Movie Reviews

Well, I have decided to start reviewing the movies I have watched. I won't right now, but that is because I am just being too damn lazy at the moment (plus, it is late at night, and I really need to learn to stop just writing things at the moment, and actually planning out my posts and tweaking them, making them look nicer before I post)

I have not quite decided exactly on the rating system yet, but I will tell you that I am partial to the five star system, so it will likely be derived from that. However, I am seriously considering segmenting my ratings, as I feel I am unfairly too nice to movies if I go with a strait five star system (I tend to just say screw it, and enjoy the movie for whatever it has to offer...as such, there are very few movies I really did not like, such as Thinner, which I felt was absolutely abhorrent). I just need to decide on what categories I want to use, and how I want to use them (i.e., all categories have five stars, and overall rating is an average, or maybe that the categories have nothing to do with the end rating...I don't know yet)

Anyway, I have already been composing a list of movies that I am ready to review. Some of them are new (or relatively new), and some of them I only saw just recently. For instance, I watched The Ref for the first time tonight, so I am adding that to the list, even though it is, what, ten years old? (BTW, I'm giving it at least four stars...I was laughing all the way through it)

Well, that is all for now. Cheerios!

Note: The picture of the helicopter has nothing to do with this post...I just thought it was funny (and a little scarry)

My Two Miniatures

As promised, here are the miniatures I have painted so far...I painted another this weekend, the one on the right. The left one was my first. So, here they are, in all the embarrassing detail.

Front

Back

Could have done worse, though. Plus, they were relatively cheap...I used the lowest quality ones I found first, figuring I would save the better pieces for later when I get better. I will post them, too.

200th Site Hit!

Yes, it is, and it took less time than my first hundred. I guess people are catching on?

To celebrate, I am posting a picture I had a friend take of my fiancée and me. I am obviously the one in the front, and we are each holding up two fingers to symbolize both peace, and two hundred hits.

Isn't she just so cute?

To Paint A Miniature

Okay, the other day, I was talking to a friend of mine from work about Dungeons and Dragons, and the subject of miniatures came about. I have never been a fan of them, myself, but I was interested in his take on it. Then, he showed me his collection of miniatures, all of which he had paid to have hand painted. I tell you, they were beautiful! So, I decided to get some, and was toying with having someone paint them, but when he told me how much his friends would charge someone else (since they don't know me), I decided that I would save my money.

Then, I thought how cool it would be if I were to paint these myself...you know, pick up a few cheap ones and some paint to practice on, and the last two days, I have been doing just that. Then, tonight, I decided to try it on one that I had found two of, which looked like a warrior angel, complete with sword and wings, and I started painting it. Just to give you an idea, it has been at least ten years since I have painted anything that wasn't a wall.

And it came out all right. The only thing I was disappointed with was the eyes, as they look like blue smudges, but the thing is so small, it is virtually impossible to do that right, even with a brush as fine as the one I found.

I would post pictures, but the camera I am using is not focusing nearly well enough on their fine details, and most of them came out blurry. I will have to work on that (or buy a better camera).

Well, that is all for now. Check out Of Liberal Intent, as I have posted another over there, and I am hoping that soon, Fool on the Hill will come around to posting a short article...however, The Fool is rather busy, so it might be until next week.

Anyway, that's all I have. Hopefully, I will have the camera issue resolved by tomorrow.

And, tomorrow, I am introducing a friend to the true delights of Fuddruckers, the home of the World's Greatest Hamburgers!

Damn, am I a geek, or what?

Addendum: Upon looking at it further, without the eyes of just having seen it up close for an hour and a half and noticing all the flaws, I have to say that I feel I did a damn good job, considering that it is my first! Will definatly post more about it soon, especially if I paint another between now and then (I want to...I really want to)

The Random Thoughts

For a lark, I decided to do a search for my blog on Google, just to see what else would pop up. Putting it in exactly got my blog on top, also showing the blogs and pages that link to here. What I found interesting is that only one other blog has used my name in the past. And I thought I was being original. Fortunately, she apparently stopped using it early this year or late last, if I follow correctly, when she decided that she was a trans-gender. She/He now has a new blog titled "Call me Jack-off". Strange person, but probably not that much stranger than me, so I pass no judgment here.

Many use the rather un-original title (apparently) of "Random Thoughts" by itself. There are two exceptions that I have found so far: "Random Thoughts of a Demented Mind", and "Random Thoughts of a Confused Mind". I have not really read through either of them much, but Confused seems to be about a guy's perspective on relationship (which I think most would agree does tend to fall into the category of "Confused") and interrelations of male and female, while Demented appears, at first glance, to be a rather interesting blog that, as advertised, is both random and demented, by an East Indian(I think) doctorate of computer science who works in Washington D.C.

Well, at least I know, as of now, that my blog title is unique (as long as you consider that the other one was retired...hell, when I came up with the name two or three years ago, I thought it was original! I only now get to use it!).

On the other hand, my other blog, Of Liberal Intent, does not show up as a blog title ANYWHERE! Not even on the blog itself! The only reference to it that Google finds is on THIS blog! Maybe it is just too new, I don't know. Anyway, it did pick up about 34 other references to the title in other context of normal political articles.

Anyway, that is my random thought for today.

Cognitive Distortion

I have been going through some of the pictures on Cognitive Distortion lately, and I found something I actually liked better than my old desktop wallpaper. They are far too large to insert as pictures here, so I will just include links.

Here is my old wallpaper, and here is my new one.

As you can see, I like the dichotomy, the darkness and light, appearing in the second as a sort of yin and yang, and in the old one as forgiveness. In that, the old one, I feel it is a way of saying that there is no true black and white, that there is beauty and truth if you are willing to look for it.

Anyway, I have added a link to the site itself on the side bar, and it is also linked on the title of this post. It has some of the most interesting wallpapers that you will find, as well as a slew of different pictures from all over the spectrum, from nature to cars, from landscapes to 3D fractals. Try it out, it is worth the look.

"It Really Whips The Llama's Ass!"

Ellie asked a question in a comment about Winamp. I didn't stop to think that not everyone knows what Winamp is automatically. So, I will give a brief description of it for any who are interested in checking it out who have not yet heard of it.

Winamp, simply put, is probably the best all around free music player for a PC that I have yet tried. I am a fan because it has a great interface that is easy to use, and includes balance, equalizer, playlist, enqueue and lots of other stuff that I have yet to try out. I think it can also pick up "pod casts" which are supposed to be audio blogging. Mostly, though, I have one folder with all of my favorite music, closing in on 40 hours worth, along with each one of my CDs in their own folders, and Winamp is the controller and player of all of it.

With that new skin, it has become all the more wonderful, and a lot more pleasant to play with and look at.

So, all it really does for me is play my music. However, it does it with style. And, that it plays my music is a REALLY big deal to me (I love my music). If you love your music and like to listen to it on your computer, it is a lot less intrusive than Media Player (plus, it really whips the llama's ass).

Well, that is your (semi)random thought for today.

Note: Both this and last post's title bars are links. This one leads you to Winamp's website, and the other leads you to the skin I am using. I recommend reading about it yourself from the site. They will do it more justice than I will.

This Is The Coolest Thing! Seriously!

Well, Winamp told me to upgrade tonight, so I did. While there, a skin they were showing called Anunaki caught my eye, so I thought, what the hell? When I downloaded it and installed it, I thought, no way. This little oval will never work. But, I played around with it for a moment, noticing that the picture looked different than what I got, so I was curious...and found that that was one of four modes! One of the modes was this flattened thing that just looks awesome, and it fits perfectly at the top of my screen! Sure, I will have to get used to it, and sure, I will have to learn where all the buttons are (it's going to be hardest that the equalizer and playlist will no longer be automatically open), but I will get over it, because this is a truly great looking skin. Hell, it even has a clock available! That's great, too, because I have my taskbar auto hide (to give me that quarter inch extra space on screen) and I like to see the time without having to go to it.

This, my friends, is a great skin, and if you use Winamp, I recommend it. Granted, I have only had it for less than ten minutes, but I have a good feeling about it. I think it is so cool, I even made the title of this post a link to it, if you are interested in checking it out. Do it.

(Note: In case you weren't sure, the one on top is the one that I am now using. Also, I figured out that there are lights you can turn on, and you can set them to strobe to the beat of the music! I'm geeking out over here!)

Of Liberal Intent

I have finally done it. I have made my first post to my new blog, "Of Liberal Intent". Click the title of this post, and it will take you there, where I wax about how labels are a bad thing, most notably "Liberal" and "Conservative".

"Go Ahead, Ignore Me"

Click the above picture to check out the latest article by Robin Buckallew, one about how the environmental problems are coming to a head. It is a good read, and somewhat scary. Everyone should read it.