pres.umptuo.us

• Rumor is abound that Star Wars: Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith is going to be rated PG-13. Enticing…

  Sunday April 10, 2005

I’m always a bit hesitant to give out my screenname/website because it leads into the embarassing story of where the name “Valloq” came from. The short answer is it’s just a name I thought up that sounded like something that would come from Star Wars. The long answer goes back to when I first got on the web.

Command and Conquer was one of the first games I played online. The joy of blowing up enemy stealth tanks, the struggles at the age of 14 to work as a team to destroy the opposing team’s Temple of Nod.

The company that put out C&C, Westwood, included a chat client that was used to set up online matches. I got hooked on it fairly quickly, chatting away with other nerds and 14-year olds to compensate for our lack of friends in our youth. Mind you, someone even suggested using the code “PAW” to alert whenever Parents Are Watching to keep the chat content civil.

I started using the chat client when it was still in its early stages, and when it went official and more people joined, they forced users to register a screenname. At this point I came to realize that I couldn’t just keep calling myself “Jedi5″, or whatever number worked (I once accosted the user with the handle “Jedi” in a chatroom and berated him for taking the coveted title). And so I decided to create an alter ego for myself that was unique and would not have to worry about it being used elsewhere.

I’m drawn to the letter “V” for some reason. Victorious. Valiant. Val Kilmer is a cool name. Somehow I got Valloq (Pronounced “Val” as in Val Kilmer, “loq” as in lock). Treldon just sort of flew out behind it, and behold I had my alter-ego to exist within the Star Wars Universe (This was before Lucas ruined it. Star Wars was still cool in my mind at this point).

And thus is explained my bit of geekery, which I’ll say has worked for me so far. I get the screen name anywhere I go where a sign up is required, so if you ever run into Valloq while playing an online game or in some forum, odds are it’s me. No need to tack on the dates of my birthday or pager code for “Hoochie Mama” and get all confused. Who else has that luxury with their screen name?

Everyone’s played with Google Maps by now and been totally wowed by the slick interface. Then they added satellite imaging. And now, someone’s combined Google Maps with Craigslist apartment listings in what could be the most ingenius and useful, um…use of the web, ever.

Real-Life Streetfighter. How creative.

How to Shuffle Cards.

Volume two of Flight is out soon. I previous mentioned the first volume in an earlier post, but never got around to getting it. Maybe I’ll get off my lazy butt and actually check it out this time. They’re also having a gallery show at Nucleus, some gallery I didn’t even know existed in Alhambra on Main St.

The new Nokia 8800 is sexy. I want.

Really good. I don’t quite know if this redeems Robert Rodriquez for Once Upon a Time in Mexico, since from what I understand, the script/scenes were taken almost verbatim from the source material and who knows how much Rodriquez really had to “direct”. The mood, acting, and cinematography were all excellently done.

This is hard evidence that direct comic book to movie translations work. I have nothing against the changes made in the Spider-Man movies nor the X-Men series, but let’s get some more of these direct translations made. Frank Miller’s a proven commodity now, so where’s my Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year One?

Sin City is very highly recommended.

I never really remember any of Clint Eastwood’s movies, but I do know that when I watch them I’m thoroughly entertained; They’re just not the kind to really stay with me. I know just the other night I caught the one where he plays a reporter trying to find the truth behind a man on death row, and I can recall another one where he was a thief/master of disguise or something like that with Gene Hackman. Of course we’ve got Space Cowboys, and Unforgiven (of which I’ve only seen the last half) which are more memorable in my mind.

Much like Eastwood does in all his movies, he’s very patient and really takes the time to let the story and characters develop. Besides Eastwood, Hillary Swank and Morgan Freeman all did a great job in this movie. I’m not gonna say much more because the movie has a spoiler/twist in it that has been kept tightly under wraps. I enjoyed the movie though and could sympathize quite a bit with the way it ended.

Recommended, but make sure you’re in the mood for a sad story.

Greg gets props for this:

why I’m going to miss Pope John Paul II

Greg’s going to hell for this:

calkidd32: love you
valloq: What?
valloq: bitch
valloq: was that meant for your fuckin’ bumbo again?
calkidd32: lol
calkidd32: yes
calkidd32: ;alijeo;aisejo;aisej
calkidd32: hahaha
valloq: okay fool
valloq: you are not allowed to do that anymore
calkidd32: i sent her “get the powerbook!”
valloq: LOL
calkidd32: lmao
valloq: ROFL
valloq: dude
valloq: I’m fucking cracking up here
valloq: ROFLMAO
calkidd32: hahaha
calkidd32: she was like “WTF”
valloq: this is so going on my blog

Being far too busy (read: lazy) to schedule my tv-watching, I’ve stopped following any of the drama/sitcom shows for a long while now, relegating myself to home-improvement and Family Guy reruns. Then the American version of The Office premiered on NBC.

From Brad’s recommendation I have seen four episodes of the original BBC comedy, but I had one major complaint about the show: I can’t understand what the heck they’re saying. Damn British and their accents. The show takes a bit to get used to because the main character isn’t exactly likeable, but after a while I got to understand how the humor worked.

Naturally the American version of The Office doesn’t have the, um…language issues that I had with the British version. It’s good that the creator of the original series, Ricky Gervais, is on board as one of the producers, and the first episode was almost a spot-on copy of the British version.

Make sure to check this show out if you’re burned out from all the Friends-clone sitcoms. Tuesdays at 9:30 on NBC.

Superman Teaser Poster. There’s too many posters I need to get now.

Sin City is coming out today, based on the graphic novels by Frank Miller of the same name. The biggest draw of this movie has gotta be its faithfulness to the original source. My doubts for the movie rest mainly on the fact that it’s all digital, just like Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow, and that didn’t turn out so well, and Robert Rodriquez directing, which after watching Once Upon a Time in Mexico I’ve completely lost faith in. And what the heck is this “guest director” thing?

Anyway, here’s a site that has Sin City comparisons of the film with the comic book.