I take everything back. Substituting sucks.

@ W3Rk

So im at the high school right now subbing for a spanish high school class. All i do it folow the lasson plan, so its pretty easy. I met one douchebag of a bastard but since it was less paperwork to send him to the office and the was only being a retard to me when i talked to him, I chose to leave him alone. Other than that, everyone seems nice and understanding that its my first day. I've been talked to by a few teachers to stop letting kids call me by "Henry". I look like a rebel by letting them apparently. What a fucking badass I am.

In my free time I've been fleshing out the mythical part behind vggdrasii's universe. It's not too in depth and will be revealed throughout the story. I read Mark's comments, and dont worry, almost all of it was explained beforehand when i was taking an independent study with Jonathan, and theres only one part that seems as if its going to take place in the afterlife. I love you so much Mark.

Photography!

Went out and took some picture at dawn this morning. A heavy fog rolled over the marsh and i got a few keepers.

The Demon

“The stories are true. The Black Demon from the South dives into our ranks and emerges unscathed. From my gate I could see him cutting our men down, as many as five in one blow. It was at this moment that I realized we have overstepped the boundaries of humanity. At this moment, that I knew our city of rock was to be relinquished to the Velic people... When I stood imprisoned before him and his ‘Vggdrandi,’ I looked up to the Demon, and there was nothing. The sun was shining brightly, the sky was a bright blue, and there was nothing but a maddening void of blackness within his helmet. Of this I am sure. Of this, I am cursed to dream for the remainder of my days and beyond.”
-Jameson Gatemar
Tepotian Gatekeeper

Tepotia Vs. Velatia Vs. Reality

So I haven't updated my blog in a while. Things haven't really been crazy, i've just been lazy. Sort of.

I've applied to about five different places for work, and have been utterly unsuccessful. Its been quite depressing and boring. THe depressing side of it sucks, but the boring side was exactly what i needed to motivate myself to start creating things. I've got two projects going on right now. One is small, one is big.

The small project is a rock garden. I'm going to build it right behind a creek that runs though my backyard. There's a large open space that would look beautiful with a raked pebble garden. THe first step is clearing out the brush and vines and basically clearing a path that would lead to the garden. That's what I'm still doing. Weedwacking, weeding, and wheelbarrowing undesirable plants. After a few days of work, I'm about a 4th of the way there, but if everything comes together, it will be georgeous.

The bigger project is a book. I want to write a book about Velatia and Tepo and everything stuck inbetween. When I'm bored, my best work comes out, and by that logic, I will be the fucking lovechild of Vonnegut and PIcasso by the end of the week. I've been wanting to do this for a while now, and I'm beginning to feels its finally time to buckle down and make this thing happen. It will take a long time, but honestly, it's not like I'm doing anything else. I'll be posting excerpts from the history thats already written about Velatia, and once in a while i'll post excerpts form the actual book itself (like last week).

MUch of it will be unedited, and simply a way for me to post specific parts of the story that i am focusing on at that period of time. Kind of like this post! Here i go.

Vggdrassii's means to an end.

A crooked man stood there. Sticks and scribbles. His movement was ancient and slow. His head swayed unnaturally as he looked at the demon. Not unlike the white stones the demon was searching for, his teeth were small and beady, tinted yellow. His eyes seemed to refuse to look in the same direction. As the boy moved closer, one eye focused on his bow the other into space. The old man turned and fished four cards form his pocket. This was the dealer.

“Why have you come here, Heathen?” His appearance betrayed his thunderous voice. It was not as direct and impressive as the Demon’s, but its element of surprise took the beast aback. The decrepit thing seemed to put forth a mighty effort into keeping one eye focused on the sword, as if expecting the blade to thrust forth an answer.

“I am no heathen. I bear no ill will towards you, dealer.” The Demon straightened his back. “I come with an offer, more accurately a wager.”

“A wager? Ha!” There is nothing that you people have that I could ever find worth in.”

“This is a wager that even a miscreant such as yourself cannot forgo.” The dealer hobbled over to The Demon, and looked into his eyes. He was not lying. But the dealer couldn’t think of anything that he needed or wanted.

“Humph. What would you have that I would want? I have no material possessions, and I desire nothing from your cities. Therefore, it cannot be wealth. I have loved over one thousand maidens in my lifetime. Therefore, it cannot be love. I have the power to control and influence the fate of most mortal men. Therefore, it cannot be power.”

The dealer looked up at the demon’s face, and knew. “Such gall you have, Demon of the South. Only the most wicked and damned creatures have offered such a prize to me and all have failed to produce. I must ask, what shall you request if perchance you win?”

“A means to defend my people, unparalled prowess in combat, and a boy from the ranks of the enemy."

The old man cackled sickly. “A boy you say? Do your people know of your flavor and desire? They would neve-“

“You know of whom I speak, wretch!” The monster stepped towards the dealer. “If it is jest and chuckles you wish to engage in, I will find another means. I will revoke.”

Again, the dealer sensed no deception. “Let us begin, demon.”

