merchandising?

I've had several people come to my site asking for my Poster.

I don't have a poster. Somebody mentioned that I should make one.

Besides, the air hose attached to the M203 needs to come off, I'd have to get on photoshop and do something about that. Otherwise, well, hmm. . . maybe I should look into that?

UPDATE Ok, so I'm trying to work out this poster idea, but I've run into two problems.
First, I took a picture with an M203 that is specifically used for similation purposes and has a big fat hose hanging off of it.
You can't ignore that. So I photoshopped it off.

Ok, that works alright. But secondly, well, the photo is taken in a middle of a classroom! There's a table and some chairs in the background (well, the grenade display is pretty hoorah), but still, when you're thinking of army and bad ass rifles with grenade launchers attached to them, you're thinking of wide open spaces and charlie in the distance, not a bloody classroom!

That left the options fairly open.

How about smack dab in the middle of the desert?



Or plant myself in the middle of a Washington Rainforest? (well, fort lewis really does kind of look like this)



Or maybe post in front of one of my beloved Hummers.



Or, perhaps at a Gun Show?



HOw about a field of poppies?



or I could be cliche' and superimpose myself in front of a flag.



Eh, the options are a bit endless. I guess I could go about trying to perfect my photo shopping skills and make one that is pretty high-speed, but I'm not sure if I'm up to it.

I guess my best option is to just blanket the background and post obscene messages. Hehe, requests are open! The following are rather tame.

And of course.


***the quote, "Good, Bad, I'm the Guy with the gun," is off of Army of Darkness, in case you were wondering, I slightly altered it becuase I'm not a guy.***

Eh, maybe I should just quit while I'm ahead and the idea is still fresh? Last thing I wanna do is grind it into everybody's head.

I personally like my LJ icon.


Meanwhile, more chicks in uniform (being me) and weapons. . .

• Private E in the middle of Basic Training. I was a color guard, and therefore, I had a 'rifle'. This picture is kind of funny.
  
• Same place as aboves only in Class A's.
  
• Color Guard, during the brief period I was a ROTC Nazi.
  
• On the Range, still a private.
  
• Still in Uniform, different kind of projectile.
  
• Full Battle Rattle
  
• Itz a hummer, but I was a private so I didn't know better.
  
• Anti Tank, much different in projectile. And this picture was taken at the same time as my now infamous one. I'm making roughly the same 'face', but at a different angle and I look on the verge of cracking into a laugh.
  
• I still like the SAW. The SAW in Simulation was very very fun.
  
• Whoops. No weapons, but rather funny regardless.

There you go. Enjoy.

Update - More superimposing ideas from my brother. This should be fun.


Me in front of a Mushroom Cloud.


Me on a swiftboat!


Me playing Halo!

(if I don't watch it, I'll run this into the ground!)

Update Some of my Readers are doing their own photoshopping. Courtesy of Aaron

Veteran's Day

Last year on Veteran's day, I was given orders to deploy to Southern Iraq. I found it very fitting at the time.

Three weeks later, the orders were ammended with a single word, revoked. That was after I had gone through the full spectrum of emotions and had come to terms that I was going and I was ready and willing to serve. Needless to say, I was frustrated. Mostly becuase being an army reservist, I had to go into my life and put some things on hold to prepare myself to deploy.

Now, I've got more orders to serve, and with my luck, they will get revoked again. It has only happened to me a half dozen times since September 11th. You have your soldiers who want to serve, and you have the soldiers who don't.

I've always felt that I've been in the category of those that want to serve and try as they might, the army just won't let them serve. I've even volunteered for deployments once or twice and got denied (there was this unit in Connecticutt, unfortunately, they were National Guard, the Guard and the Reserves don't mix)

What's really interesting is that when I was first trained, I was told that I was in the second most deployable MOS in the army. I find that hard to believe, becuase if I was, I would be on my third deployment by now.

Ah well, this current deployment is slotted to go forth, and I intend to make the most of it. My Milblog is up (though still a bit rough around the edges, I'm working on it) and I intend to post to it and use that as my online journal while in Kosovo.

Oh, another note. It's incoheRANT ramblings and things better left unsaid, mostly due to the fact that sometimes I like to bitch and rant, and this had previously proved to be a good forum to do that in. What's funny, is it was an unintended Typo at first, but I've grown rather fond of it.

Anyway, Happy Veteran's Day, to those who've served, and those who continue to serve. Veterans are my true heroes.

I've been Discovered. . .

So here I was, winding down, getting ready for my deployment to Kosovo (yeah, I know, not where everybody expects when you say deployment in this day and age), when I popped up here expecting it to be nice and quiet as usual and discovered that the Llama Butchers had found me.

Well, I found them before they found me so there.

(I really need to update this thing more. Believe it or not, I've been blogging for over two years now)

Tenative Schedule

I do these kinds of things a lot. They consist of Lists and Timelines.

This is about where I'm standing. D-day is the day I deploy.

