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When Iron Man 2 came out, for whatever reason, I just didn't have any interest in seeing it in the theater. Turns out, when I did watch it on Blu-ray, I liked it well enough to wish I'd gone and seen it on the big screen. So with Iron Man 3, I decided to go see it in the theater. Some movies, you just gotta. Especially after The Avengers. And the trailers for Iron Man 3 looked pretty good. I rarely go opening night to blockbusters, since the theaters are usually stupid-crazy-crowded. But I figured I'd go to a 12:30 AM, non-3D screening, and it probably wouldn't be too bad. After all, it's a Thursday night, and probably not everyone is used to staying up until 3 or 4 AM, like I've been doing the last week. Which reminds me, you know the song "25 or 6 to 4"? That's what it's about. Writing a song at 25 or 26 to 4 in the morning. Who knew, right? Where was I? Oh, right. Last week. My work schedule went like this: Monday - 16 hours Tuesday - 13 hours Wednesday - 17 hours Thursday - 10 hours (short day!) Friday - 14 hours Saturday - 16 hours And I stopped in on Sunday for an hour, just for good measure. That all has to do with this annual fun-fest. Which I'll blog about after Wednesday. But I digress. Anyway, long story short, opening night, 12:30 AM, not an original idea. The place was packed. I was lucky to get a decent seat. And I felt really, really old, too. Someone (probably high school or college age - which was 99% of the audience - don't they have school tomorrow? ) asked me if I'd collected comics "back in the good ol' days". Mercy. And he wasn't being smart-alecky either. I guess I'm just that old now. Seriously. The 80's was 30 years ago. I collected comic books back then, and that was as long ago from now, as that was from the end of the Golden Age, fer cryin' out loud. I'm lucky I didn't need an ear trumpet to watch the movie. Oh right, the movie. To cut to the chase, it wasn't as good as Iron Man, but it was better than Iron Man 2. A little. Maybe. In some regards, it's more similar to Iron Man since a lot of the movie is about Tony Stark, rather than being necessarily about him as Iron Man (although they're one and the same, and in fact the movie does deal with that, but... you know what I mean). And given that Robert Downey, Jr., is in fine form in the film, that's a good thing. It would really be hard for them to find someone else to play Stark, if or when Downey decides to retire from the role. Much in the same way that it would be ridiculous for anyone to try replacing, say, William Shatner as Captain Kirk. Yeah, they showed the Star Trek Into Darkness trailer. And Superman. And Wolverine. And 10 or 30 others. No Thor 2 though. Go figure. Marvel and all that. So, the movie. Sorry. Easily distracted. The movie starts off well with a good setup, and a villain (The Mandarin) played with by Ben Kingsley. The problem is, the plot deals with acts of terrorism very similar to the recent attacks in Boston. Of course the movie was written, shot, and scheduled for release months ago, so it's