Phred's Ruminations

Adventures in Phredland, 9-16-10

2010-09-18T12:08:00.002-05:00

WARNING: If you read it, deal with it. This is unedited and I put most sailors to shame when I’m mad.

We’ve been in Austin for about a year now and I have to be honest, I have met nothing but seriously nice people with only a couple of shitwits in-between. Customer service exists and flourishes here and people are just *really* nice. Apparently, they’ve been saving up to properly welcome me because today I met every last fucktard the area has to offer.

1) So, I go to the doctor for a follow-up today and decide I need groceries as well. The appointment is fine despite everyone on 620 driving like the speed limit is 25 mph. That is, except the hillbilly in his dirty-ass, jacked up Z28 that needs a damn muffler. I’m sorry your penis is small and you feel inadequate, but wash your car. Anyway, he’s doing about 75. Of course, he’s behind me, so when a loser doesn’t use their turn signal on two cars ahead and we all put on brakes, assface fishtails violently as he slams on his to keep from hitting me. Then, whips around and cuts me off. Then whips around and cuts off the woman in front of me. I mean really Buford, where’s the fire? Just keep it up buddy and when I pass you overturned and on fire in a ditch, I’ll stop for a moment to piss in your eye socket before continuing on my merry little way.

2) After my appointment I’m off to the store. I’m putting along and a nominal pace and it’s fairly packed so there isn’t much room next to in front or behind me. We’re all like lovely little smiling grocery cattle, but smelling nicer. So, much like the jackass on the road, this kid decided to dart directly in front of my cart. I have to jerk my cart to a halt to keep from ramming him (which I should have done...with joy) and my eggs go sailing forward in my cart and end up top side down and cracked. Does the kid flinch? Of course not. Does the mother that saw everything say a word? Are you kidding? A parent, actually parenting? Who ever heard of such a thing?

3) I decide, MMMMMMM a salad would be awesome for dinner. One of those make-it-yourself-at-the-fabu-deli ones. So I load it up with sweet hot peppers and sundried tomatoes and alfalfa sprouts and Sweet Butter lettuce and spinach leaves and feta baby portabellas and....as I’m about to treat myself to croutons, this evil, damp, chubby, entitled, little brat of a child in a bathing suit charges toward me as her and her mother enter the store. The mannerless heathen proceeds to stop right in front of me where I am about to take the tongs to get my croutons and she summarily sticks her grubby little paw INTO the bowl of croutons and scoops out a handful as she stares at me. I’m like WHATWHATWHAT?! Then, the little douche waddles back to her mother while stuffing her face with the stolen food items. I look at her mother who has seen this whole thing and I say “SERIOUSLY?!” The mother simply continues on with her general douchery and ignores me. GREAT parenting, dick.
4) I’m intent on finally checking out and go to look for an empty to fairly empty line. I see one, but I also see a woman to my left in beeline mode for the same spot. Being a kind, giving person when I’m not pushed to eating someone’s face, I stopped my cart and smiled to her with a gesture letting her know I was letting her go past me to that line. She nodded curtly and zipped past. I continue on to the next line and see the one up at the front and directly adjacent to the one I gave away is at about empty like the previous. I turn my cart and head to that one. Just before I get there, the woman in the lane next door that I so graciously let have that spot whips her cart over in front of me and into the line I was headed for. REALLY?! I look back at the other line and there’s no difference. Maybe the woman in my line had one less item than the one in the other, but I mean DAMN!

5) Then of course there was the woman with the full cart at the express lane. I mentioned her ass yesterday on my status. I still hate her.

6) So, as I’m leaving, you know, through the exit door? The exit door, for exiting. You know the one, the door you leave through because it says EXIT and not ENTRANCE. That’s the one, yeah I knew you knew which one I was talking about. Well, apparently Crotchety McCocknoggin doesn’t realize that EXIT means DON’T ENTER ASS-HAT. So I’m literally turning my cart to exit and he starts in. Mexican standoff. He stops, looks at me and nods toward the deli area behind me. “I’m going there.” He says. I say “I’m using this exit.” to offer a reply that is also an informative, educational tool to better instruct him in the regard that this door is for EXITING. He stands there. I continue to stare at him, smiling with my cart full of paid for “needs to exit” groceries. He nods to the deli again “That’s where I’m headed.” Seriously? No humility? No “well *I* am the one going in the out door so maybe *I* should be the one to apologize and let the people using the proper flow of traffic to go ahead of me. THEN I can continue to be a douche bag and use the exit improperly.” Nope, not an inkling. He was entitled. So finally I turn my full cart and start heading way down to the other exit. “I’ll just take this other one so you can use this exit to enter!” Of course, he didn’t say a word and just continued in. Your parents obviously died in some freak accident when you were a baby and you were raised by a can of peas. Ass.

7) Finally, I’m leaving. Hallelujah. I’m ready to escape this Supermarket Hell and head back to a sane place. All that remains between me and salvation is a woman with a small cart in front of me. She’s moving along steadily, but we have cars to our left so we’re forced into a single file line of sorts. We cross the main drive directly in front of the store and are about to start walking down the parking aisle to head to our cars when she stops. I, of course, have to stop as well. She pulls out her bags, puts them in her left hand and pops the small cart up into a wheelie so that she can force it up onto the small grass-topped median next to the first parking space in the row. I feel the blood in my temples begin to throb. I look over and there sits a cart corral not ten feet away from us and in the direction she’s walking, but can the woman be bothered to walk it? I mean COME ON! Sure enough, she pushes it up on the grass and begins to walk to her car. I sigh and ask at speaking volume “You seriously can’t take it a few more feet to the corral? What if it rolls of and hits this car?” She turns around and looks at me with this smug expression and says “Why don’t you take it? You could use the exercise.” So here’s where it could take two paths. A) I snap and choke the bitch with the cart and then give her a curbie while foaming at the mouth or B) I keep my composure and eviscerate her verbally. Thankfully, I chose option B. In response to her statement I immediately nod in agreement and smile “I totally agree. I really could stand to shave off a few of these extra pounds. But that’s where I’m lucky,” I continue “I can actually lose this weight. You’ll always be a cunt.” I thought the whore was going to have an aneurism right there. She turned and literally stomped off to her car. I yelled to her “Have a great day!” and continued to my own vehicle.

It’s days like this that make me want to take up smoking again. Not because I want to smoke mind you, but so I have something on fire to stick in people’s eyes when they piss me off.

Woobie Extraordinaire

2010-07-27T09:57:00.003-05:00

We love you Ritahead! You'll always have a place in group with us.

/g see you later woobie ;-)

Rita McKinney 4/7/1952 - 7/24/2010

¡Vamos, Vamos Argentina!

2010-06-22T18:05:00.001-05:00

Yes. Sarcasm is the air I breathe. This is priceless...

2010-02-09T11:58:00.003-06:00

50 Best Reasons Gay Marriage Is Wrong!

1. Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, birth control and air conditioning.

2. Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

3. Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.

4. Marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all: women are property, matches are arranged in childhood, blacks can't marry whites, Catholics can't marry Jews, divorce is illegal, and adultery is punishable by death

5. Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Britany Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.

6. Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn't be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren't full yet, and the world needs more children.

7. Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.

8. Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That's why we have only one religion in America.

9. If we look to the word of God, His punishment for sexual immorality is equal to that of murder. Therefore, teaching kids to tolerate homosexuality is equal to teaching them to tolerate murder.

10. Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That's why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.

11. Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven't adapted to cars, the service-sector economy (insurance, government, tourism, banking, retail, education, and social services), suburban malls, or longer life spans.

12. Gay marriage should be decided by people not the courts, because the majority-elected legislatures, not courts, have historically protected the rights of the minorities.

