20 Mar 07 Halo Heads

Halo Heads 54 – This just makes me giggle every time I read it.  Of course, I think you have to be a fan of Halo Matchmaking to truly appreciate it.

Tags: halo-2, haloverse

12 Mar 07 Halo Main Themes Remixed - Over, and Over, and Over Again

I’m all for musicians rendering their own remixed versions of the Halo Main themes.  They’re great pieces of music, and it’s huge amounts of fun to see how artists impress their own styles, flavors, and tastes onto these familiar tunes.  What I would love to see, however, is an expansion into all the other musical themes from these games.  Marty O’Donnell has produced a wealth of great musical content with these soundtracks, setting up some wonderful templates for other musicians to reproduce and flavor with their own styles.  So, it would be fantastic to see some of these reproductions branch out to the various other tracks to see what kind of new and interesting work can be produced.  Heck, with a little collaborative effort with ‘the man’ himself, I’d even be willing to bet that completely remixed version of these soundtrack albums could be produced and marketed for the musicians industrious enough to take that challenge to task.  I know I’d pay money for something like that.

Tags: halo, halo-2, marty-odonnell, music

20 Feb 07 Sacred Icon - Halo theme for WordPress

I seem to have become a bit of a fanatic.  I’d set out to create a WordPress theme that I could use for Penitent Tangential.  What I ended up with was not the theme I’d originally envisioned (but I will actually build that one at some point later).  The theme that kind of took control and built itself was this one:

[download#5]

So, for all you Halo bloggers out there looking for a fresh theme to use on your WordPress blogs, here you go.

Please post any bugs or problems you find in the comments below.

If you like this theme, please consider making a donation to my tip jar:

Changelog:

2007.02.20 (v1.0)

• original release

• widgets-compatible

Tags: halo, halo-2, sacred-icon, software, themes, WordPress

17 Jan 07 One One Se7en

To demonstrate my true level of geekiness, I would like to point you toward a Halo-related comic strip that I get a kick out of called One One Se7en.  It’s a 3-times weekly comic strip produced by a guy with the moniker Stuntmutt.  Every episode involves some sort of pun or tongue-in-cheek punchline, most of which are probably only funny to folks who actively play Halo 2 in the online community.  This one, though, can probably be appreciated by just about anyone, if not for the topic, then at least for the joke itself.  Incidentally, this one is probably also my favorite of Stuntmutt’s bad jokes so far.

Tags: comics, halo, halo-2, halo.bungie.org, one-one-se7en, stuntmutt, video-games

02 Jan 07 Resolutions

I don’t do New Year’s resolutions; I never have.  I think they’re kind of a nice idea, mind you – it’s just that most people break them before January ever reaches its close.  So, it seems to me that setting resolutions is a somewhat pointless endeavor.

Now, that said, I have been thinking about setting some personal goals for myself for this year.  They’re not really what I consider resolutions, in my mind, because if I don’t make these goals, there’s no pressure or guilt involved.  These are just things that I’d like accomplish this year.  But if I don’t make it, it’s no big deal; life will go on. 

• I need to lose some weight again this year.  I’ve been experiencing some health issues in recent months, due in large part to putting back on the weight that I’d lost earlier last year.  So back to eating healthy and exercising for me.
• I haven’t enjoyed writing the last couple of months.  My life has been super busy and rather stressful, and I haven’t really given any of my stories much thought, let alone any time.  So, I’d like to exercise a little discipline, now that weekends are my own again, and see what I can get written this year.
• I have a reading list to get through that will likely take me a few weeks.  Plus a friend is bringing me a bunch of books from his speculative fiction library.  I think I’m going to be busy for a while.
• I’d like to revive Penitent Tangential, if for no other reason than my own personal enjoyment.  I think I’ll actually have time for it again now.

Aside from the weight issue, none of my goals this year are, in the long run, all that important.  I have a fixer-upper house that is actually quite a bit more important to me and my wife, so I’ll work on fitting writing and reading around repairs and upgrades.  Ultimately, I’ll just have to take it one day at a time and see how things work out.

Tags: halo, halo-2, health, life, Penitent Tangential, reading, Writing

27 Nov 06 “Yay, first post!”

Here’s one I don’t really get.  I mean, I ‘get’ it, but I don’t ‘get’ it. 

I keep my ear to the ground for Halo-related videos – machinima, montage, etc.  A lot of these videos get posted up on public forums – i.e. a discussion thread with the link to the video download.  It’s a pretty streamlined way of doing things, allowing people to post comments and feedback on the video in that same thread.

Here’s my question, though.  Just how big of a social loser do you have to be where you consider it something grand and fabulous that yours is the first comment in response to the video?  Specifically, when that response consists of “downloading now edit when i’ve watched it.” Has anyone heard of “15 minutes of game?” In this case, though, I doubt the ‘fame’ in question even makes it 15 seconds.  I dunno – just seems like if you get your jollies from being the first poster in a video thread, then you really need to get a life.

For what it’s worth…

Tags: culture, halo, halo-2, montage-videos, xbox

31 Oct 06 Penitent Tangential

I’ve started up a new Halo blog, one that will hopefully be a bit more successful than the last couple I’ve run.  Penitent Tangential focuses primarily on Halo-based movie reviews but will also feature the occasional tips and strategy essay.  It’s possible that there will be other features in the future, as well, but for now this should be enough to keep me plenty busy and allow me to stratch this particular Halo itch.

Tags: blogging, halo, halo-2, Penitent Tangential, video-games

16 Sep 06 Potlucking It

Quick note before I dash off again.

• I’ll be telling you all soon about an interesting and exciting new writing project I’m starting on with several others.  Details to follow in the next day or three.
• I have a book review I need to write up on Tobias Buckell’s Crystal Rain.  Again, details to follow in the next few days.
• Lots of stuff happening lately, including the possibility of adding another 30 acres to our property.  Lots of research going into this, and we’ll see if things go through.
• Good night of Halo last night.  Good friends, good games, lots of laughs.  Makes me want to jump again real soon and play some more.
• I’m working on polishing a short story.  I missed my August submission goal, but I’m going to shoot to have this one done in the next two to four weeks.  I want to finish up this first draft, get a critique, revise again, possibly go for a second critique, do a final polish, and submit.  That’s the plan, folks.

Aight, I’m audi…

Tags: 100-voices-in-the-night, crystal-rain, halo-2, multiplayer, tobias-buckell, video-games, Writing, xbox, xbox-live

14 Sep 06 Simplify

I’ve been learning a thing or three about simplifying my life.

I’m one of those people who’s curious about and interested in just about everything.  This has always been both a blessing and a curse because it has always made it difficult for me to figure out what subjects and hobbies to pursue.  It’s the sort of thing that gave me trouble in college because I couldn’t decide which major to pick, so as a result I graduated with one major, three minors, and enough knowledge in other fields to technically have given me at least two other minors.  It’s the sort of thing that has always made it difficult to use my free time well because I want to do too many things with those minutes.

But life these days has become incredibly full, so I’m learning to trim things.  It’s a tough process because I don’t really want to trim things out of my life.  But I’m learning that I really can’t do them all, even less so now that I have the obligations of a family and livestock and a property to keep up.  I’m figuring out how to identify those things that are truly my passions and those that are simply my interests and hobbies.

I’ve more or less eliminated everything but my music, my writing, and Halo.  I’ll be getting a piano around Christmas, so I’m eagerly anticipating getting back into lessons and picking up where I left off.  I miss visiting my music, and I’m itching to really nail some ragtime and start learning how to play by ear and improvise.  It was something I was just starting to learn when I had to give up lessons several years ago.

My writing has quite possibly surprised even my love of music as my number one passion right now.  There are so many stories to tell now that I can hardly keep track of them all.  I have a blog to write to, a flash fiction site to run and occasionally contribute to, an anthology project in its planning stages, short stories to write and submit, and at least one good novel idea in the making.  I’d love to see my name sitting on a bookshelf somewhere and be able to give up working a ‘regular job’ in favor of becoming an author.

Of course, there’s always Halo.  I don’t have as much time for video games as I used to.  I do miss being able to play, but there are only just so many hours in a day.  What free time I have is given to relaxing and to some writing.  But I still have Friday nights reserved to join the guys on Xbox Live for some Halo 2 multiplayer action.  Somehow this first-person shooter has captured my devotion, even to the point of joining up with one of the most renowned and respected clans involved with the game. 

These are my passions, the hobbies that I am fanatical about.  All the others I have had to set aside for the time being.  Perhaps one day I’ll have time for some of them again, but if not I doubt that I will even really miss them that much.  There are certainly plenty of other things to hold my attention.

Tags: halo, halo-2, multiplayer, music, personality-types, Piano, video-games, Writing, xbox-live

28 Aug 06 Mondays

Sheesh, has it really been three days since I last updated?  I didn’t really think the weekend had been that busy, but I suppose it was.  How about some highlights?

• Friday night was Halo night.  Terrible night for me.  I have absolutely zero game.  Dunno what happened.  I guess we all just have our off nights.
• Saturday involved guests over in the morning and early afternoon, followed by carriage driving downtown for the evening.  Nasty little thunderstorm made for a shorter night, so we were home early, horses fed, and in bed by 2AM.  Quite nice by comparison to most Saturdays.
• Sunday was my day to complete my third flash challenge at Liberty Hall.  It’s funny how being able to complete one of those challenges always gives me a sense of accomplishment and productivity for the weekend, no matter how badly other things go.  Over 1000 words for this one, and another story that, with some expansion and polish, may be submission worthy.  I’m starting to get backlogged on stories that need polishing…
• Then, of course, this morning everything gets wacky.  How is it that Mondays end up being the days where so many things go wrong?  The horse feed this morning was done in the pitch black, in the pouring rain, with thunder and lightning all around.  Plus a large tree branch fell while I was out there and sprawled across my car.  I had to move it before we could leave for work this morning.  And wouldn’t you know it?  Just when I go inside to get cleaned up for work, the rain stops.

Busy week ahead.  Much to do today and tomorrow.  But the bonus is the upcoming 3-day weekend.  That’ll be a nice relief.

Tags: carriage-driving, halo-2, liberty-hall, xbox, xbox-live