hardly the fault of the filmmakers. It's just a coincidence that brings some very strong, very recent emotions unexpectedly back to the surface, and will likely affect how you perceive at least part of the movie. I know it did for me. That being the case, there are still some very cool action set pieces throughout the movie, some funny moments (particularly with Downey), and lots of cool gadgetry. Some of the better scenes just involve Tony Stark, being his resourceful self. He's not just a guy in a suit. He's formidable with pretty-much anything at his disposal. But of course, the suits are cool. I do have one major gripe about the film. Well, two. But to describe them adequately would ruin the whole "Spoiler-free" title. So let's see if I can dance around them a little bit. I'll still use Spoiler tags, just in case. Please respond in the comments with Spoiler tags if needed, too. The first, and most major one, The second just seemed a bit too obvious. Oh, and a few things just really didn't make any sense. But I guess if you're expecting logic from a comic book movie, then you're watching the wrong movie. There were some aspects of the film I felt were a little predictable, some of that certainly owing to the trailers that are out there. Also, I felt that some of the editing was poor, resulting in scenes where I wasn't quite sure exactly what happened, or how something happened, or why. I'm sure on a second or third viewing I'd get it. But a good editor will make sure the audience gets it the first time through. (Again - maybe I'm just old.) All in all though, the movie was a good action romp. Good acting. Good effects. The audience liked it well enough, although I can't say they were cheering wildly or anything like that. Maybe it was the late hour. Still, overall it was a good popcorn flick. What really makes the film work, as with the previous two (and let's face it, a large part of The Avengers) is Robert Downey, Jr. He shines in the film. He brings a really likable quality to Tony Stark, neuroses and all, and he's surrounded by a good (and at times exceptional) supporting cast. Particularly with a precocious kid (Ty Simpkins) that Tony Stark befriends. So I'll give Iron Man 3 a 7.8/10. Hmm... I guess that's a lower score than I gave Iron Man 2. Well, maybe this will hold up better when it gets re-run on TV. It certainly hasn't hurt Iron Man 2 any. And yes... stay through the end credits.

This is my code what I thought up how to scroll by copying an 8 by 8 tile from VRAM to RAM, then dupicate another copy of it. Then copy from the 16 entry array to the 8 array by using a variable(frame in this example) as an offset. Then put square array to the tile hot spot, which is the same source it was originally copied from. It shows the illusion scrolling on the Colecovision. scrolling.rom Here's the source below #include <coleco.h> #include <getput1.h> #define chrgen 0x0000 #define coltab 0x2000 #define chrtab 0x1800 #define sprtab 0x3800 #define sprgen 0x1b00 byte x,y,i,scroll,frame; //first 3 are common temporary variable, 1 byte to give while{} loop