Surviving another year...

Well, my birthday just passed recently. It was actually on Black Friday, which was kinda odd. It made the day a little bit more colder and paler than usual. The weather is definitely getting colder and it reminds me of the good old days back in Utah. Growing up, the fall and winter seasons were always the best for me. Now, living in a desert, the winters are extremely cold. I don't know where I was going with this post. I just noticed that I haven't posted in awhile so I decided to let some thoughts ramble. Hopefully, I'll have something more interesting to post soon...

A Hurricane In Eden.

A long time ago, there was a time when everything was right. Well, not completely right, but as close as it was going to get. And, of course, I was fine with it. And then, some little 3-lettered pest stuck it's head into a place it didn't belong. Once inside, it spread like cancer. Attacking all forms of entertainment, I watched as everything slowly dissolved and was reborn with a fresh new coat of paint. Suddenly, everything I knew was gone. Nothing was right. I was a stranger in my own home. One thing managed to survive this onslaught and remained hidden for many years. This little jewel, this survivor remained untouched and unsung. Until, it found me. Thinking all was lost, I marvelled at seeing a friendly face in a world of strangers! It came back to me! To help me, to remind me not all was lost! It's back and I owe it years of repayment.....but the beast is back too. The monster who took over knows that there's a survivor and it intends to kill it. It's taken so much already and it wants this last one to satisfy it. It's my last wall of defense. The one thing that's keeping me sane. I can't let this one go or everything will truly be lost. Eden isn't drowned out just yet...

Local, local, local, local...

Soooooooo....this is a bit of old news because this happened about 2 and a half weeks ago. My friends and I went to a local SSFIV tournament and it was awesome! I did end up in 25th place. 25th. Out of 37. It's pretty bad. But, whatever, it was fun to play and meet up with all the SF players. Fun, fun, fun!! Other than that, like always, not much has been going on. Just a bunch of random stuff. Random conversations with customers at work, co-workers, myself, players of the PSN, and myself. (Did I already say that?) But, it's been quite the month. Crazy, crazy stuff!

You're gonna need a lot more than that...

Soooooo....last Friday, I got caught in between 2 trucks at work. My left leg was crushed in between the two rear bumpers. Hurt pretty bad. Had to go to the UMC and now I'm out of work until this Thursday. It was quite an experience. I wanted to go back to work but the Doc says I have to go back to check in first before I go back. This was quite the adventure. Haha. Crazy, crazy.

No more pencils. No more books.

I've been out of school for a little over a month now, and I gotta admit, it's hard trying to find a job in the field. I've just been making mock flyers, posters, videos, and whatever else jumps in the think tank. Of course, I love photography. I usually use some photograph in my work because to me, it adds a breath of fresh air to the design. Lately though, I've just been blank. Seems like it's gonna take forever to break into the industry. I like the fact that I can do freelance work and just do my own thing instead of someone else telling me how to be creative. I've gotta a lot of idea scribbled on many pieces of paper floating around my apartment. Along with the crazy rants my brother and I have, we have a lot of stories to tell. So many ideas, so much to do. So much to do...

A Reclusive Tourist.

Today, I was out of the house almost all day. We left our apartment around 10 and barely got back like an hour ago. We tried out this burger place I read about called Smash Burger. It was really good! Definitely going back there! By this time, we met up with our friends Maria and Jeff. After eating we all went to the park to hit some softballs around. We were there for about an hour. When we were set to leave there, we headed out to a hole in the wall bar. We played some pool and a game of darts! Darts was really fun! After that, we headed back to out part of town, and went to the pinball arcade. While playing there, my brother and Jeff were challenged by two kids. They wanted to play team air hockey! Of course, my brother doesn't step back from a challenge. My brother and Jeff destroyed these kids! Five games to ZERO! It was awesome! (I got photos and video as well.) After about two hours there, we went to the bookstore. Just chilling, reading some comics. After the bookstore, we just drove around for a bit. Just cruising the nighttime scenery. And then we got back, played a couple of games of SSFIV, and now I am tired! Long day. Fun day.

I love Star Wars...

This is one of the coolest things I have ever seen!!

EVO 2010 Day 2 and Day 3.

And the winner is Daigo 'The Beast' Umehara. Last year's reigning champ defended his title with a win over Ricky Ortiz. It was a hell of a fight. A lot of people showed up for the finals the last day. The ballroom was packed full of gamers and tourists! It was some of the most fun I've had in quite some time. My friend Jon (rebelWithoutaclu. For all you PSN gamers out there.) and I were there all 3 days. We got there Friday around 8:45 AM and didn't leave until around 6 that night. On Saturday, my brother (the1pariah. Again, for all you PSN gamers.) joined in on the gaming fun. Saturday was mostly Tekken 6 but it was still a lot of fun. And the last day was all the finals for all the games. The first ever women's invitational Super Street Figher 4 tournament was awesome! It was amazing how good some of these girls were! But, the finals in Super Street Fighter 4 took the cake! People on the edge of their seats watching all the players catch their opponents in ultra combos and having the room erupt in cheers! It was a glorious time! I have video and photos that I will upload soon. Good times, good fun! I also managed to pick up a Tournament Stick controller even though I was a little reluctant at first. But it was a special price for the EVO crowd so I had to buy it. I saved $40 so it's all good with me! I'll upload soon, so until then, play a game or a few!

EVO 2010 Day 1.

Awesome, awesome day! Arrived at Caesar's Palace around 8:30 AM and we didn't leave until around 5:00 PM. Very fun! Got ALOT of photos and some videos. Got some official EVO Tournament shirts and some other goodies. I'll get to posting the photos and videos soon. Tomorrow is Day 2 of the tournament and I'll will be down there again watching the fights!

Star Wars, Air Hockey, Street Fighter, and The Death of Superman.

Just got back from another visit to the Pinball Hall of Fame Arcade! No matter how tired, or how bad I'm feeling, this place always brings my spirits up! I got a new high score on the Star Wars game and while playing air hockey, I avenged two of my losses on to my bro. Although, I did lose a game to my friend Jeff. Good times! Even though I was extremely tired from work, these games always bring me back to life! Also, I managed to get my hands on a copy of The Death of Superman! Gotta love Doomsday! One of the most baddest super villians ever!

Guardian Angel.

I was walking home from work on another scorching day in the desert. The weatherman claimed it was to reach 115 degress in my neck of the woods. When I walk home, I always pass an alley way that the locals have named, 'Bum Pass.' Some call it 'Bum Canyon.' I prefer the latter. It's not a canyon really. 'Bum Canyon' consists of two walls, a sewer entrance, ketchup packets, and probably about 6 homeless men and women. Usually, the first homeless person I see, I give them my tips for the day from work. Today, it only happens to be two bucks. My guardian angel, gently gliding along near my shoulder, always made fun of me when I did good.
"You know he's only gonna save that two dollars until he has enough money to buy some drugs, right?" Angel said.
"Well, whatever makes him happy. What do I care?" I replied.
"You care a lot. I know you do." Angel said.
"Well, why do you ask these questions when you already know what's going to happen?" I asked.
"Because you never seem to understand why you do it. In my opinion, you were born too late. You should've been walking around with Jesus preaching about God." Angel explained.
"What do you think I'm doing now? I'm walking. I just helped someone. What more do you want?" I said.
"Let's pretend for a brief moment. Indulge me, if you will." Angel said.
"Go on. I'm all ears." I replied.
"OK, you're driving down a busy street. Cars are zooming by. In the middle of the road, on the median, there is an injured kitten. Do you stop or keep on driving?" Angel asked.
"Well, I guess I would stop and see if the kitten is alright."
"OK, so you stop. Now that you've picked up this poor, little, cute bastard, what do you do with it? Take it home or to the animal shelter?"
"I....would take it to the shelter."
"Why would you do that?"
"Because I'm sure there are plenty of animal doctors who know a lot more about the feline anatomy than I do."
"OK, you take the kitten there. The kitten is brought back to full health, gets put up for adoption. But, no one wants the kitten. It sits there for a couple of months until, uh oh, it's time for kitty to go. The doctor plans to put the kitten to sleep due to over population in the shelter. Poor little kitten is soon injected with a lethal dose of pentobarbital. Kitten falls asleep never to wake again. Never again to cheer up the long faces of children who came by the shelter. Never again to play with a ball of yarn. Never again to eat petrified cat food out of a styrofoam bowl. Never again to embrace a full breath of sweet, fresh air. After all you did to help this kitten, it still ends up with wings and in cute, kitty heaven. So, why did you help the kitten in the first place?"
"...I don't know."
"Because you, my little friend, no matter how hard you try to play the bad boy image, do in fact, have no horns, but a shiny, glowing halo above your head that sometimes shines almost too bright."

ERRORcast.

For quite some time, I've been thinking about making short films. I have written scripts in my spare time and some for assignments for class. (The War of a Thousand Names.) But, the point was that I wanna start filming these short films and produce them to put them up on here or my YouTube channel. Even if they're like podcasts that are once again just updated nonsense, I think it would be fun to do. I have a lot of extra time on my hands when I get home from work, so I thought, why not? It would keep me busy. I think I'll try and put something together just to get everything rolling.

Master Dialogue.

One thing that I love about movies is the talking. Conversation between characters, very fast paced dialogue, soliloquies. I find films with dialogue driven plots more interesting. Example, Clerks written by Kevin Smith. Brilliant, excellent film! Definitely one of my favorite films! The talk about life, Star Wars, milk, porn, are perfect in Clerks. I can watch that movie over and over. Another is one of the classics that everyone should know, Pulp Fiction. Drugs, gangsters, dancing, bible quotes, and disposing of a dead body engulf this film! Pulp Fiction is yet another film that will go down as one of the greatest films ever, and it deserves every second of it! Guy Ritchie films are another one of my favorites. I just recently watched Rock N Rolla and, god damn, is that one HELL of a movie! Snatch, Lock, Stock, and Two Smokin' Barrels are also equally good. All three films have perfect dialogue! Brilliantly written! The Exorcist. I once read that William Peter Blatty, the author of The Exorcist, said that he would rather frighten audiences through mental terror rather than visual impact. I always liked this because, in the movie The Exorcist, there are some scenes that are just plain, outright insane. The crucifix scene, the projectile vomit scene, the x-ray scene, and even the deleted spider walk scene. But, to me, it was always the conversations between Reagan and Father Karras that terrified me. Talking to a demon through a little girl's body is pretty high on the terror scale. And at some points, supposedly talking to the devil himself. Very good film, very scary. But, one movie that I believe flew under the radar to most horror film fans, was The Exorcist 3: Legion. It's a very good film and almost good as the original. The first film barely edges out the third, but I still love the latter. Of course, it's the dialogue that makes my mind imagine all the demons and spirits that are roaming the earth. Here's a clip of a conversation between the main character, Detective Kinderman and Father Dyer, from The Exorcist 3. Enjoy!

Good Evening, Ladies And Gentlemen!

Well, well, well! Just got back from the Pinball Hall of Fame! Always fun! Playing Star Wars never gets old! Well, as promised, here are a couple of photos for all your eyes to gaze upon! Enjoy!



Here are a few games that always stand out to me when I play at the arcade.

All my friends know that I'm a huge fan of horror films and this is a damn hard game!

Awesome game, awesome movie!

This was a good movie! (I was walking by this machine and I was distracted by another game and I ran into it! I bruised my hand!)

You have now crossed over into the...

Love these old school movie monsters!
...
...
...
...and now the baddest, biggest, greatest pinball in the arcade!!


STAR WARS!! Very fun game!! Awesome animations!! Perfect game!!

I got some more photos that I'll upload soon.

The Pinball Hall Of Fame.

Sooooooooo.....I read about this place a long time ago in a local independent newspaper. It's a huge collection of classic and fresh pinball machines. By classic, I mean ancient. Some of these games are back from the 60's, 50's! I love it! Being a gamer myself, playing these pinball machines is like going back in time, going 88 mph through my childhood! Along with these classic pinball games, they also have shooter games, tempest (One of my faves.), Mario Bros., Pac-Man, and even Punch-Out! I'll get some photos up soon!

Yard Sales And The Secondhand Store.

I have to say many thanks and praise to my mother. Back in the wonder years, when I was a little child running around playing 'guns' with the neighborhood kids, my mother had a hobby of going to yard sales. Living back in Utah, in a beautiful little place called Brigham City, yard sales were like a huge deal. I mean, you had a yard sale, the entire city would come. My mother would go searching through other people's old junk to find that one decorative piece to complete the kitchen scenery. Of course, being a mother, she always had us kids in mind. She would bring back toys or random books for us. Again, I have to thank my mother more than anything because she is the reason I have a huge interest in movies and literature. I remember one day, after a long afternoon of combing the city for yard sales, my mother brought back a movie for us. The movie was, 'Throw Momma From The Train.' The film starred Billy Crytsal, Danny Devito, Kim Greist, and Anne Ramsey. Danny Devito also directed the movie. To this day, this is one of my favorite movies. My brother and I can also quote this movie line for line. Of course, when we bring these references about the movie up in conversation with our friends, they have no idea what we're talking about. But, this is how my love for movies started. My mother drove all over the city, picked up random movies, brought them home, and my brother and I just soaked them up. As well as movies, my mother brought back books for us to read. Although my brother didn't take liking to the books, I absolutely loved them. I remember poetry books she would bring home and I would carry them around with me when I would go outside. Everywhere I went, I had a book with me. It started out with Dr. Seuss books and then it evolved into Poe's story about a razor wielding monkey. My mother started it all and I just took the idea and ran with it. Ever since then, I've had a powerful lust for movies, books of all types, art, and photograpy. All this brought up by my mother digging through other people's 'junk' and finding gold.

Road Rage? What's That?!

Soooooooo....I was driving home today from work, and I almost got hit by a car. Some guy driving next to me, on the phone by the way, as well as not using his turning signal, and not checking his blindspot, started pulling into my lane. I jerked to the left and honked my horn. And in that very second, I was actually mad. I've never been mad at anyone before while driving because to me, road rage is stupid. It's pointless to be yelling at someone who you most likely won't ever see again. Especially if nothing major happened. But, this guy's disregard for even checking before he changed lanes, got me upset. I'm gonna be honest. I was mad. But, it lasted all of about 3 minutes, and I was back to normal. Thank god for the Deftones.

One of those days...

Well, ladies and gentlemen of planet Earth, it's Father's Day. To all the fathers, enjoy it...

Ghost?!?!!!??!

I love this scene from this movie! Awesome!

"I got ICY-HOT in my truck."

Hurt my back at work today. For some reason, my boss Rob, keeps calling me, 'Gramps' even though he's almost 5 years older than I am. Anyway, I hurt my back at work. I pulled something because it hurts to breath and my back is in constant pain. Not that it matters because my list of injuries from work related accidents continues to grow. My pinky finger is still numb from when I smashed it awhile ago. Hehe. The point of the story is, my boss makes fun of me because I hurt my back. Hahaha!

Chronic Daydreaming Syndrome.

When I was walking out of the bookstore, a lady from some children's organization came running me down, yelling about some tax deductible donation. "If you do this, I can give you this, blah, blAH, BLAH, BLAH!" I had no money at all and said to her, "Sorry, I got no cash." She glared at me and walked away. "Hey, I'm sorry I can't donate to your cause that YOU probably have no idea about! I'm sorry I don't have money to just give away to some stranger!" I yelled back at her. She kept walking away while glaring back at me. I got in my car and started it up. I was about to drive away when I noticed the lady in my rearview mirror running toward my car. I was amazed that she wanted to continue this minor dispute. She then leapt up onto my car and broke my rear windshield! She cackled and screamed at the top of her already inflamed lungs, "I have the power to end you! I will take my legion and my lightsaber to the ends of this earth! I will stop you!" I stepped out of my car and realized that I already had my lightsaber activated and in the Sith Shien Reverse Grip stance. "I don't want to hurt you, little girl. But, I will do what I must." I announced. Then my phone rang. It was my mother. "Hey, are you still coming over for dinner tonight?" I was sitting in my car, realizing that I often daydream a bit too much. Maybe I should go to the doctor...

Snowflakes and Shrapnel.

