February 18, 2007
I really was a child actor...if you call it acting...
So...remember THIS post?
Well...just to confirm some of what I said...I give you me. In the '80s. *sigh*
Here's the link.
Will I ever live this down? No.
The commercial was an all day shoot, the day before thanksgiving. I got paid $600 to do it, and most of the day was spent playing video games while waiting for the crew to setup the shot. The most memorable thing about this experience? Playing the stand up version of "Discs of Tron" for about 2 straight hours. Awesome.
Posted by SunSword at 09:32 PM | Comments (1)
February 07, 2007
I feel a Heatwave comin' on... (holy cr4p, what have I done???)
The past two or three weeks have been incredibly busy and because of the nature of that bustle, I really haven't had much opportunity to talk about what I'm up to.
Last month, I blathered on about how I was going to make some big changes and things are going to change. I was serious.
Last Friday was my last day at Codemasters. I've started a new company called "Heatwave Interactive, Inc.", as a vehicle to bring great games to the masses and "right" some of the "wrongs" in the games business. Currently, Heatwave only has a few employees, but we've already landed our first contract for a major client. What are these great games you ask? How about those wrongs? And can I really do anything about them?
I'll get to that. But first, let me give you a little context for what my life is like in this transition.
Codemasters & England. My family and I really are very sad to be leaving England so soon. We firmly expected to be there at least three years. We've had an amazing time. We've travelled all over the UK and parts of Europe. The kids have been exposed to a very different way of life, and as a family we've had to adapt to some pretty significant lifestyle changes (family of six with no car for 5 months...). The people at Codemasters are fantastic. Along with some great professional contacts, I've made what I hope are lifelong friends. In particular, the Codemasters Online Gaming (COG) division are an inspiring group of people, weathering very difficult conditions for a vision they believe in (not to mention holding up the banner for online gaming's "forgotten continent").
I'll miss you guys.
Heatwave & Austin. So, as of Friday, I've been phoneless and computerless. That's been rough. Particularly since I've been travelling quite a bit in the US. At the moment I'm in Austin, Texas doing a little house shopping and getting some fundamentals set up. Over the next month or so, I'll move the family and get into the groove with our new client. Also, we've got some corporate branding coming along, and of course a website (the current domain is purely a placeholder). I've got a great partner in a gentlemen named Donn Clendenon, who I've been working with "virtually" for a while. We've also got some very talented folks working with us on various parts of the business. I can't wait to tell you a little more about that in the near future. So far, it's been one of the coolest experiences of my creative/professional life.
Over the next week, I'll address the "rights" and "wrongs," the reason for choosing Austin as our base of operations, the motivations behind the name "Heatwave Interactive," and other various topics as they arise.
Anyway, this is just a quick update to say, I'm dead serious. I'm a man with a family of six with a good salary and I just quit my job. Serious coolness will result.
One last thing, I'm considering doing some "reality blogging" about what it's like to start a new company, or more specifically, a new game company. There are a lot of implications to consider, but very few people have an idea of what it's like to start a business, much less a game company. Am I crazy enough to let the Intarweb vote on our company logo? What about which game project we should do first? Is that pure insanity? I'd be interested to hear your thoughts about that.
Peace.
Posted by SunSword at 03:19 PM | Comments (1)
January 20, 2007
My mother's latest novel in a bookstore near you!
I have an amazing family. Really. I've been blessed.
As some of you may know, my mother is a professional author with over 30 published works. Her latest novel, Icing on the Cake is in stores now! It falls into the "chick lit" category, or more to her preference, "literary fiction." I remember listening to her brainstorm on the phone about his book, and how personal some of it was. The initial reviews are great. If you're one of those guys looking for a great MMO post, point your girlfriend/wife to this one for me, would you? :)
When Liz Talbot's husband left her for a woman half her age, Liz put all her passions into her bakery. The problem is that fad diets and fitness crazes are ruining sales and she's barely staying afloat. Liz's luck seems to be changing when her ex dies without changing his will, leaving her the main beneficiary. Unfortunately one of the things she inherits is the advertising agency she left behind to pursue her dream of baking. Her partner? The newly widowed husband stealer--Brandi, with a heart over the i. As the new co-owner of Talbot Advertising, in the toilet since the death of her ex (that's right, she's now the proprietor of two failing businesses), Liz is more determined than ever to break out and make a name for herself as an artisan baker extraordinaire, providing her products can catch the eye of the Nabisco Food scout who is as elusive as he is mysterious.
Obligatory Amazon.com link. 5 Stars!
Posted by SunSword at 02:40 PM | Comments (0)
December 29, 2006
WTF is with SunSword's Website?
