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 ee-MER-jens : noun. 1) The act of rising up or coming forth, as if from immersion. 2) To become evident or obvious. 3) The nightly exodus of a bat colony. 4) The official newsletter of The BAT Cave! Right off The BAT: November 17, 2010: I’ve never had much interest in rhythm music games after I found out you don’t really play music, you just press buttons on a controller shaped like a musical instrument in response to visual cues. I don’t think the press has given nearly enough credit to what Harmonix claims to have achieved with Rock Band 3, which is that it can teach you to play a REAL instrument. It boggles my mind why they decided to release Rock Band 3 without the upcoming real electric guitar, for which Fender just updated their web site with videos and explanations: “Rock Band 3 Pro Mode: Now, in addition to the traditional simulation game play Rock Band was built on, gamers can learn real musical skills using special controllers like the Squier in Rock Band PRO Mode. Instead of just tapping along for fun, you can get real and get closer to the music than ever before—by playing the real guitar and bass parts to your favorite songs!” http://www.fender.com/features/rockband3/ October 11, 2010: I hate to toot my own horn and all, but some might find it funny that I was selected by the San Francisco Chronicle to represent the Nerd point of view at Burning Man Decompression/Heat the Street in San Francisco this weekend. The reporter who interviewed me (the selection process was an outrageous case of obvious profiling btw) got several facts wrong (I don’t live in Antioch, I’ve never been to WonderCon, I can accept being called a tech nerd but he called me a Poindexter nerd…) but he basically quoted me correctly although just enough out of context to make me seem like a complete doofus, oh well. Article: http://goo.gl/b13C July 27, 2010: My 2010 Comic-Con photo essay is up! July 18, 2010: I'm trying out the Twitter microblogging service for short, timely blog updates, longer blog posts will continue here in the section below recent Tweets!  July 17, 2010: I added a new page showing the total cost of ownership of my 2009 Honda Fit from May 2009 until now: https://www.wingedmammal.com/daily_emergence/honda_fit_costs.shtml. July 5, 2010: I've created The BAT Cave FAQ to answer questions mailed in from around the Net, check it out! July 2, 2010: Anyway, Las Vegas was fun. Stayed at the new Aria hotel in City Center right on the Strip. The room was totally automatic, there was a button to control everything! Very neat. My only gripe was that the parking garage is really far from the rooms, so if you drive to Vegas, it's a little inconvenient, but I would still recommend Aria, enjoyed it. Also checked out the new Beach Club at the Wynn Encore hotel, looks very nice, but there was a heck of a line to get in. Will try that next time! The Encore slot machines love me, I'm happy to say I quadrupled my stake of $5 and left with $20! June 21, 2010: I'm back from E3, Vegas, and Yosemite, check out my E3 photo essay at: https://www.wingedmammal.com/e3_2010/e3_2010.shtml! June 14, 2010: I'm on vacation and headed out the door to see the big E3 show in Los Angeles, then to Vegas for some relaxing, then I'm going to try to come back through Yosemite from the east to get even more Action Photos! April 11, 2010: After comparing Nikon and Canon camera systems last year, I've decided to switch to Nikon from Canon because of better low light performance and speed. So far I have two Nikon SB-900 flash units and I will soon be buying more Nikon gear, including a camera. March 13, 2010: I just got back from a short trip to Austin, Texas! I was amazed at how vibrant the economy was there compared to California, there were so many new luxury homes being built I couldn't even count them. Also new malls under construction, new public buildings, it was shocking to see that when construction has pretty much stopped in California. Look for Austin pictures in the Action Photos section! February 25, 2010: I'll also be attending the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) show June 15 and 16 in Los Angeles! January 25, 2010: I will be attending Comic-Con 2010 in the city of San Diego, California, July 21-24 of this year! This is my first trip down there, should be fun, I'll be taking my camera gear to try to get some shots of the people in costume, which the show is famous for. The show is already sold out this far in advance which is why I'm mentioning it now. |