the new and the new old school

Mario Kart 64.  Man.  KB is addicted.

I love that she's so into N64 gaming.  It's the new old school.  I took it over to her house when she was tending her nephews for the night and left it there.  She has been playing ever since.

That being said, this semester is all about gaming for me.  I'm taking four classes and I think that I've had the most busy first two weeks of my college career.  Senior project is coming along nicely.  I've been working mostly on the sound and getting it to sound good.  We don't have a whole lot of good sounds to add yet (other than the ones already added, that is) so the music is very limited.  But nonetheless, I've been working like crazy to get what I can working.

My artificial intelligence class is going to be hard.  I can already tell.  Our first assignment is due in two days, and it is using python.  I have no idea how to use it, and the tutorial (homework 00 -- a non-credit assignment, but negative points if you don't do it) gave me a basic understanding, but I'm still worried.  I got my book in the mail.  1100 pages.  If I could convey sarcasm over a blog, I would tell you about how much I love carrying my book.  I have it at school with me today, and I'm not really thrilled.  Yes, class is almost over and then I'm going home, and I still haven't opened it.  Looks like other homework took priority and I didn't have time to get any of the hard class stuff done.  Awesome.  The funny thing is that the entire class is focused on Pacman.  Ha.

I have two film classes, one is a continuation of a class from last semester called Game Development 1. The unambiguously titled class (Game Development 2) is at night and is hard to stay focused after a long day.  My other film class is the only class I have on two weekdays.  Yeah.  I'm not a fan of classes all day two days a week and then ONE class on its own days each week.  I hate driving to school for one class.

And although I'm complaining, my earliest class this semester is 12:30.  Not too shabby.

So back to the fun part of gaming.  I did something crazy.  Or should I say, Krazy.  I bought a Kinect.

For those who don't know, that's for the Xbox 360.  It's made for playing your Xbox without controllers.  YOU are the controller (Microsoft's slogan for its new product).  It's pretty fun.  I played Kinect Sports and I was sore for days.  I'm excited for it to come.  

The reason that I decided to get my Xbox (which I haven't actually gotten yet) is because I wanted a console that I could play my game I'm making on.  It should be ready for me some time this week, so the Kinect should come about the same time I get my Xbox.  Now I just need to make sure that I don't waste my precious time on.  

Crap.  Now I'm sure that I'm going to waste my time.  I guess I can take it over to KB's house, but then I wouldn't be able to play my game on it for homework.  Why isn't self-control easier?

russkiys and card sharks

We've been having fun with our Russian visitors. I've had my phone
with me since Sunday night, always expecting a phone call from
neighbors and friends, asking if I can help with a translation. I
even appended my phone's answering machine message to have, in
Russian, "If you need a translator, please leave a message and I'll
call you back in a few minutes." Fun times.

I think that I have forgotten how different this culture is. They are
so funny. Instantly walking into the house, they asked if they could
have some house shoes. I told them not to worry about it because we
don't normally take off our shoes in a house here, but they insisted
that they CANNOT walk around the house in the same shoes that are
"dirty from walking on the street."

It has been fun having them around though. But holy hannah, my
Russian grammar is awful! I keep catching myself saying things that I
KNOW are not right, but I just spit them out like a bowl of cereal
with 2-week-spoiled milk. (Nice and chunky) I should practice more,
but I don't really have a lot of time (or opportunity) to do that.

So Natalie came over tonight, toured the RFC and met the russkiys.
Sergei (18) blushed way beyond the Soviet flag's crimson red. We all
pointed it out to him, and he got even worse. She and I had a good
time. Let's just point out the awesomeness of the evening:

Kung Pow Shrimp & Lemon Chicken - Both coming from the resturant where
they normally say, "We thought that was you on the phone."
Checkers (a version called "Russian Checkers" that I'm sure does NOT
derive from Russia)
California Speed
Five Crowns
Mojo crying like a baby when he got WORKED at each of the events.
(Including the shrimp)
Delilah crying because she was locked in the bathroom all night (and
because I was crying)

Oh yeah. Totally awesome.