It has been a both a fun and relaxing weekend. I actually had a normal work week for a change, and worked Friday. That is a good thing. I enjoy working, even though it is just a job and not a passion. I save the passion for my hobbies, keeps them fun. I got the call Friday, that more of my contacts had come in, but they would have to wait.
I downloaded a new game for the PS4 and hadn't gotten a chance to play it yet, so this weekend was going to be that chance. I signed up for Playstation Plus when I got the PS4, with that I get a free game each month. The game this past month was called Knack. I think it is a year old or so, but I'm not sure on that. It looked like it might be fun, so I gave it a try. It is very cartooning in the animation, almost like a Disney film. The scenery is beautiful and the game play is rather easy. How easy you ask? Well, I managed to finish the game last night after only two nights of play time. If I can finish a game that fast, it is very easy. Easy doesn't mean that it isn't fun. It is. There isn't a whole lot to the controls, and when you die in the game, the game does make it a little easier for you to get through that level. I had it on normal difficulty, so I'm kind of wanting to go back through it in hard. Should make me pull what little hair I have left out, or maybe not. I think there is a second one coming out soon, and they had a little piece at the end to let you know that they could do it, so I'm looking forward to it.
The bigger news is, that I got that gimbal in for my GoPro. It's called the Karma Grip and it's made by GoPro. It looks super cool, and does really snazzy automated stuff when you turn it on, but that doesn't mean it's going to work, but GoPro knows what they are doing, so it does work. I'm not sure completely how I can use it yet. I know the basic idea of using it as my handheld to get smoother tracking on my videos. It eliminates that bounce when you walk. I decided to test it out yesterday, and make a little motovlog to see what I can get it to do. I have a lot to learn about it's capabilities, but I like what footage I got from it. I only wish I had more of a sample for the video. it only takes up about maybe 30 seconds if that, in the whole thing. It's a short video, so you should be able to make it through the end of it. Take a look and see what you think of the shots I got with it.
The thumbnail on the video is from the footage I shot with the Karma Grip. Please don't judge it from that. They always use a grainy looking photo for that image. The video is much clearer than that. I kind of used it as if it were a drone, with that final flyover the bike. It worked out as good as I would hope for it to, so I love it. Next week is the next review from The Pepperoni Report, so I'll get a good chance to see how well it works for that. I do have a bit of some learning to do with it. The camera wants to stay fixed in one place, that is after all the purpose of it. There is a small angle lock button on the grip that allows you to fix the position of the camera, so that it will still have that steady affect, but the camera will stay on what you want it to. That is where I'm going to have to do the most study with this. I played a bit with it, and I think I have a good idea. I don't have it down yet, but I am getting there. I guess we will all see how well I got it next week.
Speaking of the PR. We do the next tasting on the 9th, which is this coming Friday. I'm hoping for a short week so that we can get it done early, and I have more time to try and get the whole thing completed by the late evening, to have it posted. I'm going to try my best to have the video chopped down to less than 10 minutes, so I have my work cut out for me. I have learned a few lessons with the motovlog thing, and we will have to do quite a bit of self editing during the recording process, that will make my job a lot easier. I think we can do it. With the first one, we needed to lay down the rules and other things. Those are thing we don't have to repeat for this one, so that will chop a couple of minutes off right there. If we stay on point and don't repeat things, then we should be able to get it in the 6-8 minute range. That is what I'm shooting for. You will see when the post is live, whether I hit that mark or not.
I guess I should give you a Match update. There isn't anything to update. I have written a few more messages to which I have had no replies. They let you know if they have been read or not, and the majority of them haven't even been read. I think that is a Match thing, where they only lead you read and respond if you are a member. I get that they have to make money, but come one, maybe one read and response cold be permitted for free. If they only put an icon or something on the user profile that said whether or not they were members would help this process out a little. Although, if they didd that, then members would only try to contact members, and they wouldn't get any push for non-members to sign up. Either way, it looks like this is going to be an abysmal failure. Oh well, I'm not upset about it, just a little fed up.
I posted a picture on Instagram just a little while ago. It's a picture of Saki's cockpit, but more importantly, it is a picture of something being put back where it belongs. If you have been watching the videos, you may have noticed something missing and a GoPro Session 5 in it's place. Well, I wasn't thrilled with using the Session 5 there, so I'm getting rid of that and putting a little bit of fun back on Saki. I'll have a picture for you on Tuesday, with a full explanation on why I took the Session off, and why I needed that little bit of glam back on Saki.
I got clothes washing and a whole bunch of shows to catch up on, before The Walking Dead. By the way, great episode last week. It was an episode you don't always get on TWD, and it was a nice change. I won't say anything about what happened, no spoilers and all, but I gots to go. Peace in and goodnight.
Sunday, March 4, 2018
Thursday, March 1, 2018
The Patchwork Knight (Chapter 18)
I had been back for a few days when I realized I had broken my word to Arial. I did exactly what she said I would do. I went directly to training instead of seeking her out as I said I would. She was not going to be happy with me, but she would understand, once I told her what happened, and how I met the King and Princess Alma. I would look for her after my morning training.
My father gave me a rigorous routine to follow, and he told me that was only the beginning of what I was going to go through. The 3 movements turned to 8, and he said that that was only the beginning as well. He was going to teach me everything he knew, and that the 8 movements were only basics. He mentioned that he only trained the Targen Knights in the 8 movements, and that was enough to make them the mightiest swordsmen in the realm. I asked him where he had learned all of this, but he would shrug and tell me that I wasn’t ready to learn that yet. I had come to realize that I hadn’t known much about my father. He never told me stories of his youth, and I only found out about his feats in battle from the King.
My training started out each day, running to the river, and my father showing me a new part of a new movement. I was then to run back through the forest and stop to chop my daily trees down for the forge and the village. While I was there, I was to practice everything I knew, 100 times each. Then I was to drag the trees to the forge, cut them and run back to the river, where I would practice each movement on the uneven rocky ground of the riverbank. It was tough but I enjoyed it. Before dinner, I had one other duty, and that was to learn how to forge with my father. He told me, that was for when I decided to give up on a warriors life. I would have something to spend my time doing. It was hot work and summer was coming fast, so it was only going to get hotter.
