5.5.05

Religious Hub-Bub

I've made my stance on religion pretty clear, right? I don't think I need to clarify it any more. (I'm sure there's more in there, but I don't want to go digging them up. The one I linked is the only one I posted this year, I think. You guys can check if you want.)

Anyway, I had a couple of interesting conversations today. I'll let you guys look. First was with a girl serving ISS, I met through a friend of a friend of a friend... apparently I have amazing networking skills. Anyway, this is just a snippit; we had other things to talk about. I started where I did just to give a little context, and the end is just, uh, the end, I guess. We just switched topics. Anyway, here goes.
me: I've got better things to do tonight then die!
Her: hahaha..
Her: YOURE GONNA DIE??
me: nooo
me: its from a movie
Her: ohh..
Her: whew.
me: *nods*
me: the transformers movie
me: have you seen it yet?
Her: nope
me: well why not?
me: are you some sort of communist?
Her: whats a communist again?
me: someone who believes in communism
me: duuh
me: its like exteme socialism
Her: .....
Her: still not comprending
me: x_X
me: everyone in the nation works for the nation, and eveyone gets paid the same amount
Her: is that not true?
me: not here
me: people work for themselves
me: or for private corporations
Her: ohh
Her: okay.
Her: Im...christian
Her: :)
Her: lmao
me: good job
me: oh, i have a question i was thinking about earlier
me: if being christian means following jesus' teachings, why does it matter whether or not he was the son of God?
Her: Im guessing you aint christian
me: i dunno what i am
me: why does that matter?
Her: IDk i dont even get that question..I just believe in Jesus Christ as my personal savior
Her: it doesnt matter
Her: why are you asking about it
me: curious
me: conversation
me: like i said, i dont know what i am
me: anyway...
me: your persoal savior?
Her: yep.
me: what did he do for you personally?
Her: Died for my sins.
me: what does his death have to do with your sins?
Her: ...read what I just said
Her: HE sacrificed his life for our sins.
Her: And why are you asking me? Why dont you talk to a preacher.
Her: I dont teach this stuff
me: cuz its more fun to talk to people i kinda know
Her: ..okay?
me: honestly, i tried asking this kinda stuff in sunday school
me: the guy kicked me out, and told my mom i was unsaveable
me: x_x
me: i believe he used the term "spawn of satan"
Her: Oh. Yeah I have another friend thats like you too.
me: in what way?
Her: Questions ppls religion or christianity..and idk he was called something like that too
me: does that not seem odd?
Her: No not really.
me: it doesnt seem odd that people who question your religion arent answered, but instead are called hellspawn and deemed unsaveable?
Her: why would it matter if yall were called hellspawn or unsaveable..you dont believe in it the first place. and its not that i cant answer them its just that I dont know all about it its just somethign I believe in ..you can go to my church its called Triuhmphant Love Luthern Church.
Her: Pastor Norb could answer your questions.
me: maybe I will
me: i never said I didnt believe in it
Her: You should ..I'm serious
Her: Well...hah..
me: i definitely agree with alot of jesus' teachings
Her: Okay?
me: im a total pacifist
Her: Then why have to question everything?
Her: Why not just leave it alone
Her: I mean idk Im just that way I dont like to think too hard it hurts my head pllus Im not really smart so I just ..yeah.
me: cuz im not totally satisfied with the entire religion
me: so i ask
me: Judaism encourages questioning its own principles
me: its how you learn about things
me: or at least, its how I learn
Her: Well I get enough learning in school.
me: well, why bother with religion at all then?
me: why not just say, okay, the sun rises and sets, i dont need to know why
me: im alive and on here, i dont need to know why
Her: Bc theres a reason why the sun is there and why im here.
me: so you question
Her: and that reason is my religion so im good with that
Her: no I dont question
Her: I already know.
me: hrmm
me: well i dont know
Her: Im sorry
me: so im looking for a religion that lets me know
Her: Why dont you just be aethist
me: cuz i do believe that there is something out there
me: i just don't know what
Her: OH
Her: okay
Her: Well seriously go to Triumphant Love Luthern Church and my pastors name is Pastor Norb.
me: this is in austin?
Her: Yup
Her: I think you can look it up on the internet
me: hrmm
me: do you know if they have a program for college students?
Her: HM...They have alot of differnt gettogether groups..but yeah Im pretty sure they do
me: mkay, cuz thats what i enjoy most
Her: they have kids...and youth group and senior group and my grandmas in a bible group
me: i dont get anything really out of sitting in the sanctuary and listening to the minister for an hour
Her: yeah me either
Her: Ive learned what ive learned
Her: Ive been baptized and gone thru community and I got Confirmed and I learned about each of them
Her: LIke i used to go to church every sunday since i was in 1st grade up to 7th grade then in 8th grade i went less and less idk y. I jsut felt that I knew and ect.
Her: bad excuse but still.
me: yeah, you shouldnt just go to church to learn, you go to worship
Her: oh yeah I know that
Her: Thats what I do when I goto church
Her: I worship i cant learn much b.c of my hearing dissability
Her: so like when the preacher preaches...i jsut..sit tight
Her: or read the gospel
Her: or something
me: thats good
Her: sure
Okay, so then I got hit up a few hours later by a girl who I actively started a conversation about religion with like a year ago. I met her in a chatroom, and basically questioned her about her beliefs and such. She came back just today, after months of silence, and was ready to pick up where we left off. I really wish she'd just learn to type well. Oh well...
Her: HAY SWEET HEART.HOW ARE U DOIN TONIGHT??
me: oh hey
me: long time no see
me: sup?
Her: HAY HOW ARE U DOIN???
me: not bad
me: your caps get stuck?
Her: O NO I JUST PUT IN ON CAPS
me: ok
me: sup with you?
Her: The Lord is ooo awesome.i kept lookin at ur screen name but aint neva immed u .i guess the Lord wanted me too
Her: so i did
me: heh
me: i had the same feelings
me: saw it there, never had much to say
me: i actually had a rather interesting discussion with a girl earlier about religion
Her: o what religion
me: shes christian, im still undecided
Her: dont u knoo time isnt waitin on u..the next moment isnt promised to u at all
me: exactly
me: so i dont wanna make some hasty decision
Her: becomin a christian is not a hasty mistake nor mistake...the Bible sayzz theres onlt one true religino which is christianity
me: yeah, and the Torah says there is only one true religion which is Judaism
me: and the koran says the same about Islam
me: they can't all be right
Her: listen how do u think u came into this world??
Her: Gid created u
me: right
Her: im for real
me: i believe you
me: i don't doubt that god exists
me: i just dont know which interpretation is right, or if any of them are
Her: alright then why are u undecided about the religion u wanna be
me: its a personal issue though
me: i want my relationship with God to be MY relatioship with God, not the same one that 10000 other people use
me: i've never been able to get into the whole worshiping as a group
Her: the Lord said praise Him,...u cant have no relationship with God unless u are a christian first of all
me: sure I can
me: your God is the God of Abraham and the God of Mohammed
Her: God said he heareth not sinners but if any man be a worshipper of Him He hears him
me: but Jesus dined with the sinners
me: he seems to have heard them
Her: he did nt die with them but for them...on the cross at calvary
me: i said DINED. he broke bread with them and ate with them
me: one of his disciples was a tax collector
Her: (THJIS LINE IS MISSING!)
me: so if god only hears sinners, then how can the sinners become saved?
Her: People dont pray to Jesus.The Lord said pray to God in Jesus name
Her: i said God dont hear sinners but if any man worship Him thats the ones He hears
me: so what if a sinner worships him?
me: like those priests who did things to little boys
Her: 1st of all u gotta be saved....but if u are a sinner and u are prayin and u think God hears it ur just wastin ur time cuz He dont
me: so then, its not possible for a sinner to be saved?
Her: oo my goodness yes it is...What are u talkn about the Lord said if u come unto Him he will not flee u away
me: but he wont listen to a sinner
Her: the devil dwells in those that arent saved
me: how does a sinner become saved if God wont listen to a sinner?
Her: listen God dont hear a sinner unless they are sayin save me or forgive me
me: ah
me: thats the bit i was missing
me: okay
Her: yeah alright srry i shoulda told u
me: its kay
me: okay, that makes sense to me
Her: alright any mo question
me: hrmm, mostly just how does jesus dying 2000 years ago affect my sins today?
me: i have a new screen name, by the way
Her: alright.i hope u got the last thing i typed it was a whole bunch
me: uhh
me: no i did not (About here her internet connection just died on me, I think)
So there you have it. I hid their names, because I know some of you reading this would jump at the chance to try and start something with these two over their beliefs. I might not agree with these girls, but I respect their beliefs, and I don't think I can say the same for all of you out there. Anyway, this has been worked on far too much... X_X

Yet Another One For Today

And it's not about Star Wars!! O_O

Anyway, this convo pretty much sums it up:
me: it started, and i was like, oh, a fire drill
me: and i put on my shoes, kept my headphones on, etc
me: and i was like
me: i dont need my game boy, cuz it'll be 2 minutes then i can go back to sleep
me: well, 2 minutes passed
me: i couldnt get in
me: 5 minutes passed
me: still no go
me: 10 minutes
me: i went across the street to sams and got a pbj sammich
me: nothing
me: i ate the sammich
me: and i got some stuck in my throat
me: so i went to the local school building for a drink
me: water fountain
me: cept the water tastes like crap
me: so i got a coke
me: and came back
me: and saw matt walking away
me: so i talked to him
me: and then i came back
me: and it was still going off
me: and so i went ot the manga store
me: this is 30 minutes after it went off initially, mind you
me: so i spent 10 minutes and 10$ there, thinking whatever it was was gonna take them an hour and i might as well have something to read
me: and i came back
me: and they were JUST letting people in when i got there
me: o_o
You phear my once sided conversations. O_O

Some Links

I love this stuff...

Also, in case any of you can't get enough of my writing, I've joined a forum role-play thread (based on poke`mon, no less) here. It's pretty deep (nerdy) stuff, so I don't expect many of you to be interested, but if you are, well, there it is. If you wanna find out what the hell is going on, well, here's the discussion thread.

