Never Mind...

Okay, More Than a Job and Codename: White Knight are temporarily unavailable. No, I haven't taken them down, they're just hidden for the time being. I know, I promised that I'd leave them up, but some things have come up.

Firstly, I've had another attack of the paranoia and don't want anybody stealing my idea. But I've restrained myself; like I said, they're not removed, just hidden away.

Second, and more importantly, my job is really taking a lot out of me. I know, it sounds like a lame excuse, but believe me, now I know why it's called the corporate grind. I can't go into details since I signed a confidentiality agreement when I started, but suffice to say that we have a major product release on our hands, so things are really crazy right now, and the fact that this is the biggest four weeks for vacation of the year isn't helping.

Third, I still don't have MS Office on my computer, so I can't really edit Chapters 3 and 4 without them. Hopefully this will resolve itself in a week or so.

Lastly, I've got a couple new ideas floating around in my head that I've been toying with, and that's also been taking time away from White Knight. Those I'll post, 'cause I really don't care if someone copies them.

I know I promised to keep MTaJ and White Knight up for good, and I'm very sorry for breaking that promise. Hopefully my situation will resolve itself quickly and I'll be able to work on White Knight consistently, in which case I'll put the stories back up.

Also, I've got a new poll up on the sidebar. Check it out, and be sure to vote!

They're Back!

Anyone remember my movie review blog from a while back? No? No one? Well, that's okay, I forgive you. However, your faulty memories are no longer significant, because it is back and up and running! It's called Raptor's Reviews, and you can find it over in the "Links" section on the sidebar. Currently there are only two reviews posted, but more will follow soon!

However, that pales in significance to what I'm about to tell you next:

*insert drum roll here*

CODENAME: WHITE KNIGHT IS UP AGAIN!!!!!!!!

I only have Chapters 1 and 2 up right now as I am in the process of revising Chapter 3 and completely rewriting Chapter 4. But fear not, for they shall be posted soon, on that I give you my word of honor.

Okay, enough chit-chat. Check out the new additions and PLEASE let me know what you think!

Oh, and don't forget my previous posts.

Hello, Gorgeous

Meet the 2007 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster:

• Supercharged 5.4-liter V8
  
• 626hp
• 575ft/lbs torque
• 0mph-60mph in 3.6 sec
• 1/4 mile in 11.6 sec @125 mph
• Top Speed: 210mph
• Skidpad: 0.97g

You can stop drooling on your keyboard now.

Seriously, though, you gotta admit that this is one incredible car. I'd definitely like to own one of these babies one day. Either this or a Bentley Continental GT. Or an Aston Martin DBS. Heck with it; I'll just get rich enough to buy all three!

150 Posts and a Cheezburger

150th post.

Cool.

Still no Word, which means still no stories. Curse you, Bill Gates! CURSE YOU!!!!!!

Okay, now that that's out of my system...

nerdjedi showed me a link to this really funny website, I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER?

There's really no way to describe or explain the site; you just have to check it out for yourself.

Up And Running... Almost

Good news! My computer woes are finally over! I've purchased a brand-new HP Pavilion Notebook computer. No longer am I dependent on an out-of-date hand-me-down or be forced to share a Dell that has an affinity for frying hard drives! At last, all is right with the word!

Well, almost all is right.

My computer didn't come with Office. That means I don't have MS Word, which means I can't keep writing my stories or upload what I have to Blogger. Now I have to pay $100-plus (probably more like $200) to get software that any computer should come with in the first place. I hate Microsoft.

And now, on a different note...

I was browsing around YouTube today and came across a bunch of old WWII-era Superman cartoons. These were shown in movie theaters before the feature presentation along with the newsreels. A few years back, Nickelodeon aired these during their Nicktoons Show along with Bugs Bunny and that gang. I used to go over to my grandmother's house every Saturday afternoon to watch (she had cable, we didn't) and hope against hope that they'd show a Superman cartoon.

