a box like this, and in HD too.

Speaking of HD, Netflix is rasing the price for Blu-ray rentals. As if PS3 owners haven't spent enough money already.

Rush Limbaugh on Family Guy

This is old news, but I watched the Star Wars episode of Family Guy recently and saw Rush Limbaugh's name in the credits. Here is the scene he was in. Its pretty funny. When I first saw it, I thought they did a really good impression, apparently it was really him. The weird thing is, this is about the only cameo he's ever done. The rest of his IMDB page is just News and NFL shows. I wonder how he ended up being on Family Guy. It is definitely not a conservative show.

Futurama Movie 2

There's finally a release date for the 2nd Futurama Movie. Its coming out June 24th according to Amazon. I thought this was supposed to be released back in March, and then didn't hear anything until now. I liked the 1st Futurama Movie, it was just like watching the TV show. The next one should be just as good, but I wish it would come out already.

It's an Ale!

This is a nice pour of my first homemade beer. I brewed it one month ago today. I used a Brewer's Best basic kit, and followed a recipe from the book that came with it. I let it ferment in the primary for 2 weeks, then bottled. It could probably use another week of carbonation, but it already tastes pretty good.

Since I didn't use the full amount of malt extract, and put my flavoring hops in too early, it's very bitter, but also very light. Fortunately, a crisp, hoppy ale was exactly what I wanted to make, so I'm pretty happy with the results. Due to its bitterness and dryness, I'm calling it Saigo's Super Dry.

I've brewed two beers since then. I made an Oktoberfest from a Brewer's Best ingredient kit, and another pale ale of my own recipe. The Oktoberfest is currently clearing in a carboy, and the pale ale is aggressively fermenting in the primary. Next, I'm going to make an Oatmeal Stout from a kit, but will have to wait until I bottle my other two in about 3 weeks.

Jesse Ventura vs. O&A on 9/11 Conspiracy

Jesse Ventura was on Opie and Anthony today, and they got into a heated argument about 9/11 conspiracy. Before this segment, Jesse was making good libertarian points on other issues, but then he lost all credibility when he admitted to believing that the government planned the 9/11 attacks. Fortunately Opie, Anthony, and Jimmy challenged him on this, and it led to the following discussion:Jesse Ventura vs O&A Audio Part 1
Jesse Ventura vs O&A Audio Part 2
Jesse Ventura vs O&A Audio Part 3

Dino Rap

I don't know why, but this video rules.

New Heavy Metal Movie

Maybe this explains why South Park parodied Heavy Metal in last night's episode. I thought it was strange that they randomly decided to parody a movie that came out in 1981, but it turns out they were being topical after all.
I actually liked the first one, even though it is almost as juvenile as South Park makes it seem. It was fun sci-fi with at trippy, dark atmosphere. Plus the B-52 bomber scene is the only time a cartoon has ever been as scary as a live-action horror film. Also, it sounds like this movie will go back to being several short animated films, which automatically makes it better than Heavy Metal 2000.

DOJ Approves XM-Sirius Merger

Yes, the DOJ has finally approved the XM-Sirius Merger. A month ago, I thought it would never happen. It still has to go through the FCC, but they are expected to approve too.

Arrested Development Movie

Jeffery Tambor, who played George Bluth on Arrested Development, announced recently that they are planning on making a movie based on the prematurely canceled TV show. Plus, he broke the news in an interview on the Ron and Fez show. Since then, Jason Bateman and Will Arnett have also confirmed that a movie is in the works.
Page Six has the story and the audio here.

Let them Merge!

Now than its been over a year since XM and Sirius have annouced a merger, Jim Cramer talks merger again. This time he's naming names, and making some excellent points. Its a long rant, but definitely worth watching.

Live Action Robotech

Warner Bros. has picked up the rights to Robotech and is planning a live action movie based on the cartoon. There is even an entry in IMDB for it. Thanks to the success of the Transformers movie, this might acutally happen. Hopefully it won't be as badly written as Transformers was.