On the day that I remembered that I was to have found Arial, I asked my father if I could skip learning to forge with him, so that I could talk to her. He smiled and said, “Yes, you should. Go and spend childhood being a child for a change.” I did all of my other duties, and then headed to the center of the village to find Arial.
I looked at the village commons, but she wasn’t there. She was always there, reading or having her midday meal. I found her father and asked him where she was.
“Ah, Pitre. Arial has taken to going up the mountain trails for her studies lately. You can find her up on one of the plateaus.”
“Thank you sir. I’ll go and look for her.”
“If you find her, tell her to come down early today. She has been coming down after nightfall, and it’s dangerous for her to come down those trails at night, even if it’s early dusk.”
“Yes sir, I will.”
I took off for the mountain trails, and decided that this was a good time to get a little extra training in, so I ran all the way up the trials to the first plateau. The first plateau was where most of the goats would herd. There was a large patch of grass for them to graze on, and it was in the shade of the mountain from the setting sun. Arial was nowhere to be seen. I quickly sprinted up the trail to the second plateau. The second plateau was barren with rocks and sand. It was exposed to the sun during the entire day, so it was also rather hot. I didn’t expect to find Arial there, for those very reasons, but as I peaked the final rise to the plateau, I could see her at the far end sitting on a rock slab.
“Arial, I’m back from the Kingdom.”
“You’ve been back, for nearly a week now.”
“It hasn’t been that long. I got back…” I thought to myself, and it dawned on me, it had been nearly a week. I let all those days get away from me, while I was training. “Ok, I guess it has been nearly a week.”
“You promised me, that you would come straight to me as soon as you got back. You didn’t, which is exactly what I said you would do. Your word is nothing Pitre.”
“I’m sorry. I had to begin training, as soon as I got home. I did remember though, and that is why I’m here now.”
“I take it you won the tournament then?”
“No, I lost.”
“Then what are you training for?”
“I have a second chance to go into the Knights Academy.”
“How so?”
“It’s kind of a long story, but the King knew my father, and I impressed him during the tournament, so he said he would sponsor me for entry next year.”
“How did you lose? I gave you the stone. Did you not keep it on you?”
“I did, it was in my pocket the whole time. I lost to Princess Alma.”
“I told you to make a necklace for it as soon as you could. The stone works best when it is touching your skin. You didn’t get the most out of it as you could. Wait, did you say you lost to Princess Alma?”
“Yes, and you didn’t tell me that it had to touch my skin, you said it just needed to be near me.”
“It will work when it is near you, but if you want the most out of it, without knowing how to control the flow of the aether, than you should have it touching your skin.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that then?”
“I told you to make a necklace for it as soon as you could. How many times do I have to say that for you to understand it. You shouldn’t have lost. Princess Alma huh? Of course you would lose to a girl. I always knew I could take you in a fight.”
“Very funny. She is actually rather good with a sword, and has been training for many more years than I have. I will make a necklace for the stone tomorrow. I really would have done it sooner, if you would have told me that it would work better if it were touching my skin.”
“Ok then, I suppose that you want to learn how to control the aether, don’t you?”
“That is what you said you would teach me isn’t it?”
“It is, and I will, but you need to do some training of a different kind first.”
“What kind of training? I am already training all the way until dinner time now?”
“Do I hear a whine coming from you Pitre? I know that I can’t be hearing that, because the only thing you love, is your training.”
“You are right, but you said I was going to learn something from a scroll, and that means I’m going to have to read. I don’t like reading.”
“Yes, you will be reading, but first you have to prepare your body and mind, by opening them up. As the scroll says, you can only control the aether, after you first control your body.”
“I have control of my body. What do you think I have been training for? I have to control my body to control my sword, and my mind is the same way. When I achieve the Swordsman’s Euphoria, I have complete control over my body and the way it interacts with the environment around me.”
“The Swordsman’s Euphoria? What is that?”
“It’s hard to explain. When I enter it, everything becomes more clear to me. I’m aware of everything and my body becomes one with everything around me.”
“Hmm, that is interesting. Maybe you are more ready for this than I had thought. That sounds a great deal like the state you have to be in to control the aether. How do you get into this, Swordsman’s Euphoria?”
“I have to calm myself. Usually I relax and take a deep breath, I concentrate on what I am about to do, and then I slip into it.”
“Can you do it right now?”
“I don’t really know. I have only done it while training and in the tournament.”
“Try, I want to see what you are doing. It might be exactly what you need to do to control the aether.”
I said I would give it a try. I pulled my sword out. I carried it everywhere, since the King decreed that I could. I rest it at my side, relaxed, took a deep breath, and began. Before I finished my breath, I had slid into the Swordsman’s Euphoria. The world became more clear. I was aware of everything, even something I had never seen before. I was looking at Arial. She stood about 10 feet in front of me. She had moved back when I drew my sword. Her raven hair blew slightly from a mountain breeze, and around her thin figure was a light. Not a light, but a glow. I light blue glow surrounded her body. I looked around to see if anything else was glowing, but it wasn’t. As my eyes came back to her. I saw small tendrils or light reach out from her, and then the glow pulsed and increased. I saw the tendrils reach out again, this time I saw one go towards my pocket. I felt the stone radiate a heat, and then the tendril grew brighter and I watched it flow up the tendril to Arial. I shook my head. I fell out of the Swordsman’s Euphoria and just stared at her.
“What are you looking at?
“You were glowing. I saw a blue light around you, and it reached out and touched the stone in my pocket.”
“Hmm, I always wondered what I looked like when I was gathering the aether. It appears that it shouldn’t take you very long to learn how to control the aether yourself. You go about it a different way, but that is where you need to be, to begin to control the aether. I’m still going to make you learn the way I did though. I know exactly what is happening that way, and I can’t be sure of what exactly it is this Swordsman’s Euphoria is doing.”
