Forcemaster2000 Productions

Illustration work

noreply@blogger.com (Forcemaster2000) — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 20:47:00 +0000

An 8" x 10" print of my most recent illustration. You can look forward to seeing this and other prints available in my Etsy store, once I open it, hopefully around September 1st. Watch this blog for a link when it's open! You can also follow me on Instagram (forcemaster2000) and TikTok (@forcemaster2000)

Reagan Warns America Not to Forget Our History

noreply@blogger.com (Forcemaster2000) — Fri, 10 Jul 2020 14:25:00 +0000

I feel like a traitor

noreply@blogger.com (Forcemaster2000) — Fri, 03 Jul 2020 17:35:00 +0000

I feel like a traitor. I've recently, after quite a hiatus, decided to get back into illustration and try and make a go of earning money through an Etsy shop. I graduated back in 2015 from university with a degree in visual communications. After one failed attempt at working for a business, I totally crashed and burned and basically had a nervous breakdown. I won't go into all of that, but it burned me out and I went from one crap manual labor job to another until finally, Covid-19 brought that to an end.

Like most people, I've been home unemployed for the last few months and I'm now going to try and use my artistic talent to make some money without having to leave the house. If you've followed my blog, which you probably haven't, I've always been a staunch anti-Apple person. I can't stand them, and I've always vowed that I would never buy an Apple product. Well, today I purchased an Ipad! I feel like a traitor, to myself at least. I won't be receiving it for a couple of weeks thanks to the slowed-down infra-structure in the U.S. due to Covid-19. I've been hearing for years about how great the Ipad is for artists, and that a program called Procreate is the best app to use on it. Procreate only being available for IOS. I've got an Android tablet that I've been using for a while for art, and it's perfectly usable. So why get the Ipad? I'm not even sure I know why. Maybe I'm just tired of bucking the system. I see plenty of artists who seem to be making at least somewhat of a living making artwork that is no better than mine. Maybe I just want to be a member of the club instead of the one that's outside looking in.

Frankly, I keep forgetting that I have this blog. I'm going to try and update here more often what with the state of the world and all. So stay tuned and I'll try and post here once in a while about what's going on.

HP Gaming Headset H200 Headphone review

noreply@blogger.com (Forcemaster2000) — Tue, 30 Jun 2020 20:35:00 +0000

OMG! Get a Onsie!

noreply@blogger.com (Forcemaster2000) — Wed, 20 Feb 2019 03:36:00 +0000

This coming Friday, the twenty-second of February 2019, I'll be turning 55. My wife got me my first Onsie, and I love it!! It's fleece, with footies and a hoodie, and two pockets at the waist. It is so unbelievably soft and warm. It's like walking around with a favorite throw blanket wrapped around you but it never gets in the way and doesn't fall off of you! Get a onesie if you don't have one, and you will not regret it!

Friday...

noreply@blogger.com (Forcemaster2000) — Thu, 31 Jan 2019 17:13:00 +0000

Monday...

noreply@blogger.com (Forcemaster2000) — Thu, 31 Jan 2019 13:39:00 +0000

Working lately on 2D animation

noreply@blogger.com (Forcemaster2000) — Tue, 29 Jan 2019 18:11:00 +0000

Once more, into the breach...

noreply@blogger.com (Forcemaster2000) — Tue, 29 Jan 2019 18:09:00 +0000

I've said this before, and I'll probably say it again, I'm going to try and post more often on this blog. Not really for anyone else out there, more just for me. I feel the need once in a while to blow off some steam and I like looking back on these posts and seeing where I've been. I have wide and varying hobbies and interests, some of which I return to from time to time and other's that lie gathering dust in a corner of my mind, sometimes literally gathering dust in a corner of my home!

At least here, I can put those things on display and in the future I can come back, pick them up, dust them off and give them some attention. If anyone else finds these ramblings and you find them interesting, that's great too!

I think I'm crazy

noreply@blogger.com (Forcemaster2000) — Tue, 29 Jan 2019 17:57:00 +0000

It's January 29, 2019...I think I'm crazy.

Going back over this blog after realizing once again that it exists, I find myself wondering if I'm crazy. My wild rantings and wildly varying topics would seem to suggest that I am. Right now it's 10 degrees Fahrenheit outside and tomorrow we're supposed to be experiencing a "polar vortex" which will let us enjoy a high temperature of -8 degrees and a low of around -16. Hurray! The weather is as up and down as I am, which is not a good thing for the weather, or for me!

Lately, news about the planet Mars seems to have quieted down. Now it's all asteroids this and asteroids that in the news cycle. Speaking of news cycles...Donald Trump is our President! Did you know that? At least that's what they tell us, I don't believe it though, I think it's just #fakenews!

When I realize that this blog exists, I start wondering if I should just delete it, or start working on it again. I never seem to come to a satisfying conclusion as to what I should do. Usually, I just end up posting some sort of rambling diatribe that makes no sense. That way, sometime in the future I'll come across this blog, re-read it and realize once again just how crazy I am. See how I brought that right back around again?

Wow! I have a blog!

noreply@blogger.com (Forcemaster2000) — Tue, 05 Jun 2018 14:07:00 +0000

Totally forgot that I have a blog!

My last post was back in 2016! For the record, I'm writing this post on June 5, 2018. I don't really have anything to post, just thought what the heck, I found this thing, I should put something down on it. LOL.

I didn't know it for a long time, or at least I managed to ignore the fact that I was suffering from depression for several years. In late 2017 I finally talked to my Dr. about it and started taking medication. It helped somewhat, but eventually, my Dr. had to double my dosage and I'm starting to see that there is a light somewhere down at the end of this tunnel. It's wild how depression takes hold of your entire life and doesn't let you see things as they really are. I could probably use therapy as well, but you do what you can and move on with life. I'm certainly not pretending that everything is hunky dory right now, it's not, but I'm starting to find joy in several things that quite frankly I haven't even thought about let alone worked on.

If you even think that you're suffering from depression, talk to someone, anyone. Then talk to a professional and take their advice. If you're depressed, then you definitely don't need to listen to yourself...you're lying to yourself and you don't even know it!

More Baby Steps

noreply@blogger.com (Forcemaster2000) — Thu, 04 Feb 2016 20:34:00 +0000

In a recent post, maybe my last one, I talked about how I'm trying to migrate to Linux Ubuntu as an operating system, hoping one day to actually leave Microsoft and it's Window's environment completely behind. I've now taken a few more baby steps in that direction. I've been using Linux Ubuntu 14.04 LTS on my third laptop to get used to it, and just the other day promoted it up to my No. 1 laptop! My Win 7 laptop has been demoted to second banana.

Now, as of this time, I'm not including my desktop PC in this, it's my gaming machine and will be the final one to make the transition someday. Which might not necessarily be that long from now. I found an open source screen recorder that I like very much and works well on my laptop with Ubuntu, and Steam has been working very well on it as well, I've even installed a game I've played before called "Grow Home", which ran quite nicely considering I was using an integrated graphics card for it on Ubuntu. So putting Ubuntu on my desktop is looking more and more likely.

Promoting the Ubuntu laptop up to my prime laptop will now mean it's getting used for much more and more often. I've even been able to watch both Netflix and Hulu on it, without having to jump through any hoops or use any command lines with the terminal to get them to work. Ubuntu is starting to feel more and more like something that I can just open up and use just as I would any other computer. I'll keep you posted on where I'm at in this transition and how well it goes either way.

Step 1 of weening myself off Microsoft!

noreply@blogger.com (Forcemaster2000) — Sun, 24 Jan 2016 21:04:00 +0000

Well, I've taken my first step at weening myself off of Microsoft. I've still got my laptop with Win 7 on it, and my desktop still has Win 8.1 on it. I have a second laptop though that I've installed Ubuntu on, I'm not sure right off hand which update version it is, but it's the newest out. I've tried a couple of different versions of Linux before in the past and had mixed results with them. The problem with Linux in my opinion is that it seems to be designed with geeks in mind that like to get in under the hood and mess with things. Some stuff you want to do, you end up having to search through a forum to find someone who explains how you have to open up a command line and type in a bunch of commands to get something to work. I'm not into programming and I just want to install something by clicking on it and it just works.

Ubuntu does seem to have a lot of things going for it though, most things work simply and easily, it's fast and light, and with Steam loaded on it, I can even play a lot of the games in my steam library on Linux! And as I understand it, Netflix is even supported on Linux now, so that's one of the final hurdles I've had that have kept me from switching permanently to Linux. I'm planning on using that laptop more and more and see if I can get used to it and eventually, pull the plug on Microsoft and get them out of my house!

I HATE MICROSOFT!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Forcemaster2000) — Wed, 06 Jan 2016 21:19:00 +0000

Yes, I hate Microsoft. I hate them with a passion that burns my soul like an Asian monk covered in gasoline. I was probably screaming today like that monk.

It all started shortly after the first of day 2016. I noticed that my laptop (which used to be a Win 7 OS, and had been recently upgraded to Windows 10) started acting weird. Well, let me go back a little further. I'd waited a month or two after Windows 10 was released to the public to upgrade to it. You know, that free upgrade that Microsoft is so conveniently offering all their customers, you know, 3/4 of the world.

My son told me that he'd been using Windows 10 for awhile and he likes it, so i took the plunge and put it on my Windows 7 laptop. I used it for a couple of weeks and it seemed all right. I have a desktop too that I use primarily for gaming and it's Windows 8.1, which I despise ( but I use a program called "start-is-back" to make it look and feel like Windows 7 and so I was all right with it.) Since I seemed to like Windows 10, I went ahead and put it on my desktop too. Everything seemed to be going fine, there were things in Windows 10 that I really liked, although I didn't think they out-weighed a lot of the negative aspects that came with it, such as the lack of control over your own PC that it brought with it.

A couple of days into 2016 though, I started noticing that my laptop was acting very slow and sluggish. so I ran disk cleanup, that didn't seem to help though. I started to worry that I might have a virus or malware on my PC, so I ran my anti-virus and it said there was nothing there. I downloaded another malicious software remover tool and ran it. It found 8 things that it said weren't malicious, but I might want them off my PC, so I removed them and that didn't fix the problem either. I then scanned my hard drive for errors and it came back clean. It was at this point that I was beginning to suspect the real culprit was someone a little closer to the problem. I decided to run system restore to see if that would help. Upon opening the control panel though, I was confronted with a new problem. I couldn't click on anything! On top of that, just opening control panel seemed to freeze the whole computer. I hit Ctrl-Alt-Delete, but task manager popped up and immediately froze as well. After a minute or so of this and futilely clicking on the screen I was unceremoniously dumped to a black screen of nothingness that lasted for about two minutes, then suddenly I was back on the desktop as if nothing at all had happened. No crash reports, no error logs, nothing.

I did this five or six times in a row, with exactly the same result. I was getting angry. I started combing forums like "How-to-Geek" and "Tom's Hardware", looking for people who might be experiencing the same sort of problem. Apparently there are a lot of them, but there didn't seem to be any coherent answers that seemed to fix the problem. Most people seemed to have either given up or re-installed an older operating system. I knew I had back-up disks for my laptop, though sadly I had none for my desktop (always make back-up disks for re-installing folks!) I pulled out my disks and started the 3 to 5 hour process of re-installing windows 7 on the laptop and updating everything again. My disks were 4 years old, so there were a whole lot of updates to download and install. Eventually though, I got my laptop back to Win 7 and it's now working fine again. It was during the updating process that I started noticing that my desktop was starting to act funny as well! I did all the same things, anti-virus, hard drive scans, all with the same results, no apparent problems. I knew I didn't have back-up disks to revert back to Win 8.1 though, so I started combing forums once again. I did find that I could download an ISO image of Win 8.1 from Microsoft and using my existing product key reinstall Win 8.1 on my machine.

I'm going to shorten the story up a little at this point. It wasn't very easy to do and involved a call to tech support for my PC (CybertronPC). They have a great tech support, it's the first time I've called them and they did a wonderful job helping me get through the re-installation process. But all of this that I've been telling you isn't why I hate Microsoft. Here's why I hate Microsoft. I had just finished re-installing Win 8.1 on my desktop and went to windows update to install all those patches for it that knew would be out there waiting for me. Windows told me there were 155 IMPORTANT updates and that it would be a 2.6 gigabyte download. I started going up and down through the list of updates trying to figure out how that could possibly add up, it didn't seem right. Most people would have just hit the update button and walked away, knowing it would take awhile. I started adding up the individual updates (which were mostly followed by a kb, meaning they're tiny) and there was no way that they would add up to 2.6 gigabytes. Then I noticed that none of them were check marked? If none of them had a check mark next to them, how could they be included in the download.? Then I noticed the other tab, the "optional updates" tab. there were only 6, so I clicked on it. 5 of these 6 optional downloads weren't check marked either, only the last one was. What did it say next to it? "Upgrade to Windows 10.......2.6 gigabytes"

Microsoft was trying to sneak Windows 10 back onto my computer, an "upgrade" disguised as an "update". An optional update that was check marked by default while all those "important" updates weren't check marked at all. Microsoft is the worse than the worst of the sleazy malware uploaders for doing something like this. After all that work and pain, if I'd just clicked update and walked away like most people would have, I'd have been stuck with Windows 10 again! Microsoft, I hate you, you make my skin crawl, and if I could live in this technological world today without you, I most certainly would!

UPDATE: History of Denial of Life on Mars, One Week Later

noreply@blogger.com (Forcemaster2000) — Thu, 08 Oct 2015 23:35:00 +0000

Space.com

Ancient lakes existed for hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of years on Mars boosting the chance that life once existed on Mars.

Stay tuned for next week when NASA announces they have made contact with intelligent creatures on Mars that want to take us to their leader!

The History of Denial About Mars

noreply@blogger.com (Forcemaster2000) — Tue, 29 Sep 2015 15:41:00 +0000

Pre-1970's - There could be life on the planet Mars,
Viking Landers - Mars is a dead, lifeless planet...let's forget about it!
1980's - There could be frozen water at Mars' poles, or it could be frozen carbon dioxide.
1990's - Maybe there's frozen water at the Martian poles.
2000's - There may have been liquid water on Mars millions of years ago, but it's long since dried up and the planet is still dead
2010's - There is liquid flowing water on Mars, but it's really salty and it's doubtful it supports any life.

When will the government stop the cover-up and admit that there's life and a breathable atmosphere on Mars?

Yuck! It's raining again!

noreply@blogger.com (Forcemaster2000) — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 20:57:00 +0000

I don't know why I'm even bothering to complain about the rain. Here in the midwest this year, it seems to be the norm and should just be expected. My poor psyche has been taking a beating for the past month or so, with all this rain and associated cloudy skies. I'm the type that needs blue skies and sunshine to keep out of the gutters of depression.

I have, "thank the major" (kudos to anyone that gets that reference!) gotten my first job out of school, and it's even a design job. Marketing assistant at a medium-sized regional financial institution. Lots and lots of design work, they do all their marketing materials in-house, (brochures, posters, letterheads...etc.) and even print a large majority of it themselves (ourselves) on some very imposing industrial printers capable of more than I've ever dealt with before.

It just goes to show that it's never too late to follow a dream and have it come true. It just takes perseverance and a lot of blood, sweat and tears!

Another long hiatus!

noreply@blogger.com (Forcemaster2000) — Tue, 26 May 2015 03:18:00 +0000

Hello!
Never thought I'd be back, huh? I just realized that it's been pretty much forever since the last time I've even thought about my blog here, let alone posted anything! Winter and Spring of 2015 was just so incredibly busy. I finished up my last semester of college and graduated, for one thing! Yes, I'm now an officially graduated and unemployed graphic designer. Probably only one of thousands who can say that in my home state alone, let alone the entire country.

I was just sitting here, waiting to get tired enough to fall asleep and thought of this blog and decided to pop in and write down something at least. I have been fairly busy on Youtube, I've sort of converted my Youtube channel into a "let's play" channel. I mostly play an indie game called, "7 Days to Die", a post-apocalyptic zombie horde survival game. Although I do occasionally throw in some other games like GTA V and Spintires!

I'm enjoying life, and looking forward to hopefully finding a job soon in my newly minted career. I have purchased a new computer which I should be getting this Wednesday, as I type this on my laptop. I've been a laptop only person for about the past 6 to 7 years, and decided that playing higher-end games like GTA V needed a higher-end computer. My laptop is a very nice one, that I'll continue to use for my graphic design needs, but I thought it would be best to separate my gaming and work needs, and the gaming really needs to be on a desktop, and the graphic design work is perfectly suited to a mobile platform like a laptop.

Well, not much more to say, other than I'll try and stop in here once in awhile and say "HI", in case anyone is interest below you'll find links to my online portfolio and to my Youtube channel in case you want to check out any of my "let's plays"!

Online Portfolio

My Let's Play Channel

"The Interview" now on Netflix

noreply@blogger.com (Forcemaster2000) — Sun, 25 Jan 2015 02:15:00 +0000

I just saw, "The Interview" on Netflix, starring James Franco and Seth Rogen. It was hilarious. I laughed more during this movie than I've laughed in the last month! The thing is, you just can't take it seriously, it's a comedy after all, and definitely a dark comedy. It did get a little more "bloody" towards the end than I was expecting, but like I said, just take it for what it is, and you'll come away laughing.

