My Gaiman History

Last night I re-confirmed one of my own beliefs. Neil Gaiman is one of the greatest modern storytellers.

For me it started in 1989. I was wandering through a comic book shop and saw the beautiful artwork of Sandman Issue #1. I was instantly hooked. I was a faithful reader and collector of the series through 1996. My collection survived my brother twice; once when he burned my issue 8A (the rare alternative print release), and the destruction by shred of my copy of issue #1 that began it all. I was blessed with the good fortune of a godfather who owned his own comic book shop as a "hobby" - he was a FBI agent by day and comic book n3rd by night. He was my guide growing up to the world of fantasy found in the thin paper pages I loved so much. I owe him a million times over for introducing me to the world of comics and gaming.

By 1996, I was starting my life as an adult, but I refused to give up the comics. Lucky for me I married a comic book n3rd and we were able to find a home for our collections throughout our new house. I was sad at the loss of the Endless storyline, but this was about the same time Gaiman's novels began to appear. Neverwhere, Stardust, American Gods, and in 2005 - Anansi Boys - which remains one fo my favorite books of all time. He also started writing children's books. The Graveyard Book, The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish, and Coraline just to name a few.

The Woves in the Walls, one of my favorite of his childerns series, has a frequent appearance in our evening reading schedule, as do most all of his books. I love sharing my love for his work with my daughter. I can't wait until she is old enough to enjoy his comics and novels. We went to see Coraline last night, and although it wasn't a word for word interpretation of the book, it was beautiful and wonderful, and we all adored it on the big screen. The 3D technology was amazing and impressive. The paper mice sequence at the end (post credits) was breathtaking.

I can't wait to see what he has planned next. And yes, I am still holding out for the film adaptation of Death. I have been promised a long awaited Guillermo del Toro and Neil Gaiman collaberation for many years now and I refuse to give up hope :)

I have been a faithful fan of Neil Gaiman for 20 years now. I am thankful for the enjoyment his works have brought me throughout my years, and I hope to continue enjoying his creations for many years to come.

Lost Party!!!

In preparation for tonight's Lost Viewing party, I decided to work on some craft projects

I found labels for some of the foods on the web, and made some others using photoshop.

The Boarding Pass Shiraz is very close to Oceanic Flight style.. so no labeling was required there.

I had thought about doing mini liquor airplane bottles for cocktails, but didn't have the time to get to the liquor store before they closed.


Next I took pearl station Dharma logos and rolled them into the toilet paper for the bathrooms.

I didn't plan for the correlation to Paulo finding the toilet in "The Cost of Living" episode, season 3, but it worked out really nicely.

I am wondering who will be the first to get the TP surprise this evening.

The centerpiece of the table is a conglomeration of Dharma food rations and meds.



Epi pen testers make great pseudo auto injectors and left over med bottles have been labeled with the antidote for the island.

The menu for tonight is Cluck's Chicken (for Hurley), Dharma mac and cheese supper rations, assorted island fruits and veggies, and I found some Peanut Butter Klondike bars. (Peanut Butter and Polar Bears - Oh My)

There are also Saywer's Fish Biscuits (I baked and detailed sugar cookies instead of preparing actual fish flavored ones) , Dharma Rationed beer and soda, and random other assorted themed foods. It should be a fun night!!!

urban hacking / space invaders

Closing Branches

I was shocked to read this headline this morning:
CoastHills Federal Credit Union shutting down two branches

It looks like there will be no layoffs for the employees, but this is a definite sign of the economy.

floating point binary

from the math thread on smug earlier today... why MONEY doesn't compute

http://www.calculateforfree.com/sci.html

Here's my 2 cents on fuzzy computer math: (please feel free to ignore my ramblings)

Floating-point is a lot like scientific notation. It generally has a radix (coefficient), which can be adjustable and an exponent or scale. The radix is multiplied by the base to the power of the exponent.

Ex: 123456.7890 in ten digit precision = radix - 1234567890 with a exponent of 2 (the radix point follows the first digit).

So the value is 10^2*1.234567890 or 123456.7890

Because the radix point is adjustable the floating point notation the math gets fuzzy.

EX: 0.15 * 0.15 = 0.0225

In float point

EX: (1.5*10^-1)x(1.5*10^-1)=(2.25*10^-2)

Computers then use rounding modes to compute the results of floating point operations

In multiplication the radix is multiplied while the exponents are added and the result is rounded, small errors are reported as multiple operations are completed. The errors will occur then the exponent is either too large or too small resulting in hidden bit differences in the math. (side google note: Horner scheme computation for a great algorithm for floating point multiplication and division)

If you made it this far and didn't fall asleep, check out this book "What Every Computer Scientist Should Know About Floating Point Arithmetic" Goldberg, 1991... It's a great read if you enjoy this kinda stuff.

http://docs.sun.com/source/806-3568/ncg_goldberg.html

Or in the words of Xena... WIZARD!

The Pandas are coming

I saw this in the news this morning:

Panda Attacks Man... Again

I am amused by the previous drunken attack where the man bit back.

The story reminded me of the Sifl & Olly "Panda Song"



After dark the pandas stalk
Nightmare creatures with black hearts
Ravenous teeth that glow in the dark
feasting on bums that sleep in the park

the panda is indeed the most mysterious of all creatures
shrouded in the enigma of it's black and white coat
what kind of camouflage is this?
black and white?
hiding in an Oreo factory could be
that's just another chapter in the endless saga of the panda!

chorus
the pandas are coming!
to rip off your head!
the pandas are coming!
on a rampage of the dead!