Handsome Bastard

It's been awhile since I've posted on here and it's been awhile since I've made a new song. That being said, I just made a new song.

My plans are to make a whole pile of songs and call it the Hansome Bastard project.

I was driving home last night and in a way realized that pretty much all of my friends are guys. A whole bunch of handsome bastards. The term handsome bastards came to mind just because it seemed like something my friends would say about themselves jokingly.

Already being in the mood the create music, this inspired me to not only make one song but hopefully one for all of my friends. When I told Adam about this he gave me the idea to name all of the songs after everyone's middle names. When thinking about it I agreed because it seems like the resulting song titles would be so much better: Handsome John, Handsome Robert, Handsome Patrick, etc.

Anyway, I have the new song posted on my music profile and I believe I made it available for download as well. The song is called "Handsome John" (sorry John, it's actually for Freddy). Leave me some feedback on what you think.

The Man Who Was Thursday

I recently finished The Man Who Was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton and it's left me wondering what day I would be.

While wondering that question I started reading up on the creation of the world according to Genesis and looked at each day and it's creations. That made me start to wonder why it took God six days to make the world. I guess he just really likes being symbolic.

I also looked at Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam and saw that God was trying hard to reach out to Adam with one arm fully extended and the other holding on to angels for support. Adam on the other hand is casually laying down with one hand less than fully extended and with a relaxed wrist. All Adam had to do was move his wrist or arm a little or even prop himself up different and he'd be touching God's hand. Lazy ass.

Music

I just finished a new song and you can listen to it here. It's called Atlas.

Lonely Polyethylene

"Would you like a bag for these," said Stephen systematically while looking at a small stack of books.

"That'd be fine," he said.

I reached for the ba--

"Wait, no!" he said.

"Ok, that's fine."

"I was driving way out between Wagstaff and Piper* one day. It was one of those places where nobody is around and all you can see is barbed wire fence and more road. You know, you see a sign that says '200 miles to whatever.' You're 200 miles from everywhere. Well way out there you know what I saw?"

"What did you see?"

"I saw a plastic bad stuck in a barbed wire fence."

"That had to blow a long way to get out there."

"Yeah it did! I couldn't believe it made it that far**."

"That is quite a long way."

"Well you have a good day."

"You too sir."






*These two town names are filler because I couldn't remember the originals.

**I didn't have the heart to say that someone could have simply thrown the bag out a window and it didn't in fact have to blow all that way. Then again though, I guess it doesn't matter because it's still litter and he still seems upset and intrigued by it. Crazy old men can be nice old men.

Six Hours of Painting

And I end up with these. Tell me what you think. Oh, and the last three miniatures are ones Gina painted. Don't forget to click on them so you can see 'em all big and in more detail.











This guy below is the pirate dwarf. I guess the others are his cronies.



YAR!



So from here down are ones Gina painted.













End of Post!

Sex and Guns (or Guns and Sex)

Yesterday at work a very young kid came up to me, who was probably eight or so, and said "Hey I remember you! I bought the Jungle Book and you said you wanted to read it too."

"Yeah that was me," I said. "did you like the book?"

"It's pretty good but I'm so busy with school and stuff that I don't read it that much."

The kid was holding a hunting game in his hands so I said "You too busy playing video games to read?"

"Huh?"

"You have a game in your hands."

"Oh, I'm not gonna buy it, I just wanted to look at it. I really like the guns."

"Do you?"

"Yeah! I got a shotgun and machine gun and pistol and (insert gun name here(he knew more about guns than I do(which isn't very much)))."

"Do you have them in a video game?" I don't think he understood the question so I moved onto another. "Do you like hunting?"

"I've never been but I wanna go. My dad said he'd take me."

"So your dad hunts?"

"No but he said he'd take me."

"Well you just be careful while using those guns."

"I have a b.b. gun and I know everything about it. You can't mess up with one of those."

"Well you should still be careful."

"Yeah, well I'll talk to you later."

"Take it easy."



Well that was a little weird but something else that through me even more off guard was what happened this morning.

"Hey Steve!"

"Hi Kellie."

Kellie's my seven year old little sister.

"Cat's have a lot of babies."

"Yeah they do."

"When they have sex they can have like four babies!"

"Uhhhhh..."

"Yeah, mom said she saw one have twelve."

"Really?"

"The book I read said that when they have sex they have a whooole lot of kittens."

"..."

"By Steve!"

Numbers Station

This is some interesting stuff. Apparently these Numbers Station things are still around. Please go to the link and tell me you don't think that stuff is awesome.


Also, check out this sweet place in Austria.

Anime Kid

I haven't blogged in awhile but this is something I definitely needed to make record of.

I was sitting in a lounge area at my college reading a book when a kid I recognized approached me and started to make conversation. This was a bad thing. Let me tell you why.

I first met the guy in a creative writing class. He's between eighteen and twenty but acts like he's still in Jr. High. He has ADD and loves to tell everyone over and over again that he has it. He's very obnoxious and in the middle of people reading their poems or stories to the class he would start screaming at them that they were stupid and stole those ideas from other people. This kid also really enjoyed anime and manga and was especially obsessed with Ranma 1/2. He would frequent Anime Conventions and always dressed up in the same Cloud costume.

He would also wear this Cloud costume every Thursday to school. Luckily the creative writing class was on Mondays.

This is how the conversation went.

Anime Kid: "Hey man what's going on?" He continues to approach me.

Me: "Not much." I set down my book.

AK: "Did you ever have a Creative Writing class with Mr. Benton?"

Me: Idiot. "Yeah."

AK: "So I do know you."

Me: Idiot "Yeah."

AK: "So did you go to the Anime Convention last weekend?" He sits down on a chair across from the one I'm sitting in.

Me: "No." Idiot.

AK: "Yeah, there was one up in the Woodlands. It was the cons first time but it was pretty good. There was a nice turnout." Waits for a response from me. "I got to go to my first rave too!"

Me: Oh God! "Did you?"

AK: "Yeah man! If you ever want to know how to get a bunch of girls to dance on you, this is how: just go grind up on some random guy and all the girls will want you."

Me: O_O

AK: "Yeah, I started grinding on some guy and the next thing I know I got two fifteen year olds and a twelve year old grinding on me!"

Me: "Uhhh..."

AK: "Well I didn't know she was twelve until Sunday when I saw she had a kid pass."

Me: You shouldn't tell people that! "Uh, that's cool."

AK: "Yeah, I'm gonna try to make it out to A-Kon in Dallas next year."

Me: You say 'yeah' a lot. "I've been there a couple times. It's alright and it's pretty cheap as far as cons go for the hotel and stuff."

AK: "I can't get a hotel. That's too expensive for me. I'm just a stable hand."

Me: STFU "Well it's not that much, just save up."

AK: "Yeah, so what book are you reading?"

Me: "The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett."

AK: "Do you believe in magic?"

Me: "No."

AK: "I do."

Me: "Do you?"

AK: "I have no choice."

Me: ...

AK: "Let's just say this: I have a crazy ex-girlfriend."

Me: Idiot "Ok."

AK: "Let's just say this: I've seen some crazy shit. I used to be Christian...now I don't even know what I am."

Me: Idiot "Alright."

AK: "Yeah, well I gotta get going to class now. Catch you later."

Me: "Later."



That's the end of the story.

I just got done reading Deadeye Dick so that might explain why I wrote this in the format that I did.

I've made another new game!

Well actually once again I just modified another game with my own stuff but this one has music by me. =)

You can click here to get the game.

Also, I just got a sweet bonus check so I'm gonna buy a PS3. Not that it's important to blog about but whatever.

TMNT!

I've been reading the new(er) Tales of the TMNT series and right now it is one of the coolest comics I've been reading lately. My favorite one lately was one that focused on the NYPD and told a story through their perspective and it was the most graphic and adult TMNT I've read yet. If you enjoy comics and want an excuse to start liking your childhood heroes again you should definitely pick this up!

Casual Gamer?

I've had a subscription to Play magazine for just over a year now and I really love it. A few months back (maybe it was longer ago...) the magazine, but mainly the editor, got into a Wii bashing mode. It was actually really interesting what they had to say about it and I also agreed with them a lot a lot of points at first. One thing they said was that thy were tired of all these gimmicky controls and just wanted a normal controller again. I have to say that at some points I feel like this also when I play some games but other games feel great with the Wii's controller.

Now ever since they started bashing the Wii it's only gotten worse with every issue. At first I really didn't care because attacks on the system don't hurt my feelings but after awhile it started turning into a bashing of Casual Gamers.

I don't want to put words in their mouth so I will say that they have never openly come out to say anything bad about casual gamers (that I've noticed), they just seem to associate casual gamers with games that are poorly made or with less popular games.

I didn't really get upset until I read this in the latest February issue "...the limited success of casual games in America still pales in comparison to the continued strength of serious-gamer franchises like Halo, Zelda, and Call of Duty, and even original hardcore titles like Assassin's Creed, Mass Effect and Bioshock." (Play Magazine, Volume Seven Issue Two, page 61, Casey Loe-Editor)

The reason that made me frustrated was because they continually talk bad about games they call Non-Games by saying that they are bringing down the industry and Japan is turning into a place where only Non-Games sell. So since I enjoy games like Tetris Attack, and Phoenix Wright , as apposed to playing Halo or Call of Duty, I can be called a Casual Gamer instead of a Hardcore Gamer.

I can't recall a memory of me ever not having some sort of video game system but ever since the PlayStation made gaming "cool", mainstream games are now the hardcore games and the games that don't fall under the action adventure category are just games for the casual gamer.

Not everyone on the Play staff thinks this way but it makes me sad the the magazine that's supposed to be on the cutting edge of everything has an editor and editor in chief that would classify me as a casual gamer who is bringing down the market.

A Game I Made

I sort of made a game today in game maker. I just took a game that I had to piece together for this class I'm in and put my own stuff over it. Check it out.

L'Etoile de Mer

I know I've been kinda bad about updating this thing frequently but I finally have something to say.

I've wrote some more about Jeffery and am very excited to still see potential in the character. Even though I wrote more, I'd like to wait to post it. I want to have something complete to post. It doesn't have to be a chapter but at least a complete thought and I'm still working one out right now.

I just got a cd in from a group called The Beatniks. It's a pretty cool electronic group formed from the man who did the Earthbound soundtrack and one of the guys who was in Yellow Magic Orchestra.

Well, in the next day or two hopefully I'll be posting that next part of the story.

Light in the Darkness

So school started and I'm actually pretty excited. I'm taking a C++ class and another class where I actually get to make video games. The program we will be using to make games seems to have been given decent reviews all around so it'll be cool.

I went and talked to my creative writing teacher from a few semesters back and now I might be joining the writing club up there. That means I'll get to be an editor for a book they publish yearly with poems and stories meaning I'm that much closer to being able to say I'm published.

I'm still working on Jeffery so hopefully I'll have a next part put up soon and hopefully it'll be longer than the last part.

I've been listening to a lot of Yellow Magic Orchestra and it's been getting me in a good mood for writing.

Shape Shifting Brain Snatcher

I had a dream awhile back that a lot of people with special powers were all being kidnapped and taken to some camp to be experimented on (completely original right?). Well this one group of friends like this got kidnapped and I happened to witness this in my dream.

There are pretty much three main characters who we'll call Ringleader (who is a good guy according to my dream), Shape Shifter(who is also a good guy), and Girl With A Wolf Pet (who is a bad guy and escorting a group of good guys).

All of the friends were on a bus being transported to this camp to be experimented on. The bus reaches the camp, drives through the main gate, and continues on until it finally stops in the middle of a small unpaved field.

Apparently Ringleader is really important because he has a body guard who never leaves his side who is known as Shape Shifter.

Once the bus is stopped Shape Shifter reaches his arm into Ringleaders head through his ear and pulls out his brain. Shape Shifter then jumps out a window on the bus, crawls underneath the bus quickly before anyone can see where he went, and turns into some grass to blend in.

Girl With A Wolf Pet is on the bus watching all of this and, being the bad guy that she is, quickly gets off the bus to make sure Shape Shifter doesn't get away. She sends her Wolf Pet underneath the bus and says something along the lines of "You can do better than that Shape Shifter."

Shape Shifter dashes out from under the bus, transforms his legs into some crazy stuff, and starts jumping away with these enormous bounds. Girl With A Wolf Pet and her Wolf Pet can easily keep up with him by just running somehow so Shape Shifter decides to try a better mode of transportation and turns into a bird. Now Shape Shifter is able to get some distance between him and Girl With A Wolf Pet.