13. Civil unions, providing most of the same benefits as marriage with a different name are better, because a “seperate but equal” institution is always constitutional. Seperate schools for African-Americans worked just as well as seperate marriages for gays and lesbians will.

14. There is no separation between religious marriage and legal marriage, because there is no separation of church and state.

15. Devout, faithful Anglicans should never accept same-sex marriage, because it is an affront to the traditional family values upheld by Henry VIII and his wife, Catherine of Aragon, and his wife, Anne Boleyn, and his wife, Jane Seymour, and his wife, Anne of Cleves, and his wife, Catherine Howard, and his wife, Catherine Parr. They all knew the meaning of marriage and none of them lost their heads over the matter.

16. Married gay people will encourage others to be gay, in a way that unmarried gay people do not.

17. Legalizing gay marriage will lead to legalizing dog marriage. This can be inferred from the history of other political initiatives for gender equality. For example, when American women got the right to vote in 1920, it led to terriers voting in 1925, and when Title IX was passed in 1972 to prevent sex discrimination in any federally-funded school, resulting in the creation of athletic opportunities for girls, it led to Bichon Frises on the basketball court during the Reagan administration.

18. Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to legislative change in general, which could possibly include the legalization of polygamy, incest, medical marijuana, and unmuzzled pit bulls. Because we don’t know what might come down the next slippery slope, we should never change any law.

19. Legal marriage will inspire gays to mimic straight traditions, such as spiritual commitment ceremonies and celebratory parties, which is currently impermissible for them to do and which they have never done before.

20. Marriage is designed to protect the well-being of children. Gay people do not need marriage because they never have children from prior relationships, artificial insemination, surrogacy, or adoption.

21. Civil unions are a good option because "separate but equal" institutions are always constitutional. In fact, compared with marriage, civil unions are so attractive that straight people are calling dibs on them.

22. A man should not be able to marry whomever a woman can marry, and a woman should not be able to marry whomever a man can marry, because in this country we do not believe in gender equality.

23. If gays marry, some of straight people's tax dollars would end up supporting families whose structure they may find morally objectionable. Clearly, it is more just to continue taking gay people's tax dollars to support straight families, who are going to heaven regardless of what anyone else thinks of them.

24. Gays should hold off on the marriage question until society is more accepting of them, because they are not part of society.

25. The people's voice must be heard on this issue. Therefore, we must have a vote on a federal constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, because we can't think of any other way to discuss the issue.

26. Each state should decide for itself whether gay marriage will be recognized, because there is no "full faith and credit" clause that requires states to recognize each other's institutions.

27. Gay marriage attempts to replace natural heterosexual instinct with a cultural institution. Morality demands that we subordinate institutionalized commitment to raw, unfettered, biological impulse.

28. Gay marriages could very well suffer maladies like domestic violence and substance abuse. That's why we invented the Quality Control department to pre-approve the righteousness of all marriage applicants.

29. Those who support gay marriage aim to overthrow the dominant culture, as evidenced by their enthusiasm to participate in it.

30. If the state performs gay marriages, Christians might become more liberal and divide into more mutually opposed parties. Since the government is an arm of the church and is responsible for keeping the peace in Christian leadership councils, it should not get involved with gay marriage.

31. After gay marriage was legalized in Scandinavian countries in 2004, more heterosexual couples realized they wanted to live together and bear children without marrying first. Banning gay marriage is a good way to prevent this practice, as is banning independent thought and mandating straight marriage by age 21.

32. Heterosexual marriage was invented in the Biblical book of Genesis. Written somewhere between 1500 and 500 BCE, Genesis came as a great relief to people in many cultures, such as China, who, prior to 1500 BCE, sat around waiting for the Mesopotamians to invent the family unit.

33. Gay marriage would allow more partners and children to sign onto the family breadwinner's healthcare plan. Given that 44 million Americans do not have health insurance, it is safe to say that health insurance is not an American value.

34. The possibility of getting a gay marriage might encourage some married heterosexuals to divorce and seek a gay union instead. These marriages were obviously happy and successful, and the justices who provide gay second marriages should be charged with alienation of affection.

35. Gay marriage may hurl the populace into existential crisis and cause spontaneous divorces. Divorce triggers our moral hemorrhaging, but we will keep it legal. It is easier to seek the criminalization of gay marriage than the criminalization of divorce, particularly because most of us have had a few divorces.

36. Gay marriage is tainted because some of the applicants might be divorcees marrying for the second time. We oppose remarriage, and would like to ensure that no one marries more than once; therefore we will oppose the entire institution of marriage, to ensure that no one ever marries at all. That casts the net wide enough to catch all the would-be second-timers.

37. The people have the right to demand to vote on a Massachusetts constitutional amendment against gay marriage. There is no reason for proposed amendments to go through the state Legislature first, as is constitutionally required, because the Legislature doesn't spend all that many paid hours sitting around discussing the legal ramifications on behalf of ordinary citizens who are too busy with their own jobs to figure out everything at stake.

38. The arguments for gay marriage are flawed because Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry has made inconsistent statements about gay marriage, and he is known for his consistency on other issues.

39. Married gay couples will find it easier to adopt children, who might then be bullied and teased by other children for who their parents are. This reflects poorly on the judgment of gays who adopt children with the risk that their child could possibly be teased. It does not, of course, imply anything about the responsibilities of heterosexual parents, whose children only pick up rocks for geological interest and couldn't have been listening when their parents made those comments about their neighbors.

40. Children of married gay couples might suffer bullying and teasing more often than children of unmarried gay couples, because playground bullies are sensitive to the nuances of contract law.

41. It is reasonable and fair to institute "civil unions" that provide all the rights and responsibilities of marriage, but we cannot apply the holy, mystical word "marriage" to this contract. Deriving from the Latin maritare, "marriage" evokes the dignity of the typical Roman man who engaged in licentious sex with both sexes until he reached middle age, at which time he maritared a teenage girl to bear his children.

42. According to the three proposed "compromise" Massachusetts constitutional amendments defeated by the Legislature on Feb. 11 and 12, 2004, the best way to "protect the unique relationship of [heterosexual] marriage" is to institute civil unions that are in every way identical to it.

43. God created the institution of marriage, just after he created 2.9% APR automobile financing, student loans, HMOs, and divorce.

44. We must defer to the President's opinion on gay marriage, since the Republican party was given its authority by God. As it is written: "Republican and Democrat created He them." Paul elaborated: "Democrats, submit to the Republican."

45. In San Francisco, where renegade officials have married same-sex couples for the past several weeks, experts suggest that the city may suffer an earthquake in about ten years. Geological experts, that is. But good Christians don't recognize the opinion of Earth scientists, who falsely claim the Earth is 4.5 billion years old; they get their seismic information from their preachers, who say the earthquake's coming next week.

46. Allowing same-sex marriage could increase gay public displays of affection, because marriage has historically been proven to stimulate couples' interest in sex.

47. Making civil marriage available to same-sex couples could spur the wedding industry, and businesses would sure hate to pay taxes on all that profit.

48. Straight men are opposed to gay marriage because they would prefer that gay men try to be straight and compete with them for access to women, trimming down the pool of eligible dates to make courtship more challenging and exciting.

49. The country can't afford to provide benefits for any more married couples. That's why President Bush would never consider spending $150 million on programs that encourage more straight people to get married.

50. Gay marriage is wrong because children might be led to think that it is right and that would clearly be wrong.

Happy Anniversary

2009-06-25T16:34:00.003-05:00

Music at the Moment: Take Me With U - Prince

25 years baby! I can still listen to this CD from beginning to end and jam.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

2009-06-07T16:44:00.003-05:00

Music at the moment: Prince - "17 Days"

And a very merry Prince-mas to all!

2009-05-11T11:29:00.006-05:00

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Bitch.

Moving On Up...er Over

2009-04-12T17:40:00.004-05:00

It's official. Phred is on the move at last and heading to Austin. I'm slated to be there by no later than May 20th. From there it's graduation, enrollment in Vancouver Film School, a year in Canada and maybe a move there and into the industry. So long Florida, you won't be missed.

2009-04-12T11:27:00.001-05:00

HAPPY KEISTER!

2009-04-01T19:13:00.002-05:00

Music at the moment: Prince - "Dance 4 Me"

Thank goodness for some light in an otherwise dark period of time.

Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish

2009-01-20T11:29:00.003-06:00

See ya bitch!

Poll Dancing

2009-01-05T23:26:00.004-06:00

I'm actually on a list of nominations for an annual reader's poll! My friend Heather is also on there with her two books she had published in 2008 (The ones I did the cover art for.)

If anyone is feeling charitable, please go vote for us before January 14th!

The links below take you to the voting page where all you'll do is make your selection, enter your name and e-mail and submit. You'll receive an e-mail verification and once verified, your submission is done!

Voting Categories:

1. Artist - "Phred Newman (Phredcetera)"

2. Cover Art - "Huntress by Trinity Knight/Jim Richards"

3. Author - "Trinity Knight"

4. Science Fiction/Fantasy Novel - "Huntress by Trinity Knight/Jim Richards"

5. Science Fiction/Fantasy Novel - "Traitor by Trinity Knight/Jim Richards"

Thank you to everyone who goes and casts their vote!

A Purple Wedding Present

2009-01-05T11:44:00.005-06:00

Music at the Moment: Prince - (There'll Never B) Another Like Me

So, the wedding was very nice despite all the obstacles popping up over the last few months. More on the ceremony and such to follow.

The great news is the release of three new albums this year. Two are purely Prince while apparently one is another new protege named Bria Valente. Regardless, I'm jazzed.

More to come on the site below.

Unrlz 4rlz. Srsly.

2008-12-13T19:24:00.007-06:00

So this term I had Texture Mapping for Games. I just sort of shrugged when I read it over and thought it might be, at the most, "interesting."

I had no idea I'd love it so much. In fact, I think texturing may very well be the niche I aim for if I decide not to go to Vancouver Film School.

This is my final project in which I constructed the geometry for a level in Unreal and then created and applied textures. I was very pleasd with the end result.

Phun with Names or "Holy Crappellation!"

2008-12-07T11:26:00.007-06:00

I live for inventive names. Collecting them is a hobby dating back to middle school and the discovery of Magdelena Babblejack and Swanera Crudup.

So, over the years of Myshe and Bryan working for call centers and having to deal with the high turnover of employees, we get many a giggle over the names we encounter.

A couple of days after Thanksgiving, I and some friends that came down from Ohio all converged on my mother's house to spend time with her after the cancer diagnosis.

Billie, a nurse, told us about one of the best I've yet to encounter.

Doing paperwork, her co-worker called a patient to confirm appointments. Listed on her file, her name was "Le-a." The nurse called and asked if she could speak to "lee-uh." when the patient got on the phone she was upset at the mispronunciation of her name. She couldn't understand why no one could say it right. She explained to the nurse:

"The dash don't be silent!" Her name is pronounced "Le-Dash-uh"

After peeing myself, I began to think about all these gems and how I should share. So I'll be asking Myshe and Bryan to bring me new ones and I'll post them when I have them. Fast, safe, cheap family fun!

<><><><<< New Names >>><><><>

Le-a (le-DASH-uh)

Anchanter (awn-SHAWN-tay)

Shithead (shuh-theed)
No, I'm not kidding. This was on a friend's paperwork who works for social services.

Ocupina (aw-kyoo-PEE-nuh)

Sanitosha (san-uh-TOE-shuh)

Linquenette (leen-KWIN-et)

Tekeshashley (we don't know the pronunciation for this one. Have fun.)

Letreasure (that's right. Le Treasure. I guess it's french...for ignunt)

<><><><><><><<<>>><><><><><><>

What a great start. If anyone finds any, submit them in the comments and I'll see about adding them!

Quantum of Hotness

2008-11-14T21:31:00.002-06:00

Double Ohhhh Heaven.

With both a new Watchmen trailer AND a Trek trailer.

Oh yeah. Good stuff.

VOTE RIGHT!

2008-11-04T15:27:00.001-06:00

Yum

2008-11-02T09:02:00.000-06:00

Christina Aguilera - New Music - More Music Videos

2008-10-31T12:37:00.002-05:00

Planet Unicorn Yaaaaaaay

2008-10-30T12:27:00.000-05:00

2008-10-29T10:01:00.001-05:00

Love this

2008-10-27T15:59:00.002-05:00

Music at the Moment: JaConfetti - Step Up

Bleh.

I think I should go do something I DON'T love for work so I can simply finish and leave it behind to enjoy myself when not at work.. I sort of want to go to Vancouver now.

I'm formulating my thoughts before I vomit forth my review of the refuse that is the new Indiana Jones movie. Suffice it to say, it isn't good.

I met a hot Russian at church this weekend. Sergei. Сексуальный! I'll be asking John to get me one for Christmas.

Phred Phussilade - 10.20.08

2008-10-20T21:11:00.006-05:00

Music at the Moment: Supergirl - Saving Jane

Early voting began today.

I went and voted.

No on 2.

The rest is a blur.

I think I wrote in Prince on the presidential ballot.

This chick next to me stunk like weed. I didn't have the heart to tell her that her boyfriend she was outside with likes men. She'll find out soon enough.

Michelle Obama looks like Satan.

I'm having Greek Pasta Cake and Sushi at my wedding.

My grandmother is a self-centered asshole.

My mother is doing better today. They took a quart of fluid out of her lung. We'll know more tomorrow I hope.

Low sodium soup is terrible.

I introduced Shannon to the joys of Horizen sushi today. She was smitten muchly.

I've come to love my next door neighbors. John and Melissa are the best.

I'm bored.

Heroes is a crap show.

I lost two more pounds, but I'm still sore from last week's workout.

I found myself missing old friends today. The meth addict, the hypochondriac, and the two-faced, insecure, lesbian gamer were not among them.

I'm excited about he prospect of continuing school after graduation. Vancouver Film School...hope to see you soon.

My car needs washing badly.

I have begun my Michaels Wretched-Wreath-Whore reconnaissance. Tis the season. Die bitch.

Blockbuster sells food now. Idiots.

Little Britain is okay. I'm scared of this second attempt at an American Absolutely Fabulous.

My new Keurig stuff came in today. YES to Spiced Mayan Chocolate. NO to Mahogany.

My nine pump chai burned my throat today. Hurts so good.

My pastitsio was a big hit. Thicker bechamel is the way to go.

A Call to Floridians: Say NO to 2

2008-10-19T14:38:00.002-05:00

I urge you when you vote, say no to Amendment 2. It is damaging and unconstitutional to more than just same-sex couples.

Say NO to 2

À Dieu Vous Commant

2008-10-18T16:25:00.008-05:00

I'm very sad. I just found out that one of my favorite actors died a few days ago.
Apparently it was complications from pneumonia.
Lovely, that's why my mother is in the hospital with as of yesterday.

Merci et je t'aime Guillaume.

Now I have to go watch Tous les Matins du Monde and bawl.

Guillaume Depardieu
1971 - 2008

Nicked Quicker Than A Ray Of Light

2008-10-12T12:14:00.004-05:00

I made a hobbit burglar on Lord of the Rings Online today. In going through and tweaking her look to something that was cuter rather than goofy, I stepped back and realized I'd made Hobbit Madonna. I love her.

