Well, this has certainly been an interesting week! Alright, let's cover all the ground that needs be covered:
Re: PS3 Shut Down Issues:
It seems very possible that this is less of a firmware issue as it is an overheating issue. Other PS3 owners I've spoken to have mentioned that they believe the "three beeps and the blinking red" mean that it's overheating. If this is the case, it could be because since we brought that big TV downstairs, I've been sitting the PS3 on the carpet (I don't think the compartment under the TV is enough ventilation for it). So if it's overheating because it's sitting on carpet, then that's an easy fix!
As of today, I've been testing the PS3 with it playing upright/vertical, with the vents pointed straight up. Thus far, I haven't had any shutdown issues yet. This may be the fix I was looking for; if it is, then excellent! All the same, though, it's sad that we didn't get to play Rock Band on Sunday at the barbecue . . . ah well, c'est la vie . . .
Re: Visitors:
I've got an Edmonton girl coming in next week, and a Portuguese girl coming in half a week after that. Damn, I'm excited. I'm so excited, in fact, that I think I'm gonna buy them yukata when they get here.
Seriously, I'll do it. We'll call one a graduation/birthday present, and we'll call the other one a "you spent money to come all the way here / birthday present". Incidentally, they share a birthday, so this is an equally belated gift for both of them. So yay.
I imagine we'll all have to play Rock Band at some point.
Re: Anime Evolution 2008:
We're still waiting on official word for all the acquired venue space, but other than that things seem to be going well enough.
Also, since we're at a new university campus from before, I (along with other Shinsengumi members) am offering to lead walking tours around UBC to help acclimate all the people new to the grounds. Y'know, just stuff like where the convention buildings are, where the best photo ops are, where to get food . . . other cool things about UBC . . . stuff like that.
We also figure we shall carry the large Makoto flag with us as we do so. Possibly in Shinsengumi cosplay. Possibly . . .
Re: 2008 Beijing Olympics:
Here's a fun numbers trivia bit for ya if you didn't know it: Chinese people love the number 8; it's like the ultimate lucky number.
It's a similar-sounding word to "prosperity" or wealth", as well as rhyming with "fortune". So Chinese people are somewhat obsessive about the number 8 to the point that they'll pay big money for cell phone numbers with a lot of 8's. Needless to say, a lot of Chinese couples get married on August 8th . . .
. . . which reminds me, I think it's fallenangel8's birthday today . . . everyone go wish her a happy birthday . . .
. . . now that that's said, are you surprised that the Opening Ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics officially start today (08/08/08, at 8:08pm)? Haha, wrap your heads around that bad boy . . .
So that said, the ceremonies start at about 5am my time. Which sucks. But all is not lost . . . at 7am, Vancouver (well, Richmond specifically) is having its own big encore ceremony for the Olympics with performances, martial arts demonstrations, lion dances . . .
. . . and of course, our club shall be doing the lion dance! Bwahaha . . . on the flip side, though, it means I'm out of the house before 6am . . . blegh.
So yeah. If you didn't see me last night, it was because I went to bed earlier than usual.
Re: Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog:
The soundtrack should be coming out on iTunes any time now . . . which will be great. I'm also quite excited about that.
As for the rest of you who still haven't watched it yet . . . you don't have finals anymore, you've no more excuses! Watch it! Here! Right now! Click this link! Do ittt!
Had a barbecue yesterday, partly to talk about convention-related things with the Shinsengumi-types, partly to celebrate my upcoming birthday. It was pretty sweet. We'll have pictures of the Shinsengumi-Mobile up and everything soon, I bet.
We also played with the bullwhip, played some Mario Party, and played with Snoopy (who also came over). All in all, it was good times.
Well . . .
I mean, save for the part where my PS3 locked up when we tried to play Rock Band. I'm very afraid for my gaming system right now. It feels like it more or less only started happening after the recent firmware update from a few days ago, so I'm really hoping that's the case and can be fixed with a patch. Otherwise . . . some very sad things are going to happen in the next little while. 'Cause if my machine is DEAD dead . . . well, I don't even want to imagine that!
Please, Sony, get on top of this . . .
On the brighter side of things, however, the aniki says his present to me is to take me up to the firing range on Tuesday (my actual birthday). And remember, this is the cop brother who carries a rifle carbine as his standard weapon . . . so holy crap. Tuesday is gonna be fun . . .