Next three weeks is allotted to getting my affairs in order.
D-day - 15 : Last day of work.
D-day - 10 : last chance snowboarding (weather permitting).
D-day - 9 : Report to Fort Lawton.
D-day -2 : Drill, Make sure rear detachment is taken care of.
D-day : Report to Fort Lewis (tenative location)
D-day + 15 months : Come home.

Where I will be getting a car, signing up for school, and overall getting my affairs in order. I will also be going back to work with my current employer, most likely temporarily, until I get settled in.

Actually, I might just stick with my employer while I'm going to school. I like my job and I think it would work.

My To-Do list before I go:

• Clean car and leave title with Parents.
  
• organize and pack room.
  
• Notorize rental agreement.
  
• Buy a LapTop (necessary)
  
• Secure PC, back up files, delete anything I don't want family members reading (private thoughts, etc)
  
• Put Creature to Rest
  
• Set up Military Blog (got it all planned out, it should look hella cool)
  
• Set up bill paying services so I can make payments and manage finances while I'm away.
  
• Think of Gift ideas for both Birthday and Christmas.
  
• Create a packing list.
  
• More to come

Yeah, should be interesting.

All American BadAss

In response to those of the 48% of American voters that feel the need to apologize for not doing enough to convince the "blind, illiterate and stupid idiots" that compromise the approximately 51% of American Voters that voted for Bush. This is my reply to you.

Sorry Everybody!

Somebody decided that they needed to post to the world that 'most' of americans were truly sorry about the election results.

Ah, isn't that something? They've gotten quite a few posts now, and it's actually fun to surf through them.

Mostly because some of these people are showing their absolute cluelessness. While a few of them are probably well educated and very sincere and just looking for a place to vent their frustration, I decided to poke fun at the obviously stupid ones as well as take note of the. . . more interesting ones.


Um, didn't Bush win in Texas, therefore capturing more then 50% of the Vote? Oh yeah, that's right, it was 61%. Oh, maybe their talking about the fact that most of Texas' Population of 21 Million didn't even bother to vote (just over 8 million did)? (well, we might have to make some consideration for the fact that their are children, immigrants and felons that live in the state of Texas)

Get your facts straight, or I'll label you as an idiot.


Last I checked, democracy was still breathing and had quite a healthy pulse.

Bigot.



Just what in the hell is THAT supposed to be anyway?


The Suicide Hotline is 1-800-784-2433.
The Homicidal Hotline is 911.


Yeah, and that's the half of Americans that voted.
No thanks, I don't like to drink.


Ah, isn't that sweet, he's apologizing for me.

Bigot.


"we" did the best we could?

What, did you register your dog to vote?


"If you disagree with me, your a Dumb Fuqz!"

Bigot.


How could the other 49% ignore that Kerry had absolutely no agenda, kept babbling on about a plan that he would not allude any details of, and couldn't make up his mind on even the simplist details? From what I hear, the latest Newsweek Zine has an interesting look at the details of politics behind the scenes and the Kerry Camp was a train wreck. But I could have told you that.

Maybe if the Democrats had elected a halfway decent candidate, he would have won?

Oh well, I guess a majority of American's would rather vote "for" somebody rather then "against" someone. You vote for your reasons, I'll vote for mine.

Bigot.


That's a lot of cookies!

(illegible font on the bottom, for the life of me, can't make it out.)


Get in line, dude. But hey, if you want to leave, go for it! That will leave more conservatives to vote for another republican in four years.



SHHH!!! Don't tell him about George Soros, Michael Moore, Barbara Streisand, Sean Penn, The Dixie Chicks, Alec Baldwin, John Kerry, Madonna, Cher, John Edwards, Bruce Springsteen, Danny Glover, Jennifer Aniston, Ben Affleck, Brad Pitt. . .


Winner of the "Trying to be Artistic and Dramatic and Coming Across as Cheesy and Constipated" Award!

And I guess I'm amongst the illiterate half of Americans.

Bigot.


Guess you should strip and go live in the woods then, that paper was probably produced using oil, the electricity in the lamp in the background uses oil, the charger you use to charge your digital camera definitely uses oil, as is the company that MADE the camera, yep, oil. Your clothes, transportation, everything to create anything these days basically uses Oil at least at ONE point in their production.

I guess they could spin off the Organic Idea and start stamping products that are 100% OIL free in their production. We could sell them in Adobe Huts lit by Candles.


At LAST!!! Somebody I agree with! I don't like Kerry either!





Meanwhile, don't you terrorists get Washington Mixed up with those Jesusland Red States! Although over 50% of the land mass is red (so a majority of the population is in the blue counties, so sue me, but Washington at first glances looks pretty red to me! if you really want to see an interesting Blue State, take a good look at California.).



(just felt like pointing out the blatant hypocracy in the above 'joke'.)


Funny that Marine doesn't LOOK like he's in Fallujah, (combat uniform is not Dress Blues, thank you) so I can't see exactly how he's speaking for them.

Another Thought: Yeah, I'm sure Fallujah IS Sorry. Now we're going to go in there and KICK THEIR ASS!!!

Still another Thought: Ok, I'm questioning this one. Either this is a mock or that's a marine that is definitely NOT in sync with his Corps.



Hey dude, that all depends on your definition of what "good" is.

Bigot.

Note - This one looks borderline Spoof, cause that sign can be read in SEVERAL ways. To bad the bottom got cut off.


You got me on this one. You think a right winger might be poking fun at the Democrats here? Or a democrat poking fun at himself?


I'm really beginning to think a Conservative might have snuck into the mix with this one. I mean, he's egging the terrorist On!

And remember, Alaskans have GUNS!!!


Ok, that one's a joke. And a great one at that! (reads to both sides of the political Spectrum!)


Sorry dude, you're going to have to duke that one out with Canada. And besides, you already did try to vote with your Guardian Fiasco!


And I'm sorry that your country re-elected a conservative AND a Bush Sympathizer. Go HOWARD!!!


Ok, this one is DEFINITELY a Mock-up!

Hat Tip / Squidly.

PS - STAY TUNED FOR MY OWN SUBMISSION!!! If it doesn't get through the Sorry Filters, it will be sent here, where sorry sympathizers get a small taste of their own medicine.

Update - More takes on this mess from other blogs, Say Anything, Ace of Spades, Tim Blair, Six Meat Buffet, Evil Pundit, Precision Guided Cowboy, Sparse Matrix, (i'll add as I find them) and I agree. What are they thinking? Providing us with such fodder, I can't wait until this picks up more wind (kind of curious what kind of field day Cadet Happy and his L33t PhotoShop Skillz would have with it)

bigot
n : a prejudiced person who is intolerant of any opinions differing from his own.

Even more ironic because liberals preach tolerance.

(liberals can be bigots too.)

MORE UPDATES - Jim Treacher has some good commentary too.

EVEN MORE UPDATES!!! - Kurlander has some funny sayings captioned. Also, Little Green Footballs has some good comment threads going in a couple of posts. Here's a video with some of the images set to music courtesy of Hous of Dog.

I would go through and comment on more pictures, however I stopped reading the site after it got a bit overwhelming. People are just flocking to show off how pathetic they really are, but providing some pretty damn good fodder for us right wingers.

I might try my photoshopping skills later.

Further NOTE - I honestly don't care who you voted for. I'm a conservative, but I am not all 'Bush is the Bestest President EVER!!!1!' I voted for the guy, I'm not thrilled with him, but I considered him better then the alternative. I made my vote and if Kerry would have gotten elected, I think I would have moved on with my life and not felt the need to apologize for the fact.

My main biff on these morons listed above is that they are calling anybody who voted differently then them an idiot. A bigot is a "a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices; especially : one who regards or treats the members of a group (as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance."

This is not a trait aimed soully at conservatives, as liberals are usually the ones who consider themselves 'open minded', though they aren't when they have viewpoints differing from theirs. Case in point, these people have lumped everybody who voted for Bush in one category, making them 'bigots'. Me? I don't care who you voted for, I've got a lot of close liberal friends that are good people.

These idiots opened themselves to ridicule by people like me. Hey, I did the same thing when I posted a picture that got dogged by the Democratic Underground. You know what? I laughed. I dealt with it. I moved on.

If you disagree with me, good for you. Now you can post a comment in my comment thread that I may or may not read and get on with your lives. Thanks.

Livejournal Slamming

note - date has been adjusted

So I've been getting a bit more links then I'm used to. Fancy that.

Then there's this girl on LiveJournal who basically reams out anybody who disagrees with her and calls all Bush supporters idiots. Ok, whatever.

Then she has the nerve to post a link to my blog, basically, in kind, to call me an idiot for voting Bush. (if you can't tell, the picture is sort of a joke)

Ok, whatever, so I reply to her and defend my position.

What does she do? She leaves the post up, but deletes my reply. Then blocks me from further replying, despite the fact that she is linking directly to my Blog.

I got to do something about this. But what can I do?

I've got one idea. I'll link my reply directly to the post she has linked and then maybe she'll change her mind? I'll remove the comment (and this post) when she does.

(what I attempted to reply to her after she deleted my 'offending' post, which, unfortunately, I did not save)

I repeat, you're a bigot.

And not only that, you're a bigot that believes in censorship. I would have left you well enough alone, but when you deleted my reply, which was my defense on a blatant attack on me (by the fact that you posted a direct link to my blog and calling me an idiot becuase i have the nerve to disagree with you), I took personal offense.

Meanwhile, everyone who clicks on that link will now get a taste of what I think of you.

Have a nice day.

UPDATE - I don't know if she removed the link, but we certainly shut her down. Now only her friends can read and comment to her journal. I am now currently watching this chick to make sure the link to me has been removed.

See, I found her through my referrer system. I can make sure she's still not linking to me. That's not very hard for me to do.

If anybody ever personally bashes me, I only ask for the option to defend myself and I will then leave you alone. But if you try to silence me, I only get louder. And Nastier. . .

I'm usually not one to hold grudges believe it or not. This girl went to far.