COD 4 Beta

THe other game that took over, moreso than bioshock even because I'm afraid to play Bioshock at night because its so fucking creepy, is Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. I had been following the game for a long time, and lucked out to get in the first wave of entrants in the beta.

It's a very solid shooter. Thats all I can really say about it. When i say solid I mean SOLID. Not liquid, SOLID. Not gaseous like Jupiter, SOLID like an igneous rock.

Its a really fast paced game too, but there is a lack of variety in the gametypes. Team deathmatch can only hold me for so long. THat said, its REALLY fun and very addicting. If you are going to rent it, you might as well buy it, because you're probably not going to want to bring it back if you like console shooters.

I've been cruising forums here and there and everyone who likes the game says it is going to be the "official" Halo Killer. This probably Isn't true. I've been following both games closely and, other than perks, COD4 doesn't bring anything new to the FPS genre. Its like COD2 with perks and modern weapons (which is sweet). Its a great game, but I'd put Bioshock over it for GOTY.

The perks are cool and they do have a heavy impact on the individual's gameplay. It would have been cool if there were team perk bonuses like if everyone picked sonic boom (better explosives) they would start out with more grenades or something like that.

It's a great game that's a SLIGHTLY overhyped. For me, it might have been better than Halo3 if it wasn't for Bungie's new map editing tool, Forge. Which basically is the same thing as Myth II's Loathing.

Sorry for the comparison to Halo3, but I've been seeing it everywhere, and the freakin' game Isn't even out yet.

Videogames took over my life... again!

So I haven't updated in a week. There is a reason for this. Bioshock and Call of Duty 4 Beta. I apologize and i promise there will be many updates coming up this week. For those of you who love videogames, here's my 2 cents about Bioshock.

Fucking incredible. I have always held on to the belief that a story and proper art direction in a game can elevate it beyond a simple "game" and into an experience. Bioshock does this almost flawlessly. It feels like you are inside a movie that you are controlling, and what makes the world of Rapture so much more real is the little things that the art department and level design team did with it.

Levels don't feel like levels, they feel like spaces that have been decaying for years on end. Hallways and corridors don't feel like hallways and corridors, they feel like an actual place that HAS to be real. As far as the atmosphere and level design goes, to me NOTHING feels like I'm in a game.

I could go on about it, but it would take took long. Expect this post to be updated with a full review.

The decaying fool.

This thing was in the same dream with the soldier celebrating the invasion. It was leering at me from a cobblestone alley. It was weird.

Bioshock!!!!!

So apparently my Bioshock shipped from Springfield earlier today and should be arriving TOMORROW. Which is awesome because it's the release date. What's even cooler is that I ordered it with standard shipping. Should be a fun day tomorrow.

Propaganda!

So I wrote a story about the Beltoman soldier Jonothan and his experience retaking his hometown from Tepo. While he was prepping for combat in his APC, he noticed a propaganda poster up inside it. I figured I’d remake it and show it to everyone. Click the link below.

A dream.

Last night I had an awesome dream about the Beltoman invasion on Southern Tepo. There were some soldiers cheering and looking at the horizon, and in the background was one of the AN-450 "Limpet" Artillery guns with smoke rising up from it. I'm not sure of what exactly was going on, but it seemed like the Beltomans successfully silenced the Tepotian guns battering their naval invasion force. Fucking Sweet.

The Tepotian Bestiary

I plan on updating this every week with a fully rendered image of a creature from the Tepotian Archives. Providing the slim chance that i don't get lazy, I'll be able to keep pushing my work and putting it up for you guys to see. Here we go.

The Steindermian Whale is a massive predatory mammal that lives in the deeps of the Black Osean. They have been recorded to measure up to 500 feet, making them the largest predator to have lived on this world. One of the coolest things about this anime is it’s ability to apsorb oxygen through it’s skin, enabling it to remain underwater indefinitely. At first I wasn’t sure how they could do this, but the sightings are commonly recorded around volcanic fault lines along the ocean floor. Most scientists studying the whale think that the water becomes oxygenated around the superheated vents thus giving the whales the oxygen they need to survive. This would also explain the scars that give the whale its rocklike texture that helps keep it hidden.

As massive as the whales are though, they are are rarely spotted and "endangered" due to their nature, and their size and gestation period respectively. As a result of decades of research, most biologists estimate there to be less than 200 of these massive creatures roaming the ocean floor. Until 1950, they were in fact thought to be completely extinct.



By capnhank at 2007-08-27

Capn Hawk Bombs an Interview!

Okay, it wasn’t that bad. Aside from constantly stuttering out of nervousness at a job interview for a public speaking career, it wasn’t that bad. This is going to be a long post though.

The day started off pretty well. I woke up relatively early, drove in with my dad and brother to providence, and chilled at Benson for a few hours. My interview was at 2:30 and I knew it was at 2:30, but for some reason I was nervous that I had forgotten the time. This is when I first started to panic, and began to come up with nonexistent events that I may have mixed up with my interview. So there was that.