Okay, that's enough for now. I got through my first final, barely. I have no idea how well I did, so don't ask. I'll prolly sell back any text books I have that weren't damaged in the flood for a little extra cash tomorrow, and hopefully not starve before Mom shows up and treats me to Fizoles, Olive Garden, IHOP, whatever. Yay real food. For now... I have no money in the university food account. Arby's and Subway it is. Yay fake food.

Okay, bye.

This Will Be A Day Long Remembered

Ladies and Gentlemen. Today is a day of marvelous significance. In 3 hours I will be staring my first final - Calculus 2, so I should do okay, I'm usually very good with mathematics. In one week from today, I will wake up in Austin for the first time in over a month, and begin my Summer vacations.

These both pale in comparison, however, next to my main reason for writing this. For those of you that do not know, two weeks from today, squeezed in what will most likely be a packed movie theater, I will view arguably the most anticipated movie of the decade: Star Wars: Episode 3 - Revenge of the Sith. I think my head will explode. O_O!! Seriously, everything I've heard about this movie is that it is on several scales more awesome than the previous two installments.

WHAT FOLLOWS MAY SPOIL CERTAIN ELEMENTS THE MOVIE! CAREFUL!

The Clone Wars come to their own exciting end. Palpatine comes to his full Imperial power, and the Empire is formed. The Jedi are purged (and you know they aren't going down without a fight). And the big turn. Anakin Skywalker, great hope of the Jedi, falls to the Dark Side of the Force, is slain in combat with his Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and is reborn as the Dark Lord of the Sith that the Galaxy will learn to fear by the name of Darth Vader.

Also of note are the return of the greatest piece of William's Score in my opinion, the Imperial March. Seriously, very few other pieces of music so embody the pure coldness and steady march forward of evil that the March does. I can't help but listen to it without having visions of Star Destroyers floating in face, forming up on the mighty command ship Executor. Also, the fact that this movie is much darker than the previous two. I've read reports that Anakin is seen slaying the Jedi students (remember the class Yoda was teaching in AotC?) I thought it would be enough to show him walk into a room in the temple, and have the door close, and just have screams heard from outside, but never actually see anything. It sounds, though, that Lucas is actually SHOWING the slaughter... Very dark, and I guess it helps explain the PG-13 rating.

END SPOILERS!

I really think that this movie will be better than the previous two, particularly because its any entirely story driven, and very focused, or so it seems. The first two had a general frame work to work on - they need to discover Anakin, he needs to fall in love, and the Clone Wars need to start. And they accomplished that, but really, they could have done all that in about an hour, and it would have just been a bunch of boring historical data basically. They way they made them, the stories of the movies just seem tacked on to the frame. But this one seems genuinely full of stuff happening, and so it won't have the pacing issues of the previous two.

To be fair, I didn't HATE the first two. I have both of them on video (TPM on VHS, AotC on DVD). They are genuinely good Science fiction movies, if only B movies. In Phantom, I enjoyed watching the Pod Race scene, the final semi-epic battle between the Gungans and the Droid Army (Jar-Jar may be annoying, but the rest of them are pretty cool), and the saber fight between Darth Maul, Obi-Wan, and Qui-Gon. However, I cringed when Anakin asked Padme` "Are you an angel?" In Attack, I enjoyed seeing Yoda go nuts, the starting battle of the Clone Wars, and Obi-Wan's duel with Jango Fett. I didn't like seeing Anakin and Padme` spending however long it was flirting with each other. Do you notice a pattern here? The love scenes in both movies were so stilted, and forced, and just plain badly acted. (I also take issue with the inclusion of a history of Boba Fett, but that's more of an irrational "OMG BOBA FETT IS COOL BECAUSE HE HAS NO HISTORY" type thing.)

Oh my God this thing seriously has me freaking and geeking out about it. Really, if there's one thing I dislike about the Prequel trilogy, its gotta be the overt focus on the Jedi. I mean, yes, the Jedi are cool and all, bad ass, really, but they're sort of hard to aspire to be. I mean, they're an inherited, almost elitist aristocracy. You get Force powers from your father or mother (or, the Force itself, if you're a divine conception), and so while you do need some training and work, and a Jedi's life is far from easy, its not possible to EARN Force Powers, you either have them or you don't. Where's the fun in that?

Where are the swashbuckling, flying by the seat of your pants heroes? The charming and skilled Han Solo figure? Here's a guy who is a REAL hero. He starts of in ANH as a hard luck mercenary. He's got a price on his head, so he's on the run with just his best friend, his ship, and whatever contracts he can land. His ship is a piece of junk by all accounts, but he's made it into the fastest hunk of junk in the Galaxy through hard work and skill. He's brave, he's honorable (he DID come back and help Luke at the first Death Star battle), and he doesn't have to rely on the Force for his success. By the end, he's a GENERAL, responsible in part for the Victory at the Battle of Endor.

Where's the regular warrior? Episode 1's battle scene had a few Gungans, but aside from Captain Tarpels (Jar-Jar's number two guy at the Battle of Naboo) I cannot remember a single figure in that battle who didn't have medichlorian filled blood. Oh, and maybe Padme` (a Queen!), and a then maybe her head security officer, who I think is a local installation, because I don't remember him in the 2nd one. Speaking of Attack of the Clones, that one just makes it even worse. Go ahead, look at the final battle. Hell, look at ANY battle in that movie. Without fail, the good guys are either Jedi, or Padme` again, who is a Senator, not really a warrior. Everyone else, in EVERY occasion, is a CLONE! Not only are they wearing identical masks, so you can't tell them apart, UNDERNEATH they are just as uniform. Holy crap. Even battle droids have differing voices (I still get a little chuckle at the one in Episode I with a Brooklyn accent), but the clones all have Jango Fett's voice. Again I ask, where's the fun in that?

Who remembers Wedge Antilles? Remember the Battle of Yavin in Episode IV? Luke went into the trench with two wingmen, childhood friend Biggs Darklighter, and a guy named Wedge. Wedge took a hit and pulled out, while Biggs stayed and blew up. Remember the Battle of Hoth in Episode VI? When Luke's rear gunner, Dak, get fried in an explosion, its up to the snow speeder flown by Wedge, and his gunner Wes Janson, to trip up the AT-AT walkers that are marching on the Rebel Base. Remember the Battle of Endor? General Lando Calrissian flew the Millennium Falcon, and lead up Gold Squadron, but Red Squadron, the Rebellions X-Wing flight, was headed up by none other than Wedge Antilles, who fired shots at the reactor core. Here is the only man in the Rebel Alliance who gets to paint two Death Star silhouettes on the side of his ship. Not a medichlorian among him.

Anyway, I may have gotten a little off subject, but that just goes to show how much of a fan I am. I can go for hours on this stuff. Literally, I started writing this two hours ago. I only got an hour before Calc final, so I'd better wrap this up. So long, and may the Force be with you.

4.5.05

Finals Coming Up

I already told you about that, though... I dunno. It's too late for the berating post, AGAIN. I've got it rolling around in my head, though, and I've got some free time coming up. Why the hell am I telling you guys this though? You don't need coming attractions from me. x_x

In current events, I turned on the O'Reily Factor just now, talking about border security. I'm often surprised when I agree with him, but in this case, I do. He was saying that it was for supporters of a stronger border to be called anti-Hispanic. That's true enough. Wanting to secure the US border doesn't make a person anti-Hispanic. It just means they want to preserve the laws of the nation. Illegal immigration is in fact ILLEGAL, and anyone who does it is a criminal, hispanic or not. I do wonder about the rarely covered U.S./Canadian border, though I suppose that both nations there are vaguely similar in standing, there's not much reason to immigrate. Each seems to see themselves as superior to the other. *Shrugs.* Back to the matter at hand though, I think that while the current border situation seems to be out of control, using the military to patrol the border seems a bit excessive.

Why not, and I'm just spitballing here, a fence. A good old fashined, barbed wire electric fence. Or maybe concrete or something. What's more, make it dual layered, so that if someone triggers a sensor in the outer perimeter, someone can get in a Jeep, check it out, and do whatever's neccessary at the time. Fix the fence, arrest a border hopper, whatever you need. Anyway, just a thought. I wouldn't mind paying a few extra taxes one year to pay for a fence. Cuz, you know, it's a fence. Anyone else got any better ideas?

That rambled a bit more than I wanted it. I give you now: a wallpaper I found on the Internet. I for one was impressed. What do you think?

I'm gonna hold out for a better resolution before I replace my Anakin wall, but it's not a bad wallpaper in my mind. And on that, sleepytime. I'm hungry too, but w/e.

3.5.05

Stuff That Needs Saying

I give you another of my world famous random links, because I know you love them so. This one's a pretty good read, and pretty true. The Empire may be a tad oppressive and a little overly cruel in a few cases, but they're still a far better choice than plunging and entire Galaxy into the anarchy we see at the end of Return of the Jedi. Not to mention that the entire Rebellion is simply an off-shoot of Count Dooku's separatist movement, which as we know was engineered by Palpatine himself.

Given the chance, I might have applied to the Academy, tried to get myself stationed in a local planetary TIE Squadron, I don't know if I'd want to live aboard a Star Destroyer. I might get used to it. REALLY, though, my dream Star Wars career is closer to Han Solo's, only more legitimate. Leading a personal life aboard a freighter, travelling across the galaxy offering my services as a courier and what-not. All above the level, of course. Heh, no matter what galaxy I'm in, I'm always squeaky clean.

One last thing before I go. If you havent noticed my most recent away message, well... Here it is in its more complete form:
I regret to inform you that I speak none of the following languages fluently:
Dutch
Mandarin
Spanish
HTML
Japanese
Huttesse
Arabic
Amish
Beta Crypt 3
Latin
Rodian
Turkish
Basic
French
Danish
Java
Klingon
English
Egyptian
Martian
Cherokee
Crazy Bitch
Gothic
Italian
Perl
Aboriginal Australian
Swahili
Gaelic
Czech
NewSpeak
Russian
Deutsch
Bocce
Cantonese
Bavarian
Petorian
Hawaiian
Vogon
Dog
Ebonics
The International Language of Mathematics
C
Pig-Latin
Elephant
Portugese
Asshole
Wookie
Hebrew
Cat
Algonquin
Greek
Stupid
Tibetian
Binary
Goldfish
Ewok
Cajun
Cockroach
Tai
The Universal Language of Music
Sorry for any inconvenience this might cause you.
So anyway, I ran out of room in AIM's away message, but I'll be compiling all the languages I'm not fluent in here, as I come across them. I hope. You all know how good I am at editing these lists after the fact. Oh well. At least it's here.