Update I thought she left well enough alone, but turns out she didn't. New and improved bitchfest can be found here

Her brother is in Afgahnistan. Everyone show your support by emailing her! (since she has canceled out any other way of responding to her, the coward)

NaNoWriMo

Well, foolishly, I signed up for National Novel Writers Month, and am expected to write a 50,000 word novel in the thirty days that is november. I'm a little behind on the ball, but I think I can do this. I have a tendency to sit down and write.

I had this story in my head for some time and I thought I would go ahead and write that.

Well, it's november fourth, and I'm about a little over a thousand words into it.

1,373 / 50,000 (2.0%)

Not off to a strong start, but then again, beginnings were always my weak points and this is no exception. My opening sucks, but fortunately, the purpose of NaNoWriMo is quantity, not quality. To break down those barriers of self consciousness by just spewing the words out. Makes sense, but that's what I usually do. As I get rolling, I'll be spitting this crap out. And i won't have this big election anticipation to bog me down.

I think the book will drag quite a bit, but usually I find that I do well with stand alone storylines within the rest of the plot. Sometimes I'm a strong writer, other times I don't know what I'm doing. Eh, that's life.

And on a side note, I have decided that whichever way this novel goes, I will publish it online for all to see. Prepare for it to be really Bad.

UPDATE - Eh, I forgot a little thing called, "I'm getting Deployed."

I don't have time to write a 50,000 word novel!

I have to also invest in a laptop. I want to continue the story, but I will continue it at my pace.

Divided We Stand???

I've come across an amazing phenomenon that I had heard partly in passing but am suddenly seeing in full force.

The anger of the left. By people I know personally.

I have a lot of liberal friends. Usually I avoid talking politics (sometimes it doesn't work) and just kind of try to keep calm and rational around these friends of mine. Obviously we disagree. But most of the time, when you know somebody, you understand where they are coming from and leave it at that.

Well, today, I saw their spewing hatred. This is the people who preach diversity and understanding. Ok, I understand them and where they are coming from. The right usually understands the left and usually let's them go on their little temper tantrums and excercise their right to free speech.

The fact is, the left is the minority. The right now leads in the house, senate and executive branch. They were elected to those positions. Michael Moore didn't find any disenfranchisement at the polls. This was a clean election with an exceptional turnout and Bush won.

The left is now in denial, thinking that it wasn't close enough. In fact, there are people who I know personally that are thinking "half of america doesn't want Bush."

It looks like half of america didn't want Kerry either.

They are threatening to leave the country.

Leave then. Leave America to us and good luck finding another country that is better.

There are a few liberals that are being dignified and accepting the defeat of Kerry with grace and understanding, knowing that we have to do something to once again unify this country. But there are a lot that are saying that there is no way Bush would be their president.

The Division is happening on the left. And they are not going to give up what they consider to be their fight. They preach hatred about the right, and I heavily doubt that they truely understand the right. The left are proving to be some of the most intolerant, hate filled group of people I have seen. If you disagree with them, they will call you names.

It sounds like I may have been guilty of this if it had gone the other way. Actually, for the most part, I was just nervous. Greatly troubled at the possibility of a Kerry Election.

Well, I guess now that its over, my Falling Sky Insurance Premiums will go down. But I don't think I would have resorted to seething hatred if Kerry had won and Bush had lost. In fact, I was almost expecting it and coming to grips with the possibility. I think I would have been quiet and thoughtful for a few days, and then I would have looked at my life and tried to figure out which direction I would go. Truth is, this election had a lot of impact on me personally and whether I would continue with the military. Under Kerry, I would have given it the rest of my year and see how well he would command the troops before bailing. With Bush, well, I'll continue to proudly serve.

I hope the nation can quickly get over this.

Note - Part of this was written on the 3rd and left in draft form; the change of tone toward the end was written and everything posted on the 4th.

Blog Upheavel

In the next few days, my blog links list will be dwindled down. I need to go through my links and blog rolls and see which ones have legs after this election.

More to follow.

More on Election 2004

I've been following the Polls for some time now, and I can honestly say that I can breath easier then I have in a long time. My gut feeling was wrong. Bush will carry on for four more years.

We just have to wait for New Jersey, Iowa and Ohio to be firmly placed in his column, at least, according to C-SPAN, the no spin political network.

All the major networds are refusing to call Nevada to Bush, thus giving Bush the undecided victory.

I think Kerry should pull his head out of his ass and concede. And this is my reasoning.

Bush has the popular vote by a substantial margin. In 2000, Gore contested Florida, and he had the right to contest Florida as he had the popular vote and Florida was to close to call.

In 2000, Gore only carried the popular vote by a fraction of a percent. We're talking in the Five Hundred Thousands nationwide. Bush has the popular vote in 2004 by over 3 million, 3 points. He also has the clear majority of 51% of the total vote. This is not a replay of 2000, this is a substantial margin of victory.

The results of the 2000 election clearly polarized this nation, and it would have been polarized had it gone to Gore or Bush. If Kerry wants to stop being selfish and help the nation heal the partison political wounds, he would graciously concede. However, I feel that it is against Kerry's nature to do that.

