I’ve Got The Power (Back)! Or: Be Careful What You Wish For…

Ha and double ha. So, my replacement laptop power supply arrived this afternoon and works fine (it’s not OEM, but it’s getting the job done), but I’m now faced with the hi-larious dilemma of catching up to a ton of stuff I haven’t been able to do until now. My brain and overstuffed inbox just let me know what’s in store for me:

(thanks, davstern1500!) 

Ouch. Let’s see now… I’ve a bunch of games to download, some articles to complete a digital stack of email to answer and a few other things that have my head spinning a bit. Oh well, no use complaining about it – there’s work to do so let’s get to it. Er, you might want to stay back a few feet… this could get messy.

Bundle Stars’ Toxic Bundle Will Eat Away At Your Free Time For A Mere Five Bucks…

the toxic bundle

 
Well, now. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is worth the five bucks alone, but this ten-game Steam bundle is packed with a bunch of other great titles to keep you glued to that mouse and keyboard for ages. Classics are part of the deal (The 7th Guest and The 11th Hour, Desperados 2 and Shadowman) as are some newer to not so newer indie titles (Xotic, Darkout, Runespell Overture, Tribloos 2 and Heroes of Annihilated Empires). Even better, if you happen to be a fan of all things S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Bundle Stars has the two other games in the series for a mere five bucks each, so you can pick up digital versions of Shadow of Chernobyl and Call of Pripyat for only five bucks each. Grab those two and that bundle for 15 dollars and even if you ONLY go on a massive S.T.A.L.K.E.R. binge, you’ll still be making out really well. I say give the rest of those game a shot at some point, as there are some true gems here from days gone by. This deal only lasts 20 days, so grab it while you can!

Mezco Wants To Bury Its Living Dead Dolls Line (Sort Of)… You Can Guess What Will Happen, Right?

LDD 13The Box Leads To MadnessSo, Mezco Toyz had the wild idea to get together some of its long running Living Dead Dolls lineup (which just so happens to be celebrating its 16th anniversary), have a custom coffin built, roll up to the Ripley’s Believe it Or Not Odditorium in Times Square in a cool custom hearse (called Hearsula, of course!), place those dolls and a ton of other cool stuff in said coffin and have it entombed, time capsule style for 66 years.

Yes, You have to give them credit for thinking outside the box (bad pun alert! Oh, too late?), but as the line goes in countless horror (and other) movies, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this…”

Here’s the thing: Mezco is searching for someone in the New York City or New Jersey area with a family mausoleum that happens to have space for a certain evil doll-packed coffin for an extended stay (you’ll want to contact LivingDeadDollsCrypt@gmail.com if you happen to fit that description). I’m betting they most likely want someone responsible who’s got no bones (heh) about loaning out a sacred space for three-fifths of a century plus tax to a coffin packed to the gills with LD memorabilia of all types. Of course, the combination of evil (but kinda cute) dolls socked away against their will and the potential of greedy grave robbers trying to get to that hidden time capsule PLUS the usual supernatural stuff gone awry will mean a rather high body count over that 66 years as people start vanishing when they try and do some grave robbing.

Yeah, move over, Chucky… you’re old news now, pal! Continue reading

2K Games @ PAX East: Borderlands And More Borderlands And Stuff…

 
I did not go to PAX East this year, but here’s a tiny sliver of what I missed. I’m not keen on conventions these days because I prefer being a fan who just PLAYS the games, not one who goes all out and dresses up like a favorite character or does anything else that keeps me away from a controller for too long. Granted, I admire ANYONE who has the guts to squeeze themselves into a costume that’s either hand made, cobbled together from what’s in the closet or store bought. I’m just way too busy poking around in assorted game worlds looking at stuff and admiring the hard work that goes into making them to get busy behind a sewing machine or makeup mirror. As for fan art? I’ve done my share and then some over the decades, but these days I’m more of an idea guy than anything else.

Winter Is Coming… Back (Go Away, Please!)

So, it was something like 73 degrees on Sunday, 10 or so degrees cooler on Monday and Tuesday was rainy on and off and in the 50’s. Early this morning it SNOWED a little before turning into sleet and rain before stopping.

winter...Yaaaah.

Okay, I was half asleep when I fumbled for my camera and took these shots pointing down from my window at the maybe quarter-inch of snow/sleet mix on the sill. But still… SNOW, grrr! The current temperature? 32 degrees with a nice breeze making it feel a bit too cooler and it’s only getting up to around 45 or 50 and 35 or below later tonight. In April. Yeah, I hate the cold so it’s come back to remind me to hate it the hell some more. Crap. Anyway, I’m up too early (I got up about two or so hours ago and didn’t sleep much before that), but I have a press event to get to in a few hours, so I’m kind of puttering around doing stuff around the house before I set out and freeze my butt off for a short trip downtown for something that may last only an hour. Whee, but I guess I can’t complain. Drop dead, winter (please?)…

winter... (2) winter... (3)

Day Whatever: Laptop “Crisis” Continues, Work Slowdown Forces Laze-Offs…

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geelw's avatar

Okay, it’s not THAT bad, but I do miss my portability which adds access to wi-fi. Anyway, the AMUSING thing is my anti-virus program has cloud storage that I used a bit of when I installed it, but as I’m on a crap connection here, I can’t access it to get to the stuff I was working on! Isn’t technology WONDERFUL? Nope. Anyway, the “good” news part one: my replacement power supply should be here by Thursday. The bad/good news: Verizon is forcing everyone in the area still on crap connections into an upgrade over the next few months, but is being kind of shifty when it comes to discussing what it will cost and whether it’s going to be one of those “pay by bandwidth” deals that’s NOT a deal for folks like me who shift words and games around in large enough quantities that we’re hit with fees and caps that make no sense. I hate when companies claim they’re doing stuff in the best interest of the consumers because it’s never, ever true when you get right down to it, grrrr.

(thanks, BlankTV!)

Eh, we’ll see where this new madness goes. I still want to keep the land line as long as possible because mobile phones blow in cases of emergencies around here while I can dial out and reach someone on the home phone. That and I can see nothing but grief from a connection that’s SUPPOSED to be more stable not being so stable, but hey – progress, right?

New IndieGala Sale Won’t Be Your Wallet’s Last Dream – 12 Games For Under 4 Bucks!

indiegala weekly 

This new IndieGala sale is so tough to pass up, I bet some of you punched yourselves in the head when you tried to leave the page once you clicked on it. A a dozen games for $3.89 if you buy NOW (the price jumps to $5.19 tomorrow). Well, ten games now and two to be announced soon. It’s always something to see one’s Steam account bursting at the virtual seams when these bundles pop up and this one is pretty darn eclectic, that’s for sure. Retro indies, classic scary point and click adventuring, early access stuff and more, more more! As usual, I have some of these already (well, two), but my fingers are itching to click away and buy this one just for a few titles I’d like to take for a spin. Hmm… time for a coin flip, it seems…

The rest of you, you know what to do, right?

Monday Happened To Me BEFORE Monday. No Fair!

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Bleh. So, last night I’m working on the laptop on a few things (some stuff to complete and post today) when I notice my battery indicator flashing while the laptop is plugged in. A quick check revealed the stupid power adapter/charger had a busted wire, which I didn’t notice and had me wondering what the heck happened. I figure it was someone in the library a few days back, either the kid running around who hit the table and knocked the power supply to the floor or the cranky lady with her own laptop that may have yanked out my cord and not hers by mistake when she was fumbling around packing up her crap. I was busy writing, but I heard some stuff being unplugged (she was using three of the four outlets under the table) and her mutter “sorry” to no one at some point, so I’m gathering it was me she was apologizing to for pulling something she shouldn’t have. Oh, quite you there in the back! Mind in the gutter, I say!

(thanks, stevensonjohn964!)

Anyway, I’m home of the chuggy connection, so updates will be slim to slimmer until the replacement adapter shows up. At least the GOOD news here is it only cost me about eleven dollars with shipping to replace the power supply, as prices have dropped on OEM parts for this old computer. About a year or so back, I was looking at paying almost four times as much for the same item. So perhaps I should thank Lady Cranky if I ever see her in the library again, but I think I’ll just sit somewhere else or else I’ll be needing to buy up a bunch of replacements and sticking them in a closet here…

Slow, Sleepy Sunday Soars…

the wind rises MPSo, I saw The Wind Rises today and it’s quite a magnificent sendoff for Hayao Miyazaki (if this is indeed his final film), although it’s not quite a film for kids unless you want to be studying aviation history and a few other things afterward. It’s absolutely gorgeous to look at and while the grand dream sequences and a stunning interpretation of the massive 1923 Kanto earthquake here are amazing blends of that wonderful Studio Ghibli hand-drawn and CG animation, the film’s intentionally slow pace means some viewers might find themselves drifting off when the film is making it’s points. For a biographical film (animated or not) both the subject and subject matter call for post viewing brain expanding because unless you’re an aviation nut who knows names, places and anime faces really well, some parts of the film may seem hard to follow until you can place dates to some of the important events shown.

This isn’t a review at all, though. It’s a recommendation if you’re wanting to hit the theater near you, this is playing and your curious as to whether it’s worth the price of a ticket. The short and easy answer is a resounding yes. Okay, back to being bored as hell by Mad Men. Man, this show needs to end or hopefully get better. I missed it, but after such a damn long delay, I find I don’t care about it all that much now…

Random Art: I’ve Been Busy, But That’s A Lame Excuse.

The Third DancerWell, not SO lame, as I’ve been busy working on trying to make some actual money (digital money really blows when you can’t feeling it taking up space in your pockets!). Anyway, this one’s kind of unfinished (what else is new?), but that won’t stop me from letting you be the judge on whether or not it’s actually complete. Eh, well… I can always do another piece at some point (hopefully without taking so long to post it once it’s “done”)…