“Can we start tomorrow? I promised your father that I would tell you to come down the mountain early. He is worried about you walking the trails after nightfall.”
“I was going to suggest as much. I have to really think about what you just did. Can you teach me how to achieve the Swordsman’s Euphoria, so I can see how it differs?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t even know how I learned it. My father just had me train until I was exhausted and then he told me how to breath and relax. I did, and then it happened. Ever since that day, I’ve been able to do it when I want to.”
“Then show me the way you learned.”
“You want to learn how to swing a sword?” I was baffled, Arial had never had any interest in my training other than to laugh at me when I fell.
“I suppose that I do. You get up before dawn don’t you?”
“Yes, I’m training before the sun breaks the land.”
“It’s settled then, I will be at your door when you leave for your training in the morning.”
“Ok. We better get down those trails before the sun falls, or you father is going to be mad at me.”
We walked down the mountain together. Arial was mumbling to herself the entire time. When we reached the common square, Arial mumbled something that sounded like “I’ll see you in the morning”, waved and walked off towards her house. I did the same, but my wonder was about what had happened and what I had seen.
Tuesday, February 27, 2018
Be The Weirdest You You Can Be.
It's official. I now have both of my ears at 7/8ths of an inch. I was able to finally fit a 7/8ths tunnel in yesterday. Now begins the countdown for when I finally stretch up to a full inch. It feels good to finally be symmetrical again. Well, I'm not completely symmetrical, I do have that second hole in my left ear, but you know what I mean. I will begin stretching both of them in one month. I want to just let the left ear rest a little, since I have been pretty aggressive with stretching it up to this point. Aggressive, but smart. I got to tell you, if you have a desire to stretch your lobes, do it with the plumbers tape. It takes a little time, but it is well worth it, when you see the results. Take it from someone who did it the other way in the past. Tapers are faster, but they are a lot more painful, and they are risky. If you do have a desire, and want more information on how to do it, just let me know, and I will help you out, the best that I can.
In the past week, two of the motovloggers I follow, were involved in accident's. Fortunately, neither of them were hurt to bad. One of them, is a somewhat new rider, and his accident was definitely a case of inexperience on the bike. He made a couple of mistakes which resulted in him going down, and totaling his bike. He had some injuries, but nothing too serious. The other one, only put a portion of the footage from the accident up. I'm going to share it with you in a second, because it is one of the most incredible accidents I've seen. Without seeing what happened right before the footage picks up, I can't say for certain what caused it. My guess would be that he hit something in the road, that caused him to get the speed wobbles, which turned into a full on tack slapper. What that is, is when the bars quickly go back and forth, in essence, slapping the gas tank. That caused him to go down, but the miraculous part, is what happened right after he went down. I'll let the video tell you that story.
I have never seen a luckier rider that that right there. He blurred out the speedometer, but he was clearly going fast, and sometimes that can cause speed wobbles, but I still think he must have hit a rock or something in the road, to cause that. Oh, and as I was looking up this video, I saw that another rider that I follow went down. I'll watch that video tomorrow. The good news about seeing these videos being posted, is that you know the rider is doing ok. Since they can get the video up, that means they are moving around and healing well.
I should be receiving the gimbal I ordered tomorrow. I'm toying with the idea of doing an unboxing video for you, but haven't fully committed to it yet. If you want to see the unboxing, and then maybe a couple of clips of it in action, let me know. If I get a good enough response, I'll do it. If not, I'll just open it up normal like, and then find a way to use it in a video this weekend. Either way, you will see it in action.
I thought I would have more to talk about tonight, but sadly, I don't. I do have Favorite Song of the Week though. I've talked about this band many times before, so I really don't have to do a big background for theses guys. I can tell you, that the stand out line for me, and the one that has had me craving this song for the past week is, "I'll stop wearing black when they make a darker color.". I've been accused from time to time, of wearing too much black, so I guess I can start using that line from now on. Here is Fall Out Boy with "Wilson (Expensive Mistakes)".
Fun and weird video. I also really like the line, "I became such a strange shape, from trying to fit in.". I don't know about you, but I can relate to that line. I used to try to fit in all the time, and it never felt right. I gave that all up quite a long time ago, but I still remember that feeling of trying to fit in and just failing. I wasn't being true to who I was, and that sucked. That goes along with the whole "Why be normal" thing. Be the weirdest you you can be. It's way more fun. Peace in and goodnight.
In the past week, two of the motovloggers I follow, were involved in accident's. Fortunately, neither of them were hurt to bad. One of them, is a somewhat new rider, and his accident was definitely a case of inexperience on the bike. He made a couple of mistakes which resulted in him going down, and totaling his bike. He had some injuries, but nothing too serious. The other one, only put a portion of the footage from the accident up. I'm going to share it with you in a second, because it is one of the most incredible accidents I've seen. Without seeing what happened right before the footage picks up, I can't say for certain what caused it. My guess would be that he hit something in the road, that caused him to get the speed wobbles, which turned into a full on tack slapper. What that is, is when the bars quickly go back and forth, in essence, slapping the gas tank. That caused him to go down, but the miraculous part, is what happened right after he went down. I'll let the video tell you that story.
I have never seen a luckier rider that that right there. He blurred out the speedometer, but he was clearly going fast, and sometimes that can cause speed wobbles, but I still think he must have hit a rock or something in the road, to cause that. Oh, and as I was looking up this video, I saw that another rider that I follow went down. I'll watch that video tomorrow. The good news about seeing these videos being posted, is that you know the rider is doing ok. Since they can get the video up, that means they are moving around and healing well.
I should be receiving the gimbal I ordered tomorrow. I'm toying with the idea of doing an unboxing video for you, but haven't fully committed to it yet. If you want to see the unboxing, and then maybe a couple of clips of it in action, let me know. If I get a good enough response, I'll do it. If not, I'll just open it up normal like, and then find a way to use it in a video this weekend. Either way, you will see it in action.
