Asymptomatic

While Berta watched the kids milling around the Monroeville Mall playgound fashioned to look like Mister Roger's Neighborhood, I took a brief trip through Hot Topic.

Hot Topic is a kind of counterculture apparel store. During my heyday as a counterculture wannabe, I have done enough crazy things to merit shopping in this popular chain store (ha, "chain") on more than one occasion. As a matter of fact, Berta and I have bought enough stuff at Hot Topic that I have a couple of frequent buyer cards that are completely stamped full. Yes, I own a pair of leather pants and a bowling shirt with flaming skulls - so sue me.

It had been a while since I toured this black cloth, metal stud wonderland, and I was curious if the culture had changed any since the last time I had been in, walked around, and bought something.

The mens clothes looked all about the same as I remembered. Shirts usually classified into two categories: T-shirt with printed slogan and/or odd graphic design, or overly-heavy long-sleeved buton and chain-festooned livery that you might wear to a formal party or if you were feeling really, really emo. Pants usually have lots of buttons and extra straps like the kind used by carpenters to hold hammers, but serve no actual purpose. Or chains. Anything is fair game for chains, especially chains that are black.

The girls stuff is varied, but involves a lot of black and red lace, fishnet or nylon stocking sewn-in, black zippers, vinyl, silver buttons, more vinyl, and laces that tie up the back. Or something really stretchy and tight. Also, tall shiny boots are cool.

They carry albums of different sorts of music. I noticed CDs by bands with names like "Cattle Decapitation" and "One Dead Three Wounded". There was also an album of songs based on the works of Neil Gaiman - my marijuana-like gateway drug to the crack-addled world of gothdom, father of The Sandman comic book and Stardust novel, possibly the soul of stores like Hot Topic born into human flesh.

Read the rest →

It seems like they're going to digitally remaster the original Star Trek series to produce a high-definition version. The new version will use digital models for space scenes, the main screen in the bridge, and background scenery on planets.

I've recently spent a lot of time (like three days) hooking up all of the new A/V equipment in the new house. Included in the equipment order with the TV and the stereo receiver, I added a video testing DVD.

The test DVD walks you through configuring your TV to display the best possible video. It shows several test scenes and describes how to adjust your TV's controls to get that awesome picture. But that's all.

Thinking about this, I wonder what products exist that could help you not just set your TV for the best picture, but optimize your audio and possibly help shop for a new receiver or speakers.

Read the rest →

Apparently, there is a tropical storm bearing down on us this holiday weekend in the Northeast US, and watching (mostly listening to) the news has me wondering how serious this storm really is.

The weather service reports:

Read the rest →

Friday night, while the remains of Ernesto howled through Twin Hills, Abby and Riley hung out at Pop-Pop's house and Berta and I spent the night alone.

Having recently watched a Food Network show, "Good Eats", where the host explains how to make your own sushi at home, we decided that we would rather have someone make it for us. We dined at Aoki, and sat at the sushi bar. We didn't get to order anything fancy, instead opting to eat off the menu. I don't think the chefs at the bar were too enthusiastic to be creative with their food construction, and have become a bit too Americanized with an expectation that if it's not on the menu, then it's not available. In any case, the food was tasty.

We considered going to see a movie, but the next showing of the movie we wanted to see was not until late, so instead we went over to the mall to shop for a bed. Yes, I know movies and beds are not even close to the same thing.

We came to the Sleep Number store in the mall, and waited for the sales guy to free up from these two daft ladies who weren't going to buy anything. We asked a few questions, tried out the beds. I think my sleep number is 35, but that might change with the arrival of our own bed.

The Sleep Number bed is basically a mattress with several air chambers that inflate to provide support. The mattress is fully inflated at 100, and gets softer the lower the number goes. There is a remote-operated pump that puts air into the mattress and lets it out. Each side of the bed can be inflated or deflated separately, so we can both sleep in comfort on our own side of the bed.

The bed we picked has a kind of cushion built into the mattress top. It's not that temper-foam stuff, but it's squishy and nice. It's a king size, so it should fill the room a bit more (our bedroom is big and looks really empty) than our current queen. The bed will also come with a wireless remote rather than two wired remotes. Our bedroom is going to have more remotes than the family room soon. One for the TV, one for the light/fan, and one for the bed. Crazy.

Read the rest →