From time to time, a video crops up on YouTube that I like to share.  This one comes with a news blurb.  Check it:

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Police said a desk clerk shot a man who was attempting to rob an east side motel on Saturday night.

Officers said that shortly before 9:30 p.m., a man walked into the Super 8 Motel, located at 2055 Brice Rd., showed a gun and demanded money.

Police said the desk clerk on duty then shot the alleged robber, Antoine Stephens.

Stephens, 20, was transported to Grant Medical Center and was in serious condition on Sunday morning, NBC 4 reported.

Police said he would be charged with aggravated robbery.
3 shots fired, all 3 hit the bad guy, gun was a glock 23, 40cal with 165g Gold dots

And here's the video:

I am not the type of person who will just start off on a rant for no reason.  I don't "go off" about stuff on a regular basis.  Sure, I'll discuss things, but, I don't generally feel angry or lose faith in mankind in the course of those discussions... but there are some things that the locals of Huntington, West Virginia really need to pay attention to.

Turn signals.  Indicators.  Blinkers.

When you are switching lanes, turning left or right, etc, you really, really need to use them.  Always.  Every time.  It's moving your left hand maybe an inch or two in a minor action that helps others plan their next move in traffic, avoid accidents, and it could even save your life.

I know you're busy cursing your spouse out on the phone from the seat of your gigantic truck, and everyone else doesn't really need to know where you're going, but, just because you're doomed to an awful life with a toothless significant other and your kids are all carbon copies of Alfred E. Neuman, doesn't mean you can't move your hand a couple inches for the rest of us motorists.  The rebel flag on the back of your truck tells me you're a fucking idiot, but it doesn't tell me anything about where you're going (on the road, that is, it tells me plenty about your future outlook... virtually screams trailer park until coronary).

I don't know.  Maybe you're just incredibly stupid!  This goes for over half of you that I've seen in my 10+ years of living in this town!  Maybe you just need some education.  I'll show you.  It's not that hard.  

Look:

That's what they look like.  It's a little lever extending from the left side of the steering column!  (The thing the steering wheel is attached to... that's the big round thing).  

Now, the operation of this high tech gizmo may be difficult for you, if you're illiterate, retarded, or missing your left arm... but, since you can probably kinda read, I'll explain:

Pushing that lever UPWARDS, Huntington, tells everyone you want to go "right" (towards the side you write with, usually, not that you write).  Pushing it down, means "left", right out the side window closest to you.

When?

Any time you are going to change lanes or turn.  Do it half a block in advance of a turn, or about 6 seconds before you shift lanes.  

I KNOW what you're thinking right now, trying to figure out times when it's okay not to signal!  

Q&A: 

Q: "But, but what if I'm in a turn only lane?"

A: DO IT ANYWAY.  It reassures everyone that you mean to stick with the letter of the road.  Also, not everyone knows you're in a turn-only lane, since that's not everyone's route to work or to their favorite bar that specializes in playing country music and causing the romantic hookups that are destined to destroy the world by 2150.  These people need to where you are going, and if they are in front of your car, they almost certainly don't know which is the turn only lane, or if there even is one.  USE IT.

Q: "But what if I have a green light, I have the right of way, so what does it matter?!"
A: People who want to turn right on red are watching for your signal to see if you are going to go straight or turn.  If you're going to turn, chances are, they can turn, too.  I know it blows your mind, but, just trust me and turn on your fucking blinker.

 
Conclusion:

You see, it's really not that hard, or, that much of us to ask that you flip a switch to communicate with us, since, our cars can very easily kill or disfigure you and your whole family.  The thing is, some of us actually have a family or car WORTH CARING ABOUT... and I know you'd like to spoil that if you had the chance, since misery loves company, but if my car kills your kids, where are you going to get your welfare check?

Though many Street Fighter fans would shriek to hear it, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li wasn't a terrible movie.  It was bad in parts, but it had some merit as well.  When compared to the original Street Fighter movie starring Van Damme and Raul Julia, this new addition to the Video Game Movie genre suddenly seems like an instant win, but, most things look nice next to wet cat shit.

Before dissecting the negative, some solid, good choices made by the producers and crew should be examined.  

Casting Kristin Kreuk as Chun-Li was a very solid choice.  Nobody who would ever be eligible to appear on the screen (read: has an "in" to Hollywood) looks even 90% as close to a young Chun-Li as does she.  No faults of this movie were wholly her own, and she should appear in more movies, very soon.

Casting Michael Clarke Duncan as Balrog was a good choice, Robin Shou as Gen, really good, and even Neal McDonough as Bison was not completely terrible. 

