when Steven Hawkings shoots it's always a drive-by

Alllllllllrighty...lets see. I've been working at the Troma house a lot the past few days so there's not much exciting news to share. One particulary cool job took place on Friday. Andy (the guy that's kind of heading this whole project until the higher ups come in later this month) put me and another Derek in charge of fixing the water problem down at the McDonald's we're using to film at. Apparently the city came to turn the water on there, and the weren't able to get to the water turned on without charging $1800+ for plumbling problems.

You see, to turn water on in a facility there is a lever out near the street that allows water to flow from the city's main water line into your building. Typically to turn that lever "On" there is a pipe that goes down below the city's frost line (Buffalo's being 36 inches) to a box (with the lever in it). There is a tool, basically a long screwdriver, that you lower down that pipe, and turn the lever on with.

When the city came to turn on the water, the box with the lever in it was disjointed from the pipe the tool goes down into.

So Derek and I ended up renting a jack-hammer for 4 hours, which was fucking manly, and digging through 2 feet of concrete, steel wiring, then 3 feet of rocks (absolutely no dirt whatsoever), and a small layer of clay. The whole process took 7 hours. When we finally got down to the box, it took another 2 hours to weld 2 pipes together and fashion the tool we needed out of them.

After we FINALLY got the lever to turn (it was completely rusted in place) the water still wouldn't turn on in the McDonalds. Which was extremely un-rewarding. I guess yesterday someone actually got the water to flow through the pipes though (my guess is that it took a while for the water to fill the pipes after we released the lever).

The funny thing about the whole incident was that Derek and I agreed, if our jobs had asked us to dig a fucking 5 foot deep hole through concrete, wire, and rocks we'd probably tell them to screw off. Yet for some reason when it was just the two of us doing it for free, with absolutely no monetary reward, we were all for it.

Aside from that I've been playing an interesting PC game lately, called "Uplink". It's a little outdated but I've been trying to get ahold of it for a long time. Basically you're a hacker who gets jobs, such as getting files from companies, FOR companies, or changing people's social security information, and you get paid for the jobs. With that money you have to purchase better hacking software, computer upgrades, etc. The whole game takes place as more of a simulation, because you're basically just "hacking" with your computer. I showed it to Brenna and the first words out of her mouth were "That's the geekiest thing I've ever seen." So...you can probably picture what it's like. Your screen is just covered with maps, software, emails, IP addresses, and all sorts of crazy shit. Definately check it out if you're ever been interested in how hacking works.

Speaking of hacking, there's finally been some major breakthroughs with the PSP. Not only is it extremely easy to run homebrews on it now (Nintendo emulators, etc.) but there are finally loaders so you can play official PSP games straight off the memory stick. The programs, or "launchers," you need to do it are still pretty crude, but within the span of the last day they've already jumped from needing an official PSP game in the PSP and to load the games (but the loaded games have no audio), to not needing any official games in the PSP at all and with full audio support. I expect by the end of this week it will be a much easier process that will make Sony angrier than they already are, I can't wait.

Until then my PSP is loaded up with Family Guy, American Dad, and a bunch of emulators to keep me busy this week. I'm traveling out to Orlando tonight, and I'll be there until Sunday. Ugh. I hate traveling (for work). Especially when I have to miss out on 4th of July with Brenna (although, I since I'm going to be at Disney Land the fireworks will probably be neat, so Brenna should just come with me!).

Because it's such a lengthy trip I'm going to try and get internet access the whole time I'm there. So hopefully people will still see me around...I guess you could call it "Hangin' with cyber Derek."

When I get back I want to get more people to play Munchkins with Brenna and I. That game is so freggin' rad. Never before has being a werewolf with a trench coat (with a woman's slip under it) with a cape, wielding a cosmic sword and axel rod been so fun.

If you're bored you should check out these links:

Some chick that just keeps falling:
http://www.izpitera.ru/lj/tetka.swf

Wacko Jacko takes over video games:
http://www.hcn.zaq.ne.jp/cabic508/rsf/mq.swf

-----------------------------------
[2x]london calling
speak the slang now
boys say wha
come on girls say what, say wha

slam, galang galang galang...
shotgun, get down
get down, get down, get down
too late, you down
d-d-d-down
ta na ta na ta na

blaze a blaze (galang a lang a lang lang)
purple haze (galang a lang a lang lang)
blaze a blaze (galang a lang a lang lang)
purple haze (galang a lang a lang lang)

[2x]who the hell is hounding you in the bmw
how the hell he find you, 147'd you
the feds gon get you
pull the strings on the hood
1 paranoid youth blazin' thru the hood

blaze a blaze (galang a lang a lang lang)
purple haze (galang a lang a lang lang)
blaze a blaze (galang a lang a lang lang)
purple haze (galang a lang a lang lang)

[2x]london calling
speak the slang now
boys say wha
come on girls say what, say wha

[2x]they say
rivers gonna run though
work is gonna save you
pray and you will pull through
suck a dick'll help you
don't let em get to you
if he's got 1 you get 2
backstab your crew
sell it i could sell you

[4x]blaze a blaze (galang a lang a lang lang)
purple haze (galang a lang a lang lang)

"Galang" -M.I.A.