This just in from Stupid Evil Bastard:

According to this news item on PC.ign.com Valve has announced that Half-Life 2 will go Gold on Monday.
…
As soon as we know the retail date, you’ll know, so stay tuned!

Now if you’ll excuse me I have to go and scare the cat by completely freaking out in a very unadult manner.

I almost had hope! But then I read…

Update: The folks at Gamespy also have a news story up on this. Thanks to Ingolfson for the link.

So I guess those of us who bought the Radeon 9800 Pro with the promise of a free download of Half-Life 2 will have to continue twiddling our gaming thumbs while waiting not-so-patiently. I wasn’t really expecting it until later in September, anyway. Actually, I’m not really expecting it at all. That way I won’t be disappointed. Hopefully I’ll be able to find my coupon with the key on it when ever it gets released.

Below are some pictures from the Guitar Center Battle of the Bands at Summerfest.

The bands who competed were Autistic Youth, representing Southridge; Not That Ugly, from Aloha; and Of God, from Westview.

The bands were judged on stuff like look, showmanship, passion and music, with each being worth a total of 15 points (5 points/judge). After all of the bands had played, the audience also voted for their favorite via loudest applause. This was also worth 15 points.

Alas, Autistic Youth came in third. I think they were hurt by the fact that the other two bands had larger followings present in the audience. Of God placed second only because they had the loudest cheering section — I think they brought their whole church along, but nobody else was too impressed. A lot of the general crowd actually left during Of God. Autistic Youth pulled them back in towards the end of their set, which meant Not That Ugly had a larger audience to cheer for them. If it hadn’t been for those two things, Autistic Youth would have placed second, and maybe first.

Mom’s reviews:

Summerfest in general:
Lots of good food — but expensive. Lots of stuff for kids to do — but expensive. More exhibitors than I remember in the past, and lots of freebies. Plenty of tables with chairs available for eating and listening to the music. I miss Nightglow, but the evening concert line-up was better. What with the weather semi-cooperating (muggy, but overcast and around 80 instead of 93), a fun time was had by all.

The Guitar Center Battle Of The Bands:
I give them one star for giving to the schools and lending the sound equipment and drum set. The sound guy, however, had no clue what he was doing. The sound board was at the back of the stage and he never put his headphones on, so he only heard the sound via the monitors. The sound from the speakers was horrible. Very heavy bass (I’m surprised I still have the fillings in my teeth and I was not that close), very light everything else. We couldn’t hear the vocals during Autistic Youth and Not That Ugly totally lost their lead guitar. Bad, bad, bad. And the announcer was pretty lame, too, although he did follow Autistic Youth’s direction to introduce them as “leaving shortly for their one-day tour of Newberg.”

Of God:
What can I say? Christian Rock is not my cup of tea. But, subject matter aside, all of their songs were really long and sounded the same. By the third song I was really bored and just wanted them to be done. I give them two stars, though, because the keyboardist really rocked. Pity we couldn’t hear him half the time. I give their “fan” contingent no stars, because they couldn’t be bothered to listen to the other two bands. They left after Of God played, and came back only to cheer. Boo to them.

Autistic Youth:
Yeah. So it’s my kid — who said I had to be objective? Some comments, though, in the interest of semi-fairness: There was some dead air between the songs while #1 Son talked to Seve and Alex. It made me think that they didn’t know the set list. #1 Son — awesome guitar as always, but talk to the audience, dude! Nick — bass was great but you do a good statue impression. Move around a little! Autistic Youth was by far the best musicians technically. Seve was the only drummer we could really hear. (It reminded me of the very early Bakwash days. #1 Son kept telling me over and over, “I need a louder amp. Seve drowns me out.”) I wish we could have heard the lyrics. I wish the sound had been better. Truth to tell, punk is not to everyone’s liking. But they didn’t really want to win, so meh. I thought they were awesome.

Not That Ugly:
The winners. I give them three stars because they did a decent job. Their music was more approachable than either of the other two bands, although it did all start to sound the same towards the end. But there wasn’t anything to really hate about it, either. It was a drag that I couldn’t hear the lead guitar at all because it looked like he was a decent player. Good sound might have earned them another star. I also have to give them their props for being the only band to thank the other two bands. That shows some class.

Above: Autistic Youth competes in the Guitar Center Battle Of The Bands at Summerfest.
“Enhancing our sense of community through the arts.” (oh yeah!)
L-R: Adam Becker, Seve Sheldon, Alex (Alert) Tryon, Nick (Mayhem) Powell

Right: Seve’s little brother Levi shows his support for the Lost Boys! Alex made the killer vest.

Below: The Autistic Youth fan club.

I was going to write about Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 911. But last night I watched Bowing for Columbine again, and I started thinking about Michael Moore and the message he presents.

I don’t always agree with Moore’s point of view. His films are certainly one-side and his delivery subject to hyperbole. But, hey, in America he’s intitled to openly state his opinion just as much and as often as he wants, and if he can get hundreds of theaters to present it too then more power to him. There’s almost nothing that makes me as angry as hearing that someone is “unpatriotic” because they choose to exercise the right to dissent that this country is founded on.

Regardless of how one feels about Moore, however, one part of his message shouldn’t get lost in the shuffle: We are creating a nation of fear. How many people know that the crime rate is actually falling? You won’t get this message listening to the nightly news or reading the local paper. How many people around us are really other than good, law-abiding citizens. I’m guessing damn few.

And then there’s the Department of Homeland Security Advisory System. Reading Citizen Guidance on the Homeland Security Advisory System is pretty scary in itself. (Click on the link to see the pdf.)

At level “Green” — low risk — we should be creating an emergency plan and practicing it, stocking an emergency kit, learning CPR and know how to turn off our utilities. OK. That’s not bad advice considering that most areas of the country are subject to one sort of natural disaster or another. But are Police Services, Neighborhood Watch and Citizen Corps really the only places we can find to volunteer? What about the local soup kitchen or youth hostel?

At level “Blue” — guarded risk — we should do make sure we’ve covered level green, and add being suspicious of our neighbors (I assume the ones that aren’t “just like us”), making sure we report them to authorities. Oh yeah, and replace those outdated emergency supplies.

At level “Yellow” — elevated risk — we should re-check that we’ve completed levels green and blue, update our emergency plans and develop alternate daily routes to school/home. This last is always a good idea anyway if one commutes in traffic. I know a dozen ways to get to work. Oh… and watch those neighbors!

At level “Orange” — high risk — we should complete levels green, blue and yellow. Review our emergency plans again. Be careful (i.e. afraid) when traveling. Expect delays, searches and restrictions. But instead of turning our neighbors in, we can check to see if they need help. I presume the “bad” ones are off doing terrorist things.

At level “Red” — severe risk — we should complete levels green, blue, yellow and orange. Stay tuned for instructions from officials. Excpect delays, searches and restrictions. Be prepared to either stay where we are or leave. (There’s another choice?) Contact school/business before going in to find out their status. And don’t voluteer unless someone in authority tells us to. (No mention of neighbors. By this time I guess the authorities have hauled them away under the “Patriot Act” and they will never be seen or heard from again.)

In reading these, I’m struck by which items get repeated over and over: Watch for suspicious activities, and expect delays, searches and restrictions. In other words: Be distrustful of eveyone around you and don’t get upset when your rights are violated because it’s for your own good.

The Bush Administration wants us to be afraid. They want us to be very afraid. Why? hmmm… maybe it has something to do with those “delays, searches and restrictions.” Do you think a fearful populace is more likely to be compliant? Or maybe so we’ll learn not to trust our neighbors. After all, one is not likely to form a cohesive unit with those that one does not trust. And it does keep our attention focused on terrorists, rather than on picky little details like the economy and the abject failure of the Bush Administration to do anything constructive.

Hey… my neighbors on the left are a young couple with a small child. Yesterday they asked my advice about building a fence on our mutual property line. They want to preserve the wisteria I have growing on a trellis between us, so we discussed how that might be accomplished. Today they had a garage sale. He offered to sell his really cool classic car to my son for what is a very fair price. They invited us over for barbeque soon. Oh yeah, they’re about as untrustworthy as they come!

And the guy on the right side isn’t all that friendly. In the several years they’ve lived there, I’ve rarely spoken to him and never to her. And he wears his hair in an afro. I guess I’d better watch out for that guy, eh?

Sheesh. How stupid. My whole neighborhood is full of nothing but quiet, normal, “just folks” types. And I get annoyed as hell at stupid, unconstitutional searches and restrictions. (Try flying at level “orange” with a kid who sports a mohawk and full punk regalia.) And I think the Patriot Act is one of the worst atrocities ever foisted on the American public.

It’s damn hard to be afraid of anything except the Department of Homeland Security and the Bush Administration.

But, just so that I remember how afraid the “emergency management officials” want me to be, I’m including the HSA threat level on Persistent Illusion. Thank you to realThreat for the PHP script. They provided some pretty cool images too, but they were a little large for my space. So I made my own. I used Lucky Charms. They’re magically delicious.