THE ULTIMATE GINGER

Oh Heck Yes! Gadget Update to Dynamic Views!

2012-02-28T00:15:00.000-06:00

Google just/finally updated the dynamic views to include gadgets now! I had just posted about this the other day. I wish that would work on everything I was Google to change.

I definitely like how it is integrated into the template. A little pop out thing on the right hand side. At least on the sidebar view.

My Ebook on the Web

2012-02-27T06:29:00.002-06:00

So, I'm not sure if anyone even remembers the short story ebook that I published (via Smashwords) last year. But not being able to sleep and being bored I decided to Google the title. The results were:

1. Amazon. I think I did this on my own since smashwords wasn't/isn't publishing to Amazon yet. The price is set at $2.99 for a short story and I don't know why. I feel bad that two people bought it and one thought it was a novel and found out it was a bad rush jobbed short story :(

2. Smashwords. No reviews.

3. Barnes and Noble. No reviews.

4. Goodreads. This is the one that stumped me. How does a book even get onto goodreads? I know I didn't do it. I made an account in December and have been on a total of five minutes. But it was two reviews and two people marked it as "to-read".

5. Sony ebooks. No reviews.

6. Was some blogspot blog that had a bunch of free and .99 kindle books linking back to Amazon. Kind of cool I guess.

7. Itunes. No reviews.

There were some more on various pages. Mainly linking back to those main ones. I even found a Goodreads author page. I sent them a message claiming it was me. Lets see what happens. Not even sure how it got on there.

Cover Reveal: Luminosity by Stephanie Thomas

2012-02-27T00:01:00.000-06:00

"My name is Beatrice. When I was born, I was blessed with the Sight. I was immediately removed from my parents and enrolled in the Institution. At the age of twelve, I had my first true vision, earning my raven’s wings. And when I turned seventeen, one of my visions came true. Things haven’t been the same since.

The Institution depends on me to keep the City safe from our enemy, the Dreamcatchers, but I’m finding it harder to do while keeping a secret from everyone, including my best friend Gabe. It is a secret that could put us all in danger. A secret that could kill me and everyone close to me.

But the enemy has been coming to me in my dreams, and I think I’m falling in love with him. He says they’re coming. He says they’re angry. And I think I’ve already helped them win."

Paperback Available for Pre-Order from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Luminosity-Stephanie-Thomas/dp/1620611279/ref=lh_ni_t

Add to your Goodreads TBR:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13425149-luminosity

New Look, Same Great Taste?

2012-02-22T19:24:00.001-06:00

I decided that it was time to change up the old blog a bit. I recently read an article (no, I can't remember where I read it at sadly) that was going on about making your blog look professional. Or people wouldn't take you seriously. To not change the layout every couple weeks or so. And to that I said HA!

What's the point of your blog looking the same all the time? It gets boring seeing the same background, the same layout, the same color scheme all the time. Every day. I like my blog to be more personal. To kind of embody who I am. And I'm a bit chaotic. I change a lot. I have trouble sticking with one thing. And something as simple as changing the way my blog looks makes that easier.

I think I even put in the About section that this blog (as well as myself) was going to be chaotic and crazy and wild and unpredictable. Why not show some of that in the look and layout of the blog.

So if you're reading this you will have noticed I did in fact change the blog. A lot! I threw out the old template entirely and decided to try out one of the dynamic views. I set it on the Sidebar one. So as you can see to the left it will have the titles of my posts. Which you can scroll down and click on and then the post opens in the main section of the blog. Then you can do all the normal share stuff at the bottom, comment and what have you. Then if you look above the post titles on the left you see a drop down thing that has all the different dynamic views and you can freely switch between them if you don't like the Sidebar one I chose.

The only ones I liked are this Sidebar one and the Flipcard one. The others seems jumbled and confusing. The other thing I don't like about using a dynamic view is not being able to add gadgets and stuff. Or at least I can't figure out how to do it yet.

