Inkscape is a totally free vector art program. It's pretty robust, but like many open source apps, it feels a little more old-fashioned than Adobe Illustrator, it's retail cousin. For instance, if you apply a gradient to a shape in Inkscape, you can't move it; you have to put your gradient on a new shape, place that over the existing shape as you see fit and mask it. Throwback functionality like this will make newbies and users who depend on illustrator's simplicity groan, but with patience you can do everything you can do in illustrator in Inkscape.
...Except edit .Ai files. Yes, while Gimp can edit PSDs and OpenOffice can edit Microsoft's native formats, you can't switch content between Illustrator and Inkscape so easily. While this limitation may hurt inkscape's commercial applications (only a little, since it can make .SVG files) it is no barrier to using this excellent free tool for home art projects.
7.5/10 (and it'll go up as the program improves, I'd wager)
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Terminator Salvation
I went into this one with low expectations. The director of Charlie's Angels shooting a movie written by the writers of Catwoman? No thanks! Fortunately I was wrong. Dead wrong. Terminated wrong, even.
'K, maybe not.
Terminator does not disappoint. The machines are gritty and convincing, the landscape one of deserts and blasted cities, and in true 80s sci-fi tradition, Skynet has built a glowing blue monolith big enough to see from space for its lair. Although the film does not quite mirror James Cameron's hazy blue hellscapes from Terminator 1 and 2, it belongs to the same world, a world where awful machines try constantly to kill you for no reason. An excellent job is done making the terminators look flashy and new without betraying the industrial asthetic of the original films.
The cinematography is good too. The camera bobs around a lot, but not too much, and action scenes are immersive and well-framed. The effects shots are pretty well composited, thanks in part to a generous use of real models and props. The film does have an unhealthy dependency on closeups of people's faces during conversations, to the point that whenever talking happens the screen is totally filled with the speakers' faces. That's okay- this ain't a talkin' movie, it's a terminatin' movie.
The human element is less successful than the machine element, but not in the way you might expect. Anton Yelchin's performance as they young Kyle Reese is heartfelt and compelling, a big step up from his rather phoned-in part in Star Trek. Sam Worthington, a terminator who doesn't know he's a terminator and so uses his terminating skills for justice, is an exciting hero with lots of (wasted) potential. Michael Ironside is in there, and I'll watch anything with Michael Ironside in it. Moon Bloodgood plays a pilot who... well, who is better than she was in Pathfinder. But she's only been at this for three years, and I'll give her the benefit of the doubt.
No, the weak link in this production is, amazingly enough, Christian Bale. I feel funny saying that because, you know, Batman, but there it is. Bale pressed director McG to expand his part, butted into the editing room daily, and judging from the press basically enfant terrible'd his way around the set start to finish- and it shows. What was meant to be the story of Marcus, the killer cyborg with a heart of gold, becomes all about Bale's John Connor. Bale deadpans his way through meaningless bookend radio broadcasts that hurt the flow of the film, chews scenery like Shatner in any scene he's allowed to join, and generally wrecks the pace of the film. A strong director (Nolan) who can keep Bale in line can extract a good film from him, but he obviously isn't someone who can be trusted to go all auteur. His over-the-top performance brings the film down, and makes him seem like less of an actor than he really is.
My verdict: Terminator Salvation is a fun summer action film, well worth your seven bucks. It has action, adventure, a tiny modicum of drama, and a charming 80s feel that matches the original movies- but weak direction of a pushy star kind of drags it down.
Oh, and Arnold's CG head looks way better than Patrick Stewart's CG head in Wolverine. Just putting that out there.
8/10
...But how did Skynet know who Kyle Reese was before he went back in time?
Friday, May 22, 2009
Gunhed
What is it with movies about giant robots always sucking?
Robot Jox sucked. Robot Wars (The sequel to Robot Jox!) sucked. Robot Holocaust sucked.
"But wait!" you say. "Gunhed is Japanese. The Japanese invented giant robots! And it's a Toho movie! Toho are the undisputed master of movies about giant stuff!" You'd be mostly correct: Toho has all the pedigree to make a totally awesome giant robot movie. Here's how they screwed up:
- There aren't any giant robots until the end
- The giant Robots don't do anything
- The rest of the movie is really dull
The whole film is a vast sea of decisions meant to reduce entertainment. Every scene is accompanied by grating Casio music, except senes featuring a little girl named 11- who is mute. That's right, every scene featuring this little girl is totally silent. The rest of the cast is whittled down, which you expect in a horror-action thriller, but which happens so fast here that we barely get to know them. Since the hero doesn't meet Gunhed the big robot until near the end of the movie, and other giant robots don't show up for Gunhed to fight until Gunhed is around to fight them, the main threat is a dude in a bug costume. Yeah, that's right. Homeboy looks like Insector-Z with circuit boards glued to his eyes.
So, much like Robot Holocaust, what is billed as a robot action film is really a "dude runs around a factory being chased by guys in bad costumes" movie. There's no character development or chemistry at all.
Gunhed itself is kind of a letdown. Designed well, the Gunhed puppet just doesn't move convincingly. It turns into a tank (of course) at which point it becomes slightly more believable since it's just driving around. The gunhed scenes are basically just it rolling around shooting sparks and cartoon lasers at a big robot scorpion. The big robot scorpion is also limited to rolling. It's pretty dull, and considering the mechanical articulation the Robocop films achieved with the same technology as this film, pretty inexcusable.
So, Gunhed is a dull, lifeless hunk of plastic. I mean that both in terms of the DVD of the film, and the robot itself. The characters are similarly unlikable, and you won't miss them when they die, which most of them do.