I thought I would have more to talk about tonight, but sadly, I don't. I do have Favorite Song of the Week though. I've talked about this band many times before, so I really don't have to do a big background for theses guys. I can tell you, that the stand out line for me, and the one that has had me craving this song for the past week is, "I'll stop wearing black when they make a darker color.". I've been accused from time to time, of wearing too much black, so I guess I can start using that line from now on. Here is Fall Out Boy with "Wilson (Expensive Mistakes)".
Fun and weird video. I also really like the line, "I became such a strange shape, from trying to fit in.". I don't know about you, but I can relate to that line. I used to try to fit in all the time, and it never felt right. I gave that all up quite a long time ago, but I still remember that feeling of trying to fit in and just failing. I wasn't being true to who I was, and that sucked. That goes along with the whole "Why be normal" thing. Be the weirdest you you can be. It's way more fun. Peace in and goodnight.
Sunday, February 25, 2018
Did I Take A Drink This Weekend?
I have a few things to talk about tonight. The first thing should be the tardiness of The Patchwork Knight. I was exhausted on Thursday night. Unusually so. I couldn't keep my eyes open at 8:30, so I went to be with the idea, that I would write in the morning directly after breakfast. That is what I did which put it late by about 12 hours, but then the email didn't go out until the next morning. I really need to figure out if there is a way that I can control when the subscriber emails go out. On here, it is daily at around 7:30 AM, for the PR it is daily at around 5 PM. There is no reason for why they go out when they do, at least none that I have found. The email going out when it did, put it an entire other day behind, so it wasn't in mailboxes until Saturday morning.
I think part of the problem for why I was so exhausted is, that I have been waking up at 3 AM everyday. I don't want to wake up at that time, but my body has been waking me up then, and leaving me having a very hard time to get back to sleep. I usually just lay there until I either pass out, or my alarm goes off. I'm pretty sure that lack of sleep has left me completely drained. I only needed that night of sleep with no work on Friday to catch up, because this weekend I've been fine. Oh, I've still woken up at 3, but I had plenty of time to fall back to sleep before Morty would force me out of bed at 7.
Friday was a day of exploration. I went out on Saki and just rode around exploring roads I'd never been down. I found a couple of roads that look like they cold be rather vacant on the weekends, which would give me a place to practice wheelies. I'm still not good at them, and would like to find a quiet place where I won't bother anyone, or be bothered to practice them. I'll check up on those places from time to time, to see just how vacant they can get. I went yesterday, and they were pretty quiet, but there were still people working in the buildings around there, so I didn't do any practicing yesterday.
I also received my new plugs, well tunnels for when I stretch up to an inch. I was a little shocked when I opened them up, at just how big they are. The look enormous. To give you an idea of just how big they are, I got a couple of pictures of them next to other tunnels of different sizes.
I got two different angles so you can get a better view of them. The one on the far left is 3/4ths of an inch. That is the size I was when my right ear blew out. The one in the middle is the 7/8th inch that I am currently getting my right ear up to. When that happens I will be even all around. Of course the one on the far right is the full inch. It is massive. I have probably another day before I can get a 7/8ths in my right ear. Once that happens, I'm going to leave it in for a month, and then I will stretch them both up to that final inch mark. I got some really great looking tunnels in this order, and I have two sets of plugs on the way. Once I get everything in, I'll get a picture of all them together for you to see. I might have to take a separate picture for one set, because it would be difficult to see the detail in them in a group shot. I'll figure it all out when the time comes.
Yesterday was video creation day, and also, I ordered that gimbal for the GoPro. I'll be testing it out a few times before I put any video up from it. I'm doubting I will get it right the first time I use it, but maybe posting that footage will show you the learning experience I go through. It should come in some time this week. Real quick, before I get to the video and what it's about, and what it caused, I wanted to mention that I have a date for the next pizza review for the PR. It's going to be on March 9th, and I also wanted to mention that my partner came through. He got it going and got our business cards ordered. They should be here a few days before we do the next review. If you want one, let me know and I will get your information and send one out to you when they come in. They look pretty good.
Now to the video. I've been wanting to do this video for a while. It is a one take video, and doesn't have any of the stuff I normally do. It is also the first time I second guessed myself on whether or not I should finish it up and post it. It gets rather personal. Even though this is all stuff that I've talked about here, I've never actually put it all together and spoke about it, and speaking about it takes it to a whole other level. It doesn't go into all the dark stuff, but it is more about where I am now and how I got there. While I was editing it, I had to take a break from it. I decided to get some food since I was hungry, and I also really put serious thought to having a drink again. I went to my old favorite watering hole, sat down, and ordered a Sprite and a pizza. I didn't take that drink, and I think because of that, I decided to finish up the video and post it. It went up first thing this morning. It took quite a while to upload, since it is over 19 minutes long, and it is all me talking. I put in a few other things, but my voice is still over it. This is the first time you get to see all of my ukuleles in one place. The Gibson Les Paul is there too. After I finished the video, I felt really good about it. I was happy with how it turned out, and in all honesty, it's the favorite video that I've done. 19+ minutes is a long time for anyone to sit and watch a video, so I doubt anyone will watch it all the way through, but it tells my story and does have a happy ending. Here is the video if you want to check it out.
I would usually make a little promo video for Instagram, but I've noticed that no traffic comes from there. It's weird, I get a decent number of likes on each video, but no traffic comes from that or the MotoAmino app. I share it there as well. Most view, few that they are, come from either this blog or YouTube itself.
Well, I need to get my clothes washed and folded before The Walking Dead comes on. The second half of the season starts tonight, and I'm not going to miss it. I'll see you on Tuesday. Peace in and goodnight.
I think part of the problem for why I was so exhausted is, that I have been waking up at 3 AM everyday. I don't want to wake up at that time, but my body has been waking me up then, and leaving me having a very hard time to get back to sleep. I usually just lay there until I either pass out, or my alarm goes off. I'm pretty sure that lack of sleep has left me completely drained. I only needed that night of sleep with no work on Friday to catch up, because this weekend I've been fine. Oh, I've still woken up at 3, but I had plenty of time to fall back to sleep before Morty would force me out of bed at 7.
Friday was a day of exploration. I went out on Saki and just rode around exploring roads I'd never been down. I found a couple of roads that look like they cold be rather vacant on the weekends, which would give me a place to practice wheelies. I'm still not good at them, and would like to find a quiet place where I won't bother anyone, or be bothered to practice them. I'll check up on those places from time to time, to see just how vacant they can get. I went yesterday, and they were pretty quiet, but there were still people working in the buildings around there, so I didn't do any practicing yesterday.
I also received my new plugs, well tunnels for when I stretch up to an inch. I was a little shocked when I opened them up, at just how big they are. The look enormous. To give you an idea of just how big they are, I got a couple of pictures of them next to other tunnels of different sizes.
I got two different angles so you can get a better view of them. The one on the far left is 3/4ths of an inch. That is the size I was when my right ear blew out. The one in the middle is the 7/8th inch that I am currently getting my right ear up to. When that happens I will be even all around. Of course the one on the far right is the full inch. It is massive. I have probably another day before I can get a 7/8ths in my right ear. Once that happens, I'm going to leave it in for a month, and then I will stretch them both up to that final inch mark. I got some really great looking tunnels in this order, and I have two sets of plugs on the way. Once I get everything in, I'll get a picture of all them together for you to see. I might have to take a separate picture for one set, because it would be difficult to see the detail in them in a group shot. I'll figure it all out when the time comes.
Yesterday was video creation day, and also, I ordered that gimbal for the GoPro. I'll be testing it out a few times before I put any video up from it. I'm doubting I will get it right the first time I use it, but maybe posting that footage will show you the learning experience I go through. It should come in some time this week. Real quick, before I get to the video and what it's about, and what it caused, I wanted to mention that I have a date for the next pizza review for the PR. It's going to be on March 9th, and I also wanted to mention that my partner came through. He got it going and got our business cards ordered. They should be here a few days before we do the next review. If you want one, let me know and I will get your information and send one out to you when they come in. They look pretty good.
Now to the video. I've been wanting to do this video for a while. It is a one take video, and doesn't have any of the stuff I normally do. It is also the first time I second guessed myself on whether or not I should finish it up and post it. It gets rather personal. Even though this is all stuff that I've talked about here, I've never actually put it all together and spoke about it, and speaking about it takes it to a whole other level. It doesn't go into all the dark stuff, but it is more about where I am now and how I got there. While I was editing it, I had to take a break from it. I decided to get some food since I was hungry, and I also really put serious thought to having a drink again. I went to my old favorite watering hole, sat down, and ordered a Sprite and a pizza. I didn't take that drink, and I think because of that, I decided to finish up the video and post it. It went up first thing this morning. It took quite a while to upload, since it is over 19 minutes long, and it is all me talking. I put in a few other things, but my voice is still over it. This is the first time you get to see all of my ukuleles in one place. The Gibson Les Paul is there too. After I finished the video, I felt really good about it. I was happy with how it turned out, and in all honesty, it's the favorite video that I've done. 19+ minutes is a long time for anyone to sit and watch a video, so I doubt anyone will watch it all the way through, but it tells my story and does have a happy ending. Here is the video if you want to check it out.
I would usually make a little promo video for Instagram, but I've noticed that no traffic comes from there. It's weird, I get a decent number of likes on each video, but no traffic comes from that or the MotoAmino app. I share it there as well. Most view, few that they are, come from either this blog or YouTube itself.
Well, I need to get my clothes washed and folded before The Walking Dead comes on. The second half of the season starts tonight, and I'm not going to miss it. I'll see you on Tuesday. Peace in and goodnight.
Friday, February 23, 2018
The Patchwork Knight (Chapter 17)
I rose the next morning with my head in a fog. The dinner had lasted from the afternoon, long into the night. The king regaled us with stories of my father's heroics during the Blind War. I could see a dark mood starting to fall over my father's face. He would nod and smile when it seemed appropriate, but it didn't seem like he enjoyed hearing his story told.
We rode out of the gates from the kingdom after a very quiet breakfast. My new sword was strapped to my saddle. The King had given me permission to have a weapon, and my father permission to forge weapons for me. He renewed his promise that he would sponsor me for the Knights Academy in one year. My journey to being a Knight would take longer, but I was going to train as hard as I could until then.
When we stopped for lunch at midday, my father broke his silence.
"There's something I need to tell you boy. Those stories from last night, that is all that they are. Yes, I did everything they said I did, but there should be no congratulations for my actions. I only did what I needed to do to help us win. Battling in war is nothing you should strive to do. It is ugly and tears a part of your soul from you. Only kill when you have to, to defend your life or the people you love. Never kill for fun, profit or heroics."
"Yes papa." The look in his eyes was one that I'd never seen before. They were full of malice, torture and pain. After I responded, he dropped his head and just started at the ground for a long moment.
"I hope that you never had to fight in a war. When the Blind War was over, the King asked me to be the head of the Targen Knights. Even though I had never been a Knight to begin with. He said my skills with a sword were second to none, and that I had been the reason that we had won the war. I wanted no part of that life. I had seen enough deaths and only wanted a peaceful life with my wife and future family. I stayed in the village because I knew that the King wouldn't send his Knights to search for me there. They would have their own problems keeping the borders calm. The mountains are a natural barrier protecting the realm, so there was no need for them to patrol there."
"Was the war really that bad?"
"It was my son. I don't want to stop you from your dream, but it was my deepest hope that you would stay safe in the village and become the blacksmith when I walked on to meet the ancestors. I will train you in everything I know to keep you safe as a Knight of the realm, because that is the only way I know how to keep you safe now."