something to chew on;frame to offset the screen. unsigned char smalltile[16],square[8],bigtile1[40],bigtile2[40],bigtile3[40]; //the array, the Colecovision has about 900 bytes available for RAM which is plenty IMO. const byte witchPATTERN[] = { 0xFE, 0x00, 0xFE, 0x00, 0x89, 0x00, 0x84, 0x18, 0x02, 0x00, 0x18, 0x00, 0x82, 0x66, 0x84, 0x00, 0x81, 0x66, 0x20, 0xFF, 0x66, 0xFF, 0x66, 0x66, 0x00, 0x18, 0x3F, 0x60, 0x3E, 0x03, 0x7E, 0x18, 0x00, 0x62, 0x66, 0x0C, 0x18, 0x30, 0x66, 0x46, 0x00, 0x3C, 0x66, 0x3C, 0x38, 0x67, 0x66, 0x3F, 0x00, 0x06, 0x0C, 0x18, 0x84, 0x00, 0x01, 0x0C, 0x18, 0x82, 0x30, 0x04, 0x18, 0x0C, 0x00, 0x30, 0x18, 0x82, 0x0C, 0x08, 0x18, 0x30, 0x00, 0x00, 0x66, 0x3C, 0xFF, 0x3C, 0x66, 0x82, 0x00, 0x81, 0x18, 0x02, 0x7E, 0x18, 0x18, 0x86, 0x00, 0x81, 0x18, 0x00, 0x30, 0x82, 0x00, 0x00, 0x7E, 0x88, 0x00, 0x81, 0x18, 0x81, 0x00, 0x07, 0x03, 0x06, 0x0C, 0x18, 0x30, 0x60, 0x00, 0x3C, 0x84, 0x66, 0x04, 0x3C, 0x00, 0x18, 0x38, 0x78, 0x82, 0x18, 0x2D, 0x7E, 0x00, 0x3E, 0x63, 0x03, 0x3E, 0x60, 0x60, 0x7F, 0x00, 0x3E, 0x63, 0x03, 0x1E, 0x03, 0x63, 0x3E, 0x00, 0x0E, 0x1E, 0x36, 0x66, 0x7F, 0x06, 0x06, 0x00, 0x7F, 0x60, 0x60, 0x7E, 0x03, 0x63, 0x3E, 0x00, 0x3E, 0x63, 0x60, 0x7E, 0x63, 0x63, 0x3E, 0x00, 0x7F, 0x03, 0x06, 0x0C, 0x82, 0x18, 0x16, 0x00, 0x3E, 0x63, 0x63, 0x3E, 0x63, 0x63, 0x3E, 0x00, 0x3E, 0x63, 0x63, 0x3F, 0x03, 0x63, 0x3E, 0x00, 0x00, 0x1C, 0x1C, 0x00, 0x1C, 0x1C, 0x82, 0x00, 0x81, 0x1C, 0x0B, 0x00, 0x1C, 0x1C, 0x38, 0x00, 0x0E, 0x1C, 0x38, 0x70, 0x38, 0x1C, 0x0E, 0x82, 0x00, 0x02, 0x7F, 0x00, 0x7F, 0x82, 0x00, 0x1B, 0x70, 0x38, 0x1C, 0x0E, 0x1C, 0x38, 0x70, 0x00, 0x3E, 0x77, 0x07, 0x0E, 0x1C, 0x00, 0x1C, 0x00, 0x3E, 0x63, 0x63, 0x6F, 0x60, 0x63, 0x3E, 0x00, 0x1C, 0x36, 0x63, 0x7F, 0x82, 0x63, 0x0A, 0x00, 0x7E, 0x63, 0x63, 0x7E, 0x63, 0x63, 0x7E, 0x00, 0x3E, 0x63, 0x82, 0x60, 0x03, 0x63, 0x3E, 0x00, 0x7E, 0x84, 0x63, 0x0D, 0x7E, 0x00, 0x7F, 0x60, 0x60, 0x7E, 0x60, 0x60, 0x7F, 0x00, 0x7F, 0x60, 0x60, 0x7E, 0x82, 0x60, 0x08, 0x00, 0x3E, 0x63, 0x60, 0x6F, 0x63, 0x63, 0x3E, 0x00, 0x82, 0x63, 0x00, 0x7F, 0x82, 0x63, 0x01, 0x00, 0x3C, 0x84, 0x18, 0x01, 0x3C, 0x00, 0x84, 0x03, 0x0A, 0x63, 0x3E, 0x00, 0x63, 0x66, 0x6C, 0x78, 0x6C, 0x66, 0x63, 0x00, 0x85, 0x60, 0x05, 0x7F, 0x00, 0x63, 0x77, 0x7F, 0x6B, 0x82, 0x63, 0x09, 0x00, 0x63, 0x73, 0x7B, 0x7F, 0x6F, 0x67, 0x63, 0x00, 0x3E, 0x84, 0x63, 0x05, 0x3E, 0x00, 0x7E, 0x63, 0x63, 0x7E, 0x82, 0x60, 0x01, 0x00, 0x3E, 0x83, 0x63, 0x13, 0x67, 0x3E, 0x03, 0x7E, 0x63, 0x63, 0x7E, 0x6C, 0x66, 0x63, 0x00, 0x3E, 0x63, 0x60, 0x3E, 0x03, 0x63, 0x3E, 0x00, 0x7E, 0x85, 0x18, 0x00, 0x00, 0x85, 0x63, 0x01, 0x3E, 0x00, 0x84, 0x63, 0x02, 0x36, 0x1C, 0x00, 0x82, 0x63, 0x0C, 0x6B, 0x7F, 0x77, 0x63, 0x00, 0x63, 0x63, 0x36, 0x1C, 0x36, 0x63, 0x63, 0x00, 0x82, 0x66, 0x00, 0x3C, 0x82, 0x18, 0x09, 0x00, 0x7F, 0x07, 0x0E, 0x1C, 0x38, 0x70, 0x7F, 0x00, 0x3C, 0x84, 0x30, 0x0A, 0x3C, 0x00, 0x00, 0x60, 0x30, 0x18, 0x0C, 0x06, 0x03, 0x00, 0x3C, 0x84, 0x0C, 0x04, 0x3C, 0x00, 0x18, 0x3C, 0x7E, 0x83, 0x18, 0x89, 0x00, 0x01, 0x30, 0x10, 0x85, 0x00, 0x09, 0x3E, 0x03, 0x3F, 0x63, 0x63, 0x3F, 0x00, 0x60, 0x60, 0x7C, 0x82, 0x66, 0x03, 