The Walking Dead S02E09

2012-02-20T16:37:00.000-06:00

Picking up where episode 8 left off we find Rick, Glenn, and Herschel preparing to leave the bar and head back to the farm. A car pulls up and they hear people outside. They hide. Eventually the group outside approaches the bar. They are looking for the two men that Rick had shot. The door starts to open but Glenn jumps in front of it, slamming it shut. Finally Rick answers saying that their friends drew on them first and they had no choice but to kill them. The guys outside start shooting. Glenn goes out the back to try to make it to the car. He shoots at a guy coming in the back. Herschel covers him as he goes out the doors. The guy outside had moved and opens fire on Glenn. Luckily Glenn is unharmed and Herschel shoots, but doesn't kill the other guy. Rick comes running out. He makes it to where Glenn is hiding. Another man is on a nearby roof shooting at them. A truck pulls up and yells to the man on the roof to hurry up and jump. That a huge group of walkers is coming. The guy jumps to a lower roof, busts his ankles and falls on to a spiked fence which goes clean through his calf. They try to cut his lower leg off but walkers overwhelm them and Rick is forced to just rip his leg back off the spike.

At the end of the last episode Lori is an a car accident. At the beginning of episode 9 she wakes up to find a walkers trying to force its way through a hole in the front windshield. She makes her way out the back but not before the walker makes it in enough to grab her hair. I think she breaks of the turn signal stick thing or some other lever and stabs the walker in the eye. She gets out and is calming down when another walker attacks from behind her. They fall and she tries to crawl away, grabs a hub cap and busts the walker in the face with it. She sees her gun in the car and goes to get it. As she turns the walker is back up and advancing. She shoots it in the head.

The people back at the farm realize she in missing and Shane goes looking. Finds her and lies to her about Rick being back at the farm already. They get back and she finds out it was a lie. Shane says he did it because he has to protect her and the baby. Later he talks to her and says that he loves her and Carl and that they were meant to be together. She tells him he is wrong.

The next morning a group is going out to look for the others in town when they pull up. They had brought along the guy who had injured his leg. They plan to heal him, give him water and send him on his way. Of course Shane is the one who freaks out about the idea. At the end of the episode Rick and Lori are talking. She tells him what Shane was saying about how Rick couldn't keep the group safe, that he was going to get them all killed and that he thought they were supposed to be together and that he thought that the baby was his. She said he was dangerous and wasn't going to stop. I think she said something like "you killed the living to protect what's yours?" Rick answered, "I did." and she went on to basically say that Shane was potentially going to endanger her and Carl. Rick gets that look in his eyes. You know the one where he is about to be a badass.

The preview for next weeks showed Rick and Shane fighting. Rick will give him the beatdown he deserves for sure.

The Walking Dead S02E08

2012-02-16T02:56:00.000-06:00

Last Sunday, the 12th, The Walking Dead returned to tv with its mid-season premiere. It picks up right where episode 7 left off. With Rick shooting the zombified Sophia. People cry, they bury the ones they loved and burn the rest. Herschel tells Rick that he wants them off his land. Rick argues with him, saying they need to stay. Herschel disappears and one of his people goes into some intense shock. So Rick and Glenn go into town to try and find him at the bar. He's there drinking like a madman. Rick tries his hardest to get Herschel to come back to the farm to help but he keeps refusing. He had so much hope that his wife and step-son could be cured and Shane letting them out proved that he was wrong.

While he is trying to get Herschel to come back two guys enter the bar. Telling Rick and crew about their woes and adventures. One guy is going on about where Rick's group is staying. Rick dodges the question. The stranger keeps asking and gets that it is a farm nearby. If you're watching and haven't picked up that these two guys don't have friendly intentions then just wait a few minutes. The leader of the two guys goes behind the bar, pours a drink and continues to talk. Rick is facing the man behind the bar. The other guy is behind Rick. Herschel and Glenn are off to the side. The leader starts to pull a gun but Rick is quicker and shoots him in the head, turning to shoot the second man in the stomach and chest before shooting him in the head too.

Now this is more like the Rick I know from the comics. Ruthless. Willing to do what he has to do to keep his group safe. Even if it means killing people. Ones that haven't become walkers. Even Carl showed more of his comic self. Saying that he would have shot the zombie Sophia himself if he had too. I have high hopes that the second half of season two will be more true to the comics. I hope at least. But if not I won't complain. Its an amazing show regardless.

I got a new laptop!