Huntress: Hunters of the Pack Book 1

2008-10-07T18:06:00.004-05:00

Now in Print!

Coming Soon...

i r keepz mah jee pee ay hi

2008-10-07T18:02:00.004-05:00

Yay, another term down and still at a 4.0

Only a few left to go and then...

possibly going to another school for a year. More details later.

Pee

2008-10-07T01:02:00.002-05:00

I thought I was going to absolutely soil my pants tonight when I saw this.

Hmmm

2008-10-02T01:11:00.003-05:00

Music at the Moment: Britney Spears - Womanizer / Jack White & Alicia Keyes - Another Way To Die

1) It sounds like it could either be a continuation of Blackout or just a half-ass rehash of an otherwise good CD. I guess we'll see. The jury is still out.

I think nutjob Britney makes better music.
Maybe I'll "Spear"-head a "Keep Britney Nuckin' Futs" campaign.

2) I was quite wary when I heard about this combination for the next Bond theme. I'm still not convinced I like them together. Now, I love the music and it definitely has a 007 flavor, albeit a little rougher than I'd have liked. Mind you, it's hard to top Chris Cornell's You Know My Name, which blew me away. I'm sad to say this one will have to grow on me and I'll gain new appreciation (or loathing) for it when I see it in unison with the intro to the movie. We'll see in November.

Shifting Gears

2008-09-27T13:16:00.001-05:00

Music at the Moment: B.o.B. - I'll Be In The Sky (LOVE this song)

Stay Tuned. Possible big life changes coming within the next few months.

In Need Of A Beat-Down

2008-09-25T00:16:00.003-05:00

Spoiled-rotten, deluded, whiney, dick.

I'm sure I could come up with a few more words to adequately describe this one-trick pony.

What a tool.

She makes me want to kick Betty Paige. I hope a bird attacks her head.

Keeps Gettin' Better...But It's Not Anything New

2008-09-24T12:22:00.002-05:00

Music at the Moment: Christina Aguilera - Keeps Gettin' Better

So, love love love the new Christina song. But honestly, all you ridiculous "omg she stoled britneyz radar song i hayt kristina aqualira. britney iz teh bast!!!!!!111" need to shut the hell up and take an English class.

No, this wasn't stolen from Britney's "Radar"

No, this is nothing fresh and new.

Yes, this is derivative.

Goldfrapp has been doing this (and Radar) for years and it's still a good sound. There is nothing original any longer, only new in the moment.

So get over it, enjoy it for what it is, and just shut up and dance.

Better With Age

2008-09-20T15:56:00.003-05:00

Happy Big 30 John!

You are the best thing that's ever happened to me and I love you more than I can express. I can't wait to post a happy 60th message down the line. Well, that would make me...yeah, actually I can wait.

Boring Term

2008-08-23T11:36:00.002-05:00

Music at the moment: Sincerely, Jane - Janelle Monae

Career Management and Organizational Behavior - Individual suck skank hyena butt. I hate crap gen ed. classes.

A Phred Whaiku

Game Art & Design.
APA, who f**king cares?
Let me hone my art.

2008-08-19T17:00:00.000-05:00

Your result for The Perception Personality Image Test...

NFDC - The Seeker

Nature, Foreground, Detail, and Color

You perceive the world with particular attention to nature. You focus on what's in front of you (the foreground) and how that is affected by the details of life. You are also particularly drawn towards the colors around you. Because of the value you place on nature, you tend to find comfort in more subdued settings and find energy in solitude. You like to deal directly with whatever comes your way without dealing with speculating possibilities or outcomes you can't control. You are highly focused on specific goals or tasks and find meaning in life by pursuing those goals. You are a down-to-earth person who enjoys going with the flow.

The Perception Personality Types:

Take The Perception Personality Image Test at HelloQuizzy

Bats, Bad Guys, and Burn Victims

2008-08-01T14:46:00.006-05:00

The Bat

I love Bale, so it's hard for me to not like a character he plays. He didn't dissapoint.

*********************************************

The Bad Guy

Not bad, but not the "oscar-winning" performance everyone else seemed to see. He played good crazy, but there was still too much Nicholson in his act.

*********************************************

The Burn Victim

Wow. This was the performance that made the movie for me. What a great job. I only wish there had been a lot more of him in the course of the film. Eckhart's the winner on this one.

*********************************************

Phred Phun Phactor: 8 out of 10

Can You Believe It Made Me Cry?

2008-07-17T16:34:00.004-05:00

I'll be a blubbering fool in the full-length feature.

My strongest desire has always been to see the X-Men on the silver screen. This was always a very close second that I'd resigned myself to never seeing. I'm glad it looks as though it was done right.

WATCHMEN (Apple Link)

WATCHMEN (Alternative Link)

2008-07-01T10:42:00.003-05:00

I never called him "Grandpa" or "Grandad" like everyone else in the family. Apparently when I was very small I emulated my mother and aunts in calling him "Daddy," but I wasn't as adept as they were. So, "Dally" stuck. It's rumored he hated it, but he never said a thing to me and always answered to it like any other name. Thanks for that Dally.

Sci-Faiku

2008-06-29T18:17:00.002-05:00

"LV-426"

Strange signal? Let's land.
Look, eggs! And one’s opening.
What’s that on your face?

©2008, Phred

Bestseller

2008-06-14T16:28:00.005-05:00

Wow.

And I still don't mean that crap-ass MMD (Massively Multi-player Daycare.)

No, I refer to the fact that my friend Heather and her co-author actually hit number 1 today on the Dark fantasy bestseller list of Fictionwise. What's more, it's my cover on that number 1 book! Suh-weeeet.

We can totally go to stupid conventions now as guests and sign stinky people's shirts. That's always..um..fun...ish.

"The Crappening" Eluded

2008-06-14T10:59:00.002-05:00

Thankfully, I didn't have to title this post as such because the movie was a total waste of my time. In fact, I quite ejoyed it.

Mom and I took an opportunity to shop for Father's Day, get haircuts, eat sushi, and see The Happening yesterday on one of our fletting "Phreddy Days." I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Was I blown away and riveted? No. Was I beside myself in shock at the "twist?" No, I had it pegged not far into the movie actually. But I didn't sit through an hour and a half of M. Night Shmlamlylymlalammy and continually berate myself for not using this time to clip Kitty's claws.

All-in-all the movie was fun and had a decent turtle factor at the beginning. I ecpially enjoyed it given that I'm in a Science Fiction class this term and dissecting my favorite genre of literature.

Phred Phun Phactor: 5 out of 10

Elizabeth II

2008-06-12T14:11:00.005-05:00

Hmmm.

Do I know any other old queens?

Yes I do!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PETE!!!!

For your birthday I sent flood water. I don't have a tracking number so let me know when you get it.

Happy 50th!

2008-06-07T13:54:00.002-05:00

Merry Princemas!

YAY!!!

2008-06-06T01:17:00.003-05:00

When I first saw him I was immediately taken. I sort of made a connection as to what I liked about his looks when it dawned on me and others that he bore a striking resemblance to my ex Robert. I chalked it up to that.

Then I saw him dance. Smitten.

So naturally I let loose a scream that echoed off the walls when they announced my Cody the winner tonight. I wish He and Mochi could have shared it, but really I'd have been happy if anyone would have won as long as it wasn't that catty faggot Miguel.

Yay Cody! You deserved it!

Suck it Miguel.

Hard Candy

2008-04-25T20:32:00.003-05:00

Wow.

So I was talking to Bryan and he directed me to the My Space Music site where I could listen to the whole new Madonna CD.

Wow.

So we listened to it from begnning to end and talked about it as we did.

Wow.

That's a shit-ass album.