0x7C, 0x00, 0x00, 0x3E, 0x83, 0x60, 0x04, 0x3E, 0x00, 0x06, 0x06, 0x3E, 0x82, 0x66, 0x0D, 0x3E, 0x00, 0x00, 0x3C, 0x66, 0x66, 0x7C, 0x60, 0x3E, 0x00, 0x1C, 0x30, 0x30, 0x7C, 0x82, 0x30, 0x81, 0x00, 0x0C, 0x3F, 0x63, 0x63, 0x3E, 0x01, 0x7E, 0x00, 0xFE, 0xF1, 0xEF, 0xDF, 0xBF, 0xBF, 0x8B, 0x7F, 0x81, 0xBF, 0x0C, 0xDF, 0xEF, 0xF1, 0xFE, 0x00, 0x20, 0x02, 0x00, 0x40, 0x04, 0x10, 0x00, 0x38, 0x84, 0x18, 0x03, 0x1C, 0x00, 0x00, 0x3E, 0x84, 0x6B, 0x81, 0x00, 0x01, 0x7C, 0x66, 0x83, 0x63, 0x81, 0x00, 0x00, 0x3E, 0x83, 0x63, 0x02, 0x3E, 0x00, 0x00, 0x86, 0xFF, 0x07, 0x08, 0x38, 0xFC, 0x7F, 0x7E, 0x7C, 0x7C, 0x84, 0x86, 0xFF, 0x81, 0x00, 0x09, 0x20, 0x02, 0x00, 0x40, 0x04, 0x10, 0x00, 0x18, 0x18, 0x7F, 0x82, 0x18, 0x02, 0x0F, 0x00, 0x00, 0x84, 0x63, 0x02, 0x3F, 0x00, 0x00, 0x83, 0x63, 0x10, 0x36, 0x1C, 0x00, 0x00, 0x63, 0x63, 0x6B, 0x7F, 0x77, 0x63, 0x00, 0x7F, 0x8F, 0xF7, 0xFB, 0xFD, 0xFD, 0x8B, 0xFE, 0x81, 0xFD, 0x0B, 0xFB, 0xF7, 0x8F, 0x7F, 0x00, 0x20, 0x02, 0x00, 0x40, 0x04, 0x10, 0x00, 0x86, 0x08, 0x07, 0x00, 0x30, 0x08, 0x08, 0x06, 0x08, 0x08, 0x30, 0x83, 0x00, 0x01, 0x32, 0x4C, 0x82, 0x00, 0x07, 0x55, 0x00, 0xAA, 0x00, 0x55, 0x00, 0xAA, 0x00, 0x85, 0x01, 0x18, 0x03, 0xFF, 0x00, 0x20, 0x02, 0x00, 0x40, 0x04, 0x10, 0x00, 0x18, 0x7E, 0x7E, 0xE8, 0xF5, 0x7E, 0x7E, 0x18, 0x10, 0x38, 0xFE, 0x7C, 0x38, 0x7C, 0x44, 0x82, 0x00, 0x03, 0x10, 0x7C, 0x38, 0x44, 0x9A, 0x00, 0x05, 0x20, 0x02, 0x00, 0x40, 0x04, 0x10, 0x82, 0x00, 0x3B, 0x20, 0x02, 0x00, 0x40, 0x04, 0x10, 0x10, 0x00, 0x00, 0x20, 0x02, 0x00, 0x40, 0x04, 0x04, 0x10, 0x00, 0x00, 0x20, 0x02, 0x00, 0x40, 0x04, 0x10, 0x00, 0x00, 0x20, 0x02, 0x00, 0x40, 0x40, 0x04, 0x10, 0x00, 0x00, 0x20, 0x02, 0x00, 0x00, 0x40, 0x04, 0x10, 0x00, 0x00, 0x20, 0x02, 0x02, 0x00, 0x40, 0x04, 0x10, 0x00, 0x00, 0x20, 0xFE, 0xF1, 0xEF, 0xDF, 0xBF, 0xBF, 0x8B, 0x7F, 0x81, 0xBF, 0x12, 0xDF, 0xEF, 0xF1, 0xFE, 0x00, 0x20, 0x02, 0x00, 0x40, 0x04, 0x10, 0x00, 0xFF, 0xFE, 0xF1, 0xEF, 0xDF, 0xBF, 0xBF, 0x8B, 0x7F, 0x81, 0xBF, 0x0B, 0xDF, 0xEF, 0xF1, 0x01, 0x00, 0x20, 0x02, 0x00, 0x40, 0x04, 0x10, 0x00, 0x86, 0xFF, 0x07, 0x08, 0x38, 0xFC, 0x7F, 0x7E, 0x7C, 0x7C, 0x84, 0x86, 0xFF, 0x81, 0x00, 0x08, 0x20, 0x02, 0x00, 0x40, 0x04, 0x10, 0x00, 0xFF, 0x00, 0x85, 0xFF, 0x08, 0x00, 0x08, 0x38, 0xFC, 0x7F, 0x7E, 0x7C, 0x7C, 0x7B, 0x87, 0xFF, 0x0C, 0x00, 0x20, 0x02, 0x00, 0x40, 0x04, 0x10, 0x7F, 0x8F, 0xF7, 0xFB, 0xFD, 0xFD, 0x8B, 0xFE, 0x81, 0xFD, 0x12, 0xFB, 0xF7, 0x8F, 0x7F, 0x00, 0x20, 0x02, 0x00, 0x40, 0x04, 0x10, 0x00, 0xFF, 0x7F, 0x8F, 0xF7, 0xFB, 0xFD, 0xFD, 0x8B, 0xFE, 0x81, 0xFD, 0x12, 0xFB, 0xF7, 0x8F, 0x80, 0x00, 0x20, 0x02, 0x00, 0x40, 0x04, 0x10, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0xFE, 0xF1, 0xEF, 0xDF, 0xBF, 0xBF, 0x8B, 0x7F, 0x81, 0xBF, 0x09, 0xDF, 0xEF, 0x0E, 0x01, 0x00, 0x20, 0x02, 0x00, 0x40, 0x04, 0x82, 0xFF, 0x05, 0xFE, 0xF1, 0xEF, 0xDF, 0xBF, 0xBF, 0x8B, 0x7F, 0x81, 0xBF, 0x0B, 0xDF, 0x10, 0x0E, 0x01, 0x00, 0x20, 0x02, 0x00, 0x40, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0x00, 0x84, 0xFF, 0x81, 0x00, 0x07, 0x08, 0x38, 0xFC, 0x7F, 0x7E, 0x7C, 0x87, 0x77, 0x85, 0xFF, 0x07, 0x00, 0xFF, 0x00, 0x20, 0x02, 