Spiritual Tramp

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:23:34 -0500

If you like Joss Whedon, Nathan Fillion, Neil Patrick Harris, supervillains, musicals, supervillain musicals, or funny things in general then you need to watch this - Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Apparently it was made during the strike and it will only be freely available at this site for a couple more days. You can also buy it if you're so inclined. I might just m'self. The first two acts are available today. The third goes live tomorrow.

Half-week in Review

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:28:09 -0500

Life has been a little busy and I haven't had the creative energy to put into a blog post. Okay so it's only been a couple of days, but tha'ts been packed. Allow me to summarize. I tutned thirty-seven on Monday. The best gift? My hand painted wooden space shuttle. My most useful gift? Apple's Time Capsule, the 500 gig version, a simple, elegant thing of beauty. I also got some ducats with which to a) pay the guy I bought my mixer from and b) spend on something not as good as the Archos 605 or an X-box 360. Still there are some DVDs I want and some music and whatnot, so it's all good! I had a picture that I took go up at Insect Pod's Picture of the Day. Go look at it! The next three nights I'll be interviewing some of my favorite podcasters for Hollywood Jesus and putting up reviews of said podcasts. I'm also helping Chris Lester produce his podcast (basically editing the raw sound file, taking out breaths, burps, and flubs; dead sexy) Metamor City. He's moving halfway across the country thanks to a new job. If you read this Chris, good luck! I've also been tweaking my blog's CSS a bit to make everything a bit more readable. It doesn't do anything for the content though. ;-) I found a web based CSS editor that's WYSIWYG so that helped a ton. I'm not good at coding crap. There's a reason I'm not a programmer. So that's it for now!

Drive-By

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:48:47 -0500

I was a victim of Drive-By-Shooting Sunday by the Men With Pens. It was all voluntary though. James and Harry are some sharp free lance writers who also happen to run a great play by post RPG I'm in, Escaping Reality. They gave me some pointers on how to make this here blog mo' betta. For the most part it strikes me as great advice. I shall no doubt be taking it, since I did ask. I don't know how to feel about some of it, like trimming down my blogroll. I do need to do some maintenance, but I read all of these on a regulr basis. Maybe I'll move them to a links page? Let me know what you think of any of their advice. You read this so your opinions count and if I can take their tough love I can take yours. If you'd like to have someone really take a hard look at your site, sign up. If you need someone to write something for you, hire them. If you want good writing advice read their stuff.

Archangel Episode 12

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 17:49:11 -0500

Welcome to Episode 12! The aftermath! Story so far by Philippa Ballantine of the Chasing the Bard podcast novel. Promo this week for the Sonic Society. Call 206-888-4760 to leave me a message about Archangel! Leave me a review on iTunes!! Music in this episode from ADRAW

Blimpy

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:36:20 -0500

Accoridng to Danger Room there's a new blimp in town.

Boeing says its JHL-40 could take some 80,000 pounds of cargo over 200 miles. "Boeing said the blimp would be environmentally friendly because it would eliminate the need to build roads or rail lines to remote locations, where transportation can be costly, inadequate and unreliable," Reuters reports. "The JHL-40, or Jess Heavy Lifter, is named after Pete Jess, president and chief operating officer of SkyHook International, the Calgary, Alberta-based company that secured the patent for the blimp, which combines elements of a helicopter and a traditional airship."

I've been watching Ice Road Truckers for the last few months and as cool as that show is, this thing sounds a lot less dangerous and would let companies get heavy goods even during the warmer months. I've seen a number of blimp like vehicles on the web over the last few years. There was talk of a passenger cruise-ship type deal a while back. I think that given the current level of tech that would be awesome. Now all I need is a pair of brass...goggles.

Archangel Episode 11

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:06:13 -0500

Welcome to Episode 11! Things get a biiiit violent. Story so far by Taylor Kent of The Snarky Avenger podcast. No promo this week. Call 206-888-4760 to leave me a message about Archangel! Leave me a review on iTunes!! Music in this episode from ADRAW

You're Worse Than You Think

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 11:15:16 -0500

but you'll get better if you KEEP WORKING! This seems blatantly obvious, but it's good to hear it from someone I respect and enjoy like Ira. Here he shows us a little of how bad he has been and I like the message that, you do what you do because you want to improve the medium in which you work. That's exactly why I write. I love to read and I see so much dross in Christian fiction and I want to get some good stuff out there. He says that so many people quit because they realize that they're bad. The solution? Keep working. Work more, work harder. Do not quit. You will improve. This echoes things that I've heard from Mur Lafferty and the NaNoWriMo folks. Give yourself permission to be bad for a while, only so it will push you harder to improve. I am striving to be a better writer, not just of fiction, but in general and the only way I'll do that is to keep at it and try and learn from folks that are further up the skill ladder. That's why I try and remain open to rejection and hard criticism. You can't let that shake your confidence. You have to turn it around into creative energy, drive, motivation. If you think my work sucks, tell me. I will try and make it better. HT to Lifehacker

500th Post

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:08:51 -0500

I'd like to do something really profound here, this being my five hundredth and all, but I don't feel quite up to it. I thought about linking to some of my most commented on posts, but there was no easy way I could find to do that. As it was the five hundredth was almost an Archangel podcast and that would have been fitting since it has become the biggest raison d'etre for this here site. I couldn't get the audio edited last night though so that didn't happen. Yeah, yeah I should have built a buffer. My apologies to those of you who are waiting on Episode 11, it should pop up tonight. As it is I need to engage in a little writing as therapy. I know I should be writing interesting posts about spiritual stuff, since that's supposedly what this site is about, but frankly I started blogging as a way to spew my emotions and along the way picked up some readers. Thanks for reading. For some reason it's comforting to know that even crap like this isn't going into the ether unignored. I have folks that read this that I consider friends, some I consider brothers. For you and you know who you are, thanks in advance for the prayers and kind thoughts. If you know me at all you know I'm prone to bouts like this. So why am I blue? Well, I suppose the primary reason is I'm freakin' tired. I was up at 4:30 this morning sending my wife to the mountains for three days. I'll miss her (reason two), especially when it comes to the more mundane things like putting a meal on the table (which she does so well) or helping brush the Rochelings' teethses, so there's that too. Where she's going is to a home schooling training session. She'll be tutoring our homeschool groups' kids in grammar starting in the fall. This will pay actual money, though not a lot, and I don't mind telling you that she's a bit nervous, in spite of the fact that she is hands down one of the best teachers I know. Still, nervous is not a bad thing. There are a host of other reasons, including a sense of being overwhelmed both by things I want to do and things I don't want to do. The less details there the better so forgive me my crypticality (yeah I made that word up, go poetic license go!) Still I've got good things going on. We're moving (eventually, living amongst boxes is reason three) to a much larger house in the same great neighborhood. Folks are listening to my podcast. I'm having a blast in an online RPG. My spiritual life is about the same as ever, but I am being challenged at church when it comes to thinking about how I can be involved in the community when it comes to matters of social justice. So while it is not "all good", I really should be counting it all joy. So I end this entry, actually one in spirit with the reason I started blogging, a little better off than I was before I started it. Seems appropriate enough to me.

Booyah indeed...

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:28:58 -0500

I am SOOO ready for this movie. The fact that GDT is doing The Hobbit (unconfirmed rumor)and that Ron Perlman will no doubt play some part in that, hopefully voicing Smaug at the very least(/unconfirmed rumor) cranks my geek up to twelve. Ganked from Hollywood Born: Booyah! Oh and then there's this piece of loveliness:

Archangel Episode 10

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 21:48:30 -0500

Welcome to Episode 10! I'm cranking up the tension to 11! Story so far by Chris Lester of The Metamor City podcast. The promo this week is from P.G. Holyfield's Murder at Avedon Hill. Call 206-888-4760 to leave me a message about Archangel! Leave me a review on iTunes!! Music in this episode from ADRAW

Mystery Boxes

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:26:34 -0500

This is an excellent talk by J.J. Abrams about his love for mystery boxes and what that means. This and Harry's gushing over meeting with Abrams and getting to see Star Trek footage give me hope for the franchise reboot. J.J. Abrams' mystery box | Video on TED.com

Character Casting

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:33:11 -0500

This is for an online RPG I'm doing. If you read the follwing and an actor springs to mind, drop his name in the comments. I'm coming up empty. Lee Barrett Hair Colour: Sandy Blond - Currently shaggy and a little curly Eye Colour: Lt. Brown Age: 32 Height:5'9" Weight: 150 Other Physical Description: Lee Barrett has a wiry build and most often sports a patchy beard. His "uiniform" consists of black combat boots, dark blue jeans, plain white tee shirts, and his fatigue jacket with patches from his tours of duty and his chaplain insignia. His Bible, harmonica, walking stick, and survival knife are never far from his person. He doesn't wear any jewelry. He has a tattoo of a triquetra superimposed on an American flag on his left shoulder.

Parkour Training

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:16:00 -0500

I love this "sport". Parkour's a cool man vs. environment puzzle. It aims to figure out the most efficient way to travel from point A to point B. Maybe it is, maybe not. It also looks like excellent training if you want to be Spiderman (who doesn't?) or a second story man. This is one guy's solo training exercises. I'm glad he left the ambient sounds intact.
Parkour - Simple Truths from Danny Pack on Vimeo. Parkour - Simple Truths - Parkour on Vimeo

Archangel Episode 9

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 20:55:11 -0500

Welcome to Episode 9! Things begin to take a turn for the worse for all of our heroes! Story so far by Indiana Jim of The Adventures of Indiana Jim podcast. The promo this week is from Chooch and Viv's 'cast Into the Blender. Call 206-888-4760 to leave me a message about Archangel! Dave and Zaphod did and get played in this one! Leave me a review on iTunes!! Music in this episode from ADRAW

Mark Twain Prize

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:47:48 -0500

UPDATE - And like that, he's dead. George Carlin passed away yesterday from complications due to a heart attack from what I hear. He will be missed. George Carlin is set to be the recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. I didn't know there was such a thing. Apparently it's only been around for eleven years. The comedians that have won it to date are: 1998 - Richard Pryor 1999 - Jonathan Winters 2000 - Carl Reiner 2001 - Whoopi Goldberg 2002 - Bob Newhart 2003 - Lily Tomlin 2004 - Lorne Michaels 2005 - Steve Martin 2006 - Neil Simon 2007 - Billy Crystal 2008 - George Carlin PBS will be broadcasting the awards in Novemeber. That's a pretty good list right there. Granted there are a whole bunch of funny folk that could be there. Carlin is certainly one of the funniest folks I know that are still drawing breath. He informed the sense of snark I have, thankfully balanced by a love of The Cos and Jerry Clower. I listened to every comic album I could lay my hands on by all three of these guys. So before I bless you with some youtubery of the greatness that is Carlin, who has yet to be on the list that should be? Who will be on there in twenty-five years? Is there anyone that shouldn't be? My answers and some vids after the jump.

