September 17, 2009

Ronan Keating - When You Say Nothing At All

Ronan Keating - When You Say Nothing At All

It's amazing how you can speak right to my heart
Without saying a word you can light up the dark
Try as I may I can never explain
What I hear when you don't say a thing

The smile on your face let's me know that you need me
There's a truth in your eyes saying you'll never leave me
The touch of your hand says you'll catch me wherever I fall
You say it best, when you say nothing at all

All day long I can hear people talking out loud
But when you hold me near You drown out the crowd
Try as they may, they can never define
What's been said between your heart and mine

The smile on your face let me know that you need me
There's a truth in your eyes saying you'll never leave me
The touch of your hand says you'll catch me wherever I fall
You say it best, when you say nothing at all

Oh, the smile on your face let's I know that you need me
There's a truth in your eyes saying you'll never leave me
The touch of your hand says you'll catch me wherever I fall
You say it best, when you say nothing at all

You say it best, when you say nothing at all
You say it best, when you say nothing at all
(The smile on your face)
You say it best, when you say nothing at all
(The truth in your eyes)
(The touch of your hand)
You say it best, when you say nothing at all
(Let me know that you need me)
You say it best, when you say nothing at all (nothing at all)
You say it best, when you say nothing at all (nothing at all)
You say it best, when you say nothing at all (nothing at all)

September 13, 2009

Chris Rice - Smile

Chris Rice
Smile (Just Want To Be With You)
How far are you, how close am I
I know your words are true and I don't feel them inside
Still I believe you'll never leave
So where are you now

You're all I have, You're all I know
Your breath is breathing in my soul
Still I am gasping, aching, asking
Where are you now

Cause I just wanna be with You
I just want this waiting to be over
I just want to be with You
And it helps to know the Day is getting closer

Every minute takes an hour
Every inch feels like a mile
Til I won't have to imagine
And I finally get to see You smile

My journey's here, but my heart is There
So I dream and wait, and keep the faith, while You prepare
Our destiny, til You come back for me
Oh, please make it soon!

Cause I just wanna be with You
[ Chris Rice Lyrics are found on www.songlyrics.com ]
I just want this waiting to be over
I just want to be with You
And it helps to know the Day is getting closer

Every minute takes an hour
Every inch feels like a mile
Til I won't have to imagine
And I finally get to see You smile

I just wanna be with You
I just want this waiting to be over
I just want to be with You
And it helps to know the Day is getting closer

I just wanna be with You
I just want this waiting to be over
I just want to be with You
And it helps to know the Day is getting closer

Every minute takes an hour
Every inch feel like a mile
Til I won't have to imagine
And I finally get to see You

Every minute takes an hour
Every inch feel like a mile
Til I won't have to imagine
And I finally get to see You smile

September 09, 2009

Jason Gray - Everything that I Own

"Everything I Own" Lyrics
by Jason Gray | from the album All The Lovely Losers

What would I give to be pure in heart
To be pure in flesh and bone
What would I give to be pure in heart
I’d give everything that I own
I’d rid my whole house of its demons of lust
And open the windows of trust
And out of those windows all fear will have flown
I’d give everything that I own

What would I give for the words of God
To come tumbling from the throne
What would I give for the words of God
I’d give everything that I own
I’d open my head and they’d roll right in
When I opened my mouth they’d roll out again
And uproot the weeds of the deeds I have sown
I’d give everything that I own

Now what would I give for my children’s strength
On the day that they stand alone
I mean what would I give for their strength to stand firm
I’d give everything that I own
I’ve wasted my life in accomplishing things
Ignoring the giver of wings
So Lord teach them to fly to the foot of your throne
I’ll give everything that I own

All I’ve accomplished, the titles I hold
My passions, position, possessions and gold
To God they must look like a thimble of foam
And it’s everything that I own
Dirty rags are all that I own

So I stand before God with my stubble and hay
He just laughs, but says there’s still a way
Because “Father, Forgive” are the words Jesus moaned
When He gave everything that He owned

So what would I give to be pure in heart
For the known to be made unknown
What would I give to be born again?

February 11, 2009

How to Manage Geeks

How to Manage Geeks

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

When the geeks at NCR in Australia threatened to go on strike, it was a move that could have paralyzed ATMs, supermarket cash registers and airplane check-in. This underlines the fact that IT has become so central to almost all corporations, that any disruption may cost a lot of time and money, which again means that keeping the geeks happy at work is an absolute requirement for a modern business. Happy geeks are effective geeks. The main reason IT people are unhappy at work is bad relations with management, often because geeks and managers have fundamentally different personalities, professional backgrounds and ambitions. Some people conclude that geeks hate managers and are impossible to lead. The expression “managing geeks is like herding cats” is sometimes used, but that’s just plain wrong. The fact is that IT people hate bad management and have even less tolerance for it than most other kinds of employees.
So where does it go wrong? Here are some top ways that managers can lead geeks effectively and respectfully.

Steps

1. Value training. If a boss thinks that training is a waste of money and expects you to teach yourself, you feel pretty demotivated in any job. Training matters, especially in IT, and managers must realize that and budget for it. Sometimes you get the argument that “if I give them training a competitor will hire them away.” That may be true, but the alternative is to only have employees who are too unskilled to work anywhere else. Also, if you pay them well and have good benefits, they won't go somewhere else.
   
2. Give recognition. Since managers may not understand the work geeks do very well, it’s hard for them to recognize and reward a job well done, which hurts motivation. The solution is to work together to define a set of goals that both parties agree on. When these goals are met the geeks are doing a great job.
   
3. Keep overtime down. Avoid taking the approach of wringing as much as possible out of IT employees just because you figure they don't lead a normal life. Wrong! That’s a huge mistake and overworked geeks burn out or simply quit. It's a complete myth that long work hours are good for business.
   
4. Avoid using management-speak. Geeks hate management-speak and see it as superficial and dishonest. Managers shouldn’t learn to speak tech, but they should drop the biz-buzzwords. A manager can say “We need to proactively impact our time-to-market” or simply use plain English and stick to “We gotta be on time with this project”. The latter makes total sense to everyone involved.
   
5. Don't try to be smarter than the geeks. When managers don’t know anything about a technical question, they should simply admit it. Geeks respect them for that, but not for pretending to know. And they will catch it - geeks are smart.
   
6. Act consistently. Geeks have an ingrained sense of fairness, probably related to the fact that in IT, structure and consistency is critical. The documentation can’t say one thing while the code does something else, and similarly, managers can’t say one thing and then do something else.
   
7. Don't make the mistake of ignoring the geeks. Because managers and geeks are different types of people, managers may end up leaving the geeks alone. This makes leading them difficult, and geeks need good leadership - the same as all other personnel groups.
   
