Andy Laub

Andy Laub is a designer & developer in the Twin Cities.

Published Jan 03

I’m Just Not Hungry at 6 AM »

And I think that’s why I can only eat one bowl of cereal and have to resort to Twinkies (or Goldfingers, as some might call them) between photography and art history. So anyway, I ate some of those this morning. Not much else is happening except guess what? I FINALLY HAVE A GAMECUBE. I am so happy, not so much in the elated sense as in the relieved that it’s over sense, sort of like I was back when I had my portfolio review. And so ends the Buy-Rite dilemma, after some quick thinking. I will post the whole experience at Ray Ban outlet some point, but I don’t have time right now. It is positively ridiculous, and just kept building and building in a the runaround they gave us which finally culminated in them sending us the wrong color again. So anyway, I am happy (see above) to say that that is, indeed, that. Three “that”s in a sentence are two too many. Notice my mastery of the written word, all of which will now be negated by my exclaimation of “wooooo!” That’s it.

I Have Gone Completely Insane »

Or at least judging from this, one might assume so. That’s right, it’s a cardboard GameCube.

Anyway, that’s enough of that. Hamtaro arrived yesterday. That’s pretty freakin’ amazing, since it only shipped two days prior and I ordered it regular ground. So obviously, I cannot give EB Games a higher recommendation. If you need a game (and can’t find it locally, of course, look there).

And finally, I actually watched “Must-See TV” last night. Does that make me mainstream? And that brings about another thought. I think they should make it mandatory Ray Ban outlet to watch, since it certainly sounds like that already, and punish people who don’t watch it by drawing mustaches on them. Yeah, I don’t know where that last part came from but I’m gonna leave it there because it’s silly.

Large Things, and Smaller Things »

Titan is a cool word. Because of that, I tend to become biased about things that have that name, even if they are not great (but they usually are). I was reading Discover this morning, and Saturn has a big moon called Titan. I think it’s my new favorite. There’s also the new Nissan Titan, as well as a set of Titan (link to be added) wheels for your Volvo. And then, of course, there’s titanium.

Now onto the small things. Hamtaro. He is a hamster. I don’t know why we like him but we do. Abe, about a month ago, had brought home a catalog for Nintendo products, and one of the featured Game Boy games was Hamtaro. He was all like, “oooh, Hamtaro!” and I was like, “what?” But then I read a bit about the game, and it sounded pretty fun, so I thought maybe I’d pick it up sometime. Somewhere between then and now, though, it became an obsession to find this game. I saw it at Circuit City awhile ago, but neglected to buy it at that time. Then we were in the Twin Cities over the weekend so I had thought, hey, I’ll just pick it up there. Wrong. 5 stores later, we were still Hamtaro-less. So we checked Ray Ban outlet everywhere locally, and probably ended up looking at about 15 or so physical stores, total. The Appleton Circuit City, which is where I saw it before, still has it, but it’s a two-hour drive. I also looked on the internet where it’s either a)not available or b)at least $35. Then, by some twist of fate, I came upon EB Games, who actually had it in stock at a normal price. So now, Hamtaro is on his way via UPS Ground.

Also, I have a copy of Metroid Fusion sitting here, and I am trying to figure out a good time to actually start playing it. I feel as though I still have some issues to resolve with Yoshi’s Island.

High Time I Mentioned Cars Again »

Well, to begin with, this article from the New York Times. It’s about a guy named Chris Bangle, also known as the person who’s ruining BMW’s. But that’s not why I know who he is. I know who he is because I saw him in the catalog for the first school I went to. I remember being really excited because I wanted to go into automotive design and here was a guy who went to the same school as I was going to and now he had the job that I wanted. But now, after seeing some of his work, I’m kind of ashamed to even be familiar with him or to ever have wanted anything to do with BMW. I’m also kind of jealous of his power over bringing this crap to production. I had originally thought of BMW, as a company, as a sort of sanctuary. They’d already had a well-established design cheap air max trainers direction, and there was no possible way to screw it up. But somehow, they did. That makes me sad, and thinking that perhaps my new sanctuary will be Audi, except that now they’ve got that new Pike’s Peak thing, which for all the world looks like a Touareg from the back.