2012-02-16T01:30:00.000-06:00

After two years my old one has grown slow and heats up pretty quickly. So about a week ago I also got a new laptop. Now it's nothing fancy. Not at all. Just the cheapest one that was at Walmart that wasn't a netbook. It's got all your basic stuff. Windows 7, a dual-core 2.1GHz processor, 3gb of RAM and a 360gb hard drive.

On the Windows Experience Index it is a 3.4 out of 7.9. That is based on the lowest score. Which not surprisingly is the graphics. But that was to be expected. The lowest after that was a 5.3 for processing speed and a 5.9 for data transfer rate. So I'd say it was pretty good over all. And it is pretty fast. But maybe that is because my old one was so slow. When it connects to the wi-fi it has a stronger connection and faster speeds. Not sure why as I'm not a tech whiz. I know just enough to get by.

It is a HP 2000 (I think). At $300 I think it was a great deal. And the best part is is that I actually write on this one. It feels natural. The writing flows. Maybe it's the keyboard or the texture of the keys or the fact that I can actually unplug it and not worry about the battery dying in ten minutes!

In closing I'll leave you with a pointless fact. I named it T3-M4 and my new Kindle is named HK-47. Yeah I may be a nerd.

Kindle Fire & Kindle Touch 3G

2012-02-16T01:00:00.000-06:00

So recently I had been looking at the Kindle Fire. Debating on if I wanted to get one or not. My sister kept bugging me about using my Nook and that pushed me over the brink and I went ahead and got one, giving her the Nook.

Before I go any further I want to say that I no longer have the Kindle Fire. As I don't have a constant wi-fi connection at home I didn't see the point of having one right now. So I returned it and ended up getting the Kindle Touch 3G.

First I want to talk about my brief time with the Fire. It was great. Amazing and lovely and I wish I could have kept it forever. FOR-EV-ER! The only time I could connect to a wi-fi was when I stood by the front door and got an unprotection wi-fi. And even then the Fire was FAST! I downloaded Angry Birds, Twitter, ColorNotes, and a comic app with in minutes. Then I got onto the Silk browser (is that right?) and if I thought it was fast before I was wrong. I know that with its split processing with the Amazon cloud server or whatever that the browser would be fast but I was still expecting it to take a minute to load a page given my terrible wi-fi connection. But it was loaded before I realized I had clicked to load the page. And I'm not exaggerating at all. I got on Google and searched. Got on Gmail, read some emails, and clicked a link to track an order I had. It was all done in seconds. It's safe to say the Kindle Fire is amazing and that if I had decent internet service that I would most definitely still have it.

But like I said I returned it and got the Kindle Touch 3G. For $50 more than the regular Kindle Touch you get free 3G connection from Amazon. You can browse books and purchase and download them right to your device. No cords or wi-fi needed. It also had an experimental browser. Though you can only get on Wikipedia with the 3G. Everything else requires a wi-fi connection. I had been hoping to check email on it. Oh well, I got it as an ereader. Not a tablet. And besides web browsing doesn't sound too appealing on the E-ink display. But you can get some basic games. I downloaded a number slide game. The one where you have a grid of numbers and one is taken out and you have to slide one number at a time and rearrange them in numerical order? Fun stuff.

The Nook Simple Touch and the Kindle Touch are very similar. But I have enjoyed the Kindle more. Mainly because of the way in which you can organize your library. On the Kindle when something is added to a collection it isn't visible in the library anymore. On the Nook it is. And if you have a lot of books it gets tedious to search through them all. And the Nook would always undo my collections for no reason. Basically the Kindle makes it easier to do.

As far as how I like the Kindle Touch 3G I love it. It's simple, light weight but not fragile, easy to read and customize the fonts, easy to navigate and doesn't have all the distractions the Fire would have had. So I get more reading done!

Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace 3D

2012-02-16T00:30:00.000-06:00

On 2-10-12 I was one of the many people who attended a midnight showing of Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace 3D. And like most people I found there to be pros and cons about the movie. But I'm going to write this as level headed as I can and definitely be a lameo just because one little thing was changed (you still need to get over it).

This was my first 3D movie experience. So I don't have anything to base my opinions on. But overall I enjoyed the movie. I mean, come on, it's a chance to see Star Wars in theaters again. No way I can complain about that!

I didn't mind paying the $11+ for the ticket or the fact that some 3D parts of the movie were really just added depth. It was an experience that I got to share with my brother, friend, and nephew. It was another opportunity to see Darth Maul rage on the big screen. A chance to see all the glory and awesomeness of Episode I!

Yes I say awesomeness and I mean it. I love the prequels. I like them more the the original trilogy. There is more action, better action, better fight scenes, better acting (I admit there is some parts in the prequels that seem forced), and they are just more visually pleasing.

Now don't get me wrong I love the originals too. But they have their own “feel” to them. And its just not something that can compare to Episodes I-III for me. But anyways this is about the 3D movie!

Overall it was fun and I had a blast. Like I said I have no previous experience with 3D movies so I don't know where this stacks up but it seemed weak in spots. The best parts were the open space shots. They should have just skipped 3D and just released them again!

Review: Pocket Boom from gearzap.com

2012-02-16T00:09:00.001-06:00

You may remember a couple months ago that I did a review for the Zeroshock Notebook Sleeve from gearzap.com. I am pleased to say that I am doing another review for them.

This time I have the Pocket Boom. The Pocket Boom allows you to turn pretty much anything into a speaker! I've messed around with it for the last couple weeks and had a blast. One end detaches and you attach it to anything. Say and empty cardboard box. You then plug the 3.5mm jack into any device that plays some kind of sound. Be it your computer, ipod, mp3 player, or smartphone. Turn it on and the cardboard box now is now a speaker. And it is multiple times louder than with out it.

The detachable end is a small speaker. You can actually faintly hear what ever it is you're playing coming out of it. It plays the sound or vibrates it into the hollow object which then magnifies the sound making it louder. The back of the package says “When used with a corrugated cardboard box, it delivers high quality sound, like using a sub-woofer.”

It takes 2 AAA batteries or can be powered via provided usb cable. It also came with a male-to-female 3.5mm adapter which is maybe 12”. You also get a few sticky pads for the mini speaker. To keep it in place.

In my trials I used it with Pandora on my smartphone. I tried it on a box, my table, the walls of my apartment. But the funnest and loudest that I experienced was when I placed the mini vibration speaker on the inside of my living room window. Turned it on and went outside shutting the door behind me and it was LOUD! Would be perfect if you were having a get together outside on a patio and didn't have a radio to take outside.

I also plugged it into my tv as I was playing a video game. And it sounded 10x better. A friend and I were wondering if you made a tube that went around the entire room and attached the Pocket Boom if it would act as a poor-mans surround sound. If I ever get around to doing that I'll be sure to post a follow up on it!

All in all its a fun little device and increased sound quality better in most cases. Be sure to check out gearzap.com for cool gadgets like this, if you need an ipad 2 case or any other accessories. They stuff for everything from laptop stands and macbooks cables to tablet screen protectors and ipad 2 cases.

I have failed me for the last time...

2012-02-15T06:53:00.001-06:00

Four days ago I mentioned having a small list of post to write up. Now that small list has become a medium sized list and if I don't get writing its going to get out of control. As soon as I get home from work in a couple hours I will get started. Promise. At least one if I can manage to stay up any longer. Its going to be tough being tired, new movies to watch, books to read (and write) and its new comics Wednesday. Sigh...

Finally, a post!

2012-02-11T04:47:00.001-06:00

I've put this off far to long but now that I have the phone I wanted (with physical keyboard) I will actually post from it.
I am extremely tired right now and I'm not even sure the last time I slept more than 2 hours at a time. But I figured I'd leave a quick post giving a heads up about a few posts I have planned for the near future. Pretty exciting stuff!
I had planned on working on them before bed but I found myself reading comics and watching Criminal Minds.

Prepaid Android Phones

2012-01-31T05:31:00.001-06:00

Recently I've been really wanting my old android phone back. I had to cancel my terrible contract with Verizon a few months ago and have since been on a cheap prepaid Verizon flip phone. I started missing the ability to get onto Facebook, Twitter and mostly the Blogger app. And just about every other app I used to have.

I knew I couldn't get back onto a "real" plan. Nor did I really want to. I mean who wants to be tied down with a 2 year contract? Not this guy. Then I remembered seeing a Straight Talk android phone at Walmart. But I never looked at it. Then recently I started looking online at prepaid android phones. I couldn't believe how many there actually are. Well how many options. Seems like each carrier has its own versions of the couple there are.

I'm going to do my best to not ramble on and actually try to make some sense.

Me being the hasty decision maker that I am (meaning if I want something and have the money I don't hesitate to buy it) I went ahead and got the LG Optimus V on Virgin Mobile. It's a pretty good phone. Was only $100 and Virgin Mobile has a killer $35/mo plan of unlimited texts and data with 300 anytime minutes. Their service map (which allows you to plug in your address) showed me right in the center of a huge 3g area (since Sprint owns Virgin Mobile it uses Sprint towers). Anyway, I get fairly decent 3g coverage. Every now and then it drops to 1x for no reason. It could be sitting in the same exact spot all day and will drop out. But only for a bit. A minute max. Back to the phone. It's pretty fast, no lag, plenty of memory, expandable to 32gb, 3.2" screen which is very clear, and it's all touch. That's the one thing I don't like about it. Especially with using the Blogger app. Writing even a medium sized post would be a pain.

So that is why I think I am going to switch to the LG Optimus Q on Straight Talk. From what I understand the Straight Talk androids use Sprint towers as well the the coverage maps show me to be in the coverage area. Its basically the same phone. Only with android 2.3 as opposed to the Optimus V's 2.2. And the Q has a slide out qwerty keyboard which is really why I am switching. The Straight Talk plan is $45/mo for unlimited everything. Talk, text, and data. The Q even gets unlimited international texts. So hopefully with in the next week I will be able to return the one I have and get the LG Optimus Q.

Then maybe, just maybe, The Ultimate Ginger will actually be blogging on the go again!

On Writing and Art in General

2012-01-27T04:07:00.003-06:00

I follow a fair amount of writer's blogs. Blogs by writers. People who write books/novels. I've noticed a few posts here and there about the "industry" and "market" and how its killer and all this and that. It got me thinking about writing. What it means to me. The ART of writing. Because it is an art. Just as much as painting, music, or photography.

The thing that bothered me the most about these posts that I read is that this so called "market" seems to sort of kill the art of it. All these rules and guidelines and corporate bullpoo. Art shouldn't have restrictions. It shouldn't have "genres". (the only genres there should be is "I like it" and "I don't like it" and leave it at that.) Publishers want it done their way and their way only. To me that isn't art. That is taking someones creation, their dream and distorting it into something unrecognizable. Which destroys the entire purpose of it in the first place.

And also the writer gets huge chunks taken out of any profit they might make. That doesn't seem right to me at all. I don't believe publishers do enough to merit what they take. If you haven't picked up on it yet I'm a "self-publish-market-generally-do-it-yourself" kind of guy. If I can't do it on my own steam then why am I doing it. If I just ship it off for some stranger to "polish" up and pick apart am I really doing it for the reasons I set out to? Yes self-publishing and self-marketing and self-editing (and any other self done aspect) means that you may have to stay up late. Or spend a couple more hours online spreading the word. Networking. Getting your name out there. But I know that anybody would rather have the feeling of having done it all yourself in the end (well maybe not the greedy ones out there). Me? I'd rather work hard and sell only 10 copies. Then basically give away my work to some publisher and sell more.

And with ereaders becoming more and more popular. And sites like Smashwords (not to mention Amazon and Barnes and Noble and more I'm sure) that make it very, very easy to publish an ebook self-publishing is so much easier than it ever has been. Yes I know that I talked about getting a chuck of your money taken and I know Smashwords does take a very small portion of each book sale but all you have to do is upload it and they get it all set up with a multitude of sites. Or I'm sure that it is just as easy to make your ebook yourself (in any format) and host it on your own site. Something that I am going to look into at some point.

Well, I'm going to leave it at that. I'm sure it's confusing enough and I probably contradicted myself more than once but that's natural when your me!

Update To Mysterious Figure in DC Comics New 52

2012-01-06T23:06:00.001-06:00

Back in September when DC Comics launched the New 52 I (among countless others) noticed a mysterious figure that appears in each of the #1 issues. All I could find out about her is that she was at the very end of Flashpoint #5.

A few days ago DC made a blog post. All it contained was "Her name is Pandora" and was followed by a picture of her. That't it. The title of the post was "DC Comics in 2012". I'm sure its pretty safe to assume that she will have some impact this year. And I hope soon!

Maybe she will show up for the New 52's first big event or whatever. (Now remember I'm still fairly new to comics and most likely have no idea what I'm talking about).

That's her. Pandora. Who is she? What impact will she have? Will it be across all 52 titles (since she was in all the first issues)?

Writing!

2012-01-06T22:44:00.001-06:00

So finally after nearly a week into the new year I have officially started writing! (Finally)
I'm working on the zombie novel that I started last fall. It's actually a collaboration with my cousin. I've never co-written anything before but it has been a blast so far!

Other than that I'm not currently focusing on anything else. Well writing anyways. I am also working on my fantasy world. I'll try to get new pictures of the map up soon. As soon as I finish it anyways. That may take awhile though. I end up making it 4ft x 6ft :/

First Day of the New Year

2012-01-01T23:58:00.000-06:00

So far the new year has been pretty good. Though right after midnight while I was putting away the left over snacks I cut myself on the little razor edge thing on the plastic wrap box. Then I stayed up way too late reading comics.

I'm really enjoying the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I haven't ever read any of the old TMNT comics but this new is one is amazing. It's a new take on what I remember from the cartoons as a kid.

I've kept up on my changes so far. Though when I went on lunch break it was almost like I was subconsciously going to walk up to the soda machine. But I stopped myself and got a water. Woo! Though this post is all I've written so far...

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T00:35:00.000-06:00

Well Happy New Year everyone!

I was going to write about how 2011 was. The ups and downs and all that jazz but really you could just go read through my blog and see what I was up to. I honestly can't think of a whole lot off the top of my head.

- I started playing disc golf (though not in a while). Its pretty great and I hope I get to play more this year.

- We got a new dairy department manager at work and I guess its because of him that I started reading comics. And I have to say that I absolutely love them!

- Skyrim was released and it is absolutely amazing!

- I pretty much switched to digital books. Though if I read an ebook and it blows me away I'm going to buy the physical copy too.

- I blogged a whole bunch, and met a whole bunch of great people through it (you know who you are!).

- I actually finished a short story which I had originally rushed for a writing deadline on this one site. I then published it on Smashwords. I'm pretty proud of that. Actually writing something to the finish. Even though I published it I know that it needs a ton of work. My brother and I did a few quick rounds of grammar and spelling edits but that is it. I should go back at some point and fix it up.

- Speaking of writing. I didn't actually write anywhere near as much as I wanted. And that's my fault. Though I did start a collaboration project with a cousin of mine. I have big hopes for it and even though I haven't done much with it in a while it's always been simmering in my mind.

That's all I can think of that I want to put. I don't really make resolutions. But I told myself that I was going to make some changes for 2012.

1. WRITE!!!

2. Cut soda out of my diet. I drink way to much of it and that's no good

3. That was it really. Well and write more!

Happy New Year and best of luck in 2012

I Used To Be An Adventurer...But Then I Took An Arrow To The Knee

2011-12-20T21:57:00.001-06:00

New Blog: Nerd Is Preferred

2011-12-13T00:23:00.001-06:00

I recently (literally yesterday) launched a new blog with some friends of mine. Its going to be nerdy stuff. Reviews, previews, opinions, thoughts, debates, and most likely enough spoilers to please River Song.

Now I'm it is probably the 304820287401st blog/site like this but I'd like to think we can bring something new and refreshing to the table. Maybe I'm really just crazy. But hey, these days it takes a little bit of crazy to get by.

If you like things of a nerdy nature feel free to visit Nerd Is Preferred and join in on the conversation!

I've Kept Busy...But Not With Writing (and that makes me sad)

2011-12-10T23:24:00.001-06:00

It's been two weeks now since I've blogged anything. And a while longer since I've really blogged a lot. I've been absorbed by Skyrim and catching up on comics and catching up on books and I wish I could say writing but I can't do that without lying. (this makes me sad)

I've also been working on my fantasy world. Added to the map I already had (now its 4 times larger). Though its still 75% incomplete (that's a lot of coloring!). Once the map is done I plan to name it (or attempt to), divide it into countries/provinces/etc, name them, fill them will all sorts of creatures, and then write a bunch of back story and history and all that good, fun stuff! Its a pretty big task and I feel crazy for taking it on. But who knows, it may help my book flow? Maybe.

The only bad part about playing Skyrim is that I can't talk to anyone about it. It's not that I don't know anyone playing it too. I know tons of people playing it. Its no one wants spoilers! (neither do I) Each person I know who plays could each play 100 hours and still barely do the same stuff in the game. So you never know who's done what and if you can mention it to them. Its maddening!!!

*Potential spoilers. You'v been warned*
I've read a whole mess of comics over the last week or so. A friend is having me read the whole Ultimates/Avengers/whateveritscalled thingy. I love it all so far. I also just finished Fear Itself (the main 7 I guess). Oh, and I started reading Locke and Key too. Its pretty great too! The Batman: Arkham Unhinged (which is based off the Arkham City game) has been absolutely wonderful. I can't get enough! All the new Ultimate Comics have been pretty good too. But I'm sad that the Hawkeye one is only a mini-series and not ongoing. I like Hawkeye. Though the best one I've read this week was probably Batman Noel by Lee Bermejo. Its a graphic novel about Batman (surprise right?). But its like A Christmas Carol Batman. Where Batman is "Scrooge" and his is visited by Catwoman, Superman, and the Joker (I think the Joker was the 3rd "ghost") If I understand right Bob Cratchett is telling the story to Tiny Tim. I could be wrong but I think thats right. Anyways go and pick it up. I promise you won't be disappointed!

Writing. What can I say about writing? Nothing right now and that makes me sad :(

Disappointment about Eragon (the movie)

2011-11-29T12:35:00.001-06:00

So after finishing the final book in the Inheritance Cycle I decided to watch the Eragon movie from 2006. (I hadn't seen it since it was in theaters.) Though now I wish I hadn't. On it's own, with out the books, it might have been a good movie in my opinion. But knowing how the book is and how the series goes it made me cringe the entire time.

Here are just some of the inconsistencies I noticed (and some of them could be wrong. It was 4am at the time)
- They called Saphira's egg "Galbatorix's Stone" and he was like "I suffer without my stone". I understand they don't want to go yelling about it being a dragon egg. But they should have just cut all that out and it wouldn't have changed a thing.

- Horst's sons were being "recruited" into the king's army. I don't remember any recruiting. Or even the king's soldiers being in Carvahall. Especially not Horst's sons.

- Eragon's leather vest looked more like fake, plasticy, plastic than leather. It looked too new as well. It would have been more worn and dirty. Or at look like it had been used. Or real.

- When Saphira's egg hatched everyone seemed to know instantly. Brom, the King, Arya. How would that even be possible?

- I don't know if this is accurate. But the king's giant map has Farthen Dur on it. I thought it was hidden or else he would have attacked long ago. Or maybe he just can't find it exactly? or how to get it?

- Horst and Sloan look nothing like I remember. Horst in the books was a big guy. I always pictured him as tall, very muscular, with a epic beard. Not a scrawny, sickly, balding man. And Sloan I pictured as a little guy. Not a twig but not like the massive guy who played him in the movie. And he wasn't rude enough to Eragon.

- I remember this bothering me immensely in the theater. Saphira's rapid growth. She could barely fly. Then apparently went through some magic clouds because seconds later she was massive. I'm sure this was done for the movie. To get to the point of her being fully grown quickly but no. Just no.

- Also the Urgals had no horns. That is like their most distinguishing feature.

Sigh.

That is all that I wrote down before I wanted to cry. I don't think the acting or anything was bad. I actually enjoy a lot of the actors/actresses that were in it. It was just the script/story/how they translated from the book to the movie. They mashed stuff together. Durza killed Brom? The whole thing with the Ra'zac killing him was HUGE in the book. And the dwarves looked more like men with beards. Murtagh was played well but they didn't give him much screen time. By played well I mean the actor not his lines or anything. And Angela was in Daret? I don't recall them ever going to a Daret and she most definitely wasn't there. The fortune she told was weak and not very accurate. AND they didn't even show Solembum at all! How could they not? He is a chief character and adds a load of mystery with just like two lines.