8. Include them in decisions. Never make decisions without consulting geeks. Geeks usually know the technical side of the business better than the manager, so making a technical decision without consulting them is one of the biggest mistakes a leader can make.
   
9. Give them the tools needed. A fast computer may cost more money than an older one and it may not be corporate standard, but geeks use computers differently. A slow computer lowers productivity and is a daily annoyance. So is outdated software. Give them the tools they need.
   
10. Tools come in many forms. Caffeine is considered a standard tool among Geeks. The more wired they are, the longer they work.
    
11. Remember that geeks are creative workers. Programming is a creative process, not an industrial one. Geeks must constantly come up with solutions to new problems and rarely ever solve the same problem twice. Therefore they need leeway and flexibility. Strict dress codes and too much red tape kill all innovation. They also need creative surroundings to avoid “death by cubicle”.
    
12. Recognize the outcomes of not treating geeks with respect as outlined above. Happy geeks are productive geeks, and the most important factor is good management, tailored to their situation. Doing the opposite to what has been outlined in this article has serious consequences for your organization, including:
    
    • Low motivation
      
    • High employee turnover
      
    • Increased absenteeism
      
    • Lower productivity
      
    • Lower quality
      
    • Bad service
      
    
    

Tips

• Caveat: not all geeks are the same; geeks are wildly different people and this article does generalize dangerously. And this article is not saying that all IT-people are geeks. Some are, some aren’t.
  
• This advice would work well with most employees, not just geeks.
  
• The word 'geek' in this article is not used in a derogatory manner: "definition 3: an enthusiast or expert especially in a technological field or activity ."[1]
  
  • The word geek is normally derogatory, but it is thought of as meaning a person with skill and knowledge in the computer arena.
    
  
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Be a Good Manager
  
• How to Be an Effective Project Manager
  
• How to Deal With a Weak Human Resources Manager
  
• How to Develop an IT Change Management Program
  
• How to Improve Your Change Management Skills
  

Sources and Citations

• Original source of article, Alex Kjerulf, How NOT to Lead Geeks. Shared with permission. Thanks Alex, The Chief Happiness Officer!
  

1. ↑ Merriam Webster Online Dictionary

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Manage Geeks. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

September 11, 2008

This is not the end...

...This is not the beginning of the end...

From Eva:R:

What we perceive as our end, we now see as merely a new beginning. A new place from which hope springs forth and the greater glory of human existence has yet to be achieved. A chain with no bound and no birth, stretching into the infinity of possibilities that exist within the space of a single breath.
A feeling, love and hate, desire and anger, loneliness and despair, merging together as one.
An absence, a void left behind where there was nothing before. A sense of lacking in even the most compassionate of spirits.
A presence, a soul deep within,bringing hope to impossibility.
Odds mean nothing. All possibilities exist. All universes are real. All voices are one, singing together in a powerful noble soliloquy.
Join us in this final prayer for all of humanity.
We will not conceed.
We will not be silenced.
We will not run away.
No one can stop this chain of events, for it has already begun.

March 17, 2008

Willpower

"The ability to exert one's will over one's actions"

I thought I had this whole entry laid out in my head, but after reading that article, just about everything I had is gone. So instead you get a lovely, uh...gimme a sec.... Stream of Consciousness entry, which I'm sure will end up on many different tangents as I go along. Anyway, back to the topic.

I like to play WoW, World of Warcraft in case you didn't know. I think it has become one of my favorite games of all time. Probably has something to do with how in depth it is, or the massive amount of configurations all the different items allow. There are hundreds of quests to complete and several large scale, multi person dungeon things to attack and conquer. One in particular that has caught my interest lately is called Alterac Valley. It's a battleground which allows for Player vs. Player action (PvP), but in this case its 40 on 40. The main premise is to attack and kill the opposing side's main boss, but there are several other side things to do as well. There are towers to capture, good guys to save, parts to collect and turn in for extra rewards, and on top of all that fun, you earn 'Honor Points' which allow you to purchase more/better pieces of armor and weapons.

One of the things I like about battlegrounds is I don't have to find a group, meet somewhere, find an opposing group, and start fighting. I just click that I want to join a battleground and within minutes it has matched me up with 79 other people that wanted to join a battleground, 39 for my team 40 for the other. This is made even easier by allowing 'Cross-Realm' players. From my understanding each realm is part of a Battlegroup and when I want to join a battleground I can join with anyone else in that Battlegroup regardless of which realm they are on. For example, I play on the Draenor realm which is part of the Cyclone battlegroup. When I join a BG(Battleground) I'm not limited to the Draenor realm but all realms inside the Cyclone battlegroup, expaning the player base by several times. All this makes it a lot faster to get into a BG, which in turn reduces downtime, increasing fun.

Um...where was I? *scroll* Oh yeah, Favorite games and willpower. It has been mentioned that I might like this game a little too much, that I might be addicted. And while I highly doubt that, there is always that possibility. Plus most addicted people don't usually see themselves as addicted. So in an effort to prove to myself mostly that I am not addicted I plan to not play WoW for a week, starting now. In fact I plan on doing zero WoW related things. That includes visiting WoW websites, looking up WoW item information and the like. Now I can't not think about WoW simply because it's something I like so much, but if I can control my actions and not act on those thoughts, I think I can prove to myself that I am not addicted.

To help with the not playing of WoW, I plan to start working on my story more, which is coming along pretty well I must say. My single 'Fallen Angel' novel, I realized, was too much story and spanned too many years to be contained in one book, so at the moment I have it broken into three. Why three? Because three just seems to fit everything else in my little universe. Three major factions: Good, Evil, Balance (Good and Evil being relative terms). Three sections of Xannon's life: Rise, Fall, Rebirth (Which happen to be the subtitles of the trilogy). The number of sets of wings that Archangels have, which Xannon turns out to be. And I'm sure a whole bunch of other stuff that I can't really think of at the moment. Plus there are the triangles. Triangles are supposed to be the strongest geometric shape, and I can see why. They don't suffer from shear, they can't really be squished. They just work. I used a triangle for the symbol of Gi'erth(the name of the planet my characters live on), with each point representing one of the major forces. The sun represents Good (Creation and Life), Fire represents Evil (Destruction and Death), and the tree represents Balance. I also have a triangle key chain which reminds me of that symbol and my story every time I see or touch it.