I had a semi-lucid dream about a self-berating blog post, and I may do that yet, but not now. Now it is time for more napping. L8r.

2.5.05

Just A Few Things

I got a call last night from my brother, asking where Indiana Jones taught. How random is that? I didn't know then, and was somewhat busy on my own, but I looked it up today, and apparently Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones Jr. taught Archaeology at the University of Chicago, so that's good.

Apparently, I need to be studying, so my mom won't pay for Magic Online Cards... I need a credit card. Seriously. My mom even thought my ATM card was a debit card, on more than one occasion. I need to get it turned into one, or whatever. Of course, then I'd starve and just buy nothing but Magic cards all the time. X_X So I'm down to just the 150 cards I own. Oh, plus the 100 or so basic lands I got for signing up or whatever. Whee...

Lessee... I got one more class before finals start on Thursday. That's good. Then I get to go home; Get my laptop sent off for fixing; Get a JOB (x_x); Suffer through a buggy Internet connection; Probably have the giant projector TV still refusing to work. Ah well... Some good things include... A big bed I can roll around on and not have to worry about falling off of; A car (van, really); Theoretically, a pay check, and thus spending cash; And best of all, I can see Jackie much more often. ^_^ Plus, I'll maybe have a buncha free time, so I can do more PS2 games like I've been threatening too. Or write. Agh, so much to doooo...

Toss in on that, the possibility of going to A-Kon in Dallas. If I drive, which is cheaper than flying, I think.... Nope, just checked. It's 276 for the hotel and round trip tickets, plus 42 for admission, so about 310 so far, plus I'll need to pay for a taxi, and food, so that'll make it $400 even, and another 100 or more for spending cash. $500. I should be able make that at minimum wage over two 40-hour weeks. I have three full weeks before I would leave for the convention, say 14 days, as long as I work 6 hours each day, which I will easily hit, I should have PLENTY. So YAY ME! Let's just hope I can get a job. X_X

That said, I've got one other thing.... This e-mail! I recieved the following, labeled from Neateye (nitaigouranga@aol.com)... I can't even describe it, just look:
Call out Gouranga be happy!!!
Gouranga Gouranga Gouranga ....
That which brings the highest happiness!!
Words... Fail... Should have sent it to a poet... x_x anyway, wtf is this?

I'll leave this on your minds as I take my leave. Time to sleep. Night.

1.5.05

Loooong Weekend

I wanted to get some Magic Online Tournaments in over the weekend. That fell through.

There, now that the bad news is out of the way, on to the rest of this sporatic entry.

I saw the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Friday night. It was, basically, a very good comedy. One of the best I've seen in a while. My only real complaint is that near the beginning a lot of jokes from the book were set up, but not followed through. The bit about where the notice for Arthur's house demolition was has been shortened a bit from something like "It was in the cellar of the town hall, in the back of the bottom drawer of a locked filing cabinet that was inside of the lavatory behind a door marked 'Beware of Leopard'" became, in the movie, "It was in the cellar." Beh. It really takes a lot out of the parallel with the Vogon fleet commander's comment about the notice being on Alpha Centauri. Also missing were the bit where the construction forman explains to Arthur why bypasses must be built, and the bit where Ford convinces the foreman that he should lie in the ground instead of Arthur so they can get a drink. Aside from that though, the movie was laugh out loud funny. I really do think it's one of the better comedies I've seen in a while, and that's saying something. It's plot is almost nothing like that of the book. Scratch that. The movie dips into the books plot where convinent, and uses it as a framework for another, even bigger tale. It's really quite something.

By the way, the movie does neglect to tell the audience the full significance of a towel, though it does reference their importance on more than one occasion. I have, for your reading pleasure, found the books definition:
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has a few things to say on the subject of towels.

A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing an intersteller hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mind-bogglingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't see you -- daft as a brush, but very very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.

More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: nonhitchhiker) discovers that a hitchhiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, washcloth, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet-weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitchhiker any of these or a dozen other items that the might accidentally have "lost." What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the Galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through and still know where his towle is, is clearly a man to be reckoned with.

Hence, a phrase that has passed into hitchhiking slang, as in "Hey, you sass that hoopy Ford Prefect? There's a frood who really knows where his towel is." (Sass: know, be aware of, meet, have sex with; hoopy: really together guy; frood: really amazingly together guy.)
So now you know. And knowing is half the battle!

G.I. JOE!!!!

Sorry, I stayed up all night watching old Transformers cartoons. They had some of those things for that too, you know. It's scary. O_O

Lessee... I got myself a Star Wars wallpaper, in honor of the upcoming movie and all. I just had to show it off cuz its such a great wally:
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So I see you all asking, why that wall? And if not, well screw you, you're hearing it anyway. I really think this campaign with Vader's shadow from the small boy was a really effective message about the darkness behind the light, as well as the light beneath the darkness, which is something of the whole meaning of Star Wars. Plus, I was looking through pictures, and Jake Lloyd is cute! How can you resist this face?
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Oh, and on a totally unrelated note, this exists. Feel free to take that as you will.

That's all for now. I'm beat.

28.4.05

Fictional Blogs

Darth Vader has a Blog. Who knew? It describes the Dark Lord's views of the events of the Empire Strikes Back. Right now, he's just sent the fleet into the asteroid field after the Falcon. It's been relatively entertaining, though obviously a fan work, and not official. It still stays pretty close to the source and gives a feeling of how Vader feels about a lot of things. It's all very interesting, and provides a cool little side story to the movie.

Boba Fett has one too, but though I haven't read it, I'm not sure it'll be as believeable as Darth Vader's, if that makes any sense. I mean, Vader struck me as having emotions that would be interesting to read about. Especially after Hayden Christensen's angst-filled portrayal of Anakin in Attack of the Clones, it's clear that he's got deep-rooted emotional troubles, and was quite open about them to Padmé and Obi-Wan. Once he became Lord Vader, though, he had much more trouble having personal conversations with anyone, his intimidating visage instilling fear into anyone. Of course, he liked it that way. He got loyalty out of fear. But a Blog provides him a change to semi-anonymously reveal his innermost feelings.

Boba Fett though, he doesn't really HAVE innermost feelings. He is cold. I think he likes to keep himself this way. It keeps him focused, and also keeps him from feeling any pain he might feel from seeing his father beheaded. You KNOW that is some sort of deep pain Fett has to deal with, but he wouldn't reveal himself through a blog. Oh well. It's fiction, so it's fun, right? I know I'll still read it, with a few grains of salt.

Moving from the real of science fiction blogs, I don't remember if I showed you guys the Supermodel Personals, but they continue to be mildly entertaining, and seemed appropriate for this blog about fake blogs.

Also, I'm inspired to make a blog of my character from that one big convo I had. I've become obsessed with that lately, it's a really cool idea in my head, I don't know. After I write the story, of course. Maybe I'll use that to start that blog, in fact... More ideas for my brain. I'll keep you posted. Laters.

27.4.05

Where Am I?

Well, Lubbock, Texas, obviously. I was gonna treat you guys to another post involving where I plan to be in the future: I wanna move to Seattle or something, become independantly wealthy off my writting or what have you. Then my mind shot to the following quote by the greenest Jedi Master ever:
Ready are you? What know you of ready? For eight hundred years have I trained Jedi. My own counsel will I keep on who is to be trained. A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind. This one a long time have I watched. All his life has he looked away... to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was. Hmm? What he was doing. Hmph. Adventure. Heh. Excitement. Heh. A Jedi craves not these things. You are reckless.
So, where am I now? I'm in college, and really not doing to well. I want to do something, but I feel like im in that limbo where there's no time to do anything really... So, I sit here, in limbo. Maybe I'll go about beating a few more of those optional bosses in Kingdom Hearts. Maybe I'll work a little more on those games I'm sitting in limbo in on PS2.

Off the top of my head, and in no order, the other (Not KH) PS2 games I'm currently in progress playing:

Prince Of Persia: Sands of Times - I dunno how far I am, maybe half way? I think I got lost though.
Final Fantasy X - I THINK I'm basically on the home stretch, but I can't be sure. I feel like I need to do some power leveling, or however it works in that game.
Final Fantasy X-2 - I'm not too far, and in fact I'll probably just start over after I beat FFX.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty - 1st Level, just snooping... It's SOO slow to play.
La Pucelle: Tactics - I'm on the 2nd chapter, and this is actually pretty fun, reminiscent of my FF:TA days.
*At this point Greg went to rummage through his PS2 games drawer.*
Grand Theft Auto 3 - I made it to the 2nd island, but I can't beat the mission where I have to kill the first island's boss guy.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - I don't even know how you measure progress in this game. I think I managed to steal a tank, then I realized I could steal a couple of helicopters, and those are just too fun to resist. I'm not a criminal. I just like to fly. That's probably why I beat Ace Combat 4 in like four days and the rest of my games have been getting dusty for months.
Xenosaga Episode One: Something German - This is just another case of BORING GAME. I'm sitting in the 1st level, or maybe even the 0th. I think its a tutorial and I still am not interested. Ugh.
Sonic The Hedgehog Mega Collection - This was just a fun little thing. I love Sonic, and the ability to not have to mess with cords for my Genesis, plus the inclusion of all the old Game Gear games. I couldnt resist. I don't think there's really such a thing as progress here, I just get to goof around. I plan to beat most of these games though.