Overall it was just rushed, and crammed, and badly done. If they didn't have the resources to make a decent adaptation they shouldn't have attempted. Why ruin such an amazing story?

I had huge expectations for this movie. Now after 5 years and finally getting to read the entire series I am really, really, REALLY hoping they will find someone to make four epic movies. Let Peter Jackson give it a go. He does epic.

Thoughts and Hopes For the Last 100 Pages of Inheritance

2011-11-27T23:55:00.001-06:00

With roughly 100 pages left in Inheritance (book 4 of the Inheritance Cylce by Christopher Paolini) I have a lot that I want to know and I'm very curious to see what he tells and how he does it. (Now lets see if I can get this into a coherent post!)

1. Will Eragon fulfill his promise to Elva and cure her of the "cursed blessing" he gave her?

2. As Roran is my favorite character of the series I really want to know what happens to him. Where to him and Katrina live? Do they go back to Carvahall? Do they give birth to a healthy child? Is it a boy or girl and what will its name be?

3. Eragon has come a long way in his training. Especially given that it has all been sort of rushed and in a non-typical manner. How does he finish it? Do Glaedr and the other Eldunari help complete his training and assist him in training the new generation of Dragon Riders?

4. Speaking of new Dragon riders... Does the green egg hatch? The green dragon is on the cover of the book so it should! But to who? I kept thinking it would be Arya because her magic was green (I think. So I sort of hoped it would be her). What happens with the other eggs?

5. Who becomes the new ruler of the Elves? Arya? It doesn't seem to fit with her as the new ruler.

6. Does Arya finally give in and wed Eragon? Is she the royal person from his fortune? She should be. It can't be Nasuada. That wouldn't be cool at all.

Hmmm what else???

7. I have a feeling that Nasuada will become the new ruler of the the humans. At least I'd hope.

8. I guess the last thing I can think of and the one thing I want to know the most. The one thing I would settle for in place of all the rest is WHO EXACTLY IS ANGELA?! Will everything about her even fit in 100 pages? I would guess not. Hey Christopher, how about a Angela Trilogy? or The Adventures of Angela and Solembum! PLEEEEEEEASE :D

New Blog Soon!

2011-11-24T20:42:00.001-06:00

I've been planning a new blog with a couple other people. I hope that it will be up and running soon. I'm pretty excitied about. I think it will be a lot of fun to do. I've never done a group blog before.

SKYRIM!

2011-11-13T23:04:00.001-06:00

I have Skyrim and the last book in the Inheritance Cycle and the new Stephen King book.

Inheritance (the name of the fourth book) has been amazing so far. I really didn't expect anything less. The entire series has been great. I finished a chapter and had to go to work which sucked because something happened right at the end of the chapter that is HUGE and I wanted to keep reading but couldn't. I will probably go read that after I finish with this.

I have yet to start the new King book as I am reading the other I just mentioned.

Skyrim. Is. Amazing. I had to work all day the 10th and got to Gamestop at about 6pm to wait until midnight. I got home and set up to play around 1am and played until 730. Slept for about 4 hours and then played more. Its a gigantic improvement over the last game in the series. (which was also amazing. so Skyrim is even more amazinger!)

I love the dual wielding weapons, spells, staffs or a combo of them. I am a Wood Elf ______. No class. There aren't any "classes". Everything you do goes toward you leveling up. So if you are a pure warrior and decide to start using some magic in combat that will help level you up. I like it that way. In the older games most of the skills didn't add to your level. So it was like getting better at those skills yet it not benefiting you as a person.

And of course dragons and dragons shouts. Find the words on the word walls. Kill a dragon and absorb its soul and use that soul to "unlock" the word to use the dragon shout. I have 4 dragon shouts. Only one has all 3 words in it. And I've fought maybe over a dozen dragons and killed 10 or so. The others ran away. They knew what was going to go down!

The "kill move" animations are fun too. Sneak up behind someone and you'll stand up, grab their head and cut their throat. Or in regular combat you may stagger them or something and then stab them in the gut or chest.

I'm also in the dark brotherhood. (the assassins guild) Now that's some fun!

There really isn't much more for me to tell you (well there is actually a billion billion things to say). You should go get the game and experience it for yourself. You won't be disappointed. I promise!