Friday, September 30, 2005

Stevie Wonder releases new album... yeah right.

: "Ten years later, at long last, it's A Time to Love for Stevie Wonder.

Hard to believe, but the 21-time Grammy winner's last album of all-new material was 1995's Conversation Peace.

The new record, A Time to Love, became available this week as a digital download and goes on sale in North American record stores on October 18. "

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Tonight TheScooterScoop supasses GeekAustin

With over 14,153 hits in 6 months my alternate blog thescooterscoop has zipped on by geekaustin's 14,138 hits gathered over a 9 month period. Even my Playstation 3 gimmick couldn't secure GeekAustin's lead.

Well... What can you say about that? People are researching scooters more than they are dumb 'ole geeks from Austin.

Well, don't let me get 'cha down! GeekAustin got a logo upgrade back in the day, so now it's time for The Scooter Scoop to get a logo upgrade! I've secured a designer and she is bangin' away on a supa-fly logo! Stay tuned for more info and in the meantime go to thescooterscoop.com for info on Vespa, Lambretta, Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki, Aprilla (Aprila), Kymco, Piaggio, Bajaj, Peugeot, and every other scooter on the planet. We've got newsfeeds, commentary, reviews, interviews, oddities and circus freaks.

Enjoy! Oh yeah and don't worry... I'll keep updating GeekAustin with non-scooter related things. It's been slow here lately, but we're expecting a baby in the next 2 weeks... A brutha gots to get his rest while he can!

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

CNN.com - Treo moving to Windows - Sep 27, 2005


(Is it me, or does this dude need a better fingernail polish?)

Just as I have foretold... Palm will meet it's demise mid 2006. The emporer will be most pleased.

CNN.com - Treo moving to Windows - Sep 27, 2005: "...but the hardware improved rapidly, and Microsoft steadily put out new and better versions of its software, while PalmOS was hobbled by its origins as software for gadgets with modest processors and memory.

In announcing the Treo phone on Monday, Palm CEO Ed Colligan said Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Mobile 5.0 operating system was chosen because it offered features that PalmOS could not."

>Thanks to LaRock for the update! ;)

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Taking "Iced Out" to a whole new level


(Not recommended for use anywhere near the equator)

No, it's not computer generated. See the details here.

Taking "Chromed Out" to a whole new level


(BLING! You don't wanna be around this thing on a sunny day)

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

FRAME OF MIND ENTERTAINMENT AND SONY BMG CUSTOM MARKETING GROUP PRESENT A ONE OF A KIND

FRAME OF MIND ENTERTAINMENT AND SONY BMG CUSTOM MARKETING GROUP PRESENT A ONE OF A KIND: "Sony BMG Custom Marketing Group has worked along side Frame of Mind Entertainment to handle such details as licensing and overall look and feel of the project. “We look forward to the November 1, 2005 release date for this project”, stated Sean Dunson, CEO of Frame of Mind Entertainment “by securing the above artists it will give the Christmas Classics CD a unique place in the market during the competitive holiday season”. "

w00t! Big up my man Sean D! Everyone go out and pick up his new Christmas CD on November 1st! He is one talented dude... Great guy and I'd love to see him blow up now that he's moved out to Cali.

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Caving in Bustamante... A report from Roy Lewis


(Rogelio, the gatekeeper of Las Grutas de Palmito)

Reading this posting from the CaveTex newsgroup brought back many memories, so I thought I would archive it here. Even the fact that he met up with Gordon the Geologist while he was there was too funny. The first time I went, I met up with Gordon and he really added the "seasoned vet" to our band of Mexico amatures. It goes like this:

Hola!!
Several people on cave-tex helped me so I wanted to post a trip report on my adventure to Bustamante Mex this past weekend. My name is Roy Lewis (my friends call me Puppy) I live near Galveston and I am new to caving, just a few trips through most of the Texas show caves (as a tourist), and a few small wild caves in NM along with a few trips in Airman's as far as Sherwood forest along with my oldest son Ian (13). I have only had the chance to go to one Houston Grotto meeting due to my schedule but I will definitely be making more room in the future. The adventure getting to the cave is half the story so if you want to get to the cave skip down about a page, or just delete now if it's all old news to ya.

I wanted to go to Grutas de Palmito in Bustamante Mex after seeing info on a project that TSA did on Presidents day. I met another caver that lived in San Leon MX on the texascaving.com forum and I decided Labor day weekend I would make my first drive ever across the border. I gathered quite a bit of info from the TSA site on the presidents day project regarding vehicle and tourist permits etc, and a few cavers helped me out with waypoints to get me from the border to Bustamonte along with numerous tips (Which were VERY helpful!! ) The way point I loved the most was labeled as BEER. :)

So how hard could Mexico possibly be knowing only a few words in Spanish. Since I was meeting someone in Bustamonte, I thought no problemo. After a little confusion at the Columbian crossing by entering the wrong building I was finally directed to the correct building that I had already passed. In tow were my kids Ian and Bryce (9,13) and my wife Gaylynn. Bryce was quite startled when the customs officer smiled and gave him tikle to his ribs and tossed his hair about. His first exposure to a new culture, ahhhh. We got our tourista cards and then the vehicle permit without any hassle, but I was surprised none of the Mexican agents were bi-lingual, oh well we figured it all out with hand gestures. So I smiled said gracias, ad! ios and went on our way.