I was at the bookstore today, just browsing. I found a book, I don't remember the title, but it was about a soldier in Afghanistan who's job was to train the soldiers of the newly formed Afghan Army. I guess it was a blog he wrote that he published after coming home from a yearlong tour in Afghanistan. I found it extremely interesting, the detail he put into his writings. His writings had a lot of acronyms, military talk that I had to keep referring back to earlier pages to understand what he was talking about. Whenever I read about soldier's experiences in war, it always gets me thinking. About how their lives change heavily after going through war, combat, losses, and traumatizing experiences. Another book that I love that also is about a war experience is the book Jarhead by Anthony Swofford. I have to admit that I watched the movie first before I read the book. I must say that I enjoyed the book a lot more. Anyway, back to the earlier book, through all his accounts of training the new soldiers, he also had a lot of photos. Two photos stuck out for me. One was of a mountain range covered in snow. Whenever I see or hear about the soldiers fighting in some foreign land, I always picture a desert wasteland with dilapidated buildings, fires constantly burning, gunfire, explosions, and innocent civilians running for cover. Seeing that photo of those mountains covered in snow, somehow transformed my entire outlook. What they show us on the news isn't the entire picture, I know that, but just realizing that the war is constantly ongoing while we all sit here in our own country taking it for advantage makes me feel a little uneasy. I don't support war at all, but there are many soldiers out there right now who would love to be sitting in their own home, typing on their laptop, listening to music, and just being as far away from the carnage of war as they can. But...they're not. They're out there far from home and fighting a war that no one has a interest in anymore. So why are they over there? I don't know. The second photo was of a suicide bomber. All it showed was a blast impact and some pieces of his body scattered across a desert road.

...blah, blah, blah.

You know for some reason I can't stop listening to MIA's 'Paper Planes' song. It's too catchy. Been playing through my laptop all day. Damn! This song is crazy! I love it!

!?!

In class right now.

Working.

Working.

Working.

Working.

Working.

Sip of Rockstar.

Working.

Working.

Working.

Working.

Working.

.N3RD.

Sooooooooo.....I was at work today, and my co-worker/friend JT asked me, what he thought would be a simple question. After finishing up some paper on the vehicle we just worked on, he came over to me and asked, "If you could be any character in Star Wars, who would you be?" The very first thought that went through my mind was, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. You can't ask me a question like that?" But, of course, I actually said to him, "Star Wars? OK, are we talking about just the movies, or are we talking about alternate universes as well?" JT knew, right then and there, that he had opened up the flood gates on an ocean of N3RDC0R3. It was a tidal wave from which no one was going to survive. "Ummmmm....I don't know." JT said. I said to him, "Well....I don't think my N3RD1N355 allows me to answer that question."

I have to tell you though, if I had to pick a character from the entire Star Wars Universe to be.....
....I'd pick Lord Starkiller.

N3RD5 UN173!!

What Was That?

A jealous God taking a person from the earth for His own keeping. Seems strange.
Anyway, I suggest to whoever reads this, that you pick up a copy of Dante's 'Vita Nuova.' You will not be disappointed. Very good read. It also completely obliterates the idea of love from today compared to love way back in a land far, far away...

Hallucinations In The Desert.

The Las Vegas scene is getting quite illuminating. I know that people travel from all over the world to see this place, but when you live here, it's not so 'cool.' The only thing that keeps me from going crazy in this 'Sin City Wasteland' is constantly being busy. Be it taking photos in the pouring rain, or staying up until the sun rises, listening to some nice old, reggae music, roaming down on The Strip, acting hog wild in front of tourists, writing on a wall, finding 'hole in the wall' restaurants, playing pool in some foggy, smoke-filled bar, going down to Caesar's Palace to see the kids fight for Atlantis for the 468th time, questioning the crazy, militant, protesting Christians in front of The Bellagio, drinking an unstable amount of Rockstar and Dr. Pepper, going scavenging at the local dirt mall for our favorite NES and SNES games, trying to find a parking spot at the dirt mall, giving money to a homeless person, tipping the workers at Ross J's, being called 'The Blue's Brothers' by a kind waitress at IHOP.......and especially waking up in the morning to start it all over again...