Virginia Dreamin'

Recently I have been reading through Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T.E. Lawrence (better known as Lawrence of Arabia). In it there is a quote (players of Uncharted 3 may also recognise it).

All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.

This reminds me of my Junior year in high school. During that year there was a central theme of The American Dream that ran primarily through English, but was also present in History class (American History). While I never thought of it at the time the above T.E. Lawrence quote makes me wonder; what is more important the dream or the dreamer?

Realistically an argument can be made that neither is more important than the other. But without the dreamer there is no dream... or is there? What say you?

Music

Have you ever heard part of a song in a commercial or movie ad and wanted to hear more? I have. Most recently a song played in the commercials for National Geographic's Inside Combat Rescue. This is not the first time, just the most recent. It got me to wondering if this ever happens to other people. For those wondering the song and (very weird) video are below.

Iconagraphy

Is the Toyota logo supposed to look like someone wearing a cowboy hat?

If so, can I be their mascot?

Saint Valentine's Day

Al Capone was the only man who knew how to properly celebrate this "holiday".

That is all.

Why?

What is the deal with nerd culture? Specifically why do people think that my enjoyment of something that they dislike somehow lessens their enjoyment of it?

My primary example is a friend of mine. He is a huge Star WArs fan and takes some level of personal insult when someone makes disparaging remarks about it. WHY!? Does their dislike of Star Wars somehow take away from his love of it?

This particular Jimquisition tackles the subject from a slightly different angle.

The Escapist : Jimquisition : Fake Nerd Girls

Seriously though, why can we not just enjoy something for what it is (or isn't)? Why do we constantly have to listen to others tell us what is right and proper? Why does another person's like or dislike of something invalidate your personal feelings towards the same?

I realise nothing I say here will change anything, but I had to make my feelings known on the subject.

Sadness

It is with great sadness that I have to inform you that US Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, author of the book American Sniper was killed earlier today. There are few details that I could find and I'm sure that in the end there will be more questions than answers.

On a side note no one submitted any ideas for my new tagline. So I picked something from somewhere else and it is now live. You can still send me suggestions, but I may not use them.

Han

...Shot first

Filler!? In Books!?

A conversation I had with a friend recently got me to thinking, are books guilty of filler? Anyone who has watched any anime, notably Naruto and Bleach, know what I mean when I say filler. However, I will explain it for the uninitiated. Filler is a term used to describe episodes of a series that do nothing but take up space. They do nothing to further the plot, have no real character development, and no real lasting impact. I am in the process of reading through Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. And while I am only on book seven, A Crown of Swords, I already feel that there is too much filler. That is to say that there seem to be segments in each book that do little to nothing to further the plot, have no real character development, and no real lasting impact. While I enjoy the series, so far at least, there are times where everything becomes tedious and I have to take small breaks. Gotrek and Felix stories really help for said small breaks. To be fair I have been warned that some of the later books in the Wheel of Time series almost completely fit the definition of filler.

So, what do you have to say regarding filler in books?

Also there are not too many days left in the contest to choose my new tagline. Any suggestions are welcome (keep 'em clean). The winning entry, chosen by me, will be used to replace "Living vicariously through others since 1980". Enter now!

Book time!

So I finally finished reading the book Star Wars: Choices of One. After several false starts, I decided to make myself read it. As a general rule I love anything written by Timothy Zahn, but this one was really slow to start. Once things start building up and the events get rolling the book really starts to shine. I highly recommend it to any and all Star Wars fan.

One of the reasons I really like Zahn's writing is that his work feels more like Star Wars than most other authors. I really like Mike Stackpole and Aaron Allston, but Zahn really seems to have captured the Star Wars from our (my) youth.

Dinner time!

I was once asked if I could have any five people, living or dead, over for dinner who would they be. My list has been ever changing over time, but I believe I have narrowed it down some.
1.) George Strait - He has always been my favourite singer, and I could not pass up inviting him.
2.) John Wayne - The Duke. Need I say more?
3.) Marcus Luttrell - Read the book Lone Survivor and you will understand why.
4.) Musashi Miyamoto - The Japanese sword saint. If I could have him as a sword instructor for a day...
5.) Yoshiyuki Tomino - He created Gundam that is enough for me.