But anyway, back to Bangle. He’s a dork. That’s harsh. I don’t suppose he’s actually really a dork. Probably more like a misdirected designer, or something like that. Slate has this article about him. Or the Z4, rather. I think that’s probably pretty accurate. I don’t really know about that car. I mean, it almost looks ok in pictures, but I just don’t get it, I guess. It’s pretty homely, and I have seen it in person. I cannot honestly believe that Automobile actually awarded Bangle and the Z4 man and design of the year, respectively. It hurts me inside. Speaking of the inside, I have no qualms with that. I really like the “layering” effect BMW has been doing with their newer vehicles, like the 7 and Z4. But the outside (of the Z4 especially) just asks “why me?” On a final note, there’s this petition to apparently keep Chris Bangle from designing any more vehicles, or something like that. I’m not sure if that’s going to be effective, but I do know that “flame surfacing” is really a strange phrase.

So…Wanna Buy a Game Boy? »

Let’s just make a quick note of this. My Game Boy Advance was purchased on 123102. Fine. One week and one day later version is announced, for release in March. And it’s actually good-looking. This is actually what I was picturing when I was thinking about what I’d really want a Game Boy to be. So I am kind of sad but kind of not. I don’t think Cheap Oakleys I could’ve held out for it anyway, because, as I mentioned below, Yoshi’s Island has kept me from going insane, and I’ve decided to blame this whole ordeal on Buy Rite rather than my lack of foresight. So anyway, if anyone is wondering, the GBASP (that’s not a very good acronym) would make an excellent gift (for me), especially if the US of A eventually gets it in black.

In other news, according to the Planet Gamecube release list, I guess that Grand Theft Auto 3 was originally slated to be available on the Cube, but, to my dismay, it’s apparently been cancelled. That makes me sad. Unlike the cancellation of Banjo-Threeie; that makes me laugh. Apparently, this is because of Rare’s sale to Microsoft, so this crap for crap game will be available to all you lucky Xbox owners out there.

I Really Like Stuff. I Mean, Really. »

I do. And so does Abe. I think that’s why there’s so much in the apartment. I could actually put together a “stuff list” if you really wanted one, and if I’m bored enough later on I may actually do so. Anyway, how was Christmas? And New Years? Mine were ok. I got, of course, more stuff, something that I’m very proud of. Seriously though, I somehow actually got most of the stuff on my list, with the exception of numbers 7-9. All I can say right now is, I like the tires, and I am really glad I picked up the Game Boy Advance when I was in Schaumburg (we went to the big IKEA again). I haven’t played any of the games on the list at this point, because I am in the middle of Yoshi’s Island. That game is so freakin’ cute, and if I didn’t have it, I think I’d be insane right now. Anyway, sitting next to my TV are Metroid Prime, Sonic, and Mario Sunshine, and also a Memory card 251 and a black controller, but no Gamecube. Abe and his parents went together and got it for me for Christmas, whish was awesome, and I was totally off guard, but there was a problem with it, and we had to send it back to Buy Rite, which is being a real bastard about it. They recieved it two days after we mailed it (on 12/26) and refused it (on 12/28). So now, it is somewhere between North Carolina and here, maybe it will come back to day, at which point I can send it out again. Yay. I’m hoping it gets lost so I can get the insurance from it and cheap oakleys get one from Best Buy. Pain in the ass. So I guess I am a little irritable about having to wait, but I’m really looking forward to actually using it. Some times I take the controller that I have out and just press buttons on it to pretend I’m playing a game. No, that’s not really true. I bought a game for the ol’ Playstation, of all things, that’s been helping me take my mind off the situation. It’s called The Italian Job. It is worth 8 dollars, possibly more. So yeah, that’s what the story is. Yoshi is calling me now.