If Kerry drags this out, it will only make things worse.

Ohio is ahead in Bush's column by 136,000. This is not the 500 or so electorial votes of Florida Race 2000. This is 2 percentage points with '100%' of prencincts reporting by C-SPAN (the no spin network). The chances of Kerry pulling a victory here are substantially minute. Every one of the provincial ballots would have to be counted and they would ALL have to go to him 100%. Not going to happen. Sorry.

New Jersey and Iowa, apparently to close to call, but I would say that these are going Bush as well. That gives him 286 Electoral Votes. He's got the Popular Vote by a wide percent. Let's face it, Bush won.

Maybe the democrats would have done better if they had managed to pull out a better candidate. Or at least one that stood by what they believed, I could have respect for the man in that case. Instead, I feel that most people who were voting for Kerry were voting the 'Anybody But Bush' route, they were voting against George Bush, they weren't voting for John Kerry. And that is why they lost. All of my liberal friends are lamenting as if this is the end of the world and I actually kind of want to slap them. If Kerry would have won (as I was actually expecting him to), I would have conceded gracefully and actually was offering to give him the benefit of the doubt and support him as president.

If he continues this little fiasco, however, I'm sorry, I have no support to give. Because what very little respect I had for the man before (which really was next to none) is now lost by this strike at blatant skewering of the voice of the american people.

I think the democrats want it so bad, especially in the electoral college to smite the republicans for 'stealing' the election in 2000 when Gore had the popular vote (though not by much), that they want to ram it in your face that if they are some how able to steal the electoral vote despite the lack of the popular vote, that the tables would be turned and now they can show the conservatives how it really feels.

This is blatantly shelfish and quite possibly having a huge potential to backfire BADLY. And this talk of trying to bring the nation together? Well, if Kerry really cared about the nation, he would admit that this is an obvious defeat and concede, in turn offering President Bush his support.

Kind of like Nethercutt did to Senator Murray here in Washington. He was gracious, he conceded and he offered Murray his full support. I voted for Nethercutt, I'm sorry to see that he did not win, but you know what? Life goes on. You win some, you lose some. Patty Murray will represent the State of Washington for another 6 years. I think I'll still live.

Sometimes, for the good of the nation, it is best to admit defeat and carry on. There are more battles to be won.

Update - Looks like Kerry is going to concede. Good for you, man, and thank you for seeing the light of day. Now you can help heal our nation by telling your supporters to support the president.

The Liberal Blogs are actually rather hilarious, the Here's a snibbet of a comment left on the Kerry/Edwards blog.

"I cannot believe that this country would elect a war criminal."

The irony is astounding. Liberals view Bush as a War Criminal. Funny, Conservatives look at Kerry and think the same thing. And what's more, John Kerry is a self admitted War Criminal.

I'll be watching the news here at 10AM PST to watch Kerry's concession speech and Bush's victory speech. This is the chance for Kerry to redeem himself. Let's see how it goes?

Election Eve

Finally got my copy of Stolen Honor in the mail. I ordered it after I heard that Sinclair wasn't going to broadcast it, only to discover that I could have viewed it online for free. And then, of course, PAX began to air it.

That's ok, I don't think my money could have gone to a more worthy cause.

This election is horribly close. With so many people caught up in the lies of the left and Michael Moore (of which much of his movies are either refutted or one man's opinion, and to many people are viewing it as the truth), how can anyone ignore the words of the Swift Vets?

I've read Unfit for Command and now seen Stolen Honor. Anybody trying to refute these are easily dismissable. The SwiftVets have already brought out the truth of the No Man Left Behind story spun at the DNC as a symbol of Kerry's bravery, as well as the Christmas in Cambodia lie (which is a pretty big lie) Most people who don't understand the signifigance of these acts brush them off. Many people have looked at the SwiftVets and see that they've been rebutted by military records.

The only thing that will truly rebutt their words is a complete release of John Kerry's military records. He is hiding something, or he would have quieted this mess a long time ago by releasing his records to the public.

How can people look at this man and wish to elect him as President of the United States? I can think of no man who is less qualified to serve in that capacity. This man is a traitor. He is an enemy to the military, and I cannot see myself serving with him as commander in Chief.

I know that I will be one of many who will not be reenlisting in the military if this man is elected. History speaks for itself, Kerry can spew whatever lies he wishes to and it will not change the fact that actions speak louder then words. I will begrudgingly serve my remaining year in the military.

Bush has his faults, and he is not perfect. There are things he has done that I don't approve of. But I can respect him as a man.

I cannot say the same about John Kerry. And it makes me sick to my stomach to think that this man, this traitor to the military, this treasonous, selfish, egotistical politician, could be my commander in chief.

I see dark days ahead if he is elected to the highest position in the country.

I can only pray that if he is elected, I am wrong. Or Bush will win another term and I can breath easy once again.

Halloween, take 2

Halloween comes but once a year, and it has been the one holiday that I have consistantly done something with on my webcomic Creature, mostly because Halloween is all about dressing up and pretending to be something your not and Creature is kind of about that (though not so much yet, despite the fact of being nearly 3 years old).

Well, Presidential Elections come once every four years, and I had to take advantage of that. I knew there was a reason why the election is held on the first Tuesday AFTER HALLOWEEN! Let's combine the two!

However, a good deal of my readership is liberal, and I'm definitely conservative. So to appease both of sides of the political spectrum (and the mantra that Politics and entertainment don't mix), I ripped on both major political candidates.

I don't know if I did it harshly enough or not, however. I cut out one scene of a bunch of trick or treaters dressing up as Kerry, Bush and Nader (with a punchline for Nader that I conveniantly forgot how I was going to do), but ended up cutting it because I didn't know how to get it into the flow of the comic. Balderdash.

Still, something about the timing is off, it needs something more and I don't know what. Ah well, I still think its funny. And maybe even an irregular reader of Creature will get it?

Halloween Update

Well, I mentioned before about my Halloween Costume, in all its righteous coolness. But myself, being the heavy procrastinator that I am, put it off and put it off until I was scraping to get it done the last minute.

Well, it will look cool, but I won't be able to use it this year. That, and I made an error.

See, I made the mask completely by hand, using Plaster Gauze and sculpty mold. The mask does look awesome so far, I just got a few more touch ups to do and then I can paint it, but I'm using a harness off of a protective mask to secure it to my head. I was supposed to leave plenty of room for my ears, but I screwed up and made the jaw straps a hair to high. My ears are covered.

Damn.

Well, I did learn a lot about mask making while making this mask. I was chronicalling the making of the mask through pictures, unfortunately my brother asked if he could borrow my camera and I let him, and therefore i didn't get the last part of the mask taken care of!

Why did I let him use my camera? I curse myself.

Anyway, some parts of the mask making turned out to be kind of fun. Well, I was going to make some ears to go with the mask (that is now pointless, becuase the mask harness goes over the ears now *growls* and I discovered Algenate, which is awesome awesome stuff.



I had to put on a dorky looking bald cap to cover my hair so I would still have some in tact. It was goopy and runny. Oh, it felt good. I love slimy substances. Like for instances, my foot throwing days.



Algenate makes a really nice mold. You have to wrap it in plaster gauze if you flop it on your head, but it comes out really nice.



I have no pictures of the result. My brother took my camera.



Plaster gauze masks. Yay! And back with the bald cap. Plaster is much harsher on your hair then algenate is.



And don't forget the lubricant, in this case, petroleum jelly. I would have stripped my eyebrows if I had forgotten it. And I'm kind of fond of my eyebrows, thank you very much.

So anyway, I had my base, my ear molds, and I just had to finish the damn thing.

And Now my mask is just in the final stages. Looking really cool, but rubbing against my ears (you can see where I put these little buttons on the mask picture, five of them to secure it to my face.) And unfortunately, my digital camera is somewhere in Utah at this time. I might just have to borrow my sisters.

I have to admit, that I owe a lot of this mask to my friend Ravyn, who inspired me to go this route. I've been wanting to do this for some time, but didn't know where to begin.

I think I'll pimp her skills, she made a wolf mask, which is kind of the same direction that I'm looking to go at this time.



The last picture I took, where I was getting somewhere, was halfway through the sculptamold stage.



It looks like, er, nothing.

GAAAHHH!!! I need my camera! (must call sister and hijack hers!)

UPDATE - I hijacked the sister's camera. Took some pictures of the current mask. It still needs some work, but coming along in my opinion.





Still not done, but will look very good once it's painted and smoothed out and all. It's still in a very rough form.

I'm trying to figure out exactly what I should do about covering the harness. That's still a mystery.

Update Numero Dos The ear molds, in their entirity. They got a bit banged up unfortunately.





Major coolness dude. I don't think I'll be able to use them as I had intended however.

Election Jitters

I've been feeling nervous for the last few weeks. Actually, I've been feeling nervous for the last few years. Not that I felt as nervous then as I do now, but this upcoming week has really gotten me down.

See, being swamped in usually liberal environments (mainly work and school, I'm an art major), I often am in full contact with the other political spectrum, being those people that lean to the left. Now, usually I don't have a problem with these people, I'm fairly open minded and I try to avoid talking politics with them. They know where I stand and i know where they stand, we agree to disagree and get on with our lives. Being in those environments, I get plenty of feeling on how these people feel about the current state of affairs and their true feeling about our President.

But I've been having a gut feeling for the last two years that Bush isn't going to be reelected. That didn't bother me so much before because I didn't know who was going to be the one to replace him. Well, I know now that if Bush loses, John Kerry's president.

Kerry as president terrifies me. I disagree with his foreign policy and his love affair with the UN. I also don't trust him in regards to the military. I trust Bush. One of the reasons I prefer Bush to Kerry is obviously my politics line up more with the former then the latter, that's one of the main reasons. But there are more reasons why I just don't trust Kerry. He's a proven liar, he'll literally say ANYTHING, and his record speaks against him. I can't see how anybody can vote for this guy unless they have a putrid disdain for our current president.

This strikes me more then a lot of people becuase I'm in the military, and this man will have a direct impact on how the military runs. I'm in for another three years, at least. I wish I had the option of getting out in November, but I don't. I will be forced to serve under this guy. And it really scares me.

My only hope is that Bush wins the presidency for another four years, or Kerry proves that he isn't as bad as I think he'll be. I doubt it. I think the military will be going through a big shake-up here shortly, and I think if Kerry finds himself president he's in for a surprise.

I just wish that it was november 3rd already.

Latest Happenings

In two days, the Spokane Ski Swap takes place. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to buy more equipment for myself, as I will be taking every freakin' oppurtinity I can get to go up into the mountains come November/December to go Snowboarding, as after that time elapses there is a great possibility that I won't get another opportunity until next year. Which means I must take every opportunity I can get this year.

I have a barage of people that I can drag with me, the main one of course, being my niece Jasmine. She's a fifth grader this year, and they have a special program in this area where fifth graders get to ski free for the entire season. There is a reason behind the mountains' agreement to do this. If you get them while they're young, you got them for life. Which means more revenue in the coming years.

I am more then willing to encourage the corruption of my niece into the world of extreme winter sports. I wish I could have gotten in on the action at eleven myself. Instead, I had to wait until I was nineteen to get in on the action.

When January rolls around, I'll be stuck mainly in Seattle. Then Fort Lewis. Then I'll be on my way to Eastern Europe. Yes, that's right, this is does not have anything to do with Operation Iraqi Freedom and the war on Terror. I'm partaking in a peace keeping mission at the directive of the United Nations from the Clinton Administration. But that's ok, I'll take it. If it happens that is. See my post earlier about pending deployments and my luck with them.

This week, and next week, I'm working. A lot. I can't seem to be able to get out of working, and then Corporate mailed me a letter telling me that I'm working more then my Part Time Status allows. Yeah, that's great, I can't really help it when I'm basically the only one with completely open availability and everyone seems to call me first to see if I can work for them.

I'll be talking to my boss about this. Meanwhile, I think I'm going to try to get out of one of these shifts next week. I really need the time off. I'm going to be going nuts these next few weeks.

And Creature? Well, things are going to be extra tight about the comic.

Er, yeah, this should be fun. (and I haven't figured out when I'll be getting my top secret costume taken care of yet or not.) *sighs*

Deployment Possibility?

I had a fairly busy weekend. My news included a possibility of another deployment. I'm not holding my breath until I know for certain. But this one seems to have a strong air of a definite possibility.

But considering that in the last year alone, I've been told of several deployments, two of which were my unit, about going somewhere, at one point I had orders in my hand for Operation Iraqi Freedom. They were ammended with one word about three weeks later. Revoke.

That was a great feeling, let me tell you. (that's sarcasm by the way)

I'll know for certain about this next deployment sometime in the next three or four weeks. At least, I should know something. I already know where it is, roughly how long, and all of that other stuff, and to tell you the truth, considering where I am in my life and my position with the military, it's perfect. Can't wait.

But like I said, I'll cross my fingers, but I'm not holding my breath.

More later.

My Fahrenheit 9/11 'Obsession' Explained

I'm having a sudden desire to go out and rent Fahrenheit 9/11 and watch it.

More on this later.

Update: Ok, I might have to explain something, well, on top of the fact that right now my comment buttons won't let me for some reason reply to them.

I want to see Fahrenheit 9/11 now becuase I saw FahrenHYPE 9/11, and I want to see exactly what they rebutted. I want to see exactly how low Micheal Moore went, I want to see both sides of the issue really.

I can't stand Micheal Moore, but I'll admit the guys quite the spin doctor, a genius really, but a slick bastard that is going out of his way for his political agenda.

And when I get people talking to me about such a great movie Fahrenheit 9/11 is, I want to be able to say that I saw it, and I want to be able to tell them my honest opinion on the matter.

I never saw Bowling for Columbine, kind of wish I had for the same reason, but then again, I'm a card carrying NRA member with a .22 and an AK-47 (civilian version).

That said, can't wait to see Celcius 41.11, sounds like a riot to me.

I guess I'll have to wait until Monday night to rent it.

Debates, Halloween and Military Pet Peeves

So, I watched the debates (last night). Interesting, in that I wanted to fall asleep at one point with the droning on and on by Kerry.

Just two and a half more weeks and this misery will be over! Can I last that long?

Anyway, I'm in the middle of two projects. One, a final jab at politics in my traditional halloween post, which will be nonpartison and poke fun at both sides, and of course, my halloween costume, which I've wanted to put together for a long time and never got around to doing. Until now. It's a secret, I shall unveil it on October 31st. If it turns out alright. . . I hope.

What am I saying? It's going to kick ass!

Meanwhile, the military, in all their infinite wisdom and glory, has ordered me to yet another SRP, a soldier readiness briefing for reservists. They have the habit of having one every four months or so. I picked up my uniforms from the Supply Sergeant with the backwards flag on the sleeve and also my TA-50, which I will bring with me, show everyone that I have, and then turn it in as soon as I get back. Which will basically negate the reason for me having it in the first place.

The crux of the issue? My dilemma. I want to go Active Duty. I have to get out of here. I need my independence (ironically, with the military). And I have to wait for my Higher Headquarters to pull their head out of their fourth point of contact and release me from my reserve contract so I can even talk to a recruiter. Ok, so I put in the paperwork, and sat back expecting to hear from them anywhere from two to four weeks.

Nope, wrong, two weeks to three months, minimum. Some people, apparently, are still waiting five months to go active.

Um, hello people. If you have me in the military and keep threatening to send me somewhere, SEND ME SOMEWHERE!!! I'm more then willing to go! Hell, I'll go in the heart of the Sunni Triangle if it means that you will actually utilize me in the crux of the mission. I want to do my part, I've volunteered about a half dozen or so times and the army keeps telling me no, or tells my unit to stand down, or some other crap. Now they're saying my unit will go NEXT year. That's what they said LAST year. I am sick of this! If they are going to keep putting my life on hold and telling me that they are going to send me somewhere, then I demand to be put on active duty and getting paid to be stood up and stood down. Hey, at least I can guarantee that I have a job. Meanwhile, I'm working retail in a dead end job waiting for the army to pull there head out of there ass.

As you can see, I'm a bit sour on the subject.

How can you take one person willing to serve and keep them on the backburner for three years, while other people are on their second or third rotations? Talk about an axe to the morale.

In an ever increasingly rabid election year, I have tried to make sense of why people vote the way they do. I mean, most people seem to be getting increasingly more and more angry and upset about the results if the "other guy" gets elected.

Kerry Spot an interesting thought on this subject.

"Liberals appear to believe that George W. Bush and his supporters are evil warmongers who relish killing innocent Iraqis to add to Halliburton’s profits. They sincerely believe that another four years of this administration will mean the end of all that is good in America.

Conservatives increasingly believe that the election of John Kerry will mean a rhetorical and tactical retreat in the war on terror, a decision that will cost American lives as al-Qaeda goes back on the offensive. They suspect that the wrong decision in the election of 2004 will mean many of us won’t be around to correct the decision in 2008."

Basically, who ever wins this election is going to have a mess on their hands, one way or the other. How did a nation get so divided? I can honestly admit that it was a lot of things, gearing up from what I call a Moral Decline that has been prevailent over the last twenty or thirty years. The liberals are getting more liberal, the conservatives are getting more conservative, and both are getting more defensive on their stance. A lot of bickering and backlash takes place. Chaos insues.

Two things you never discuss with friends. Religion and Politics. Very true statement, but one that I sometimes can't seem to avoid.

Ourtsourcing Bush's thing? Not really.

If I hear John Kerry mutter about outsourced jobs one more time, I'm going to vomit.

Here's a story from personal experience in regards to outsourcing.

When my family first moved to Spokane, my dad got a job at Kaiser Aluminum. One of the largest Aluminum manufacturing plants in the country. He was part of the Steel Workers Labor Union. Yeah, that's right, it's a union job.

Two years after we moved here, the Steel Workers went on strike. The strike went on for well over two years. The result of the strike? Kaiser filed Chapter 11, many union workers lost their jobs, and miraculously, my dad was kept on.

The origin for this strike was the outsourcing of jobs. When did it happen?

Between 1998-2000. While Clinton was in office.

This did not start with Bush. To understand where outsourcing came from, you need to look back at Clinton.

That's right, when a Democrat was in office.

It all goes back to the economy stupid.

Here We Go Again

Ok, while I was fiddling with my webpage last week, an unexpected thing happened. My website practically crashed. Crashing websites aren't really that much fun.

I resolved this by completely wiping the memory of my website off the face of the internet and waiting for my server to get their act together and reformat my space. Which they did. Though I'm still not exactly certain what happened to my space before. It kind of sucks to tell you the truth, I don't know what happened so I don't know what to do to make sure it doesn't happen again.

But what I do know is this. Blogger was involved. Grr. . . And because Blogger was involved, I have to be careful when dealing with old blog posts. What does this mean?

For one, you might notice that this blog is brand spanking new. In that this is the only post here. That's right, I started over, from Scratch. Again. Everything and anything that had to do with the blog previously has been removed. What I can do is dig up old posts from long ago that I think are cool and are worth saving and plugging them on here with a backdate, which is something i may yet do. But that will be a ways down the road. Regardless, I'm now starting off fresh and new, and I am going to make this worth while darn it!

I've also decided that this is going to be my one and only blog. I had an idea to start another called Musings that i've been musing about for the last few months, but then I changed my mind. Hmm.

But, well, I do have another idea as to what I'm going to do with a format like Blogger. I've got a lot of plans, and right now my website is in need of a face lift. No, I'm going to leave the format and template largely as it stands, mainly because I like it. But I've got other things I can do with a template such as this.

Eh, we'll see how it goes. Just as long as my website doesn't suck away my already non-existent life. That wouldn't be good. Yes, this should be fun.