As I have said, this list tends to change at intervals. Honourable mentions go to Brandon Sanderson, Jeanne D'Arc, Senior Airman Brian Kolfage, Gabby Franco, and the list goes on and on.

Please feel free to share you ideas. Also I am beginning to think that people really like my current tagline, as I haven't gotten many suggestions for a new one.

Thanks and buh-bye,

Weapon of choice.

It would seem that I know my ancient weapons pretty well.

I scored 90%, with 9 of 10 correct on The Escapist's Name That Ancient Weapon.
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Two posts, one day (Epic Hole)

This just needed to be shared. I have nothing else to say.

The Escapist : Jimquisition : Epic Hole (B Mine Cliffy)

Oh, yeah... send me suggestions for a new tagline.

New Year, New You

Greetings from the year 2013! And so another year has gone, never to pass again.

Confession time: I don't get all the new year hype. Never have. Most probably never will. It just seems to me that it is simply another day. Sure the year has changed, but I don't see how that is much different from any other change on the calendar.

And now I have a little contest for any and all my readers. At the top of my page is the tagline "Living vicariously through others since 1980". I am giving you the opportunity to change it. Starting today and running through the end of the month I will be accepting submissions for a new tagline. I have nothing to offer to you in return... except credit for the new tag, of course. Just leave a comment on any post going forward from today or comment on my Google+ page. The winner will be selected on 31 Jan. 13 and placed on the page on 01 Feb. 13. Please keep it clean and have fun. May the best tagline win!

Movie time

Just watched the movie The Shawshank Redemption again. I love that movie. It makes me happy and sad at the same time. To any who haven't seen it, watch it. Watch it NOW!

Favourite quote: "Hope is a good thing. Maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies."

Games!

Well the new year is almost upon us. I sometimes wonder where the time has gone.

Moving on, and having nothing to do with my opening line, I have decided to compile a list of my favourite games from the past year. There will be five in total and there is no particular order.

First up Journey

Second Spec Ops: The Line

Third Mass Effect 3

Fourth Dear Esther

Fifth and finally Far Cry 3

Out of all of these games, Spec Ops is the one that surprised me the most and had me talking about it long after I have finished it. I highly recommend all of them though.

Laters, and a happy new year!

Rocket Man

For some reason I feel the need to share this.



Enjoy,

Words...

Part of me wants to joke. I can't help it, it is a defense mechanism. However, in light of recent events, I will not.

I will, however, share a quote generally attributed to Edmund Burke.

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.

I will also share a poem (or part of a poem) that I have always liked. Not too sure who wrote it though.

Justice, like lightning, ever should appear to few men's ruin, but to all men's fear.

And for now, I take my leave.

Ring-Wraith!?

Once again, I'm not too sure exactly what this says about me...


Ring-wraith
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Christmas time... the sequel.

If you'll recall I recently commented that I had stuff to say about Christmas. Well now is the time that I share with you.

I am not a fan of Christmas. I used to love it when I was younger, but I've gotten somewhat cynical in my old age. When I think of Christmas these days all I can think of is greed and entitlement. Greedy people (and stores) thinking that they are entitled to something. Admittedly some of this comes from the fact that I work retail, but it seems that no matter where I go I find something that reminds me of the greed and entitlement.

On a completely unrelated note does anyone else think that Frosty the Snowman is based on a drug induced hallucination? Seriously I think that "Magic" is street slang for a new designer drug. The drug was hidden in the hat that the kids got their hands on. All it took was one of them "seeing" the snowman come to life and then the rest of them saw it. Truly the traffic cop was not telling the snowman to stop, but rather telling a bunch of drug addled kids to stop.

Just think about that, and remember you heard it here first.

Poetry in motion

Greetings all. I really have nothing to say today so I will simply share the poem Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley.

I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: `Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed. And on the pedestal these words appear -- "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.'

And to all a good night.