When Shape Shifter can see the edge of the camp and finally thinks he's going to escape some other bad guy with a weird gun shoots a screw driver at Shape shifter and hits him in the face, sending him spiraling to the ground and landing with a loud, lifeless thud.

When Girl With A Wolf Pet, Wolf Pet, and the other bad guy reach the bird body it is bloody, mangled, and dead. They all leave to go back to the bus and continue escorting everyone into the camp.

After they are all gone a wing on Shape Shifter starts to twitch and slowly turns into his original arm and hand (which are blue and goopy looking but I forgot to give a description of anyone at the beginning of the story. Oh well.). The hand reaches around and slowly and painfully pulls the screw driver from his face. Shape Shifter then begins to make his way to the edge of the camp in the bird form again, using the last amounts of strength that he has to stay alive, the whole time while profusely bleeding from his face.

I guess since I left this out, Ringleader was sort of scarecrowy looking but still looks sturdy while wolf girl just looked like the typical hot evil girl. The wolf was about up to her chest when on all fours.






I'm listening to the Earthbound soundtrack right now and it is truly amazing. Keiichi Suzuki, is an extraordinary individual.


Lastly, I hope this post isn't too full of typos or whatever because I'm really sleepy.

Goodnight everyone.

Jeffery's Prologue

This is the prologue to a story that I think I'll be working on for awhile. I don't know how long it will be but I'd like to see where it takes me. Please feel free to criticize the story though I would like it to be constructive. Thanks.

Jeffery had a hard time fitting in with Earth because he was perfect and made out of metals, whereas not many others were. However, one thing Jeffery did have in common with everyone else was that he never asked to be made. His parents had quite a different outlook when creating him than most did; he was made simply to help out around the house.

Jeffery was one of a kind. He could do all sorts of great things. He could wash dishes, fold laundry, cook dinner, solve complex equations, and even recite nearly any story, book, or song you wanted him to (at least the ones with rights that were easy to obtain).

Jeffery also had something else that, at the time, no other like him had, fully functional senses. He could feel the air flow around his cold hard exterior, smell the difference between spring and fall, hurt when he fell, hear the footsteps of every individual person down a busy sidewalk, and see all the different colors of the world.

To try to make others feel more comfortable, Jeffery was given computer parts where a human brain and heart should be, as well as other places. People were supposed to be able to approach Jeffery and talk about their problems, and at these times he was programmed to reach to his “chest” and hold his “heart” and give his most sincere apologies and condolences. He would also offer advice if the person wished it. Furthermore, if you told Jeffery a joke he would grab his “stomach” and give a nice, warm, booming laugh. Or at least he was supposed to.

There was a defect in Jeffery that no one, no matter how hard they tried or how much they were paid, could fix. If you were to approach him and tell him of a passed away wife, or a stubbed toe, or whatever other problem, he would grab his “stomach” and laugh. If you told him a joke he would either make you feel like you offended him or like an ass, for he would just grab his “heart” and apologize. The more clever and funny the joke, the more grotesque the apology would be.

After he was created and finished being programmed his parents tried to sell him to many different people but to no avail, most likely due to the defect. Finally, when his parents were done wasting their time and money on him, they put him away in a large warehouse where he could be forgotten about. Unfortunately, Jeffery, with his feelings, got really lonely.

Eventually Jeffery got tired of being alone and left the warehouse.

Let's see how this goes

A few days ago I got motivated (mainly by my brother) to start posting stories and things I've written on the internet to try to get some feedback. My brother just wanted me to make a blog but I figured that due to my intentions, I'd just find some writing community online and start posting and reading other peoples work.

That didn't go too well mainly because all the sites I found dedicated to creating a nice community of writers were either terribly set up, or felt like a scam because I had to pay $20 a year to be able to post more than a few thing just so (realistically speaking) no one could read them.

So now I'm going back to what my brother told me to do and I'm starting a blog.

I'm hoping to use this for a few different things. I really want to post stories and such for feedback from my friends or whoever else. I'd like to use this place as a dream journal (mainly for inspiration but we'll see how that goes). Lastly, I'll try to talk about just whatever so I can keep in the habit of writing.

I hope it's enjoyable.