0x00, 0x40, 0x04, 0x82, 0xFF, 0x00, 0x00, 0x83, 0xFF, 0x82, 0x00, 0x07, 0x08, 0x38, 0xFC, 0x7F, 0x7E, 0x83, 0x83, 0x7B, 0x84, 0xFF, 0x81, 0x00, 0x0D, 0xFF, 0x00, 0x20, 0x02, 0x00, 0x40, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0x7F, 0x8F, 0xF7, 0xFB, 0xFD, 0xFD, 0x8B, 0xFE, 0x81, 0xFD, 0x09, 0xFB, 0xF7, 0x70, 0x80, 0x00, 0x20, 0x02, 0x00, 0x40, 0x04, 0x82, 0xFF, 0x05, 0x7F, 0x8F, 0xF7, 0xFB, 0xFD, 0xFD, 0x8B, 0xFE, 0x81, 0xFD, 0x08, 0xFB, 0x08, 0x70, 0x80, 0x00, 0x20, 0x02, 0x00, 0x40, 0x83, 0xFF, 0x05, 0xFE, 0xF1, 0xEF, 0xDF, 0xBF, 0xBF, 0x8B, 0x7F, 0x81, 0xBF, 0x07, 0x20, 0x10, 0x0E, 0x01, 0x20, 0x02, 0x00, 0x40, 0x84, 0xFF, 0x05, 0xFE, 0xF1, 0xEF, 0xDF, 0xBF, 0xBF, 0x8B, 0x7F, 0x08, 0xBF, 0x40, 0x20, 0x10, 0x0E, 0x01, 0x20, 0x02, 0x00, 0x83, 0xFF, 0x00, 0x00, 0x82, 0xFF, 0x83, 0x00, 0x03, 0x08, 0x38, 0xFC, 0x7F, 0x82, 0x83, 0x00, 0x7B, 0x83, 0xFF, 0x82, 0x00, 0x04, 0xFF, 0x20, 0x02, 0x00, 0x40, 0x84, 0xFF, 0x02, 0x00, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0x84, 0x00, 0x03, 0x08, 0x38, 0xFC, 0x80, 0x82, 0x83, 0x00, 0x7B, 0x82, 0xFF, 0x83, 0x00, 0x03, 0xFF, 0x20, 0x02, 0x00, 0x83, 0xFF, 0x05, 0x7F, 0x8F, 0xF7, 0xFB, 0xFD, 0xFD, 0x8B, 0xFE, 0x81, 0xFD, 0x07, 0x04, 0x08, 0x70, 0x80, 0x00, 0x02, 0x00, 0x40, 0x84, 0xFF, 0x05, 0x7F, 0x8F, 0xF7, 0xFB, 0xFD, 0xFD, 0x8B, 0xFE, 0x08, 0xFD, 0x02, 0x04, 0x08, 0x70, 0x80, 0x02, 0x00, 0x40, 0x85, 0xFF, 0x05, 0xFE, 0xF1, 0xEF, 0xDF, 0xBF, 0xBF, 0x8B, 0x7F, 0x81, 0x40, 0x05, 0x20, 0x10, 0x0E, 0x01, 0x02, 0x00, 0x86, 0xFF, 0x05, 0xFE, 0xF1, 0xEF, 0xDF, 0xBF, 0xBF, 0x8A, 0x7F, 0x07, 0x80, 0x40, 0x40, 0x20, 0x10, 0x0E, 0x01, 0x00, 0x85, 0xFF, 0x01, 0x00, 0xFF, 0x85, 0x00, 0x03, 0x08, 0x38, 0x03, 0x80, 0x82, 0x83, 0x02, 0x7B, 0xFF, 0xFF, 0x84, 0x00, 0x02, 0xFF, 0x02, 0x00, 0x86, 0xFF, 0x87, 0x00, 0x03, 0x08, 0xC7, 0x03, 0x80, 0x82, 0x83, 0x01, 0x7B, 0xFF, 0x85, 0x00, 0x01, 0xFF, 0x00, 0x85, 0xFF, 0x05, 0x7F, 0x8F, 0xF7, 0xFB, 0xFD, 0xFD, 0x8B, 0xFE, 0x81, 0x02, 0x05, 0x04, 0x08, 0x70, 0x80, 0x00, 0x40, 0x86, 0xFF, 0x05, 0x7F, 0x8F, 0xF7, 0xFB, 0xFD, 0xFD, 0x8A, 0xFE, 0x06, 0x01, 0x02, 0x02, 0x04, 0x08, 0x70, 0x80, 0xFC, 0x00, 0x83, 0x00, 0xFF}; const byte witchCOLOR[] = { 0xFE, 0x41, 0xFE, 0x41, 0x89, 0x41, 0xFE, 0xF1, 0xFE, 0xF1, 0xFE, 0xF1, 0xF2, 0xF1, 0x87, 0x41, 0xBF, 0xF1, 0x97, 0xC1, 0x87, 0x3C, 0x9F, 0xF1, 0x87, 0xC1, 0x87, 0x3C, 0x87, 0xC1, 0x87, 0x3C, 0x9F, 0xF1, 0x97, 0xC1, 0x87, 0x3C, 0x9F, 0xF1, 0x87, 0x41, 0x87, 0x3C, 0x82, 0x51, 0x81, 0x45, 0x82, 0x41, 0x06, 0xBC, 0xFC, 0xBC, 0xAC, 0xAC, 0x9C, 0x9C, 0x83, 0xBC, 0x81, 0xAC, 0x82, 0x9C, 0x97, 0x41, 0xBF, 0x3C, 0x97, 0xC1, 0x87, 0x3C, 0x97, 0xC1, 0x00, 0x1C, 0x86, 0x3C, 0x87, 0xC1, 0x87, 0x3C, 0x87, 0xC1, 0x87, 0x3C, 0x87, 0xC1, 0x87, 0x3C, 0x00, 0xC3, 0x86, 0xC1, 0x00, 0x1C, 0x86, 0x3C, 0x97, 0xC1, 0x87, 0x3C, 0x97, 0xC1, 0x00, 0x1C, 0x86, 0x3C, 0x97, 0xC1, 0x81, 0x1C, 0x85, 0x3C, 0x97, 0xC1, 0x82, 0x1C, 0x84, 0x3C, 0x87, 0xC1, 0x87, 0x3C, 0x81, 0xC3, 0x85, 0xC1, 0x01, 0x3C, 0x1C, 0x85, 0x3C, 0x87, 0xC1, 0x87, 0x3C, 0x82, 0xC3, 0x84, 0xC1, 0x81, 0x3C, 0x00, 0x1C, 0x84, 0x3C, 0x97, 0xC1, 0x81, 0x1C, 0x85, 0x3C, 0x97, 0xC1, 0x82, 