I know, I almost never post. And when I do, it's either about family stuff you couldn't care less about or some boring alert related to work that you could've gotten off of a corporate news site or press release.
So, you ask, WTF? What happened to the guy who use to "tell it straight" and talk to the players like they were real people? What happened to the straight dope?
Ready for some honesty? Click to keep reading...
The first thing that happened? I worked my way up the corporate ladder to a point where my position was important enough that everything I said was under intense scrutiny, but I wasn't high enough on that ladder to be able to say what I wanted and survive.
Now, there are some people at the producer-level and up in the industry who really say what they think in their blogs, but I've found that the most active/interesting posts are by people who aren't directly responsible for the kinds of things they comment on.
Most of the really interesting blogs out there are by people who are independent of censorship, either because they're at the very top of their organizations, or because they aren't directly responsible (or aren't generally perceived to be) for the kinds of things they comment on.
And of course, some of the most popular and respected bloggers in the online game industry don't even deal in reality. Most of it is academic bullshit and spin. Which is understandable, because again, if people dealt in reality, they'd probably get censored by their organizations. Unfortunately, it means that most of the audience for this kind of material is having a very confused discussion fueled by misinformation, hype and guesswork.
The second cause of my silence is purely my availability. In the last 5 years I've had three kids, moved from Texas to California and from California to England. Life has been crazy, and I'm a family kinda guy, so I tend to prioritize family happiness over career and personal computing time. Those of you that have had kids know about the post-birth parental coma that lasts about 9 months. Those of you who haven't had kids have no idea what I'm talking about, really. I can't explain it, but I've been in it for about 4.5 years.
It is only in the last 48 hours that I've realized what a price I've paid for the hectic but amazing life I've been living. For the past 6 months, I've averaged about 5.5 hours of sleep a night. Since the holiday break, I've gotten 8-12 hours of sleep every night. I had no idea the toll lack of sleep and stress have been having on me. When I woke up on boxing day (the day after Christmas for my fellow Americans), I felt refreshed in a way that I honestly cannot recall.
It felt like waking from a dream that had lasted 6 months. All my ambition and energy returned in a rush. I realized that despite myriad crazy/cool things I've done in the last few years, I've been treading water professionally and creatively.
What the hell? It's about to be 2007? People are still rehashing the same ol' MMORPG format? Shit is about to change y'all.
So what does that mean in reference to this post? Well, sunsword.com is going to change quite a bit. I'm going to separate the personal from the professional. I'm also going to take a new tact with the professional, to be revealed in January. I'm also considering bringing the forums back, let me know what you think about that. I found forums to be a more satisfying, interactive experience than blogs and comments.
On a personal note, I'm also going to start prioritize sleep. And on that note, see you in the AM.
Posted by SunSword at 12:41 AM | Comments (0)
September 25, 2006
An after dinner conversation between father and daughter
After a hearty meal of a highly modified "Mexican Casserole" (thanks South Beach), I noted a gorgeous sky begging for attention from our garden...err, backyard.
As Kimberly has noted to me several times, the Midlands is regularly blessed with beautiful skyscapes, between grey downpours of course. I chalk it up to being on an island.
Anway, I brought my daughters outside and they took turns sitting upon my shoulders to get a better vantage over the fence towards the horizon. Araceli then asked the obvious question, "Daddy, why are the clouds different colors?" Now, I think it's very important to try to answer all of my children's questions very directly, and when comprehension is out of reach, I generally don't let them off with simplistic nonsense.
My reply was something along the lines of "Well honey, the shallow angle of the sunlight means that some the light is travelling through more atmosphere than the rest. That slows it down and enlarges the wavelengths. So when the light bounces off water in the clouds at different elevations, you see the difference as colors. I think..."
She was silent for a moment. Then she said "I guess I'll understand that when I'm older."
I chuckled. "Sooner than later, I'll bet."
She pointed, "Look! That cloud is happy because it's pink!"
Perfect.
Posted by SunSword at 01:34 AM | Comments (0)
January 01, 2006
Consumer products are finally catching up with technology...
This holiday season has been a pretty good one for my inner geek. Unsuprisingly, a lot of the things I'm going to mention here are also a result of the travel I've been doing. I find myself with a bit of free time to game and the desire to keep in touch with family, both of which the internet serves so well.
First, I'm sure most of you are aware of Skype, well now so are my parents, in particular my mom. Kim and I have been using it to keep in touch when I'm overseas, and I figured that since my folks have readily taken to the old intstant messenger, no reason not to show 'em VOIP technology. Great way to keep in touch with the whole family, even from Europe! Plus, the mental image of mom wearing a headset to talk to me over the intarweb gives me a good chuckle.
