One thing I kept semi-active during my haitus is the shutterbuggin' thing...

I've got a small collection of stuff as 'Revolver Ocelot' on Wikimedia.

Some of it's downright decent, I think, but of 1000's of pictures cluttering my HD, the fact that these're the best kinda shows what a lousy success rate I have when it comes to snapping shots.

'Course, if I had the drive, I could always plop down 600-plus-bucks for an entry-level semi-professional camera and get the REAL good shots.

Or I could save up to snag a PS3 when the price drops so I can play MGS4:GOTP...

...decisions, decisions... 

Posted by shanekentknolltrey at 12:24 PM ADT

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Mood:  celebratory

Well, now, it seems that during the week the justices of the US Supreme Court went and upheld the constitutionality of... well... the Constitution.

The Second Amendment actually means something, apparently!

Whatever one's view on gun politics, I've always been amused by people who believed that the 'militia clause' in the 2nd meant that only members of the armed forces could have firearms (remember: during revolutionary times a 'militiaman' was ANYONE of fighting age who had something to fight for).

On top of that, to believe that the Second Amendment was meant to TAKE AWAY a right from the people would be to believe that it is the ONLY RULE in the Bill of Rights that LIMITS personal freedoms: EVERY OTHER ONE of the original amendments either granted the people extra freedoms, or limited the government's own freedom.

Now, we've since created such freedom-limiting amendments, but it should be noted that any laws added to the Constitution that limit freedom often suffer terrible fates... 

As I've said before, I agree with this interpretation of the constitution, and wholeheartedly support the right of law-abiding and responsible citizens to keep AND BEAR arms (and by using the term 'responsible', yes: I am not averse to background checks and other safety measures).

As for 'gun violence'? Tell you what: add an additional 20 years on to the sentence for anyone who commits a crime with a firearm. I'd support that.

Ironically, many of the people who so loathe the Second Amendment do not support such draconian anti-violence laws, though...

After all: the gun made 'em do it, right?

Whatever your personal view on this ruling, one must understand that it's absolutely the right one, and not just a shot in the dark. 

Posted by shanekentknolltrey at 9:38 AM ADT

Updated: Saturday, 28 June 2008 9:42 AM ADT

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Mood:  down

The first time I stopped posting here regularly it was Tripod's fault (as I've previously stated).

For this whole month, though, well... that was my fault.

The blog's downtime kinda got me used to not having to spend the laborious 5-minutes a day I would normally spend working on this wonderful piece of art (insert sarcasm mark). And as free time has gone, I hit a wall in ROE that required copious attention on my part, and it was nice to drop this website thing like a sack of flour.

Buuuuuuut flour makes bread, don't you know, and by not keeping up with the posts here I've gotten more slackerish (it's a word... look it up... yeah...) in other aspects of my creative processes. So, bottom line is, this site's back up and running, and damned if I won't post here DAILY for a time, at least.

If nothing else, it'll keep reminding me to finish the rest of "His Moral Antipathy" (and no, the current chapter ain't done yet to my satisfaction). This breakneck speed of delivery makes me the DMV of authors, I know, but sometimes real life has a way of selfishly interfering with the wonderful world of fantasy.

And, if nothing else, the sabbatical has given me renewed insight into where I need to go with the overall story in TYPERS. When it comes to deliberations I have a penchant for measuring thrice, and cutting not a once: I've always known where I'm going with this story, but how to get there's always been the sticky wicket...

And, to carry an absurd analogy further, I'm now committed to smashing the croquet ball through the uneven course, rather than just tring to adjust that damn wicket's location on the green.

Maybe that's not clear enough... 

In other words, it's past time that I started actually playing through this thing.

And picking up on this site is the first step in picking up the mallet. 

Posted by shanekentknolltrey at 7:05 PM ADT

Updated: Wednesday, 25 June 2008 7:07 PM ADT

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um...

er...

so, yeah...

yeeeeeeeah... 

In addition to being a grade-A moron of the highest possible caiber, that man in the video is also suffering from a little ailment called Argyria (go on, say it out loud; that word friggin' rolls off the tongue better n' even 'cellar door'. Take that, Tolkein!

This blue-balled genius used electroplated silver rubbing componds directly on his face. Still does, even, and all to clear up some acne, or whatever.

You'd think he woulda stopped when his friggin' skin turned blue, wouldn't you?

Whatever.

Anyway, unlike Carotenemia, Argyria is not harmless. All that silver eventually starts attacking your guts and your brain. Not that you wouldn't already have to have a compromized brain pan to start such a treatment in the first place, but if this hillbilly twit keeps these treatments up he's gonna find himself looking down the barrel of a very nasty li'l coma.

Well, not physically looking, of course, but in the figurative sense...

I'm digging up this stuff for research, 'natch. In R.O.E. I think I'm gonna have the main villianess, Lady Nous, be a regular consumer of high-grade silver shards to the point where her skin gets all blue-ified...

...don't ask why: there's about three different reasons, offhand, and it goes to symbolism, as much as the part about her taking crude-oil baths...

 ...nevermind...

But the physical manifestation of Argyria is kinda disappointing: when I first heard about it I somehow thought it meant that the sufferer's veins got a high-definition contrast, and that the whites of their eyes started blue-ing, too (consider, for example, Obadiah Stane's paralyzing sound emitter weapon from that most intelligent superhero movie, Iron Man, and the short-term on-screen effects it caused)

And I'd like to point out that I ain't ripping them off: I've had this idea for this character for months, now.

Eh: I think that kinda veiny, blue-eyed pallor is how I'll describe Nous' appearance, anyway, just because the idea of it is so... so 'off'.

And to make a memorable, unsettling villian, well: 'off' is a very good place to start. 

Posted by shanekentknolltrey at 1:03 AM ADT

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Mood:  a-ok

What do you do when your own blog won't let you log in for two f**king weeks?

The answer is: not much...

Not that I needed a new reason to hate Tripod, or anything, but I believe that when I bloody friggin' type in a username of 'shanekentknolltrey' I should get access to this thing. Or at least I'm supposed to.

Tch! Well, I don't wanna criticize the wonky powers that be anymore: after all, I could end up getting locked out permanently.

The short answer is that my password got changed; I still don't know why. I do know that I was able to eventually change it back, hosanna in the highest.

Let's see: what's happened during my interminable abscence, eh?

Phoenix landed, for one, and this time the software gurus at NASA didn't confuse pounds and newtons, saints be praised, and the craft also didn't prematurely cut its descent engines, either...

Lord: Mars research is expensive, ain't it? And with our current track record, we shouldn't even be thinking about manner flights any time soon.

The Red Planet might even be better off without us: who knows? 

Everyone know we need to go to Jupiter, anyway: it should be the 'monolithic' crown jewel of our space program. I can think of 2001 reasons to go, and we'd really have a 'hal' of a good time, provided the vessel had a good bowman or two up front: someone who's wanted to reach for the 'stars' even as a little 'child'...

(yeah: this is the stuff you've been missing for two weeks. However can one survive without it? ;) 

Posted by shanekentknolltrey at 1:35 PM ADT

Updated: Friday, 30 May 2008 1:38 PM ADT

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Mood:  quizzical

Think about this li'l nugget of wisdom:

Fighter pilots have bladders, too.

...yeah: I think we all can see the problem from here. Those good ol' boys 'n girls can probably even smell it, too (and feel it)...

eeegh; that's enough of that.

Far be it for these aereal aces to have to wallow around in their own urine, so enter a private company with a certain device that acts (somewhat) like a port-a-potty you squeeze between your legs:

The AMXD!!!

That's a pretty common-sense solution to a very... sticky... situation.

Not a bad solution, really. My Allied Military R-Type pilots in TYPERS have a chemical support system that injects things directly into their bodies to suppress urine formation and urine storage in the short term (ie: atmospheric flight)

...anything longer (ie: protracted spaceflight) requires a different solution...

...enough on that... 

Seeing's how the most advanced fighter aircraft in the world right now is the F-22, and it barely has the power to control its own avionics (ie: extremely primitive 'self-repair' style technology, shunting of power, fluids, et al in response to catastrophic injury... mostly a budgetary boondoggle with overcomplicated bells n' whistles, but what do I know?) I don't think we're gonna see a fighter plane with the ability to minister to a pilot's body like that for some time.

Until then, there's AMXD. Unless our men and women in flightsuits would prefer to be stuck with a urinary catheter, of course.

The answer to that question... well, is a strafing run in the direction of the person asking it. 

Scientific Progress goes diving for cover... 

Posted by shanekentknolltrey at 8:44 AM ADT

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Mood:  incredulous

Here's a hardly-novel story from across the desert sands.

*Yawn* Yes, yes: we'll have the Ark in no time, and all that. Heard it before, but I've yet to see the damn thing and its stunning tablets of law sitting in a museum yet.

...uh: these treasure hunters should remember that, assuming they find the thing, it supposedly kills on contact, so wear thick gloves, people.

Personally I think that the Ark is a bit inaccessible to us flesh-and-bloods at this point in time... Doesn't matter: it'd be more than nice to have the vessel and its contents on display (precluding any muderous angels or kill-on-contact abilities, mind you...) but as spiritual laws go, we've already had an updated version of that program installed on our spiritual hard-drives anyway, so the Ark is, in the final analysis, moot.

...unless you're Jewish. In that case, go wild: its the definitive bond between yourselves and El Shaddai, after all...