0x1C, 0x84, 0x3C, 0x97, 0xC1, 0x83, 0x1C, 0x83, 0x3C, 0x97, 0xC1, 0x84, 0x1C, 0x82, 0x3C, 0x87, 0xC1, 0x87, 0x3C, 0x87, 0xC3, 0x82, 0x3C, 0x00, 0x1C, 0x83, 0x3C, 0x87, 0xC1, 0x87, 0x3C, 0x87, 0xC3, 0x83, 0x3C, 0x00, 0x1C, 0x82, 0x3C, 0x97, 0xC1, 0x84, 0x1C, 0x82, 0x3C, 0x97, 0xC1, 0x84, 0x1C, 0x82, 0x3C, 0x97, 0xC1, 0x85, 0x1C, 0x81, 0x3C, 0x97, 0xC1, 0x86, 0x1C, 0x00, 0x3C, 0x87, 0xC1, 0x87, 0x3C, 0x87, 0xC3, 0x84, 0x3C, 0x02, 0x1C, 0x3C, 0x3C, 0x87, 0xC1, 0x87, 0x3C, 0x87, 0xC3, 0x85, 0x3C, 0x01, 0x1C, 0x3C, 0x97, 0xC1, 0x85, 0x1C, 0x81, 0x3C, 0x97, 0xC1, 0x87, 0x1C, 0xFC, 0x41, 0x82, 0x41, 0xFF}; void main(void){ screen_mode_2_text();//screen mode been modified in the latest version of CV toolkitt screen_on();//during screen mode switching it automatically turns off the screen. Must turn screen on! rle2vram(witchPATTERN,0x0000);//rle is compressed data on ROM, this routine decompresses into these banks. rle2vram(witchPATTERN,0x0800);//this corrects the sprite curruption so 32 sprite is possible in this VDP setup rle2vram(witchPATTERN,0x1000);//cram the same pattern table into 3 banks of 2KB of RAM. rle2vram(witchCOLOR,0x2000);//stuff color table into this bank get_vram(0x0408,smalltile,;//grab the tile you want. Tile #129 for(i=0;i<8;i++){smalltile[i+8]=smalltile[i];}//you want to make a copy of the tile you want to grab scroll=1;frame=8;//set up variables gives a bone to the while loop to munch on fill_vram(0x1800,0x81,784);//fill name table with this value aka tile #129 while (scroll==1){ for(i=0;i<8;i++){square[i]=smalltile[i+frame];}//copy smalltile with frame offset to square put_vram(0x0408,square,; //stuff this new tile #129 here put_vram(0x0c08,square,; //put this same tile in this similar bank put_vram(0x1408,square,; //lastly splat this tile here frame--;//decrease frame to scroll the grass down if (frame==0){frame=8;}//restore frame value to 8 delay(1); //"vsync"... I don't think it does that, but necessory to have this here. } } void nmi(){ //nothing here yet, plans to put sprite rotation to make flickering occurs in this game. }

After a long gap, here's the last (or possibly penultimate) part of the 1200XL upgrade story. In the last part (well over a year ago), I'd fitted VBXE and Stereo Pokey, and finished the PBI and power mods. Since then I've added Ultimate 1MB and one of Dropcheck's excellent GTIA PAL adapters. This means that the 1200XL is completely "PAL" in the very strictest sense. Legacy video output now works on my 1084S monitors, and for hard disk storage I've been using Ultimate 1MB/SIDE (in PBI mode), and latterly SIDE2 in the same configuration. Of course, SIDE blocks up the cart port, so I figured I'd use the IDEa HDD interface which has been lying around here for two years or so looking for a home as an internal storage in the 1200XL. Previously, I'd mounted the 50-way PBI connector on the IDE itself on the back side of the PCB, resulting in the correct pin assignments for a straight IDC cable to the back of an 800XL. I had also replaced a few other headers on the IDEa for convenient and sturdy placement of an IDE to CF