siraim.com

I understand how computer glitches can cause major issues for online retailers and I am completely OK with said retailers taking actions to make sure they don’t get fleeced by a mistakenly posted price. That being said, when you cancel my order because of your mistake, please don’t send me an email that is written to seem like it’s coming from a compassionate human.

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Hello,

Our records indicate you recently ordered ‘Daredevil Omnibus, Vol. 1
Daredevil by Brian Michael Bendis & Alex Maleev Omnibus, Vol. 2
The X-Men Omnibus, Vol. 1
Wolverine Omnibus, Vol. 1′. Unfortunately, due to a pricing error, we sold many more than expected. In fact, we completely sold out — we don’t have any in stock right now, and we’re not even sure if we’ll be able to get more.

As a result, we’ve had to cancel your order. I realize this is disappointing news, and I’m so sorry for any inconvenience this causes.

You may want to check our website from time to time to see if this item is available. If anyone is selling it, you’ll see a “More Buying Choices” box on the product detail page; if it’s not available from any sellers, you might see an “Order it used” or “Alert me” link. “Order it used” allows you to place a pre-order for the item in case another seller lists the item for sale later. “Alert me” allows you to sign up so we can e-mail you when Amazon has stock available for purchase.

I’m sorry I don’t have better news. We hope to see you again soon.

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“I’m sorry”? You’re a computer. You’re not sorry. You’re a computer. You simply canceled my order because of your issue with your pricing glitch. In the future, I’ll deal with InStockTrades (despite their search being beyond broken). BTW, it sucks that some people got the cheaper price. They should have cancelled all of the orders.. not just some of them.

Close your eyes and picture the following episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. I suppose you’ll have to leave your eyes open to read this, oh well. Uhura intercepts a distress call from a local group of colonists claiming that they’re under attack from a party of Gorn soldiers. The situation is desperate. Kirk and Spock discuss their options while Bones complains that this isn’t going to turn out well. Kirk decides to help the colonists and Chekov plots a course for the colony.

Upon arriving at the planet, the colonists reach out again and reiterate their dire situation. Kirk personally leads an away team mission with his senior officers to help the colonists. They head to the transporter room and Scotty beams them down to the planet. Once they are on the surface, they see a group of Gorn and Kirk approaches to open dialo.. oh. Kirk just shot the Gorn Officer in the back. Now the whole away team has opened fire on the Gorn and wiped out the Gorn squad.

They now proceed through the colony and wipe out every single Gorn they find. Looting gear from the fallen Gorn soldiers. Once the entire Gorn raiding party has been dispatched, Kirk finds the colonist leader and fills them in on the death and destruction the crew of the Enterprise just brought to their colony. A thankful colonial leader gives Kirk a few credits for their trouble and sends them on their way.

This is how every ground combat mission in Star Trek Online plays out. Land on the planet. Kill everyone you find. Get credit for the mission. Head out to space and move on to the next death arena. There’s plenty of depth in the ground missions and lots of varied and interesting locales. Allowing these away missions to be solo or group PvE encounters or PvP encounters is a very cool addition to the game. Still, I can’t help but think something is amiss in a Star Trek game that requires you to solve all problems militarily instead of peacefully and diplomatically.

Space combat is sublime in Star Trek Online. Multiple weapon types. Tons of skills to help shape the battle. Massive wide open areas of space to travel participate in epic ship to ship battles. The space combat is by far my most enjoyable component of the game. I will continue to play the game because of the space combat and the space exploration components of the game.

Over time, I expect that the more and varied mission types and mission resolutions will become available in Star Trek Online. Hopefully, we’ll start to move away from murder everyone in sight, but if not I’m ok with that too. It’s a staple of MMO questing that I can’t really argue with. The game has skills and options galore that I can’t wait to be explored and fleshed out. Hopefully Cryptic continues to grow and build the game without trying to neuter a game that has so far been enjoyable and I’d rather never live through another game change like I did with Star Wars Galaxies.

If you happen to join Star Trek Online and want a crowd to tool around the galaxy with, look me up at wilsyn@siraim or look up the Totally Rad Fleet.

I recently decided to jump on the bandwagon and catch up on Lost. 103 episodes over the course of 5 seasons are available on DVD. I’ve made it through about 37 episodes and I’ve come to the conclusion that Lost isn’t about a group of folks stranded on an island on which mysterious things keep happening. It’s a social experiment to see if viewers are willing to continue to watch even though very little happens.

And then.. the wheels came off in my brain.

I should have seen it coming. I know better than this. I am in love with a storytelling medium that specializes in telling stories in which nothing of substance happens to a number of extremely important characters. The connection between my love for comic books and Lost should have been more obvious. The cast/crew attend comic conventions (San Diego particularly), which I sloughed off as being pop culturish and just a way to boost publicity. The connection was made when I noticed the credits in the middle of the second season. Jeph Loeb is a producer. If I comb over the first 35 episodes or so, I’m sure I’ll find more comic book creator links.

