Andy Laub

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

Published Nov 04

November is Over »

Thanksgiving was good, blah blah blah. I picked up Katamari Damacy, one of the coolest games I’ve ever played for about 30 minutes. After that it’s something you look back at fondly but don’t really want to do again. I started playing GT3 again – did you know that turbocharging a Miata makes it faster? Apparently I couldn’t have figured this out 6 months ago.

Anyway, I was in Gamespot again today because I was kind of looking at Xboxes. I ended up picking up Half-Life for the PS2, and then I found out that it’s buy 2 get one free on used games. So then I got Max Payne 2 (I finally finished the first one) and also SSX 3.

That’s it.

I Bought Some Things »

It’s true! I needed new jeans, so I bought some. From AE and from that Hollister place. Those who’ve been in a Hollister know that it’s fairly dark and the music is loud (not a bad thing, just a fact). In the midst of being there yesterday, though, the music went off suddenly. It was a bit bizarre – I’ll choose loud music over awkward silence any day.

I bought a trainer for my bike. It’s hard. Hopefully it will keep me in better shape now that I have away to exercise that’s convenient and not freezing during winter.

Did I buy anything else? I can’t really remember and it doesn’t really matter. I know I saw this game on G4 yesterday and now I need it badly. OK, pretty much.

Oh, save the whales. Although it doesn’t help that this is streamed – my viewing experience consisted of feet – feet – Toyota Supra – boring.

I Don’t Really Know »

Friday night. Saw the new Mustang. It is definitely one of the best-looking cars this year. First impressions? Bad-ass. Super-wide. Bargain – well, it is if you don’t get a loaded one. I priced one out online last night (GT Manual) with a final result of about $26,000. That’s pretty impressive. Other cars I didn’t know I would really like this year:

  • Chrysler 300C / Dodge Magnum
  • Nissan Titan
  • Subaru Legacy
  • Scion tC

Anyway, got bored with my iPod (though they’re not that exciting to begin with) so now it’s German. I know nothing else.

OK – Politics »

I am still livid. We’ll start with that. I worry about what’s going to happen in the next four years. I don’t want to think about it but I can’t help worrying about it. At the same time, I can’t help being utterly appalled by the number of voters who call themselves moral and proceed to take away the rights of women (abortion) and of minorities (gays). I just don’t get it, I guess. I don’t understand how someone can claim they’re moral and belong to a religion that pushes for tolerance, but then NOT be tolerant. I don’t understand how a religion can claim to be tolerant but only to certain people. I don’t understand why two people of similar gender wanting to be together is such an issue. It’s apparently fine to start a war that has nothing to do with Osama bin Laden and kill thousands of people, both Americans and Iraqis, but you know, gay marriage, that’s the threat. That’s gotta come to a stop because only then will we truly be safe.

I watched part of the Daily Show last night – it was from last Wednesday. There was a report about voters, and a message similar to the following:

Red States,

You were able to find the real issues in this election. These acts of terrorism, the ones that occurred far, far away from you, you were able to see that Bush would be the one to save us from more of those.

But in addition to the terrorism facing our country, you were able to pinpoint the other problem: “homo-ism”. Because two men making out is just plain wrong. See, we here in the blue states, well, we’ve experienced this kind of thing firsthand. But what we really needed was a group like yourself, far removed from these acts of violence and homosexuality, to really tell us what we needed.

What I’m trying to say, Red States, is thanks. Thanks…for saving us from ourselves.

Tongue in cheek, I suppose, but any kind of commentary as of late has to be.

Let’s talk about some other sites that have piqued my interest lately:

Sorry, everybody. Also, FTS.

Dearest Cingular, »

Let me start by congratulating you on you recent marriage with AT&T Wireless! Believe me when I say that I’d jump at the chance to take advantage of your services. Right now I’m stuck between backwater local services or Sprint. Not to say that Sprint is horrible, but they’ve never been my first choice.

Unfortunately, mine seems to be one of the only areas in the United States where your service is not available. How about being a pal and changing that, so no more will I have to watch your rollover commercials longingly. And hey, how abouts hooking me up with one of those Nokia 6620s. We could call it square then, and I can forget those hundreds of commercials you’ve shown me, effectively wasting hours of my life and using up quality TV-viewing time.

Thanks, Andy Laub

PS: T-Mobile, don’t feel bad. You’d be OK too, but leave Catherine Zeta-Jones and bring me a 6600 instead. That’s almost the same thing. I guess we could work something out with a Moto V600 or a Samsung too.