card adapter. Surprisingly enough, the IDEa is very stable indeed when used with the highly upgraded 1200XL - even with a SIDE2 cartridge simultaneously connected (and with the U1MB / SIDE PBI enabled, data transfer between partitions on the IDEa and SIDE works without error). So I finally got around to fitting the IDEa inside the 1200XL this evening... I decided to run another 50 way ribbon cable straight off the back of the PBI connector I'd already fitted. This seemed the neatest solution. The ribbon cable doubles back under itself so that the IDC connector has the correct orientation. The soldering was rather tricky, but the thing fired up first time when I turned the machine on. The most time-consuming part was separating the strands of the ribbon cable and poking each individual wire through the already dense bale of wires leading to the PBI connector from underneath the 1200XL's motherboard. Anyway: here are a few pictures of the finished article. The IDEa is secured on three corners with plastic pylons bolted to the motherboard. An overview of the now rather crowded 1200XL mainboard: The only minor (but fun) job left to do is to connect up the HDD activity LED header on the IDEa to one of the programmable LEDs on the 1200XL's keyboard.

Well, I was going to write up some ridiculous, overlong blog entry about The Avengers and superhero movies in general. But then 2/3 of the way through it, I realized that even I didn't want to read it. I got off on some tangent about Batman and... anyway, I'll leave that for when The Dark Knight Rises comes out. So here's what you need to know: The Avengers is awesome. The action is great. Everyone gets a chance to show why they excel at what they do. You could see how Captain America could go toe-to-toe with bigger, badder dudes and not just hold his ground, but come out on top. I left wanting to see even more. Admittedly, Hawkeye and Black Widow are a bit less effective at fighting giant mechanical alien space monsters than say, Iron Man, but hey... Scarlett Johansson in a catsuit. How can you go wrong there? And they even managed to make Hawkeye look cool (leaving the big purple "H" off the costume probably helped). Some origin story movies have to cover so much backstory, action suffers as a result. In hindsight, I wish Iron Man, Thor and Captain America had some more action scenes in their first movies. But that's not a problem here, in no small part because so much groundwork was covered in those other movies. They drop in just enough information here so you know who these characters are, and what they're about, in case you haven't seen the other movies. By the time you get to this film, everyone is up to full speed, and it doesn't take very long to get this movie rolling. The heroes all get their moments to shine, and we get to delve into more of what makes them tick. Everything is very well balanced, and nobody dominates the film. It's not "Iron Man 3" - this is very much a team movie. The dialog is very smartly written, and there are a number of instances where characters are cleverly paired-up and