Category Archives: WHISKEY-TANGO-FOXTROT

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Short Steampunk Subjects

Positively steamy!

I like things that are short.  Quite a few of my favorite types of media are short: theatrical cartoons, Three Stooges shorts, Aesop’s fables, and Isaac Asimov’s short stories, to name a few.  Curiously enough, my own writing consists mainly of short stories.

I initially kept my short stories to just one side of a page out of sheer habit, but as I write more I am finding myself becoming more comfortable with going beyond that self-imposed arbitrary limit.  Curiously enough, my very first short story came in at 12 pages, which I felt was way too long, so there’s that, too.

There’s just something about quickly getting to the point.  Sure, a one-page story doesn’t leave much room for character development, but it also means that a message can be delivered effectively without getting lost in the rest of the story.  It also leaves armchair psychologists with little room to to find deeper meaning in between the lines.

It may also explain why I enjoy comic books.  In addition to enjoying the exploits of Superman, the Green Lantern Corps and Mega Man each month, I have also taken a liking to the various Steampunk titles currently being printed by Antarctic Press.  In addition to artwork relating to the book’s theme featuring comely lasses, each one has also featured two or three short comic stories featuring the works of Rod Espinosa, Fred Perry, and other creators.

I really enjoy those short comics.  I read them, have a quick laugh or smile, and move on to other things.  But unlike the one-issue comic stories I discussed previously, which are ‘fire and forget,’ those short comics (especially Perry’s) have me wondering about just what happened before and after the story.  How did that Bad Guy end up as a pony?  Who ended up winning the Fairyland Steampocalypse? Just why did Dr. Frankensteam create her Monster?

I also wonder if I am being given glimpses of a bigger tale that has been untold, or are these the scattered pages of a work that is not yet done even in the creator’s mind?  Or perhaps, like myself, all they want to do is make a quick joke or point and move on without having to write a whole book.  I can certainly relate to that!

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CAMPING, JUST SAYING, RANDOMIZER9.COM, Uncategorized, WHISKEY-TANGO-FOXTROT, WORDS

Camping Journal #7 – …And Home Again

Suspect is fuzzy and likes bread and eggs

July 14, 2012, 816 am, at McDonald’s in Spring Branch

-a little sunburned-

What a night.

As if sleeping in the humidity wasn’t difficult enough, I had some visitors at about 2am.  A raccoon came to camp looking for a bite and got  into my food container.  I got up and shooed him away, but not before he got a loaf of bread.  I put the container in my vehicle and resumed trying to sleep.

Not even 15 minutes later, he was back for the cooler.  I didn’t have the presence of mind to get one with a latch, and sure enough, the next thing I know, I’m putting that away and thinking I could forget about breakfast; the fuzzy bastard had eaten the eggs I had packed.

I got up at 7, and started to break camp, a task made slightly easier because I had already put up half my stuff.

And so I here I sit, drinking a cup of coffee at Mickey D’s before heading back home.

It was a fun time, and I learned a few things for next time.  Hopefully my brother or one of my friends can join me next time.

I’ll just be sure to get a cooler with latches this time…and some flip flops.

-ES

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Camping Journal #6 – Lights Out

July 14, 2012, just past midnight, in the tent

-sleepy-

It’s time for bed now, and I think that my ‘beta test’ was a success.  Except for a slight sunburn, everything went well.

I don’t know how well the tent will be able to withstand Oklacon, but for South Texas, it seems to do just fine.

Mostly everything was able to fit into the Excelsior without dropping the back seats, and I can leave the table at home next time.

I might need to get a bigger ice chest, but other than that I think I’m ready to go for a 2-night stay.

I’ll just have to remember to get some flip-flops.

-ES

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Camping Journal #5 – Rain, Rain, Make Up Your Mind, Already!

July 13, 2012, 708pm, at camp

-perturbed-

About an hour and a half ago, the sky went grey, the wind picked up, the animals went silent…and nothing.

I had planned on going for another swim but instead, I battened down the hatches, put everything in my tent or in my vehicle, and waited for the skies to open up and unleash a torrent of water.

Nothing.

I’m not 100% certain that the threat is over, so I’m on a hair trigger, ready to dash into my tent and zip up the windows at the first sign of water.

Maybe going camping on Friday the 13th wasn’t the best idea in the world.

-ES

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Obvious Title is Obvious

I am currently writing a short story that involves a large monster tearing up a city. Having read that sentence, the first thing that has probably popped into your head is “Godzilla.”  As it is a furry story, instead of being a giant dinosaur, the antagonist is a giant dog.  I have been referring to it as ‘Dogzilla’ for now, but I severely doubt that ‘Dogzilla’ will be the final name of the character.

It’s just too obvious.  Being ‘too obvious’ is something that I try to avoid in my stories.  It may be because I am afraid of dating them with pop culture references, but more than likely, I try to avoid the easy way out because I like to think that I’m clever enough to come up with something new and witty without figuratively elbowing my reader and going: “See what I did there?”  Of course, as is often the case, I may be overthinking it and end up run the risk of being too clever for my own good.  That’s a post for another time, though.

“King Dog?” Bleh.  I guess ‘Dogzilla’ he will stay until something better comes along.

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27 Things I Noticed About Camping

I camped out at Guadalupe River State Park last Friday.  It was the first time I had been out camping in years.  I used to go with my family to trips to Sunrise Beach at Lake Corpus Christi back in the day, and felt it was high time I rediscovered the Great Outdoors.  So I bought a tent, a lamp and a stove and headed off to adventure!  It was a fun trip, but I did notice a few things…

tent

Just like the picture on the box!

  1. I contemplated getting a dual-burner stove like the one my folks have, but remembered that I’m not a skilled enough cook to run 2 burners at once.
  2. Propane sucks.
  3. Its nice that Coleman stoves and lanterns can run off unleaded gas in a pinch, but did they have to stop making them green? 😦
  4. Always remember to subtract one ‘man’ from the number of people a tent can supposedly hold.
  5. I kept thinking: ‘should I get better stakes?’ ‘should I get better stakes?’ Yeah, I should have bought better stakes for the tent.
  6. I don’t know if its because of the heat, but I get powerful thirsty when camping, I should maybe pack some Gatorade next time.
  7. According to the map of the park, the river should have been nearby…it was, but the map didn’t mention the 15-foot drop to get to it.
  8. Thus, I had to drive to the part of the river that you could swim in…it didn’t feel right somehow.
  9. I purchased sunscreen, I took it with me, but did I use it?  Nooooo.
  10. I was both happy and sad to get a cell phone signal out there.
  11. They also had Wi-Fi.  Sign of the times, I guess.
  12. If you go walking around the Guadalupe River with bare feet, you’re going to have a bad time.
  13. So much for taking an afternoon nap. When there is no breeze, it’s actually hotter inside the tent
  14. Nature is pretty noisy, but when things get really quiet, it feels like you’re in a horror movie.
  15. Good to know I can still light a lantern and a camp stove.
  16. As night fell, I could hear generators starting as I sat under my lantern…geez, people, for a few bucks more you can stay at a site with electricity.
  17. I could have stayed ‘off the grid’ but no, I had to bring my laptop and use my smartphone as a hotspot. /shrug
  18. I just had to go Beavis for awhile when the flame from my camp stove shot up a foot in the air after I lit it.  FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!
  19. The humidity at night had me tossing and turning, I’m totally not used to it.
  20. The animals have not been very active at campsites I’ve been to before, so I was a bit surprised when that raccoon opened my food container at at 2 in the morning and swiped a loaf of bread.
  21. I was even MORE surprised when he opened the cooler.  Them’s smart critters.
  22. In an unrelated note, instead of scrambled eggs for breakfast at camp, I had McDonald’s on the way home.  Pbbbt.
  23. How is there condensation on the BOTTOM of the tent when there is no grass?
  24. The tent actually fit back inside of the case it came in -mind blown-
  25. Nothing like that ‘am I sunburned or not?’ feeling.
  26. Of course, the first time you step into a hot shower…you know for SURE.
  27. Can’t wait to do it again!
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Worst. Spammer. EVAR.

Spam.  If you’ve been on the Internets for more than say, a few minutes or have ever had an e-mail account, you should hate it in all its forms.  One particularly odious form of spam is blog spam, where people will post comments on blogs that serve no purpose other than to try to direct you to some skeevy website of questionable repute.

While Askimet is pretty darn good at catching spam comments, one occasionally slips through the net and has to be sent to Binary Hell the old-fashioned way.  I thought this one was HILARIOUS.  Click the picture to see the derp in all its glory.

I think you’re supposed to only post ONE of these…

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RANDOMIZER’S REACTION: My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

Resistance is Futile!

Resistance is Futile!

This is the second time I’ve written about My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, click here to read the first post.

I have friends, both male and female, that enjoy watching My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, and so I knew that I was going to have to eat those peas sooner or later.  I just didn’t think it was going to stem from a discussion about time travel.

So I was shooting the breeze with my friend Chris while we were at a pizza joint and I started talking about a story idea I had that involved time travel.  As expected, we started talking about media we’d watched or read that involved time travel and the “rules” that they had followed, so the conversation turned to Doctor Who, the Terminator series, Back to the Future, TimeWalker…and then out of the blue Chris suddenly says: “This reminds me of an episode of My Little Pony!”

I did a facepalm, much to Chris’ delight.  Chris is a brony, you see, and so he likes to insert My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic into virtually ANY conversation we’re having…or at least it seems that way to me.  Much to his chagrin, I still haven’t seen the show but figured what the hey, it was finally time to eat my peas.  So we went to my place, fired up Netflix and saw not only the episode in question (“Its About Time”), but I also figured we’d also watch the first two so could get introduced to the show and the characters.

I have to say its pretty good.  In terms of quality, I thought that the show was very well done.  The characters and scenery were pleasant to look at, if not downright cute.  The animation was pretty good, though I could see little instances here and there where it had that ‘Flash look’ to it.  I felt the voice acting was very good, and the music fit the action well, with various variations on the main theme throughout.

While it does have some kid’s show trappings, like the ‘moral of the story’ bit, that’s okay.  I liked what I saw, I found it entertaining to watch and thought it would be fun for everyone.  So it has a nearly all-female cast?  Big deal, so did Golden Girls.  So its bright and colorful?  Big deal, so are Super Mario games.  Do some of the bronies need to simmer down and stop shoving it down everyone’s throats?  Yes they do, but obsessive fanboys are present in EVERY fandom so you can’t really hold that against the majority of fans who aren’t screaming their love of it from the mountaintops.

Based on the few episodes I saw, MLP:FiM is a fun show for everyone to watch that is deserving of the attention it has been getting, even if the more overzealous members of the fandom tend to ‘squick the mundanes.’

Is it good enough to be deserving of that level of obsession?  I can’t say based on having only seen three episodes, so I guess I’ll have to see some more in order to find out…

Uh-oh.  This is how it starts, isn’t it?

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Facebook Ads are Funny

I don't want to go tto school with Grant, he's creepy!

I don't want to return to school with Grant, he's creepy!

I obviously read the ad wrong, but hey, at least I read the ad.

Booze? Well, that explains how Wall Street lost all that money

I don’t know what they’re selling but what were they THINKING?

Sick? Wild? I'll stick to Pac-Man

I still can’t get used to the word ‘sick’ being used in a good context.

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