(makes you wonder: would the state of Israel attempt to claim ownership of the thing when it's found? Y'know: a-la Spain and shipwreck salvagers? Of course, the stakes here are slightly higher than just a paltry half-a-billion dollars-worth of gold bullion...) 

As for me, I'm content to let such artifacts (assuming they still exist in this plane of existence) rest.

Godspeed, in any event... 

Posted by shanekentknolltrey at 1:30 PM ADT

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I think I've mentioned this before, but I have a running battle with all the wild swans that live on my city's lake ('all' being about two families, but still...); if I wobble past them on my kayak dropping pieces of bread into the water then they love me, if the bread runs out they hate me, if I don't drop bread FAST enough they hate me, if I look at 'em the wrong way they hate me...

you get the pattern, I think.

There's a new one to add to the list: if I accidentally stumble upon the little under-bridge island they're using to hatch their little babies, then they REAAAALY hate me...

So that's the best on-water picture I've managed of any of these half-heart-shaped bastards (who, I say, have significantly less than half-a-heart...) and it nearly cost me my paddle: two seconds later this bastard was diving against the boat lunging for my friggin' nuts!

In his defense, I did stumble upon his nesting ground: he and his mate were sitting under dense brush, and there were dark down feathers ALL OVER the undergrowth (ie: a shedding baby, or two-dozen...)

Needless to say, I was paddling for my life for a good quarter-mile down the water: this daddy did't f**k around with me...

Upon seeing them later on I suppose that they only have one kid, or at least just one survivor from a larger feathered brood...

<

...and yes: no updates for almost a week, again. I'd apologize, but seeing's how the site is free, I don't think I owe explanations, do I? ;)  I do ask for indulgences, though: after I post this upcoming double-chapter feature of TYPERS there's only going to be two chapters left in His Moral Antipathy: "Where Me and My True Love Will Never Meet Again" and "Mono No Aware".

That'll be it: the third and final book is slated to begin directly on the heels of HMA's cliffhanger ending.

I've even already got the final chapter's 'closer art' assembled and ready to go, so there... 

Posted by shanekentknolltrey at 5:59 PM ADT

Updated: Thursday, 8 May 2008 6:13 PM ADT

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Mood:  mischievious

Not the everyone doesn't already know that men are pigs, but one research group at Purdue is taking that adage to a whole 'nother level.

Collagen-laden ECM from a walking side of ham did that? Who knew: despite not posessing proper hands, as such, a pig has still somehow managed to give a person the finger!

...no, nothing on that one? Not a chuckle, at least? Alright, fine...

This really surprises me: a ground-up sprinkling of dried pig bladder kick-started a body into action. Basically this schmo's finger healed itself before it could get plastered over with dense, crusty, irrevocable scar tissue (think about an abandoned building being purchased and renovated before it can be demolished to make way for a parking lot).

Assuming those picture that go along with the story are legit then this is major news: the damage in that one photo is clearly catostrophic, but then there's that nearly-perfect finger (nail and all) in the other one.

And, like the story says, no skin-grafts. No surgery. No cuts and blood...

No stitches... 

I personally thought that the next big breakthrough in body-part regeneration would involve accelerated growth of adult clonal cell colonies extracted directly from the patient in question (eg: Justin's 'test-tube-grown skin', pg 8) but this is really cool: regenerating fairly complex body parts (fingers ain't simply a mess of flesh, after all) without invasion. With, metaphorically, the touch of a wand.

With, quite literally, the sprinkling of some pixie dust.

This is something to watch. Consequently, given the astouding sci-fi quality of the story, it's suitable that they're calling this stuff mined from the insides of these animals 'pixie dust', 'cause I wouldn't image getting results like these when pigs flied.

Scientific Progress goes down to the corner store to get some bacon to slather on that old wakeboarding injury... 

Posted by shanekentknolltrey at 1:45 PM ADT

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Mood:  a-ok

I'm gonna post 'On the Razor's Edge' together with the followup chapter, 'If One Wake at Midnight' (for all you Dickinson fans...). Two for the price of one, yeah, but it has the added effect of delaying the overall post (not too long: it's all almost done, really, and I'm only posting both at once 'cause I won't know where I want the actual break between them to be until I AM completely done with both...)

I was gonna name a REEEEAAALLLY late chapter in the next book after a Dickinson line: 'The Thing With Feathers' (ie: hope) until I found out that an episode of Without a Trace (of all things) already used that phrase.

So, instead, Emily gets her shout-out here, instead. Good thing, too, 'cause I had no f**king clue what else to call this second half otherwise...

Check the screenshot out down there for a small line of rambling notes. It looks better worked into dialogue, I'd say.

At least, I'd hope...

Posted by shanekentknolltrey at 3:46 PM ADT

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