Netflix goes Blu-ray only

As yet another sign that the high definition DVD format war is over, Netflix has chosen Blu-ray as their only HD format. I'm glad since there still aren't any games to play on my PS3 yet. At least I can use its Blu-ray capability. I hope this also means Netflix will buy more copies of each movie so that getting new releases on Blu-ray is faster. Right now it can take a several weeks to get the Blu-ray version of anything new. You are better off putting the regular DVD version in your queue to actually get the movie.

U.S. Top Gear

NBC is gonna make an American version of the BBC show Top Gear. This could be a good thing, but I don't think its gonna work. Part of the appeal of the BBC version is the hosts, and with new hosts, it just won't be the same show. It will be nice to have them reviewing cars that we can actually buy in the US. However, it could be problematic since car companies will be advertising for the show. When a car sucks, the BBC hosts will tell you it sucks. Will the American host be able to be that honest when GM and Ford are sponsoring the show? Probably not, but I'll be watching anyway. Just judge it as its own show, and don't expect it to be as good as the real Top Gear.

Today's rant

The prices of prescription drugs are out of control. I almost never go to the doctor (ignorance is bliss), but I recently got prescribed eyedrops from my eye doctor since my contacts were bothering me. I have a high-deductible HSA health plan, so I pay full price for drugs with a tax free account, and I don't pay a premium. The downside is that I get to find out what drugs really cost. For an extremely tiny bottle of eyedrops, I paid 63 Dollars! Here's a picture so you can see just how tiny the $63 bottle of eyedrops is. Plus, I had to wait almost a half hour for the pharmacy to get it ready even though it is obviously pre-packaged. Ridiculous. It almost makes me want to vote for Hillary, but not quite.

Jim Cramer talks merger, I flip-flop

As an XM subsciber, I'm tired of waiting for the government to finally make a ruling on the XM-Sirius merger. Jim Cramer feels the same way in this video:

He couldn't be more right about the Feds dragging their feet on this, and their relationship with terrestrial radio probably has something to do with that. If you don't think this decision is taking way too long, check out this article that compares it to other merger decisions that would have already been made by now. Most of those decisions were way bigger companies too.

I think I've changed my mind about the merger. I'm still a little worried about some content being lost and prices eventually rising, but if it really does mean twice the content at the current price, then I'm for this merger. And from a perspective of limited government, I'm really for the merger.

Cool Video

Someone put together a Ron Paul video using a Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers song. This does not mean RCPM endorses Ron Paul, but its a good video anyway.

Droids!

A friend of mine put together this video with his band. Its Funky:

The Turbo Ocho Sessions

Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers have completed their crazy musical experiment. They set up a studio in a house in Mexico where they wrote and recorded one song per day for 8 days. Then they performed their songs at a concert on the 9th day. Listen to all the songs at the Turbo Ocho webpage. There are also videos documenting the whole project. Currently you can only stream the music. I think they plan on releasing a CD or putting the songs on iTunes.

Political Quiz

Here's a cool quiz that will tell you who you should be voting for in 08:

Take the Quiz
Its pretty short, and the questions make it difficult to manipulate. Everyone I know who has taken it has ended up with their real choice as either 1st or second.

Deadly Discs

5 years ago I made a video game based on the old Tron Deadly Discs intellivision game. I found it on my old computer recently and decided to make it available for download again. Its a simple game where you run around on a single screen and try to kill enemies by throwing discs at them while trying not to get hit. I don't intend on making any more updates to the game, its fully playable as it is.

Give it a try at the VirtualTim Deadly Discs Webpage.

Anthony's Office - liquor, guns, and ammo video podcast

Now that have a house, I need to start thinking about home security. Especially with the increasing incidents of home invasions. Fortunately, this podcast by Anthony Cumia provides a simple tutorial on how to keep you home save and secure through careful planning and a modest arsenal. Its kind of long, but this video could some day save your life.