4 Minutes is primo Timbaland and Devil Wouldn't Recognize You is pretty good in the vein of What Goes Around. The rest of the CD? Crap.

What a disappointment.

Good Enough To Eat

2008-04-24T12:32:00.003-05:00

Music at the moment: Duffy - Mercy

So...

If I have another boyfriend named John, technically it isn't cheating right? We'll go with that.

I love pastry. If I'd ever pursued my love of cooking and made it into a career, pastry is what I would have focused on. However, if I'd gone to school with the new love of my life, i'd have focused on little else beyond him.

Johnny Iuzzini not only excels at desserts and artistic pastries, but he's also right up my Mr. Right alley. And come on, John LOVES chocolate. He'd be perectly fine with having handsome Iuzzini as our "third."

Ohhhhh Johnny. Daaaamn

Macs, Games, Movies, Beds, Birthdays, and Books: What I Did On My School Break: The Mega Post

2008-04-01T11:18:00.020-05:00

Music at the moment: Vincent - Enemies

Macs

So, I love my new Mac. Love is perhaps inadequate here. If I didn't rely on so much software for Windows, i'd chuck the whole bootcamp thing out the do

or and go Mac exclusive, but unfortunately that can't happen yet. Suffice it to say I want to migrate solely to the Mac OS.

Games

I finished my first PS3 game with John Saturday night. Heavenly Sword, a game I never thought I'd be all that crazy about, absolutely blew me away. It's rare that a video game story is done well enough to make the player interested in the plot rather than just the action filling the screen. This one delivered on so many levels. My only complaints were some minor in-game control issues and how very short it was. I was even more disappointed to hear that this had been an intended trilogy, but the plans for the next two games has been indefinitely postponed (shades of Advent Rising.) This game really astounded me. The characters, the really well-written dialogue, the texture and animation work,

all of it was a bar-setter in my opinion. I'll even risk ridicule and confess that I shed more than a couple tears at the end. To do that to me it has o be quite a story.

Phred Phun Phactor: 9 out of 10

A few months ago John and I also finished Mass Effect, our first Xbox 360 game. This too was an incredibly well-done game with satisfying story, visuals, and game play. We just downloaded the add-on content for it, but have yet to begin. For our first foray into the world of Xbox, we were very pleased.

Phred Phun Phactor: 8 out of 10 (-1 for no option to have John Shepard get it on with Kaiden or Garrus or Wrex)

On the Wii front, we also finished Metroid Prime 3: Corruption this time home for John. The game was addictive and we really enjoyed the hell out of it (a 52" Sony HD TV doesn't hurt the experience on any of these either.) The Metroid series has long been a fave of mine and stirs fond memories of Josh and I cussing and playing until all hours of the night to finish Metroid Prime. This "Threequel" was no different. John and I had a lot of fun playing and even went the extra distance to complete 100% of all pick-ups and the like to unlock all the super secret mega cool bombtastic endings and mess. So when we finished the last boss and sat back for the awesome spectacle that was to be our long and cinematic ending we were more than a little disappointed when it was essentially Samus taking off her helmet, a very brief flashback of the boss battles we actually played through (been there, done that, seen it already, cussed it thoroughly), Samus hopping in her ship to zip away and then a message that Hypermode was unlocked and to play again. Um. Hate. You mean I enjoyed the hell out of this game only to finally come to the end to get the 2008 version of "Congratulations Mario! You've saved the Princess! Press B to play again."? Crap. We were not very happy.

Phred Phun Phactor: 5 out of 10 (-2 for crap ending)

Movies

We've also been taking in the second and terribly exciting installment of 8 Movies to Yawn For. Please tell me you detect my sarcasm. It's quite hard to convey venomous disdain of facial expressions in text.

In November we actually went and used a free pass to see Unearthed (refer to my previous post on that work of crap.) That was pretty pathetic. Now that they're out on DVD we've started watching them here.

We started with The Deaths of Ian Stone. Okay, so the acting in this was decent. The story was far too Dark City for my tastes, but still watchable. That is, until the movie got lost in itself. This movie had a very hard time keeping its focus. Am I watching Mystery? Wai, not this is a horror. Uh-oh, no, this is a Thriller. Oh my bad, now it's a supernatural action epic. Huh? How many movies did I just watch? The story is derailed by far to many shifts in gear and overall the experience leaves one with the feeling the movie had an identity complex. Mike Vogel is pretty, but something about his looks says "stinky ass" to me for some reason so he doesn't do muh for me. The one definite plus to the movie? Jaime Murray. She is too damn hot and it makes me miss Hustle.

Phred Phun Phactor: 3 out of 10

Next we enjoyed Lake Dead. Yeah. Bad title choice. It would have better captured the sheer horror of the movie if they'd called it Lake Shit. So this movie...yeah. Casting was done at the local community theatre or downtown modeling agency apparently. The acting quality was that of-- okay I can't in good conscience put the words acting and quality in the same sentence when referring to this movie. Suffice it to say that the writer/director/janitor, whoever put this film together REALLY liked the X-Files episode Home and felt that it necessitated a 90 minute "improvement" complete with stolen lines. I'll stick with the Peacock family thank you very much.

Phred Phun Phactor: 2 out of 10

The latest we viewed last night. Nightmare Man was the next step in our journey through 8 Films to Make You Regret Not Having A Lawn To Mow Instead. Wow. I mean WOW (And again I don't mean that crap MMO, though playing it might have been preferable.) I've only walked out of two movies in my life. One was some shit foreign horror flick called Burial Ground we decide to go see because we were bored. The other was The Squeeze with Michael Keaton. Nightmare Man would have been my third had we been in a theatre. This was not a movie. This was a very poorly done extended episode of Amazing Stories or Tales from the Crypt complete with extremely bad acting and horrid makeup and effects. Where Lake Shit used local amateur actors, Nightmare Man undoubtedly recruited "actors" from the local Circle K, a Pimp on the corner, or a downtown sports bar at happy hour. The writing, the plot...screw it. I'm not even going to detail this atrocity. This movie sucked dog ass.

Phred Phun Phactor: -1 out of 10. That's right, Nightmare Man gets my lowest rating to date! Good job!

Beds

The doorbell rang repeatedly this morning prompting me to dress quickly and risk broken neck as I raced down the stairs to the door. Ready and quite willing to eviscerate whatever salesman was hounding us, I yanked the door open to find no one. In fact, the only thing I did find was four large boxes piled in front of our door that dwarfed me. Our Sleep Number had arrived! We only bought it a few days ago and had been told it wouldn't arrive for a couple of weeks. Hallelujah! We're setting it up today and hopefully sleeping our way into more energy and less neck and back problems.

Birthdays

Happy Birthday to our little speshul kittee Julio!

Books

Recently a very good and long-time friend had her first book published. While initially in e-book format, the print version was soon to follow. I was absolutely dumbstruck when she asked me to do the cover for her. I'm still not comfortable with Photoshop, but I'm getting there. I find I learn a lot more when I dive in and hit buttons than from that crap class I had that taught me nothing. So, I told her I would and we brainstormed some ideas about what to do for the cover. In the end, I was pleased with it as were the authors (her and her co) as well as the publisher.

Whirlwind by Jim Richards and Trinity Knight

The print version was supposed to be out a while ago. Unfortunately, we've had no end to print problems with the printer (Lulu.com - avoid at all costs)

Having found a new printer and relying on hope and crossed fingers, the print version will be out soon and I'll have one in my hand. I really enjoyed doing my first print cover layout despite the measurement and printer problems. The next book is due out in may, so i get another cover to play with.

Congratulations to that heathen I've known and loved for nearly two decades!