*Thinks.* I KNOW I have Sonic 3 & Knuckles complete 100% in cartridge form, but I'm not so sure about Sonic 2. The other games, which I KNOW I haven't beaten, include Sonic 1 (just never wanted to play this, the later two were much better), Sonic Spinball (I beat the GG version, but not the Gen), Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (The VS AI on this is nearly impossible x_x) and Sonic 3D Blast (OW MY EYES!), plus a few Game Gear Games - Sonic The Hedgehog (natch), Sonic Labyrinth (another one which just hurt to play), Sonic Drift (kart racer, I beat SD#2 back on the GG, and it was significantly better), Sonic Chaos (Basic Sonic game, you get to control Tails. Oh yeah, ultra-mini anecdote - I got this game for xmas several years ago, and played to the last level with Tails, at which point my Game Gear's 6 AA batteries died on me. u_u), Sonic Blast (its like Sonic Chaos with funkier graphics, suckier gameplay, and Knux over Miles), and another version of Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (not sure about the AI on this one, we'll see).

Wow, that's a big paragraph about all the GG games. Basically, they all SUCK! (Cept maybe Chaos.) To be fair, I knew the what Genesis games were going into it, and was genuinely happy with 6 out of 7 of them (I knew I didn't like 3D Blast cuz I'd played
it on computer, and MBM was a curiosity I wanted to explore). The portable titles though, were hidden on the inside of the case, deep in the back of the manual, like hidden nuggets of crap. What follows is the list of the 6 Game Gear Games I would have put in:

Sonic the Hedgehog (Again, natch)
Dr. R's MBM (I've gotten tired of spelling that out)
Sonic Triple Trouble (Sonic Chaos taken up 3 notches)
Tails' Adventure (This is the best black sheep for the Sonic series, and it pulled it off really well. I would LOVE to find this game again, just to play it again. It was so great)
Sonic Drift 2 (MUCH better than the first)
Sonic Spinball (This was enjoyable enough to me that I actually beat it at least twice, though maybe not with the emeralds. I could go through it again)

Okay, that's my dream team of GG Sonic games. Sonic 2 for the GG was overly hard, though I suppose it was better than a lot of the game that DID make it in. Ugh.

Also, why no Sonic CD? U_U

Okay, enough rambling about nostalgia. At least I didn't ramble about the future. Past beats Future, right? Thinks....
He who controls the Past controls the Future.
He who controls the Present controls the Past.
And he who controls the Future can get a flying De Lorean. ^_^ Night guys.

26.4.05

Zombies In New Orleans

Sharon walked into the dark, blue, New Orleans dance club known as the “Red Room”. She had the same thing on her mind that she always had on spring break – Guys, with a capitol ‘G’. Fifteen minutes after entering the club, Sharon was dancing like all the other drunken spring break students, when a name appeared floating in mid-air before her. She stopped dancing to the pounding trance music and tried to focus on the fuzzy letters, but the more she concentrated, the more the word faded from her view. She drunkenly wondered what the hell God had been trying to warn her about. Then she saw a cute guy, lost her train of thought, and never discovered that it hadn’t been God at all, but rather a drunken voodoo doctor. In New Orleans, everyone is drunk on spring break.

Soon Sharon forgot about the blurry warning, and continued her night of drinking, dancing, and the occasional flashing of her breasts. This activity attracted the attention or a shadowy figure. He limped over with a limp like someone who’d had too much to drink, only, different, somehow. Of course, everyone in the club was too drunk to notice the difference, but it was there, nevertheless. The nameless figure came up behind Sharon and tapped her shoulder with a bony figure to get her attention. She turned around, decided the figure looked mostly male, and flashed it.

"Very nice,” intoned the figure. “You are just the type of girl I’ve been looking for. Would you care to join me in the bathroom?”

Through her drunken haze, the only words from the figure’s almost overly-elegant speech that Sharon’s brain recognized were “nice”, “girl”, “join”, and “bathroom” - just enough for her to get the general idea that whoever was standing in front of her wanted sex. “Sure”, she agreed eagerly. Sharon followed her new-found lover towards the rear restrooms of the building. As the door creaked closed, the Red Room’s pale, skinny DJ cranked up the music, drowning out Sharon’s screams…

***

Detective Greg flicked on the TV set in his meager hotel room to see an interesting ad. “The following is a paid advertisement from the makers of Mattaway,” the announcer’s generic voice came. “Are big annoying singing rocks ruining your day?” The picture faded into the image of a little boy sitting on the side walk, crying next to his crushed toy truck. His mom walked into the frame.

“What’s wrong, Billy?” she asked.

“Matt,” the boy sniffed, “he rolled over it!”

“Sounds like we need some Mattaway.”

“Yes,” broke in the announcer, “It’s Mattaway – the only proven effective way to keep that pestering rock and his oddly unique singing voice out of your life! And you know it’s safe because we’ve tested it on animals!”

The image reverted to the child, now happily playing with another brightly colored truck, while the mom sprayed an aerosol can into the air around them. “Thanks, Mattaway!” she smiled at the camera as the words ‘Available at a parallel universe near you’ appeared at the bottom of the screen.

“Damn, Greg said, “I really need some of that.”

“No you don’t,” Matt argued, as he rolled out the nearby wall, humming the commercial’s catchy jingle to himself.

Greg shut the TV off as his good friend and occasional partner on the P.I. beat, Ralph, stepped out of the hotel bathroom in a stylish zoot suit. Greg had no need to change, because his usual detective’s outfit was stylish enough for nearly any occasion. Yes, even that one.

“You ready to leave?” Greg asked his friend.

“Hell yeah,” Ralph replied. Both were all set to enjoy a kick-ass Mardi-Gras in the best place to celebrate it, New Orleans, Louisiana. As the two strode out, they knew not the peril that would await them just at the first bar they would hop into.

***

As the pair ran from the first bar they’d visited that night, Ralph shouted at Greg “What the hell were you thinking?!”

“Well, just before I sat down,” Greg calmly replied as he ran alongside Ralph, “I was thinking ‘Time to get warmed up.' Then I got warmed up…”

“Yeah, I saw that… I wasn’t aware that was really possible.”

“Possible? Yes. Recommended? Well…” Greg gestured to the angry crowd that was just now exiting the bar in the pair’s wake. “Anyway, I’d call that a good start for the evening.”

“What do you mean, ‘start’?” Ralph growled. “Look at that crowd. I’d say our evening is done, man.”

“Nonsense. I’m not about to let some two-bit mob ruin my fun. Watch this.”

“Watch what?” Ralph asked as Greg dragged him into the next bar they passed.

Greg ignored him, covered his mouth and shouted, in a low, gruff tone, “He went over there!” Despite the fact that Greg had actually not gestured in any direction in particular, no one in the mob wanted to look like they were too drunk to not know what direction he had meant, even though in truth they all were, anyway. And so, the drunken two-bit mob, unable to come to a drunken consensus about which direction had been implied, split into two drunken one-bit mobs, and headed off in opposite directions. “Wow,” Greg said. “I can’t believe that worked.”

Ralph just sighed and shook his head. “I’m heading to the bar.”

***

Fifteen minutes later, Greg and Ralph were beginning to notice a problem with the club. Though they both had their respective macks on, they appeared to be the only two so macking.

“Greg, why are we still here?” Ralph asked. “The mob is long gone. Let’s go somewhere bumping.”

“This place IS bumping. Or rather,” Greg conceded, “it’s supposed to be.”
Ralph looked at the lifeless club. It was most nearly the opposite of bumping, whatever that was. “Come on Greg. I thought knew all the hot-spots in New Orleans.”

“First, I know all the hot-spots in the nation, and don’t you forget it. And second, I was just here last week. On, erm… Business. And the club was bumpin’. No, something isn’t right here.” Greg looked around the club and thought about what had changed since his last visit. Music? No, the club was still laying down the same phat beats it did every week. Atmosphere? Nope, the Red Room was still the same smoky and ironic blue color it always had been, if just a twitch darker.

Greg couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but it was there. Something was off. The strobe lights blinking in the corners of the club didn’t help anything. They weren’t really fast enough to be called a “strobe.” More of an annoying blinking, really. In between blinks, though, Greg spotted the problem. As fast as the beats were pumping, the partiers, who should have been up to full Spring Break power by now, were dancing like dead people. Not normal dead people, of course, because dead people can’t dance, but like strange dead people with just enough energy left in their corpses to dance.
Greg tapped one dancer on the shoulder so he could give a simple “What gives?” and hopefully get some answers. He was shocked when the shoulder he tapped fell off the dancer with a dry snap. The dancer, a bit disgruntled about losing his right arm, said “Oh snap!”, then turned toward Greg and snarled dryly. It was then that Greg realized the REAL problem in the Red Room: the zombies. Slowly, the zombies around Greg and Ralph became aware of the non-zombies among them. A zombie roar sounded over the speakers, alerting the entire club to the living interlopers.

Seemingly oblivious, Greg stood there in denial, dancing to the “dum-Dum, dum-Dum” of the blasting bass. In a whirl of arms, legs, and raver skillz, he quickly dismembered many nearby zombies. When Greg woke up from his Trance trance, he realized that the crowds around him were not spectators checking out his dope moves, but rather, a zombie horde bent on killing him and his partner. Greg listened closer, and realized that the bass he had been dancing too was really instructions: “Get them, Get them, Get them,” the speakers were shouting.

“This is not good,” Ralph noted. He lacked Greg’s amazing, if accidental, anti-zombie raving skillz.

“Follow me!” Greg shouted over the noise in the club, as he raved a path through the zombies to the door. Once they’d escaped, they realized that the whole city was a crowd, and they had accomplished nothing.

Greg sighed heavily, and Ralph breathed in from his inhaler. “Well, we survived that.”

“Don’t be so sure,” Greg cautioned. His mind was racing. As he thought, he realized a few things. First, zombies are notoriously stupid. Second, they had seemed entirely contained in that one small club. Therefore, Greg reasoned, they had obviously not realized that there was an expansive city waiting for them outside the doors to the Red Room.

Until now. Following Greg and Ralph through the door, the zombie horde came full on into the crowds of unsuspecting spring breakers, overrunning the helpless, drunken coeds.

“Oh shit,” Greg mused. “They’ve overrun the drunken coeds.” He tapped Ralph on the shoulder and motioned towards their hotel. “Well, what do you say we retire for the evening?”

***

“DAMN!!!” Greg shouted after the pair had returned to their suite. “I just don’t believe it…” He slammed the mini-bar closed in frustration. “Twenty bucks for a bottle of Schnapps!”