My father got up and began packing his horse. We rode the rest of the way home in silence again. I was torn between my joy of getting what I wanted for the past year, and the weight that the war put on my father's shoulders. I will train even harder than I did before. I would honor my father in the only way I knew that I could, and that would be the best Knight of the Targen realm that had ever lived. I would protect him and everyone else in the realm. War would never all upon the Targen realm again. How foolish I was.
We rode out of the gates from the kingdom after a very quiet breakfast. My new sword was strapped to my saddle. The King had given me permission to have a weapon, and my father permission to forge weapons for me. He renewed his promise that he would sponsor me for the Knights Academy in one year. My journey to being a Knight would take longer, but I was going to train as hard as I could until then.
When we stopped for lunch at midday, my father broke his silence.
"There's something I need to tell you boy. Those stories from last night, that is all that they are. Yes, I did everything they said I did, but there should be no congratulations for my actions. I only did what I needed to do to help us win. Battling in war is nothing you should strive to do. It is ugly and tears a part of your soul from you. Only kill when you have to, to defend your life or the people you love. Never kill for fun, profit or heroics."
"Yes papa." The look in his eyes was one that I'd never seen before. They were full of malice, torture and pain. After I responded, he dropped his head and just started at the ground for a long moment.
"I hope that you never had to fight in a war. When the Blind War was over, the King asked me to be the head of the Targen Knights. Even though I had never been a Knight to begin with. He said my skills with a sword were second to none, and that I had been the reason that we had won the war. I wanted no part of that life. I had seen enough deaths and only wanted a peaceful life with my wife and future family. I stayed in the village because I knew that the King wouldn't send his Knights to search for me there. They would have their own problems keeping the borders calm. The mountains are a natural barrier protecting the realm, so there was no need for them to patrol there."
"Was the war really that bad?"
"It was my son. I don't want to stop you from your dream, but it was my deepest hope that you would stay safe in the village and become the blacksmith when I walked on to meet the ancestors. I will train you in everything I know to keep you safe as a Knight of the realm, because that is the only way I know how to keep you safe now."
My father got up and began packing his horse. We rode the rest of the way home in silence again. I was torn between my joy of getting what I wanted for the past year, and the weight that the war put on my father's shoulders. I will train even harder than I did before. I would honor my father in the only way I knew that I could, and that would be the best Knight of the Targen realm that had ever lived. I would protect him and everyone else in the realm. War would never all upon the Targen realm again. How foolish I was.
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
We Owe It To Them To Do Better.
Alyssa Alhadeff
Scott Beigel
Martin Duque Anguiano
Nicholas Dworet
Aaron Feis
Jaime Guttenberg
Chris Hixon
Luke Hoyer
Cara Loughran
Gina Montalto
Joaquin Oliver
Alaina Petty
Meadow Pollack
Helena Ramsay
Alex Schachter
Carmen Schentrup
Peter Wang
I'm sure by now, you know who all of those names belong to. For once, the media got the names to the majority of their outlets, unfortunately, I've been hearing the name of the vile that took all those lives, and hurt so many more. There is a lot of blame to go around, but one place I haven't heard blamed is the media itself. By them continuing the practice of naming the viles that commit these horrific acts, they create more monsters. If you need evidence of this, just look to another incident that nearly happened last week, the day after the Valentines Day Slaughter. In Washington State, a grandmother turned in her grandson for things that were written in his diary. He mentioned that he had learned from all the other shooters in the past. He learned what they did, who there were, and what their mistakes were. Thankfully no one had ever kept a journal before. That was his downfall, Turns out, he didn't learn enough. Stop naming these people once they are in custody. That is what they want. This vile in Parkland even said that he wanted to be infamous. He got his wish granted when every media outlet named him, over and over again. Stop telling their stories. They don't need to be heard. You know who's stories need to be heard? Those 17 above. Find their stories. Learn about them and who they were. Three of them received posthumous medals from the Army. Alaina Petty, Peter Wang, and Martin Duque who were all in the Jr.ROTC program, were awarded the Medal of Heroism.
Despite the horrors of last week, some pretty amazing things have begun to come out of this. Despite the Legislature of Florida failing to bring an assault weapons ban to the floor today, students stood at the hearing to have their voices heard. Legislators had to look then in the eyes as they voted no. A great many of these students will be of voting age come this November, and they want their voices heard. I want to point out one in particular. I saw her speak at a vigil over the weekend. She was brave, smart, and rather eloquent. She spoke so that her voice could be heard. She was in that school with bullets flying by her. She hid in a classroom with other students and teachers hoping that a bullet wouldn't find them. She spoke for those that were silenced, and she spoke for those who so often are afraid to speak. Her name is Emma Gonzalez. She is standing up and letting her voice be heard, when so many adults won't. I got news for all the politicians out there, the kids are coming, and if you aren't trying to change things, you are in the way and will get voted out. This is Emma's twitter account Emma4Change if you want to check it and her out. Let's make some real change for the better come out of this. If you aren't registered to vote, please register, and if a politician in your area doesn't stand up for the same things that you do, let them know by contacting them, and tell them that if they don't change, your vote will not be going to them when they are up for reelection.
These students have also put together the March For Our Lives, which will be on March 24th. It is in D.C. but there will marches in coordination with the main one all over the country. If you go to the website MarchForOurLives you can find out information and sign up to march. It is going to be held on a Saturday so look for a march that is local to you, and get out there and let you own voice be heard.
This is where I would normally put Favorite Song of the Week, but since this post is rather heavy, I thought a change might be in order for tonight, and instead of FSOTW, I'm going to do Favorite Thing of the Week. I came across this video this weekend, and it just made me smile. I think it will do the same thing for anyone, so I'm going to share it here for you to enjoy. If you want the heaviness of this post raised just a little, I suggest that you watch this video all the way through. It's worth it, trust me. This is from a guy who calls himself Ghetto Spider. If the name doesn't give it away, he wears a spiderman costume and dances. It is one of the most enjoyable things I've seen lately, and even though I shared it with some close friends immediately, I wanted to share it with you as well, so here is the video, I hope you enjoy it.
Come on, how fun was that. If that didn't put a smile on your face, then nothing will. I for one followed this guy on YouTube, so you may see more videos from him in the future here. If something pops up that I think is worthy of a Favorite Thing of the Week, then I will do that instead of FSOTW. Don't worry FSOTW isn't going away, I just might switch it up form time to time.
One last thing. I still haven't ordered that gimbal yet, but I'm 99% sure that I will order it soon. It's something that I want to make videos better for you, so it will be bought, I'm just holding out a little longer. Maybe later this week or early next week. Then again, I could just order it tomorrow. Who knows. Well, you will after I order it and let you know right here.
Oh, this really is the last thing. I got my signed mini print in the mail from Kevin Llewellyn today, and it looks fantastic. I wish I could show you what it arrived in, because the packaging is super cool, but my address is written in big letters on it, and if I blurred that out, it would take something away from the overall look. I can however show you the print itself. I will be framing this as soon as possible, and put it up. I'm thinking it should eventually reside in Saki's Lounge, but for now it will just stay in the house. I put up a picture on Instagram of the print, but it's not the one I'm going to share with you here. I thought about posting this one, but thought that if Llewellyn saw it, he might be upset with my choice of lighting for it, so I just went for standard white light picture for that. You get the special lighting treatment though. So here it is, the signed mini print of Kevin Llewellyn's painting White Widow.
Come on, how fun was that. If that didn't put a smile on your face, then nothing will. I for one followed this guy on YouTube, so you may see more videos from him in the future here. If something pops up that I think is worthy of a Favorite Thing of the Week, then I will do that instead of FSOTW. Don't worry FSOTW isn't going away, I just might switch it up form time to time.
One last thing. I still haven't ordered that gimbal yet, but I'm 99% sure that I will order it soon. It's something that I want to make videos better for you, so it will be bought, I'm just holding out a little longer. Maybe later this week or early next week. Then again, I could just order it tomorrow. Who knows. Well, you will after I order it and let you know right here.
Oh, this really is the last thing. I got my signed mini print in the mail from Kevin Llewellyn today, and it looks fantastic. I wish I could show you what it arrived in, because the packaging is super cool, but my address is written in big letters on it, and if I blurred that out, it would take something away from the overall look. I can however show you the print itself. I will be framing this as soon as possible, and put it up. I'm thinking it should eventually reside in Saki's Lounge, but for now it will just stay in the house. I put up a picture on Instagram of the print, but it's not the one I'm going to share with you here. I thought about posting this one, but thought that if Llewellyn saw it, he might be upset with my choice of lighting for it, so I just went for standard white light picture for that. You get the special lighting treatment though. So here it is, the signed mini print of Kevin Llewellyn's painting White Widow.
How cool is that. That is his signature right below the figure. The painting is in black and white, and the signature is in a silvery gray. I love it, and am so happy to own two prints from my favorite modern painter. Peace in and goodnight.
Sunday, February 18, 2018
This One Is Kind Of Bipolar.
Let's just get this started with the video I made yesterday. It was a beautiful day, and it was meant for riding. The bonus is that I had a little errand to run, that plays into the whole reason I was happy earlier this week.
I will make an effort to go back to that little museum soon. I've been thinking about starting the Adventure Time Series back up, and that would be a good place to start again.
All that happiness had to end, and it did. I'm not devastated or depressed, but I am bummed. The Prince tribute that I got tickets for is coming up this Saturday, and as is normal with me, I have not found anyone that will go with me. I knew when I bought the tickets that this would be the case, but I put a little faith into it, but faith didn't fall into place. Now I start the manic decisioning on whether I go or not. The tickets didn't cost me much at all, as a matter of fact, it's possible to spend more money on movie tickets now, so I won't be out much.
I did get some good news this week, but that good news has put me in a bit of a quandary. I got my tax return in and that gave me a little bit of extra money. That is where the quandary begins. There are a few things that I would like to buy that would improve the whole video experience. The cheapest (cheap being relative to what I want to buy) could easily be bought and leave me with the majority of my money left over. Seems pretty simple right? Just buy that item. Well here is where it gets difficult. I like having that extra money around, and if I saved a little more, I could get one of the bigger ticket items. I would be able to use any of the items right away, but the cheaper one, would have the most immediate benefits. The cheap one is a gimbal for the GoPro. It would stabilize shots when I'm just taking footage walking around. It would stop that jagged up and down in my videos when I want to show something from my angle when I'm walking, or even running. It would keep the camera in a single line. The other two are of course, a new camera to shoot video of the places I got to (I would probably need a different gimbal for that eventually to get some of the shots I want), and the other is a drone, to get shots in the air. I think those would be really cool, especially with the one I want. It has a feature that will allow the drone to fall a subject. I could ride with the drone following me, not fast, but you would see a whole new perspective. All of that is keeping me from pulling the trigger on the gimbal. I'm sure I'm going to buy it, but I'm going to wait a little bit longer. Not too long though, because I could use it, for sure, on the next Pepperoni Report. Yeah, I'm probably going to only wait a couple more days. If I order by Wednesday, I think I could have it by next Saturday, which means I could use it in my next CS video.
I'm still enjoying having my right earlobe at 3/4 of an inch. I won't keep enjoying that too long either. I went ahead and pulled the trigger on getting some plugs that are 1 inch. Yep, I'm moving on up. In a couple of days, I'll start the process I've been using of stretching that lobe up to where it is, and I'll get it at 7/8ths for a week or so, and then I'll start taking them both up to an inch. I've had this little thought in my head all along, that I would stop at 1 inch. I would say that I thought I would stop at other times, but that has always been in the back of my head. I won't say that I'm not going to stretch up any bigger, because, honestly, I don't know if I will truly stop at an inch. I think it will all come down to, just how much skin I have between my first and second piercing on my left ear. If that gets too thin, then I won't be able to go up any further, and that will clearly stop me, but if I see that there is still room to stretch, I probably will. Although and inch sounds like a really good obsessive compulsive place to start. It's a nice round number.
