Star Craft II Newb

When I was around 13 or so the original Star Craft was released. It was the first RTS I've ever played, and went to become about the only one I'd ever play. While I played WC3 when it was released with friends, I never really excelled at it...mostly because I didn't like fooling with grinding heroes to win...and because I didn't have the patience for that.

Star Craft is another matter though. The game is a pure struggle between economics and battle tactics...and clicking. Lots and lots of clicking. Clicking all over the place. Clicking (in some cases) many hundred times a minute. This is where I struggle. Enter another area where I lack patience and concentration. How am I supposed to click on all of these units, tell them where to go, what to do, and keep up with it my economy all the while trying to form some kind of strategy of attack (or in most cases defense) against the opponent. I played the original SC enough to beat the computer opponents 70%-80% of the time. But playing online, especially in SC2....most especially 4 years after it release...it's impossible as a newb. The barrier to success is too much. I have so far played 15 games online, and I have won...1. Newb in the purest sense.

-bd

Star Wars - Mark My Words

The first teaser for The Force Awakens (tFA, FA?) has been released. No elements of the plot-line have been revealed but I will share with you my prediction here with you now..

Darth Sidious will reappear. His spirit was not killed and has been regaining strength enough to form into a physical being since the end of RotJ. All in the woods of some frozen planet....Hoth? Most likely....because it's Star Wars.

People, let us connect the dots together by considering what we know....with wild conjecture.

1. Disney doesn't own the Harry Potter franchise.

2. The title "The Force Awakens" clearly has a coming-to-life, revitalization meaning. If it's "awakening" now, then it must have previously been in some kind of dormant state, which would obviously suggest that what the title is referring to has existed before. Sidious.

3. Sidious has already suggested he has the power to bring people back from the dead. Albeit one might have considered it a ploy to seduce Anakin to the DS, I don't think he would have made it an obvious point to suggest it if he hadn't already come to the idea that one could actually do it. It's possible that his spirit was able to seduce some still-alive figure who had a  high midichlorian count and somehow taught that person the way to bring him back to life.

4.  In the trailer, the narrator's voice is obviously quite sinister, and our storm trooper (clone? no) appears to have just awoken from some kind of night terror (sweaty and what not). Out in the middle of no where by himself? Crash landed...or fell off a ship. By himself, unconscious for some time, he was contacted by Sidious during slumber. Perhaps he's the friend who will help Sidious regain physical form?

5. Disney doesn't own the film rights to LoTR. And by golly Disney is going to have itself a back-from-the-dead epic.

More thoughts to come.

-bd

omg cats in space!!!

omg cats in space!!!.

Bookshelf Pron

Don't be alarmed....be inspired.

BookShelfPorn.com

Benjamin Franklin's Daily Schedule

I sometimes think that I would get more done, be more productive, and generally contribute more to my environment (work, family, church...etc) if I were to follow a strict daily schedule that consisted of time to do the most important things...whatever they may be. Reading the routines of many great writers, there seems to be a mix of those without any kind of structure to those with a somewhat rigid order of events, at least when they talk about it. None of them, however, compare to that of the BF'ing President...Benjamin Franklin. See below for his daily itinerary of business.


-bd

July Update

Summer is good so far. Truck was in the shop for two weeks which resulted in the prognosis that it's a crippled, but running, little errand truck. There are several things wrong with it...none of which are keeping the car from running (at the moment) and as such, will probably never get fixed. AC, decent power, functioning gauges, coolant....who needs 'em, right? Right.

The time the truck spent in the shop offered me the opportunity to try bicycling to Fujifilm (work). This was something I did quite frequently when I was working close to the downtown area before switching jobs. That was a ~4 mile commute through cramped traffic on one of the busiest roads in Greenwood. But it was only 4 miles and I could do it in about 20 minutes.

Took a trip to NYC and NJ last week. Being the hottest week of year up there made things pretty miserable...and the traffic. The worst traffic I could have ever imagined. Good trip otherwise.

Started reading again at the beginning of the summer. First read Gatsby - good book. Reminds me of Seinfeld in that it's about people's "normal" lives with just enough plot and story to keep it interesting. Haven't seen the movie yet, but want to. Second, The Magician's Nephew - very good. I've been wanting to read the Narnia series for a while but have not yet pulled the trigger. I feel like the first book was more of a prequel to the rest of the series that people are most familiar with (The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, etc...). I'm not going to read each book back-to-back...I don't want to O.D. on the series and be sick of it (like Harry Potter...didn't finish reading all of them). Then I just finished Brave New World. I like "classics" and this has been on my list for a while. Read most of it during my 8 hours in various airports getting back from NYC last Friday. Fairly decent, but not nearly as enjoyable as say..1984 or Fahrenheit 451...two of my favorite books. Story was pretty dry and some of the content a bit distasteful. Glad I read it though...Now about to start CS Lewis' Space Trilogy. Pretty excited.