About 3 miles later we met the Mexican Military. An officer looked into my wife's window to look into the back seat giving Gaylynn a good view down the barrel of an M-16. And I had to show my vehicle permit papers. Then off we go. We discovered that road work involving big holes in the road are not blocked off with barricades but rather just indicated with a small pile of rocks. Once past Anuhac we saw a huge cemetery that we cruised through and were totally amazed as to the size and detail of the marble surrounding the graves.

Moving on, past lampuzo; we got hungry so we stopped at a roadside stand with one table, and a grill full of chicken, and goat. So (in sign language again and my knowledge of polo and carne (the carne got a laugh)) I managed to order 2 plates with a half a chicken on each and a side of goat ribs I think along with a stack of tortillas and two big cups of really good beans. We shreaded the meat, wrapped it up in the tortillas and ate our first mex meal. A few sodas and a refill on the beans and we made it out of there for about 80 pesos ($8). On to Bustamonte.

Driving into the mountains was gorgeous for someone like me that has lived in Houston too long. Upon arriving at the Agua de canyon I just handed the guy a 100 peso bill unknowing of how much he had asked for and he brought me back 10, as it turns out, entry was 30 pesos per person So I guess the 9 year old was free.

We set up 1 tent down near the end past the last spring, not quite knowing if we could camp there or if we wanted to due to noise and then went swimming. We ran into two Americans that now live in Monterey and it was nice to talk English and ask some questions. They suggested we move to a quieter place which we did later down to what we believe was campground #3, we were the only campers, we had great shade, next to the spring and a restroom. And butterflies everywhere!! And all this for just $3 a person I liked this.

That night we ate at Hotel Ancira and my friend from San Leon was suppose to find me but he never did. The owners son knew English so ordering dinner was easy and the food was good. The next morning Nico still had not found us and apperantly had looked near the spring at the end. So I was expecting to have to hike up to the cave. :( So I shedded the jeans and switched to shorts and repacked the backpacks for more water which was tough since the helmets take up so much space.

Upon arriving at the parking lot beneath the trail Nico shows up with an Austin caver and geologist named Gordon, which also has a 4x4 truck . (big smiles here). We loaded into Gordon's truck and headed to the cave after paying 20 pesos per person to get through the gate. The 2.5 miles up to the cave would be pretty tough if not impossible with my 2 wheel drive f-150, so the fact we drove a maxima instead of the truck was a moot point.

I headed up to the cave with the kids and Gaylynn with Nico and Gordon behind us about 10 minutes while they got their stuff together. I said Hola and introduced myself to Rojgellio(sp) but he started talking to me in spanish so I had to quickly say no comprehende. He tried talking slower but to no avail on my part. After minutes of silence I probably confused things more by saying that senorita Emelie from Texas said hola. He smiled and said si and that was the last of our conversation but I felt that if I could communicate we could have talked for hours. Soon after wards Nico arrived and learned that Rojgellio was trying to ask me if I knew about a group of 8 students that was expected on a clean up project or something. (The students showed up about 30 minutes later actually.)

Upon entering the cave I was dumbfounded!! I stopped as soon as I realized the magnitude of the first room and just attempted to take it all in. It litterally took my BREATH AWAY! The size, the formations, and all that went though my mind for the next few minutes was that this was only the FIRST room. After about 30 minutes of roaming around Nico and Gordon led us to the next section for the climb down the rock slide. Gaylynn was still doing well since the room was soo large but the climb down was tough on her. The kids just scampered down like bugs. We heard the students come over the top and they beat my wife and I down the rock slide easily. I was like, Gaylynn you let little girls pass you up, she told me my life ! was at risk with further comments like that. :)

We continued on to where you have to stoop through a narrow opening to get to another large room before Gaylynn said that was far enough. Nico and Gordon had already gone ahead in their treck to the red room and beyond while we enjoyed the Alter and surrounding formations. And of course the sheer size of all of this.

We slowly began our ascent up the rock slide taking our time. Once back in the 1st room I got to take some pics and really enjoy what was around me by taking a much closer look.
About an hour later Nico and Gordon came out and with mucho gracias to Rojellio we headed on our way.

Through Monday we spent plenty of time in the spring, cruising around the town square, we ate a few other places then the hotel and my son discovered that when they say hamburger they mean it! Yep they actually put ham on it. And I loved the goat cheese enchiladas we got next to the square along with the ice cream and the butterflies and the nice people and my kids seeing that life isn't all about playstation and mcdonald's. I definitely will be back and hopefully I can help out to make the cave even nicer for those going behind me.

Thank you to those that helped me on my adventure into caving on the grand scale.
Puppy
AKA Roy Lewis
)?(
And here are my Bustamante cave pics:
http://tinyurl.com/cdaj4

Read an excerpt from a book in progress here.

OH and if you wanted to read about MY adventure at Bustamante go HERE.

Labels:

Friday, September 02, 2005

Computer graphics have come a long, long, long way.


(Even Bruno is astounded by how realistic he looks)

If you have a pretty fast connection, you should check out these video clips from Softimage. Using an app called Face Robot you can do some REALLY impressive facial animation. You can really get a feel for the character's personality not just from how they look, but how they act and express themselves; and judging from this video, this is no guy you wanna piss-off at a bar... and if you DID get manage to get a punch in, it's likely to hurt your fist more than his face.

Expect to see some really wild stuff in the next couple of years. Actors won't have to diet or even shave any more. They'll just throw on some sweats, have their drivers drop them off at the recording studio; THEN let the animation studio worker bees take care of the rest.