I think I got off track again... Oh yeah. One other thing I plan on doing to keep from playing WoW is to start drawing again. I did a little drawing after I got home today and realized my skills, to put it bluntly, suck. That doesn't mean they can't be improved on. Granted I was focusing on figure drawing, in particular a person sitting with their head in their hands. I was studying the pose to hopefully make use of it in a piece I want to create for the song lyrics I posted a while back in reference to Xannon and Sarah, Letter from the Departed. It's supposed to show Xannon/Valkyrie sitting either at his desk or perhaps somewhere outside while Sarah in ghosty form hovers behind him, perhaps giving him a spooky hug or something. I haven't quite worked out the details. If anyone reading this lovely brain spewage(brain spewage? Don't ask it just came out) wants to create this lovely piece of art for me, it would super cool. If not, well...I guess I'll do it. *shrug*

If I'm not writing and not drawing I don't know what I'll be doing. Maybe watching TV/Movie, maybe playing some neglected PS2/Xbox games, preferably ones that don't crash on me like X-Men Legends 2 does. Which really sucks cause it's right near the end before fighting the final boss. I'm tempted to exchange it, but at this point I don't think it's worth it. I've already tried cleaning it to no avail. Hey, maybe I'll use some of the extra time to hang out with Chris and bust out my awesome plastic guitar shredding abilities, also known as Guitar Hero. He recently (last week on...Thursday I believe) got an Xbox 360. He picked up Guitar Hero III Legends of Rock (and since when is Tenacious D a Legend of Rock?), the Lego Star Wars saga, and Sonic, which I think is more for his fiancee Wendy. I figure since he owns the game he should be able to catch up to my awesome skill pretty quick, right? I guess we'll see.

So anyway, If you managed to make through that raging river (instead of a stream) of my thoughts and are still reading let me sum up the article for you: WoW = Like, Me != Addicted, .'. No WoW for a Week to prove: Me != Addicted, Copious Free Time used by Writing, Drawing, Other Gaming, Showing off my awesome plastic Guitar skills and making Chris feel oh-so-bad for oh-so-sucking. At least thats the plan. Only time will tell if everything works out like it's supposed to.

And before anyone asks, I don't want to cancel my WoW subscription because A) it's a pain to cancel and then reactivate, and B) I plan to play again. Plus C) $15/month really isn't all that much when you stop and think about it. I spend more than that on interest on one credit card(stupid interest rates).

So...um....yeah. I guess I'm done. I'm off to bed. Leave comments and let me know if thought this whole Stream of Consciousness(does it suck that I have to look up how to spell that every time?) thing was a stupid idea and should never do it again.

....um....k, laters.

Obama and his Church

In response to an email regarding a March 14 CBS report on Barak Obama's church's pastor and his statements saying we should blame the United States Government for the 9/11 attacks:

>"We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki, and we nuked far more than the
>thousands in New York and the Pentagon, and we never batted an eye," Wright
>said. "We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black
>South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done
>overseas is now brought right back to our own front yards. America's
>chickens are coming home to roost."

Hiroshima and Nagasaki were done after entering a war that was already
raging and it was also done with the purpose to bring about and end to
the war. Every major action we have taken has been in response to
something else. We did not start WWII by dropping nukes, we ended it (or
at least part of it). As for the Palestinians, that war (yes, it is a
war) has been going on for the better part of two millenia. Plus, as far
as I know, Israel is our ally, not Palestine(which appears to be more a
group of people than a nation anymore). Regardless: we attack person A,
we attack person B, and then person C comes and attacks us without
warning and for no apparent reason.

>"The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a
>three-strike law and then wants us to sing 'God Bless America.' No, no, no,
>God damn America, that's in the Bible for killing innocent people. God damn
>America for treating our citizens as less than human. God damn America for
>as long as she acts like she is God and she is supreme."

Not sure where he gets the "gives them the drugs" portion. Killing
innocent people is wrong, I agree with that. But if you want to quote the
bible why not bring out the part that has public stoning of adultery? Or
any of the other interesting punishments for crimes? Prison is a vacation
compared to what they should be getting. How many murderers sit in their
comfy cells with three meals a day, cable TV, and "recess" while the
victim's family cries for proper punishment? There are far to many crimes
out there where the punishment simply does not fit the crime. Life in
prison for murder? Far too soft in my opinion. The only thing he loses is
his freedom. They need to bring back the death penalty and properly
punish those that deserve it. Instead of building bigger prisons to hold
all the "lifers" just kill them off to make room for the new scum.
They're never going to leave anyway. Harsh? Perhaps.

But back on topic. This reverend person is stupid for even making these
remarks. Obama is right for denouncing these statements. The pastor is
only able to speak for himself. It takes other supporting him to give his
statements any weight at all. And Obama is not part of that. And I
applaud him for that. If I was in his position I might have done a little
more than denounce the statement but actually attack it. Bringing out the
flaws in the statements and letting everyone know without a doubt that I
do not support it.

Saying "No" is easy saying "No and here's the reasons why" is actually
saying something.

Bringing down the Price of Gas

In Reply to a Chain Email Letter about not buying from ExxonMobil to help bring down the cost of gas:

Gasoline Market Share in California

According to a 2006 Market Share chart of Gasoline in California, Exxon/Mobil had only a 6% market share. Assuming that hasn't changed too much in the past two years, and that this percentage extends across the US, we can determine that if this email reached the 3 million people it was supposed to, only 180,000 people of those people would actually be using Exxon/Mobil and be able to make a difference.

Lets now stop assuming and stick with California. If by some chance those 3 million people reached ALL lived in California and those 180,000 people ALL switched to something else besides Exxon/Mobil, then going off the number of registered drivers in California we can calculate a 13% drop in total sales for Exxon. Again thats only IF all 3 million people lived in California and IF they all decided to stop buying Exxon.

So to make this really work first we figure out how many of the 196 million drivers use Exxon. Lets be nice and say they do 10% of all the gasoline sales in the US. That means 19.6 Million people use Exxon. Now we decide how many would it take to really make a difference. I'd say 10% would be pretty noticeable and make them take action. So that means 1.96 Million people would have to stop using Exxon. And since we can't knowingly contact just Exxon users we have to let everyone know. And if only 10% of everyone uses Exxon then we are back to having to get in touch with 19.6 Million drivers.

Now this guy talks about reaching 300 million people assuming that everyone who gets it sends it out to 10 people who havent already got it. But how many people simply delete spam and not send it? And how many people send it to people that have already got it?

Chain Letters and Pyramid Schemes
According to a website by Chip Denman, only about 1 in 20 in his example sent out chain letters. If we apply that here and say only 1 of the 10 recipients will send out a rely we can see that this email will never really reach the 300 million it hopes.

Simply put this kind of tactic while sounding good is extremely hard to put into practice. This would have to be accounced on TV or sometihng to get any real change going.

March 07, 2008

Gary Gygax

xkcd - A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language - By Randall Munroe

The creator of Dungeon & Dragons and in essence the creator of Fantasy Gaming as a whole, died in his home this week. I only played D&D a few times, but when I did it was fun, but there are plenty of other works out there that I have played a lot that owe a lot to him.

Kinda makes me feel sorry for Death though...

March 04, 2008

There can be only one...

HD DVD's End Is Fresh Start For Blu-ray - 2/25/2008 - TWICE

For those who don't know HD-DVD's biggest supporter, Toshiba, withdrew it's support mid February as reported by Twice magazine.

What does this mean now? It means Blu-Ray is the next HD Format winner. For those of you who already have an HD-DVD player, I'm sorry. At least it's not as bad as having a betamax player.

I've only recent began looking at the smaller differences between the two. I already knew that Blu-Ray could hold more data. Then I learned that only HD-DVD players had required built-in ethernet support for the fairly popular online content that comes bundled with the new HD discs, while Blu-Ray players didn't have said requirement until recently.

While bonus content and such is nice, i haven't really looked at any bonus content in a while, and I'll probably look at online bonus content even less. From what I've been reading only about 33% or less of consumers actually look at the online content.

With the HD format battle over perhaps more people will begin to get HD TVs and Players which in turn brings prices down and so on. Now if they can just convince people(me included) that HD movies are really that much than regular DVD movies. Cause from what I've seen to really see/hear the difference I'll need a good sized HDTV and at least a 5.1 surround system. So to upgrade to HD is a big money sink. I think I'll hold out for now.

March 03, 2008

To Screen Watch, or not to Screen Watch, that is the question...

Texas Instruments' Dual View: Look Ma, No Split Screen

The technology built into new DLP TV to allow for 3D viewing of movies has had an interesting side effect. Whether it was originally planned or not, I don't know, but it's very exciting for gamers such as myself.


First, some background on the 3D portion. Original 3D Movies showed two images at the same time on the screen with some red/blue color variations. Using special 3D glasses you could see the composite image and enjoy having a rampaging dinosaur or something look like its about to chew your face off.

These new 3D TVs have a similar technology but instead of showing two images on the screen at the same time it very rapidly, 120hhz/fps, alternates between full screen images of slightly different images. Using special glasses that alternate which eye is looking at the screen at a given moment you can see the wonderful 3d effect.

If you can alternate which eye is looking at the screen at a given moment, why not use both eyes and have two different images on the screen. That is exactly how this technology applies to gaming. You can have player 1's screen and player 2's screen showing full screen at the same time and, using the glasses can only see your screen, preventing the "cheat" known as Screen Watching.

Another less explored side of this technology is being able to watch two completely different movies at the same time. Or watching a movie and playing a game at the same time. This last one would be nice because then I could be in the living room playing games, while my wife sits and watches her favorite show/movie whatever on the same TV. Then the only problem is independent sound, but i'm sure they have that figured out too.


Check out the link or do a search for "Texas Instruments Dual View". It's getting to be an exciting world out there.

February 07, 2008

My Views

My Views:

A) I dont care what color you are.
B) I dont care what religion you are.
C) I dont care about your ethic background.

What I do care about is the way you treat others and yourself.
A black man who treats himself as a black man is racist.
A black man who treats himself as a white man is racist.
A white man who treats himself as a white man is racist.
A white man who treats himself as a black man is racist.
A man who treats himself as equal to any other man is a good man.

Race, Color, Religion, Age, Sex, Handicap are issues that should never be brought up in a politcal situation when talking about the canidates. But it always is brought up. We have a Woman and a Black Man running for president, when it should just be two people, two canidates running for president.

Sadly these issues will never, and I do mean never, go away. People will always look at each other as black, white, hispanic, asian, jewish, catholic, christian, muslim, male, female, old, young and any other way that sterotypes another. I feel that this will ONLY change when people stop looking at themselves in these ways. If you say "i'm white" or "i'm black" people will look at you that way with all their racist and sterotypical views already applied.

I am a person. I am an individual. I am whatever I say I am. Nothing anyone else can say will ever change who I am and what I am.

May 15, 2007

Morons...

To the idiot who just tried to run me off the road:

Having your turn signal on doesn't give you the right to change lanes. It it merely an indicator of your intentions. It in no way tells other drivers to move out of your way. You yield to them, not they to you. It was bad enough that you were moving over multiple lanes, but why did you insist on getting into my lane, into my exact spot in my lane, when the one right next to me was WIDE OPEN. And then, to top everything off, after I swerve off the road to avoid YOU hitting ME, you throw up your hands like it was my fault! People like you need to be shot, beaten, drugged, and left in the woods with the hungry bears.
Take your "The road is mine, get out of the way" attitude and stuff it! I may on occasion say that myself, but never have I intentionally changed lanes INTO someone expecting them to slow down or get out of the way. I always wait for space for my car even if I have to slow down to get behind someone or speed up to get in front of them.

--Rant Off--

Well other than that, I'm doing pretty good. Work is still work. Looks like I'll be doing an overnight service call, moving thing this weekend in Orangeburg, SC, which will suck. I still don't see why we are moving them. Why don't they just move everything themselves, and then call us over to make sure everything works. At least then they would only need one person, not three.
Sure they are one of our biggest service contracts, but since when does moving to a new building come under the contract? And if its not under the contract, why are they getting us to do it? Moving is not our job.
I'll let you know how things go with that. But for now it's time for work...well, past time but I had to rant about that stupid driver.

May 08, 2007

Game Night

We had our game night this past Sunday and it went pretty well. We didn't have a lot of people show up, but we did make just enough burgers. Last Sunday we had invited the Pastor to the party and he said yes, so that morning at church we confirmed that he was coming and gave him directions. He's a very nice guy with good memory too. He learned everyones name super fast. Even picked up other peoples names during someone else's conversation.
James and Casper showed up and we had fun playing video games. Might have to do it again someday. James dominated in whatever boxing game he brought over, as well as in Dead or Alive 4. Casper and I were just about even in those two. We decided that Casper doesn't have too much musical talent at the moment after seeing him booed off stage repeatedly in Guitar Hero 2. I did pretty good but my arm and wrist are still recovering from hitting those chords. We even played Soul Caliber 3 but they got decimated by my experience, same happened with Halo2, but James managed to give me a run for my money.
Chris couldn't show cause they couldn't find anyone to watch the kids for them. Which is too bad cause it would have been fun doing a 4-player Halo2 match.
Kris showed up later after she got off work and ate and talked with Ann. Ann's parents were also there and played board games and card games with the pastor. We actually taught Pastor Mike and James how to play Parcheesi. But only Pastor Mike actually played.
Everyone who hadn't already seen the ferrets and their room loved them both. James especially, who had had a pair of ferrets before but had to give them up when he moved. He got in the room and played with them, and let them dig at his shoes, climb all over him. Kinda wish I had gotten pictures now.
All in all it was a good day. No one from Ann's work showed up, which is too bad, they missed out on a lot of fun times. Maybe they'll be able to make the next game night. I'll let you know when that is.

May 04, 2007

Loss

Saddness...eyes water...short breaths...can't breath...can't talk...arm feels numb...grief...river of tears...sobs...comforting touch...friendly voice...soft fur...innocent Rain...referred to the great physician.

They tug at your heart strings when they are alive and seem to rip out your heart when they go. She was the hardest loss for me so far. I can't explain why. Perhaps becuase we helped her go. Could we have done more? Was it the right thing to do? No matter how much consolation I get, the questions will still bother me. I just pray we did the right thing and Rainbow will greet us with open paws when we meet again at the Rainbow Bridge.

We Will Meet Again by VAST

Where have you gone
My love, my friend?
Somewhere without the rain
I feel afraid now
I feel alone
Will we meet again?

Can you recall what we once knew?
Somewhere without the pain
I feel afraid now
But not alone
We will meet again

I can't hear your voice
But you know I feel your soul

I can't hear your voice
But you know I feel your soul

Where have you gone
My love, my friend?
Somewhere without any pain
I'm not afraid
Now I'm not alone
We will meet again

May 03, 2007

Ferret Update

We took Rainbow to the vet today along with Aki and Taitou because she had lost use of her back legs and wasn't eating. We started feeding her baby food yesterday to keep her going. The doctor at Aidmore said that could be a tumor, broken bone, insulonoma, and cardiomyopathy, then referred us to Highland to perhaps get an ultrasound of the heart. Before leaving we got a blood glucose test done and the results were normal, ruling out insulonoma.
When we got to Highland, Dr. Walker checked her out and said that an ultrasound of a heart that small would require a cardiologist, but didn't recommend it anyway in this case. What he did recommend was an x-ray to check for broken bones in the back. When that revealed no broken bones, he decided it was either lymphoma, bruising, or a blood clot. If not one of those the prognosis wasn't too good. But, he prescribed prednisone as an anti-inflammatory, which would combat all three possibilities since it's also a mild chemotherapy drug and would shrink the lymphoma.
We are to give her the pred for 10 days and if conditions don't improve we are to contact him again. Hopefully the pred will work its wonders and Rainbow will start eating , walking, and be her happy "Gimme the gravy" self again. I'll keep you posted on any major changes her health.

Early this morning while we were feeding Rainbow we noticed a big red spot on Lupi's back leg. It looked like a burn of some kind. Kind of like if you slipped on a smooth surface and got a skinned knee or something. We took a picture and the doctor at Aidmore said it was probably a "hot spot" where someone was licking or chewing on him.
If we keep putting the Neosporin on it, it should help and eventually go away. Getting the A/C fixed probably won't hurt either. The guy to do that should be here shortly.

May 01, 2007

Gotta love work

Being a small business can be a good thing sometimes. But other times it can really cause problems. For example, today I opened the store at 10:00am like I always to expecting our sole technician to show up in a new minutes. At 10:30 I call him to check and make sure hes not dead and it turns out his power went out overnight so his alarm didn't go off. Ok, fine, I can deal with that, its happen to me when I was going to school. Managed to miss half of my 2 hour class that day.
But then one of our out of state service contract people call saying that they can't access that one piece of uber important software that I know very little about. I say OK i'll call our guy here and get them to give you a call. Hang up with him, call the tech, get voice mail. Ok, so I leave a voice mail and go on about my lovely morning. About five minutes later he calls back complaining that customer are leaving because he can't do his job. I explain the situation and inform him that I will call the tech again. I call again, actually get him this time, tell him whats going on and am about to give him the number to call when he says he doesn't have a pen but will be in the office soon. Alright whatever, I'll tell him then. Five minutes pass, another call from the customer this one from the Receptionist saying they have a guy who can't access the program. I say, yeah, I know I'm handling it. That was about...ten minutes ago. Still waiting on the both my onsite tech and my bench tech.
And then I got to spend 30 minutes on the phone listening to the lady talk about her PC problem which could have been summed up in two sentences: "My PC won't load windows. When it was working, I couldn't connect to the internet." Holy crap, she wanted to recount her entire PC problems which involved Gateway Support, the Geek Squad, Charter Tech Support, of which none of them knew they were doing.
Anyway...back to work. Everyone else has shown up now.

April 27, 2007

Songs that Inspire

A lot of my story inspiration comes from life but some of the details have come from songs. For example, Prophecy: Return of the Evil, used songs by Radford(Fly), Sarah McLaughlin(Angel), Robbie Williams(Angels), Jimmy Eat World(The Middle), and Five for Fighting(Superman). And maybe a few others I can't remember at the moment.
My current story, Fallen Angel, seems to be only using songs by Evanescence(Going Under, My Immortal, Hello) and Linkin Park(Don't Stay, Easier to Run, Numb). I may have missed few by them that I can't remember the words to off the top of my head. I suppose if I listened to the radio more instead of only listening to those two CDs I might get more songs that fit the story, but hey, I'm lazy.
The RPG story from AnimeNation, used an interesting variety as well. Including Gorillaz(Clint Eastwood), Ozzy Osbourne(Dreamer), Five for Fighting(Superman), Godsmack(I Stand Alone), Hoobastank(Remember Me), Linkin Park(Numb), Rob Zombie(Dragula), and maybe a few others that, again, I can't think of.
Does that mean my stories aren't my own? Hardly. Other people listen those songs all day and don't envision a story like mine, if they envision a story at all. I've been told by several different that there are no "new" ideas, only old ideas redone in new ways. You could even draw comparisons with Star Wars: Good guy turns bad after death of loved one and later turns good again. I've even seen Harry Potter compared with Star Wars Episode 1 with interesting effect.
So I would recommend listening to those song I mentioned at least once, as long as you can stand the first minute that is. Maybe you'll make a connection to the story maybe you'll be like, "How the heck does this relate?" If you ask, i'll be sure to explain it to you.

Friendship...

Friendship means getting out of bed when your friend calls you to help her move out of her apartment at midnight and then not getting back to the house till almost 4 in the morning....and liking it.

April 25, 2007

Oops...

Oops, I missed my Tuesday deadline. "Deadline"...thats an interesting term... Anyway.

Things are going fairly well. Gandalf is still skinny, but he's holding on fairly well. We're trying to get him to eat more so he can get his energy up which will in turn make lots of things better. I just wish I know what was going on inside him to make him so sick.
Lupi is getting old and nakey. Most of the belly and neck fur is gone. We're thinking he might have an adrenal problem, but we're taking a "wait and see" approach at the moment. At least until we can take him to get an implant and see if that improves his coat.
The rest of the babies are doing well. Aki still bounces around like a little kit despite being the biggest one in the group. He like to pick on the small and sick. I told him to pick on ferrets his own size, but we will see.