2008-03-25T13:13:00.000-05:00

Have A Phat Easter

2008-03-23T02:34:00.005-05:00

Music at the moment: Nocturnal - The Unknown

2008-03-21T01:21:00.001-05:00

Music at the moment: Madonna/Timberlake/Timbaland - 4 Minutes

Meshes and textures make my brain bleed.

"Speak, Friend, and Expand"

2008-03-15T13:01:00.003-05:00

Yay!

2008-03-12T23:20:00.001-05:00

Another term down and 4.0 secure. Now for a break. I'm taking this next term off and getting the house and such in order while I take a breather.

2008-03-06T17:16:00.002-06:00

Awwwwwww. I have absolutely no interest in the sport, but I happened across Brett Favre's retirement press conference and it made me all weepy-eyed. He's such a doll. I just wanted to hug him while he cried.

WOW...And Not That Crap MMO

2008-03-06T11:37:00.011-06:00

So, I and a few others I know have been incredibly excited about the Watchmen movie since it finally started moving after so many years in limbo. My Mac Daddy Jeff and I e-mail back and forth all giddy and school-girl like about every little detail and I repeatedly swoon every time I think about Patrick Wilson in a Nite Owl costume or Billy Crudup all blue and in no costume at all. Unfortunatly, we've had very little in the way of stills so far other than some incredibly accurate location shots (The newsstand is straight off the pages of the graphic novel)

However, now we have a smattering of character shots. And let me just say, I got goosebumps. No Dr. Manhatten mind you, but Nite Owl is absolutely amazing (ship in the background behind him too!) and Ozymandias is way more than I'd expected. They all look amazing really and i can't wait to see them all in action.

Goodbye To The Greatest DM

2008-03-06T01:58:00.004-06:00

I never expected this to affect me as much as it did, but I guess he was a man that really did totally affect my generation. Thank you Gary for making life so very cool.

Gary Gygax Passes On

2008-03-05T08:37:00.000-06:00

Why am I going to school to make video games?

School Stuff

2008-03-03T23:52:00.009-06:00

Okay, as I promised the fabulous Miss Sarah, here are the storyboards I posted about in addition to my final project animatic I had to create from them. Personally, I don't feel they're anything stupendous. I could have spent a lot more time on the detail had we longer to work on it. Either my teacher is very accepting of a lot of different qualities of art or he was simply bowled over by how good mine were in comparison to a lot of the crap I see come through the classroom.

*******************************************************

So from those I had to create my animatic, which is pretty much the step between a storyboard and full-blown animation. This is my final and with any luck he'll give me a good score on it too.

Memory Lane

2008-03-02T16:18:00.003-06:00

Our discussion in Sequential Art this week was on television ads and where/when/what they air. A couple of us talked about how when we were little were chronic night owls an would watch television in the middle of the night. One girl and I were practically identical in our "owlism." Six to Seven years old, go to bed at 8 PM, up at 2 AM and then a full night of drawing in front of the TV while we watched Space Giants, Prince of Space, Spectreman, Dynaman, and any cartoons we could find. It made me remember how much I loved one Warner Bros. cartoon in particular called Rocket-Bye Baby. On a whim I tried punching it in at You Tube and can't believe I found it. I miss these innocent days. Cartoons were so good back then.

Belated Birthday Bonanza

2008-02-29T19:32:00.003-06:00

So John told me to go and buy myself something I wanted for my birthday since I was between a few things I wanted. I couldn't tell him exactly what I wanted and kept waffling, so he gave me carte blanche. I never actually bought myself anything. A Bose iPod docking station? A cassette to MP3 digital component? Those are only two among many, yet I still never could decide.

Finally though I spurged on my music collection. I didn't expect to, but there were a few CDs I've never been able to find on eBay before so I couldn't resist the bid to win. I did make out with some of the ones I really wanted, though not all. The original Ta mara and the Seen CD went for 170 dollars. I have it on vinyl, so I wasn't about to shell out that much. The ones I did get are pictured below. All-in-all got some rare jewels that I've never owned or had to replace after the shattered-window-in-San-Antonio-CDs-stolen incident.

An Unexpected Surprise

2008-02-25T21:55:00.004-06:00

So, I was floored today when I checked my grades for our mid-term project in Sequential Art and Visual Narrative. My teacher is picky and by picky I mean a perfectionist. I adore this guy truth be known. He was my 3D Modeling teacher and he pushed me hard in that class, but in a good way. A way that really helped me. Well this class hasn't been any change. He still nickels and dimes me to death with particulars an makes me work for my grade. I was dreading how much he was going to dock me on my mid-term storyboard project when, at logging in, I found he had given me a perfect score. That wasn't the exciting part though. Here's what he said:

Phred: Here's how the Week 5 Assignment was graded: Two parts to the assignment, 65 points each. First of all, Dang... These are just super, Phred. Just from a cursory look at them, they meet the required elements, but...

Storyboards: First of all, I look at whether the shot list and the storyboards are consistent. Yours are. Second, I looked at the sketches to evaluate whether they convey the action of the shot. Perfect... No problems. Third, I look at whether your boards include an additional area per illustration for a bit of descriptive detail on what is going on in the shot. You do this, and the needed information is there and neatly typed. GREAT. Fourth, I consider the design of the boards-- are they neatly drawn, sequentially numbered, and well labeled? In a word, AWESOME. They are so well drawn. This is exactly what you need in a storyboard, and I will be using yours (If you don't mind) as examples for this assignment in the course shell. NICE WORK!

Your boards are the best in the class. Your art is detailed and rich. Great work as always, Phred. You continue to set the bar in whatever class I have you in. -Mr. C

So, wow. I was blown away that they're going to use my stoyboards as the project example for the future classes in the program. I really never expected that.

Dance Effect

2008-02-13T15:45:00.002-06:00

Anyone who's played Mass Effect will appreciate this video.

IGN Mass Effect Video

It's A Good Day

2008-02-11T12:13:00.000-06:00

So late last night (early this morning) as I drifted off I watched as the highlights of the Grammy awards were discussed on some news channel. Myshe and I had watched the Reader's Digest condensed version of the show last night after it recorded (Damn Tina you go!) and I was very happy to see Amy Winehouse win three awards. However, it wasn't until today that Myshe e-mailed me letting me know she won a total of five. Yay! All the loony music broads are making decent music recently. I was glad to see too that Prince won another Grammy for Male R&B Vocal Performance. That's like three years in a row now I think.

Not only did Myshe send word of Prince's win and Amy's sweep, but she sent this as well:

From: Myshe
Subject: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
_____________________________________

Suck it Statesman

Great News

Awwwwww Yeah Baby! By Crom, It's Awn

2008-02-06T01:39:00.000-06:00

Age of Conan

February 10th. A short, but sweet technical beta. In like Flynn baby!

OMGWTFBBQ! w311 t34r ur 50u1 4p4r7!!1

2008-02-05T18:58:00.000-06:00

So I've waited.

And waited.

And waited still.

But never did it look like I'd actually see my all-time favorite author's best book series make it to film.

Until now.

I can't say how I very nearly peed my seat while at the computer. Interested in monitoring the progress on my next anticipated Clive Barker movie fix "Midnight Meat Train" (Trailer embedded at bottom) and the production on more movies from some of my favorite barker stories "Pig Blood Blues", "Dread", and "Age of Desire" I ran across this fantastic and jaw-dropping tidbit that somewhoe flew under my radar. At last, a series of films made from my absolute favorite series of Clive's that even starts with the correct story. Hallelujah!

Book of Blood

"Everybody is a book of blood; wherever we're opened, we're red."

Midnight Meat Train Trailer

2008-01-30T17:02:00.001-06:00

So, assessing my life today as I bummed around the house, did school work and generally nothing else except age, I found this little quiz. I guess it's good.