My interest in Lost was waning after the first few episodes of Season 2. I didn’t care much. As soon as I made the mental link between comic books and Lost, I was back in. If I can suffer through Dark Reign and Norman Osborne, I can suffer through Lost never providing answers.

The story seems to be moved forward by filling in back story and making links between characters. 37 episodes in, I have no idea what Dharma is. I have no idea who is providing supplies to the bunker. I have no idea where this bunker gets power. Comic books move their stories along in the exact same way. Instead of changing a character in a real way, they shuffle the pieces around within the world around the character. Batman subtly changes over time, but he’s essentially the same brooding and determined kid that watched someone gun down his parents.

Through this lens, I’m completely OK with where Lost is going and I’m along for the ride. Hopefully I’ll catch up before the new season and can enjoy the ride in the final season in real time. Incidentally, catching up on Lost feels exactly like catching up on a comic. When I wanted to start reading Powers by Brian Michael Bendis, I went back to the start and picked up all the trade paperbacks. I read them as quickly as possible and had to fight the urge to ask wikipedia who certain characters were. I feel the same way watching Lost. The CIA officer that let Sayid go? He looks familiar and I think I saw him in the jungle. Wikipedia would tell me if I’m right, but I have to avoid the temptation.

So.. tonight I’ll probably finish most of season 2. Tomorrow night I’ll probably pick up season three on DVD. It’s an interesting ride and I can’t wait to catch up and start watching in issues.

Friday morning brought a quick breakfast at the Courtyard and then a day at NAS Pensacola for the Blue Angels Homecoming air show. It was a beautiful day for an air show. 75 degrees and only a few clouds in the sky. It was an amazing day of air show antics topped off by an always amazing Blue Angels performance.

I grew up on Corry Station (which is adjacent to NAS Pensacola) and saw practice sessions, both air shows each year and even had a pilot show up at one of my birthday parties as a kid. (I’d be ok with that happening now as an adult too.. just sayin’) The Blue Angels and this area is part of who i am and I’m having a blast on this trip.

I’ve uploaded some of the better pictures I took today while at the air show. They’re all uploaded to Flickr. Feel free to browse. Airshow Nov 09

We arrived onsite for the air show:

Had our picture taken next to an F/A-18 Hornet flown by the Blue Angels:

The GEICO Skywriters drew 3 American flags in the sky during the National anthem.. it was pretty cool:

But not as cool as the sky diver that flew the Flag as he descended to the flight line. The Skywriters circled him as he descended. This was amazing:

Fat Albert lifted off using JATO. Marie hadn’t seen this before… it’s far more cool in person..

Fat Albert then executed a parade pass:

The Angels passed the flight line in a diamond:

And.. The Angels flew past the flight line mostly upright:

All 6 Angels climb in formation:

Again in formation as they fly toward the flight line:

And then roll out.. this was pretty awesome to see.

Beyond the pictures, the experience was amazing. Seeing the jets again was great. Over NAS Pensacola, they could fly faster than at some air shows at which I’ve seen them. The F-16 fly over at 600 mph was breathtaking.. literally. Seeing the power and grace of the jets can’t really be described by a picture… if you have the chance, find an air show. Spend some time wandering the display areas and check out the planes they have on display. Talk to the pilots and the crew that make themselves available. You won’t be disappointed.

I didn’t make a post on Facebook or Twitter on Veterans’ Day for a reason. I knew I’d be here two days later. My love and respect for veterans’ runs deep and can’t be summed up in 140 character posting. I prefer to show my support in person. I prefer to celebrate as I do everything else, quietly and in my own way.

Marie decided a few months ago to do something nice for my birthday. She’s been trying to surprise me for quite some time and this week, while not surprised, she definitely made a great decision on a birthday gift.

We took a long weekend to fly to Florida, spend a weekend tooling around where I grew up (from time to time) and happened to be here for the Blue Angels homecoming air show at NAS Pensacola.

Things started out a bit poorly. Caitlin didn’t really want us to leave..

We landed safely in Pensacola..

Saw a Blue Angel F/A-18 when we got off the plane.. sort of..

And had dinner at my favorite restaurant when I was a kid..

We got a good night sleep… and got ready for our long day in the sun at the airshow.

I’ve been thinking a bit about MMOs lately and trying to figure out why I’m drawn to some MMOs and turned off by others.  While I tend to worry about quests, graphics, system performance and the community, I think fundamentally one factor matters more than all the rest.  My connectivity to my onscreen avatar.

