Penance Log of Brannan Brundle: Entry 4

No Escape!

Palast, Misham the 6th*

I didn’t even last an hour this time. I figured I’d go the other way away from the main pasture and steer clear of the Abbot. I headed toward the laundry lines and there’s my good buddy Etal along with a few other scrawny cheese monks. This time I decide to slip by them between the laundry sheets. I was up to a good run until that twerp Etal somehow got ahead of me and tripped my feet right out from under me from the other side of the sheets. I hit the ground hard and all the other little cheesey priests piled on. I had no chance, sure one on one I’d mop the floor with the creeps but there was too damn many of them. Abbot Morrow only pointed out how lucky that I was to be provided with St. Cuthbert’s lesson on the importance of teamwork. What a bunch of bunk, I’ve always worked alone and I’ve done just fine. Unfortunately the Abbot has decided that since I’m well enough for escape attempts I’m well enough to begin going to services and start work. If I wanted to work I'd have stayed at my father’s smithy!

*The days/months I'm using is the Solamnic calendar from Dragonlance because it's neato.
For more information on the Pen of Penance feature read this post. For more info on Brannan Brundle see this post.

Media Madness #2 Comic Review of: Warriors of Dharuk #1

Media Madness #2 Comic Review of Warriors of Dharuk #1
This edition of Media Madness is a review of the impending comic Warriors of Dharuk #1. One of the most unique aspects of this comic is that it is being written by Stephen Lindsay and his 7 year old son Ayden.

Overview
Warriors of Dharuk follows the story of Jodi,  a young Rikki (warrior) of Clan Dharuk. The Dharuk resemble koala bearesque creatures with decidedly unkoala-like attitudes. The position of a Dharuk warrior is highly prestigious and the comic presents itself as Jodi's journey to join their ranks.

Along the way we are introduced to an anthropomorphic world that at times seems pastoral and verdant but also possesses such technology as automatic weaponry. Jody's first antagonists resemble evil flying squirrels and ride ostrich like steeds but those mounts are armed with automatic machine guns presenting a wonderful juxtaposition that begs the reader to ask questions about this world.

We are introduced to a father figure in the form of an Armadillo like fighter of great ability. The seeds of mentor-ship are sown in their first memorable meeting. The first issue also presents us with a high level villain in the form of an alligator monarch that seems as cunning and intelligent as he is powerful. This is a refreshing change from most villains usually being either strong or smart but not both.

Warriors of Dharuk presents us with a world richly illustrated by Dave Myers with colors by Freddy Lopez Jr. Gone or the typical comic styles of hard lines and static or overly digital effects. Myers and Lopez present a rich, painterly world that is beautiful to look at with unique characters and lush, detailed backgrounds.

Pros: Warriors of Dharuk #1 presents the reader with a unique world that has enough familiarity to be engaging to a young reader while challenging them with interesting ideas such as the mixed technology. The main character and supporting cast are compelling and make you want to follow the journey. The world has an implied richness thanks to the lush, qualities of the artwork and distinct personalities of the characters. This is a great comic to help younger audiences make the transition for kids books to comics.

Cons: The violence of the story might make some parents shy away from presenting it to their kids. If you feel your kids can handle the battles which are not terribly graphic than this is the book to get them into comics. The book appears to be a hero's journey which is well trod upon territory but the world makes it worth the trip.

Rating Round Up
If you're looking for superhero type action than this isn't the comic for you. If you're looking for a fun read with creative and unique art than I can't recommend this book high enough; especially if you have young kids you want to introduce to comics.

      
3.5 Kirby Dots out of 5

Penance Log of Brannan Brundle: Entry 3

I asked for some of that magic healing for the working over the Abbot gave me yesterday and I swear that pipsqueak Etal laughed at me. What kind of holy men are these scum? I’m obviously suffering from the beating from one of their own and they won’t lift a finger to help! Etal just mumbled something about the first of St. Cuthbert’s lessons has been shown to me by the abbot himself. Something about every action having a consequence or some such nonsense. I’ve half a mind to strangle that little rotter in his sleep but I wonder if Abbot Morrow trained him too. I’ll play it safe for now but that little bug Etal and that blasted Abbot will taste my wrath soon enough. The Abbot is a problem though, I’ll have to be more clever when I try to escape next time.

