Living With Rogues and Druids

by Pam Ripling

WoW. And I was going to talk about Pong. Your parents-grandparents?-will remember: black screen, two white paddles (actually, two little bars that only move up and down), one blip on the screen that was supposed to look like a bouncing ball. Prehistoric man’s first video game.

Instead, let me tell you about Daniel and James.

Daniel is my son. He is also a Druid, who spends several hours weekly immersed in the World of Warcraft, or WoW, the biggest, most successful MMORPG ever. Oh, that’s massive-multiplayer-online-role-playing-game for you noobs out there. And that word massive? An understatement. Get this: there are over 11.5 million druids, priests, mages, warlocks, hunters, shamen, rogues and warriors subscribing to this fantasy franchise universe, landing WoW in the Guinness book!

Role-playing games are certainly not new. Think Final Fantasy (Square Enix, 1987, for Nintendo), an early RPG that holds seven Guinness World Records. What makes WoW different is that it spans all platforms and is played exclusively online, worldwide. “Old time” gamers will remember playing Warcraft: Orcs & Humans way back in 1994; World of Warcraft was announced in 2001 but not released by creator Blizzard Entertainment until November, 2004.

But back to the Druid in the corner bedroom. This character is also a healer, and he is part of the Alliance. (I, of course, immediately conjured up Luke Skywalker, but he said that wasn’t right.) He is part of a “guild” – a collection of players that meet (either in person or online) in real life and form a sort of a team that always play together. They will even talk to each other with headsets while they play. Dan, er, the Druid, can shape shift, too. Some nights, his guild goes on raids, attacking other dungeons and collecting various gear and other cool stuff to help them progress to higher levels (there are 80 in all!) These raids can last for hours, and it might take a typical player a year to reach that 80th level.

Did I mention James? Okay, he’s in the other bedroom. Or, uh, a different guild, that is. He is a Rogue, and he plays for the Hordes. The tough guys. The black hats. He is sometimes a Troll, sometimes a Blood Elf. This is because, of course, Blood Elves can be Paladins but Trolls cannot. (Didja get that? If you didn’t, Wiki has lots more confusing facts and info on WoW.) As these warring brothers actually “play” in different but identical worlds (okay, “servers”), they rarely have to attack each other, which is a big relief to me.

So what's the big deal? Well, for one thing, it's not GAME OVER if you die. You just kind of become a ghost, wander around a graveyard, find your body and get resurrected. And of course, there is no end to WoW: it's a perpetual, ever-changing world of endless possibilities and new challenges.

I’m not there yet, but I suspect when I am done gathering gold coins for Mario and Luigi, I will find myself wandering around Azeroth, trying to avoid the Wrath of the Lich King. Maybe I will be a priest or a shaman. Mage sounds good. What about you? Horde or Alliance?

Pam Ripling is the author of middle-grade mystery, LOCKER SHOCK! Buy it at Quake, Fictionwise or Amazon today! E-book version now available for your Kindle! Visit Pam at www.BeaconStreetBooks.com.

Internet Issues Resolved??

Today the Time Warner tech guy came over. I of course was at work but Harry was there. The tech guy did his thing but after he was finished he informed Harry that he couldn't find the problem. Regardless of him finding the problem whatever they did worked and our internet is free flowing.. Download speed has tripled and our upload speed, though slower then Nov., has improved to reasonable speed. So we're not sure if it's fixed or not but Harry is happy that it's working... so I guess this story is to be continued...

Working on Notes

Last night I got notes from Kim and Felicia on two of my Guild BTS DVD Extra piece. So this morning before work I took an hour to work on some of them. One piece was on it's 8th pass so the note were very minor and took no time at all to do. The second piece was on it's 3rd pass so there were a few more notes but I did manage to get them all done before I needed to get to work. Tonight I plan on outputting the two completed pieces and start working on the third and final piece. Of course this is the plan but my plans normally don't work out... but will see.

Wharf

Well this is my first contribution to the Art for Animals blog.

His name is Wharf and he comes from the Hout Bay based organisation, DARG (Domestic Animal Rescue Group). I don't know very much about Wharf, but from his name would imagine he was found wandering round the docks.

DARG have a policy of never putting a healthy animal down and as a result, there are a few dogs and cats who have been staying at the centre for some time. Wharf is one of them, a sweet faced eldery dog who is looking for a home to retire to. Hopefully my little painting will help him find his 'forever' place in the sun!

Talkin' Bout My Gaming Generation

What does an older lady like myself think of gaming today? I’m so freaking jealous, that’s what I think!

In my middle school yearbook, my best friend Kerry Lannaghan wrote that she hoped I got better at PacMan. Yep, the biggest game of my middle school life, though I preferred Centipede far more. Of course I had to walk half a mile and have a pocket full of quarters before I could play!

This is a timely blog theme for me though. I spent most of the night playing Resident Evil 5 with Dustin, my sixteen year old. First-person shooter games aren’t my forte, I prefer Fable and Spyro, but Resident Evil 5 rocks! My first Resident Evil game, I was surprised when the movie clip became interactive. Yeah, the zombie bikers killed me the first time around.

The graphics these days far outshine anything I ever played at Dustin’s age. Ever play the original Donkey Kong? I can’t get the theme song out of my head for weeks after I hear it, which is way annoying. Maybe better though, than watching VH1 reality television and playing Left 4 Dead, then falling asleep and dreaming zombies attacked Brett Michael’s Rock of Love Tour Bus!

The difference between my generation and my son’s is amazing. Imagine all the fights over Playstation 3 being waged for a Cabbage Patch doll. Can we say lame? I’m so stoked to see what’s going to be the gaming system of choice for my grandchildren’s generation. Maybe something like the virtual fighting match in the movie, The Island.

What’s your gaming story? Favorite series and system? What games have you beaten and which ones were the hardest?

J.R. Turner is the author of the Extreme Hauntings series. The first book, DFF: Dead Friends Forever is available at Amazon.com, Kindle, Fictionwise, and Echelon Press.com

TV Night

Tonight I took a break from The Guild BTS to try and watch a bit of TV that is starting to fill up on DVR. I'm about three episodes behind on Heroes, Lost, Legend of the Seeker and a few episodes down on Dollhouse, Amazing Race and Extreme Home Makeover. So tonight I was determined to watch a few of those shows to clear some room on my DVR for this weeks TV that I will be missing. We managed to watch a few things but we still have a ton to watch.. one of these days I'll get caught up.

Internet Issues Continue

I got an email from Time Warner saying something like the problem with the slow internet can't be fixed on their end that they have to send a technician to come out to the house to fix it.. so I called this morning and after several different people and about a half hour on the phone I made an appointment for a tech person to come out tomorrow from 10am to 12pm to fix the issue.. now I just have to wait.

It's Gaming Week

We've officially declared this gaming week at Teen-Seen! Quake authors this week will post about their experiences with video games, rpg, game systems, etc.

And what better way to kick off gaming week than with a book about the adventures inside the game!

Visit and comment on each stop of this blog tour and be entered into a drawing for a $15.00 Gift Certificate for Quake.

This is where M.K. Scott has been:

March 23--Life as a Publisher launches the Blog Tour for author M.K. Scott. Discover who M.K. Scott is and what Zamora's Ultimate Challenge is all about.

March 25--Candid Canine Michele will be blogging about her writing companion- Java.

March 26--Cynthia's Attic Discover the story behind the story of Zamora's Ultimate Challenge.

March 27--Marta's Meanderings : What exactly is M.K. Scott's "Novel Project" and how does it involve middle school and junior high kids.

And where you can find her in days to come!

March 30--Drey's House : M.K. Scott talks about the differences between writing children's fantasy versus adult mystery

April 2--Booking Mama and Cynthia's Attic How does a multi-genre author balance a big family and writing and TWO blog stops in one day!

April 3--Beth Fish Reads Find out what one Tween thought after reading "Zamora's Ultimate Challenge." A special interview.

April 4--Teen Seen Come on back to give your thoughts on the debut Blog tour for Zamora's Ultimate Challenge and see what goodies you could win.

So, if you've ever wanted to dive into a game like you do a good book, tell us what you think about what makes great rpg's translate into books or movies!

Rochelle
Quake Editor

Java Green

We need to talk about Java Green. I have days where the only thing that gets me up and brushing my teeth is a promise to myself: You can have JG for lunch. The phone number is saved in my cell, and I often call from work to pick up lunch on my "way" to school (OK, it's three blocks out of the way--like I care).

I'm not a vegetarian, but I used to be. But I'm still recovering. That makes me susceptible to cravings for fake meat products (some of you may think this is super weird), like the orange chicken from JG. Although JG isn't vegan, they have everything available to make your meal vegan (like soy cheese instead of the real thing).

You know I'm not a fan of just a sandwich, or just a salad. I like a bunch of things all mixed together (or at least in the same container or on the same plate). That's why Java Green's RICE AND BEYOND is the best thing ever. First of all, rice is just one of many things, so it's a lot more BEYOND than rice.

1. Slaw-like cabbage/carrot
2. Green veg (kale, maybe?)
3. Purple rice
4. Jobche noodles - these clearish, happy noodles have a little bit of heat!
5. Surprise! Sometimes "meat" on a stick, sometimes a little potsticker
6. Topping. This is your protein, people. I'm a HUGE fan of the orange "chicken."

JG can be a little expensive, but they love the Earth (with their fancy recycled and recyclable containers and utensils) and this food will fill you up. I don't know about you guys, but I eat a turkey sandwich at Potbelly's (skinny wheat, turkey, lettuce, tomato, mustard = 4g of fat) and need a snack in a few short hours. And it's great that Potbelly sandwiches are cheap, but for $11 (or $9ish if it's a daily special) that Rice & Beyond will last me hours and hours. Depending on the size of my breakfast, I've stretched the old R&B to be lunch and dinner, followed by a late snack.

We'll see if my obsession continues into the spring. I know part of the cravings is the whole "hot bowl of steaming happiness in the freezing weather" thing. Yummmeeeee.


Java Green
1020 18th St NW
Metro: Orange and Blue Lines to Foggy Bottom or Farragut West; Red Line to Farragut North

More Editing

Since my of my Saturday was busy with Harry's BBQ and then Streamy Awards I didn't get much done in Editing of The Guild BTS DVD extras. So I knew today I need to kick it up. I have finished one piece and was about halfway done with a second. I really wanted to finish the second and at least get halfway done with the third. But the second piece took a little longer then planned. I had gotten up at 8am and only took two breaks (lunch and dinner) and didn't get done until around 11pm. After that I was so tired and my hands and fingers were killing me. I had been in front of that computer for 15 hours. But I finally got a cut done and sent it off to Felicia and Kim for notes.

I then started on my third piece. I spent the next two and a half hours pulling interview bites. It was now 1:30am and I was too tired to continue so I called it a night. All the prep work is done for the third piece and know all I have to do is cut it together and find cover shots. I'll have to work on it at night when I get off work but I hope to have it done by Thursday night.

Then the weekend Felicia will be coming over to my place to do one final pass on the three piece, we will lock them and then I can uprez and do final outputs to send to Kim on Monday and this part of the Guild craziness will be over and I won't lie.. I am looking so forward to that.

TNG on Family Guy

I stopped for a half hour to watch this very special Family Guy which reunited the original cast of Star Trek The Next Generation.

Some of my friends were disappointed with this as they have be heavily promoting this with clips of the TNG stuff. But the TNG/Stewie storyline was a very minor B story. And the Meg/Brian Religion story was the A story. But both Harry and I laughed out load at all the TNG pieces and loved every minute of it. Of course it would have been great if the episode revolved around the TNG story but what they did give us was hilarious.

Steamy Awards

Tonight was the first annual Streamy Awards (Oscars for Webseries) and The Guild and Legend of Neil are both up for awards. I had worked on the second season of both webseries. Felicia Day was kind enough to get me a ticket for the show tonight but with Harry's BBQ which we planned a month prior and my deadline for The Guild BTS DVD stuff I opted out and instead watched it live online.

As I watched and read reports of folks who were there I kind of was bummed. If I wasn't so crazed I could have planned things out better and might have actually been able to attend.. but oh well I'm sure The Guild will be up for more awards next year and I'll be able to go. So instead I enjoyed watching it live and reporting on tweeter what was happening.

The Guild came away with three wins. The first one and I think one of the better ones as it's encompasses the entire cast "Best Ensemble Cast" of a webseries. Next Felicia Day won for "Best Actress" in a Comedy webseries and finally the big upset, The Guild was "Best Comedy" webseries beating out the favorite and many many award winner Doctor Horribles Sing Along Blog. I was hooting and hollering at my computer screen I was so happy. The Guild may have lost out on some of the technical award to Dr. Horrible but it won some of the biggest and top awards. I'm very proud to call the cast and crew of The Guild, friends and know all their hard work paid off.

PS... Felicia Day was up for Best Writer of a Comedy Webseries and the clip they used was the one where I am a Bum on the streets from Episode 3. I almost fell out of my chair to see me on the huge screen. How cool is that.

Harry's Birthday BBQ

Today was Harry's Birthday BBQ. Ever since we moved into the house we have had a birthday BBQ as we have a great backyard for entertaining. We had a nice group of friends and family show up. We had some delicious hot dogs and hamburgers and all the sides. It was a very low key and nice party. I woke up earlier that morning in a panic because I forgot to bake his birthday cake the following night. But everything worked out great, cleaned up the house, which Harry did most of the night before, and prepped all the food and finished the cake. Everything was a success. Thanks to all those who joined us.

If you’re reading this teen blog, then I’m about to do what’s called preaching to the choir. If you want to save this country, read a book and learn to write well. Reading and writing are what teachers like to call “inter-related” skills. They are also activities that, if you can master them, you can do just about anything else in the world.

Study after study shows the U.S. has fallen behind in the world as far as academics. We’ve also taken some hefty hits in how we’re viewed by other countries if you choose to believe some of the news reports. The way to get all that back is through reading and writing.

When emailing became popular (and later text messaging), some people claimed that because they are “writing based,” these activities would help raise our standards. Sorry, but writing “R u here?” is not literature or even informational beyond a point.

If you want to understand peace, read about Ghandi. If you want to understand the need, yes need, for war and violence sometimes, read Machiavelli. No text message will ever explore love the way Shakespeare does in a single sonnet. No character better personifies hate than Dickens’ Mrs. Haversham. The Diary of Anne Frank shows us more about the horrors of the Holocaust than any history lecture, and Across Five Aprils not only tells us the background of the Civil War, it also takes us into the living room of a family torn apart by it.

Reading and writing may be life skills, but the things you can learn reading a book are life lessons. They will teach us how to treat each other and everyone else in the world. Save America. Read a book.

Internet Issues

Lately Harry has been cursing at his Mac in German, never a good sign. He's been really upset at our internet connection. But my thing was.. well what are you going to do... Time Warner sucks but unless we go with a DSL service which is known to be slower then cable or pay way to much money for a T1 line we are stuck with the TW service. But tonight I noticed that things were running rather slow so I tested our internet speed and found out On March 28th 2009 we are getting 4.89 mb/s for download and a unheard of 0.06 mb/s for upload. And back on Nov 22 2008 I tested my internet speed and found I had 9.83 mb/s for download and .97 mb/s for upload. Download cut in half and the upload speed is 1/16th of it's speed. I knew something was wrong as we are still paying for the high speed service. So I emailed Time Warner and asked what the heck is going on.. so now I wait for a reply.

This Blog Has Been Hijacked!

My name’s Gus. It’s really Augusta Lee (after my grandfather, Augustus Leander), but if you aren’t looking for a kick in the shins, you better call me Gus.

Nope, I’m not a teenager, yet, but I’m almost there and I’ve been reading Teen-Seen for awhile and feeling a little left out. I’m up to here with Zamora’s Ultimate Challenge. So what if a couple of kids are sucked into a video game? And puh-leeze spare me anymore problems with those annoying Pixie Chicks. If you're Searching for A Starry Night? Not gonna find it here, so go dig somewhere else, Petey.

Like it or not, I’m hijacking this blog for the day. So there.

BFF, Cynthia, and I grew up together on the same sycamore-lined street. We even sat in the same baby carriage (See pic.)

Guess who’s who. Hint: I’m not the one squalling my head off. (I swear I didn’t pinch her!)

We took dancing lessons when we were little, and had to wear these awful tutus. I cringe thinking of our first (and only) recital when we had to dance and pretend to water crepe paper flowers with pink sprinkling cans, but I did learn the value of taking bows!

Still, I would’ve been much happier in jeans and a t-shirt playing baseball in the neighbor’s vacant lot.

We did have a lot of fun, though, especially exploring Cynthia’s awesome attic.

I’ll never forget the rainy summer day we discovered “the trunk.” It looked pretty ordinary when we first opened it. Ya know, dusty, smelly (I’m starting to sneeze just thinking of it!) old clothes. Just your usual old-trunk-in-attic, look. But, looks can be deceiving as we found out the next time we opened the trunk and were sent back in time to 1914!

I’m here to tell you that Cynthia and I have had some strange adventures and met some cool people in our time travels. Ancestors, including our 12-year-old grandmothers, a ghost-kid named Louis, a gypsy named Gabriella and Blackie, a bad-breathed clown, to name a few. But, if I have to pick a favorite (I know, I know. Nobody said I had to...but I am ‘cause this is my blog. Today!) it would have to be Mud Bug, our old Louisiana Cajun guide. He not only saved our lives on a couple of occasions, he has a very unusual talent. Would you believe he can...Hey! I’m not gonna tell you that! Read Curse of the Bayou and find out for yourself!

Read the Cynthia’s Attic series and find out why I’m so *popular.*

Who's your favorite character? Hmmm? Me?

Your new BFF,
Gus

P. S. I will not give up control of this blog until a ka-zillion Curse of the Bayou books have been sold!

Discover the Magic in Cynthia's Attic
Amazon

Happy Birthday to My Husband

Happy Birthday Harry

I Love you very much

Editing Guild BTS and KOTG Microcast

Today after a horrible day at work I came home and started to work on the edit notes that Felicia had emailed me earlier. I managed to get one of the pieces done and I think it's almost ready to do. But the other piece was going to take a little more time and it was already 11pm so I opted to hold off on editing that and moved on to editing our next Microcast of Knights of the Guild podcast. Stayed up to a little pass midnight.

Eat Healthy or Eat Junk, You Decide

With obesity on the rise, eating healthy has become one of our nation's buzzwords. The problem is that many of us don't really know what that means. Do you?

Those thing that you don't usually pay attention to growing up - calories, fat, carbs - do matter.

The book, "Eat This, Not That," is an eye-opener on what some of us eat without even knowing it.

Yeah, unfortunately, the old thing about consuming less calories and exercising more, really does make sense. That cheesy burger looks good, but if you aren't active, it does catch up with you. Guess what girls? That gut hanging over your jeans or that stomach bulge in that tight shirt really isn't attractive. The same goes for guys.

Here's a short quiz on food choices. Can you make the right choice? Read more about some of your favorite restaurants and foods here.

What's better:
A Bagel with cream cheese or a cheese omelet?
B Fish sandwich or chicken sandwich?
C Fruit smoothie or shake?
D Dried fruit or fresh fruit?

Answers:
(Learn more about the foods and see a list of the top 14 non-healthy health foods)

A Surprise! That take-out bagel can have at least 700 calories and tons of fat! The omelet is a little over half the calories.

B Lean protein wins. That fish can make up nearly a third of your day's calories.

C Get the fruit smoothie but use whole fruit and plain yogurt instead of ice cream unless that's all you want to eat for most of the day.

D The problem is the sugar put in a lot of packaged foods. Fresh fruit is healthy and has no added preservatives or sugars.

Star Trek TNG on Family Guy

I heard about this a few months ago but Fox has up a preview of the upcoming Family Guy that features the entire reunited cast of Star Trek The Next Generation. I have watched this clip over and over and I laugh out loud every time. I can't wait till this Sunday and watch the entire episode. Check out the preview here.. you won't be sorry.

Poste Moderne Brasserie

I apologize in advance that I forgot my camera and only have phone photos for you. It is my submission that a not-perfect picture is better than no picture at all in most instances, so that's why I'm sharing.

I'd been eying Poste for a long time, and we finally made our appearance there before A Chorus Line. I didn't realize they had a pre-theater menu (it wasn't originally offered to us, despite our 6:00pm reservation), but when our server realized we were on our way to ordering a three-course meal she suggested that option. We never actually saw the pre-theater menu, but she told us what was on it. Both of our appetizer option were on it, but J ended up with not-his-first-choice (but still yummy) entree, and I gathered that all of the desserts were available. Let's do a hit list.

French onion soup: Yum. Hot. Cheesy.

Arugula salad: It says "mint, figs, basil, parmesan, aged sherry vinaigrette," but I saw and tasted a pile of arugula dressed with the sherry vinaigrette with approximately 5 pieces of fig underneath, topped with a single 3 inch shred of parmesan. Gathered on one side of the plate, the clump of arugula resembled a pile of leaves. It was fine, but it wasn't that good, and the presentation was underwhelming.

Beef bourguignon: J enjoyed the ribs and cheeks served in a little pot with soft roasted vegetables (including fingerling potatoes). The meat was so tender that we barely had to chew, which was relaxing.

Goat cheese ravioli: I looooved this, with its crispy shallots, organic beets, and pine nuts. The goat cheese was creamy and sweet, and the salty/sweet contrast in the dish was exactly what I love and what I was looking for. The portion was dainty, so I'm glad we were on a three-course track. Next time I'd like to try the poussin (baby chicken, essentially)--the words apple and cider appear in the description, so that's an obvious pick for me.


The gingerbread cake with roasted pears was the night's biggest disappointment. The cake was dry and generally not good; I honestly prefer J's homemade spice cake (and the man is no pastry chef) to what was on our plate. The pears were kind of dry, too. They could have used a little bath in something gooey, maybe.

The red velvet cake was GREAT! It was like having two chocolate brownie-like cakes, one covered in delicious raspberry sauce, and one naked. Our server recommended the tasting of salted caramel and the red velvet, but how was I to know that what she possibly meant was "these are the only good desserts"? I felt confident that those were just her favorites, and that I'd like most of the desserts on the list. Not true. Then again, at Central D was assured by our server that the Kit-Kat Bar is better than the chocolate lava whatnot, and that's probably not true.

Wine: I asked our knowledgeable server for a recommendation for a glass under the "Eclectic Reds" list and got a really really good Malbec. The list had a range of options, including very reasonably-priced bottles and half bottles.

The restaurant is in an old building, and somehow that translates into the closest bathroom being out the door, through the hotel lobby, and up one floor. Don't drink too much and limit your visit to one. Also, somewhat amusingly, the elevator has a typo--it lists floor 2 as the one with "Post Restaurant."

I'll definitely go back to Poste--not only for the main meals, but also for the delightful afterthoughts (like white chocolate-covered gooseberries).


Poste Moderne Brasserie
555 8th St NW
Metro: Red, Yellow, and Green Lines to Gallery Place-Chinatown

Where's Ms. Scott?

Today the blog book tour for Zamora's Ultimate Challenge continues at Candid Canine! Author Michele Scott will visit with host Christine V about Java - Michele's dog!

This is great because dogs of all kinds are near and dear to my heart! Java's a Rhodesian Ridgeback (a sighthound) We've had retired greyhounds (also sighthounds) for 18 years and as a family we have successfully assisted nearly 20 foster dogs on their way from the race track to happy homes. The dogs are just one component of my domestic zoo, but they keep me happy and make the best reading, writing, and walking buddies.

I know I'll love Java as much as I loved Zamora's Ultimate Challenge. The book tells the action packed story of two brothers who love video games, but now they have to get inside one to rescue their sister! Packed with fantastic challenges and incredible dangers, the boys must conquer their fears (and some deadly beasts) before their sister is lost forever.

Oh! Michele just launched a contest! Buy Zamora's Ultimate Challenge, write a review, and you could win a trip for two to San Diego! How cool is that!?!

So follow me over to Candid Canine for a healthy dose of dogs, plus all the inside info on the amazingly talented Michele Scott and her new release, Zamora's Ultimate Challenge!

Happy touring!
Regan Black

Learn more about Regan and her books at her website or at Quake.

Emma

This is Emma. She was my friend and companion for 8 years before she went to doggy heaven 6 years ago. She had bone cancer and when she broke her leg, there was nothing the vet could do for her. I miss her still and get a little teary eyed when I look at her inquiring expression.

She discovered squeaky toys late in life and this little pink one was HERS. It seemed to be the only one that wasn't destroyed, maybe because it was a little bit spiky.

This painting of Emma is also my warm-up for Sheila's Art for Animals blog. I need to take photos and get down to painting the unwanted dogs that people throw away. Watch this space!

Daily Booth

There is this new and cool social network called Daily Booth. If you are aware of You Tube there have been quite a few videos of folks who take a single picture of themselves every day for a year and then play them back to back. This is the same kind of idea but it's crossed with facebook/twitter. You take a photo of yourself everyday and share it with folks who "follow" you. My friend Jenni has been doing for for about 10 days and it's funny seeing the different pictures she takes everyday. So I figured it might be fun and signed up. You can see my first picture here Geekyfanboy

8000 Visitors and More Editing

Today our Knights of the Guild website http://knightsoftheguild.podbean.com has just hit it's 8000th visitor in a month and a half. I'm so happy that folks seem to enjoy the podcast that Jenni and I work so hard to produce.

On another note I continued to edit The Guild BTS pieces for the upcoming DVD. It's alot of fun but very tiring as I only have time to do it after a long 12 hour work day and stay up till 1am every night. The good and bad thing is it will be over in a few weeks as all the pieces are due then. I'll keep you posted on news of The Guild second season DVD and when we might be seeing for sale.

Knights of the Guild on Twitter

Tonight I opened a Twitter account for our Knights of the Guild podcast. Seems like I have alot of folks, almost 400 people and I'm sure the majority of them are following me because they are Guild fans, which is fantastic. So I figured it was time for KOTG to have it's own following. So if you Twitter you can follow our podcast at @KnightsofGuild or if you want to follow me on Twitter you can find me at @geekyfanboy

Reading with Teens

As the electronic era has taken hold of today's society, people have begun to read less and focus instead on other activities, such as playing videogames or watching television. Yet, reading still employs a great sense of wonder and amazement as the reader engages in a new adventure each and every time he or she enters the world of the author's story.

There are many options available, not only to discover new and exciting books to read, but to discuss the story with other individuals and gain new perspectives on a story that had seemed to only have one angle to it before. A book club can offer new opportunities to find a new favorite book or to even learn new facts or opinions concerning a book that you thought you knew everything about. You can check out your local library to see if they have a book club that would be good for you to join and discuss the chosen book.

Reading can open many new doors, so why not go and pick up a book to read today!

Alyssa Montgomery
Author of Where Are You? and Mr. Mysterious

Happy Birthday Gerda

Today is my Sister-in-Law Gerda's Birthday.

Hope you have a wonderful day.

Alles Gute Zum Geburtstag!!!!

Foodie Visitors

Readers, I need your help. We have foodie friends coming to visit in April. We want to show them a good time, aka, we want to eat everything in the world. These foodies are like us: whether they're served an amuse bouche or passed some delicacy from a street cart, these guys appreciate good food. And I'm not sure when these friends were last in the District. They may not be familiar with certain D.C. fair (I'm talking about chili dogs, people).

We need to be prepared for a Friday night or Saturday arrival, and both good and bad weather. As much as I'd like to feel confident enough to say "brunch then walking around Eastern Market," I know that bad weather would make that sad. Yeesh, even August heat makes that itinerary depressing. My poor sister almost melted a couple year's ago because I insisted that we LOOK AT ALL THE PURTY CRAFTS.

Where would you take your food-loving friends to eat? What do you think of my ideas?

Here are some of my ideas:

Ray's Hell-Burger
Ben's Chili Bowl
Farrah Olivia
Cafe Atlantico dim sum brunch
Matchbox (Capitol Hill) brunch (so long as we can also have burgers)
Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse (for the movie/schtick of it, not the food)
Dairy Godmother
Boccato Gelato

ZZZzzzzzzzzzzz

Have you ever watched the first few weeks of a new season of American Idol? You know, when the wackos and people who couldn't carry a tune if they had a wheelbarrow full of violins all come out of wherever it is they are hiding and go on to bludgeon our eardrums.

Yeah, that show.

Anyway, as a semi-addicted watcher of the show - well,more like husband of addicted - it amazes and horrifies me when someone stands in front of judges and a camera representing a few million more, and then the whole country learns that the someone doesn't have it.

And what's 'it' you ask?

A tape recorder?

Well, yeah, that too. But the 'it' I was referring to was the talent for singing. The ability to have his or her lungs push air up the trachea, and through pursed lips in a manner that pleases other people rather than causing them to clap their hands to their ears in pain.

And half the time this same person, after basically assaulting our auditory senses, doesn't get that they sound like a cat with its tail caught under a rocking chair leg. They think they sound good.

And I, for one, believe them when they are shocked that America can't believe they are the next coming of Wham ... no, not Wham ... Fleetwood Mac ... no, not them, either ... um Dave Matthews. Yeah, we'll go with the DMB.

The reason I give them the benefit of the doubt is because for a long time I truly, sincerely, honestly thought I could carry a tune. What changed my mind? Well, my singing voice put three people in the hospital, caused the entire population of South American llamas to stampede and my own ears to go on a hunger strike for a week.

Not really. I listened to myself on a tape recorder.

I can't tell you how horrified I was when I first heard myself snore, er, sing. Well, the snore-tape was shocking, too.

But, more than shock, I was dismayed. For music is important to me, and I would like nothing more than to be able to participate.

It's a talent I don't have. I blogged about this last week on my blog, www.fangplace.blogspot.com because my wife and daughters do have the talent for singing. i don't.

Fortunately, I have other talents, talents that others might think are pretty cool.

But I think this is true for every human out there. I think each and every one of us has a lot of talent. Maybe the talent is something subtle like being able to balance a coin on the tip of a finger. Or maybe you don't know what your talent is because it hasn't had an opportunity to surface yet.

What if you were a poor child somewhere who would never know you'd be a concert pianist if only someone put a piano in front of you?

Talent is like a dog. It doesn't care what you look like, and once you have one, it's yours forever. But talent has to meet opportunity, and if you don't think you have any talent, I believe it just hasn't been discovered.

And it's getting late and I have a talent for something. I can fall asleep within five minutes.

Watch...

ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzz



Norm Cowie
www.fangface.homestead.com

More Editing of Guild BTS

Seems like all I every do now is Blog about Guild stuff. But it is what is consuming my life now... with The Guild DVD and The Guild Podcast.. so here is more Guild stuff.

After watching BSG finale I started working on the two BTS pieces. I had done notes on one and sent my 5th pass to Kim and Felicia for finale notes. Then I spent the rest of the day editing the second piece. It's a slow process as I string out the interview bites then have to sift through 60 hours of footage to find the right shot that could cover what the interviewee is talking about. Around 11pm I was spent.. I wasn't feeling well and I could barely keep my eyes open. I intended to stay up to 1am like I have the past week but just couldn't do it.

Still have two weeks to get these pieces done.

Zamora's Ultimate Challenge Blog Tour

Visit and comment on each stop of this blog tour and be entered into a drawing for a $15.00 Gift Certificate for Quake.

March 23--Life as a Publisher launches the Blog Tour for author M.K. Scott. Discover who M.K. Scott is and what Zamora's Ultimate Challenge is all about.

March 25--Candid Canine Michele will be blogging about her writing companion- Java.

March 26--Cynthia's Attic DIscover the story behind the story of Zamora's Ultimate Challenge.

March 27--Marta's Meanderings : What exactly is M.K. Scott's "Novel Project" and how does it involve middle school and junior high kids.

March 30--Drey's House : M.K. Scott talks about the differences between writing children's fantasy versus adult mystery

April 2--Booking Mama How does a multi-genre author balance a big family and writing

April 3--Beth Fish Reads Find out what one Tween thought after reading "Zamora's Ultimate Challenge." A special interview.

April 4--Teen Seen Hop on over to give your thoughts on the debut Blog tour for Zamora's Ultimate Challenge and see what goodies you could win.

Battlestar Galactica Finale

Well before I started editing my Guild BTS I wanted to take two hours and watch the final episode of Battlestar Galactica. It aired on Friday night and was dying all weekend to see it.

It was a two hour and 11 minute roller coaster ride. Just when you thought it was over, it sped up and twisted. I enjoyed the ending. It was kind of like LOTR ending. There were many endings. they had a lot of story lines to wrap up

Some of the highlights:

Roslyn saying thank you to the Dr... this is when I started to cry. The fact that he was about to break down did it for me.

Loved seeing the old and new Cylons battling together.

The Galacitca crashing into the Cylon ship was beautiful. Then when it did it's final jump and looked as though it was going to break apart.. so good.

Adama saying goodbye to the Galactica.. very moving and a fitting end to that awesome ship.

When they did the montage of the ships flying into the sun and you hear the original BSG music.. gave me chills.

When Adama and Roslyn say goodbye to Lee and Starbuck.. that's when the water works began and they continued with the Adama and Rosyln scene in the shuttle, then she dies, then Adama puts his wedding ring her.. just thinking about scene brings tears to my eyes.

So many good things. They still left a few unanswered questions that fans could interpret different ways.

I was so happy to see that they showed up a few days after they reached "Earth". And the idea of present humans on Earth are decedents of Hera the Cylon/Human hybrid.. which means we all have a little Cylon in us.

All in all it was a fantastic ending to one of the most dramatic and woderful series I have ever watched. I'm very sad to see it go, but enjoyed the wild ride it took me on.

One of the best watercolourists whose work I follow slavishly, has deemed me good enough to receive this award. Mineke Reinders is an incredible artist and I am honoured that she included me in her award list. The award was designed by Kim Ratigan who is an extremely talented animal and wildlife artist. Visit her blog for a look-see.

Now, I need to pass this award on.

Just because you love to create fabulous works of art -

Marian Fortunati - who always makes me laugh
Carol Hadfield - because I know how much she loves to paint
Di McNaughton - who loves life and art and is so generous with herself
Sanjeev Joshi - whose watercolours I love and because he also loves cricket
Jean Lursson - a fabulous watercolourist with links to SA
Sheila Tajima - who gets so many awards I thought I'd just slip this one in
Cathy Gatland - simply because you need to check out her blog

There are so many people out there who I'd like to pass this on to, just because your blogs are so wonderful to read and are also so inspirational. All you really need to do is go to my blog list of friends to know who I think deserve this award.

To those I've linked to, in turn you can link to the person who gave you the award, pass it on to 7 other bloggers whose work inspires you, and list 7 things you love. Or not.

The 7 things I love? Oh ok.

1. The changing of the seasons

2. All animals including cats, rats and bats, but most especially, dogs and horses!

3. Watching a good rugby game especially when our side wins!

4. Staying in the countryside.

5. Reading a well written book - current favourite is The Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith - check it out.

6. Quiet me time.

Ok, that's only 6, but I guess the 7th one would definitely be sitting in my little back room, painting!

Guild Stuff All Day

Today I had several folks come over to my place so I could shoot some pick up questions for the BTS pieces. It was great seeing some of the Guild folks, it's been a few months since we all hung out.

After the reshoots Jenni and I actually interviewed them for our Knights of the Guild podcast and had some very fun and entertaining conversations with them.

We finished with all that stuff around 3pm. I then started working on editing one of my BTS pieces for The Guild DVD. I'm actually working on notes for one and starting my second one.

I just wish I had more time in the day. I finally finished in the wee hours and went to bed. I hope to finish both pieces by tomorrow night.

Jared's Birthday Party

Today my friend Jared had his birthday party at our house. Since we have such a great backyard, he ask if he could have his party here. Of course I said yes as I was actually going to offer our place. So he got here around 5 with his girlfriend and they began to set up. I got home from work early around 6 and the party began around 7. There were about 20 or so people and it was alot of fun. It was cold but we had an awesome fire using our brand new fire pit. We had beer pong but first you had to get your "prom" picture taken with Jared. It was really fun night and everyone seemed to have a great time. I got to see alot of my Guildie friends including Felicia Day and I met some really cool friends of Jared's. I'm super tired but it was a fun night and worth putting off watching the series finale if BSG, season finale of Clone Wars and a new episode of Dollhouse.

Nerd, Geek or Dork Test

Your result for The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test...

Pure Geek

35 % Nerd, 78% Geek, 35% Dork

For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.

A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.

A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.

You scored better than half in Geek, earning you the title of: Pure Geek.

It's not that you're a school junkie, like the nerd, and you don't really stand out in a crowd, like the dork, you just have some interests that aren't quite mainstream. Perhaps it's anime, perhaps it's computers, perhaps it's bottlecaps, perhaps it's all of those and more. Your interests take you to events and gatherings that are filled with people you find unusual and beyond-the-pale, but you don't quite consider yourself "of that crowd." Instead, you consider yourself to be fairly normal.

Thanks Again! -- THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST

Y3 Mother's Day cards.

Y3G have been making Mother's Day cards this week and we showed them in our sharing assembly on Friday. We also foud out how it was that Mother's day began way back in the sixteenth century when maids and servants were given the day off to visit their mothers!

The Importance of Helmets

With the tragic news of Natasha Richardson's freak accident and untimely death, I'm reminded of the importance of helmets (bicycle, motorcycle, skiing, contact sports).

I don't know why Ms. Richardson didn't, or wasn't required to wear a helmet, but for whatever reason, this "simple" oversight cost the life of a notable actress, wife (Liam Neeson), mother of two sons, and daughter (her mother, Lynn Redgrave survives).

I've heard the "not so logical" arguments that helmets are confining. "I like to feel the wind in my hair, on my face, stinging my eyes..." etc., but this is all ignorant hogwash, as far as I'm concerned.

Please understand, I'm not trying to place blame on Natasha Richardson or the ski resort. Far from it. This was a fluke, but I'm still left wondering. Why wasn't she wearing a helmet?

What do you think? If this is not a requirement, should it be?

Check out this CNN article about how skiers can cut risk by wearing a helmet.

Or this Time Health & Science Article: Could A Helmet Have Helped?

How do you feel about this argument? Have you read articles to the contrary; that helmets are unnecessary? Please let us know your opinion.

Mary Cunningham

Quake - Shakin' Up Young Readers!

Mary Cunningham Books

Cynthia's Attic Blog

KOTG Microcast #2 Quest for the Streamys

For our second microcast we talk about the 1st annual Streamy Awards. If you don’t know what they are.. the Streamys are to webseries as the Oscars are to movies.

And of course The Guild got the most nominations with 11 and Jenni and I couldn’t wait to share our excitement with our fellow Guildie fans.

So sit back and enjoy Knights of the Guild Microcast #2

Thanks, Kenny & Jenni

Streamy Awards website

Streamy Awards Nominees

Where Do You Read?

This is the Teen Center at the Schaumburg Twp. Dist. Library in IL, where I work as Teen Coordinator. Last night I had a meeting with my volunteer group, Teen Corps. We are in the process of designing a new teen space to possibly go in the basement of our library building.

The teens want cozy spaces for reading, in addition to tables for playing games, visiting and working on group projects. They want laptops and netbooks for either homework or downloadable books. We planned on more table space, but not for more cozy reading space. The teens really want tables with lamps they can adjust. I thought with more e-books, audio books and more, that space for reading was not as much of an issue.

Where do you like to read? When I was growing up, my house had green velvet u-shaped chairs perfect for tipping back and for sitting across with my feet over the side. This is the type of chair the teens seem to want. Now I read where ever I can, even while walking behind my baby and periodically saying "No, no, Owen, don't eat that. Or don't stick your fingers in that outlet."

I've read audio titles in the car, and e-books on a plane. My favorite place to read is still in bed, though, with a booklight late at night. What is your favorite place?

More Editing BTS and Microcast

Tonight when I got off work I did the same thing, went home ate dinner and hung out with Harry for a few hours. Then got to editing. I had gotten notes from Felicia about the BTS and I agreed with her notes but in order to get what she wanted I will have to do some re-shooting this weekend. So I stopped that piece and started another piece. I worked on that for about three hours and needed a change of pace so around 12:30am I switched over to editing Knights of the Guild Microcast #2 which I finished around 1:30am, I sent it to Jenni for approval and then went to bed so I can do it all again tomorrow.

Compliments

Tonight just before I left for home one of my new Junior Editors came to me and said "You are the happiest Post Super I have ever known. You are always smiling and in a good mood." That meant so much to me. I don't hear it that often, normally in post you get nothing but complaints, so it was nice to hear something positive. I try and run my post department like my boss Darla does. She is the nicest and sweetest boss you could ask for and I try to use her as an example. I'm glad it's paying off.

Velocity Five Sports Restaurant & Bar - Court House OPEN

Just a little announcement: I walked by Velocity Five last night (it replaced King Street Blues) and it was OPEN. Over the weekend the sign said "coming soon" and a nice flat-screen TV was playing sports to the sidewalk from above the door.

Good for them on the quick turnaround. If I was working on opening a sports bar during March Madness, I'd have a similar fire under my tush to get started.

Just trust me that it's open--the web site doesn't yet have any news/pages about the new location. And if it's true that appetizers are half-priced between 5-7, then consider me psyched.

Velocity Five Sports Restaurant & Bar
2300 Clarendon Boulevard
Metro: Orange Line to Court House

More Editing

Once again after a long day at work I got home, spent a few hours with the hubby then started to edit one of my BTS pieces for The Guild. I think this will be my 4th note pass. This piece is really shaping up.

It's so much fun to look back at all the great times we had last year shooting season two.

Tools of the Trade

by Pam Ripling

All writers have favorite sources they can turn to when struggling to get through a work-in-progress. Before I developed my on-going love affair with Google, I purchased several reference books that remain on the shelf above my computer to this day. I still use them. Here are a couple you might find helpful:

The Fiction Writer’s Silent Partner, by Martin Roth. “Thousands of ideas, facts, possibilities and “what ifs”, on topics ranging from characters to vivid and unusual locales, that will help you generate solid fiction ideas and develop your imagination.” This book is filled with lists—lots of them. For example, if you are writing about a character who boxes, there is a SPORTS chapter, a “Boxing” subchapter, and under that, details about time, rules, ring, equipment, officials, dress, scoring, max/min weights, etc. There are character elements, names, situations; comedic ideas; medicine, military, espionage, religion and The Old West. Slang, Southern talk, Briticisms, etc. A wonderful resource. ISBN 0-89879-482-X. From Writer’s Digest Books, but you may have to look for it on Amazon.

Also from Writer’s Digest is the Flip Dictionary, by Barbara Ann Kipfer, Ph.D. “For when you know what you want to say, but can’t think of the word.” This handy tool is a cousin to both the conventional dictionary and the thesaurus. In addition to finding phrases for words and words for phrases, there are specific pages of terms for a variety of topics. Say you are writing about a devout, professional musician, and you want him to talk about music directions and notations. Do you know the words for heavy (pesante) joyous (giocoso) or emotional (appassionato)? ISBN 0-89879-976-7.

Last, I always have a current almanac handy, and a good style book or two (see Chicago Manual of Style or Strunk & White's The Elements of Style). Because books are static, once you’ve explored the pages, you know right where to find answers. And there aren’t a million other websites beckoning you into distraction.

Pam Ripling is the author of middle-grade mystery, LOCKER SHOCK! Buy it at Quake, Fictionwise or Amazon today! E-book version now available for your Kindle! Visit Pam at www.BeaconStreetBooks.com.

Secret Porn

It was maybe a month after separating from my ex-husband that I stumbled across his secret pornography stash. Since my solitary return from a visit to Ex-Husband's hometown and family, I had been rattling around in a house filled with memories. I had gone so far as to take down our wedding photograph from the mantelpiece, and to stash my wedding ring out of sight, but eventually I sought closure and determined to pack away his clothes, his books, his general flotsam and jetsam. To get them out of sight, and maybe out of mind. And then, halfway through the bureau, underneath a stack of shirts, I found The Stash.

As far as pornography stashes go, it wasn't a big one. Maybe a dozen DVDs, no magazines. But the DVDs themselves... suffice to say that sample titles included CumDripperz and Meat Holes. The back covers variously promised "the best ass-pounding anal-action!", "rim-jobs!", "chicks choking on huge dicks!" and more.

A thousand questions began to formulate in my mind. Where had he gotten these? When had he been watching them? How could he have been aroused by such degrading images and misogynistic titles? I was weakly outraged - too shocked and hurt to really process the reality that the man I had married had apparently been jerking-off in secret to images of women being pounded and choked to within an inch of their ability to breathe.

Several days later, when he called about having his things shipped, I coldly intoned that I had found The Stash. Trying to keep my voice level, I asked if he had any explanation for why he had brought such hateful material into my house.

"Well, yeah," he laughed in high merriment. "I'm a bloke!"

Ah yes, that old chestnut. Men are men, and women are women, and never the twain shall meet. My distaste at his conduct was to be laughed off - a woman couldn't understand the kinds of sexual frustration that men apparently endure, or his means of addressing them. She has no right to judge a man's sexual tastes, even if she is having sex with him.

A lot of things fell into place. I remembered how Ex-Husband had degraded me as a "stupid c---", how he had sometimes been violent towards me and destructive of our possessions. I remembered how he revered his alcoholic, absent father, but consistently denigrated his mother, who had raised him on her own. I remember doing most or all of the housework, even when he was unemployed (which was often). But somehow, the porn hurt worst of all.
Ex-husband had given himself a carte blanche to watch women in a situation which was at best degrading, and at worst bordering upon violent, without the need to question his motives.

In the years since that day, I have increasingly wondered how many men feel a similar way. I am lucky enough to have found a Clever Partner who largely finds pornography to be unsettling rather than arousing, and to have friends who share my viewpoint that watching misogynistic pornography (as opposed to "couples porn") is a sign of bad taste, under-developed sexuality and latent or overt disrespect towards women. However, other friends claim that films like Meat Holes are a bit of a laugh, and that men can watch them without taking on negative attitudes about women. Women, they claim, will have to learn to take it less seriously and accept that their partners will watch it.

I, for one, won't be accepting that. I find it very difficult to believe that a man could simultaneously enjoy a film depicting female orifices as Cum-Dripping Meat Holes and respect me as a sexual partner.

Is it a man's right to watch porn?
Is it a woman's right to be angry if he does?
Does watching pornography imply a man's disrespect for women?