The first 10 days of Christmas

I have received some of the most awesome gifts ever from my significant other, and it’s only the first 10 days of the 25 Days of Christmas Extravaganza! Some of the awesomeness includes a special edition Wall-E DVD, a tin full of Jelly Belly gourmet jelly beans, a 3-D doodle kit, an Iron Man Mighty Mug and Iron Man pin back buttons, Left 4 Dead for the Xbox 360, and some Moleskine sketch pads (the best kind), among other amazing things. She knows me very well. I’m having too much fun, and finals aren’t even over yet.

Thank You Mr. Williams

John Williams has done so much to make movie soundtracks as grand and valuable as Beethoven’s symphonies or Mozart’s concertos. Even after hearing one of his compositions just once, you’ll remember it for the rest of your life. The one song that still gives me goosebumps just thinking about it is Raiders of the Lost Ark. Not only were the Indian Jones movies some of the greatest action/adventure movies of all time, but the score behind the action really brings it to life and makes it more accessible to the audience. Engaging the ears is just as important as engaging the eyes if you really want to captivate.

Here’s my top 5 favorite John Williams film scores:

1) Raiders of the Lost Ark

2) Jurassic Park

3) Return of the Jedi

4) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

5) The Phantom Menace

Game Production Lab Update

We’re making some good progress on the game I’m working on in my Game Production Lab class. All of our levels are put together in one module (we’re using the Neverwinter Nights toolset made by Bioware). If you didn’t read my earlier post about it, we’re making a bank heist game: persistent online world, four cities connected by a wilderness, mulitplayer up to 16 players, and lots of things to do. By the time we’re done, players will be able to own property, take jobs, and choose to be a member of either of two thieve guilds. Countless man hours have already been put into the making of this game (est. 600 hours total).

The final build is due next week, Wednesday, December 17th. We also need to make a gameplay video and take some screen shots, as well as write a synopsis of the game and how to play. There is also a storyline behind the gameplay: A secret organization known only as “The Mafia”, is recruiting shady individuals to ship illegal weapons to overseas wars, among other sinister things. The player, who is apparently down on his luck as he or she begins the game, must make ends meet by taking odd jobs and eventually working for this organization. But once the player realizes that this organization is what caused the player to lose everything to begin with, a decision is made to team up with other players and steal a large amount of gold from the Mafia’s tightly secured vault.

The object of the game is to make the most money and steal the most gold by the end of the game, which should last about a week to 10 days real time. Players can log in and out of the game at their leisure, obtaining riches and seeking revenge whenever they can spare.

Fall Colors

Pretty.

Why can’t the tree leaves stay red, orange, yellow, and green during every season?

It’s Just Us

(A poem Amorae wrote for me)

When you smile, the world disappears
It’s just us.
And I’m captivated.

When you look at me, I feel beautiful
it’s just us
and I’m complete.

When you talk, I feel safe
It’s just us
And I’m transfixed by your voice
Transfixed by your eloquence,

When you kiss me, it’s like a dream
it’s just us
and I’m in love with the taste of you,
in love with the softness of your lips,
and the warmth of your breath.

When you hold me, it’s like magic
It’s just us
and I’m hypnotized by your fingertips
By the trail of tiny tingling electric shocks
And I’m calmed by our trembling breaths
By your reassuring touch
I’m lost in our symmetry,
Lost in exploding rays of light
Lost in your eyes,
I’m lost in the moment

So look into my eyes and smile.
Kiss me, hold me, whisper like you do.
Make my heart beat out my chest
Hold me for awhile
it’s just us two.
Make me forget the rest.

So snuggle up to me.
And wrap your arms round tight
you are my prince, my hero, my knight.
There is no where I’d rather be
then here in your arms tonight
And every night.
You make everything right.

Presents!

If you haven’t figured it out…I have Christmas on the mind. Here are a few things I would love to receive but probably will never happen:

1. The Walking Dead Graphic Novel Series

2. Venture Brothers DVD Set

3. Fallout 3

4. Left for Dead

5. Playstation 3 with Little Big Planet

6. Guitar Hero World Tour

7. New Laptop with high end graphics chip

8. Body Repair on my car

9. HD TV

10. A Beanie

Weird Conversation

Text Conversation I had today with a friend:

Ryan- I want your body

Me- Did you mean to send that to someone else?

Ryan- No, I want your body, janeen. is that so hard to believe? r u done with finals yet?

Me- I will have no science experiments conducted on or with my body. no, i have two projects to finish, i’ll be done by the 17th. u?

Ryan- i’ll be done on wed. when is the baby due?

Me- yesterday

Ryan- boy or hermaphrodite?

Me- werewolf

Ryan- kill it now- it will turn on you!

Random People…

… keep calling my phone. I’ve had this conversation about four times in the last couple of days. What is going on?

Me- “Hello?”

Random Person-”Hello?…Who is this?”

Me-”Who is THIS?”

Random Person-”What? I guess I have the wrong number.”

Ninjas I Admire:

1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

2. Ask A Ninja

3. The White Ninja

4. Subzero, Smoke, Noob Saibot, and Scorpion from Mortal Kombat

5. The Cake Ninja

Capstone Idea?

I’ve been thinking some more about what I could do for my capstone project. I really enjoy doing graphic design for print so I think that I want to focus on that for my project. I think that I may want to create an advertisement campaign for my girlfriend’s YouTube show, Scarhead. It is about a teenage Harry Potter fanatic. I could create 2D print publicity including posters, fliers, business cards, and a website for it. I would also have the opportunity to expand into graphic design for video if I want to help create a motion graphics intro for the show. The advantages of creating the campaign for something like this rather than a made up or future movie is that I have more access. I would have access to the actors and actresses, the director, writer, cinematographer and editor. It would be easy to schedule photo shoots. Another advantage is that the show already has materials created like a theme song, several episodes to reference for ideas, and an established fan base that I could use for input. Plus, I would get to work with my girlfriend and spend time with her.