this leads to some great comedy, conflicts, camaraderie, compassion and um... something else that starts with "c". Pathos. I guess. Well, so much for alliteration. There are a lot of very funny lines in the film, but they all stem from genuine character moments. The movie also has a lot of heart. I liked these characters. That's hard to do in a film that's so densely-packed with characters, action, and business. Speaking of characters, Mark Ruffalo is excellent as Bruce Banner. I was kind of worried, since I thought Edward Norton did a really good job in the last Hulk movie, and there were hardly any shots of Ruffalo in the trailers to judge by. But as a friend of mine pointed out, "The Avengers is the best Hulk film ever made." Bruce Banner and the Hulk have the two best lines in the film. Ruffalo makes Bruce Banner a compelling character, as if he's had to inhabit him and bear the weight and the responsibility of the Hulk for years, but yet he still has a wry (and slightly wicked) sense of humor about it. The Hulk himself looks the best he ever has, and is a genuinely fun (and at times, scary) character to watch. It wouldn't surprise me if Marvel dusted off the Hulk franchise again and took another shot at a sequel. Tom Hiddleston is terrific again as Loki. He was the best thing about the Thor movie, and he doesn't disappoint here, either. He's great fun to watch as a villain, likable and detestable all at the same time, and a worthy reason for the Avengers to assemble. You can't have a great superhero film without a great villain, and he makes for a solid core for this movie to revolve around. Did I mention Scarlett Johansson wears a catsuit? 'Nuff said. Cobie Smulders, smolders as agent Maria Hill. Also in a catsuit. Sign me up for S.H.I.E.L.D. The Avengers starts fast and doesn't let up for 2 1/2 hours, yet it's not tiresome. It doesn't feel busy, but dense. There's a lot to absorb - so much so, that I plan on seeing it again. I almost never do that with movies, because I always feel that after one viewing, I've seen basically everything the movie had to offer. Admittedly, part of this could be because some guy brought his little kid along who asked questions every 5 seconds for the first 20 minutes of the film. Finally, after repeated "sshhhh!!"s from me and the guy next to me, the dad finally took his kid out. Top tip for parents: if you have inquisitive little kids that ask questions every 5 seconds, get a sitter. Or sit as far away from everyone else in the theater as possible. This ain't your living room, y'know. That aside... The Avengers is, simply put, the best comic book movie ever made. It's the very reason I used to read comics: great characters, huge action, over-the-top villains, and lots of all of the above. Best of all, The Avengers is fun. That's the best thing that can be said about any movie, and this one delivers. Big time. Go see it. In 2-D (I can't imagine 3-D making the movie any better, and would likely just serve as a distraction). 10/10 Oh yeah... almost forgot to mention, stay through the credits, all the way to the end.