Next, my wonderful wife bought me a Slingbox for Xmas so I can keep up with my favorite shows while on the road. In particular I don't want to miss the Rosebowl this year, as my Longhorns go for the BCS title! Now, this kind of technology has been available for a loong time for those tech savvy folks out there, but now that broadband is commonplace, devices like this can be found at your local ciruit city. Works great on the home network. I'll be giving it a field test in 2 days. :)
Lastly, I signed up for a GameTap account. I downloaded a few games and confirmed what I thought...old games aren't as fun as you remember them being. But that's the nature of skill-based activities, eh? However, with over 300 games to choose from, some of which are only a couple of years old, I think the value (~$10/month) is a good one and I recommend it.
Anyway, I think all three of these products are excellent examples of how consumer electronics are finally bringing long standing potential of the internet to the average joe. The setup on all 3 of these things was a snap, which in the case of the Slingbox was very suprising.
-Happy Holidays!
Posted by SunSword at 02:18 PM | Comments (1)
September 23, 2005
Welcome, Drake Anthony Castoro
Baby Drake Anthony Castoro, was born on Sept 21st, 2005 at 9:59PM.
His critical info:
- Boy
- 8lbs 5oz
- 20" long
This picture was taken with my Treo 600 phone camera. Looks better than I though it would!
We're all home and mommy is doing well. Araceli is being a great big sister and Trinity, well trinity is discovering the meaning of "middle child." But that's okay, I was a middle child too ;).
More pictures later...
Posted by SunSword at 09:03 PM | Comments (2)
February 12, 2005
More family pictures
While I'm at it...
Here are some pictures from our trip to the aquarium in Monterey Bay (which wasn't as cool as it was billed...the "great white shark" was dwarfed by the tunas...)
Posted by SunSword at 05:14 PM | Comments (0)
#3!
He or she? Kim and I are debating whether we want to be surpised this time.
(click for a larger image)
Posted by SunSword at 04:40 PM | Comments (10)
December 11, 2004
Milestone for Trinity
Trinity rolled over lastnight, right before Kim and I went out for the evening.
Kim put Trinity down on her tummy, right in front of me. She generally doesn't like to be on her tummy, but she was in a good mood. She pushed WAAAY up to see my face and then teetered over on right side, so I Araceli and I moved to stand over her and cheer her own, just outside of her peripherial vision to encourage her to roll over. She pushed and jerked a few times, but then began to tire as we called "C'mon Trinity! You can do it! Rollllll on over!"
Then Kim came over to see what was going on and got into the game. That's pretty much all it took. Trinity heard momma's voice and flopped right over! It was a nice family event.
Posted by SunSword at 10:01 AM | Comments (0)
December 02, 2004
Thought I should share this bit of Texas history.
Perhaps this is where my desire to teach comes from?
My Great Great Grand Father, James E. Guinn.
"James E. Guinn, a Fort Worth native, was the oldest son of eight children. His father, a former slave, moved to Texas in 1863 after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued.
...
Mr. Guinn became principal of the Southside Colored School in 1900. The school hat two rooms, with a capacity for 100 children in grades K-4.
On January 3, 1907, the City Council agreed to build a permanent building for the Southside Colored School. Sadly, Mr. Guinn died on July 11, 1917, before construction could be completed. Later that year, the school was renamed the James E. Guinn School."
History of Black Education in Fort Worth, Texas
Did you know, that when my parents got married, they had to do it in my father's state, because it was illegal in her home state? Just think...if some intolerant people had their way, I wouldn't exist.
Posted by SunSword at 11:33 PM | Comments (2)
June 26, 2004
Baby Pictures!
Okay, we've been home one day now. I had forgotten how hard it is to sleep with a newborn in the house...*sigh*
Anyway, I've tossed together a quick photo album.
I especially love the ones of Araceli holding Trinity.
Trinity is fair skinned, with straight hair that looks darker than Araceli's. Eye color to be determined, but they are lighter than Araceli's were.
Posted by SunSword at 05:18 PM | Comments (3)
June 24, 2004
New Baby Girl!
Trinity Nichole Castoro was born yesterday, June 23rd, at 2:34PST.
She weighed 8lbs 4oz and was 20" long! That's almost 1lb heavier than her sister, Araceli.
She's a "pink" baby with dark brown hair. I was going to post pictures now, but I can't find the power-supply for the camera cradle :|. It may be at the hospital.
Momma is doing fine, although still recovering. More news when I have time.
Posted by SunSword at 12:26 PM | Comments (11)
October 14, 2003
My uncle was in town
And he got to see my little girl for the first time since last Christmas.
For those of you that haven't seen her in a while... Here's a picture!
I suppose I should post one where she doesn't have gook all over her face, but y'know, she's a REAL baby...
Posted by SunSword at 01:32 AM | Comments (0)