This Is My Life, Rated
Life:	6.6
Mind:	6.2
Body:	5.5
Spirit:	7
Friends/Family:	7.1
Love:	9.1
Finance:	6.3
Take the Rate My Life Quiz

P Is For Prince (And What I Just Did In My Pants)

2008-01-29T19:32:00.000-06:00

Bless Jeff ,my best TokenManSexToyGuyMacPimp, for his e-mail with this Prince article. You absolutely made my day. Sexolocation. Oh my lawd I'm going to pee.

Prince: I do not have the keyboard functionality to make your symbol.

Yeah..So...Monster. Okay.

2008-01-22T12:53:00.000-06:00

Well, we went opening day, but this is the first chance I've had to sit down and blog about it.

I anticipated and awaited eagerly the possibility of a good, fulfilling, monster catastrophe film. I've said it before ("Unearthed" entry...yech) I love monster movies. Cloverfield had the potential of sating that little area of my soul that needs monster goodness. However, it merely teased it.

The combination "Blair Witch Project"/"Godzilla" allusion is an easy one that's floating around everywhere. I, however, think it falls short in its description. In all honesty, to draw a comparison I'd have to go with: "Final Blair Godzilla Project X: Always Remember to Never Forget."

It really seemd to me like Blair Witch meets Godzilla and they sit down to play Final Fantasy X on 9/11. You, of course have your obvious BWP and Godzilla similarities in camera use and giant monster from the ocean, but it goes further than that. The feeling easily conjures images and emotions from September 11th, but really, is that intentional? Lots of critics scream it is and that riding on the emotional impact of such a situation is tacky. I don't really think it's all that intentional. And really, there are more than a handful of people I'd love to see get gobbled up by a monster in New York, but can we please destroy some other damn city? Hollywood is far too New York-centric.

Now the monster. Yeah. Anyone who's played the first bit of Final Fantasy X knows that, more than likely, so did someone that worked on this movie. It's pretty sad how very similar the two are with its litte cast-off creatures and look. I really wanted something fresh. What I got was something I'd already played through in a video game a few years back.

The speical effects seemed well done. Really well done. However, I can't be a very accurate critic of them since I never got a very good look at anything. This is where the home video camera thing enhanced the special effects by not letting us see them for too long, but detracted from it for me because I wanted to see them clearly.

And let me tell you this. If they ever anounce the brand name of the camera used in the movie I'm buying one because that is one nasty-ass sturdy camera. I'll never have to buy one again since it's apparently capable of enduring nuclear onslaught.

All this being said, it isn't a bad movie. It was decent monster fluff that was exciting for an hour or so. Overall I felt like I watched a well-done action segment from a larger movie, but haven't seen the rest of it yet. Hence the reason none of us will be at all shocked when a sequel or prequel comes out telling about how the creature originated.

Phred Phun Phactor: 5 out of 10

In my opinion, for a far more satisfying, though smaller scale movie of similar story, watch:

The Host

Even Klingons Cry Over This

2008-01-16T11:46:00.000-06:00

So much for a game we'd been waiting for for so long.

Star Trek Online

Absolutely disgusted.

2008

2008-01-01T12:20:00.000-06:00

Yappy Hoo Near.

2007, bleh.
2008? Who knows.

Head hurts. Too many mojitos.

You don't need acid if you play Warioware: Smooth Moves. It's like herowiine and marwiijuana all rolled into one big wiimote-shaped joint.

One Standing On My Last Nerve

2007-12-23T02:44:00.001-06:00

So...

I could not be more disappointed in the end of Last One Standing.

No, no, that isn't true. Brad could have won. Then I'd be more disappointed.

Honestly, I was very sad that my man Richard didn't win, but I would have been perfectly content at Rajko taking the whole shebang. But Jason? The last thing that cocky, arrogant, narrow-minded, typical-poor-American-stereotype needed was to win. They say it was because he grew. Yeah. Maybe into a bigger, more annoying standard-issue Floridian thug. Frankly, even though I liked Corey, I would have simply preferred that no American won. How very, very disappointing. I still love you Mark, Richard, and Rajko. You'll always be my main athletes.

Mark, Richard, Brad, Rajko, Corey, and Jason

8 Films To Yawn For

2007-11-14T19:35:00.000-06:00

"the content of these films are considered too graphic, too disturbing, and too shocking for general audiences."

Yeah. So.

Having missed the first horrorfest when it came through last year, I was pondering the thought of going to this one.

Last years batch of movies weren't innovative or especially, well, anything. Some were good, some were terrible and none of them were "too graphic, too disturbing, and too shocking for general audiences." The realization there was that the whole thing was complete gimmick formulated by Lion's Gate to show straight to DVD movies for blockbuster prices.

Since the access passess were 75 dollars a pop (yeah, thanks, but no thanks) I decided to take in one or two of the films. I love monster movies. Give me a good monster flick and I'm happy. So, tonight we were lucky to see that one of the 8 Films playing was just that! We took in "Unearthed" at 4:05. In short, it should have stayed buried.

The story was eh. They focused too much on trying to give these boring characters some sort of depth with more subplots that took up time better used to flesh out the real story. The acting was there. Then there's the monster. Okay...I'm a huge Giger fan. I have been since the 70's when I shouldn't have liked such graphic artsy fartsy stuff. I was spoiled, as was the audience world, when Alien came out and the most chilling, most creative creature to date hit the screen. Giger set the movie monster bar way the hell up there. I think maybe too far. Now every single creature in nearly every single movie looks like the bastard child of the xenomorph. This movie is no exception. Can NO ONE make something different? I mean christ, no one??? I love you H.R., but I think you ruined the next few decades of monster.

All-in-all, Unearthed was feh. I could have spent that 6 bucks on Wii points.

Phred Phun Phactor: 2 out of 10

Trinity of Terror

2007-11-09T14:56:00.000-06:00

Music at the Moment: Britney Spears - "Break The Ice"

So...

I actually purchased a Britney Spears CD today.

*cue the shrill organ music*

The CD is really dancey and good hip-shaking music. Almost every song on it has me singing another song that I know so it's all pretty derivative, but still decent ("Heaven on Earth" is a total Goldfrapp rip-off, but fun for that very fact.)

What's more is I bought a Justin Timberlake CD earlier this year. Now if I just buy a Diddy, Daughtry, or Wicked CD before 2008, the circle of evil should be complete.

I Feel Dirty.

2007-11-08T14:33:00.000-06:00

Music at the Moment: Britney Spears - "Hot As Ice"

Is it wrong that I love this new CD? Should I go into voluntary exile?

2007-10-31T14:14:00.000-05:00

Phunky Phinds Pt. 4

2007-10-30T14:42:00.000-05:00

David Bowie

Ashes to Ashes

-*-*-

Life On Mars?

-*-*-

Ziggy Stardust (Live)

*************

Sweet

Love Is Like Oxygen

-*-*-

Ballroom Blitz (For Heather)

*************

Arcadia (For Kithy)

Election Day

-*-*-

Goodbye is Forever

**********

Duran Duran

The Chauffeur

***********

Phunky Phinds Pt. 3

2007-10-30T14:02:00.000-05:00

Vanity

Pretty Mess (Link)

**********

Jody Watley

Still A Thrill

-*-*-

Real Love

-*-*-

I Want You

**********

Shalamar

Dead Giveaway (Yay more Jody!)

