It Must Be Some Life, Seeing All Those Different Places...

This is Spartaaaaa! Actually, this is a suburb of Sparta, just outside the city. It's a quaint little neighborhood, really, but technically, the Spartan highway patrol doesn't have jurisdiction here. But, hey, we support the Spartan troops and King Leonidas is always welcome here. He stops by every now and then for a pint at the local pub...

Oh, what the heck, why not... This Is SPARTAAAA!!!!!

OK, I'm making the obvious 300 references because tonight's post is, in fact, my 300th post this year. Aside from that well-publicized and -hated 5 day break I took back in the Spring, I have blogged every day this year. Only 65 more to go... after that, hey, you all are on your own! I'll be gone, man, like a Snickers bar. Gone like the last soda in the fridge. Gone like my paycheck. Gone like my sanity long ago...

Knowing me, I'll probably finish up on Dec 31st by saying, "Oh, what the heck! I'll do another year, for old time's sake!" And you'll all be "NOOOOO!!!!!" And then I'll be all "MUAHAHAHAHA!!!!! Mine! You're all mine! I'll not let you go! MUAHAHAHAHA!!!! Hundreds leave, a handful stay, only one looks back!!!"

Here's a jaw-dropping papercraft castle a Japanese artist created for a papercraft exhibit in Tokyo...

Love the multiple LED settings... each color gives the "city" a different look. It even has a working model train built into it. There are more pics and a story about the exhibit HERE. You have GOT to go check it out. I can't imagine one person taking the time to create such a thing - out of paper, no less! Dang...

Speaking of insanely creative Japanese artists, here's another wild one for you - these are not photoshopped. This lady actually combines sculpting and hair styling...

So, the next time you're pondering a new hair style, consider some of these. You can see more pics and some info about the artist in this article. Beauty is a cruel mistress, is it not?

Things are moving along swimmingly in my preparation for my NaNoWriMo novel. I wrote a synopsis of the novel on my author page on the nanowrimo site, and added Havah as a "writing buddy" today. I'd love to add Logan and Crystal as buddies too, as well as anyone else out there that is participating this year that might be reading this. If you "search" under authors for DLWagner, you'll find me. Then "add" me as a buddy, and I'll return the favor. Then we can form a mutual admiration society! Think of the parties we'll throw!

Here's my synopsis, if you're curious for a very general storyline set-up...

Synopsis: The Council of Six: Book One (Untitled)

The Council of Six is a group of six benevolent wizards that rule the land, each specializing in a specific facet of magic. The time has come once more to rotate out the oldest member, sending him or her to the Great Beyond, and to rotate in a new replacement. This is the way it has always been. The rotation triggers a Day of Renewal for the world. Every four centuries, a rotation must occur.

For their own amusement, when the Day of Renewal approaches, the Council will traditionally fabricate a "quest" to depose the Head of the Council, and hand-pick a quest party from among the people of the world to "defeat" him, as though he had gone evil. From the conquering quest party, they choose the person who will join the Council as the newest member.

400 years ago, the Head of the Council decided he didn't want to rotate out, leaving the world, but to stay around for another term... so they had the quest fail. Without the Day of Renewal, things have slowly deteriorated in the world -- but it made things more interesting and challenging for the Council. The Day of Renewal approaches again, and the Head Councilman has decided to stay for yet another round without rotating out, with the full support of the Council again.

Something will need to be done to force him out...

That's the best I could do and keep it brief. There's a LOT more going into the story, as many of you that have heard me drone on and on about it in person already realize. Word of Warning: In conversation, don't ask me about the novel if you don't have a half-hour or more, because once I start talking about it, it's hard to stop... the more I ponder it, the more I want to add to it. In fact, just today I figured out a cool way to write Jayson and Keno into the story... OK, that's good. Now, just let him suffer...

And now, the Puppy Whisperer...




Are you going to make me sleep in the tub again?

Finally! Borderlands releases today, after getting inexplicably bumped a week from it's 10/21 original release date. Hopefully, Amazon will ship it to me today or tomorrow, or I will pout like the schoolgirl that I am. Actually, there's another game releasing today that I'm pondering buying from Steam for $20, and this might be of interest to you Bob... it's called Torchlight, and it's an action RPG by the creators of Mythos, Fate and Hellgate London (actually, before that, the two head dudes worked for Blizzard on both Diablo 1 and 2). Their website is HERE, and a nice review of it is HERE. Reminds me of a more cartoony Titan Quest. If I give it a go, I'll review it here.

Todayve in History: October 27
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- October 27, 1682: The city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is founded. (Remember that "no gun" rule? I reconsidered!)

- October 27, 1904: The first underground New York Subway Line opens up. (I took a plane, I took a helicopter, I stole a boat!)

- October 27, 2009: Borderlands finally releases, making Dave happy. (Actually, I just needed a third item to list here... two just ain't enough...)

Among those celebrating birthdays on October 27 are: Theodore Roosevelt (1858), Sylvia Plath (1932), John Cleese (1939), John Gotti (1940), and Matt Drudge (1966).

Pardon me while I continue to cater to the gaming nerds among us for a moment... here's  an XKCD comic...

I hate to admit it, but I got a good, solid chuckle out of this comic today. I checked the meter afterward, and yes, it did legitimately register as a good, hearty chuckle. This could either be a good thing or a bad thing... Angel of Music, you've deceived me! I gave you my mind blindly!

OK, I guess that about does it for my 300th post! Hope there was an item or two that you were pleased to let pass through your brain pan on its way to your mental recycle bin. Until tomorrow, remember, to face God's foes is an honor. I've come to drive this evil out...