2/10
Friday, May 15, 2009
Stargate
I have never been a sci-fi type of girl, but I have to admit, Stargate is by far one of the best shows ever made. 10 seasons just wasn't long enough. (WARNING: SPOILERS)
After watching Farscape on and off with my husband, I was a little concerned Stargate would not be good, boy was I mistaken! The plot of the show was great, there was comedy, tragedy, adventure, and the characters are the type you never forget. O'Neil was by far the most awesome captain anyone could ask for on a mission, and Sam and Daniel were priceless. Add Tilk to the bunch and you have the best team ever!
I was very disappointed when O'Neil had to leave the show. I was so worried it just wouldn't be good any more, and although no one could fill his shoes, Cameron Mitchell did a great job! Ben Browder was excellent on this show! Even Claudia Black grew on me after a while.
Two things I wish would have happened during the show...O'Neil and Sam would have talked about their feelings for each other earlier and Daniel and Vahla would have really ended up together (not just in the time ship they were stuck in)
My least favorite episode was the 200th episode. I know it was supposed to be goofy, that is probably why I didn't care for it. My favorite episode, well all the others!
Over all, wonderful show! I would recommend anyone watch this show from beginning to end. Oh, and I am secretly in love with Daniel. There was just something about his nerdiness that got to me, what can I say, I have a thing for guys that wear glasses and get excited about other wise boring things!
After watching Farscape on and off with my husband, I was a little concerned Stargate would not be good, boy was I mistaken! The plot of the show was great, there was comedy, tragedy, adventure, and the characters are the type you never forget. O'Neil was by far the most awesome captain anyone could ask for on a mission, and Sam and Daniel were priceless. Add Tilk to the bunch and you have the best team ever!
I was very disappointed when O'Neil had to leave the show. I was so worried it just wouldn't be good any more, and although no one could fill his shoes, Cameron Mitchell did a great job! Ben Browder was excellent on this show! Even Claudia Black grew on me after a while.
Two things I wish would have happened during the show...O'Neil and Sam would have talked about their feelings for each other earlier and Daniel and Vahla would have really ended up together (not just in the time ship they were stuck in)
My least favorite episode was the 200th episode. I know it was supposed to be goofy, that is probably why I didn't care for it. My favorite episode, well all the others!
Over all, wonderful show! I would recommend anyone watch this show from beginning to end. Oh, and I am secretly in love with Daniel. There was just something about his nerdiness that got to me, what can I say, I have a thing for guys that wear glasses and get excited about other wise boring things!
Galaxis
It's a tried and true formula for science fiction success: create an exciting sci-fi universe, show us some teasey glimpses of it, then send the characters to Earth before you run out of money. If the alien warrior heroes befriend some scrappy Earthlings when they arrive, so be it. Time Guardian did this, Spaced Invaders did it, and even the Masters of the Universe movie featured Dolph Lundgren's He-Man befriending a not-yet-scary-thin (and consequentially much prettier) Courtney Cox at prom somewhere in the Midwest. And let's not forget Jesse Ventura's Abraxis, the movie Lifetime would have made if it were staffed by Jack Kirby and Jim Starlin.
Galaxis (not to be confused with Galaxina, a z-budget space western about a sexy robot who fails at stealing Barbarella's thunder) tells a similar tale. Brigitte Nielson plays Ladera, a space gladiator who subscribes to the wear-bikinis-to-battle school of movie logic. Ladera is looking for a magic crystal, which she must find before Richard Moll does. And guess where she looks?
Squirted out in the woeful middle of the hateful 90s, Galaxis is a cheap pastiche of better movies that came before. There's a scene where bad guys rampage through a police station Terminator style, there's a steel-girder showdown that looks stolen from Darkman, and the whole "evil wizard jacks up the innocent for magic crystals" angle has been done to death, most notably in the underappreciated Dark Crystal. It goes without saying that Galaxis achieves its ripoffery with a budget that would disappoint Sam Raimi (who happens to be in the film). The result is rather like watching cosplayers act out a better film, and not succeeding very well.
I will be the first to admit that I like bad movies. I have personally watched Jean-Claude Van Damme's stunt double kick a terminally ill Raul Julia into a wall in Street Fighter over 7 times. I watched Category 7 and liked it so much that I nearly cried when my fiance wouldn't let me buy Category 6. Heck, I actually bought Magic Sword under the mistaken belief that it was The Sword and the Sorcerer. But believe this battle-hardened fan of cinema crap, there is nothing worthwhile about Galaxis. It's dull, ineffectual, and lacks the infectious charm that has saved so many awful movies.
It's just bad.
2/10
Galaxis (not to be confused with Galaxina, a z-budget space western about a sexy robot who fails at stealing Barbarella's thunder) tells a similar tale. Brigitte Nielson plays Ladera, a space gladiator who subscribes to the wear-bikinis-to-battle school of movie logic. Ladera is looking for a magic crystal, which she must find before Richard Moll does. And guess where she looks?
Squirted out in the woeful middle of the hateful 90s, Galaxis is a cheap pastiche of better movies that came before. There's a scene where bad guys rampage through a police station Terminator style, there's a steel-girder showdown that looks stolen from Darkman, and the whole "evil wizard jacks up the innocent for magic crystals" angle has been done to death, most notably in the underappreciated Dark Crystal. It goes without saying that Galaxis achieves its ripoffery with a budget that would disappoint Sam Raimi (who happens to be in the film). The result is rather like watching cosplayers act out a better film, and not succeeding very well.
I will be the first to admit that I like bad movies. I have personally watched Jean-Claude Van Damme's stunt double kick a terminally ill Raul Julia into a wall in Street Fighter over 7 times. I watched Category 7 and liked it so much that I nearly cried when my fiance wouldn't let me buy Category 6. Heck, I actually bought Magic Sword under the mistaken belief that it was The Sword and the Sorcerer. But believe this battle-hardened fan of cinema crap, there is nothing worthwhile about Galaxis. It's dull, ineffectual, and lacks the infectious charm that has saved so many awful movies.
It's just bad.
2/10
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Dell mini 9 shipping problems
If you have recently ordered a Dell mini 9 or vostro from Dell and have had problems with numerous shipping delays then you are probably as ticked off as I am right now. If not, then to give you a quick rundown of the issues, basically Dell has had a LARGE amount of people who recently ordered a Dell mini 9 and Dell vostro due to a sale and the fact that you can turn it into a hackintosh really easily. I have always had problems with Dell but recently my newest purchase from them tops them all.
They have told everyone of us that there are delays with shipping, back orders on parts, and some have been straight up lied to or even yelled at. I have compiled a list of users on the http://mydellmini.com forums with the help of another forum member. If you have had similar issues (even if you have your mini now), please click on http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=rYO12hU0wxL_E5YRStnnSGg and add yourself to the list to get a running toll of how many have gotten screwed by this problem. I know delays are a given sometimes, but from a company as big as Dell to straight out lie to their consumers and make them wait on a laptop that costs anywhere from 200-500 is absolutely absurd. Why doesn't any of the other mini laptops have this issue?
Some people who have ordered AFTER others have gotten their laptop sooner, some have had to wait since February (3 months from the time of this article), and most have been given 2, 3, or even 4 different deadlines that stretch out to July. This is a major problem and has got to stop.
For more info and discussion, please join us at the following forums:
http://www.mydellmini.com/forum/dell-mini-9-discussion/7447-vostro-a90-shipping-times.html
http://www.mydellmini.com/forum/dell-mini-9-discussion/108-how-long-did-take-your-dell-arrive.html
They have told everyone of us that there are delays with shipping, back orders on parts, and some have been straight up lied to or even yelled at. I have compiled a list of users on the http://mydellmini.com forums with the help of another forum member. If you have had similar issues (even if you have your mini now), please click on http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=rYO12hU0wxL_E5YRStnnSGg and add yourself to the list to get a running toll of how many have gotten screwed by this problem. I know delays are a given sometimes, but from a company as big as Dell to straight out lie to their consumers and make them wait on a laptop that costs anywhere from 200-500 is absolutely absurd. Why doesn't any of the other mini laptops have this issue?
Some people who have ordered AFTER others have gotten their laptop sooner, some have had to wait since February (3 months from the time of this article), and most have been given 2, 3, or even 4 different deadlines that stretch out to July. This is a major problem and has got to stop.
For more info and discussion, please join us at the following forums:
http://www.mydellmini.com/forum/dell-mini-9-discussion/7447-vostro-a90-shipping-times.html
http://www.mydellmini.com/forum/dell-mini-9-discussion/108-how-long-did-take-your-dell-arrive.html
Dell mini 9 shipping problems
If you have recently ordered a Dell mini 9 or vostro from Dell and have had problems with numerous shipping delays then you are probably as ticked off as I am right now. If not, then to give you a quick rundown of the issues, basically Dell has had a LARGE amount of people who recently ordered a Dell mini 9 and Dell vostro due to a sale and the fact that you can turn it into a hackintosh really easily. I have always had problems with Dell but recently my newest purchase from them tops them all.
They have told everyone of us that there are delays with shipping, back orders on parts, and some have been straight up lied to or even yelled at. I have compiled a list of users on the http://mydellmini.com forums with the help of another forum member. If you have had similar issues (even if you have your mini now), please click on http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=rYO12hU0wxL_E5YRStnnSGg and add yourself to the list to get a running toll of how many have gotten screwed by this problem. I know delays are a given sometimes, but from a company as big as Dell to straight out lie to their consumers and make them wait on a laptop that costs anywhere from 200-500 is absolutely absurd. Why doesn't any of the other mini laptops have this issue?
Some people who have ordered AFTER others have gotten their laptop sooner, some have had to wait since February (3 months from the time of this article), and most have been given 2, 3, or even 4 different deadlines that stretch out to July. This is a major problem and has got to stop.
For more info and discussion, please join us at the following forums:
http://www.mydellmini.com/forum/dell-mini-9-discussion/7447-vostro-a90-shipping-times.html
http://www.mydellmini.com/forum/dell-mini-9-discussion/108-how-long-did-take-your-dell-arrive.html
They have told everyone of us that there are delays with shipping, back orders on parts, and some have been straight up lied to or even yelled at. I have compiled a list of users on the http://mydellmini.com forums with the help of another forum member. If you have had similar issues (even if you have your mini now), please click on http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=rYO12hU0wxL_E5YRStnnSGg and add yourself to the list to get a running toll of how many have gotten screwed by this problem. I know delays are a given sometimes, but from a company as big as Dell to straight out lie to their consumers and make them wait on a laptop that costs anywhere from 200-500 is absolutely absurd. Why doesn't any of the other mini laptops have this issue?
Some people who have ordered AFTER others have gotten their laptop sooner, some have had to wait since February (3 months from the time of this article), and most have been given 2, 3, or even 4 different deadlines that stretch out to July. This is a major problem and has got to stop.
For more info and discussion, please join us at the following forums:
http://www.mydellmini.com/forum/dell-mini-9-discussion/7447-vostro-a90-shipping-times.html
http://www.mydellmini.com/forum/dell-mini-9-discussion/108-how-long-did-take-your-dell-arrive.html
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Rock Band 2 drum pad repair
If you are like me when it comes to playing the drums on Rockband, then you are probably hitting them too hard. I love playing the drums on RB and I get really into it. Sometimes maybe a bit too much. In doing so, the green rubber pad came off of my drum set.