This one is one of my favorites. It's called Billion Dollar Limited.


I do have one question, though. How is it that we have sophisticated computer animation that can do anything and everything, but this 60+ year-old cartoon looks worlds better than anything that's been made recently?

Curse the Censor

This is a commercial for Xbox 360 Live that was banned for reasons I cannot discern:



I know it's very "violent," but really, there's zero blood and no one really dies. What the censors found objectionable to this, even after multiple viewings, still eludes me.

I still haven't gotten a new computer, but this will change soon; Micro Center is having major sales this month.

Also, Chapters 3 and 4 of Codename: White Knight have been lost, probably for good, so when I get a new computer, I'll have to rewrite them. If anyone remembers the beginning of Chapter 3, it's most likely going to be changed.

UPDATE:

Good news: I was able to get the computer back up and running long enough to pull some files onto a jump drive, including Codename:White Knight and the movie reviews I wrote a while back.

We're 99% sure that the computer, a Dell Dimension 3000-Series, fired its hard drive. This isn't an isolated incident: for a long time, my high school used the same type of computer in the library, and they were always having problems. It got so bad that they began upgrading to new models (again Dells) midway through my junior year, and those began having issues by the time I graduated. My advice to anyone in the market for a new computer: stay away from Dell.

More Computer Problems

Okay, I'm making this quick: I'm having some major computer issues at the moment and cannot access Codename: White Knight, so it will be a while before I begin posting it. Sorry for the unexpected delay.

*sigh*

I have got to get myself a computer! It's even trumped my airsoft MP5 for top priority!

The Return of David Pierce

As I promised before, I am re-posting my David Pierce stories. I know I said that I'd bring them back before only to get rid of them again, but this time it's permanent; they're not going anywhere.

Right now, only More Than a Job is up. I'm going to be out of town for the next week and (obviously) won't have access to my computer, but I will post the first three chapters of Codename: White Knight when I return. The rest of the story will follow shortly.

You'll note that More Than a Job's subtitle says that the book is the first of a trilogy. I've got the storyline for the third book (working title right now is either The Defender or Guardian and Angel. I know, they both stink.) Unfortunately, I can't give away any aspects of the plot without ruining the entire story and giving away major spoilers for Codename: White Knight.

I gotta run now; it's very late and I gotta get up very early. Enjoy More than a Job and PLEASE R&R!!!

Bringin' 'Em Back... Again

Okay, I know I've been real finicky about this, but this time its for real:

I'm brinig back More Than a Job and Codename: White Knight.

I've regretted taking MTaJ off the blog and I've got the spark for White Knight back, plus I really wanna write the third one (yes, it's a trilogy. Sorry).

Plus, I've got another idea, sort of a series-finalie of sorts for The Hitman Chronicles that I might weave into the David Pierce storyverse. Don't worry, this isn't the end of TCH, it's just a pre-emptive ending that will take place five-six years down the road. Kinda like The Spongebob Squarepants Movie, only without the Sponge and the Hoff. There will, however, be several massive hand-cannons present, so action fans won't be disappointed.

The working title for this new idea is 10mm, but this will probably be changed in the very near future. I'll keep you posted.

Okay, now it's really late and I have to go into work early tomorrow (I envy you and your summer vacation) so I'm gonna go.

Tech Support

The following are excerpts from real-life conversations (I think) between technologically-incompetent people and the folks at tech support:


Tech Support: What kind of computer do you have?
Female Customer: A white one...


Customer: Hi, this is Celine. I can't get my diskette out.
Tech Support: have you tried pushing the button?
Customer: Yes, it's really stuck.
Tech Support: That doesn't sound good; I'll make a note.
Customer: No, wiat a minute... I hadn't inserted it yet... it's still on my desk... sorry...


Tech Support: Click on the 'My Computer' icon on the left of the screen.
Customer: Your left or my left?