Ralph, who was a tad more practical than Greg, stared out the gaping hole Matt had created earlier. He was speechless, but Greg read his expression with familiarity.
“Yeah, I know; I’ll fix that too,” he said. “Just lemme figure out how.” With that, Greg lapsed deep into concentration.

Before he actually had to figure anything out, a glowing letter “G” appeared in the clouds. “Look!” Ralph shouted, “It’s the Greg Signal! But, who even knows you’re here?”

Greg began ticking names off his fingers. “Well, I do, and so do you, but I’m pretty sure neither of us are operating the Greg Signal. And look.” As Greg pointed, the clouds shifted, and what had appeared to be the Greg Signal, which doesn’t exist anywhere outside of New Jersey – or anywhere within New Jersey, either – was revealed instead to be a bright neon sign flashing “GIRLS! GIRLS!! GIRLS!!!” “Come on,” Greg ordered, “We need to get to that building!”

“Because the neon lights are a last sign of some intelligence in the city?” Ralph speculated.

“Ummm…. Yeah, sure.” Greg liked it when he didn’t have to think up his own brilliant plans.

“Okay, but how do we get through there?” Ralph asked, again piping reality into Greg’s pipe-dream mind. “The city is crawling with zombies.”

Greg thought for a moment, then glanced at his PDA calendar. “Of course!” he exclaimed. “There’s only one way through that horde. Quick, Ralph,” quizzed Greg, “what’s the one thing that can repulse even the undead themselves?”

Ralph stammered. “Huh? I dunno…” he shrugged. “Ugly women?”

But Greg was already gone from the room, rushing downstairs.

***

Ralph arrived only a few seconds behind Greg, just in time to hear the answer to the riddle.

“Magic Pro Tour players!” Greg addressed the crowd. “I have need of your special skills! I offer 100 tickets for Magic Online to every man who will form a protective zombie-proof ring around me and my friend here!”

Of course, the players knew Magic Online sucked, and continued drafting. Greg’s trump card, so to speak, was forced. “Okay, okay,” he conceded. “Every man who protects me gets to touch a Beta Black Lotus.” This got the players’ attention.

“Up front?” one asked.

“No, only if you survive,” Greg qualified. Noting they’re dismayed expressions, he quickly added “But you can touch an Alpha Time Walk up front!”

This was too much for the gamers. They all quickly surrounded Greg, who un-sleeved his Time Walk and passed it around the group. When it was safely re-sleeved in his pocket, Greg, Ralph, and their geek shield, headed out as one, towards the strip club.

Greg was quickly dismayed to learn that he had underestimated the zombies’ aversion to Pro Tour players, and was visibly frightened as the gamers began to drop at an alarming rate. Just as the last nerd fell, Greg and Ralph were inside the dark club. As he surveyed the apparently dominatrix style lain out before him, with chains and whips adorning the wall, Greg heard a very un-zombie-like yell from behind. He turned to find an unbelievably hot blonde charging the pair. Having grown accustomed to this action, Greg settled in to accept the young lady. He was a bit surprised when the lady missed, and jumped on top of Ralph instead, who was also a bit surprised.

More than a bit, actually. “Is this how all your day’s go, Greg?” he asked.

Before Greg could answer with an affirmative, the woman spat out “Silence, depalsum!” Ralph looked at Greg helplessly, who shrugged as if to say ‘Go with it.’

The girl chained Ralph’s wrists, ankles, neck, and chest to the stone wall. Then, as Ralph struggled vainly to break free, the girl, who Greg noted was sparsely dressed, even for New Orleans spring break standards, began lighting candles in a circle around her victim. As if under a trance, Ralph quickly fell asleep.

“Alright, alright, hold it. Exposition time,” Greg demanded. “What’s going on here?”

The girl stood up, and her posture seemed to change from the ravaging, fierce warrior woman who just tackled Greg’s partner into a congenial, polite, southern belle. Who just happened to be topless. “Hi!” she beamed. “My name’s Cindy. A Cajun topless necromancer. Nice to meet ya,” she drawled in her enticingly cute New Orleans accent as she extended her hand.

“Greg,” the detective introduced himself, bowing to kiss her wrist formally. “And, not that I’m complaining here, but I thought ordinarily, necromancers were evil.”

Cindy gestured at her shapely body. “Do I really look ‘ordinary’ to you?” she pouted, obviously teasing Greg.

“Good point,” he laughed. He quickly realized, though, that they had more important things to deal with at the moment.

***

When they were finished, Greg pulled up his pants and asked, almost casually, “So, what’s the deal with all the zombies?”

Cindy’s face went back to the serious hunter as she explained: “I am the Selmenta, the only person keeping all of humanity from being overrun by Cajun Zombie Hordes.”

“I see. And, that’s your uniform…?” Greg’s eyes darted from unclad body part to unclad body part on the mythological hottie.

“Well, no, not really.” The friendly Cindy returned. “Ya see, zombie huntin’s kinda a seasonal job, and a girl's gotta eat, ya know?”

Greg understandingly slipped a pair of twenties into the zombie slayer’s red thong, the only article keeping her from being totally nude, except for the thigh straps loaded with what was apparently zombie killing gear.

“Thanks,” she blushed, “but now’s not the time for a lap dance.”

“Yes it is.” Greg flashed her several more twenties.

“Fine,” she sighed, “just a quick one…”

***

Thirty minutes later, a zombie arm flew through the window, interrupting a pair. In the grip of the undead hand was a note, reading:

“To find some of the answers, check the back of the book. But to find them all, go to 109 Spooky Swamp St.”

The note was signed with a large red question mark, dripping in blood. “Geez,” said Greg. “Some people just can’t even other to sign their own names anymore.”

Looking at the address, Cindy mentioned, as though not thinking, “I know that place. It’s the old abandoned were-house on the bog.”

Greg tried to stifle a groan at the obvious were-wolf pun in Cindy’s statement. “Alright then, let’s go!”

“Come on, we can get out through the old underground escape tunnel.”

Surprised, Greg asked “The what?!”

“Oh, you know, all these old strip joints have emergency escape routes.”

“Why?”

Cindy tilted her head as she tried to think of the reason. “You know, I never really thought about it. Go figure.”

Cindy pulled a torch from the backdrop in the back, and the wall opened into a hidden exit. The torch, meanwhile, became a flashlight in Cindy’s hand.

“How’d you do that?” Greg asked.

“A secret from the English isles,” Cindy winked.

As Cindy lead Greg down the dark tunnel, he decided to grow more acquainted with his new partner. In between two bouts of activity vastly inappropriate for a zombie-related emergency, Greg managed to ask “So, what made you want to get into necromancy in the first place?”

Cindy’s answer came as a shock to Greg, who usually was ready for anything: “Jesus,” she chirped. Greg gave her a face that begged for details, so she sat up, leaned back against the rock wall, and explained. “See, as a teenager, I was sorta doubtful of all the biblical miracles, such as the resurrection of Christ. I did some studying and found something crazy. Jesus wasn’t the only dead man walking the streets that day. All of the graveyards were evacuated.

“This stuck me as odd, but when I remembered that Jesus still had his wounds and holes from crucifixion, it hit me. Jesus wasn’t healed by God; he, and the rest of Jerusalem, were zombified. Of course, as an impressionable young teen, I became fascinated with the idea of praising God through necromancy. I practiced and practiced. By the age of fifteen, I had revived a frog I was supposed to dissect. On my seventeenth birthday, I raised my first human.

“However, like Spiderman, I vowed to use my powers only for good. I did some digging, found the role of the Selmenta, and knew I had found my calling. I’ve been doing that, and stripping, ever since.”

Throughout the speech, Greg nodded and grunted agreeably every once in a while, though his gaze never left his partner’s naked chest.

The tunnel wasn’t long, giving the couple plenty of time to waste on their journey, but eventually, the pair emerged from underground, and found themselves at the edge of New Orleans, with wide expanses of swampland all around them. “Over there,” Cindy pointed. “That’s the place.” She stared at the warehouse, listening to her zombie-huntress instincts about the situation.

Greg, meanwhile, stared at Cindy, fighting off somewhat similar instincts. “Quit that,” he told himself quietly.

“You say something, Hun?” Cindy glanced back at him.

“Umm…” Thinking fast, Greg said the first thing that came into his mind. “Duck!” Conveniently, a truck passed by, making Greg’s comment much less random to the untrained eye. The pair watched quietly as the truck drove into the dark building.
“Hmmm....” he thought, somewhat slower. “I thought this place was abandoned.”

“Me too,” Cindy agreed. As another truck approached, she added, “I guess we were wrong.”

“Baby,” Greg smirked, “I'm never wrong.” Keeping his gaze on the truck, Greg waited patiently for the right moment to put his brilliant plan into action. He was interrupted, however, by Cindy, who had an even better plan, which involved jumping onto the truck and riding it into the building. Once inside, and past the platoon of zombie guards, Greg and Cindy leap off the truck and tried to blend in as well as a man in a bright red suit and a woman in a stripper's thong could ever blend in.

From behind a box, the two watched as zombie workers loaded large brown boxes into the trucks. Something seemed out of place to Greg, though. Following his keen interests, he scanned the place for exactly what it is that had tipped his instincts off.

Large brown box. No.

Cindy. No.

Zombie workers. No.

Cindy. Nope.

Tractor trailer trucks. No.

Cindy. Again, no, though it obviously wasn't for lack of trying.

Then he spotted it. A large poster showing a girl tossing up her shirt, with only a censor bar between her naughty bits and any onlookers. Something was written on the bar, but Greg couldn't quite make it out at this distance. Dismayed but intrigued, Greg elbowed Cindy, crouching to his left, in the breast, to show her what he had just found.

“Ow!” Cindy's sharp voice pierced the low din of loading machines and zombies. This called the attention of several nearby loaders, who quickly turned and faced the intruders. Matt the rock showed up in the background, and began to sing 'Thriller'. It was crunch time for the zombie slayers.

Ever the models of versatility, the zombies quickly shifted from a loading mind frame to one of brain devouring slaughter, once again proving the advantages of zombies over your regular workforce. “Hey, Cindy,” Greg quipped, “If we get out of this, remind me to look into an army of zombie slaves.”

“I'll make a note of it,” Cindy deadpanned as she began preparing anti-zombie weaponry. Taking her cue, Greg began to check out his own armaments. His two trusty Walther P38 handguns, fully loaded. Greg flipped the safety on each of the guns to off, then looked up to assess how the situation had changed.

It turns out not much had, and Greg learned the essential downside of zombies. They are dreadful, yes, but they are especially dreadfully slow. “On second thought, I guess I won't need those zombie slaves, if this is how fast they move.”

“What do you mean? I need every second I have here!” Cindy seemed a bit overly panicked, considering the less than threatening nature of their predicament. Greg looked over her shoulder and saw her drawing a delicate, intricate design into a leather canvas she'd lain on the floor. Her brow scrunched in concentration as the zombies crept nearer, step by unyeildingly-slow step.

When one of the zombies was finally less than ten feet away, Greg took the opportunity to put a bullet in the attacker's head. He then grabbed Cindy by the wrist and pulled her off the ground, leaving her half completed sketch where it was. Greg headed for the nearest exit he could see, a pair of large steel doors leading further into the complex, which bore the word “WARNING” in big red letters. Greg turned to Cindy. “Do you think you can get these doors open?”

“Y-yeah, but...” she stammered.

“Just do it, I'll hold them off.” With that, Greg whipped his two pistols in the direction of the slow-moving assailants, and began firing. Though many of his shots took off an arm or a leg, it was only a bullet through the head that seemed to be making the zombies stop. Once the third zombie dropped, Greg took a break from firing to reload, and Cindy was finally able to get his attention again.

“Hey, these doors aren't locked or anything, you know,” she said while demonstrating the fact easily.

“Oh,” was all Greg could think to say.

“But look at this here.” Cindy drew the doors closed again and pointed out the lines under the big red WARNING. It read: 'The following content may be unsuitable for children.' “Thats an odd warning, isn't it?” she asked.

“Yes,” Greg mused. “Oddly familiar...” He'd have to think about it later. Now was a time for action. Greg and Cindy passed through the doors, then barred them shut with a broomstick, sealing in the rest of the zombie workers, who then decided to revert to doing their grudge work. Then they turned to find three zombie janitors, dutifully mopping the hallway floor. Before the zombies had a chance to notice the newcomers, Greg shot away their brooms, then laughed as they became confused as to what exactly was happening. They turned and looked up at Greg with an undead rage, the kind of rage only the undead can give you. Greg took aim with one gun and fired at the enraged zombies, lopping off random limbs.

“Ugh,” Cindy grunted impatiently. “We don't have time for this.” She grabbed his other gun out of his pocket, though Greg noticed she hesitated a bit too long on his other gun. After that, she fired three quick shots into three separate zombie skulls, dropping them in less than a second. “Why do you always insist on playing with your targets? Can't you take anything seriously?”

“Of course not,” Greg replied. “Where's the fun in that?” He was much too embarrassed by Cindy's feat to tell her that he had in fact been aiming for their heads to begin with. He lead Cindy down the rest of the hall without incident, and arrived at a large theater room. A wall of TV's showed drunken college girls revealing their drunken college breasts. In the middle of it, a throne-like chair sat, its back to the adventurers.

Without warning, the chair spun to face Greg and Cindy, revealing a girl. Now, Greg had a habit of calling women in their 20's or 30's 'girls,' so to clarify, the person seated in the chair was barely 18, if. She was dressed in a fine business suit, but that only served to contrast her girlishness with an absurdly mature outfit. She spoke with a girlish voice, even. “Hello. How nice of you to join me.”

“Heh, right,” Greg replied nonchalantly. “Look, babe, is your mom or dad in? I think I've got to kick their ass about now.”

“FOOL!” the girl shouted. “Do not tempt the wrath of Kristen, Mistress of the Undead, lest you be destroyed.”

Greg tried his standard Plan B: charm. “In that case, can I tempt the beauty of Kristen?”

“NO! Imputent Mortal, you cannot sway me!”

“What, are you a lesbian? Should Cindy have...?”

“SILENCE! Don't make me summon my elite guard!” Kristen threatened.

Greg refused to be silent, especially when someone threatened him. “You sure? Cindy does the hottest little thing where she...”

“That does it!” Kristen slapped a big red button on her chair's arm. “Come forth, my zombie minion.” On cue, a dark figure jumped into view, in a decidedly un-zombie-like motion, then brandished a smile and a ninja star. “Behold,” Kristen announced, “the ultimate warrior: Snoop Dogg, ZOMBIE NINJA!”

“Oh, hey, Snoop!” Greg went over to shake the zombie ninja's hand, pleased to run into an old friend. He quickly realized, though, that this was not the old Snoop he remembered, and in fact, that this man wanted to kill him.

“I want to kill you,” the zombified rapper snarled.

“Dude, chill,” Greg said, trying his best to act casual in the face of such great terror. “I can pay you back now. I got the money. Don't I, Cindy?” Cindy nodded her agreement, apparently too terrified to move. “I just figured that after you became a big star you wouldn't need it, you know?” Snoop merely snarled in contention, and Greg was forced to continue. “Look, now, lets just cool off for a second. Why don't you take a seat, drop the ninja stars and BURN IN HELL, ZOMBIE SCUM!!”

Dropping the pretense of being a diplomat, which Greg doubted anyone who knew him would have believed, Greg's hands flew to his pistols as he unleashed a barrage of bullets, all of which were handily dodged by Snoop Dogg's outstanding rap dance moves. “Well, fuck,” Greg said, throwing his now empty guns at the zombie in a show of desperation.

The zombie ninja was now thoroughly angered, and took its opportunity to throw a half-dozen stars at Greg. Without thinking, Greg crouched, placing his head between his legs and closed his eyes. He heard several muffled noises, as well as flesh ripping. Greg cursed under his breath. I never got to see Rawanda. After a few seconds, though, Greg realized that he was in fact not dead. Confused, he aborted his fetal position and checked his surroundings.

In front of him he was a totally nude Cindy, who was standing over a beheaded Zombie Snoop and holding her star-torn thong in her hands. Greg's mind raced trying to figure out what had happened, but Cindy filled him in. “I caught the stars in my thong and flung them back at him,” she explained matter-of-fact-ly. “He never saw it coming.” She gave him a confident grin, and this was enough to quell any question Greg might have had about how her flimsy, sheer, silky smooth thong was capable of deflecting six ninja stars; or anything else about her story for that matter.

“No matter,” announced Kristen, though with significantly less confidence than earlier. “You think that was my last line of defense?”

“I don't think,” answered Greg. “I know. But first, why don't you tell us why you did all this.” He gestured to the grandiose display before the three of them. “Why did you unleash Girls Gone Wild on the world?” Cindy gave him a sharp poke in the ribs.
“Oh, and the zombies too. Why the zombies?”

“Its because... I'm fat.” She stared up at their faces and broke down crying. “You'll never understand all the pain and torment I go through!”

“No, I won't,” affirmed Greg. As far as he could tell, Kristen was anything but fat. She was drop dead gorgeous, and hands down the hottest evil villain he'd ever faced. And that was saying something, considering all the evil hot villains he'd faced.

Kristen continued, through streams of tears. “You can walk around with your swagger and luck and fall out of any situation on top, but not me. Look at me! I came into this world ugly and fat. What do you expect me to do?”

“Dammit bitch! You're hot! Get it through your head!” Greg was growing fed up with her sad-girl pity routine. “Besides, you still haven't explained the Girls Gone Wild, or the zombies.”

“Don't you see?” she cackled. “It's my revenge. My revenge on their kind!” With that she pointed at Cindy, standing naked, beautiful, and flabbergast. “And on the guys who wouldn't ask me out because I'm fat. I made zombies out of all the girls who were posing for my camera, then sent out the videos of them to all the horny guys watching Comedy Central at late nights when they SHOULD have been dating me.”

Greg was confused. This wasn't making any sense to him, or Cindy, by the look on her face. He stood silent, though, and let Kristen finish her monologue in peace.

“The first videos were harmless. They were simply so I could build up a following. This latest batch, though, the one I'm currently loading, this one will have subliminal messages, turning all the viewers into my mindless zombie slaves!”

“Shit!” said Greg. “Cancel my subscription!”

“No! In fact... you will be the first to fall victim to my spell!” With that, the video screens linked together, forming one gigantic warning.

“CINDY!” Greg shouted above the cheesy music. “CLOSE YOUR EYES! WHATEVER HAPPENS, DON'T LOOK AT IT!” Over the announcers voice, describing the wild co-eds doing things you've never seen before, Greg heard Kristen's voice cackling madly, then shouts of denial. The poor girl had fallen pray to her own scheme. Greg shot the VCR before opening his eyes to see Kristen, zombified.

“See hun,” Cindy commented, “NOW you look ugly.” She used the gun she still had to end Kristen's insane suffering.

“Nice work, baby.” Greg kissed Cindy. “You make a great sidekick. So, shall we go celebrate?”

“Yes, let's” Cindy agreed. She wrapped her arm around Greg's waste and the two of them left the warehouse, leaving a trail of clothes behind them.

***

Some time later, back at the old strip club, Snoop was on stage, free-styling, while chicks danced on screen behind him. “Snoop Doggy Dogg just came out of da fog...” Ralph remained chained to the wall, no longer bound by the evil spell, but still in no hurry to leave the newly re-opened strip joint. He was enjoying himself quite fine until Matt decided it was his turn to rap. The giant boulder crashed through the wall, got on stage, and began his own free-verse:

“Screw rolling on dubs, I'm rollin' on thugs, and I got the mugs to show them bugs that I did it. Snoopy Dogg and the shiznit, you can learn rap like that from a kit. Snoop you best just sit down fo' we throw down, how does that sound?”

The End

What To Do....