At about 12:30 a guy walked into my dad’s office asking if it was admissions. “Excuse me, is this the admissions office?” That’s what my brother and dad heard. What I heard was the word “Admissions.” What my brother and dad saw as a lost confused old man in a sunhat, I saw as an angry, punctual man from admissions in a sunhat.

“Do you know where the admissions office is? Me and my daughter are here to take a tour.” My father looked at Adrian and remembered that my brother was to clean the silkscreen emulsion off the counters and asked me to show them to admissions.

During the walk I learned that the guy in the sunhat lived in the Galapagos Islands and owned a scuba shop there. His daughter was nice and commented on how “striking” my blue shirt was. I replied that I looked like a best buy employee without the yellow tag. And I did too.

After about 8 minutes of smalltalk we reached the admissions office and they both found out that they weren’t on the tour list and they might not be able to get into the tour. I told the guy that if he couldn’t get in I’d be around and could show him around the place since my dad works there and I only have that admissions interview anyway. I gave him my cell number, confirmed my appointment (it was 2:30 P.M. all along!) and went back to Benson for a couple of hours. That’s when the butterflies really started to kick in.

I started to think of every possible thing that could go wrong and kept drawing situations out of my mind until I was back up at admissions waiting to be seated for my interview. The secretary ushered me into “the conference room.” You know those board room scenes in movies where there’s an oblong table with tons of seats around, and on one side of the room there’s a big screen tv that’s used for satellite conferencing? It was like that but with a balcony overlooking Woods-Gerry. I could imagine Roger’s face opening and closing on the monitor in a weird, Orwellian tone.

Then came in Ed and Lucy. Before I say anything about the interview, i'm going to precede it by telling you that these two people are extremely friendly and are way better at the job than I could ever hope to be.

So it began.

They showed me a piece of paper with the job requirements, what I’d be doing and then Ed began to tell me forget about the paper “I will tell you what the job is really like.”
Basically I’d be traveling during the fall and wintersession semesters every other week. Intense traveling. I would fly out to say, Austin, or Chicago or LA and would begin my day by giving speeches at various high schools about RISD and it’s departments. Then after I finish the first high school, I would drive or fly to the next one in say, Minneapolis. Then I would fly to my next school and if I have time I would give a speech there or if I didn’t have time I would go to my hotel and prepare for the next day. This would go on for a week, and I would fly back to providence where I would commute back and forth every day working regular office hours.
During the office hours I would be contacting people about RISD and doing admissions office work such as organizing files, reminding people of deadlines, etc. Which I don’t mind.

Then they asked me questions about what I thought of RISD, what was its biggest strength, and why I think I’m right for the job. I really don’t think I’m right for the job but I figured I’d bullshit and say well I’m good at talking to people. Although it came out as “Well, uh well, I think…I’m good with people sometimes, you know, and uh yea you know I try to be as honest as possible when I’m talking to people and stuff like that.”

Right after that I knew I was in trouble because the next question came with awkward looks and they asked me how experienced I was with public speaking. I told them I was an officer in high school but that was about it. And at this point I started becoming really nervous and began to have trouble forming coherent sentences. The interview went on a little while longer, but it ended not too long after that.

The funny thing was, even with all the stuttering and horrible eye contact during a job for a public speaking position; they were REALLY selling the job to me, which immediately raised some red flags in my head. And if they do call me back for a second interview, I can only assume that they are very desperate to fill this job position, because I am positive that almost every candidate that went into that room came off as more qualified and confident than I did.

After realizing what the job consists of and how it works, I’m not sure even if they called me that I would take the job.

Capn Hawk lands an interview!

Last week I applied for a job at RISD online and they wanted an interview with me. So tomorrow I have a job interview at RISD. Apparently they are looking for an admissions officer. As I understand it, I would be helping review portfolios and looking at incoming freshmen. 

I don't know what the pay is but i have a feeling its a higher salary than stocking shelves at staples. I wouldn't know though really, since I've never applied for that job. I'm not saying that working at staples is bad either, but i still stand my my assumption that RISD would pay more than Staples. I'm pretty good with printers though so if I were to work at staples maybe I could be some sort of technician who everyone yells at when things go wrong, but has a higher than normal salary. I bring this up because i was going to apply to Staples, but found this instead. 

My HDmate scaler finally came in today. I've only played a little bit, but the Bioshock demo looks fucking ridiculous guy. It sucks that Halo 3 is coming out so early this year. It's way too close to the release date of the blockbuster games that are coming out this fall. I'm not a buisness major, but it seems that releasing all these 60 dollar games within the same month seems like a marketing strategy that wouldnt maximize profits. COD4, BIOSHOCK, and Halo 3, are all first person shooters being released relatively close to one another. They should have realeased Halo 3 in November. Too many games coming out at once and i don't have the money to get em. 

Time to dream about ladies.

Also, I have this mustache that is fucking gigantic. I'm going to have to shave it if i want this job lest I look like a pedophile lost in a high school.

First!

Awesome. Now I can complain to everyone including people I don't know. This may be a life changing experience for me.