A New Hope is Awakening!

Here we are at the annual "Halloween Is Awesome and Xmas Blows.  Halloween is Over With.  Boo Hoo!" post.  It has become a grand tradition on the blog to post a scathing, bah humbug fueled rant about missing the ultimately superior holiday of Halloween and bracing ourselves for the upcoming, cold, desolate, and exhausting holiday season.  It's enough to suck the life out of all of us.

But, fear not.  Off in the not quite as far as you might think distance there is a glimmer of hope.  If you look up in the stars you may just see it.  Bright, blue letters that read, A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...  Then a yellow worded crawl that starts out with the words, Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens.  And then a description of an incredible storyline will rise up amongst the stars and will read something like.....

Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens

It has been a perilous thirty years since the Battle of Endor.  The Rebel Alliance has broken apart and the Dark Side of the force is slowly rising.........etc., etc, etc.

Well, you get the picture.  I have pretty much pulled that out of my arse and really have no clue as to what the opening crawl will say.  But, with Disney/Lucasfilm FINALLY releasing the title of the 7th installment in the Star Wars saga, excitement and happiness has filled our geek loving hearts with crazy amounts of anticipation of next winter's big release.

Upon first hearing the title this past week, I was under the immediate immpression that it sounded a little generic.  But, upon further consideration, it is a good fit.  It harkens back to the titles of the originally trilogy while eschewing the titles of the prequels.  A-New-Hope.  The-Empire-Strikes-Back.  Return-of-the-Jedi.  The-Force-Awakens.  It's quick and to the point while at the same time painting a thematic picture of what may be going on in this film.  Outside of "Revenge of the Sith" the prequel titles had you scratching you head a bit with what was an obscure title until the films were released and we could find out what a Phantom Menace was.  Another way the new gang is differentiating the new title from the prequel titles is the fact that in the publicity logos for the title, there is no "Episode VII".  We know it will be referred to as Ep. VII in the crawl, but it looks like they will be harkening back to the original trilogy's titles, without the Episode.  The Empire Strikes Back was not called, Star Wars; Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back on the movie posters.

The title gives us the hint that after the events in Return of the Jedi that The Force and those that manipulated it, Jedi and Sith Lords, slinked back into obscurity and use of The Force once again became a thing of legend and old, forgotten religions.  There will be something, or someone,  that will start to scratch the surface of use of The Force bringing on a new awakening in those that are Force sensitive.

At least that's how I perceive it.

In more exciting news, we know that principal photography has commenced on the film, making it's release date inch ever so closer.  A year from right now will be an exciting time for us.  Can we hold out until then?  I can honestly say that I will not be able to do so.  I'm going to lose my collective geek mind and you can all come read about it right here.

Zangz.

A creepy trick on Roberto and Iris with undead results.....

The Halloween season is not only a time for treats, it is also a time for tricks.  Being mischievous is quite commonplace this time of year.  Perhaps slipping a rubber worm in the popcorn bowl of your girlfriend while watching a horror flick gives you a chuckle.  Or perhaps popping out of a closet dressed as Michael Myers on an unsuspecting friend might give you a thrill.  Even digging up a human carcass at the local graveyard and propping it up in a rocking chair on your neighbor's front porch can get your blood bubbling.  Ok, that last one could be considered a bit extreme.  But, if you want to go all out, you have to take it to extremes.  It's Halloween fercrisakes!

I believe I may have gone a bit above and beyond on a very dark, elaborate trick I've put into motion recently.  It all started with my good friends Roberto and Iris trying to decide on a vacation destination for a late fall trip.  Of course late fall is the prime of the Halloween season.  Thus, it is the time of year when the living are very perceptive to the presence of the spirits of the dead.  This equation had the few gears in my feeble little mind start turning.

It had been a long time since I had the pleasure of orchestrating a situation to scare the living bajeezers out of some people while at the same time putting them in some paranormal peril.

Roberto told me that Iris was all over the internet looking for some sort of lake house to rent or northern woods log cabin to stay at, but she couldn't find anyplace that had availability with short notice or was that affordable this time of year.