Okay, so I'm up at 11am! Shock of shocks. I was going to crawl back into bed after chemistry, but I've had this nagging feeling. Like I've said, I should write more. I really have this urge to lay back in bed with... What? A pad of paper? I don't think so. My handwriting is atrocious. I really, REALLY, want a lightweight laptop. something I can carry around and not have it weighing down my chest. Also, something whose battery lasts more than an hour under normal use. That would be my idea plan. I've been looking around at laptops online, and I think I could find one just about a thousand and a half dollars or less. Nothing spectacular. I don't want a high powered gaming machine. I have my current HP notebook for that. (Really, whats the difference between a notebook and a laptop? In my opinion, a notbook is just a portable desktop, while a laptop is actually something you can put on your lap comfortably. The notebook I have now doesn't really, or not as well as it could.) So, once I get a job (crosses fingers: EB EB EB) I'll blow my first few big paychecks on a spiffy little computer, and hopefully I can finally get some of these ideas of mine out into the public, for your reading pleasure.

Of course, all this musing is months away at best. Why am I taunting you with the idea? Why, for that matter, am I taunting myself? Ah well. I have much more pressing issues. Today, I need to get laundry done. That's fairly simple enough, with the major problem being the waiting. I'll have an hour each between starting the first load, switching to the dryer, and retrieving my clothes again. So... What do I do? Obviously, I need to write. But what? I could write another chapter in Calista, or finish translating the last Detective Greg story. Yeah, that's what I should do. Also, a nice shower, maybe I'll read another chapter in "The Sum Of All Fears."

That's right, I've been reading lately. Yay for Greg. Though, as you may have guessed, my pickings have become rather slim, and I'm resorting to Tom Clancy thrillers. Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying this book, and almost a third through it, but when I finish, I'm gonna need something else. Any suggestions? I'd love a good comedy. Actually, I've heard good things about the Diskworld series, though I can't figure out where to begin. Beyond that, I really like things that are thought provoking without being overly lecturing. I don't want to read a Steven Hawkings thesis. Well, maybe actually. I dunno. Whatever, I guess. Meanwhile, I'll check out what books the authors of the Star Wars: X-Wing series have done. I really loved the first four book series by Michael A. Stackpole, so I'll look into his other works, see if theres something I've missed. But honestly, any books you've read that are interesting, pass along. Thanks. Later.

24.4.05

I Beat Kingdom Hearts (Redux)

Okay, this is odd.... I thought my last post got eaten by the blogger thing, so I made this. Now I don't want to delete either of them, exceptI really felt the first one was better than this one. This one just was sora done hastily. The second half, anyway. I dunno how I only managed to save half of it, but I did, and it is confusing. Oh well.

Also, I got all the Dalmations last night, and so now, just a few mini-bosses to beat up on. Anyway, enjoy the randomness that my blog affords you.

--------------

You heard right. Last night, I went through and finally finished Kindgom Hearts. It was really really fun, and I'm prolly gonna, over the summer, try and do it again, on hard. Also, I still have a few odds and ends to clear up in the game. You know, the non-story side-quests. I gotta get some more Dalmations, kill a few bosses... (CURSE YOU SEPHIROTH!!!), synthesize a couple of items, you know how it goes. It's really a great game. Towards the end, I started feeling, I don't know, more in tune with Sora. Not in the story line, I'll get to that in a second, but in terms of control. I really felt, I dunno, like I was there, actively controlling him. I'm sure you all either know what I'm talking about, or think I'm crazy. But yeah, there was a little bit of a feeling towards the end of "this is easy." Not "this villian is dumb and simple to defeat," but "I am better than the game." I guess that's sorta how it's supposed to feel, though. In any case, I really enjoyed the feeling.

Storywise, I was a little disappointed. I realize that as the story goes, once you beat the final boss, that's it, but still, I wanted to continue exploring the worlds with my newfound levels I'd gained from the battle. Anyway, the story still was almost a let down. It made perfect sense, and it was what SHOULD have happened, but to me, the story doesn't really feel.... complete.

Okay, SPOILERS. If that doesn't scare you off, you deserve to have it spoiled. Anyway, when it starts, you get Sora stuck on an island with his friends. Life is, for them, perfect. They live in a tropical paradise, Sora's pretty sure he has a girl who loves him in Kairi, or at least a very close friend, as well as his pal Riku, who he has sort of a friendly rivalry with. That is, they compete a lot, but no more than brothers normally do, and you can tell the friendship there is strong. Then, all of a sudden, shitstorm. He is ripped away from his friends and home, and finds himself in a strange place with no one he knows. I like this way of telling a story, where the main character doesn't know anything the audience (gamer, in this case) doesn't. So he's lost, disoriented, and he finds Donald Duck and Goofy... Does Goofy have a last name? Anyway, Donald and Goofy tell him that the big ass key he's been carrying around is the only weapon that can save the Universe, and because Sora's carrying it, he's the one who has to use it. Sora really doesn't want any of it, though. All he wants is his friends back, he could care less about the rest of the world as long as he has his island. Eventually, Donald and Goofy agree to help him if he'll help them, and it seems to work for Sora. He has no idea where his friends are, and so travelling to different worlds to search for them, and fighting a few heartless along the way, seems like a good plan at the moment.

So Sora, Donald, and Goofy go globe hopping, and find out that Riku and Kairi are involved in this whole mess. Great, thinks Sora, once I beat the bad guys, everything goes back to normal, Kairi and Riku and Sora can go home, and all is right in the world. Sora fights on, bravely, knowing in his heart that what he is doing is right, and eventually, he wins! The evil Ansem is thwarted, and the worlds are restored... But Riku was lost to Ansem's darkness (or something, I'm not sure, I guess he sacrificed himself to save everything, I'll need to pay attention again next time), and Kairi, the one Sora was REALLY worried about... She's safe at home, but no one is there with her. And Donald, Goffy, and Sora, are still questing. It all just seems... Incomplete.

I mean, I know theres a sequel in the works, I already have Chain of Memories, but I guess I was hoping for an ending where everything is alright, not just the end to one chapter in Sora's exciting adventures... Oh well, now I know how the Halo 2 people feel.

On a side note, wouldn't it have been funny if one of those Mushroom guys from Fantasia had appeared at the end of the game and said "Sorry Sora, but your princess is in another castle." x_x

Okay, I have 33 Dalmations to rescue, so I'd better get on that. Later folks.

23.4.05

I BEAT KINGDOM HEARTS!!

You heard right. Last night, I went through and finally finished Kindgom Hearts. It was really really fun, and I'm prolly gonna, over the summer, try and do it again, on hard. Also, I still have a few odds and ends to clear up in the game. You know, the non-story side-quests. I gotta get some more Dalmations, kill a few bosses... (CURSE YOU SEPHIROTH!!!), synthesize a couple of items, you know how it goes. It's really a great game. Towards the end, I started feeling, I don't know, more in tune with Sora. Not in the story line, I'll get to that in a second, but in terms of control. I really felt, I dunno, like I was there, actively controlling him. I'm sure you all either know what I'm talking about, or think I'm crazy. But yeah, there was a little bit of a feeling towards the end of "this is easy." Not "this villian is dumb and simple to defeat," but "I am better than the game." I guess that's sorta how it's supposed to feel, though. In any case, I really enjoyed the feeling.

Storywise, I was a little disappointed. I realize that as the story goes, once you beat the final boss, that's it, but still, I wanted to continue exploring the worlds with my newfound levels I'd gained from the battle. Anyway, the story still was almost a let down. It made perfect sense, and it was what SHOULD have happened, but to me, the story doesn't really feel.... complete.

Okay, SPOILERS. If that doesn't scare you off, you deserve to have it spoiled. Anyway, when it starts, you get Sora stuck on an island with his friends. Life is, for them, perfect. They live in a tropical paradise, Sora's pretty sure he has a girl who loves him in Kairi, or at least a very close friend, as well as his pal Riku, who he has sort of a friendly rivalry with. That is, they compete a lot, but no more than brothers normally do, and you can tell the friendship there is strong. Then, all of a sudden, shitstorm. He is ripped away from his friends and home, and finds himself in a strange place with no one he knows. I like this way of telling a story, where the main character doesn't know anything the audience (gamer, in this case) doesn't. So he's lost, disoriented, and he finds Donald Duck and Goofy... Does Goofy have a last name? Anyway, Goofy and Donald. They tell him that big ass key he's been carrying around (and really, it's a very clever way to make the weapon, this 'Keyblade') is an item of magical power, and because he bears it, he is destined to save the universe from the heartless. And really, Sora doesn't want it. He couldn't care less about the rest of the world. He just wants his island back, and his friends. But Donald and Goofy promise that they'll help him if he helps them, so off they go. It doesn't hurt that Sora has a good sense of right and wrong.

So they go off, traveling from world to world, sealing keyholes and whatnot, and eventually Sora learns that somehow Riku and Kairi are involved in this too. So yay, they have convergent goals. When they save the worlds, Sora's friends will be saved too. He presses on, ends up dueling a corrupted Riku, eventually freeing his friend from the darkness, he fights the evil overlord and wins, and... Kairi disappears. He and her are seperated. Kairi's back on her island, safe and sound, but neither Sora nor Riku are with her. It's really sad. The game's last image is one of Sora, Donald, and Goofy, walking together, trying to figure out what to do next.

That's it? Game over? I knew going into it that there was a sequel yet to be made, but when you get such a good game, that's almost taken for granted. But at the end of the game, the world is always set to perfection again, only to be ruined just before the next game. Mario's princess was right there at the end of world 8-4. I dunno, at the end of Kingdom Hearts, I almost expected one of those mushrooms from Fantasia to pop up and say "I'm sorry Sora, but your princess is in another castle." u_u

Okay, enough of the review of Kingdom Hearts. I'm gonna go see about getting those last Dalmations, and unlocking that kickass KH2 Video. Later all, and thanks for listening to my ramblings about the game. Seriously, I love it, and if you have a PS2, you should get it. I promise you won't regret it.

21.4.05

Late Breaking News

Washington, D.C. - The public was stunned today when President Bush unveiled his Orbital Command Station, dubbed by many to be his own personal Death Star.

Bush unveiled the until recently secret station with a grandeous speech. "American power in the world has been questioned too much by too many parties, both domestic and abroad. With the Orbital Command Station in orbit overhead, the world will know that America can and will defend her interests, through force if neccessary."

