Possibly the greatest ad ever.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0vyx9sa99E]
This is part of an entire campaign for Dos Equis about “The Most Interesting Man in the World”. Presumably the idea was originally based on Chuck Norris, but Chuck held out for more cash (as well he should).
The thing that makes this ad so great is the power it delivers in just 15 seconds. He points out a truth that you may, or may not have considered. The “complimentary” salty nuts you find in many bars are actually there just to make you more thirsty… and also buy more beer. Somewhat scandalous if you think about it. But of course if that beer is Dos Equis… that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Notice he doesn’t even say Dos Equis. Hell, he doesn’t even say beer. But the message that Dos Equis is a good beer, is obvious.
It’s stuff like this I wish I could get away with at the radio station. But here… if you don’t say the advertisers name at least 3 times and recite a street address and a telephone number… then to the client it just doesn’t make sense.
A Look Back: World Driver Championship
By now I have been hopelessly consumed by gaming, and specifically the N64 for almost three years. I was also full swing into the internet and considered myself “well informed” on all things gaming, and an aficionado on all things Nintendo. Yup, that’s right, I was a Nintendo fanboy in every sense of the term. I mention this because at the time (as a fan of racing games) the best racing game was Gran Turismo. Unfortunately for me Gran Turismo was exclusive to the PlayStation gaming console.
Could I have bought a PlayStation? … let me re-phrase that. Could I have afforded a PlayStation? Sure I had a part time job, I could have saved up the money in a month or two. But could I have bought a PlayStation? Resoundingly NO! As dedicated to Nintendo as I was at the time, the thought of giving Sony a single dollar was almost repulsive. My allegiance to “the Big N” was unwaivering. Even Nintendo’s slogan for the late 90’s was “Get ‘N’ or get out!” And if I couldn’t have Gran Turismo, fine, I’ll just spend my time playing stellar triple-A titles like Ocarina of Time, GoldenEye, Mario Kart… and I would be JUST fine.
However… as a fan I the racing genre I followed the devopment and release of this game probably closer than most would. It has it’s similarities to Gran Turismo: realistic physics, great graphics, detailed environments, etc. It didn’t have the licensed cars though, so what was obviously a Mustang in the game was named a “Stallion”. No sweat though. It was a driving game coming from Boss Studios. I had complete faith in the final product.
While at times my favorite developers don’t live up to expectations, Boss Studios truly came through for me with World Driver Championship. As you (probably don’t) remember, they released another favorite game of mine: Top Gear Rally. This game was every bit as fun, while still being a completely different kind of driving game.
I’ve looked forward to this re-review for a while as I loved the game so much back when it was new. I picked it up recently to discover that the game has actually aged fairly well compared to some of these titles that just are painful to look at. Fun to play and bearable to look at. Looks to be a fun game to re-experience indeed.
In all honestly the graphics are pretty darn good. Certainly pushing the limits of the N64. To up the ante even a bit further there is the normal full screen mode, but also a Hi-Res Letterbox mode that you could select. This offers a sharper picture at the expense of the black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. There’s no other performance hit that I could tell so I prefer the hi-res mode.
The game has a very loose character progression, in that you win more races, move up in the ranking and get offered better jobs. For the most part you could end up driving whatever you want as you move on, but there’s a few moments in the game that if you choose to drive for a certain team, you’ll block off a path for ever driving for that team’s arch rival. It’s a nice subtle change from just moving from one car to the next faster car mindlessly.
But what makes all good driving games? Good driving! I use the term “driving game” because really it is more that than racing. The computer cars do offer a nice challenge, but for the most part they are just part of a glorified time trial. The don’t really race against you as much as they run around the track at a certain pace. Still on the tougher courses they can be breathing down your neck, or be the difference between gold or silver.
The cars felt like real cars. They felt heavy and carried some momentum, not only around corners but over hills as well. What looks like a small bend on the map can actually be a tricky corner if set over the crest of a hill. The upwards momentum of your car can kill your downforce for a moment, long enough to slide you off the track if you’re not careful. The more you play the tracks, the better you get at knowing how to react to the environment.
I’d forgotten most of these tracks in general, but as I played more and more I started to remember which corners you had to take it easy on, and which ones you could hammer on through and the cars would stick despite feeling like you’re going a bit too fast. I guess that’s one of the things that made the experience so enjoyable. You really felt like you had to push the cars to their limits to achieve the fastest times.
The game is plenty long too. I didn’t get as deep into it as I once had, but deep enough to be able to appreciate some of the “remixes” of the tracks. Every track had at least two variations. They were the same for the most part, but one alignment might take you through a forest chicane, while another version lead you through 90 degree turns through a small village. Track memorization is still key, but changes enough that you aren’t a mindless zombie after just a few hours with the game.
As realistic racers go, this was the cream of the crop on the N64. And in my opinion STILL one of the better ones today. I had no problem getting into this game again and enjoying it all over again. In fact this re-review has lead me to appreciate some of its qualities even more and hope I don’t hesitate another 5 years to pick it up and do it all again!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-5vowmuOoM]
06.26.10Freshened up the place.
B.G. Willers 3.0 I guess you could call it. Stuck with the old theme for a couple years which was a nice slick theme. But this theme was released recently and it seemed kinda fancy, but not over the top. Give it a shot I guess. Maybe it will inspire me to post more! haha
06.23.10Walkin’ Weiners
0 MPG
Draining the gas tank to drop it for the THIRD time.
Let’s pitch this tent!
We’re wanting to do some camping this summer and we needed a new tent since last year ours finally was getting some pretty decent holes in it. I wanted to do a little research before I just went out and bought a random tent. Come to find out a lot of the Wal-Mart tents SEVERAL people had complained about poles breaking. Since no one else sold tents here in Great Bend I was forced to order online.
I ordered this tent Tuesday with two-day shipping and it finally showed up yesterday (Monday). We didn’t get to camp this weekend and I called Sears and told them that I wouldn’t have paid extra for two day shipping if I knew that they were going to wait two days to ship it anyway. To my suprise, their customer service rep not only spoke english and understood my problem, but also went above and beyond and refunded my entire shipping cost! I don’t mind when people or companies make mistakes, as long as they make an effort to correct it, and I was very satisfied with how they handled it!
Our last tent was a good tent. It was small, but it was super easy to set up, and real sturdy in the wind. So with this one I wanted something that wasn’t complicated to set up, but wouldn’t mind something bigger. Turns out we found a great deal on the Coleman 10×12. Just two poles and a rainfly and you’re done. One person can probably easily set it up in 10 minutes. Should serve us pretty well.
Our little yellow tent had a good run.
Now we just have to find a free weekend to hit up the lake!
Morning Person
You know, for as long as I’ve been a night owl, I’m surly starting to appreciate the mornings. Here it is, Sunday 6AM and I actually set my alarm to get up this early. I let the dog out and sat on the back steps for a while, just enjoying what is bound to be the coolest air we’ll see today, and just listened to the birds and the crickets. Here on the main drag in Great Bend it just doesn’t get this quiet that often.
I noticed that all those things I swore would never happen to me as I got older just kinda happen. When I was a kid there’s no way I would have gotten up this early on purpose unless I had a very specific and necessary reason to do so. Nor would I look at the clock and think of 9:00 as “getting late”.
But we still have some youthful fun. Andrea hauled her desktop computer out to the living room yesterday and hooked it up to the HDTV to enjoy her new video card. We had to run network cords, power cords, audio/video cords all over the house to make it happen. It reminded me of the old LAN parties we used to have. Things like that I think you shouldn’t have to outgrow.
#*&@! @&$* BLAZER !@*$&
Okay, screw everything I said in that last post. The Blazer is dead again and I think I’m done.
06.17.10Finally think we’re there.
Well I know this has been the Blazer blog as of late, and updates have been sparse at that. But I think we’ve finally got the Blazer pretty much where we want it.
Just this morning I got the dash all put back together. I think I’ve got all the electrical stuff (I can) fixed under the dash. Still no reverse lights, but that’s because the previous owner removed the reverse light switch. This switch also tells the computer which gear you’ve selected, so since the computer know what gear you’re in… but doesn’t know what gear you’ve selected… it kicks on the check engine light. To be honest, I can live with it. I could get a new switch, it’s not expensive, but I have no idea where the wires went that used to hook up to said switch.
Other than that it runs pretty darn good. Defiantly has more power than either of our other cars. Gas mileage so far seems comparable to the Toronado. I think we’re finally to the stage where we can just drive it.
No project is ever finished by any means, there’s always little toys we’d like to add to it, but that can be down the road… whenever. For now, it’s a good old truck that I won’t mind if it takes some abuse.
Things I’ve Learned:
These newer computer controlled things are definitely more complicated than what I’m used to working with. When all the sensors and switches are intact, that’s actually a good thing because it will really point you towards the problem a lot quicker. BUT when the computer system is as hacked up as this thing is, it makes it an absolute nightmare trying to figure out what is actually wrong.
IF I buy another 1990+ automobile, it will have to be in real nice shape so that I’ll be confident that all the sensors and switches are likely still intact. If I ever decide to take on another basket-case, it will be something older. With a setup that’s a little more rudimentary.
So all in all, the $400 Blazer turned out to be about a $1,000 Blazer if you figure in all the parts. It runs strong and the 4×4 works, so the real value probably falls somewhere in between those numbers. Not the best investment I’ve ever made, but if we drive it for a few years and sell it while it’s still got some life left in it, I think it could still be worth it. Andrea is taking it on it’s first out of town trip this evening to Hutch. Assuming all goes well (which by all indications it should) we’ll be taking it to Kanopolis this weekend for some camping, it’s true purpose all along! That is if our tent shows up in time…
06.10.10Teaser
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re48REw5Rr4]
No, I didn’t crash at the end. I think the camera hit the window or something. REALLY!