*The days/months I'm using is the Solamnic calendar from Dragonlance because it's neato.
For more information on the Pen of Penance feature read this post. For more info on Brannan Brundle see this post.

Wild Hair Entry 1: Amnesia and Stupidity makes The Cape Go ‘Round

I finally had a chance to watch the 2 hour premiere of The Cape yesterday and despite many of my geek friends nay saying it I enjoyed it thoroughly. Yes, it’s implausible and silly with thin characters and overly dramatic syrup scenes but I found it fun and cheesy in the best way possible.

There are a million things I could complain about in this show. Whether it’s the insane physics of spider cloth, the radically shifting ethics of main characters or mysteriously disappearing wounds of characters there are many avenues of vitriol I could saunter down. I want to bring up something that seems to plague many shows, not just sci-fi or fantasy shows.

My big problem with this show is the not so subtle combination of stupidity and amnesia that seems to plague these characters. Granted, the main character of Vincent is pretty generic looking as far as leading men go but not until the very end does he even consider a mask.

He talks to his son from about 10 ft away and yet this kid doesn’t recognize his dad’s voice or most of his face despite the fact that ‘The Cape’ admonished him about things only his parents could know. Either this kid is ridiculously stupid or a Gilligan-esque  scene was cut in which the kid was hit on the head with a coconut. If my dad showed up 10 feet away dressed as my favorite superhero (Matter Eater Lad) and started talking to me I’m sure I’d recognize him even at age 10.

Next up is the ‘criminal genius’ Chess. Chess knows Vincent, he sees him without a mask and with a mask and even sets the schmuck up so you’d think a genius might remember that guy and yet he doesn’t seem to recognize him. Chess also kidnaps the hero’s mentor and after the guy escapes promptly forgets about him. Days pass and no retribution from this supposedly ruthless criminal genius. Is that more stupidity or amnesia?

I think Chess must also have perfected amnesia gas because every simpleton in his police force seems to be in on his plots in both guises. Why would he use Ark officers in his Chess guise and business guy persona?! Why does the faceless officer know of his plan to poison the Secretary guy in charge of Prisons? You think people might start wondering why the same jack booted officers guard the biggest criminal mastermind in the city as well as Palm City’s leading business man?

There was enough fun stuff and hotties in The Cape to make me want to come back and keep watching for awhile. I caught the last half of the episode on Monday and it showed some promise. I just hope the writers figure out the importance of a secret identity and that everyone shouldn’t have the memory of a goldfish.

Penance Log of Brannan Brundle: Entry 2

Escape? Not likely...

Palast, Majetag the 4th*
About one hour, that’s how long before they caught up to me. I wasn’t expecting them to be awake before dawn but evidently that’s the best time to milk their thrice damned cows and what do I do? I run right through the main pasture smack dab into the Abbot. I ain’t never been scared of no holy man before, except maybe some of those priest of Hextor in the bleeding armor, so I thought I’d waltz right though this cheese monk. I was wrong. Upon spotting me he asked me only 1 question: “Do you write with your right or left hand Brannan?”. I answered my right and closed on him in hopes of maybe gaining a little coin for my escape. The next thing I know I’m on the ground being beaten mercilessly by this spry old cleric. I’m covered in bruises everywhere except my writing hand for reasons only obvious now. Great Moradin what have I got myself into?!

*The days/months I'm using is the Solamnic calendar from Dragonlance because it's neato.
For more information on the Pen of Penance feature read this post. For more info on Brannan Brundle see this post.

Media Madness #1: Go to Hell Apps!

Go to Hell Apps!

Game App Pet Peeves
“Hi, my name is Ray and I’m an App addict.”
“Hi Ray”!
“It’s been 34 seconds since I last bought an app-wait....it’s been 2 seconds since I last bought an app.”

I love my iPhone apps. It’s true. They make my life easier, funner and generally bearable; especially while riding the cattle car that is the BART. However I do have a few app pet peeves that are driving me insane and instead of screaming silently in my brain (or out loud at the top of my lungs in BART) I thought I’d rant at you nice people.

1) My music is better than your music.
This is a big one and when I think of the number of apps I’ve bought that I don’t play because the damn app doesn’t let me listen to my music or podcasts it makes my wallet weep dollar like crocodile tears. It drives me crazy that these apps want me to listen to the same 5 sounds over and over again rather than let me listen to the gigs of music and podcasts I’ve painstakingly purchased and downloaded.
 
Listen up App developers! Let me listen to my own soundtrack and I will play your game, get exposed to your advertising and consider other games you make far more often than if you make me listen to the same stock sound beeps I’ve heard a million times before!

2) Slap it up, flip it, rub it down!
This is another ridiculously easy one that so few apps think of. The number of apps that you can’t rotate is alarming to me! So many apps’ default horizontal position makes it uncomfortable to use when you have headphones plugged in it’s ridiculous. A simple fix for this is to allow the user to flip the screen and play in the orientation that is most comfortable to them instead of the orientation the developer demands. And what about left handed people? How about offering flipped controls for my mutant freak left handed friends out there!

3) Developer Ego Boom
One of the cheapest tricks is the delaying of a game’s start, ostensibly for it to load, and using that time to display the company logo for a few seconds longer than necessary. If you’re company name or logo is so long and/or confusing that you feel I need a full 10 seconds to absorb it then something has gone horribly awry with your marketing people. Making me stare at your logo for an extra 5 seconds is only going to infuriate me so just load the damn game and let me get on with my life.

#TravelRants Twitter Trails #1

Here's the first installment of #TravelRants Twitter Trails. This should give you an idea of what it's all about:

Blew off the Powell bus for the WG Express which just went right past me. Wonder if he knows he's still on duty? #TravelRants
5 Jan
Lately the Watergate Express, my direct shuttle of choice, has been dropping people off and then going on it’s merry way without picking us up only to mysteriously show up again 10 minutes later. I doubt the guy has a break since it’s the last run the Watergate Express. I suspect a drug problem, he wants to catch the last 5 minutes of a Colbert rerun or he’s just a sadistic bastard that hates us.


EGoRound stopped to let an ambulance go by and now my schedule is shot! That hurt/sick person better survive or I'll be pissed! #TravelRants
5 Jan
Correction, I was pissed no matter what. I hope the person is OK and not just a hypochondriac that like messing with my schedule/sanity. I used to live amongst many older people and retirees and they would sometimes call an ambulance for the company. Did they never hear of Peter and the Wolf? What if they really did get hurt and the ambulance blew it off? Do they want to die on their kitchen floor as the Granny that Cried Broken Hip?

Why bother lining up if everyone is going to just trample each other into the Bart? Never have so many trampled for so little. #TravelRants
4 Jan
WTH people! Some of us stand patiently queued up (that’s right, I went all UK on your asses with the word queue) and when the train opens the doors we’re trampled by rude Johnny come Latelies desperate for a seat. I’m one more trampled loafer away tripping people into the 3rd rail!

Clipper Card screws up attempting to credit me back for a double charge. Not fixed til Thursday :-( Progress in action! #TravelRants
3 Jan
The fine people at Clipper double charged me and in attempt to show competence they decide to credit me back. Unfortunately the crediting account isn’t the same as the billing account which causes the BoFA to freeze my credit card with me blissfully unaware. Then two days later they charge to recharge my card only to have it blocked cuz the card is still frozen. I get it straightened out but it’s going to take 4 days to get the Clipper Card reactivated! That’s progress people. They can stop a card in a nanosecond but it tales 4 days to get a loyal customer up and running. Had to use a paper BART card like a caveman all week!

Missed the 1st BART of the New Year thanks to a malfunctioning Clipper Card. So it begins...#TravelRants
3 Jan
See previous insanity and Happy New Years. I hope you resolve to comment more on my blog this year.

Pen Of Penance: Entry 1

Penance Log of Brannan Brundle
Palast, Newkolt the 3rd*

Not the best way to start this new year for Nerull’s sake. I’m not sure what’s the more galling notion, first that I get pinched by the guard for a simple misunderstanding over a coin pouch or getting sentenced to a year laboring for these blasted monks! Cheese monks of St. Cuthbert if you could believe such nonsense! Oh sure, they try and church themselves up a bit amongst the peasant rabble, Holy Order of St. Cuthbert’s Pious Providers. Bah, they’re a bunch of monks and priests that milk cows and make cheese and now I’m supposed to be a slave for this lot. I think not. They expect me to write my thoughts down and reflect on my past sins in this log so how’s this for a start you dolts! I’ll be fleeing at first light and they can kiss my labor goodbye!

*The days/months I'm using is the Solamnic calendar from Dragonlance because it's neato.
For more information on the Pen of Penance feature read this post. For more info on Brannan Brundle see this post.

Blog 2! Electric Boogalo!

Now I'm back, from outer space,

You walked in to find me here with that sad look upon my face;

You should have changed that stupid lock or made me leave my key,

If you'd known for 1 second that I'd come back and give you another dose of me!

That’s right people the blog is back with a new format and hopefully a new banner soon!

The first go at blogging in 2010 was to serve 2 purposes:

1) Let me try it out so I could try blogging from a user perspective and do my job better.

2) See if it was a fulfilling forum for writing.

The new goals for the blog in 2011 are purely self indulgent attempts to create, share and make myself feel like a productive human being. I’m restructuring the blog via my Molecule Manesque ability to restructure matter on a sub atomic level using only the power of sarcasm and self generated bile.

I’m going to try and offer regular content with extras interspersed at my own whim and dependent entirely on my amount of energy, anger and coffee in my system.
 

Here are the regular features I will be attempting:

4T Icon. Fear It!

Monthly Feature: #TravelRants Twitter Trails

#TravelRants Twitter Trails will be a a monthly round up of the travel insanity I encounter on the BART, EmeryGoRound and general travel weirdness I encounter. Follow me on Twitter and/or Facebook @ GeekGamerguy to see these micro rants in real time and comment to ask for more details there. I’ll collect these monthly and add more details not allowed by the Twitter character count. This will usually post in the first week of the month.

I will eat your eyes!

Bi-Weekly Feature: Media Madness

I’m a media junkie; comics, movies, tv, podcasts etc rule me with their pixely fists! Every couple weeks I’ll offer thoughts on these media outlets and the good and bad (usually bad) content thrown at our brains like so much monkey feces. This will usually post in the 2nd and 4th week of the month.

St. Cuthbert rules you!

Weekly Feature: The Pen of Penance
This is my favorite feature and I’ll probably be the only one that reads it. My current Dungeons and Dragons character needs some back story which I will tell in the form of a log he was being forced to keep by the monks that rehabilitated him so many years ago. This is an effort on my part to creatively write in a focused manner. I hope you’ll like it as much as I will enjoy agonizing over it.

#$!*!

Non-Scheduled Feature: Wild Hairs

These will be features that are not scheduled but things that occur to me to write about. Think about them as bonus content or surprise buttsecks. Whatever floats your boat.






So that is the plan people. Send me suggestions on things you’d like me to talk about and any questions you’d like answered and I’ll do my best. Also, If there are any artists out there that want to make a new banner for Creativosity (760 pixels wide) than let me know. I’m also going to make icons for each feature. Let me know if you have any ideas or suggestions on what they should be.

Good luck in 2011 people!