One more thing to talk about tonight, and that is the movie I saw today. I've been waiting for this movie since I heard it was on it's way. The character first appeared in Captain America Civl War, and I wanted to see more. I'm talking of course about Black Panther. I would have gone Friday if I was off, but I actually had to work. Saturday was filled with video creating, so that left today. I could say that they best part was that I got to see it for free, but that would be a lie. This movie was fantastic. After Wonder Woman, I said that it was in my opinion, the best superhero movie that had been made. I think I have to change my mind on that. This movie was everything you want a superhero movie to be. Once again, they didn't bother with any origin story, they just filled you in with little facts to let you know how during the movie. As always, I won't spoil anything for you, because I want you to go see this movie and enjoy every part of it, but I will say that there are two end credit scenes. One that falls shortly after the credits start, and the second falling at the very end. Do you need to see these? Not really, but the first one has something in it that I think every person needs to see and hear. There is a line that is spoken, that is incredibly profound, and speaks of what we as a people should be doing right now. Even saying that I might have given away a little too much. Black Panther and Wonder Woman are the two best superhero movies I have seen, and not just as superhero movies, they are just great movies. Patty Jenkins should have, at the very least, been nominated for best director this year. Ryan Coogler, should be nominated for best director next year, but I'm sure that won't happen. Hollywood still sees superhero films as frivolous folly, but I'm telling you, this movie is as good if not better, than anything out there. Go see it. You will enjoy it.
I'll leave you with one more urging to go see Black Panther, really, go see it. Peace in and goodnight.
I will make an effort to go back to that little museum soon. I've been thinking about starting the Adventure Time Series back up, and that would be a good place to start again.
All that happiness had to end, and it did. I'm not devastated or depressed, but I am bummed. The Prince tribute that I got tickets for is coming up this Saturday, and as is normal with me, I have not found anyone that will go with me. I knew when I bought the tickets that this would be the case, but I put a little faith into it, but faith didn't fall into place. Now I start the manic decisioning on whether I go or not. The tickets didn't cost me much at all, as a matter of fact, it's possible to spend more money on movie tickets now, so I won't be out much.
I did get some good news this week, but that good news has put me in a bit of a quandary. I got my tax return in and that gave me a little bit of extra money. That is where the quandary begins. There are a few things that I would like to buy that would improve the whole video experience. The cheapest (cheap being relative to what I want to buy) could easily be bought and leave me with the majority of my money left over. Seems pretty simple right? Just buy that item. Well here is where it gets difficult. I like having that extra money around, and if I saved a little more, I could get one of the bigger ticket items. I would be able to use any of the items right away, but the cheaper one, would have the most immediate benefits. The cheap one is a gimbal for the GoPro. It would stabilize shots when I'm just taking footage walking around. It would stop that jagged up and down in my videos when I want to show something from my angle when I'm walking, or even running. It would keep the camera in a single line. The other two are of course, a new camera to shoot video of the places I got to (I would probably need a different gimbal for that eventually to get some of the shots I want), and the other is a drone, to get shots in the air. I think those would be really cool, especially with the one I want. It has a feature that will allow the drone to fall a subject. I could ride with the drone following me, not fast, but you would see a whole new perspective. All of that is keeping me from pulling the trigger on the gimbal. I'm sure I'm going to buy it, but I'm going to wait a little bit longer. Not too long though, because I could use it, for sure, on the next Pepperoni Report. Yeah, I'm probably going to only wait a couple more days. If I order by Wednesday, I think I could have it by next Saturday, which means I could use it in my next CS video.
I'm still enjoying having my right earlobe at 3/4 of an inch. I won't keep enjoying that too long either. I went ahead and pulled the trigger on getting some plugs that are 1 inch. Yep, I'm moving on up. In a couple of days, I'll start the process I've been using of stretching that lobe up to where it is, and I'll get it at 7/8ths for a week or so, and then I'll start taking them both up to an inch. I've had this little thought in my head all along, that I would stop at 1 inch. I would say that I thought I would stop at other times, but that has always been in the back of my head. I won't say that I'm not going to stretch up any bigger, because, honestly, I don't know if I will truly stop at an inch. I think it will all come down to, just how much skin I have between my first and second piercing on my left ear. If that gets too thin, then I won't be able to go up any further, and that will clearly stop me, but if I see that there is still room to stretch, I probably will. Although and inch sounds like a really good obsessive compulsive place to start. It's a nice round number.
One more thing to talk about tonight, and that is the movie I saw today. I've been waiting for this movie since I heard it was on it's way. The character first appeared in Captain America Civl War, and I wanted to see more. I'm talking of course about Black Panther. I would have gone Friday if I was off, but I actually had to work. Saturday was filled with video creating, so that left today. I could say that they best part was that I got to see it for free, but that would be a lie. This movie was fantastic. After Wonder Woman, I said that it was in my opinion, the best superhero movie that had been made. I think I have to change my mind on that. This movie was everything you want a superhero movie to be. Once again, they didn't bother with any origin story, they just filled you in with little facts to let you know how during the movie. As always, I won't spoil anything for you, because I want you to go see this movie and enjoy every part of it, but I will say that there are two end credit scenes. One that falls shortly after the credits start, and the second falling at the very end. Do you need to see these? Not really, but the first one has something in it that I think every person needs to see and hear. There is a line that is spoken, that is incredibly profound, and speaks of what we as a people should be doing right now. Even saying that I might have given away a little too much. Black Panther and Wonder Woman are the two best superhero movies I have seen, and not just as superhero movies, they are just great movies. Patty Jenkins should have, at the very least, been nominated for best director this year. Ryan Coogler, should be nominated for best director next year, but I'm sure that won't happen. Hollywood still sees superhero films as frivolous folly, but I'm telling you, this movie is as good if not better, than anything out there. Go see it. You will enjoy it.
I'll leave you with one more urging to go see Black Panther, really, go see it. Peace in and goodnight.
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