Fun Stuff

I've been keeping busy lately. I'm working three days a week at my new job and keeping myself well entertained in my free time. I've gotten really into the game Red Dead Redemption, by Rockstar games. As many people have observed, the game plays largely like a western-themed Grand Theft Auto, featuring a large map where players are free to roam about and do as they please. One can steal horses or shoot whomever they fancy, becoming wanted in the process and fighting off lawmen and bounty hunters. You can cheat at cards, and if you lose, slaughter your opponents and loot their corpses for your lost cash. However, this is what I find least intriguing about the game. I was showing off the game to my parents and our friends (It really is beautiful - dusty trails wind off towards distant mesas, wildflowers sway in the wind beneath stunning photo-realistic sunsets), demonstrating the breadth of freedoms granted to the player, when I was asked if the game would let me kiss a passing woman.

"No," I told them, "but I can lasso and hog-tie her." There was laughter all around as I proceeded, but it occurred to me then that most of the freedom in Red Dead Redemption is violent in nature. You can shoot anyone and everyone, but kiss no one. In fact, you can't even talk to most of the game's vast population. I suppose that gamers like the high level of action; I don't really mind it, but I find myself wishing there were just a bit more in the way of pacifist activities. This is what I really like about the game; exploring scenic canyons, hunting down the wildlife and trading animal hides and meat in town, taking the time to play a round of horseshoes, and collecting the various medicinal plants scattered around the game world. I enjoy taking a slower pace, riding off the beaten path, and just exploring the rich digital desert.

Last night I was talking to Dustin, and I spent a sizable chunk of the conversation gushing on about Red Dead. Dustin had tried to buy it, but I guess the Walmart out in South Carolina was sold out. We're hoping to get in some online gaming together before he has to deploy again, this time to Afghanistan. He seemed to enjoy my scathing critique of the movie "Avatar", which I did enjoy, but which features many glaring holes I was only too happy to point out. Chiefly, after the "blue hippies" (as they were christened on 30 Rock) defeat the humans and force them off of the planet...everything is rosy? Um...wouldn't people back in the world be angry about all of the workers who were killed, and the sudden loss of their uber-profitable mine? I can't help but envision more redneck former Marines coming back to nuke the site from orbit. Also, where is the government throughout the whole movie? There are apparently jittery corporate shareholders back home, but no regulatory bodies or compliance inspectors? I tend to think that a crazy planet with lifeforms that can all connect to each other via a network of sentient trees would be extremely conspicuous, even in the future, drawing the attention of all sorts of red-tape slinging bureaucrats and a swath of non-bathing, hemp-wearing, sign-waving activists. Finally, why is the foolishly named "Unobtainium" (I had convince Dustin that I wasn't making it up) so important? They disclose that it is highly valued, but not one application is named. This kind of omission doesn't add to the mystique for me; it interferes with my suspension of disbelief. In the "Dune" novels, the pivotal Spice Melange is given myriad uses critical to the function of that fictional society; hence it's high value.

Which brings me to my last bit of rambling today - Dustin told me about a new Dune movie that is in the works. We'll have to wait and see what happens, but things aren't looking so good at the moment. Apparently, a first draft of the script has already been scrapped, along with the first director. Worse, Twlight's Robert Pattinson has supposedly been having talks with the director about playing Paul Atredies. Hey, no thank you. Also, the director's interest in doing the movie in 3D doesn't sit well with me (I smell lackluster CGI sandworms). Sigh. Let's all get a dose of 80's Dune by checking out these videos of conversations between David Lynch and Frank Herbert. Cool.

Death from Above

So I've been out of the Warhammer scene for a while, but after mulling over the new Blood Angels Codex while in California, I've decided to jump back in. I am planning on taking a break from running my "II M.A.R.S." mechanized army and fielding a jump-pack airborne force. The new Sanguinary Guard models are just too cool, and are ultimately what swayed me. There has been a lot of chatter online about whether or not the Sanguinary Guard are effective for their cost, but models that cool demand to be played. I've always (to my disadvantage, sadly) favored style over substance in my armies anyway.

Today I purchased several different jump pack kits, and began assembling them. I'll try to post some pictures over the next few days as I make progress on painting them up. I've worked up the following 1200 point list; it isn't anything special, but it seems like it will be fun to play with:

*Dante 225

*Honor Guard 265
-Jump Packs
-Chapter Banner Bearer
-Power sword
-Melta Bombs
-Meltagun

*Assault Squad (x10) 250
-Power fist
-infernus pistol
-Meltaguns x2

*Sanguinary Guard 230
-Power Fist
-Infernus Pistol x2

*Vanguard Veterans 230
-Glaive Encarmine
-Power Swords x2
-Plasma Pistols x2
-Thunder Hammer

War Story Wednesday: Man VS Gold

My father and I recently spent a week in northern California prospecting for gold. It was quite the fun time, although we didn't find any gold to speak of. We were actually plagued by a string of bad luck; impassible roads, overflowing creeks, and persistent snowstorms. Still, the beautiful mountain vistas, rich river valleys, and a day out at the coast made for a very fulfilling time.

My father is planning to return later in the summer when the prospecting conditions may be more favorable. I won't be able to join him on account of my new job, but hopefully he is able to locate some of the precious metal. He has grand hopes for finding a glory hole or maybe even making a mining claim (yes, people are still making claims in gold country), but I would be happy if he can back with just a few flakes or nuggets.

Here's wishing him the best of luck.

Working Man

Alright. From now on I really am going to make the effort to stay on top of writing something every day (during the week at least).

So, yesterday I started work at my summer job. I am taking customer service calls and doing invoice processing for Comfort Systems USA, a nation-wide HVAC chain. Not quite the fabulous accounting job I had hoped for, but the billing work that I am doing between calls is part of their accounts receivable process, and as such I am working in the accounting department. I guess we've all got to start somewhere!

It is a seasonal assignment through Office Team & Accountemps (Robert Half International Inc.), and my hope is that if I do a good job on this all summer and can work out a manageable class schedule for fall, that they can get me into a more substantial accounting position. It will really help me hit the ground running when I graduate if I have been working in the industry part time all throughout my senior year.

Time to go get ready now. It sure feels good to be a working man!

GOLD!!

That's right...GOLD!!

Ahhh! I have felt especially overwhelmed lately. Nothing in particular; I am a bit behind on schoolwork and there are Peoples' Market activities I could be up to, but it isn't really that. I think there is just a lot of apprehension since I (still) don't have internet at home. Also, my apartment has been really cold lately, even with the warm weather.

I am trying to make a daily and weekly schedule and stick to that, I think that will help. Also, I've been trying to go on little walks around my new neighborhood. I would like to switch to either walking, biking, or using public transportation when the weather is nice. I think that will help eat up some of my idle time (the devil for me, always, is my own idle hands), and also help keep me in shape and things.

Okay...gotta put in a solid school day today. I hope you are all out there pulling for me (just a little), I could use the good energy to help push up and out of my little rut I've been in...

People's Market Site Makeover & General Awesomeness

The Peoples' Market website has received a welcome and fabulous update:

We have our friends over at Third Sun to thank, as well as Patrick Commiskey, PR Guru, Tweeting Expert, and horn section in the market's house band. One of the coolest new features is an online vendor application.

In other Peoples' Market news, we have been officially recognized by the IRS as a 501(c) 3 tax-exempt public charity, and we were selected to receive a Pete Suazo Community Justice Award for Community Leadership and Advocacy.

Still no convenient internet at my apartment...regular posts will resume then.