Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press, or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Thursday, May 31, 2007

Back Into the Groove ... Maybe

I just realized that it's been over a month, since I've updated any of my stories. Wow. I'm really slipping.

This is not going to stand. When I'm not at work, I'm going to make a sincere effort to begin writing again. Honestly, I've been pretty bored at home for the last few weeks, and now I know why.

Anyway, here's the status of all of my works:

  • More Than a Job: Complete, but not posted. May be re-posted here or on either FanFiction.Net or FictionPress.com
  • Codename: White Knight: Introduction and Chapters 1-3 posted, Chapter 4 partly complete. This will likely be my primary effort
  • Ghosts of Sherwood: Intro and Chapter 1 posted, Chapters 2-5 written but in need of major revisions. Part of Chapter 2 needs to be rewritten, it might be a while before it goes up.
  • The Hitman Chronicles: I stopped writing in the middle of a new scene, so I've lost the spark. I can't decide whether to can it and start over or try and finish it.
  • Movie Reviews: I have not seen anything good lately (need to go see Pirates or Spidey 3) but I might post a review of Red Dawn or The Adventures of Robin Hood.
  • How To Be a Perfect Evil Overlord: Canned. No one cared, so no point in keeping it up. I do have it saved to my hard drive, just in case.

Okay, I think that's everything. I'm planning on getting Chapter 4 of White Knight up bu Monday, with Chapter 2 of Ghosts to follow shortly thereafter if I can get it rewritten to my liking. Hopefully, things will work out and I'll be able to get everything going again.

Monday, May 28, 2007

Memorial Day

To all those are serving and have served in our Armed Forces, thank you for defending our freedom.

And to all those who have given their lives for our country, thank you for sacrificing your today for our tommorrow. You are gone, but you shall never be forgotten.

Johnson: Would you look at how fast they put up the names of all our guys who got killed?
The Seargent: That's a World War One memorial.
Johnson: But the names are the same.
The Seargent: They always are.

--from The Big Red One (1980)

Freedom is not, nor shall it ever be, free.

Friday, May 25, 2007

30 Years of the Force

STAR WARS
5/25/77-5/25/07
THE FORCE IS FOREVER

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Debates and Decisions

Okay, first of all, I'd like to inform you that my purchasing of that airsoft Desert Eagle is definitely not going to happen. While Green Gas is now becoming more widely available thanks to the introduction of DOT-approved containers, the gas has now shot up to around $15-$20 plus hazmat shipping for an 800mL can (vs the ~$10 + normal s&h for a non-DOT 1000mL can), so even with my well-paying job, owning a gas-powered airsoft gun of any kind is no longer economically feasible for me. I think I might just stick with the VSR-10 that caught my eye a while back.

Secondly, since Random Sabers will soon be taking orders again for new sabers, I'm thinking about spending the money that would've been used for the Desert Eagle on a custom lightsaber. I've settled on a design that I made a while back, which I'm (very) tentatively calling Imperious:


Okay... that upload didn't work quite the way I planned. Just pretend that black stuff isn't there And I know it's a crappy design, but it's the best I could do in PowerPoint. If I ever get access to a better drawing program, or when I get some design renderings from Random Sabers, I'll put them up so you get a better idea of what I really have in mind for this thing. Oh, by the way, it's gonna have a blue blade.

Lastly, I'm thinking about opening an account on either FanFiction.Net, FictionPress.Com, or maybe both. No offense to you guys, but it seems to me like no one ever reads any of my stories. Honestly, what really motivates me to continue writing them is reader feedback, of which I get precious little (which is why Ghosts of Sherwood only has one chapter). I really want my stories to be out in the open where anyone can read them, not cloistered in a small set of blogs that few know of, and even fewer care about. I'll keep you posted about this.

That's all I have for now. Ta ta! (If I ever say that again, shoot me.)

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

DUDE!

Forget the Aston Martin, check this thing out:



This bad boy is the Ibis Tek CobraViper. Its an armor-plated SUV with a retractable, gyroscopically-stabilized, remote-controlled .50-caliber machine gun. The truck's armor will stop a bullet fired from an AK-47 assault rifle or an M-60 machine gun, and the big M2 .50-cal mounted on the turret will take out just about anything. And if that's not enough you can mount a 12.7mm chain gun, a 20mm or 30mm autocannon, or a 40mm automatic grenade launcher. Dude. James Bond has got to drive, or at least go up against, one of these bad boys.

Now, ordinarily, this is the part where I'd say that I have got to get me one of those things, but even I'm not crazy enough to believe that civilians can buy one. Although it would be kinda cool. Why sit behind a rush-hour traffic jam when you can simply blow it (and everything else in sight) sky high?