"The OCS," explained a white house, "is the most advanced space station ever constructed by mankind." The station will be able to house over 100 people, and have a formitable defencive capabilities. "From orbit, we will have striking capabilities covering the entire Western Hemisphere, and command over U.S. Military Stations throughout the world."

The station has a supply of 48 tactical nuclear missiles, as well two hundred anti-air turrets, specially modified for use in the vacuum of space. However, the most impressive weapon on the station is its superlaser. Unlike the Death Star from Star Wars, this station's weapon lacks the power to destroy an entire planet, though it can devastate an entire city in a single blast.

"Also," added the spokeman, "I would like to stress firmly that this station, unlike those in the movies, has no easily navigated trenches or tunnels leading to a single undefended weak spot. SO STOP LOOKING!"

In his speech, Bush revealed that the station, which was originally meant to be unveiled in the year 2013. "However, in light of recent tragedys and the current international situation, I've asked for our engineers to redouble their efforts."

The station was unveiled this morning in an announcment that shocked the Global Community. Though no foreign powers have come forward and formally spoken out against the OCS, underground rumblings point towards a large amount of mistrust and fear towards this new step in US foreign policy.

Tomorrow morning the first shuttles will leave for the station, filling it with chief executive branch members. Dick Cheney was sent aboard months back, and it is rumored to have served as his "undisclosed location" during previous years. Bush mentioned that starting tomorrow, the OCD would be replacing the White House as the Executive Branches "Seat of Power," as he called it, and is being placed in geosynchranous orbit over Washington D.C.

In other news, several Republican Congressmen, in addition to several of the more conservative Supreme Court Justices, were found making hasty travel plans. Many Democrats suspect a trap, but unfortunately, their party lacks sufficient leadership to form any responce.

------

I don't know, I just felt like writing that out.

20.4.05

Holy Crap

This is truly a great read. I know I've done 3 posts here, and two have been about nothing, but I really wanted to get this out. It's great. He wrote the story of a lightsaber duel in Star Wars : Jedi Outcast. It's quite simply great story telling. I've read a lot of his other works as well; he's apparently trying to create a new wave of video games journalism in which the writer doesn't simply describe the game, he describes the experience. So far, I like what I see. This guy just got bookmarked.

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Edit@5:39

Along the same vein as above... relating to the personal experience of gaming, though a bit NSFW, if that applies here. That said, I know a couple of people (boyfriend and girlfriend, as a matter of fact) who really enjoy the game REZ. I'm not sure though, whether or not they enjoy it quite this way.

o_0

My Writing Backlog

I've recently noticed I have a serious backlog of writing works in need of completion. For instance:

G.S. Calista hit a stand still... I know where it needs to go, I just can't quite figure out how to get there. I'm sure I'll get there.

My third 'Detective Greg' story is half translated from the bastion of AIM-sp33k it was birthed in, and I need to finish that sooner or later.

I've got, I believe, part one and half of part two written and waiting somewhere for a three part story called 'Dark-Noon', the story of a indiginous population reacting to an Earth colony, told based on the occurance of a full moon, an event that, due to some strangeness in orbits, only occurs once every 7 or so years for the planet.

I have in my head still the survivors of a massive attack by a Sky-net analog, and how they survive and so forth. I think it's a good universe to write stories in, if I can just get off my lazy bum and create them.

(On a slight tangent there, I noticed that I'm much better at creating places and characters than I am at creating a story / conflict. It's very frustrating to have to write a story which goes, "Bob and Jeff were friends. One day, they found some money. They went to the store and bought a comic book. The end." Or something like that. I can create an interesting universe, but the conflict within is much more difficult. I refer you all to the story I wrote on the blog's first anniversary. Perfectly interesting universe, but about half way through I realized that nothing was happening. Greg (the character in the story; I have a problem with writing myself in stories) wasn't doing anything, so I threw in the robots at the end. I'm nearly afraid they're tacked on. I guess it worked that time, but it happens to me more often than not that I'll get a good idea for a story-telling universe and nothing to do in it. That's why I want to go into game design. Populate a universe with characters, and then leave a player to explore and cause his own conflict. I'm sure one or more player could enjoy that.)

Okay, enough with the aside. I mentioned earlier that I was toying with the idea of writing to the dinner alluded to in my insane convo a few posts down. The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of it, except I again ran into the problem of no conflict. People come for the dinner, and it is an INTERESTING dinner, but hardly eventful. Then I got the idea of having an outsider come in, and see how she would react to it. I'm still working on that idea, but it is the kind of story I would write in an evening, once I have the sequence of events drawn out. So I guess we'll all look forward to that.

Also, all the pictures from the previous post, and James' mention of the play "The Emperor's New Clothes," has given me the weirdest idea. True, no one wants to see Palpatine in his wrinkly old birthday suit, but... "The Emperors New Clones." I don't quite know what it's about yet, and I think that's a good thing.

Okay, I have a laundry list. Maybe one of these days I'll get to work on some of it.

A Few Days Ago, In A Vatican Far, Far Away...

I feel vaguely certain that I've linked to Bunny before, but this was worth noting. And it's a scary thing. I mean, just... look:




According to this, we're down to our last Pope before Satan takes over in the end of days. Now, the page claims it wasn't edited since the 6th, and predicted that the new (current) Pope would come from the order of St. Benedict (twice, which is oddly suspicious), but I am still wary of retroactively edited prophecies, such as the "prediction" Nostradamus had about September 11th. I'd heard that one just a few days before, in a vastly different form, so I'm not too keen to note propecies. It is interesting to look at, though, especially with all the crazyness going on around the world. I feel like such an old man asking this, but is the world really going to hell in a handbasket in recent years, or did I just start paying more attention lately? I'm beginning to think Matt has it right; he never pays attention to anything. I feel that he's dumb about it, but he seems to be doing well.

Anyway, I suppose I really shouldn't care about the Pope. I'm not Catholic. Hell, I'm barely even Christian at all, I'm just too lazy to research other religions to see where I fit. I really don't like the idea of fitting, either. I like the idea that my relationship with wahtever greater power there might be is a personal thing, not just something I did because everyone else did it. I don't want to put down everyone, because I've met people who are very secure in their faiths, and that's great for them. It obviously works, they haven't been smote or anything. But I do also see a lot of people who seem to just go through the motions, and try to fit their beliefs to match an existing religion, which to me seems backwards.

I don't quite know what I believe, but I feel that, at least for me, I do believe enough. I know there's a higher power; there's too much random shit for there not to be, and a mechanical universe winding down really does seem depressing. I like to believe that there is at least something that lies outside the normal laws of the universe. Theres no reason for me to believe it, except I refuse to believe that every effect has a concrete cause, basically. I have to believe that there is inspiration and pure creativity in life. Of course, there's really no way to prove that I'm right, either way, but that's what makes a belief not a belief, really. I don't believe the sky is blue, the sky IS blue, that's empirical fact, not belief. However, I BELIEVE that a power beyond the mechanical universe must exist. In my mind, the two ideas have the same veracity, but I know in detached part of my brain that my belief will not weigh up in another persons mind the way a fact does. It will, however, in my mind. Interesting little minutae, huh?

Ok, no epic post tonite. Well... I dunno. Medium sized.

18.4.05

Greg Forever

I've found the coolest thing. All you can do is look and be amazed and refresh and look again. Buwahaha.

generated by sloganizer.net

How rediculous is this? Which gives me another good idea:

generated by sloganizer.net

Ok, night.

Things Are Gonna Be Alright

For those of you whom I haven't yelled it too so far, Jackie and me seem to be back together, so I'm glad about that. Yay me. No more being a Clorbag. ^_^

Also, everyone, I'm seriously not into the stuff I wrote about last night. Not really. I don't need it to be referenced in every conversation I have from now on. Maybe, if you're really good, I'll write up a story of the dinner I was mentioning in it, but that's not going up on here. You'll have to ask me specially. And that is seriously the end of that, alright?

In other news, people complained about my buddy icon. For reference, it was this:
Image hosted by Photobucket.com
Taken, of course, from this:
Image hosted by Photobucket.com
Apparently, some people (*cough* straight girls *cough*) don't like looking at female belly buttons. Go figure. So, I must replace it with a new icon. I've selected, out of a strong field of pictures, ranging from the sexy to the cute to the awesome, two images to represent myself. The trick to selecting a good icon is that you only have a limited space to put it in. 64x64 is AIM's upper limit. So you need something that is spot on amazing, and instantly recognizable for what it is. People got confused by my old icon of the Tatu girls kissing, thinking one of them was a boy. So, I need some recognizable stuff. Like, say, a belly. Only not that, because people don't like it. So, my two contenders?

Image hosted by Photobucket.com
Insane Kool-Aid Man:
Taken from todays Applegeeks, I love the amazing image of Kool busrting through a wall. Unfortunately, when you get to 64x64, a video of Kool busting through the wall doesn't work. It's too tiny, too grainy, whatever. So here, I get the image of Kool, in Hawk's bad-ass art style, bursting through, and attacking a guy! And I think that all comes through here.
Image hosted by Photobucket.com

But the question is, how does it stack up to...

Image hosted by Photobucket.com
Pichu spanking itself:
Sure, Pokemon is some 10 years old. I still play it though, and the sight of this yellow guy smacking his (her?) butt has its own unique hilarity. The problem lies in that the image is really a tiny looped video, and I can't save .gifs, so instead I ended up with a .jpg, but I think it translates rather well.
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Right now, the Pichu has the place of honor, but only because I started selecting an image by searching though my saved images. Right now, I could almost go either way, given a proper push. So, feel free. Weigh in.

And I'll leave you on this note. If anyone asks, I am Thomas Jefferson, and I wrote the Declaration of Independance.

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Edit@10:40

That last little quip at the end, based on an outrageous claim I made last night to a friend of Jackie's by the way, has given me a great idea. Consider this as part of your decision.

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Thomas Jefferson, Third President of the United States:
How can you argue with him? He wrote the Declaration of Independance, and did all bought the Louisiana Purchase, and was the first man on Mars. I may be making things up, but still, he was pretty great, if not awesome. The picture leaves a little to be desired, but eh.
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Okay folks, happy voting.