However, it became completely obvious that Chris Klein should never appear in another movie.  Watching any scene with him in it was an uncomfortable and shameful event.  He is easily the most unwatchable actor I have ever encountered, and this performance only paralleled in horrific over-acting by Dominic West in Punisher: War Zone (I hope they both either stop making movies or die tragic deaths).  How can you be given as cool a character as Nash and completely blow it?

Also, highly disappointing was Vega, who, if you've seen the Anime movie of Street Fighter II or played any of the video games, has an awesome persona and an incredible fight with Chun Li.  Not in this movie.  No dramatic fight, just an underinspired roof chase and really lame fight.  What was that mask?  Who is this guy?  Never cast him again for anything, please... it's understandable to go for the dollars the crowd of idiots who like the Black Eyed Peas, or maybe giving a hollywood friend a role, but, for the love of God this guy sucks a dick as Vega.  Whoever made the mask should get a new job, too.  

Other cringe moments included the spinning bird kick multiple opponent disarmament in the night club, and many of the plot decisions that seemingly make the rest of the Street Fighter series pretty much impossible to pull off with any semblance of accuracy to the original games or even anime series.

The scenes between Gen and Chun-Li were actually well done.  Also impressive was the portrayal of Bison as a true-to-the-game hardcore badguy with no remorse.  It's very unfortunate that he won't likely be back for another movie.  Work much harder on fight choreography in a movie called "Street Fighter".  More fights would have been welcome, as well, honestly, and less unnecessary gunplay.  Why do people like Brandon Lee get shot to death on set but turds like Chris Klein somehow survive?

Overall, the movie outdid expectations.  Mediocrity is the best we could have hoped for from a video game movie.  When will Hollywood learn to involve real fans in these projects from the ground up, and to stop handing roles out as favors to friends?

It would be nice if they made more Street Fighter movies, but they need to learn from the mistakes of this installment, or those movies will all be straight to video. 

I love my arcade machine.  Built from a vandalized and beaten up old cabinet, and modified to run tons of emulators, it has been a dream of mine forever to have one.

Using a JPAC unit to connect a computer to the old arcade screen, and an X-Arcade do it yourself kit, with some HAPP authentic arcade controls, I managed to breathe life back into this gutted monstrosity, and give it capabilities it only dreamed of having in its previous life.

It's a little rough around the edges (havent gotten around to doing an aesthetic overhaul yet), and I haven't really completely customized the software side of it to the extent that I'd like to, but overall, there's tons of fun to be had on it.  Using MAME as the primary emulator, GameEx as the frontend, and about 13 other emulators for Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, Virtual Pinball, Daphne Laser Disc games, and everything else, it can play over 8,000 individual games.  

Street Fighter Alpha 3 on a Street Fighter 2 machine really makes me happy.  "Hadouken".

Near future improvements will include a 4 port hub, for the easy attachment of control pads (for better authenticity while playing console games), and I've been considering using wiimotes as light guns and maybe even steering wheels, if I can figure out a really good way to do so.  I'd also like to give it a good coating of paint, replace the plexi-glass front (it's scratched), and mount network attached or good USB external storage inside of it to hold games and applications, so that it's even more modular and able to be backed up easily.  I've added several buttons to the panel in the front, flipper buttons on the sides, and auxilliary "control" buttons to allow swapping between menus in various emulators.

If you ever want details, technical specifications, or help with your own project, let me know! 

I met her outside while throwing a cheap nerf football with my friends.  She hung around for a bit, and finally I was forced to adopt her due to her cuteness.  She's probably the most well-behaved cat in the world.  Recently she has been converted to an indoors only cat due to the increasing number of strays in the area, and because she had been hurt by one of them.

Now she lives inside and has her own bedroom, complete with custom-made bed, and self-cleaning (read: I clean it when she's not looking) litterbox.  She is constantly given Whiskas Temptations (literally the best cat treats ever), Tuna, and 9 Lives Tuna and Egg wet food.  She loves that stuff, even though it's cheap.

Scrawberry used to be a very avid suburban huntress, but has recently given up her life on the mean streets for hobbies such as Nintendo DS hacking and accessorizing.  Photos follow.

am the proud owner of the awesome little guy below.  His name is Caesar, and he's a miniature American Eskimo Dog.  We got him March 6th, 2008.  

 

Right now he's chewing on a rawhide in the hallway, being cute.  

I just wanted to make a post dedicated to him as a test, at first, but then I realized that he probably deserves a full on post, since he's a member of my family in good standing (he hasn't killed anyone or dealt any drugs yet).  He was featured on www.cuteoverload.com a while back, and is has grown into a really good dog.

He still gets a little overexcited when he meets new people, but, he'll grow out of it, I'm sure.

A couple more pics:
 

And my favorite picture of his puppy days: