Just for comparison, the two photos above represent where I used to work (top) versus where I now currently work (bottom). The placement of the arrowhead in the second picture is pretty accurate. I may only be off by one or two windows.
You can also see the previous location was pretty urban with some understandably spectacular water views. The current location has a very suburban feel to it. It's very weird to see so many trees when I look outside now.
So this evening I'm standing in line to pay at a London Drugs store. Directly in front of me is a dude about 14 years old, give or take some face peach fuzz. Ahead of him is another dude, about 40 years old.
Forty is putting down his items for the cashier to scan. He only has a few things. He then puts down his last item, which just happens to be the June 2009 issue of Penthouse magazine. Trust me that it was the June issue, I did a lot of Internet research after I got home. Anyways, the clerk sees forty slap down the Penthouse and in a blink of an eye, the clerk picks it up, scans it, and places it into a bag. I guess he was trying to spare forty some embarrassment and probably didn't want to expose the kid to actual printed porn. Forty paid and he was off.
I can't remember the last time I saw someone buy actual porn at a store. Who's buying porn mags these days? With the advent of the Internet, having to pull your pants up from your ankles, and going to store isn't required any more to get your porn fix. Maybe forty was moved to kick it old school for once. I can appreciate that. As far as magazines go, Penthouse is a solid choice (or so I have been told). Or perhaps he's going to a place that doesn't have Internet access. Another reason could be that he needs a skin mag for a prank of some sorts.
In any case, I hope he enjoyed looking over Pet of the Month Kagney Linn Karter.
Based on the previous games I've worked on, it's only natural that I'm interested in what other skateboard games are doing. This week at E3, Tony Hawk revealed more about his new game Tony Hawk: Ride. In the interview above, Tony actually gets on his new skateboard peripheral to demo the game. It looks interesting but the question remains, will people put down $120 to play it?
Today was day one for the skate team out at EA Canada. With the use of the EA-procured shuttle bus, I was able to be at work at 10am on the dot, which is kinda of a rare thing for me. I made my way to the cafeteria where I immediately ran into an old co-worker now working on the NHL team. Dean and I did some joking around while I selected one slice of bacon, one hash brown, and one breakfast sausage. Dean walked me over to Phase II.
It turns out I didn't need my breakfast as there was a huge spread of pastries, breads, and fresh fruit waiting for the skate team. The majority of my team was in the process of unpacking and setting up in their new spaces. All my stuff was accounted for. On each of our desks was a welcome package from facilities. The package contained a new Black Box branded badge holder (made of super crystal clear plastic), a badge reel, a glass mug, and a coffee cup.
I spent all morning setting up my computer, TV, Xbox 306 dev kit, and PS3 dev kit. At noon, there was a welcome BBQ out on the patio next to our space. We actually have two patios for our use, which is nice since we as a team like claiming spaces for our own.
We were supposed to be "back to work" in the afternoon but no one really expected anyone to be productive on such a day. A lot of people were watching E3 live video. I think I actually wrote a bit of code.
I got home about ten minutes earlier than usual which I appreciated. I'll have some more to say later about the transition to Burnaby.
As you know, Friday was the last work day for the skate team in the downtown location. The day was spent packing and then having a little bit of a celebration on an already deserted floor. I took many photos on Friday to document the proceedings. Look for them here and here.
