Yay!

I rarely get excited about videogames anymore. Metroid Prime 3 is the last in the Prime trilogy. The first two games were fantastic. They kicked my butt a few times… or more. Plus, the story of the series is genuinely well written and told throughout the games. For this one, I am excited to play it but not as much as I am to find out what happens.

If you haven’t played the original, pick it up for dirt cheap. Get the second one while you’re at it. Both are made for the Gamecube, but the Wii will play them. You won’t be disappointed.

Another good series you can count on is Mario, except that he’s been whored-out to many side quests (games) one can possibly imagine. Ninja Gaiden is great, which leaves me to wonder how Ninja Gaiden Sigma- a remake- will be better. Final Fantasy is another great storyteller with many sequels- though, rarely linear- but also with many remakes. When you’re in the business of making money and people keep buying your games, why not, right? For a case study, see Pokemon. I could never get into the games, but I sure do like the cartoons.

A whole thirty days without Dr. Pepper.

Our selection at most of the restaurants and shops for the China trip was Wahaha water, Coke, Pepsi, Sprite, 7-Up, and Fanta.   No Dr. Pepper.  None.

Apparently, it’s a southern U.S. beverage.  Some parts of the United States simply do not have Dr. Pepper as a choice.  Some say it’s too sweet.  My sister says it tastes like cough syrup.   To that, I say “Mmm… cough syrup.”

If you travel abroad and love your Dr. Pepper, you may want to pack some in your suitcase.

You know what’s weird?  China didn’t have Popeye’s Chicken.  They love KFC, but didn’t have Popeye’s.  They’re all over Korea, but none could be found in China.  That struck me as odd.  I wonder if KFC has a monopoly over there or if Popeye’s has failed to see a new market opportunity.  You know what else would do good business in China?  Buffalo Wild Wings.

Mmm… chicken.

I just finished this short Korean drama. It was short compared to The Sad Love Story. Both will have you in tears for the same and different reasons. At times, I’m Sorry, I Love You became predictable but in later scenes would catch you by surprise.

How can I describe this movie without giving away the plot? Well, if you’ve seen one Korean drama you kinda know the plots of all the others. Just think of something bad that could happen in life to anyone, then combine it with five other bad things that could happen, multiply it by three, and add in a really good soundtrack composed of mostly sad love songs. BAM! You’ve made yourself one hit Korean drama.

For I’m Sorry, I Love You, the lead character is an orphaned child that is adopted but grows up in the streets. He finds love but his love leaves him. Then he returns home in hopes of finding his birth-mother. He’s always trying to do right, but nothing seems to fall into place. All that he is left with is heartache and trying to figure out what next to do that will cause the least amount of pain.

The drama was recommended by a friend in China. The movie definitely makes you pensive. Gotta stop watching these things.

I need a Disney film.

I often get asked to build websites for people. No complaints here- it’s one of the things I do. In website development, the final product is either built from the ground up or is a customization of something already existing.

Many would think that customization is the easier of the two, however, that depends on your knowledge of the existing product and the additional requirements requested by the party.

For myself, the thing that remains the same in both decisions is the amount of work and time that goes into the creative design of a site- everything from layout to implementation of functionality.

The funny, and frustrating, part is when you’re working on a new layout- building, adding,  changing one thing here and another thing there- only to look at it later and find the standard template staring at you in the face:

• Top-left logo
• Top (main) navigation
• Left navigation
• Right content area
• To be really risky *sarcasm*, let’s add a third column that holds a mix of content and links
• And finally, a footer at the bottom

Every web designer has encountered this at one point in their careers. Google it, you’ll see. Better yet, go visit some of your favorite websites.

“Back to the drawing board.”

That’s usually code for, “Time to get some sleep.”