Seriously, it hasn’t snowed in the Los Angeles basin since 1962. We get snow in the mountains most years. And the San Fernando Valley apparently got a snowstorm in 1989. But the coast? Basically never.
Category: Entertainment
A Dynamite Approach
Working through a book on modding Minecraft with the kiddo. It knows its target audience: the first few lessons are all about explosions!
It’s written for 1.8, which is a problem because a lot of the structure has changed between then and 1.12, but a decent IDE with auto complete and a sense of common naming schemes has made it relatively easy to adapt the simple lessons so far. We’ll see how well that works as they get more complicated.
Location-Themed Advertising
A few blocks from the airport. I have no interest in the movie, but I do appreciate when advertisers make an effort to make use of a location instead of just being generic.
Yes, THAT One!
They really want to make sure you know which door to use.
The funny thing is: I still reached for this one (even if momentarily) right after taking the photo!
(Every time I go back to this restaurant I remember that I still haven’t posted this photo, and by the time I have a chance to post it, I’ve forgotten again. Well, I finally remembered!)
Edit: I should mention that the door has been broken for several months. (I took the photo at the beginning of August.) I’m surprised they haven’t fixed it.
Update (Oct. 17): The door still isn’t fixed, but someone’s added another hand-written note to it since I was last there!
Now I’m confused. I thought zombies *liked* hot sauce!
Spotted at World Market over the weekend.
Upgrade Frustration
A few years back, we replaced our aging Windows PC with a newer system, figuring on using it mainly for office-type applications, casual games, and kids’ games. (Both of us had drifted out of playing the sort of game that really pushes a system’s specs, largely because there was a small person in the house who needed a lot of attention.) So we bought a Dell Inspiron, and it did its job for quite a while.
But eventually that small person discovered Minecraft. And Youtubers who play Minecraft. And the other games that those Youtubers play that need stronger hardware.
OK, it was old, it could use upgrading anyway. I didn’t want to flat-out replace the system, because it was still quite usable otherwise. And I hate moving data from one computer to another, because there’s always something that doesn’t transfer, and there’s always something that you forgot, and so on.
So we’ve been upgrading things bit by bit over the last few months. Continue reading
10 Years of Long Beach Comic Con! (2018)
Back in 2009, I attended the first-ever Long Beach Comic-Con, an event that filled the void left when Wizard World cancelled WWLA at the last minute. I had a good time, and it had a lot of support from the industry, but I wondered how long it would last.
Ten years on, LBCC is still going strong! It’s small compared to WonderCon or SDCC, but it continues to be much more focused on comics and art than most “comic cons.” Artists’ Alley is still the central focus of the main floor, with an outer edge made up of small press, comics and collectibles dealers, a wrestling ring, fan groups, Space Expo, and celebrity signing areas.
(If you’re in a hurry and just want the photos, head over to Flickr for the full set.)
Family Trip
All three of us attended on Saturday. Katie debuted her Professor Trelawney cosplay, explored, and caught a panel on the science of Black Panther.
I spent most of the afternoon taking J. around. We picked up a few toys, played video games (he found the customization screen on a fighting game right away, and spent the time experimenting), and several rounds of laser tag. The Long Beach Public Library also had a great area for kids, with crafts, a 3D printing demo, a photo area and a floor maze.