At first I just slid it back on and it would work for a couple of songs, but it would eventually fall out again. FAIL. I needed to find a way to fix the pad without going insane and I didn't want to RMA my set since I'm an inpatient bastard. I decided to use rubber cement on the pad to stick it in place. So far it has held up pretty good. The following are detailed instructions on what I did to fix my loose/broken drum pad.
Materials Required:
- mini phillips screwdriver
- rubber cement
- dashing good looks and charm
Step 1: The obvious
The first step is the most obvious and is mainly for a precaution, turn off the unit. In case you've never had to replace your batteries and your unit came from the factory switched on, the switch is located on the bottom of the pads. You'll also want to remove the pads from the stand to make this repair easier.
Step 2: Take off the pad
In order to get the outer plastic rim off, you will need to take off the entire pad of the broken drum pad. You can do this by simply placing your fingers underneath the plastic rim and pulling up in each location of the rubber pegs below the drum pad. Be careful not to rip it off as I have heard of people permanently cracking their set.
Step 3: Unscrew the outer rim
Use the mini phillips to unscrew all of the tiny machine screws holding the plastic outer rim in place. This is so we can lay the pad down after we glue it and apply a decent amount of pressure. Be sure not to lose any of the screws as you will need them when we put the rim back on. (Do I really need to be telling you this?)
Step 4: Apply the rubber cement
Grab a used towel and place it down onto the floor. Place the top rubber pad upside down onto the towel and start to apply the rubber cement to the cloth/velcro tracks that circle the pad. Also apply the same amount of rubber cement to the pad attached to the drum set, running along the same tracks. Make sure you do this quickly and neatly as you will want to apply the two pads together as soon as you can to start the drying process.
Step 5: Apply pressure and let dry
Now that you have the two pieces glued together with the rubber cement, apply pressure to the pads. I set the pad upside down in order to apply the most pressure. You should let this dry for a good 30 minutes to 1 hour if you are using the standard elmers/ross office rubber cement.
Step 6: Reconstruct the drum pads
Now that you are confident that the rubber cement has dried, flip the pad right side up and begin screwing the machine screws back into the outer rim with the mini phillips. Once you have the outer rim on, press the pad gently to the drum set until you have popped the rubber pegs back into the holes. Be careful not to bend/crimp the sensor wire when placing the pad back together.
Step 7: Rock On!
You should now have a fully functional RB drum set again. This may not be a permanent fix, but it should last a lot longer than just sliding the pads in. There are several other how tos, mods, and replacements for the drums out on the internets that you can find, which I may end up doing myself. But for now...
At first I just slid it back on and it would work for a couple of songs, but it would eventually fall out again. FAIL. I needed to find a way to fix the pad without going insane and I didn't want to RMA my set since I'm an inpatient bastard. I decided to use rubber cement on the pad to stick it in place. So far it has held up pretty good. The following are detailed instructions on what I did to fix my loose/broken drum pad.Materials Required:
- mini phillips screwdriver
- rubber cement
- dashing good looks and charm
Step 1: The obvious
The first step is the most obvious and is mainly for a precaution, turn off the unit. In case you've never had to replace your batteries and your unit came from the factory switched on, the switch is located on the bottom of the pads. You'll also want to remove the pads from the stand to make this repair easier.
Step 2: Take off the pad
In order to get the outer plastic rim off, you will need to take off the entire pad of the broken drum pad. You can do this by simply placing your fingers underneath the plastic rim and pulling up in each location of the rubber pegs below the drum pad. Be careful not to rip it off as I have heard of people permanently cracking their set.
Step 3: Unscrew the outer rim
Use the mini phillips to unscrew all of the tiny machine screws holding the plastic outer rim in place. This is so we can lay the pad down after we glue it and apply a decent amount of pressure. Be sure not to lose any of the screws as you will need them when we put the rim back on. (Do I really need to be telling you this?)
Step 4: Apply the rubber cement
Grab a used towel and place it down onto the floor. Place the top rubber pad upside down onto the towel and start to apply the rubber cement to the cloth/velcro tracks that circle the pad. Also apply the same amount of rubber cement to the pad attached to the drum set, running along the same tracks. Make sure you do this quickly and neatly as you will want to apply the two pads together as soon as you can to start the drying process.
Step 5: Apply pressure and let dry
Now that you have the two pieces glued together with the rubber cement, apply pressure to the pads. I set the pad upside down in order to apply the most pressure. You should let this dry for a good 30 minutes to 1 hour if you are using the standard elmers/ross office rubber cement.
Step 6: Reconstruct the drum pads
Now that you are confident that the rubber cement has dried, flip the pad right side up and begin screwing the machine screws back into the outer rim with the mini phillips. Once you have the outer rim on, press the pad gently to the drum set until you have popped the rubber pegs back into the holes. Be careful not to bend/crimp the sensor wire when placing the pad back together.
Step 7: Rock On!
You should now have a fully functional RB drum set again. This may not be a permanent fix, but it should last a lot longer than just sliding the pads in. There are several other how tos, mods, and replacements for the drums out on the internets that you can find, which I may end up doing myself. But for now...
ROCK ON!!!
Rock Band 2 drum pad repair
If you are like me when it comes to playing the drums on Rockband, then you are probably hitting them too hard. I love playing the drums on RB and I get really into it. Sometimes maybe a bit too much. In doing so, the green rubber pad came off of my drum set.