Finally Got Rid of that Damned Google Doodle!

noreply@blogger.com (Forcemaster2000) — Thu, 19 Jun 2014 23:26:00 +0000

I finally managed to get rid of the damned google doodle on the search page! I remembered that I use the Adblock Plus plugin for Chrome, so I right-clicked on the doodle and set Adblock plus to block it...it worked! No more doodles about the world cup. I wish I'd thought of this days ago.

I'm Sick of the Google World Cup Doodles!

noreply@blogger.com (Forcemaster2000) — Sun, 15 Jun 2014 22:24:00 +0000

Okay, it's official, I'm sick of seeing Google's doodles all being something related to the 2014 World Cup! According to a google search I did, the World Cup final won't be until July 13th, 2014! Does that mean that we're going to be subjected to these World Cup related google doodle splashes until then?! I certainly hope not...It's time to put them to rest and just go back to the normal Google homepage, or at least give something else around the world a chance to be there.

This may be blasphemy in some parts of the world, but I don't even like soccer! And don't even get me started on how the rest of the world insists on calling it, "football".

Feeling Fat and Down!

noreply@blogger.com (Forcemaster2000) — Thu, 12 Jun 2014 16:03:00 +0000

Last year at this time I was feeling a lot better than I am now. I'd begun walking everyday and had gotten myself up to walking about two miles each day. I managed to lose 20 pounds and feel better than I had in a long time. Unfortunately, when Fall came, so did school and my schedule was so hectic, I stopped walking. Then we had the winter from HELL and I couldn't walk then even if I'd wanted to.

Now here I am a year later. I've gained back all of that 20 pounds and I feel awful again. I just got back from making myself walk around the neighborhood like I used to. I put in a mile. It took me about two to three weeks to work myself up to walking two miles last year, so I'm sure it will take that amount of time again. My schedule isn't really any better now than it was last Fall, so I'll just have to fit in walking whenever I can. I can't take this heaviness and feeling so out of shape. I'm going to blog about my progress here if for no other reason than to give myself a yardstick to measure my progress by. If no one wants to read this, that's fine, this is really just for myself anyway. Maybe though, someone else will read this and feel motivated to do the same and improve themselves and their situation. If so, leave a comment here and let me know how your'e doing too!

Heading back to school...

noreply@blogger.com (Forcemaster2000) — Thu, 09 Jan 2014 20:36:00 +0000

Well, Christmas break is almost over and Monday I'll be back in school. I'm really looking forward to it, the last month has felt a little odd. Once you get used to the swing and sway of the semester, not going to class just doesn't feel right. The last two semesters now, I've managed to make the Dean's list, I'm going to give it my best once again, I'm not sure that the math class I'm having to take this semester though will cooperate with me! I'm going to try my hardest though and keep as good an attitude as I can.

I've also landed a work-study job with my college this semester, so I'm looking forward to starting that. It should give me some valuable experience in the working world of graphic design. My goal is to try and keep up this blog more often, and fill it with some nice looking work that I'm doing this semester, so stay tuned for further updates!

First lego League

noreply@blogger.com (Forcemaster2000) — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 02:46:00 +0000

I got the honor to volunteer today and help out with the FLL (First Lego League), in which teams of local kids competed with each other with their lego mindstorm robotic creations. A lot of fun, and seemed like even the kids were having fun too!

What We Need Is A Little Common Sense

noreply@blogger.com (Forcemaster2000) — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 12:56:00 +0000

Original Story Here

Why is it that there are so many people in this country that seem to WANT voter fraud? I have yet to hear a valid argument for why citizens of this country shouldn't have to provide a photo I.D. before casting a vote. If you don't have to prove who you are, then anyone can vote whether they are a citizen of this country, and can vote as many times as they like.

The NAACP, Civil Liberties Union and other organizations always spout the same arguments. Having to show a photo ID to vote is targeting minorities, the young and the old to keep them from voting. What is stopping any minority (who is a legal citizen of the US), or a young person, who is over the age of 18, or an elderly person from obtaining a state-issued photo ID? Nothing. I carry a photo ID with me every single time I leave the house, even if I'm just taking my daily walk for exercise. Everyone should, it's just common sense and good practice.

There are "elements" in this country that want to disrupt the system and cause anarchy, because it makes them money and gives them power. It's up to all of us to take that power away from them with the power of common sense, something that is sorely lacking in our world today!