Well, I Think Your Shirt Just About Says it All...

Welcome to another episode of Dave's Swirling Maelstrom of Random Nonsense! Actually, that's not a bad title...

Well, today, I answer the question that's been tormenting you for far, far  too long, I'm sure. The question being, "Dave, can you beat a Godlike bot in 1-on-1 deathmatch in the original Unreal Tournament, using just the enforcers?" The answer is, yes, I can. In fact, the final score was 12-4 in 1v1 on the map DM Hyperblast. Finally, at long last, I am worthy of your love and respect. Odd that it would take that to earn it, but hey, it just goes to show you the lengths to which I will go in order to secure it.

Hey! I have 23 followers now! How cool is that? Well, now that I'm over 20 followers, I can demand higher rates for my services. The increase in fees will be reflected on your next month's bill, pro-rated, of course. Remember, blog subscription fees are tax-deductible and payable in small denominations only, preferably Euros.

OK, fine, you can still read the blog for free, sheesh!

Hey, now that I have such a vast sea of followers, I should open up and share a little bit about myself... Hi, I'm Dave, I'm a goof and I have gas. I like to read and write, I play PC games and I have a rather wide religious streak, so don't mess around in here or I'll preach at you! Oh, and I know the Bible too, make no mistake. Me and Jesus are like *this* (Dave crosses fingers), so just behave, mind your language, wear clean socks and everything will be just fine...

And now, a Funny Picture...

Yeah, yeah, I know... my humor sometimes crosses the line a bit, I'll admit it... still, the first thing that enters my mind when I see that picture is, "Where's my skateboard! I want to skate that handrail!" I don't mean to brag... but I'm the greatest! Yeah, right... if I tried to hit that rail, I'd likely end up like this guy...



Umm.... ouch...? As long as he gets his medications, he's fine...

Speaking of wheelchairs, check these designs out...

I'm not trying to be insensitive; I realize there are tons of people relegated to life in a wheelchair. I'd make everybody whole if I could. I just think it's cool when people have the attitude that they are going to take something that some would let beat them under, and turn it on its head and say, "You know what, if I have to be in a wheelchair, I'm going to design the most kick-butt wheelchair ever..."

The article over at Dezeen has a couple dozen more wild and awesome designs, if you want to take a peek. They have video too...

And now, Star Wars: Episode 1 in 5 seconds...



Glad I could help...

I started a new book a few nights ago, and it's pretty darned good so far... A Shadow in Summer, which is the first in a 4-book series by Daniel Abraham called the Long Price Quartet. Has a couple really cool concepts so far... one being that conversation is augmented by certain poses you can make to express certain emotions and things - as in a pose of agreement, or a pose of inquiry or a pose of apology - which furthers the conversation as though words were spoken. Quite cool. But the cooler concept is the idea that the ultimate warriors are poets that harness the power of certain abstract concepts by wording them in a truly unique way - as though the concepts contain power that a warrior-poet might wield. Apparently, the power can be lost, and then it becomes more powerful... if a poet wants to capture and harness the power again, he/she must create a unique way to capture it with words... if it isn't truly unique, the poet is killed in the attempt.

Anyway, I'm only about 50 pages in, but it shows tremendous promise. I'm excited to see what the author is going to do with the concepts...

If you enjoyed Rotten Tomatoes article I linked to the other day on the 15 Best Movie Gunfights, then you might enjoy another article on Hollywood.com called 10 Killer Movie Assassinations. Of course, it includes the embedded movie clips, so you can watch them if you wish. They've got scenes from Wizard of Oz, Return of the Jedi, The Godfather, Apocalypse Now and others...

And in related news, The Writer (over at The Writer's Notebook) is currently in the process of listing his Top 25 Favorite Movie Scenes, if that sort of thing floats yer boat. I used to do a video-blog feature here, several months ago, called These Are a Few of My Favorite Scenes that basically did the same thing, except I video'd myself talking about the film and the scene, then showed the scene itself. I did a bunch of them, and then, as is my custom, I lost interest and moved on to something else... if you're curious, hey, you know where the blog archive is... that was back when I was into video editing... now I can't even put together a camp slideshow...

Todayve in History: October 16
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- October 16, 1793: Marie Antoinette is guillotined. (I hate a tight hat...)

- October 16, 1875: BYU is founded in Provo Utah. (It's now called BYOB...)

- October 16, 1923: Walt Disney Company is founded by Walt and Roy Disney. (Why do I get the feeling you're doing me a really big favor?)

- October 16, 1946: Nuremberg Trial defendants are executed. (War is show business, that's why we're here!)

- October 16, 1995: The Million Man March occurs in Washington DC. (Drippy little things, moving along, about a foot off the ground.)

Among those celebrating birthdays today are: Noah Webster (1758), Oscar Wilde (1854), Michael Collins (1890), and Tim Robbins (1958). 

I remember reading a gigantic book on the Nuremberg Trials back in 1995... I remember it because I had it with me in the delivery room when Daughter #2 was born, lol. The author researched it thoroughly, and then decided to write the thing like it was a novel instead of yet another phone-book sized work of non-fiction. That was back when I practically lived at the library... anyway, I used to be able to name all of the defendants in that trial... hey, you never know when that question might come up in a trivia game or something! I was armed and ready with the info, just in case! Now I can't... do you pity me? You do? You pity me? Well, then, my job here is done.

But before I go, here's a White Ninja comic...

I'm off like a light-switch. If I don't come back, tell mother I love her. Until tomorrow, remember, you stand up even when you're all alone... you stand up!