Dan Dickinson: The Primary Vivid Weblog

I generally don’t talk about work stuff on the blog any more (outside of the massive MWSF trip) because you can watch me blog the news on our news page. But I do have to mention that it’s a little weird but definitely cool to see a CD I at least had a little to do with on the iTunes Music Store. The Active Lancer OST definitely shines as a very strong point of the game; check out the theme if nothing else.

It’s really sad – spam is rapidly becoming a great source of humor in my life. Especially when it appears to be written by a 12 year old (to get around spam filters, I guess) and contains the term “rapturous asparagus” and “fellatio suntanned Magellanic duckling”.

And to think I had almost deleted this.

VJ Army, my new-ish IIDX score tracking and ranking site, is now live and open to the public after an amusing “beta” where 65 people found their way in. And in case you get confused between the domain name, my blog, and the score site: vjarmy.com is the domain. VJ Army is the score site. The Primary Vivid Weblog is the blog.

Just got this spam. Boldface added.

Is nothing sacred these days? sniffle

IIDX players wishing to test out the beta of VJ Army should contact me via the usual channels, as it’s now to a point of being beta-able. Also, Katie’s blog now is murmur twins themed!

For anyone looking for content on my old csoft site, it’s all been nuked; I have put in for the account to be canceled immediately. Next on my docket: An FAQ.

Ten months after I started playing IIDX, I’ve finally gotten around to passing a flashing 7 – in particular, B4U. Now I suck less! In light of the joy and rapture and whatever else, I may as well announce – you know the IIDX score thing on my blog? I’m working on making that into a multi-user ranking and scorekeeping site. I’m hoping to have a beta ready for public grumbling about within the next week. So STAY TUNED.

One of the horrible things I have to deal with right now is the fact that it’s so unbelievably cold. The wind is giving me muscle aches and I’m really hoping this all breaks soon. One of the wonderful things I can do on my iPod, on the other hand, is slapping together a playlist on the fly. As such, here is what I will now dub my Winter playlist. It’s still got a little Christmas-type music, and it’s the typical Dan genre mixup because I can never decide, but I think it’s decent. Whatever. People who are chummy with me can probably figure out where they can hear most of this mix – maybe I’ll try and mix everything together with Traktor as well. Order is unimportant, and Bemani types who bitch about the lack of V will be shot. It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year (A Shrift Remix) by Andy Williams, off Christmas Remixed Tears Are in Your Eyes by Yo La Tengo, off And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out White Eve (Unplugged Version) by Naya~N, off Konami V-Rare Soundtracks 6 Neige A Saigon by Osamu Kubota, off Snow in Saigon The Snow by Audio Bullys, off Ego War A Long December by Counting Crows, off Films About Ghosts Brick by Ben Folds Five, off Whatever And Ever Amen Born Slippy 2003 (Down Version) by Underworld, off Born Slippy 2003 Winjer by Underworld, off Beaucoup Fish In The Cold Cold Night by The White Stripes, off Elephant Midnight In A Perfect World by DJ Shadow, off Endtroducing….. Sound Check by Gorillaz, off Gorillaz Adrift And At Peace by Nine Inch Nails, off Halo 17 / Still Stay Positive by The Streets, off Original Pirate Material Adagio For Strings by William Orbit, off Pieces In A Modern Style Rhubarb by Aphex Twin, off Selected Ambient Works – Vol 2

Everyone has been telling me how good the last Buttons story was, and the cat has been deprived of bloggy attention as of late. And hey, he just unofficially turned 1 – we don’t know when his exact birthday is due to whoever dropped him at the SPCA not giving them said info. So here’s another Butt-Butt story. We bought a futon when we got our place in Ithaca, because we needed a couch AND a bed for when company comes. Got a nice one, and my mom bought us a cover that looks nice and is sufficiently heavy duty and all of that. It was only after we got Buttons that we realized the futon cover was also of the consistency that’s perfect for cat clawing – not only because Buttons goes nuts for it, but because it really doesn’t tear or rip or look odd after he’s clawed it. So we’ve never cared much. After the move to NYC, Buttons had to get re-acquainted with things and find new ways to keep himself entertained now that I wasn’t going to be around all day. Many of the windows are high and not a great view, so that’s become a less interesting option for him. Closets are lots of fun but as usual filled with crap. Laundry bags are interesting but not around often enough. So what’s a poor lonely cat to do? Apparently get recruited by the CIA. There’s a small lip of cushion that hangs off the front of the futon, maybe 3 inches wide. Buttons has gotten in the habit of walking under the lip, flipping over, attaching his claws to the underside of the cushion, and ceiling-walking across the couch. His legs are just long enough so that he IS suspended in the air by an inch or so. If he gets to the other end and he’s not bored, he will turn around – still in midair – and go back the way he came. This will repeat until he gets bored and runs off on his own or someone hits the alarm (which involves looking at him) and he runs back to base with a FISSION MAILED. It’s worth noting he doesn’t care if anyone is sitting on the couch at the time, he honestly couldn’t care either way. So in conclusion, yes, my cat is nuts – in a good way.

I have a fairly comfy chair for my desk with the computer on it. Frequently Buttons will jump on my lap and start clawing at my legs through my pants to say “Hey, Daddy, get the hell out of my chair”, at which point I switch to the little rolling kneel-style chair and he’s content. But I’ve quickly caught onto this and have been yielding the chair less and less lately. So after dinner, I had a little chocolate bar and left the wrapper on my TV tray in the short term. Buttons had already stolen my spot on the couch so I moved over to the computer. About ten seconds later, I see him up on the TV tray, knocking the wrapper on the floor, and then jumping down to lick at it. I immediately get up – “Buttons, no, don’t do that” and pick up the wrapper. I turn back around and notice that a certain cat has jumped into my chair. I can’t believe I just got owned by my cat.