Tech Support: Good dat. How may I help you?
Male Customer: Hello... I can't print.
Tech Support: WOuld you lick on 'Start' for me and...
Male Customer: Listen pal -- don't start getting technical on me! I'm not Bill Gates.


Customer: Hi, good afternoon, this is Martha. I can't print. Every time I try, it says 'Can't find printer'. I've even lifted the printer and placed it in front of the monitor, but the computer still says he can't find it...


Customer: I have a problem printing in red...
Tech support: Do you have a color printer?
Customer: Aaaah........................thank you.


Tech Support: What's on your monitor now, ma'am?
Customer: A teddy bear my boyfreind bought for me at the 7-11.


Customer: My keyboard is not working anymore.
Tech Support: Are you sure it's plugged into the computer?
Customer: No. I can't get behind the computer.
Tech Support: Pick up the keyboard and walk 10 paces back.
Customer: Okay.
Tech Support: Did the keyboard come with you?
Customer: Yes.
Tech Support: That means the keyboard is not plugged in. Is there another keyboard?
Customer: Yes, there's another one here. Ah... that one does work...


Tech Support: Your passowrd is the small letter "a" as in apple, a capital letter "V" as in Victor, the number 7...
Customer: Is that 7 in capital letters?


Customer: I can't get on the Internet.
Tech Support: Are you sure you used the right password?
Customer: Yes, I'm sure. I saw my colleague do it.
Tech Support: Can you tell me what the passoword was?
Customer: Five stars.


Tech Support: What anti-virus program do you use?
Customer: Netscape.
Tech Support: That's not an anti-virus program.
Customer: Oh, sorry, ... Internet Explorer.


Customer: I have a huge problem. A friend has placed a screen saver on my computer, but every time I move the mouse, it dissapears.


Tech Support: How may I help you?
Customer: I'm writing my first e-mail.
Tech Support: Okay, and what seems to be the problem?
Customer: Well, I have the letter 'a' in the address, but how do I get the circle around it?


A female customer called the Canon Help Desk with a problem with her printer:

Tech Support: Are you running it under Windows?
Customer: No, my desk is next to the door, but that's a good point. The man sitting in the cubicle next to me is under a window, and his printer is working fine.


Tech Support: Okay, Bob, let's press the 'control' and 'escape' keys at the same time. That brings up a task list in the middle of the screen. Now typle the letter 'P' to bring up the Program Manager.
Customer: I don't have a 'P'.
Tech Support: On your keyboard, Bob.
Customer: What do you mean?
Tech Support: 'P'... on your keyboard, Bob.
Customer: I'M NOT GOING TO DO THAT!

IT'S BACK! YIPPIE!!!!!!!!!!

HOORAY! At long last, I've finally written a new addition to The Hitman Chronicles! It's called Hunted Hunter. Kudos to nerdjedi for the plot bunny.

Okay. It's late and I've got work tomorrow, so I'm gonna sign off.

PLEASE R&R!!!

The Slimdown

I have an important announcement: Codename: White Knight, Ghosts of Sherwood, and my list of movie reviews have all been removed from the blog.

This was not a random, arbitrary decision: no one gave a darn about the reviews, and I've lost the creative spark for both Ghosts and White Knight. The Hitman Chronicles remain posted, but I have deleted the latest update, which was only half-completed and not yet posted anyway.

However, this major removal does not mean the end of posting stories on my blog. Should the inspiration return for any of the removed stories, I'll put them back up, but only after they are either finished or near completion. I also have several new ideas that I feel like playing around with and might eventually post. Finally, I plan on periodically making new additions to The Hitman Chronicles, and actually have a very vague idea for one right now, but it won't go up for a while.

I'm also thinking about re-posting More Than a Job, seeing as how it's already finished and right now it's just sitting around doing nothing (kinda like me before the internship). Let me know if you think that's a good idea.

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.

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.

30 Years of the Force

STAR WARS

5/25/77-5/25/07

THE FORCE IS FOREVER

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.)

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...

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?

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.

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.