Games have always been about immersing myself in the life of another character.  While Space Invaders was a great game, I was more personally connected with Pac-Man or Pitfall. They weren’t technically “better” games, but they were more personal. In Space Invaders, I played the role of a space ship that moved around the screen accomplishing a task.  In Pitfall, I was an 8-bit Indiana Jones. I was an 8-bit Indiana Jones.

This personal connectivity is a common thread in my gaming life.  I’d rather play a Mario, Sonic or Punch Out game as I felt far more connected to the character on the screen.  Starfox was a great game, but I was never as personally invested.

At the top of the connectivity heap have always been role-playing games.  Pen and Paper games provided a way to completely control my character from back story and skills to actions and growth.  The connectivity there was completely in my imagination but it was palpable.  With the advent of computer role playing games, I could have a similar experience on my computer. I controlled much of who/what I played in game.

The MMO affords the opportunity to live and breathe in a virtual world.  My ability to connect to a game through my character remains just as relevant today as it did when I played Pitfall.  If I feel a direct connection, I’m going to judge the game more favorably.  Everquest 1 & 2 and World of Warcraft have provided wonderful visual connectivity to my characters. Seeing new equipment reflected in my onscreen avatar brings me further into the game world.  The most immersive game I’ve played has been Star Wars: Galaxies.  My equipment choices were seen directly on my onscreen avatar. The game provided users with access to houses and cities to further create an immersion factor. (I am aware the Ultima Online did this years earlier. I played UO and enjoyed it but ultimately was left wanting more.)

Games like City of Heroes/Villains and now Champions Online provide a great level of customizability in my characters powers, backstory and costume.  Their great failing in my eyes is the complete disconnect between items I’ve equipped and my onscreen avatar.  I play Champions regularly and, as much as I enjoy the game, every moment I play I think about the lack of immersion I feel.

Finally, games the remove my character completely from the experience draw me further and further away from the game itself.  Eve Online and Auto Assault left me feeling completely disconnected even though I was able to customize the onscreen vehicle I was piloting/driving.  That disconnect left me feeling cold and my opinion of the game was directly influenced by the disconnected feeling.  The times in those games when I was afforded the opportunity to explore the world as a human outside of a vehicle were few and far between.  Even in those brief moments, I never felt connected.  So I stopped playing both games relatively quickly.

In the future, I will continue to seek out games that allow me to live in a virtual world and allow me to experience changes in my on screen avatar as a result of my equipment or skill choices.  The ability to manage and maintain a virtual home that includes my spoils of war is crucial.  It’s clearly reached the point that I now look at upcoming games through this filter.  I’m hopeful the new Bioware Star Wars RPG gives me the level of immersion I’m looking for, but we’ll see.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve found a few interesting pictures that I’ve wanted to add.  They’re a collection of odd things I see while I’m out and about.

This picture is simply infuriating.  I saw this truck a few weeks ago while having lunch in St Paul.  Where do these people come from? I am all for the free exchange of ideas, but ignorant people frustrate me.

Where do these people come from?

The next image is brought to you by the wonderful folks that paint directions on the street.  The road ends in a T not more than 250 feet from the painted arrows.  You can see the street sign in the distance.  Do they really need to tell drivers that you ONLY go left and right?

The road t's... what other options are there?

I love the next image.  While waiting for chinese takeout, I noticed my little friend in the fish tank. Clearly, he’s the super-hero of the fish tank with his dashing domino mask. I wonder what his secret identity is?

Wonder what this fish does when not in costume?

Finally, while driving to Minnesota tonight, I noticed a quickly moving object north of me on I-39 heading into Rockford, IL.  Clearly, as is normal, I thought it was an alien spacecraft until I got a little closer.  Turns out, the Rockford Airfest was this weekend and a B-1 Bomber <fixed> was flying over the city.  Very cool random sighting while on the road. (and for those that are going to ask, I pulled over to the side of the road to take the picture.. I swear <crosses fingers>!)

B-1 Over Rockford...

I realize I’m still 12 years old.  I get it. As an adult, I’m supposed to avoid doing certain things because they’re childish.  I’m not supposed to play video games, watch cartoons, buy toys or read comics.  For all of the “adult” things I do in my life, the Maturity Police would probably arrest me for being too childish.  Of all the things I am not supposed to do, I think I derive the most joy from reading comics.

I’d dabbled in comics as a kid. I can’t ever remember buying comics in a store or spending much time perusing the spinner racks for the latest issues.  The stash I remember reading was given to me by neighbors on the millitary base I’d lived on in Puerto Rico. They were getting rid of things their dad didn’t want to ship to their new duty station.  The box of goodies contained a few random comics, most of which weren’t memorable.  The jewel of the box? The Frank Miller Wolverine origin story.  Looking back, I wish I had held onto those issues.  I had no idea what was in my hands then.

