More writing...

Over the last two nights, I've written 20 more pages in "Little Miss Litty" - the horror screenplay I'm working on.

I'm happy. This is now officially 20 pages longer than the last script I wrote - Unsealed - a couple of years ago. (I wish I could find a way to make that... but 45 minutes screen time is a weird weird length).

Of course, there's a long road ahead - at least two more drafts of the script, some heavy editing, and some fixin' up. It's a little ... condensed right now too. I get the feeling that to find the rhythym for this and make it more tense and suspenseful instead of just out and out shock and gore, it's going to need a little stretching out. Just a little. (I also want to try to balance the cool shit with the essential plot building shit... find the right cadence, if you will, for the scenes).

Either way, I'm happy. I think I'm well on track for having the damn thing finished by the end of the year. Then, it's time to shop it :)

Some time soon, I may post a link to the unfinished short story this is all based on, as somewhat of a teaser. (Although I ran out of that material about 36 pages ago :) ).

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#script writing, #writing, #horror
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Hangover Cures.. the sequel...

Just found an improvement on my original hangover cure list... especially if you're so far gone that the idea of food of any kind is... well... not on the menu.

One glass of water.
Two tablespoons of honey.
A little lemon juice.

The fructose in the honey apparently helps your liver process the alcohol (and its byproducts). Time to work? Surprisingly, for me, it worked within 5 minutes of drinking some. (I'll never drink at a wedding anniversary party again... ouch...)

Source Naturals Hangover Formula also seems to work in almost magical ways, provided you can actually get something down.

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#Health, #hangover cure
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You, Dear Reader...

So here's your chance (because I like to check occasionally) to tell me what to write.

What do you want to see on this blog?

  1. More of the same randomness
  2. More game reviews
  3. More game design posts
  4. More random medical/sciencey stuff I figure out
  5. More software design & programming posts
  6. More software project management posts
  7. More artsy stuff
  8. More movie making related posts
  9. More writing posts
  10. More about me

Of course, you can pick any topics you like, but that's basically everything that's happened in this blog over the time I've been posting it. What would you like to see? I might not steer the ship solely in that direction, but I'll definitely nudge it over there if people have a preference.

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Now you're thinking with Portals...

So a few crazy days ago I bought The Orange Box from my local gaming emporium. I bought it for two simple reasons:

1. I had Half Life 2 on my PC, and my PC decided to get decidedly unreliable. It overheats. Particularly when gaming. So I never finished it. And damnit, I wanted to finish it.

2. I really really really wanted to play Portal. I think it was the trailer (click the link) which ensnared me at first. The combination of sarcastic humor and computer AI entranced me, making me want to get involved. In fact, I figured, this game had the potential to be the funniest videogame since Whiplash (a game which not nearly enough people have played).

A rush to Best Buy, my wallet $60 lighter, and I had it in my grubby little hands. So I fired up Portal.

And I finished it in about 2 and a half hours. (Less, if you believe the save game stats).

Am I pissed at this?

No! Not at all! In fact, I'm rather ecstatically happy about the whole thing. Let me tell you why.

Portal has soul. Not only is it a maddeningly fun puzzle game, but its sense of humor really does carry everything through. And the ending?

I'll just say that the ending of Portal is possibly the best ending of any video game I've played to date. It even has a musical number. In fact, the ending made up for any and all qualms I could possibly have had about it being so short. I just felt so... accomplished and happy at the end.

Portal has to be about the only game I've ever seen which mixes baking, an insane AI and post-apocalyptic dystopia as its plot points. And with music by Jonathan Coulton hidden inside it, I can honestly say that this game has everything. Especially if you have a dark and twisted sense of humor.

So my $60? Well, that bought me 5 (yes, that's five, count 'em) games1. But I would have spent that money all over again just to play Portal by itself.

That's what I call value for money. I'll post more when I finish Half Life 2.

1 Well, okay, five is debatable. You get Portal, Team Fortress 2 (an online only multiplayer first person shooter), and Half Life 2 in the box - but Half Life 2 is the original story, plus two follow-up episodes of story goodness. Either way, it's crazy value for money, and possibly the most worthwhile game to come out this year.

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