When they brought the subject up with me, I saw my "in".

"Well, I saw this place on the Travel Channel that is in a quaint town called Liberty Square."  I told Iris.  "It's a big old colonial house that overlooks a river.  It's called Gracey Manor.  Trust me, it sounds like a great place for the family to unwind."

"Aww, Zangz", Roberto replied, "that sounds awesome!"

Then Iris said to me, "Ya know, we trust you so much that I will try and book us a stay without doing any on-line research at all!"

"That sounds groovy guys!"  It was hard for me to hide my sheer, dark, sadistic joy.  Love Iris and Roberto as much as I do, I have to put them through their paces every once in a while.

Now most of what I said was true.  There is a big old house on a river in Liberty Square called Gracey Manor that has been featured on the Travel Channel.  What I left out was the fact that it was featured on the show "The Most Really Frackin' Haunted Places On This Mother Frellin' Planet That If You Value Your Family's Life As Well As Your Own And Have Half  Brain, You Need To Stay The Frack Away From"

You see, the house has a bit of a history to it.  A very long time ago the very wealthy, Master Yale Gracey fell in love with a beautiful girl by the name of Emily and asked for her hand in marriage.  He built Gracey Manor for them to spend the rest of their lives together in.  But, Yale had a bit of an interest in the occult and spiritualism that he hid from her.  From the shadows his personal medium and spiritualist adviser, Madame Leota, lusted for him from afar.  On the night of Emily and Yale's wedding Madame Leota murdered Emily with an axe and hid her body in a chest in the attic of the large house.  When Emily's body was discovered, Yale took his own life by hanging himself in the foyer.  Once Madame Leota was found guilty, she was sentenced to execution by decapitation.  After all, this was back in the days where what was perceived as witchcraft was not tolerated by the superstitions of the puritanical.

Good thing Iris didn't see the program, or the jig would have been up.  The show interviewed several paranormal experts who are all in a agreement that the house is haunted up to the gills.  There are reports of at least 999 separate ghostly entities that lurk about the grounds.  Master Gracey's disembodied voice can be heard throughout the home on occasion.  It is said that Emily's ghost can be seen in the attic holding the very axe that killed her.  Madame Leota is said to give an eternal seance with he severed head eternally entrapped in the very crystal ball she used to summon the many ghosts that haunt the halls of Gracey Manor.

Statues sing and stare as paintings change their appearance before witnesses' very eyes.  Candles float down darkened halls as doors rattle and slam.  Decayed corpses try and pry themselves out of old coffins.  I haven't even mentioned what goes on in the adjacent graveyard at night.  I forgot to tell Roberto and Iris that there's a graveyard, didn't I.

I'm sure they'll be just fine, though.  They both have a pretty strong fortitude when it comes to the unkown..... most of the time.  Hope they brought their ten-siders to make some percentage sanity rolls (major geek reference)

When, or if they come back in one piece, they'll have quite the stories to tell.  I'm such a little weisenhiemer, aren't I?

From BigFatPanda YouTube Channel

Until next time, stay vertical.

Zangz.

When the Parks Go Dark.

By day they are filled with thrill seeking people looking to go on the latest coaster and gorge on the edible likes of pop corn, cotton candy and hot dogs.  The bright daylight illuminates the bold colors of the huge metallic rides that tower over them like giants protecting the guests, creating a safe haven for visitors young and old.  The only fear anyone has is that little Tommy is may just bazooka puke all over the pace after taking on one of the coasters.

As for nights during the month of October the theme parks take on a whole different feel.  The streets are filled with smog. The noise of chainsaws and screams ring through the air and overpower the sound of the coasters on their tracks.  The walking dead lurk behind every crevice and corner awaiting their next victim.

One Halloween tradition that has gained major steam amongst Haunt Industry fans and enthusiasts within the last twenty years is the creative transformations that take place at night where the usual fun filled facades of the amusement parks give way to park wide Haunted Attractions.  Not only is this a great Halloween marketing shtick for the parks, it's also a great way to capitalize on the season.

Lets take a look at some of these parks and see how they take on the season of spooks.

Walt Disney World's Mickey's Not-So-Scary-Halloween - Let's start with one that's not as scary as it is family friendly.  We have to ease some of you into this slowly so this might be for the very first timer.  And when I mention "Very first timer" I'm talking three to about fourteen year olds.  Folks fifteen on through their twenties may not feel as fright challenged and roll their eyes at the hefty serving of cheese factor that is rolled out.  Keep in mind it is Disney and the place is run by a mouse, so a heavy dose of fromage is to be expected.  On the other hand hard core Disneyphiles, no matter what age, will bask in the family friendly trick-or-treat glory at Not-So-Scary.  Highlights are trick-or-treating stations all over the park, the Halloween parade, a spectacular fireworks display that will blow your mind and a couple of exclusive villain filled parties.  One of which takes place at Cinderella's Castle.  Take a look. No severed heads or bloody entrails here.

From The DIS YouTube

On an additional note, The DIS in a really good resource for unbiased Disney related travel tips and reviews.  Find their podcast on itTunes.

Six Flags Great America's Fright Fest - Let's step it up a notch, shall we?  The folks at Great America have been turning their park into one big graveyard year after year.  Everywhere you walk there are grave stones and creepy tableau's of diabolical characters stationed anywhere there is usually spare room.  A large number of scare-actors roam the park interacting with patrons.  Last I heard they have two professional haunted mazes to go through.  Both are pretty quick to get through, but have some pretty cool stock scares and affects.  If they are going to compete with the big boys, they may want to invest in one or two more and change things up from time to time.

From the All Around Orlando YouTube

Knott's Scary Farm - You say you want something a little more intense?  Ok, then what about Knott's Berry Farm's Halloween season show, Knott's Scary Farm?  Much like Great America this park utilizes haunted mazes and scare-actors galore, but they step it up in number of mazes, the themes of those mazes and overall intensity of the experience.  Although there's a good dose of blood and gore, they also go out of their way to make sure there's also more than a spoon full of creepy and eerie within the haunted mazes.  They don't have any horror franchises that other parks can rely on.  They have to come up with original content and I think that is frackin' great! They even have a full fledged, interactive, zombie laser tag experience.  Add to all of that Elvira, Mistress of the Dark doing her own musical show.  Here is a daytime guided overview of this year's show.

From The_Con_FluenceCovers... YouTube

Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights - A lot of haunt fans claim this to be the Grand Daddy of them all when it comes to haunted theme parks.  Not only does this attraction cater to the Halloween fan, it serves it up on a silver platter for those that are fans of the movie and TV horror genres.  Here you will find classics as American Werewolf in London as well as The Walking Dead strongly represented within the mazes in this park.  Folks from the special effects profession pull out all of the stops and are not afraid to dowse it in tons of blood and gore.  Most of the mazes and attractions are based on already existing horror franchises which kind of takes a bit out of original content, but also rakes in the bucks from hard core horror fans.

From Inside The Magic YouTube Chanel

One of these days I've been meaning to rob Fort Knox so I can afford to visit these attractions.  Sadly I am lacking a portly, asian henchman with a bladed bowler hat.  So that's not going to happen soon.  But I will seek out and post a video or two of some of the mazes from these attractions soon.

That's it for me today.  Tray and get some form of Halloween hi-jinx into the mix before this season is done, will you please?

Until next time, sty vertical!

Zangz.

Traveling the Dark Spooky Paths.

Today is the first day of Autumn.  The leaves are just starting to change color.  The pumpkin beers are on the shelves again.  And the chill is in the air.  You know what I'm talking about, don't you?  I'm not just talking about the slight snap in the temperature.

Autumn is the season that ushers in our link with the nether-realms.  It is were the dark things lurk and wait for this season to break out and linger amongst us mere mortals.  For the next month and a half there is truly magic in the air that can be felt through the smokey spices that fill our nostrils on a nice evening's jaunt.

Every year I get excited and poetic over the Halloween season.  Heck, it's really the only time I post on this blog consecutively.  It's the season that sparks my imagination the most and takes us to spooky dark places.

On the note of Spooky Dark Places, I'm going to play a little game.  I'm going to pretend I own a TARDIS and can travel anywhere in the world and could visit some of the more creepy locations of the world.  I'll keep the settings at modern day in case I would accidentally pop in some puritanical time frame where I'd be burned at the stake for being a witch,  I'll do this as a modern day tourist.

Here I go!  First stop.......

1. The Bloody Tower of London - This imposing castle-like structure is currently the home of England's crown jewels as well as some government offices that still operate there.  It is also one of the main tourist attractions of the UK.  One thing the tour guides (or Beefeater's as they are affectionately called) love to speak about are the numerous amount of ghosts that lurk about the place.  For hundreds of years prior to it being full of tourists, it was full of prisoners as the tower was the main prison of England.  And many a soul fell to the blade there.  It is said the place is haunted by the ghosts of Anne Boleyn, Roman soldiers, two young princes and many more.  Definitely a ghoulish place to visit.

Historic Royal Places

2. Winchester Mystery House - Wealthy Victorian whack-job and widow of the Winchester gun founder, Sarah Winchester, took the advice of a medium who instructed her to build a house that never ends its construction to house all of the spirits of people killed by the Winchester rifle.  Suffice it to say, the place is one big, odd mess of a building.  Hallways and staircases leading nowhere, secret rooms and paranormal activity are the main architectural flavor of the place.

YCTV Destination Videos

3. Island of Dolls (Isla de las Munecas) - What's more disturbing than one of those little, lifeless, plastic baby dolls staring at you from across a room with its cold, dead eyes?  How about hundreds of them staring at you?  Now forget about the room and place yourself on a small island in a canal system just south of mexico.  Now pretend it's not daytime, it's night.  There's also a tragic story behind the place that involves a dead girl.  There you go.

Paranormal Videos / Latest Ghost Videos

4. Highgate Cemetery - This old, London, cemetery is crawling with overgrown foliage and decaying tombstones.  There are many stories of ghosts lurking about and even a tale of a vampire who calls the hallowed ground home.  On a more nerdy than spooky note: Author Douglas Adams is buried here too.

Dorsetghost

5. The Church of Bones - Zoinks and Zoinks again!  An entire church in Bohemia that has a main decor of human bones that have been vigil for hundreds of years.  It doesn't get much creepier than that!  In more geekier news, this location was used as the main villain's lair in the movie adaptation of Dungeons & Dragons.

Journeyman Pictures

There are many other places that we could journey to as well that are notoriously macabre.  Gettysburg National Park, The catacombs of Paris as well as many of the isolated and long forgotten prisons and insane asylums that dot the world could all qualify as well.  But, I only have so much time to dream and have to start getting my autumn and Halloween plans laid out.  So I'm parking the TARDIS back in the garage and will enjoy a smokey, spice laden pumpkin ale and lick my wounds of the current Packer loss.

Until next time, stay vertical and don't wake the dead....yet.

Zangz.

Sexism within Geek Culture.... What's the frackin' deal, guys?

Maybe I was raised right, or maybe I'm an old fart who respects women.  But, I am just not getting this whole trend to demean female geeks in geek and gaming culture.  There's been a wave of negativity aimed toward females who share interests and enjoyment of the realms of the fantastical that's been plaguing the internet as well as the cons and it has to stop!

Maybe I'm missing something, but shouldn't the acceptance of females within the geek culture be something for us to celebrate rather than shun?  I remember being a young geek lad who went to a local convention of yore and have distinct memories of the mass majority of attendees being sweaty, smelly guys.  The very few females that would show up were either A.) Were dragged there by their boyfriends or B.) Sales / booth girls who usually had no interest whatsoever in anything geek related and were only there for the paycheck.

The thought that there may be an awesome percentage of girls who shared in my passions was simply a pipe dream.  That was a good twenty years ago.  Fast forward to today and we have a whole plethora of females enjoying Star Wars, RPG's and video games, etc, etc.  They get it!  They get us!  They are us!  So what's the problem?  Why is there such a need to attack them when they are on-line gaming with us or attending conventions?  Do we really need to argue their "geek cred"?  Do we even need to waste time and energy on their "geek cred"?

With a big push from the counter culture and more acceptance for differences in people, our geek culture has, dare I say it, become popular and it's own "In Crowd".  Maybe more like "In the Know Crowd", but you get my drift.  So, I can see where there can be some leeriness to some cases involving cons and geek girls with model good looks and why some people might be under the impression that their interests may be in question.  I guess I just don't waste the energy to question in the first place.

As I said before, I used to live in a world where there was a small percentage of girls, let alone, very attractive girls, who would never lower themselves to even glance at a page in a comic book.  And if there were such girls, they kept to the shadows for fear of ridicule.  I lived in the times when all of the cute cheerleaders would avoid any interest of geek culture.  Now we are inundated with beautiful girls attending cons in all manor of cosplay.  And yes, some of those outfits are arguably risque.  And yes, some of those girls make a career out of those costumes.  But, do we really have to treat this as being so suspect?  The whole "You're a cute girl and you're just trying to glom off of the popularity of the genres" mentality has to take a back seat to "The more the merrier!" mentality.  Who's not getting this?

What's even far more disturbing is the downright sociopathic sexual assault tactics that are taking place at the cons.  Just because a girl is dressed like Poison Ivy is not in anyway an open invitation to grab and grope their privets.  It's the same mentality as "Well, she was asking for it by being dressed that way." which has proven time and time again to be Neanderthalic (That's not a word?  I don't care!).

And of course this whole trolling females while they are gaming on line with other players has gone from general sexist insults to threats of violence and sexual assault.  WHAT THE FRELL IS GOING ON?!?!?  Has today's yuppie generation allowed reality television to baby sit and bring up a generation of sociopaths?

I've heard of two cases where female gamers have stood up to these twits and posted smart rebuttals on YouTube only to have their on-line accounts hacked and their families' lives threatened by the trolls.  One of the girls doesn't even stay at her own home due to fear of harm.

We as male geeks need to step up to the plate and show females that they are not only welcome within the geek culture, they are as much a part of it as we are.  We have an opportunity to show that we are better people than the bullies of old.  But as I see it, we're blowing it big time.

'Nuff said.

And, yes, the season of spooks cometh.  Stay tuned for coverage!

Stay vertical!

Zangz.

This just in.......

Looks like the cast of Star Wars Ep VII just added two new actresses.

Gwendoline Christie from Game of Thrones and Oscar award winner, Lupita Nyong have been added on!

It was rumored that at least one more female character had yet to be cast and it looks like we've gotten a double whammy!

Sadly, I'm not familiar with Lupita Nyong's work, but I'm looking forward to seeing what she may play (Jedi?) and what she can bring to the role.

Gwendoline Christie's work on the dark, medivel fantasy series, Game of Thrones is incredible!  Her Brianne of Tarth is a fan favorite.  We'lll see if her sword wielding prowess from that show will be utilized with a light saber.  Jedi or Sith?  Hmmmm?

A quickie post for the good news.  I'm not linking anything since I'm doing this with a phone app and don't have time.  When in doubt, Google it yourselves!

Stay vertical.

Zangz.

The Orgasmatron of Ep. VII News That Has Blessed Us This Month

Well, it looks as though I've broken my promise about more than one post per every three months.  Finding quality computer time is a challenge for me even though we are all living in the digital age.  Let's just say some of us are not as digitally gifted as others.

But, I find it quite hard to not post something in what could be considered the second coming of the golden age of Star Wars.  You may remember quite a while back I posted on what we knew and didn't know about Disney's upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII, yet to be titled geek-fest due out December of 2015.

Outside of Disney finally revealing that Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Kenny Baker, Anthony Daniels and Peter Mayhew will be reprising their rolls from the original trilogy, none of the other casting rumors I wrote about were true at all.  In fact Disney FINALLY spilled the beans on the other main cast members.  Many of them are young and unknown.

Adam Driver, John Boyega, Domnhall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac and Daisy Ridley are the noobs who will find themselves thrust into the immortality that is Star Wars fandom.

What their rolls are is another mystery that Disney is holding close to their chests and we'll probably have to wait another six months before that information is revealed.

There are two more mystery roles that will be portrayed by well known actors to the geek genres.  Max von Sydow and Andy Serkis will be bringing some geek loving familiarity to the new trilogy.  Sydow is well known as Ming the Merciless from the 1980's Flash Gordon film (Flash! AhhhhhAhhhhh...Savior of the universe!!!.... Earworm...You're welcome.).  He also did voice work on the epic video game that I can't stop playing long enough to post a blog once in a blue moon, Skyrim.  Serkis is best known for doing the voice and body movements for Gollum in The Lord of the Rings films as well as Peter Jackson's King Kong and the newest Planet of the Apes movies.

Of course, immediately after the casting announcements there was a rumor floating about that there is one more big role that has to be cast for the film that is a female lead role.

That all went down a month ago.  More recently Disney announced their views on where the Expanded Universe would fall within its relationship with all of the new upcoming story content that will be released with the sequels coming.  Or perhaps I should say how much of it will no longer make it into the traditional Star Wars cannon.... and that's to say, none of it.  Yep, the EU of Star Wars is being pushed to the nether-relams to make way for original content.

I know what you're all wondering with baited breath that has kept you up all night in a cold sweat of anxiety..... "Zangz, good fellow, what is you're take on all of this?"

Well I'll tell you.....

First off, I'm ECSTATIC that Disney finally nailed down the original cast for the sequels.  I was a bit worried that Ford was going to pull a no-show on the whole ordeal since he can be a bit of a curmudgeon on things involving Star Wars.  But, somehow they pulled him into the wonderful madness and the old gang is all back.

As for the noobs, Iv'e only seen two of them in action.  John Boyega was great in Attack the Block and  Domnhall Gleeson is recognizable from the Harry Potter series as one of the Weasleys.  The rumor is that Boyega may be playing a young Jedi and that Gleeson could be a relative of the Skywalker clan.  He does have some Skywalker looks to him.

Adam Driver's most notable work to date has been the HBO series Girls.  I've never had the inclination to watch the show, but I've heard from reliable sources that the character he plays is quite odd and quirky.  Disney has confirmed he will be playing one of the main baddies in the film.  By his looks he could certainly pass for a dark force user...with an odd quirkiness to him.

Oscar Issac has had supporting roles in a few films I have seen (Sucker Punch, The Bourne Legacy, Robin Hood) and as memory serves he has pretty decent acting chops.  There is the belief that he may be playing a villain as well, perhaps due to his particularly douchey Prince John in Robin Hood.

Daisy Ridley is pretty brand spankin' new.  She's mostly done English TV series, so it will be a pleasure to see this fresh face being introduced to the world in a movie of this magnitude.  People are banging around the idea that she is to play the daughter of Leia and Han.  She certainly has the looks to pass as their daughter.

The other big female mystery role rumor is growing less and less viable since they are full bore into shooting the film now and no one has heard a squeak about the role since.  Another wait and see situation.

Ultimately, I'm glad that they chose to cast respectable and not quite as well recognizable actors for the new roles and not well known, name actors.  It harkens back to when Lucas cast virtual unknowns of the time, Hamill, Ford and Fisher.  and I'm so glad that the rumor of Zac Efron playing a big role was proven to be false.  Keep your High School Musical out of my Star Wars, Disney!

Let's move on to the whole Expanded Universe controversy.  It was recently announced that the EU would not be recognized or continued on in the current cannon of Star Wars mythos.  The current cannon is the Star Wars movies, The Clone Wars animated TV show and the upcoming animated Rebels TV show.

I have to be brutally honest and a bit abrasive here when I say, I never really delved into much of the EU due to the fact that it became an epic soap opera where you had to read twenty or so novels about Luke, Leia and Han's children, cousins and second cousins removed becoming Jedi and Sith and whatnot.  Out of the gate it seemed all too daunting for my simple mind.  Hell, I can't even keep the characters form Game of Thrones together, and I'm only watching the TV show.

The very little of the EU I read took place during the storyline of the original trilogy.  "Tales from the Mos Isley Cantina" and "Shadows of the Empire" are pretty much where I left off.

To an extent I feel the pain of Star Wars fans who invested a metric butt-load of time getting into the EU.  I sort of feel you pain.  I know how I felt as a James Bond fan when the rebooted the series and stared fresh as though Goldfinger, On Her Majesty's Secret Service and The Spy Who Loved Me never took place.  But, at the same time, the James Bond films became fresh again.

In the coming year and a half we'll be blessed with many leaks, rumors and news of Episode VII that will have us guessing, theorizing and dreaming of things to come.  Perhaps I never learned my lesson from the prequels, but I'm already holding back from bursting with an orgazmatron of geek happiness about the sequels and subsequent side project movies (A Boba Fett movie done in the style of a spaghetti western, Man with No Name, type of vibe?  YES, PLEASE!) that are coming our way sooner than later.  No matter what, these are exciting times for us Star Wars geeks!

That is all.

Zangz.

Mainlining Skyrim

I'm not done with this blogging business yet.  In fact, I have many ideas for future posts that have been rattling around in my noggin for quite some time.

The problem with posting this year has been two fold.  The first issue I have brought up in the past.  Although I live in a part of the United States that is very susceptible to horrifically cold and nasty winters, I'm pretty sure most of the country wasn't expecting quite the blast we've been getting.

And as I had warned, the winter months usually suck all of my creative juices clear out of me and leave me in a small state of seasonal effective disorder.  This year in particular, I've felt like doing hardly anything except one activity for hours on end.

The second issue is the aforementioned activity.  I've rediscovered the wonders of the Bethesda Software epic, Skyrim on my Xbox360, which I've been replaying during these winter months every last waking second I've had free time.  Hunkering down, huddled on my couch, keeping warm by playing an open world fantasy video game that takes place in a snow covered wonderland replete with its blinding snowstorms and bone chilling wind sound effects may seem redundant and a very misdirected way to escape from myself these winter months of 2014.  But, boy howdy! It is still fun as FRAK!

Having recently acquired the "Legendary" version of the game that includes all of the additional content (Hearthfire, Dragonborn, Dawnguard) as well as a bunch of bug fixes, I decided to put aside the game and character I've played since the game was released in 2011 and start somewhat anew.

My original character, daftly named Zangz (what else?) has been quasi-retired and replaced with a Dark Elf assasin, fighter named Amaroth.  I'm putting all of the sneak, archery and lock picking skills into this guy instead of the heavy armor fighting skills I wasted on Zangz.

Although I played through much of game the last go around, I'm finding that this run through still feels new and exciting.  Not only has the Hearthfire add on content giving me a huge home to design for my character's new lair, it also drives me to collect new items that I wasn't before.  Items that allow me to build on to the home and decorate rooms with all the swords and weaponry that are infused with magic.

I've only started a few of the quests in the Dawnguard add on that involves joining a group of vampire hunters.  But, so far it's pretty compelling.  I've hardly scraped the surface in the Dragonborn quest manifesting itself with a bunch of creepy, cultist assassins coming after me for no apparent reason.  It wasn't until after I pried a mysterious note off of their corpses (see, never try to assassinate an assassin who's more skilled than you) that I realized that someone had ordered them to come after my character. This note will eventually lead me to a whole other island with tons of quests to conquer and sites to explore.

So it looks like I'll be busy for a while.

In the meantime, I'd likeyou to take a look at just how massive the game Skyrim is and how much thought the developers put into it with this group of fun references and easter eggs that has been put into the game.

YouTube - EGIundivided

And that will be it for now.  Please check back again.  Hopefully it will not be over three months before I post again.

Zangz.