At first I just slid it back on and it would work for a couple of songs, but it would eventually fall out again. FAIL. I needed to find a way to fix the pad without going insane and I didn't want to RMA my set since I'm an inpatient bastard. I decided to use rubber cement on the pad to stick it in place. So far it has held up pretty good. The following are detailed instructions on what I did to fix my loose/broken drum pad.
Materials Required:
- mini phillips screwdriver
- rubber cement
- dashing good looks and charm
Step 1: The obvious
The first step is the most obvious and is mainly for a precaution, turn off the unit. In case you've never had to replace your batteries and your unit came from the factory switched on, the switch is located on the bottom of the pads. You'll also want to remove the pads from the stand to make this repair easier.
Step 2: Take off the pad
In order to get the outer plastic rim off, you will need to take off the entire pad of the broken drum pad. You can do this by simply placing your fingers underneath the plastic rim and pulling up in each location of the rubber pegs below the drum pad. Be careful not to rip it off as I have heard of people permanently cracking their set.
Step 3: Unscrew the outer rim
Use the mini phillips to unscrew all of the tiny machine screws holding the plastic outer rim in place. This is so we can lay the pad down after we glue it and apply a decent amount of pressure. Be sure not to lose any of the screws as you will need them when we put the rim back on. (Do I really need to be telling you this?)
Step 4: Apply the rubber cement
Grab a used towel and place it down onto the floor. Place the top rubber pad upside down onto the towel and start to apply the rubber cement to the cloth/velcro tracks that circle the pad. Also apply the same amount of rubber cement to the pad attached to the drum set, running along the same tracks. Make sure you do this quickly and neatly as you will want to apply the two pads together as soon as you can to start the drying process.
Step 5: Apply pressure and let dry
Now that you have the two pieces glued together with the rubber cement, apply pressure to the pads. I set the pad upside down in order to apply the most pressure. You should let this dry for a good 30 minutes to 1 hour if you are using the standard elmers/ross office rubber cement.
Step 6: Reconstruct the drum pads
Now that you are confident that the rubber cement has dried, flip the pad right side up and begin screwing the machine screws back into the outer rim with the mini phillips. Once you have the outer rim on, press the pad gently to the drum set until you have popped the rubber pegs back into the holes. Be careful not to bend/crimp the sensor wire when placing the pad back together.
Step 7: Rock On!
You should now have a fully functional RB drum set again. This may not be a permanent fix, but it should last a lot longer than just sliding the pads in. There are several other how tos, mods, and replacements for the drums out on the internets that you can find, which I may end up doing myself. But for now...
At first I just slid it back on and it would work for a couple of songs, but it would eventually fall out again. FAIL. I needed to find a way to fix the pad without going insane and I didn't want to RMA my set since I'm an inpatient bastard. I decided to use rubber cement on the pad to stick it in place. So far it has held up pretty good. The following are detailed instructions on what I did to fix my loose/broken drum pad.Materials Required:
- mini phillips screwdriver
- rubber cement
- dashing good looks and charm
Step 1: The obvious
The first step is the most obvious and is mainly for a precaution, turn off the unit. In case you've never had to replace your batteries and your unit came from the factory switched on, the switch is located on the bottom of the pads. You'll also want to remove the pads from the stand to make this repair easier.
Step 2: Take off the pad
In order to get the outer plastic rim off, you will need to take off the entire pad of the broken drum pad. You can do this by simply placing your fingers underneath the plastic rim and pulling up in each location of the rubber pegs below the drum pad. Be careful not to rip it off as I have heard of people permanently cracking their set.
Step 3: Unscrew the outer rim
Use the mini phillips to unscrew all of the tiny machine screws holding the plastic outer rim in place. This is so we can lay the pad down after we glue it and apply a decent amount of pressure. Be sure not to lose any of the screws as you will need them when we put the rim back on. (Do I really need to be telling you this?)
Step 4: Apply the rubber cement
Grab a used towel and place it down onto the floor. Place the top rubber pad upside down onto the towel and start to apply the rubber cement to the cloth/velcro tracks that circle the pad. Also apply the same amount of rubber cement to the pad attached to the drum set, running along the same tracks. Make sure you do this quickly and neatly as you will want to apply the two pads together as soon as you can to start the drying process.
Step 5: Apply pressure and let dry
Now that you have the two pieces glued together with the rubber cement, apply pressure to the pads. I set the pad upside down in order to apply the most pressure. You should let this dry for a good 30 minutes to 1 hour if you are using the standard elmers/ross office rubber cement.
Step 6: Reconstruct the drum pads
Now that you are confident that the rubber cement has dried, flip the pad right side up and begin screwing the machine screws back into the outer rim with the mini phillips. Once you have the outer rim on, press the pad gently to the drum set until you have popped the rubber pegs back into the holes. Be careful not to bend/crimp the sensor wire when placing the pad back together.
Step 7: Rock On!
You should now have a fully functional RB drum set again. This may not be a permanent fix, but it should last a lot longer than just sliding the pads in. There are several other how tos, mods, and replacements for the drums out on the internets that you can find, which I may end up doing myself. But for now...
ROCK ON!!!
Monday, May 11, 2009
Star Trek
There are 2 short reviews possible for Star Trek: "Star Trek is a great movie if," and "Star Trek is a great movie but."
Star Trek is a great movie if you like the franchise but aren't unduly attached to it. All your favorite characters are there, and they are all played quite aptly- every member of this film's cast truly conveys the feel of a younger version of their character on the classic series. They do hip, youthful, rebellious stuff, but at the core, these are the same people. The ships, setting, and trappings are all familiar too- but taken in some decidedly new directions. This film tries and succeeds to breathe new life (and new civilizations) into a fiction world left untouched for over a decade- the original series Star Trek universe, where it's okay to go phasering around space and you don't need to spend 20 minutes talking about stuff. This movie gets to the action and plenty of it, but does not lose sight of the characters and emotions that separate Star Trek films and shows from generic space opera.
Star Trek is a great movie, but it has some failings. The camera can't sit still for two seconds, continuity is noticibly shabby, and the plot has some holes if you look really hard. It is not perfect cinema, and some hardcore fans will lament the veneer of new and hip wrapped aggressively around their film. It is a rewarding movie, with conflicts and resolutions and character building, and it is both technically and artistically leagues beyond J.J. Abrams' Cloverfield. It is a movie that is awesome enough to get noticed, but with room for improvement in the sequels. It is an exciting film, due in part to how it establishes early on that its canon is not a perfect mirror of classic Star Trek: you genuinely won't know where the movie will go.
Star Trek is a great movie. It has some level of appeal on almost every front. It suffers because almost everyone has some preconception of how Star Trek should look and sound, who it is for, what it means. This is a hard movie to review objectively, and could be tricky to follow without a knowledge of the franchise. Even without an existing love for Star Trek, however, you might find something in this film lacking from modern Hollywood: a robust and well-developed science fiction world with giant ships, governments, planets, and a sense of adventuresome fun. The Star Trek universe feels more real and well thought out than most, and the payoff is a film that invites the viewer to imagine "What's next?"
And yes, there's an Orion Animal Woman in it. And a Tribble.
8/10 (take a point off if Uhura having a thing for Spock instead of Scotty bothers you, you sad nerds)
Star Trek is a great movie if you like the franchise but aren't unduly attached to it. All your favorite characters are there, and they are all played quite aptly- every member of this film's cast truly conveys the feel of a younger version of their character on the classic series. They do hip, youthful, rebellious stuff, but at the core, these are the same people. The ships, setting, and trappings are all familiar too- but taken in some decidedly new directions. This film tries and succeeds to breathe new life (and new civilizations) into a fiction world left untouched for over a decade- the original series Star Trek universe, where it's okay to go phasering around space and you don't need to spend 20 minutes talking about stuff. This movie gets to the action and plenty of it, but does not lose sight of the characters and emotions that separate Star Trek films and shows from generic space opera.
Star Trek is a great movie, but it has some failings. The camera can't sit still for two seconds, continuity is noticibly shabby, and the plot has some holes if you look really hard. It is not perfect cinema, and some hardcore fans will lament the veneer of new and hip wrapped aggressively around their film. It is a rewarding movie, with conflicts and resolutions and character building, and it is both technically and artistically leagues beyond J.J. Abrams' Cloverfield. It is a movie that is awesome enough to get noticed, but with room for improvement in the sequels. It is an exciting film, due in part to how it establishes early on that its canon is not a perfect mirror of classic Star Trek: you genuinely won't know where the movie will go.
Star Trek is a great movie. It has some level of appeal on almost every front. It suffers because almost everyone has some preconception of how Star Trek should look and sound, who it is for, what it means. This is a hard movie to review objectively, and could be tricky to follow without a knowledge of the franchise. Even without an existing love for Star Trek, however, you might find something in this film lacking from modern Hollywood: a robust and well-developed science fiction world with giant ships, governments, planets, and a sense of adventuresome fun. The Star Trek universe feels more real and well thought out than most, and the payoff is a film that invites the viewer to imagine "What's next?"
And yes, there's an Orion Animal Woman in it. And a Tribble.
8/10 (take a point off if Uhura having a thing for Spock instead of Scotty bothers you, you sad nerds)
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Babylon AD
Babylon AD is a movie about stuff almost happening. Pretty much the whole movie is about psyching up the audience into thinking stuff is going to happen, then revealing that no, nothing's going to happen. Let me give away the whole film to explain what I mean.
Vin Diesel heads to a Serbian arms market where he was sold a broken gun. He almost roughs up the vendor and starts a fight, but he quietly accepts a refund and leaves. At home, he is attacked by mercenary kidnappers. He almost shoots his way out, but goes along with them instead. The kidnappers work for a gangster who sends Vin Diesel to take a pair of nuns from Serbia to America. Along the way he almost has to fight the employees of one nun's father, almost brawls with Russian human traffickers, and almost has trouble sneaking into America (fortunately they just skip that part). In America, Vin Diesel almost gets blown up, almost confronts the film's true villain, and almost falls in love with one of the nuns, except the film ends before any of it comes to fruition.
Babylon AD is a frustrating tease of a film that dangles adventure in front of the viewer's nose like a carrot made of guns and car chases. Mostly lame, unproductive exposition and unimpressive scenery effects shots, the film contains only small pockets of eventfullness, all plagued by awful choreography and editing. The filmmakers seemed mainly concerned with showing us their creative, original science fiction world, where Eastern Europe and the Balkans are battle-scarred ganglands and America is a soulless neon wasteland lorded over by giant heartless corporations. This may all sound not at all fictitious, but in Babylon AD, there are a lot more motorcycles and TVs everywhere than there are today. That's how you know it's the future.
To recap: Babylon AD is a science fiction action film with no action or science fiction. If you're smart, it will also be bereft of your viewership.
1/10
Vin Diesel heads to a Serbian arms market where he was sold a broken gun. He almost roughs up the vendor and starts a fight, but he quietly accepts a refund and leaves. At home, he is attacked by mercenary kidnappers. He almost shoots his way out, but goes along with them instead. The kidnappers work for a gangster who sends Vin Diesel to take a pair of nuns from Serbia to America. Along the way he almost has to fight the employees of one nun's father, almost brawls with Russian human traffickers, and almost has trouble sneaking into America (fortunately they just skip that part). In America, Vin Diesel almost gets blown up, almost confronts the film's true villain, and almost falls in love with one of the nuns, except the film ends before any of it comes to fruition.
Babylon AD is a frustrating tease of a film that dangles adventure in front of the viewer's nose like a carrot made of guns and car chases. Mostly lame, unproductive exposition and unimpressive scenery effects shots, the film contains only small pockets of eventfullness, all plagued by awful choreography and editing. The filmmakers seemed mainly concerned with showing us their creative, original science fiction world, where Eastern Europe and the Balkans are battle-scarred ganglands and America is a soulless neon wasteland lorded over by giant heartless corporations. This may all sound not at all fictitious, but in Babylon AD, there are a lot more motorcycles and TVs everywhere than there are today. That's how you know it's the future.
To recap: Babylon AD is a science fiction action film with no action or science fiction. If you're smart, it will also be bereft of your viewership.
1/10
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Fanboys
I know what you are thinking. This movie can't possibly be good, it's just another crappy comedy with the possibility of being "ok" with tits and ass spread throughout and loads of juvenile humor. Well, you're wrong. This was actually a pretty decent film.
Fanboys is about a group of friends going on one last road trip with their terminally ill friend on their quest to break into the Lucas ranch, destined to steal the rough cut copy of Star Wars Episode 1. It can be a bit corny at times but that was pretty much a given just by watching the trailer. I was surprised by the amount of well known actors thrown into the mix and the story was not that bad. I thought the majority of the jokes was actually humorous and the their was never a time when tits were thrown into the mix just to appeal to prepubescent teens. In fact, there was never any nudity (there may be in the directors cut but I'm not sure).
Some of the trekkie vs. star wars fan content was a bit over the top but it didn't stop me from liking this film. It will also appeal to your non star wars fans too (wife?) as a all around decent comedic content. There was never a time that I wanted to turn the movie off or spout out a "Oh, come on.. did they really go there?".
Overall, a well done star wars based comedy and an enjoyable take on the bond of friendship. It also is a good portrayal into the depths that someone would go for a friend who just wants one last opportunity to relish in the moments of life shared with their buddies.
7/10
Fanboys is about a group of friends going on one last road trip with their terminally ill friend on their quest to break into the Lucas ranch, destined to steal the rough cut copy of Star Wars Episode 1. It can be a bit corny at times but that was pretty much a given just by watching the trailer. I was surprised by the amount of well known actors thrown into the mix and the story was not that bad. I thought the majority of the jokes was actually humorous and the their was never a time when tits were thrown into the mix just to appeal to prepubescent teens. In fact, there was never any nudity (there may be in the directors cut but I'm not sure).
Some of the trekkie vs. star wars fan content was a bit over the top but it didn't stop me from liking this film. It will also appeal to your non star wars fans too (wife?) as a all around decent comedic content. There was never a time that I wanted to turn the movie off or spout out a "Oh, come on.. did they really go there?".
Overall, a well done star wars based comedy and an enjoyable take on the bond of friendship. It also is a good portrayal into the depths that someone would go for a friend who just wants one last opportunity to relish in the moments of life shared with their buddies.
7/10
Amazon.com WidgetsFanboys
Monday, May 4, 2009
Dagan Celtic Cider
Tasting rather like poison and urine fell in love, got married, and had a kid, Dagan is a weak drink with an unpleasant undertone. Lacking the hearty beeriness of a good American cider, the crisp notes of a good English cider, or the interplay of sweet and bitter that characterizes a good French cider (it's also worse than Swedish and German cider, but I don't want to go long), Dagan is like an insult, underhanded and increasingly unpleasant the more you mull it over. In its defense it is super cheap, especially considering I got it as an import (no idea if they have a US brewery).
Avoid Dagan Cider like you would avoid Dagon, HP Lovecraft's fictional god of the evil fishmen.
2/10 (And I drank it right after I watched Wolverine, too!)
Avoid Dagan Cider like you would avoid Dagon, HP Lovecraft's fictional god of the evil fishmen.
2/10 (And I drank it right after I watched Wolverine, too!)
Sunday, May 3, 2009
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Wolverine is not a good movie. Too odd and grim to appeal to casual filmgoers and too willfully unfaithful to the source material to please comic fans, it is an unappealing sundae with bad special effect topping.
The first ten or seventy minutes of the film chronicle Wolverine's youth and unnaturally long young adulthood. He participates in every major American war, which is odd because he is Canadian. You can tell what each war is by the filming: World War 1 is sepia toned like a documentary about World War 1, World War 2 is bluish-gray because Saving Private Ryan was, and Vietnam is depicted through a reenactment of the helicopter scene from Full Metal Jacket.
From then on, the film is a pretty standard stupid mess. Wolverine works for a SECRET ALL MUTANT SPECIAL FORCES GROUP. Because everything secret is bad, the group has a secret anti-mutant agenda and kills a lot of people who only marginally have it coming. We get to meet a big cast of uninteresting mutants. Most of them will die, so it's better to not worry about them. Eventually, Wolverine (shown up to this point engaged exclusively in killing) gets tired of killing and retires. This doesn't sit right with the SECRET ALL MUTANT SPECIAL FORCES GROUP, so they coerce Wolverine into volunteering to have a metal skeleton installed by pretending to kill his wife. Oh dang, that was a spoiler. My bad.
Wolverine's metal skeleton makes him invulnerable everywhere, except in his broken heart, so he enlists the help of lovable rogue mutant Gambit to find the secret headquarters of the SECRET ALL MUTANT SPECIAL FORCES GROUP. It turns out that they've been kidnapping mutants to steal their powers, and only Gambit has ever escaped. The personality, fighting style, and powers of Gambit are represented perfectly, so he's only in the film for about ten minutes. He flies Wolvie to 3-Mile Island, a super-secret location where the SECRET ALL MUTANT SPECIAL FORCES GROUP would never possibly be discovered by anybody, except the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, power companies, or thousands of employees. Wolverine is itching to fight his arch-rival Sabretooth, but Sabretooth decides he still likes Wolverine, so Wolverine just releases the captured mutants. They flee the island and are adopted by computer-generated young Patrick Stewart to become the first X-Men PLOT POINT!!!!!!!!!!
Wolverine decides he needs to fight somebody, and so the evil head of the SECRET ALL MUTANT SPECIAL FORCES GROUP sends oddball ninja assassin Deadpool after him. Because this is a bad movie, Deadpool is Baraka from Mortal Kombat and is not wacky or a ninja at all. Wolverine wins because Sabretooth helps him, and because Deadpool can only fight when the bad guy types "decapitate" into a DOS prompt. Wolverine is about to leave when the evil leader of the SECRET ALL MUTANT SPECIAL FORCES GROUP shoots him with bullets made of the same stuff as his skeleton. Because this is a bad movie, this gives Wolverine amnesia, just like in the first X-Men PLOT POINT!!!!!!!
The movie itself sucks enough, but Wolverine is also cursed with really poor effects. Scenes are stitched together with computers to no productive end, the border between Wolverine's hands and claws wobbles in closeups, and whenever Wolverine walks in front of anything that isn't real, there's a glow around his poofy, silly-looking hair where things don't mesh up. It must have taken a lot of effort to make a contemporary movie look like it was made in 1992, but that effort was wasted, because even in 1992, this movie would have been kind of dumb.
Things to watch for:
2/10 (probably -1/10 if you really like X-Men)
The first ten or seventy minutes of the film chronicle Wolverine's youth and unnaturally long young adulthood. He participates in every major American war, which is odd because he is Canadian. You can tell what each war is by the filming: World War 1 is sepia toned like a documentary about World War 1, World War 2 is bluish-gray because Saving Private Ryan was, and Vietnam is depicted through a reenactment of the helicopter scene from Full Metal Jacket.
From then on, the film is a pretty standard stupid mess. Wolverine works for a SECRET ALL MUTANT SPECIAL FORCES GROUP. Because everything secret is bad, the group has a secret anti-mutant agenda and kills a lot of people who only marginally have it coming. We get to meet a big cast of uninteresting mutants. Most of them will die, so it's better to not worry about them. Eventually, Wolverine (shown up to this point engaged exclusively in killing) gets tired of killing and retires. This doesn't sit right with the SECRET ALL MUTANT SPECIAL FORCES GROUP, so they coerce Wolverine into volunteering to have a metal skeleton installed by pretending to kill his wife. Oh dang, that was a spoiler. My bad.
Wolverine's metal skeleton makes him invulnerable everywhere, except in his broken heart, so he enlists the help of lovable rogue mutant Gambit to find the secret headquarters of the SECRET ALL MUTANT SPECIAL FORCES GROUP. It turns out that they've been kidnapping mutants to steal their powers, and only Gambit has ever escaped. The personality, fighting style, and powers of Gambit are represented perfectly, so he's only in the film for about ten minutes. He flies Wolvie to 3-Mile Island, a super-secret location where the SECRET ALL MUTANT SPECIAL FORCES GROUP would never possibly be discovered by anybody, except the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, power companies, or thousands of employees. Wolverine is itching to fight his arch-rival Sabretooth, but Sabretooth decides he still likes Wolverine, so Wolverine just releases the captured mutants. They flee the island and are adopted by computer-generated young Patrick Stewart to become the first X-Men PLOT POINT!!!!!!!!!!
Wolverine decides he needs to fight somebody, and so the evil head of the SECRET ALL MUTANT SPECIAL FORCES GROUP sends oddball ninja assassin Deadpool after him. Because this is a bad movie, Deadpool is Baraka from Mortal Kombat and is not wacky or a ninja at all. Wolverine wins because Sabretooth helps him, and because Deadpool can only fight when the bad guy types "decapitate" into a DOS prompt. Wolverine is about to leave when the evil leader of the SECRET ALL MUTANT SPECIAL FORCES GROUP shoots him with bullets made of the same stuff as his skeleton. Because this is a bad movie, this gives Wolverine amnesia, just like in the first X-Men PLOT POINT!!!!!!!
The movie itself sucks enough, but Wolverine is also cursed with really poor effects. Scenes are stitched together with computers to no productive end, the border between Wolverine's hands and claws wobbles in closeups, and whenever Wolverine walks in front of anything that isn't real, there's a glow around his poofy, silly-looking hair where things don't mesh up. It must have taken a lot of effort to make a contemporary movie look like it was made in 1992, but that effort was wasted, because even in 1992, this movie would have been kind of dumb.
Things to watch for:
- Wolverine wrecks a helicoptor which crashes and explodes. The crew isn't dead enough so Wolverine lights it on fire and it explodes again, only more so!
- Wolverine's wife tells him a folktale that explains why wolverines howl at the moon. Wait, do they? Well, she says they do.
- Wolverine's wife demonstrates that she could have mind-controlled the villain at any time, yet instead let everything bad in the movie happen to people. My guess: she forgot about her powers because they only matter once.
2/10 (probably -1/10 if you really like X-Men)
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