Going back to school next month. Taking Psychology 101 and Western History. Looking forward to learning, but not the work...learning can't be done without work, and one usually learns while doing work. There are very few things worth having can be achieved without work. Very few.



-bd

Imagineering Disney

Really neat blog of the history and construction of Disney World. Vintage photos section is really neat.
Imagineering Disney .

Jacob

My new son, Jacob Stanley Dean, was born into this world at home last Wednesday (5/22/2013) at 12:28am. He was 9lbs even and 22" long. Look how precious. This picture was taken about a week after his birth.

Shane Falco "Pain heals" - YouTube

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6E4Oy6pFKQ]

Birthdays!

Its my birthday today! And it's Mandy's! And it's Amy's! Happy Birthday! 27 years old!!

Bread ...again

As a followup to my previous post regarding bread (and beer), this is a perfect example of bread in its best of forms - baked by the hands of my wife.

Bread & Beer

Homemade bread is soooo good. Making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on a fresh loaf of fluffy honey wheat is the best sandwiching you can do. Its a party for the senses.
New Belgium's 1554 beer is also extremely good and one of my favorites. I believe these two would make a great lunch pairing....for weekends of course.

Fish

Finn's comment, "I never get a pet." prompted the purchase of two goldfish now named Henry and Fox. Finn loves them ever so much even though he understands their lives are relatively short. Either naturally or by overfeeding...

Fixed.

Blog is fixed after a botched upgrade attempt several weeks ago. There we are then.

-brian

Weather

Weather has been terribly dreadful the past several days. Rain. Cold. Generally depressing. Need more sunshine.

Update

A few updates since my last post.
New job - Network Admin at Fuji Film
CCNA - done
Cycling more - 5 (i think) metric centuries completed this summer. Training to race next season.
New baby is on the way.
Finn is 2 and talking.
That about covers it.
-brian

Butter

Is this not the coolest butter dish ever? Mandy bought it yesterday in Greenville.

Bonk

I bonked during my group ride yesterday about 20 minutes from the finish. I suppose I should be grateful that it didn't happen sooner. I have never experienced anything like that before. I felt fine one minute, then the next I was struggling to stay on the bike. Might have been a bit dangerous riding on public roads, however I had no choice but to press on. Luckily some guys stayed back with me until the end and all of the people I spoke to in the group have bonked before. It was a humbling experience to say the least. I am the youngest (by a pretty wide margin) rider in the group and I do well to keep up with the front runners. I am somewhat encouraged by this. I now know I am performing at a level that my body cannot maintain without proper nutrition, sleep, and consistent training.

Speaking of nutrition, a Dixie Cheese and fries is not the best recovery meal.

-bd

Macro

This term I'm taking Macroeconomics and CIS 120 - which is basically Microsoft Office 2010. The class isn't as hard as it is tedious and time consuming. I'm not one who follows directions step-by-step to something I pretty much already know how to do. Like creating flyers. Anyone lost a dog recently? Call me, I've got the skillz.

Macroeconomics is a different story. Here is a subject where I had only a vague understanding of many things in the material and most of it is brand new to me. While I shouldn't be surprised at this, I usually have a general idea of the subjects I'm getting into. Not the case here. So far it's pretty challenging and I'm having to read the material multiple times to understand it. Maybe that's called studying.

Went to a Toastmasters meeting this morning with Brandon. Pretty interesting. It started at 6:30 AM (yeah). Lots of public speaking on various topics. I was asked to speak, which I denied. However I can definitely see the benefit of the organization. If I had more time, I would considering doing it.

Cycling - rode to 96 and back this past weekend. Participated in my first organized cycling event the weekend before that. No commuting recently due to the weather, I hope to get some gear soon that will help with that.

-bd

Fall

It is fall, Mandy's favorite season and with good reasons, all of which are pretty obvious. I also share this affection and my reasons can be summed up in two words - pumpkin pie.
I just finished my first term of school and I expect good marks, so I'm pretty encouraged.
Rode my first group ride last weekend - 40 miles. I was pretty much dead afterwards but encouraged by the accomplishment.
This weekend found me wearing my hoodie for the first time this year. I think I need new one, suggestions welcome.
I haven't been playing video games much recently. Is that a bad thing? Maybe, maybe not. Anyone want to buy an Xbox?
-bd