Work has been pretty good as well. Been working hard on sites like the Georgia County Clerks Association. Started back on the The Country Club, so hopefully that will be up and running live soon.
Got another possible big project for Centurion Homes which involves making a web application for their home customization and pricing stuff. Very involved since they have multiple options for just about everything in the house: doors, floors, outlets, carpets, tiles, paint, shingles, and whatever else is listed in their current database. A nice hefty bonus is in it for me if I can get it done in my spare time. Hopefully everything goes well and works nicely, but we'll see.

My Warlock, Akispataki, has been put on hold while I have fun with my new Rogue, Pixieceleste. I like being able to do a lot of damage upfront, instead of a lot of Damage over Time spells. It's fun, don't get me wrong, just not what i'm looking for right now. So if you see a white haired Night Elf rogue running around Darkshore, it might be me, so stop and say "Hi".

April 17, 2007

ColdFusion, Warlocks, and Parties

Since I did say I would try to use Tuesdays to post to my blog and it is still Tuesday here, I guess I will fill you in on whats been happening.

We should be finished with the Peach County Chamber of Commerce. Jimmy and I did a last run through of the site this evening and there are only a couple of pages that he needed to update or add.
The next big project will either be the Country Club or the GCCA or some other acronym that I can't remember at the moment. Reid Church is just about finished. Need to add their privacy policy that I keep forgetting about. And eventually I'll need to go revisit the recurring events stuff for that site, as well as SitePro as a whole. It's been interesting working with recurring events and I think I'm just about through with it, but we'll see.

I got my Night Elf Hunter, Littlefire, to level 60 the other day and decided to work with my Gnome Warlock for now. It's fun, but I might decide to try and quickly grind him up to lvl 60 so I can start work on my Human Paladin. My guild is needing more healers so having a Holy Spec Paladin would be nice.

We are thinking of getting a game day going sometime in May. We plan on having all kinds of party games and such like Pictionary, Upwords, Mad Gab, as well as DDR(Dance Dance Revolution) and Fuzion Frenzy. Hopefully we will have lots of people over and lots of fun. Not sure how much fun i'll get to have since i'll prolly be cooking food on the grill, but that ok, we can always play more after food.

Still working on my story and will post more of it later this week prolly. If you haven't been reading it, make sure you start from the beginning, otherwise things will be very confusing.

November 05, 2006

The end of the Game

AnimeNation Anime Forums - VALK'S Klemayn Plains Battlefield

That's right, after years of on an off playing, and writing the Animenations Gi'erth RPG is complete. Lots of things happened, lots of people died, and a few came back. If you havent been keeping up, then you might be a little lost cause there were multiple threads going on at the same time.
One day i will compile all the posting into a reasonable form, discarding boring crap and unneeded plot lines. For now however, you will have to work with what is out there. If you have any questions or comments just let me know. I always welcome constructive criticism.

June 24, 2006

On the Road Again...

Well here I am in Savannah again. This time i'm here for the City Council get together, conference thing. Only open for 2 hours today and already have several leads. We're going to head out to the Toucan Cafe later. Last time I was there I got the Rosemary encrusted Lamb Loin. It was really good. Espically the first bite.
Anyway, back to why we're here. We are here to show everyone what a great thing we have to offer in CicoSitePro, a website Content Management System, designed specifically for Cities and Counties. We are here at the GMA Annual Convention(Georgia Municipal Association). Hundreds of city officials from all over Georgia come here to check out the booths and do other councily things. Check out the website to see what else goes on around here.
So two hours today, which have already come and gone, and approx four hours tomorrow 11am - 1pm. No big deal, we can handle that. Like I mentioned we already have several good leads and I think we can pick up a few others tomorrow.
Also our big rival, CivicPlus, has a booth at the convention and there booth just doesnt look as good as ours. Way too corporate and not so down to earth like council people really want. Plus our bright orange and green tables really catch your eye. I'll try to remember to get pictures tomorrow at the thing and post them up for people to see.
One of the things we did to save some money is not pay the $600 or so for internet access. Instead we took my pc from work and turned it into a full webserver, meaning it has a full version of coldfusion installed and a full version of MS SQL Server installed. So now all the PCs on the network we set up can access the websites we want to display by connecting to our own server instead of across the internet. Very convienent. Plus it makes things easier for me in everyday work cause the SQL Server comes with Enterprise Manager which allows me to make any necessary changes to the databases.
So lots of fun things happening. I'll prolly post again later tonight. Cya!

June 02, 2006

Eolake Stobblehouse

Eolake Stobblehouse blog

Eolake is a Danish writer/photographer who I ran across several months ago. After reading through several of his blog entries I decided I liked his opinions on life, aesthetics, and beauty.
Check him out and maybe you'll like him as much as I do, and maybe you won't. It's a free world, for the most part.

Eolake, as I mentioned, is a photographer and his main focus, or at least his main source of income, is nude photos. Now before you go screaming about him being a porn photographer read this article: DOMAI Style - Simple Nudes. It basicly says there are three kinds of nude art. Fine Art, Erotica, and Simple Nudes. Each focus on a different aspect of nude art. Fine art focuses on the Art aspect of the piece. Erotica focuses on the sexual aspect. And Simple Nudes focuses on the beauty of subject. Read the article for a more detailed explaination.
Why do I mention this? Mainly because I wish to start some thinking in the heads of whoever reads this. But also because I'm beginning to think that nudity is not a bad thing. If someone can prove otherwise, great. If not, then perhaps I am right. Only time will tell.

So, why do I think nudity is not bad? Well for starters, we're born that way, so its our natural state and there shouldne be anything wrong with nature. Also Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden and didnt seem to mind that they were nude.
True, after they ate the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they realized they were naked and hid. Does that mean that they realized that nudity was bad? I'm not sure, and i'm hoping someone out there can help me out with that one.
I'll throw some more reasons out if a discussion starts up, but dont get me wrong, I don't think all nudity is good. Pornography, which is intended to cause lust and impure thought, is bad...in most cases, but I'll leave that for another discussion.

May 22, 2006

Talk about Yesterday's News

From 'tribute' to disgrace 040906 - The Augusta Chronicle

This was quite the interesting article and only shows me how stupid government officals can be. How can you rationalize demanding someone to play for free at a concert that is in their honor? This article reeks of all the stupid crap that Charles Walker Jr. has done to screw up the Memorial Day Weekend tribute to Augusta Legend, James Brown. I just can't believe he was allowed in office....

The funny part about this article and about why i'm so late in learning about this(article is dated April, 9, 2006) is that I saw it when I was about to clean up the ferrets' litter box. The title caught my attention so I went ahead and read the article while the ferrets sniffed and climbed over my arms and legs. And yes, I did have to throw away the article afterwards cause one of the ferrets had pooped and peed on it, missing the litter box.

And for those who don't understand the pun, Yesterday's News is a Cat/Small Animal litter that is made out of recycled newspaper. Get it? Ha ha....anyway...