My brief fling with comic books ended when I lost track of that box of books.  They most likely disappeared when my family moved away in a similar set of circumstances.  I’m sure the kids next door enjoyed their free box of comics.  I didn’t read comics again for 20+ years. I bought into the mantra of the Maturity Police.  Comics were for kids and I desperately didn’t want to be a kid anymore.

I missed the Watchmen. I missed the rise of the collector craze in the 90s.  I missed out on the Daredevil wearing armor.  I missed the death of Superman. I missed the Dark Knight Returns.  I missed it all, because I knew comics were for kids.

A few years back, i truly grew up.  Life events threw me a curveball and I realized that I’d been coasting through life pretending to be an adult.  I braved the trade paperback section at the local mega-bookstore and picked up the first trade of Ultimate Spider-Man by Brian Michael Bendis and The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller. I loved every page of them.  Read from left to right, top to bottom..got it. I was fine.  Until the story spanned facing pages and then i’d occasionally get lost in the flow.  I reread quite a bit that week trying to make sense of the story from time to time.

From that point, I decided that I’d rather support a local comic shop instead of the mega-bookstore and happened to find a really great local shop.  It was well organized, well stocked and the owners were helpful and friendly.  I picked up the rest of the Ultimate Spider-Man trades and branched out a bit until I had some of the other Ultimate lines.  I picked up a number of different Batman books as I went along and enjoyed them as well. I also picked up Watchmen.  Reading through it the first time, as a novice reader, I was lost.  It was amazing but I was lost.  I’ve reread it once or twice since then and I’ve found it to be more enjoyable each time.

Once I was caught up on Ultimate Spider-Man in trade, it didn’t take long to move to the single issues.  I love the serialized nature of the stories and I love the anticipation of getting the next issue. In issues, I’d find myself dabbling more. Trying out an issue or three of things I couldn’t be sure I’d like.

My journey back into comics was an enjoyable one.  I fell in love with the story telling style. I fell in love with the diversity in the art. I fell in love discovering new comics.  One of my favorite things about the comic world is the diversity of the local comic book shops.  In my current job, I get the opportunity to see many different comic shops and I can enjoy the oddities and cultures of each.

In future posts, I’ll talk about the various series that I’ve found and enjoyed.  I’ll talk about the various comic shops I find.  I’ll expand upon my love of comics. After two years of absorbing comic culture and getting acclimated to the world of comics, I want to put my thoughts in order.

I’ve learned that being a grown up doesn’t mean eschewing things I find fun. I can live the life of an adult while still enjoying myself. I own my own home. I have put my personal life back in order. I have a great job that I have no intention of changing, which is a blog post on its own.

All that being said?  When I head out every Wednesday evening to find the local comic shop, I never say I’m going to get my comics.  I say simply that I’m going to get my ‘books’. I just feels more grown up.

When I was a kid, i was obssessed with looking at the starry night.  The stars just hung there twinkling away and every night i’d find the same ones in different places.  I eventually noticed they were moving across the sky nightly and back and forth in the sky over time. It was pretty cool.  Not long after this, I figured out constellations and fell in love with Orion.  Every night, I’d look for Orion.  The stars and Orion were much like how I saw myself. Always on the move, but always the same.

I grew up in a very non-stereotypical way.  Most kids I know lived in one place their entire lives.  They can go back to their homes for the holidays still and they know a neighborhood they grew up in like the back of their hand.  Like the stars, I moved constantly.  By the time I was nine, I had lived in three States and one foreign country. Since then, I’ve lived in four additional States.

Even in situations where I should have found stability, I couldn’t find any. I lived in one house from the fifth grade until I graduated high school. During those eight years, I went to 6 different schools.  A guy can’t catch a break.

Through all of this change, I learned a great deal about myself. I learned who I wanted to be and I learned how I wanted to be.  Family and friends that know me could tell you that I’ve been pretty consistent in my manners, actions and moral compass for years.  I found my voice early in life and took comfort in as my world changed around me.

In the way my mind works, my location in the world was similar to the movement of the stars over the course of the year.  Constantly in different places and always in motion.  My identity and my self-confidence was similar to the stars as an entity.  Always the same, always there.

To this day, when I get out of the car at night, I look up and find the stars and constellations I loved as a kid.  I still think about the movement of the stars at night while I’m driving home from a gig. I still wonder what we’d find if we could travel among the stars.

Of course, now that I’m in a place of my own that I have no plans to vacate, I can’t seem to find Orion at night.  When I’m finally home for a bit, I’m going to stake out my constellation.

Day two of riding the metrolink to downtown stl.. Day two of the train stopping on the way home to change conductors. They change in the middle of a route during rush hour. What the heck?