Media Player Classic (open-source app that replaces Windows Media Player, Quicktime and RealPlayer)

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Watched The Chinese Connection last night…I forgot how odd the theme music was. Great fight scenes, though… Bruce Lee at some of his best, I think. I considered making an icon from the “slo-mo hands” bit, but I imagine there are probably a dozen or so of them out there already.

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I was cleaning up my closet and ended up looking through my gaming notes from 1995. Man, has my handwriting has improved over the last 8-9 years…What a horrid, crabbed script I had before! (It’s still messy, but at least it’s mostly legible now.)

Some Translations from those pages:

1/15/95 – Protectors – “Looks like trouble” gang found gadgets, Doc Eon (VINCENT’s enemy – robots to fight.)

odd artifacts –

• water gun – no nozzle.
• Platform
• Wrench & Bulb
• Pyramid-thing puzzle box – summons flying drones.

Mutants, Hollow Earth, Riches

Hollow Earth Entered via North Pole – 0 gravity – Aztec type wealth and equipment.

Dracodroid in 60’s, giant robot, 6 -vehicle “Voltron-type” vanished – West Coast’s most powerful being/super.

Earth Invaded in ’68, helped conquer villain, disappeared in early 70’s.

1/20/95 – Protectors FOCUS vs. Old Ones. Our super team (Based in Covenant, Rhode Island)

Plot elements – Evil Snake Knife -Gives the Aquarian a vision of a jungle river (Nile?), desert, fields (Egypt?), Bald, Dark folk, white loincloths, buildings with brass doors w/ canine designs, They’re aware of Aquarian, he snaps out of his trance.

Go to Miskatonic U to investigate the Necronomicon & Take Viper & Cobra (WHAT WERE WE THINKING?)

nicknames for Scarab (miniMAX’s DNPC/Ally) – Ladybug, Lori, Junebug – Doesn’t actually know a lot of Egyptology, buy liked old Journey album covers.

Notes in Margins-

• Brickhouse = a big baby!
• Grey Spectre & Ghost = Cool.
• Get Star Children into space… leave Gurney (Otho) on the moon.

Drawings by the Gray Pumpkin for games from 1/95 (9 years ago???):

miniMAX’s “desolid beam” and remote car device.

Khudrin, Dog & Blare (Blair?)

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Well, It looks like news of my brother’s case has made it to the ambulance chasers.

No less than 14 articles of mail advertising for legal services arrived in my mailbox today (bro uses this location as his mail drop).

You know, the three collect calls my brother made to me from jail are going to cost me about $12?

Speaking of Florida jails / law, money grubbing…

Two small articles in the local section of the Miami Herald show the seamy side of the money-grubbing culture in Florida. In one case the state is trying to squeeze prisoners’ families for every dollar it can get by requiring them to use overpriced telephone services to speak to prisoners—and just banned a magazine that carries ads explaining how to route around the overcharges. In another case, local lawyers claim that court reporters have been massaging the margins to inflate the length and cost of transcripts.

Corrections Dept. sued over phone flap describes a transparent violation of the First Amendment by Florida Department of Corrections (prisons) officials who have banned Prison Legal News on the dubious grounds that it threatens prison security. The “threat” consists of printing ads from local telephone services which allow inmates to make collect calls to their families more cheaply than the $4/five minutes charged by the prisons.

Yes, you read that right. Inmates are only allowed to make collect calls, and if they want to speak to their families then the families must pay $4 for every five minutes for that privilege. Why is this cost so high? Because the prisons let the telephone contract to the bidder who promised the highest cost, not the lowest — thus maximizing revenue to the prisons.

So we’re not only locking up offenders, we’re trying to ensure they have minimum contact with their families. Or, if you prefer, we’re trying to milk the families — primarily poor people — for all we can. I can call the UK for six or seven cents a minute, but inmates pay about $1.33 per minute to call a nearby town.

But the public sector is no better than the private sector. In Lawyer claims court reporting agency fudging margins and bottom line we learn that Florida court reporters, who are paid by the page, have (allegedly) been manipulating the margins — left, right and bottom — of court transcripts in order to increase the page count.

State law specifies the width of the margins, the number of lines per page, letters per line and the size of the font. Lawyers, governments and individuals pay court reporters by the page. Rates vary depending on individual contracts and the type of proceeding transcribed.

County governments are some of the biggest customers because they pay expenses for many poor criminal defendants. Nan Markowitz, spokeswoman for Miami-Dade courts, said her office audits more than 2,000 transcripts a month and finds problems with about one in 10.

Court reporters give refunds when the counties ask for them, but the private lawyers have less luck , and — no surprise — one of them is bringing a class action claim for redress.

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These are the last lines of the last 10 posts on my friends page. (Non-communities, non-this meme and public posts only.)

1. Imagine that.
2. I think that’s so unhealthy to stay inside too much… even when it’s cold as hell it’s better to get outdoors even for just a little while.
3. I’ll probably forget to drink vinegar before bed, too.
4. I estimate it will be finished in about 3 more Star Trek Deep Space 9 episodes.
5. Time to go drop off some boxes..
6. Computers can do great things when they’re programmed right, but they are inherently dumb.
7. I don’t know what it is, but some people have some bad energy.
8. I’m goin’ back to BED.
9. otherwise, let the eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeing! begin.
10. Blessed be.

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high school: Atlantic Community High School
class of: 1987

1. nickname in high school?
Ogre, Squatch, that big guy

2. sport you were into?
none, really. I liked skipping school every other Friday my senior year.

3. had a barkada? how many were you?
What an odd word. (It means group of friends, from my research) My High school goon squad was composed of 3-5 guys. Myself, Steve Jacoby, Brent Ashland, and if we had room and the interest, Beau Brumfield and Steve Mancour.

4. best subject?
History

5. worst subject?
Spanish (killed my GPA!)

6. a teacher you owe life lessons to?
Mr Cornell – algebra / Trig teacher. very good at dealing with all sorts of people, and I learned by example. (Also pushed me to ATO)

7. a teacher you wanna kick in the ass?
Mr. Maloney, for punishing me for using damn as an adjective all the time, and for being my Spanish teacher. (erm, all the damn time, my damn Spanish teacher.)

describe in one word…

8. freshman year:
Atari

9. sophomore year:
Atari

10. junior year:
Car

11.senior year:
Morikami

12. your best friend was?
Steve Jacoby

13. your worst friend was?
Robert next door. He moved away and stole all of my D&D stuff.

14. cafeteria food sucked?
It was ok. I liked the tostadas.

15. most hilarious school rule?
know the alma mater by heart. even more hilarious? I still know it. Burned into my brain cells, where useful knowledge might have gone.

Atlantic High we hail and praise you.
Forward we shall go.
Peace will reign throughout our futures.
As we live and know.
Teach us now to know thy wisdom,
To show our loyalty.
Atlantic High we are all brothers,
Proud we all shall be.

16. wore uniforms?
Nope.

17. how was the prom?
On the other side of town

18. who was prom king and queen?
I forget. I think the queen was our valedictorian.

19. any achievements?
hmm.. had fun on yearbook. learned core fundamentals of networking both people and machines. Was recognized for skills in Debate and Writing. Wrote the attendance program with Jim Goodmon for the school at 16.

20. were you popular?
No.. but I was “infamous” in some realms.

21. best song that reminds you of high school?
Everybody Wang Chung Tonight (Played at Grad Nite)

22. unforgettable high school crush(es)?
I was a weirdo stoic in those days. Everyone I was attracted to went to another school.

23. most embarrassing moment?
Watching my brother slam a metal tray upside the head of a guy I was posturing to fight with. (He wasn’t hurt, but it was dang loud…and I preferred to fight my battles on my own terms)

24. memory you’d like to forget about high school?
None… if I had one, it’s already forgotten.

25. best memory?
Escaping to the Morikami, and feeding the Koi.

26. any regrets?
That I didn’t take a few more “social chances”. I didn’t form many bonds.

27. would you like your “future child” to attend your high school?
Nope.. that’s the hood, these days.

28. were the bathrooms clean?
The ones in the annex were a mess. The ones on main campus were ok.

29. how were the lunch ladies?
They were ok.

30. lyrics would best describe your high school life:
Where Your Eyes Don’t Go – TMBG