Actually, this thing kinda reminds me of one of nerdjedi's first pictures. Anyone remember The VW Beetle of Doom? Probably the only Volkswagen product (except the Touarge, which was actually designed by Porsche [their version's called the Cayenne]) I'd ever buy. Although I'm not sure the Russian ZSU-23-2 23mm autocannons can be legally imported into the US...

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

STAR WARS KOMBAT!

Okay, yes, I admit it: I have no life.

These are two Star Wars Music Videos I found on YouTube that use the Mortal Kombat song.

The first one uses footage from the prequels and the second one is based off of the animated Clone Wars Miniseries.

Here they are:






Also, since I've finally started my internship, blog posts, particuarly new chapters for the stories, will probably be few and far between. That's actually a definite for the new chapters.

Jeff, nerdjedi won't tell me about the marshmellow roaster incident. What'd you do?

Sunday, May 13, 2007

More Star Wars Videos

This here's a video I found on YouTube. It was made (not by me) as a tribute to Star Wars. Very well done, I think.



This next one is a recut ending of Return of the Jedi. Again, I think it's very good.



Let me know what you think!

Also (and I know no one really cares, but I'm gonna tell you anyway) I'm rethinking the purchase of that Desert Eagle airsoft pistol. No, this isn't one of those I-found-another-gun-that-I-like-so-I'm-gonna-buy-it-instead moments. The Desert Eagle, like many airsoft pistols, is powered by a type of compressed gas known as Green Gas (its real name is actually a long chemical formula that no one can pronounce), and unfortunately I've learned that the DOT has recently passed several restrictions on the shipping and transportation of compressed gases, including Green Gas. As a result, Green Gas prices have shot through the roof since it now costs much, much more to ship. Because of this, buying my Desert Eagle (which is something of a gas-hog) may no longer be economically feasible.

Thursday, May 10, 2007

For Your Viewing Pleasure...



...another lightsaber duel by (some of) the guys who brought us Ryan vs. Dorkman, Wieber vs. Flyte, and RvD2.



Now this one's long, and the acting's pretty cheezy, but the choreography (IMHO) rocks.

Friday, May 4, 2007

Experiencing Creative Difficulties, Please Stand By

Firstly, many thanks to Jeff for letting me know where to find episodes of the new Robin Hood series. Incidentally, Jeff, you wouldn't happen to have the URL for the first episode lying around, would you? I suspect that the series will get released on DVD fairly soon, but then again, I could be wrong; BBC only released the first season of the Robin of Sherwood series they made back in the 80's on Region 1 DVD a few months ago.

Secondly, it's going to be a while before Chapter 2 of Ghosts of Sherwood gets posted. While most of the story is in need of some minor revising, a good chunk of Chapter 2, possibly the entire beginning of the chapter, will need to be completely rewritten. Basically, what I did was tried to lighten up a(nother) rather dark chapter with some comedy, but upon rereading it, I find that it really isn't appropriate and takes away from the rest of the chapter, but I have not yet figured out a way to change and have it smoothly transition into the rest of the chapter. Hopefully I will have that done soon.

Also, has anyone actually read Ghosts of Sherwood yet? If you have, please comment and let me know what you think. If you have not, well, read it already!

Lastly, I still have not recieved any word from nerdjedi regarding my challenge. I wonder, is he to afraid to respond?

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

More Big News and a New Story

I am placing Codename: Whike Knight and The Hitman Chronicles on long-term hiatus. Quite frankly, I've grown tired of writing nothing but "shoot 'em ups" as my family has taken to calling them. So I'm giving them a break and veering off into a new direction with a brand new story, Ghosts of Sherwood.

I know you're probably thinking that this is just another product of my recent obsession with Robin Hood. I'm sorry to say, however, that you're sorely mistaken. Ghosts of Sherwood is/was actually the product of a dream I had several years ago. I planned most of the story out in intricate detail and began writing it, only to stop when school started up that fall. Once I started blogging, I planned to post it up eventually, but when my computer died and the work I'd done thus far were lost (or so I believed) and the copybook that I'd written all of my notes in disappeared, the project went on the shelf for good. Fortunately, I've managed to recover both the files from my computer as well as the missing copybook, so now I can resume writing the story!

The first few chapters have already been completed and Chapter 1 is actually up at this point. Look for Chapters 2-5 to follow shortly, though they are all in need of serious revision, so that's why they're not all going up at once.

On a different note, still no response from nerdjedi on my call-out. I wonder if he plans on responding, or if he's just one of those people that goes on talk shows and just dodges all of the questions?

Well, that's all for now. Be sure to check out Ghosts of Sherwood and let me know what you think!

PS. Does anyone know if there are any episodes of the new BBC Robin Hood series up on YouTube, and if so , where I can find them?