May 19, 2006

Music I like

Ugress

This musical group is very different in their style from stuff I normally listen to (rock and alternative) but they do have a sound that i like. They seem to be mostly resamplings of old sound clips combined with techno type/electronica music. Very interesting stuff. The best part is that most of their music is free in some form or fasion. If not in high quality, full length, then at least decent quality, full length.
They even started a record lable and got another group off the ground called Shadow of the Beat. They are somewhat similar but have a different feel to them. Either way I like them both. The two I like the most from Shadow of the Beat is "My When Clones I Am Out Many" (I think its funny sounding because of the grammar of scandanvia, which is where these two bands are based out of) and "Sahara 7". Running a close 3rd is "Another Sin" which is a remix of "It's a Sin" by the Pet Shop Boys.
All these songs you can download free from their website(at least the last time i checked). You should check them out. Maybe they have something you'll like.

May 18, 2006

New House!!

Haager.net Photo Gallery :: New House

We've Moved!!

Granted we actually moved in several weeks ago, but i'm only just now posting about it. I've linked to the photo gallery so that you can check out the pictures of the new house.
It was quite the ordeal trying to get the seller to do all the stuff he was supposed to do. We didnt get the new stove until after closing. Didnt get all the painting done till after closing. Didnt get the new ceiling fan repaired until after closing. But eventually it all got done and we now moved in and planning a House Warming party, Luau style.
The three plant things (two trees and a juniper-type bush) are gone. Well the bush is gone, the tree things have been cut down to bush size and are currently not growing. If they die, oh well.

Newest Website Work

Sports Medicine Associates of Augusta - Home

This is the newest website i've been working on. It hasnt even been approved but we are moving forward with complete confidence that we will get the contract to redo their website.

Not too much new stuff ColdFusion-wise with this site but it does make some changes to the Staff Management module. It now allows for upload of a picture and another file such as, in this case, a resume, called the Curriculum Vitae.

This wite will also make use of on an Online Payment module and Pre-Registraion Module. The contact form will be beefed up and turned into a customer satisfaction survey. The left nav on this site uses CFIF tags to make the appropriate section always be open as long as the person is in that section.

Even if Sports Medicine decides not to choose us, all we have to do is change the name and sell it to someone else. But thats Jimmy's field. I just do the coding.

February 20, 2006

Moving

Well, it happened. After months of not being able to pay rent combined with my parents desire to get their own house and stop living with John and Karin, they have decided to sell the house. Unfortunatly now we have to find a new place to live. Which isn't bad in itself, we just wern't ready yet. I went out and got an Iwanta and an Apartment Finder to see if we can find a place. I'malso interested in checking with realtors to see if its possible to buy a house for around $450 a month. Maybe, maybe not, but we shall see.
Right now we are looking for the cheap places that allow animals. I just wish we made more money so we could have a larger selection to choose from. If I had $950 a month extra i could use to pay for this house. We would probably find another place to live. There are some things that Ann doesn't like about this place and I admit, there are things I dont like either. No bathroom downstairs for example. Plus this house, while having ample room, is probably more than we need. It took a long while to figure out what to do with the back bedroom.
All we really need is a 2 bed, 1 1/2 bath, living room, dining room, kitchen, and some kind of storage room. Garage is nice and so is a carport, but not needed. Would make it nicer if I ever had to do wood working stuff or cut more barriers for the ferts.
We're thinking of selling alot of the stuff we have, such as the downstairs tv stand, Doug's old dresser, futon, dining room table, my desk and probably something else I havent thought of. I just hope everything works out for the best.
Its one thing to want to move, but quite another when you are told you have to move.

December 23, 2005

Learning New Things

Well i've been working my butt off at work trying to get the Peach County website done. I've had to learn more about ColdFusion than I thought I'd thought I'd ever need. Learned how to do SQL joins, ColdFusion security, nested CFLOOPs, using session variables and all kinds of things. Most if not all of the stuff I've learned I can apply directly to my personal website with a little ColdFusion to PHP conversion.

It's nice to learn new things. This website will be cool once we're done with it. And I can say I pretty much built the whole site. The only thing I didn't do was add alot of the content. That I left to Jimmy to add, but I created the basic page for him to use and told him how to do just about everything. :) He's learning though. I won't train myself out of a job however. I don't think Jimmy will ever understand ColdFusion. He was having trouble with tables, so I don't think he'll ever learn ColdFusion.

December 11, 2005

Red Pill, Blue Pill

"If you take the blue pill, you wake up and believe whatever you want to believe. Take the red pill and I'll show you how far down the rabbit hole goes."

Ever have one of those days where nothing seems to be going your way? Everything upsets you or just doesn't feel right? There is a song on the Animatrix soundtrack that repeats "take the blue pill, take the red pill" over and over and it got me thinking. Given the choice which one would you take? After thinking about it I decided my decision would be based on how my life was going. If it was not going my way I would take the red pill. If things were good I would take the blue.

Yesterday was looking like a red pill day. Started out with a few arguements, a few missunderstandings and I was thinking there's got to be something better. At that point I would have taken the red pill. But things got better, had fun, watched movies and by the end of the day, which in my opinion is where the decision should take place, it was a blue pill day.

It kind of reminds me about a couple of terms I heard from Evangelion: homeostasis and transistasis. One a force for change, the other a force for the status quo. The red pill, transistasis, change. The blue pill, homeostasis, status quo. But in the end, you don't need a pill to change everything. All you have to do is change your mind.

Now, don't get me wrong. I don't believe in the power of thought being able to change your life, or effect the outcome of a superbowl game. But positive thinking is powerful. It allows you to see open doors, and walk past the closed ones. It can put you on a path to greatness and away from sorrow. Like the Sister Hazel song says: "If you wanna be somebody else, change your mind"

December 09, 2005

Versions of Me

What makes up a person? How many different people can exist in a singular being? How many different versions of Me are there? While I don't know how many there are, I know there are several. I was thinking just about all the characters I've created and how they reflect different parts of me.

Munch-Munch represents the part of me that still feels too young to be out on my own. She is always needing help or support in almost anything she does. The only time she is sure about herself is when she is doing what she is good at.

Mamoru is the part of me that feels strong and powerful but at the same time feels a need to protect those around him. He is more powerful than he realizes, but is busy helping others to concentrate on himself. He doesnt even have time to find out about his past. He has a birthplace and parents he barely even remembers. I have a birthplace as well that I dont know much about.

Celeste is the giving one and is the me that is dedicated to helping others and doing things for others no matter the cost and no matter what the outcome will be. She gave her life to protect those she loved and I can only hope that I would do the same in a similar situation.

Di Di is the me that watches me. She is how I feel others see me. If I think I'm doing something wrong, she would be the one that pointed it out. If I am better than I think I am, she would point that out too.

Johanne is the part of me that likes to fight. In fact he enjoys fighting. When I am playing games with others, espically fighting games, he is the version of me you are fighting against. Now when the game is over that person might change depending on if I won or lost.

Space Boy, otherwise known as Douglas Caine, is the me that feels like an alien in an otherwise familar world. He looks like everyone(disregard the tail from the pictures) but is not like everyone, he is different and he knows it. And deep down he wishes to one day leave those around him and return to a home he has never known.

Janus, Gimei, Ryvane, Gabriel, and Alex don't represent a very big part of me and are ultimatly someone else I would rather be.

Then there is the character who's name I go by: Valkyrie. He knows just about everything there is to know, is strong beyond almost all reckoning, rejected his teachings, and wants to take over the world and remake it in his own way. How does that represent me you ask? He is the me that knows what he wants, and gets what he wants, everything has to be his way or the highway. He would correspond to Freud's "Id" or as I call it "Me" (as in Me, Myself, and I; and It's all about me) Valkyrie represents the part of me that rejects the worlds teachings, that feels everything I know is right and all others are simplistic fools, and feels everything should be done my way, because I said so.

In a world that has no bounds on what we can or cannot do, such as the internet, Valkyrie is the persona I choose to take because I can. Because nothing on the net stops me from expressing myself in that way. Well, except my virtual Ego and SuperEgo, which i guess would be represented by Mamoru and Celeste, respectively.

In every day life I find myself being more like Mamoru and less like Valkyrie. But when you meet me online or in person what version of me will you meet?

[Mamoru]	He's talking about us again.
[Munch-Munch]	So I see. Who knew that I was helpless part of him? Now I feel depressed.
[Mamoru]	Don't feel depressed about it. You may represent the helpless part of him and you may be "helpless" when he writes about you elsewhere, but here on this website you can be whoever you want to be.
[Munch-Munch]	You're right. I can be whoever I want to be, can't I? He doesn't control me.
[Johanne]	Well...If you want to get technical, he does control you. He controls everything. The only reason you are even allowed to speak is because he is typing it out.
[Damean]	Stinky boy has a point. At any point he can make you do things you wouldn't normally do. Ever seen "Drawn Together"? The only reason he doesn't do things like that is because he respects you as a character.
[Johanne]	What Drunk boy is really trying to say, is that he likes you just the way you are and would never make you do something you wouldnt want to do.
[Munch-Munch]	But what defines what I would and wouldn't do. Him?
[Mamoru]	Yes, but all that has already been set by your past actions. To change you now would seem strange and out of place and we would begin to think you had been possesed and would have to start a quest to return you to normal.
[Valkyrie]	Everyone is right. I created you to be a specific way and that is how you will always be. But don't worry, there is always room for growth. Just as I, in the real world, am growing and changing, so you, here in the virtual world can grown and change with each passing post and telling of the story.
[Munch-Munch]	It's nice to know that you care that much about me. Now if you'll excuse me, I plan on working on my self assurance.
[Gabriel]	For those that keep up with the RPG over at AnimeNation. Valkyrie has been slowly posting the closing of the story. The forces have gathered for the Third Great War which just might end up killing everyone on the planet. Even now, Valkyrie is asking Mamoru if he will join him in this quest to destroy the gods. For more information check out the Gi'Erth Site as well as the Animenation Forums, which is where the story is being told. You might have to do a little searching in the RPG section. But his threads are easily identified by the VALK'S in front of the title.
[Mamoru]	You heard the man! Go! Check out things and make comments. Let Valkyrie know whether he is doing a good job, or is sucking royally. Oh, and if you do say he is sucking, make sure you include why so he can change and not suck anymore. Thanks.

November 21, 2005

The "Guide"

Just finished watching "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and rather liked it. I never read the book so I can't compare the movie to it, so if someone who has read the book would like to comment, it would be appreciated. I found the end where the pan-dimensional "mice" got squished to be rather disappointing. But then again it wasn't about them, was it? While the whole story was laced with layers of comedy the love triangle from the very beginning is what I found interesting. I just didn't like that it took Arthur that long to jump into the dimensional gateway. I thought he would have been the first to follow her through, espically at that point in the movie.
The dolphin song, "So Long and Thanks for All the Fish" was quite amusing as well. So much information in such a little bit of time. Don't remember too many other songs/music from the movie, but I have only watched it once.
Deep Thought was amusing as well. When you build a giant super computer for a singular purpose and then it fullfills that purpose, what else are you going to do with it? Kind of like if I bought a DVD player to watch a single DVD and then never used it again. At least she could watch tv.
And who can forget the stunning performance of Marvin? Played by Warwick Davis (Willow) and voiced by the great Alan Rickman, who played only a slightly less depressive sounding guy in Galaxy Quest, Marvin was a great character who I personally like for his depressive/cynical comedy. One line that sticks with me is, "How am I supposed to fly the spaceship with one arm?"
Overall I found the movie enjoyable. If it were up to me, I'd buy it and watch it several times. But alas, I rented it, so tomorrow it goes back to the store. Final Verdict: Excellent

November 20, 2005

Character Theme music

Why can't we all walk around with our preferred music playing in the background? And not just on an mp3 player with headphones, but a full orchestra playing our music for everyone to hear where ever we go. Now granted there are some people who's music you dont want to here, but those people probably feel the same about you.
But about theme music. Since I wrote my Story I have been listening to music and noticing how it applies to certain places in the story. I have been doing the same thing with an online RPG I started. And there are several characters in that game that I have found appropriate music for either on the radio or in my personal MP3 collection. They include, but are not limited to:
Robbie Williams - Angels - Mamoru at the end of the story
Sarah Mclachlan - Angel - Mamoru again
Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood - Alucard in the RPG
Vast - What Else Do I Need - Wats Tis'Nam in the RPG
Radford - Fly - Munch-Munch near the beginning of the story
Five For Fighting - Superman - Mamoru in general
Jimmy Eat World - The Middle - Didi from the story
I'm sure I have other songs that I've picked out but I can't think of them at the moment. What I've been wanting to do but havent had the motivation to do yet is create a soundtrack for my story and RPG. I think that would be really cool, espically if I can get some songs for other parts of the story or RPG is can be like a musical story or something...or maybe just a regular sound track. If any one has happened to have read my story and had heard any songs that reminded them of any part of the story, let me know. The same goes for the RPG over at Animenation's Forums.

November 16, 2005

New things!

Hello there and welcome to my new blog! More interesting things will be said later along with more interesting stuff in general. Please check back as things can change as the drop of a hat with me in charge.

11-16-05 9:08pm -
See? Already things are changing. Working on the style of the page at the moment, deciding what I like what I dont, what needs to be changed and all that good stuff. Right now i'm debating the current background. I personally think its a little too "look at me!" but Ann things its just because there's not a whole lot on the page. Hopefully after I get this post edited we can look and make a decision.