Published Photos!

I just got word that I got a couple of photos published on a nifty travel site called Schmap. Taken when we had gone to Moshulu for dinner last February, they were used as part of the Penn’s Landing section of Schmap’s Philadelphia guide. I had put them up on my Flickr page, and they not only found them there, they published the photos with a credit, and a link back to the originals on Flickr.

You can find the photos here – just click on the arrows under the photo on the top right until you get to mine.

reverential In Front of the Stage: Going to See David Crowder in Philly Thursday!

My friend and band-mate, Dan, just told me he got tickets for us to see David Crowder at the Electric Factory (they don’t seem to have a website of their own? What’s up with that!?!?). This is cool for a few reasons, the first of which is the band and their music, and the fact that both Dan and I are fans. Second, while we try to do our own thing musically, these guys are probably at the top of the list when it comes to influences, and it will be great to see them live (a first for me). Now I just have to listen to the new album a few more times before Thursday!

Update 1: the concert was great! More (probably) later!

Update 2: updated link for the Electric Factory’s website (turns out they do have one! Why I had to find it on Wikipedia and not Google, I’m not sure…).

New Portal Addict

This weekend, I purchased, downloaded and started playing Portal, the increasingly popular first-person puzzle/strategy game from Valve. Finally, an involved, challenging, first-person game that not only doesn’t involve killing anyone, you don’t even have a weapon!

References have been popping up, along with Valve’s own viral marketing (oh, and I’m assembling the papercraft project as well!), so I knew it would be good, but had little idea how much I’d enjoy it. I finished Half Life 2 Episode 2 last week, and was a little underwhelmed (it was good, don’t get me wrong, but somehow upon reaching the end I still went “wait, that’s it?”. Oh, and Valve? Please, please don’t wait as long to release Episode 3, ok? That cliff-hanger was a little much!), but this was the game worth waiting for. It’s hard to tell, but I think I got most of the way through it this weekend, but there’s the promise of bonus maps and alternate levels, and that should ensure gameplay for a while.

If you like third-person shooters and puzzles, you should really check this out. This game has everything I want in a third-person-style game: mind-bending puzzles, the chance to explore large areas, and a good sense of humour. Well-done, Valve!