**********

Starpoint (For Bryan)

Object Of My Desire

**********

Five Star (For Pete)

Let Me Be The One

-*-*-

Whenever You're Ready

**********

Rebbie Jackson (For Bryan)

**********
Device

Hanging on a Heart Attack (I've looked for this video for YEARS)

**********

Phunky Phinds Pt. 2

2007-10-30T13:07:00.000-05:00

Prince

1999

**********

I Wish U Heaven

**********

Automatic

**********

Madhouse

10 & 13 (Partial Dammit)

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Prince & Nona Gaye

Lovesign

**********

Candy Dulfer (w/Dave Stewart)

Lily Was Here

**********

Grace Jones

I'm Not Perfect (But I'm Perfect For You)

**********

Ta Mara & The Seen

Affection

-*-

Everybody Dance

***************

Phunky Phinds

2007-10-30T12:06:00.000-05:00

Videos for phriends who never got to experience them new

YouTube has some uses...

Sheila E.

Sex Cymbal

-,-'<{@

Love Bizarre

-,-'<{@

The Glamorous Life

**************

Jill Jones

Mia Bocca

**************

Wendy & Lisa

Waterfall

-,-'<{@

Satisfaction (w/Jesse Johnson)

-,-'<{@

Are You My Baby?

-,-'<{@

Strung Out

**************

Yay!

2007-10-30T11:46:00.000-05:00

Aunty Em...

2007-10-18T11:17:00.000-05:00

...there be tornadoes here. Plural.

Article & Video

Across The Universe

2007-10-13T10:10:00.000-05:00

So...

Critique for Across the Universe.

Cons: It didn't have Eleanor Rigby

Pros: It's hands down the best movie I've seen in a few years.

Phred Phun Phactor: 10 - 1* = 9 + 1** = 10/10

* It didn't have Eleanor Rigby

** I'm in love with Jim Sturgess

2007-10-10T09:56:00.000-05:00

Music at the M oment: Jane Child - Welcome to the Real World

August term is over and my 4.0 is thankfully secure.

The superb Miss S made my day by directing me to a site where I found this:

I luz teh kiteez

Adieu Marcel

2007-09-24T10:34:00.000-05:00

Merci de votre silence.

Dirty Mind

2007-09-21T12:47:00.000-05:00

A fond childhood memory was playing a game like this where one person would draw a number of abstract shapes and then we'd pass it around drawing a picture from each. I love creativity like this. I saw this last week and a friend forwarded it to me again this week, so I thought I'd share it on the bloggerino.

Panet Unicorn, Yayyyyyyyy

2007-09-20T14:57:00.000-05:00

Planet Unicorn Episode 5

2007-09-20T10:08:00.000-05:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

HONEY!

Today the world welcomed the brightest light in my life.

I love you John!!!

Happy Breakaway Day!

2007-09-13T12:16:00.000-05:00

Almost a decade ago in our distant future, this fateful day saw a staff of over 300 people catapulted into the deep reaches of space. I couldn't have been happier to see the moon go!

That's right! How much more fun could we have with nucelar waste? To think that anything great would ever come of stockpiling hazardous radioactive materials on the moon and then populating it. Who knew?!

Oh the joy of watching our poor Alphans set adrift in the most vast ocean of all. Thankfully they hit multiple space warps to ensure that this intergalactic pinball game would take us to new and interesting places to meet fascinating and otherworldly beings. One of those being the beautiful, the exotic, the Marvelous Madame of Molecular Transformation, Maya!

Maya, did you ever imagine while growing up on Psychon that one day you'd be on Moonbase Alpha? Aren't you grateful to have such great companions? If you had it all to do over again, what would you do? I bet not a thing different!

"I'll tell you what I should have done! I should have gone ahead and gone with that fat @#%! Taybor and gotten the $!@* off that speeding lunar pile of *&%$#! All those primitive !&#*% humans and their %$#@*! problems. And have you ever tasted Tony's beer?!!? Sweet lord in heaven, that %$#@ could kill a Dorcon! Yeah, I'd do a hell of a lot of things different. If these stupid &%$# people knew anything about saftey and science, they'd still be home and I'd still have a &%$#@ planet! I hope the moon collides with a star. Bastards."

As you can see, like me and so many others, Maya couldn't have been happier meeting such a great staff who rescued her along their perilous journey. Thank you Gerry & Sylvia! You helped to inspire a lifetime of creativity in me.

Moonbase Alpha's Last Transmission

Who Wants To Be The Next To Throw Up A Little?

2007-09-07T14:23:00.000-05:00

Crap.

Complete Crap.

I think it was decided from the beginning of the show that he'd be the winner. He could do no wrong. And even when he did do things that were cardinal sins for superheroes (Um, yeah..let's give little kids weapons. That's smart.) it was still glossed over and someone else got the axe.

It just solidifies that there is nothing real about reality TV. They really should rename it "Who Wants To Be The Next To Suck Up To Stan Lee?"

Crap.

OMG

2007-08-22T17:10:00.000-05:00

I'm going to pee cute for a month after seeing this.

I Don't Know Why...

2007-08-09T15:14:00.000-05:00

But I love this.

Fear The Gay Chicken!

Thank Goodness

2007-08-02T10:31:00.000-05:00

I managed to hold my 4.0 for another term. I'm halfway there!

"General Kala, Flash Gordon Approaching."

2007-08-02T09:22:00.000-05:00

"What do you mean, 'Flash Gordon approaching?"

That's right! August 7th.
I have waited so long for this and I hadn't even heard about it until last night.
First thing Tuesday I am so there!

Yes!

2007-07-13T10:23:00.000-05:00

September 28 baby! I cannot wait!

Across the Universe

Wow, I just noticed my counter hit 5000 today. I guess someone reads this.

At Long Last...Heyyyyyyyyyyy!

2007-07-01T21:18:00.000-05:00

Planet Unicorn: Episode 4

Please Be Great!

2007-06-29T08:53:00.000-05:00

Thanks to my booooeeeeeeeey Jeff for this one!

Rorschach's Journal

Missing Queens and Drag Kings

2007-06-27T13:14:00.000-05:00

Yay! Thank you Myshe for sending me thi link! You made my day!
All my life this has been one of my favorite egyptian mysteries.
I was hoping they'd find her in my lifetime.

Queen Hatshepsut identified!

That Rosa, She's A Slut...

2007-06-24T17:48:00.001-05:00

Who Watches The Watchmen?

2007-06-18T17:08:00.000-05:00

Music at the Moment: Perry Farrell's Satellite Party - "Hard Life Easy"

I SURE AS HELL WILL BE!

I've only waited for this to be made (well) into a movie since the dawn of time and at last the ball has been rolling for some time. I was absolutely horrified to hear that the almighty dollar seemed to be impetus for the film and among the casting rumors Keanu Reeves was being looked at for the deliciously naked and blue Dr. Manhattan! WHAT THE!?!? Are you KIDDING me?! I was immediately sorrowful and quite let down.

Well apparently that is no longer the case. Now, there is talk that Jason Patric is being tapped for the part. Oh. My. God. Jason Patric? Jason Patric blue? Jason Patric naked?! Buy me two tickets; I'll go twice in a row.

Additionally Patrick Wilson is slated to play Nite-Owl and possibly Jude Law as Ozymandias. Um...okay, hot with the hotness on the hotnacity scale. Those three are like one big cluster of onscreen Rrrrrow! I've yet to hear anything about the Silk Spectre(s.) Insinuations also point to Thomas Jane as The Comedian.

On the not so yum, but definite "I love him" acting chops front is Rorschach who will hopefully be filled by Jackie Earle Haley.

This guy is scrawny, crazy looking and a damn good actor. He's perfect! I loved him most in Losin' It, but recently in Little Children (also with Patrick Wilson) he blew me away.

This is shaping up to be the best Watchmen news I've had in a while.

2007-06-14T17:18:00.000-05:00

55% alone? Wow. So that's 105% chance of survival if I have Cillian Murphy with me. Mmmmmm.

Zombie Survival Quiz