Archangel Episode 8

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 22:09:36 -0500

In Episode 8 we discover the condition of Lee and what preparations Matt and his friends are making to stay safe. Story so far by John of The Jesus Geek podcast. The promo this week is from Jared Axelrod's daily 'cast The Voice of Free Planet X. Call 206-888-4760 to leave me a message about Archangel! Leave me a review on iTunes!! Music in this episode from ADRAW

Father's Day Weekend

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 09:23:53 -0500

I had a good weekend. Worked hard on the new shed, though it doesn't seem much got done. Had a good time with my mother-in-law's visit (Hi Mom!). Otherwise here are the highlights: Got a new microphone/desktop stand for my podcast endeavors. I WILL be putting up the new episode tonight. You still have a chance to leave me a call on the voice mail line 206-888-4760 and get in on the feedback action (podcasters feel free to pimp your stiff on the voicemail, it will get played). Or email me an MP3 or leave me an iTunes review or a comment or an email!! Used said mike to try out a Skype session with Indiana Jim. He's an awesome podcasting friend. Also used said mike to try a session on Stickam with Rhodester, Coffee Sister, Bob/Not Bob, and some other cool froods/froodettes. Friends good, Stickam buggy. Read this monster: An Unexpected Party Chat (with del Toro and PJ) transcript now available!. If you're looking forward to The Hobbit movie, read it. They don't give away much, but it's a good read. Tried Starbucks' Chai and Espresso Chocolates. They were good. How about you?

The Incredible Hulk

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 16:17:01 -0500

I saw the Hulk movie last night and it was most excellent. It doesn't have the buzz behind Iron Man or The Dark Knight as the "best superhero movie" ever. That might have something to do with the fact the the Hulk isn't a hero, but it's not even the best comic movie ever. It was everything a Hulk movie should have been, though. (click for more, spoilers ahoy)

Dad's In Media - DIM?

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 10:58:21 -0500

RC at Strange Culture is all about getting the blogging community together for group write ups. This time around he wants to look at dads in the media. My overall impression of dads in most movies and TV these days is that of the dimwitted bumbler. I'll grant you that that's not true of every TV show or movie, but the trend is there and nothing really very new. Homer and Peter jump out at me as being the biggest/most obvious exampled of that phenomenon. Perhaps that's not fair though considering those characters are supposed to be over the top idiots and not representational of fathers as a whole. So I think to myself, if I were looking at TV and movies of the last five years, who would I want to be sending a Father's Day card to this weekend? Alan Eppes (Judd Hirsch) of Numb3rs - This no nonsense dad loves and understands his sons. He's smart, well rounded, and knows when to stick his nose in and generally when to stay out. Joe Dubois (Jake Weber) of Medium - A dad that's this smart and loving on TV? In this day and age that's something to be applauded. He doesn't always love his family well. He is flawed. That's especially true in the most recent season where he has lost his job and reputation is threadbare. He remains true though and tries hard to be a good man. Travis Gornicke (Jeff Daniels) of RV - The Gornicke clan are the highlight of this movie and they are incredibly down to earth and love each other well. Travis would be a most excellent dad. Ben Parker (Cliff Robertson) of Spider-Man - Granted Ben is Peter's Uncle but is at the same time a great surrogate father. It's not a role that he's entirely comfortable with. Being a father to a teen when you're retirement age is hard, but he loves Peter and wants to do right by him. Chris Gardner (Will Smith) of The Pursuit of Happyness - The crushing poverty and defeats that Gardner suffers could have and maybe should have been enough for him to give up. Instead his desire to make a life for him and his son pushes him on. He's far from perfect, but again that love shines through. I don't ask that fathers in media be perfect. These men all have flaws and that's as it should be. As a father myself though, I need to be able to display the wisdom, love, and ability to sacrifice that these men do. In a sea of mediocrity and ludicrousness, these on screen dads shine. How about you? Who's your Daddy?

Samson and the Pirate Monks

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:53:39 -0500

I read Samson and the Pirate Monks: Calling Men to Authentic Brotherhood as a result of our men's retreat back in April. As a result of my struggles several books have been recommended to me and none of them really spoke to me the way this one did. It turns out that this book isn't solely about addiction and recovery. What it's really about is a desire to get Christian men into authentic relationships where they feel comfortable talking about their struggles, whatever those may be. See certain parts of the Church have a real hard time with Christians who are honest about areas of sin that they struggle with. What often ends up happening may run the gamut from trite offers of self-help and ineffective counseling to outright rejection. Fear of those reactions often leads to people suffering silently. Nate Larkin is very open not only with his own struggle with sexual addiction, but also his tremendous problem with self-righteousness. As a preacher's kid, he felt that becoming a pastor was part birthright, part familial obligation. Ultimately he ends up leaving the ministry and becoming a successful businessman, one who is active both in the church and in supporting the commercial sex industry financially. This nearly costs him his marriage. As a result of these experiences he winds up going to a number of different 12 Step groups and finding some degree of help there. Gradually he built a network of Christian brothers who both support and get support from Nate. They develop something they call the Samson Society and here we are. The reason it's named after Sampson is not because he's some paragon of virtue, to the contrary. Sampson is constantly going it alone, working things out for himself and generally screwing things up. We as Christian men are so often Sampsons, doing just that. Last night I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Nate and some other guys who were traveling around the country with him, talking about the Society. We have one at our church, made up of about seven guys. Last night there were over fifty guys present. There is a huge need for this sort of openness and honesty. I'm not sure that I'll be going to our Sampson Society meeting as I already have a group that I meet with weekly. We are going to try and take Nate and the Society's examples and ramp things up just a bit though. You don't have to read the book to start a Society of your own. You can get just about everything you need here. Give it a look. I would recommend the book though, especially to anyone who struggles with what Nate and I do.

Wish List # 2

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:59:02 -0500

I posted a bit of a wish list a while back. I would like to add the following Anything from here. This: My Evil Plan Baseball Jersey This: Brains Mug

Photosynth

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 12:34:52 -0500

Okay last video for a while. Watch this and be amazed.

Archangel Episode 7

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 17:46:41 -0500

Episode 7 has Matt and Jose making their plans and Sanders hot on the trail of Robin. The tension continues to mount. Story so far by Dave of The Jaded Visalian podcast. No promo this time but stay tuned for a plea for help from Chris, from the Adult Space Child Free Podcast. She's looking for a treatment program for chronic fatigue. ht to JT for the audio file. Call 206-888-4760 to leave me a message about Archangel! Leave me a review on iTunes!! Music in this episode from ADRAW

Archangel Hotline

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 10:04:19 -0500

Call 206-888-4760 to leave me a message about Archangel. So long as it's on topic and decent quality I'll include it in my next episode. This is not a toll free number.

7th Son - Obsidian Parts 1-3

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:35:47 -0500

Okay I've mentioned Obsidian and how cool of an idea it is. Well Episodes 1-3 have come out. Episodes one and two are a two-parter by Tee Morris of the fantasy 'cast Morevi: Remastered. It's a straight up, high tension piece. He defintely brings the full on nail biting as his character tries to make his way home through the nationwide blackout. Does he make it? Is his family safe? In Hutchins world nothing is a given. Go give parts one and two a listen. Episode three is ... a bit different. It is brought to us by TD-0013. Who's that you ask? Well he's an Storm Trooper. His 'cast A Different Point of View is the Star Wars universe brought to us through the eyes of an Imperial insider. Funny stuff to be sure. So I can't really describe it without giving some things away. I'll just say that it's a lot like Reese's Cups and leave it at that. Go listen to it here. Heck you should probably just go subscribe. You won't be sorry. Also in closing, I thought I'd include this:

TD-0013 has performed the MS Walk for the past seven years in full Stormtrooper Replica armor from the Star Wars films. His team, the 501st Dune Sea Garrison makes the long trek each year in full Imperial regailia to try to bring more attention to the event, in the hopes that more money can be raised to fight this horrible disease. Please help support a Trooper from our team as we make the trek in FULL ARMOR to raise money to fight Multiple Sclerosis.

Sooo cool.

TED Talks

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 09:38:17 -0500

Okay first you need to go listen to/watch this. Then you should download this which is the audio version and has more music. Then you need to subscribe to TED Talks. What is it?

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader. The annual conference now brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).

I'm pretty sure I have Sid to thank for the heads up on their podcast/vidcast. I am just now getting hooked though. You're welcome.

Get Smart Trailer

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 10:14:41 -0500

Go to io9 for the new Get Smart trailer. It doesn't appear to be on YT yet, so I can't embed it, but it's worth checking out. It looks as funny as it needs to be to put my butt in the seat. I was a HUGE fan of the TV series and Steve-o is perfect for the role. Alan Arkin as the Chief is awesome AND it has the Rock in it. I do feel slightly creepy in finding Anne Hathaway so hot since I still identify her from The Princess Diaries (yes I saw it, shut up), but I think I can suck it up. She's not as hot as Barbara Feldon was, but those boyhood crushes can be powerful things. Oh and for the record I was, am, and ever shall be a Mary Ann man. What childhood TV series have they not yet "reimagined" that you'd like to see? And who should be in it?

Spiritualtramp Needs Talent

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 10:10:04 -0500

I want to try my hand at the multi-voice/big time production values audio drama deal. So I need some talent.... I also need some folks with talent to do the voice acting. I'm not sure what the story will be yet, though it will probably have elements of supernatural horror since that's how I usually roll. I'm going to limit its scope to maybe four episodes since this is just a test. I have several existing stories and stories in progress or I might come up with something brand new. I'd be doing this in late July/August, before Archangel is done I think, so that I'd have this done and ready to rock as soon as that wraps. If you can record your voice at good quality (this might disqualify me) and are interested, drop a comment here or shoot me an email scott @ my url dot com. If you already have a podcast I don't think an audition will be required. If you don't then feel free to send me a little mp3 of you reading something, anything.

National Day of Prayer

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 09:37:09 -0500

Okay so I was listening to Focus on the Family last night and heard something that made me go hmmmm. The National Day of Prayer happened back in April and from what I heard, apparently they sponsor a Nascar car. I look on the interweb and sure enough: That didn't strike me as too silly, a little maybe, but not awful. What really got me though was hearing Mrs. Dobson say that she was praying for it to qualify. Now that sort of thing isn't unheard of. Folks pray for their favorite teams all the time. I think that's a pretty Western/American Christian phenomena, but common enough. Still I have to ask why? Did ancient Christians pray for their favorite charioteer? I doubt it. We are to pray without ceasing, pray for our daily needs, pray in thanksgiving, but what drives us to pray for things like this? Are their things we "shouldn't" pray for? And I'll close this entry with one other thing. The organizers of the NDoP had planes flying over all fifty states with people in those planes praying for the state they were flying over. Can't you pray from the ground? What about the resources that were eaten up by that? Couldn't that money have been better spent on feeding/clothing the poor? Okay I go lay down now.

Archangel Episode 6

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 21:07:00 -0500

Finally we have Episode 6. What will Sanders do? Sorry for the delay folks. Hope you enjoy it. Stick around for a promo for The Takeover!

Podcast Drama Pimp #2

Fri, 30 May 2008 11:23:55 -0500

So it's that time again. I don't have episode six ready yet (it's coming I swear) so until then, listen to these great shows.

Autistic Boy Voted Out

Tue, 27 May 2008 16:38:13 -0500

Language warning. This pisses me off to no end.

PORT ST. LUCIE - Melissa Barton said she is considering legal action after her son's kindergarten teacher led his classmates to vote him out of class. After each classmate was allowed to say what they didn't like about Barton's 5-year-old son, Alex, his Morningside Elementary teacher Wendy Portillo said they were going to take a vote, Barton said. By a 14 to 2 margin, the students voted Alex -- who is in the process of being diagnosed with autism -- out of the class.

If a teacher did this to one of my children I would have to be physically restrained for a bit. For those of you who don't know K2, our boy, has some developmental issues. He's the same age as this young man. It's a bit early for them to diagnose autism/Asperger's unless it's really pronounced, but even if the child was completely "normal" WTF that means it would be unacceptable.

Alex has had disciplinary issues because of his disability, Barton said. After the family moved into the area and Alex and his sibling arrived at the school in January, Alex spent much of the time in the principal's office, she said.

K2 has been hitting recently and as such has spent his own turns in the office. This makes me glad that we've decided to homeshool him. We don't want to remove him from society. He'll still interact with other kids his age in the homeschool group, at church, and on playdates. It's just that no public school teacher would be able to handle him appropriately with 25 other screaming meemies vying for their attention.

Thursday night, his mother heard him saying "I'm not special" over and over. Barton said Alex is reliving the incident. The other students said he was "disgusting" and "annoying," Barton said. "He was incredibly upset," Barton said. "The only friend he has ever made in his life was forced to do this."

Fucking criminal.

Archangel Update

Tue, 27 May 2008 09:50:33 -0500

Preparations and the actual weekend put a torpedo in my getting episode six out. Also the necessity of rewriting much of chapter eleven. I did do some recording last night and fiddling with the new hardware ate up some time. All that to say I should be getting the chapters up tonight. I hope.

Knight Sabers

Fri, 23 May 2008 08:56:57 -0500

Okay so it's not exactly powered armor, but it is an exoskeleton married to a motorcycle and appears to be chock full of awesome. Yamaha Branded Deus Ex Machina Motorcycle Exoskeleton: A Segway On Steroids

Art Center Pasadena student Jake Loniak has taken everything that is cool about exoskeletons and motorcycles and crammed it into this Yamaha-branded Deus Ex Machina concept motorcycle. The vehicle is powered by ultra-capacitors and doped nano-phoshpate batteries (similar to the ones currently used in hybrid cars) and it is controlled using 36 pneumatic muscles with 2 linear actuators set along a spine consisting of seven artificial vertebrae. Even the helmet is pneumatically attached.

Attention World

Thu, 22 May 2008 12:54:57 -0500

There are only about 40 shopping days left til my birthday. I would like one of the below. You'll find them all reasonably priced. That is all. Tell It To My Giant Robot Baseball Jersey - Tell It To My Giant Robot - Retropolis Transit Authority - Printfection.com A TWiT hat (oh grow up) It has an iPod pocket!!! My very own Archangel shirt.

My Angels: Mission 1

Wed, 21 May 2008 13:01:43 -0500

If you're listening and enjoying my podcast then I consider you to be one of my Angels so: Angels, I have a mission for you. Please do one of the following to help me out:

Leave a review on iTunes. To do this, click the subscrbe link and you should see an option to leave a review.
Email the promo or a link to it to 3 friends. Please BCC me if you can. scott @ (the url here).
If you have a blog, write up a review and link back to Episode 1

Getting these out has really been a blast. I'm anticipating about ten more episodes and we'll be done. After that I'll be podcasting more stories. Thanks for listening!

Spiritual Hydration

Wed, 21 May 2008 11:14:21 -0500

I get together once a week with a group of guys and we pray. My prayer life the rest of the week is sporadic at best. If someone approaches me with a request I'll usually pray for them right then and there or it probably doesn't happen. That's true of a lot of things in my life, but that's not what this is about. Anyway there's a group that meets at our church on Wednesday mornings form 6:30 to 8:30. The guy that hosts the prayer on Tuesdays was recently elected as an elder and as such was encouraged to attend and help lead Wednesday morning prayer. So last night he invited us to come. It's not like I didn't know about it and it's not like an invitation was required, but the extra bit of social pressure to come was the impetus I needed. I came home last night and told Leigh that I needed to get up a little earlier on Wednesdays to go to prayer. She said that she was glad I felt the need. I said, in a flash of inspiration, something that seemed brilliant at the time, but had the odor of BS about it. I said that I didn't feel the need, because much like drinking water if you felt thirsty you were already dehydrated. The last bit about water is fairly true. The BS part is that I don't "feel the need". Prayer is a vital part of our "spiritual hydration". I have been thirsty, it wasn't until I got to church this morning that I realized how parched I am. Being in prayer for others was like a long drink of cool spring water. Now I'll be regularly praying twice a week with a group. It doesn't end there though. Prayer is also something that should be happening daily in my life, just between me and God (okay God and I, whatever Mr. English Major). Again that's not all that is necessary. I need to be studying the Word with greater frequency. I'm not trying to "turn over a new leaf" as that never works for me. It is a recognition of what I need though and hopefully I wouldn't deny myself that any more than I'd deny myself water or air. Jer 2:13 "My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

7th Son Obsidian

Tue, 20 May 2008 11:01:11 -0500

J. C. Hutchins is the master of using new media and social networking to ~~pimp~~ get the word out on his projects. As a way of letting folks know about his latest project 7th Son: Obsidian he has put together some posters. You can't get them all at his site, you have to go to several different places to collect them, a deranged Easter Egg hunt. It's worth it though as these posters are dead cool. Go here for the details. So where do you hunt? * J.C. Hutchins’ site, home of 7th Son: OBSIDIAN and the 7th Son podcast novel trilogy * Science-fiction news blog io9.com * Sci-fi book interview/review site and podcast Dragon Page Cover to Cover * Video game news/review site and podcast Sarcastic Gamer * Indie rock showcase podcast Accident Hash * Science fiction podcast magazine Escape Pod * Sci-fi short story podcast Variant Frequencies * Website of bestselling novelist Scott Sigler * Website of award-winning novelist Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff * Website of award-winning novelist Mur Lafferty * Website of award-nominated novelist Christiana Ellis * Website of award-nominated novelist Tee Morris * Website of author, podcaster and musician Matthew Wayne Selznick Subscribe to the feeds on these sites and you'll get the posters automagically. What is Obsidian? Well if you haven't been listening to my podcast, shame on you. I played the promo on my last ep. Click here to download just the Obsidian promo. If that doesn't get your attention you better check your pulse. Basically Obsidian is a group project wherein some of the biggest podcasting talent on the net are playing in Hutch's sandbox. Not just that, there's also a metric buttload of fan generated content. It's a world where paranoia, government conspiracies, and terrorists who can take over your mind are just the beginning. So get to downloading son!! If you need to catch up on the original trilogy, go here. You will NOT be sorry.

Reviewing Podcasts

Mon, 19 May 2008 09:54:55 -0500

So it looks like I might be reviewing podcasts/interviewing podcasters for HollywoodJesus.com. Not sure what that will look like yet. I've got a phone call with the editor scheduled for tomorrow. You may recall that I've done some music reviews for them (links to which can be found in here). The 'casts (like the music) in no way have to be overtly spiritual/Christian/whatever. Any spiritual link is up to yours truly to explore. I have some ideas as to who I'll be hitting up, but if you have any recommendations let me know. The content of the ‘casts will vary so any you recommend will go in the brain hopper.

Archangel Episode 5

Sun, 18 May 2008 22:45:11 -0500

The action steps up a notch in Episode 5 of Archangel: Valley of the Shadow. Listen and let me know what you think. Stick around to hear a promo for: J. C. Hutchins' Obsidian Snark Infested Waters I continue to get a lot of GREAT feedback. Drop me a review on iTunes or some comments down below. Enjoy! Music in this episode from ADRAW

Empty Iron Shell?

Fri, 16 May 2008 16:01:46 -0500

So I saw Iron Man on opening day of all things. Someone remarked earlier on the fact that I hadn't posted on it at all. Another remark he made got me to thinking why I might not have. He said something to the effect that it had no emotional hook. You know what, I think he's right. It's a gorgeous movie. There's a lot of whiz-bangery and "OMG ISN'T THAT COOL!" moments. It's a spot on reproduction of the comic with a few of it's own touches. The action is fantastic. There's no heart though. Sure there's the scene where he get's his wake up call and decides to stop being a cowboy. That's about it though. The relationship between Pepper and Tony is about as deep as the wax on the Audi. I don't think it's RDJ's fault. It's certainly not Paltrow's fault. So it's probably either the script or the director, possibly both. "But Scott," you say "it's a film based on a comic book." "Spider-man," I say. You can have an emotional hook in a comic book film. In fact it needs one. If you want a grown up comic book movie it has to be there. The characters need to be fleshed out, have some depth. I saw more of that in Rhodey and he was on screen a lot less (maybe it was Downey?). So should you see it? Frak yeah. You probably already have. You'll enjoy it. You'll probably whoop and holler. I did. It even got a "Helly yeah!" form me at the cookie after the credits. It just didn't resonate with me. What do you think?

Archangel Episode 2 - Repost

Thu, 15 May 2008 20:45:22 -0500

Repost of Episode 2. iTunes/Feedburner is being a naughty thing. Here's Episode 2 of Archangel: Valley of the Shadow. Listen and let me know what you think. There's no intro but stick in 'til the end to hear a promo for The Adventures of Indiana Jim. I got a lot of GREAT feedback. Keep it up and I hope you enjoy. Music in this episode from ADRAW

Podcast Novelists' Successes

Thu, 15 May 2008 11:42:08 -0500

It's encouraging to see podcast authors that I've been listening to for months/years experiencing so much success. Playing For Keeps by Mur Lafferty was picked up by Swarm Press. Jack Palms by Seth Harwood will be put out by Crown next year. And of course Scott Sigler's novel Infected was put out by Crown this year and is doing very well for a first novel. I own Infected and will no doubt buy PFK and JP:1. The stories rocked in audio form and I like doing my part to encourage authors using non-traditional means to get the stories that we want to hear out there. Oh just like me! In fact all of these folks are the ones who've inspired my efforts. So if you don't like Archangel, blame Scott/Mur/Seth. :-D I'll be putting up some reviews and pimping other podcasts over the next few weeks. If you have an MP3 player and enjoy audio books (I know, not everyone does) you could do worse than give these guys a listen. Also if you're reading this and are a Christian podcaster/writer and would like to cross-promote/collaborate let me know!

Album Art

Thu, 15 May 2008 10:13:45 -0500

I asked Mr. Reynoso (Rey if you're nasty) if he would put together some album art for me. He did and I likes it. Have a gander. I chose the all white one. What do you think?

Promo #1 for Archangel

Wed, 14 May 2008 10:06:34 -0500

Here's the first promo. Feel free to distribute it as you like, just link back here.

Archangel Episode 4

Wed, 14 May 2008 08:56:08 -0500

What does Matt do now? Will he turn himself in? Who is this Sanders character? Will you find out the answers this week? I'll never tell. You have to listen. I now present Episode 4 of Archangel: Valley of the Shadow of Death. Listen and let me know what you think. Referenced in the intro: The Voice of Free Planet X Jared Axelrod Interview Promo for this week: Chasing the Bard Music in this episode from ADRAW Hope you enjoy!

Archangel Episode 1 - Repost

Tue, 13 May 2008 20:16:53 -0500

Reposting this to see if iTunes will pick this up from my Feedburner feed. I now present Episode 1 of Archangel: Valley of the Shadow. Listen and let me know what you think. Referenced in this podcast: 7th Son The Rookie Billibub Battings The Heaven Series The Metamor City Podcast Music in this episode from ADRAW Thanks to the Free Sound Project for the gunshot. Hope you enjoy!

Two Column

Tue, 13 May 2008 12:14:56 -0500

Rockin' the two column based on some seemingly good advice from pros. I'll be tweaking it a bit, keeping the same basic look. Let me know what you think.

Dogs and Beer

Mon, 12 May 2008 12:18:35 -0500

Okay so first things first. Some of you may remember us getting Brownie the dog who fell in da pit. Well he and Tempe (our Pyrenes mix) love to play tag. The size ratio is 10:1. Second of all if you'll look over on my flickr sidebar you'll see that I did indeed get my beer in the bottles. Once I'm sure they're reasonably stable and am able to taste one I may be sending some out to the universe. Rhodester, Pat, and Ben I'm looking at you guys. Send me your addresses if you want one. Quantities are limited. Operators are standing by. Thirdly.you should try Festina Peche by Dogfish Head. It's about as tart as any beer has a right to be. This is not a fru-fru fruity beer. It's incredibly refreshing. It won't be my go to summer beer since it ain't cheap, but it's well worth checking out. What is my go to summer beer? Well in years past it's pretty much been Sam Adam's Summer Ale, but I tried Shock Top by A-B (I know I know) and it is indeed worthy and inexpensive.

XXXChurch

Thu, 08 May 2008 11:22:29 -0500

I've been aware of XXXChurch.com for quite a while. They're a ministry devoted to helping those whose lives are being negatively affected by pornography, both sex addicts and sex workers (though of course you can be both). I fall in the former category. They regularly go to the big adult film expo in Vegas and set up a booth where they minister to the needs of those that come by. Apparently they're pretty well recieved since they aren't there to pull a Fred Phelps. They honestly love and care for these people. Understandably their site and the way they approach the ministry has gotten mixed responses from within the Christian community. They are controversial to say the least. Shirts like this: stir folk up. Me, I love it. I understand what they mean by it. Others, perhaps not so much. I think it's a bit sad that there are those among my brethren that would decry what they're doing. I'd be interested to hear from my non-Christian readers (though really I'd enjoy hearing from both sides) what you think of this (the shirt, the ministry, what have you).

Carpenter Bee

Wed, 07 May 2008 14:31:49 -0500

Go to Insect Picture of the Dayfor my pic of an Eastern Carpenter Bee! If you go and like, comment and let David know I sent you.

UltraCreatives Interview #12

Wed, 07 May 2008 11:56:08 -0500

Cory Doctorow interviewed by J.C. Hutchins. If you write and are interested in hearing about how giving your stuff away is a good thing, you need to listen.

Cory is best-known as a pioneer in the Open Media movement and the “giving it away is okay” philosophy — releasing free versions of his fiction to evangelize and enhance the exposure of his printed work. He’s a trendsetter and visionary in this field. In addition, Cory is an activist, consumer advocate, and a co-editor for the culture blog, BoingBoing.net. In this interview, Cory chats about his career as a writer, his activism, and Little Brother, which debuted in bookstores last week. Stick around after the interview: you’ll hear an excerpt from the novel, which is also available as a DRM-free audiobook from Random House Audio.

Prayer Labyrinth

Tue, 06 May 2008 10:06:51 -0500

Paul Soupiset has been working to put together a labyrinth that his church will use as a place of prayer and reflection. He's been blogging the process and documenting with photos and drawings. Paul as it happens is also a very talented aritst so the drawings alone are awesome. Check out soupablog: The Labyrinth Project. It's this sort of undertaking and the sermon that I heard this past Sunday that make me work towards trying to think of how I can love God extravagantly. How often do we love God and those around us just to the point of our comfort? Shouldn't love make us do uncomfortable things? I certainly think so. So that will be my prayer. God help me to love in uncomfortable ways, extravagantly, unabashedly, uncaring about what others may think or how it will make me look in others eyes.

Drown Pirate Radio

Mon, 05 May 2008 10:36:16 -0500

Oh gosh, you really need to listen to Doc Popular's podcast Drown Pirate Radio mixtape. I don't know if it warrants subsribing to. Too early to tell. But if you are a troo geek it at least warrants clapping your earbuds in for a quick taste of nerdcore rap, sampling from Star Wars and ancient kitchy records, and assorted weirdness.

Horne Creek Farm

Mon, 05 May 2008 10:31:18 -0500

Took some photos of our visit to Horne Creek Farm. It's a living history farm in Surry County NC. It was Heritage Day which meant good bluegrass, awesome food, sheep shearing, crafts. The crowd was light, but that was good. We defintely plan on going back October 18th for their Annual Cornshucking Frolic. "A traditional rural frolic featuring the harvesting, shucking, shelling and grinding of corn. Cider making, quilting, cooking, woodworking, wagon rides, and traditional music featured." If you're in the area check it out!

Archangel Episode 3

Sun, 04 May 2008 22:07:43 -0500

Sorry for the wait. Here's Episode 3 of Archangel: Valley of the Shadow. I included a new intro and hang on 'til the end to hear a promo for Morevi. I got a lot of GREAT feedback. Keep it up and I hope you enjoy. Music in this episode from ADRAW

Good Writing Prompt

Fri, 02 May 2008 14:11:39 -0500

I couldn't pass up this great writing prompt from Mur's new series, The News From Poughkeepsie. It's an effort to give her fans some great story ideas.

What if, instead of pardoning people at the end of his term, the President had the power to raise people from the dead? It would have to be limited, of course, else he’d be required by popular demand to raise everyone who’s died in whatever military conflict he’s brought about, and pretty much anyone else who had died. It may be limited to someone who had died on US soil, or only American citizens, or… there are many options. Then of course we have to ask if it’s like the Monkey’s Paw, that they come back exactly how they died? “Gee, thanks Mr. President, that kidney cancer felt SO GOOD I’m glad to get back to it.” What would life be like if the President of the US was granted the powers of a necromancer?

Here's my entry. Let me know what you think!

Little Brother

Thu, 01 May 2008 16:35:46 -0500

I blogged about this before and it looks like I was right. You can get a free thirty minute audio excerpt and a free pdf version. Check Sigler's site for info. BONUS: 30-minute audio excerpt from Cory Doctor's new novel LITTLE BROTHER

Hulk Trailer

Thu, 01 May 2008 10:00:26 -0500

I loved the first Hulk movie. I loved that it was artsy. I loved that the monster was this great big CGI cartoon and not Lou Ferrigno (or HHH or whoever) in green body paint. I loved that it was about Banner's Daddy issues. Looking at this trailer though I think I'm gonna love this too. Just for a few different reasons. The Incredible Hulk Trailer 2

Life and Death

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 16:51:20 -0500

The robins that were nesting on our porch are no more. Leigh found the last of the babies in the grass, still barely alive. She fixed it a box with some warm water in ziplocks. She crushed up earthworms to feed it (yeah she's awesome). But by the time I got home yesterday the little thing gave up the ghost. We buried it in the front yard, my oldest daughter and I. She was crying and my chest felt like it was about to implode. If you're ever going to be a parent, be warned sometimes it can be a bit ... difficult. You will never have all or even most of the answers. The whole thing reminded me of this series of Calvin and Hobbes strips.