hawku

Thursday, June 25, 2009

A hawk on Nashville
standing in the street as if
he just belongs there

Labels: haiku

iPhone Real Racing

Friday, June 12, 2009

I downloaded Real Racing on my iphone the other day and I'm feeling a bit mixed about it.

Artificial Intelligence
The irony is that the thing that I read that was supposed to be so great about it -- the AI -- is what is driving me nuts the most. The gist of it is that any time you come into contact with another car, which is EVERY time you want to pass, you get bumped in the rear corner and spin out off of the track. It's next to impossible to pass in a tight corner without being spun off and dropping off into last place. What's more frustrating is that the computer cars are rarely on the losing end in collisions no matter who is being the aggressor or who is in front. If I ram someone from behind we either continue on with little consequence to them, or I spin out. If I get past and they bump me... I'm in the grass. This isn't a good, aggressive AI. It's a lack of balance.

I don't know, perhaps the idea is that we're supposed to learn to deal with it. But one of the great things about driving games is that what you learn in one game generally translates well to other games. The concept of driving a good line around the track or breaking before a turn isn't particular to Gran Turismo or any other game. I understand this isn't physics on the same level as Gran Turismo, but it needs to be tempered a little. Frustration isn't going to keep me coming back for more.

Maps
Don't racing games have maps? Don't they NEED maps? This is something that Need For Speed Underground did very well, I think. They don't show you the whole map, just the next turn or two, constantly moving as you progress. I will give Real Racing this -- there are generally a lot of decent markers along the track to prep you for what's coming up, especially if you understand the red & white markers on the edge of the track (do those things have a name?) But just give us a map? K, great.

Settings
Seriously, do I need to turn the music volume setting down every time I play the game? Settings should be remembered!

Overall
I do like the game a lot. The mechanics of it are sharp, the framerate is good. It sounds stupid, but I like that I don't have to worry about accelerating and braking. The interface is too small for that. Let me just worry about driving a good line and competing against the other cars. I haven't gotten far enough for this to be an issue yet, but I'm sure I'm going to want more types of cars later. 8 different versions of the same types of cars is only going to get me so far. I also wish that I could upgrade my cars, or even see stats on the cars I've got. Are all hatchbacks equal? I'm going to have to assume so.

I like that this is a career-oriented, simulation type racing game. It's more my type of thing than something like Need For Speed. Though I have to say EA always puts out nicely polished games, which Real Racing could use a little more of. But that being said, it's a good game. With a couple of tweaks it could be really solid.

Labels: games, iphone, real racing

posted by j. Permanent Link 0 comments

Cluster Map

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

I've never been able to commit the layout of this part of the city to memory.

View Larger Map

I mean, who is responsible for this mess? I did learn the very useful shortcut Gentilly to Desaix to Moss / Jeff Davis or Wisner / Carrollton. But that stretch of Gentilly after the split always confused me. And Paris and St. Bernard Avenues, I never knew you.

Funny thing is that this is right in the middle of the city and can't be blamed on the curve of the river.

Labels: new orleans

posted by j. Permanent Link 0 comments

Piano Playa Hata

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

I haven't heard this album in yeeeaaars. This wasn't the best track, but there aren't many online. I'll have to dig out the CD and rip it.

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Pete and the Pirates

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Tap Tap and Pete and the Pirates both seemed to slip by mostly undetected, but somehow I managed to catch them both on PitchFork and have been recommending the Pete and the Pirates album lately. It took me a little while to realize that perhaps it's not just one of those quirky things that only I like. I think a track came on in the car over Mardi Gras while my ipod was on shuffle, both of my friends in the car asked about it and I guess I realized that perhaps it has a bit broader of an appeal that just inside of my own head.

Tap Tap is a little more on the obscure side, I think. I believe Lanzafame was a side project of the singer of Pete and the Pirates, though it sounds more like a 4-track demo than anything. But it's got this quality that I really picked up on when I got heavily into Grandaddy a few years back... It's very sincere and without pretension, something that goes a long way with me.

If you haven't heard either of these projects yet, check them out:

Pete and the Pirates - Lost In the Woods

Tap Tap - 100,000 Thoughts

posted by j. Permanent Link 0 comments

Twitter Haiku

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

If sixty-five percent
Of social media's crap
My tweets surely are.

Labels: haiku, twitter

posted by j. Permanent Link 0 comments

Mardi Gras 2009

Friday, February 27, 2009

Dang bruh, I can't believe it was just mardi gras. Even as I was going to parades, and we went to a LOT of parades, I felt like I was still waiting for it to hit me. We had house guests and many friends in town, but it seemed like it was always still a few weeks away. Not that there was any shortage of king cake up in my house and at the office. I've been a total glutton for king cake since like the day after christmas or whenever they start selling. My diet only got worse as people arrived in town and every meal became fried shrimp.

The crowds this year seemed bigger than last year and everything felt a bit more hectic. We live about a mile from the parade route and wound up walking to quite a few parades from here when it was just too crowded to try to park any closer. I've got a friend who lives 2 blocks off of the Uptown route, too, so we saw a few from his house, but he lives in "the box" -- the area of the city that gets blocked in once the parade starts going -- and we couldn't always get there.

One thing i noticed this year was a general lack of mardi gras music all around. I couldn't find it on the radio -- not even WWOZ -- and I neglected to put it on my ipod and control my own MG music destiny. And now the time has passed.

I did, however, have a costume! Here are some pics: