Halloween!!!

If EZine vs the World

I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off yesterday trying to figure out what to blog today. My good friend and partner in crime J. Ho suggested I make up a few church signs using the sign generators so prevalent on the internet these days (here's the one I used). He even gave me a few ideas to get me started. About an hour and a half later, I had 15 of these little suckers. I'll be posting them all on the If EZine Facebook profile as well as the If EZine MySpace profile.

Enjoy.

Any take a look at J. Ho's SketchBlog. It's nifty.






And be sure to visit ifezine.com, home to If EZine, the Free Online Magazine of Thrilling Speculative Fiction!

Fallout: New Vegas teaser trailer

Anyone that's been paying attention for the last year or so should remember that I'm a huge fan of the Fallout series of roleplaying games. Last month, this teaser trailer for the latest game in the franchise was released.

Enjoy.

Ugly Sweater Xmas Party!

Just posting a pic from the Ugly Sweater XMas Party. Enjoy the holidays and Happy Hanukkah!

Xmas Lights

Putting up decor early this year.

Halloween pictures

Halloween is tomorrow! Here are some pictures of my Halloween to come.

Wuxia Fairy Tales -- Martial Arts Movies

I thought I'd give an example of movies that inspire my series The Children of Gods, of which the currently novel I'm blogging here as I write it.

Halloween pics

Halloween was last Friday and I thought I'd share some of my photos from the night. Enjoy.


Death Star jack-o-lantern carve during the day.


Death Star at night



My girl's Dia de los Muertos-inspired jack-o-lantern.



The Exorcist jack-o-lantern.



Iffy the Ifreet, my webzine's mascot, makes an appearance on Halloween.


Iffy posing for the camera.



My girl's Jack Skellington jack-o-lantern.


Jack Skellington at night.



Nightmare Before Christmas carve.


Nightmare carve at night.



Crazy Jaw face.

Issue 13 has been published!

This year's Special Halloween Edition of If - E - Zine has been posted on my site TheLordShen.com.

Within this issue Iffy the Ifreet, the ezine's new mascot, hosts all the wonderful Halloween- and horror-themed stories!

Be sure to check it out!

Iffy the Ifreet

Music to Write By... With Pictures!

About this time last year I posted a wuxia tale in 5 acts called "The Children of Gods". Since April of this year I have been expanding upon that world here on my blog with a series of stories. Along with these stories, I have been posting errata explaining influences and other various notes concerning the stories. It occurred to me recently that I should also post a list of the music I generally have been listening to while writing these heroic martial arts tales. Here is that list:

"The Children of Gods" and "At the Peony Tea House"
The soundtrack to Jet Li's Hero; composer: Tan Dun


"The Theft of Heaven"
Global Spirit by Karunesh, especially track 7: Earthsong;


Disney's Animal Kingdom - Music from the Park


"The Ruby Bug"
Theme to the HBO drama Rome;


Super Taranta (album) by Gogol Bordello, especially track 14: Super Taranta!


"The Elephant Crusade"
Live at Montreux by Ladysmith Black Mambazo



I'll be finishing up "The Elephant Crusade" this Friday. Sometime thereafter I will be posting Act 1 of "Song of Momoki". Be sure to watch for it!

If - E - Zine

I was going to post the story "The Ruby Bug" today, but with publishing Issue 11 of If - E - Zine(tm) on my website on Wednesday, I found myself a bit short both on time and energy to complete today's scheduled post. In lieu of "The Ruby Bug", I've decided to post a teaser photo of an up-coming mascot for the ezine.



Coming Friday, June 13th!

This is inspired by the classic cover art from Sticky Fingers, perhaps the greatest album put out by the legendary Rolling Stones rock group. The original cover was conceived by none other than Andy Warhol.

Be sure to check out If - E - Zine(tm) here:

TheLordShen.com
If - E - Zine on MySpace

Orlando Slideshow Geekiness

Here's a slide show video I made with photos I took while on vacation in Orlando last week. Enjoy!

Super Smash Brothers Brawl

My entire week thus far has been consumed with the new Nintendo WII game Super Smash Brothers Brawl. Its a fighting game filled with classic Nintendo characters and some third-party non-Nintendo characters. It's frantic, seizure-inducing pace and massive amounts of collectibles have kept my obsessive side busy and quite entertained. Today I present to you some screen-grabs from the game.


Squirtle taking it to Pikachu in the Pokemon Arena


Squirtle teaching Nana and Popo (of Ice Climbers fame) a lesson


Squirtle taking on Master Hand, the final boss in the Classic Mode


I unlocked Solid Snake (from the Metal Gear Solid series) just last night... here he is shooting down Olimar from the Pikmin games


Solid Snake vs. King Dedede (Kirby's rival)


Snake doing what he does best!


Captain Falcon from F-Zero duking it out with Giant Pikachu!


Here's a diorama I made in-game of some of the trophies I've won so far. From left to right: Turret Tusk from Donkey Kong Jungle Beat; HM Mech Rosa from Chosoju Mecha MG; and ROB 64 from Star Fox


Feel free to brag about your own exploits in the game here. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go play some more. I'm having withdrawals!

In the Far Future... There Can Be Only War!

I'm featuring two different games today. Both are sci-fi strategy games. The first is the new Warhammer 40K video game due out for the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP called Squad Command.

The other is a rival offering to 40K by the French game company Rackham. It's called AT-43.

WARHAMMER 40,000: SQUAD COMMAND:





AT-43 ACCORDING TO WIKI:

"AT-43: No one Escapes War! is a science fiction tabletop wargame using 28mm miniature figures and terrain to scale developed and published by the French company Rackham.

Released in December 2006, the game features pre-painted plastic miniatures of mechs and infantry units with corresponding cards showing the stats and gameplay options for each unit type."



Here's the newest expansion army. They're called Karmans:







U.N.A. FORCES:


THERIAN FORCES:




RED BLOK ARMY: