Friday, March 30, 2012

Hunger Games Trailer Parody

They told me to post it

Enjoy!

Hunger Games!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Movie Review

This iz a spezial revoow by Rachel Chenault of da noo moobie da Hunga Games. Eet iz beery gewt and I sink yew shuld wotch it.

Ya but really it was awesome. (preview below)

But really I saw the Hunger Games 3 times just last weekend. I love it and I think you will too. It had freakin huge expectations by 99.9999% of America and it met all of our expectations.

The main characters are Katniss (played by Jennifer Lawrence), Peeta (Josh Hutcherson (TEAM PEETA)) and Gale (Liam Hemsworth)

I HIGHLY reccommend you read the books by Suzanne Collins and see the movie!

-Rachel :D

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Master of the Ocean Deep!

The sperm whale is an awesome creature, a true beast of the deep. Diving up to 1000 feet beneath the surface to hunt, able to do so because their rib cages are able to fold in on themselves.

If our whale has just come up from a dive she first spends 10 minutes or more clearing her lungs, blowing a breath in and out every 12 seconds. She's getting rid of old carbon dioxide from the last dive and loading up with fresh oxygen. She's got to store up a lot of oxygen because . . . More



Wednesday, March 28, 2012



Blog Posting

Things have been rather hectic around here for the past two weeks but we should be able to get back on track with our inane ramblings!

In the meantime, imagine yourself in a long ship moving across the wastes of the Northern Sea heading to the Faroe Isles...and sing!

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Venice continnues to sink into a hole in the ground

It is a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah. It is going to hell. Albeit slowly.

"Venice appears to be continuing to subside, at a rate of about 2 millimeters (.07 inches) a year," said Yehuda Bock, a research geodesist with Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, and the lead author of the new research paper on the city's downward drift. "It's a small effect, but it's important," he added. Given that sea level is rising in the Venetian lagoon, also at 2 millimeters per year, the slight subsidence doubles the rate at which the heights of surrounding waters are increasing relative to the elevation of the city, he noted. In the next 20 years, if Venice and its immediate surroundings subsided steadily at the current rate, researchers would expect the land to sink up to 80 millimeters (3.2 inches) in that period of time, relative to the sea.

Three inches in 20 years. Imagine where the citry will be in ten thousand years.


linky

Monday, March 26, 2012

VIkings Starting Early

It seems that even as early as 6000 BC the Vikings were starting their antics. Finds in Sweden that date back that far show skulls impaled on stakes . . . men, women, children. The stakes were found at the bottom of a shallow lake upon or near a stone edifice. No wonder the northmen kept periodically roaming the south lands looting, burning and conquering; from the Alamani to the Goths to the Vikings the saying went..."its cold up there and people are mean!" ;)

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Hussars

It is speculated that the Hussars did not wear their wings into battle. This speculation comes from historians who reacted to a  movie in which the wings, once attached to the riders proved to catch the wind on fast moving horses on pull the rider from his mount. This is possible, though I wonder if these Knights would have had less affect on the  morale of their enemy without the wings upon their backs.

The Winged Hussars

These were some original bad ass warriors: The Winged Hussars of Poland. Founded in roughly 1500 they were the Iron of eastern Europe for 200 years, crushing the Russians, driving the Turks from Vienna and beating the Germans time and time again. They were the backbone of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. They served as the King's Guard and his main fighting arm.


From the wikipedia page, a small list of their battle achievements: 

In the battles of Battle of Lubiszew in 1577, Byczyna (1588), Kokenhausen (1601), Kircholm (1605), KÅ‚uszyn (1610), Trzciana (1629), Chocim (1673), and Lwów (1675), the Polish-Lithuanian hussars proved to be the decisive factor often against overwhelming odds. For instance, in the Battle of Kluszyn during Polish-Muscovite War the Russians outnumbered the Commonwealth army 5 to 1, yet were heavily defeated. The hussars suffered some defeats, particularly during the Khmelnytsky Uprising (Battle of Zhovti Vody, 1648).

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Battle of Grunwald

Upon the planes of eastern Europe in 1410 was fought the largest battle of Medieval Europe, Grunwald, when the Poles and the Teutonic Order fought over control of Lithuania. In a massive set piece battle involving thousands of Knights with all the flourish of the day (see movie) the two sides hammered at each other. In the end the Germans ground the Poles back, even onto the banner of their King, when their strength played out and the chivalry of Poland pushed them back and routed them, crushing them utterly.

The Poles

The Poles are the unsung heroes of the world. Jokes about them have become common place, but they commanded the eastern planes of Europe for centuries. One of the few peoples to conquer Russia and rule it. Defeated the Turks before Vienna and saved the north from centuries of brutal war. Even their acts of insane bravery during World War II should be recognized. They attacked German Panzer columns with cavalry and infantry (its all they had), almost breaking through their lines.

At any rate, here is a nice article on origins of the ancient Poles!

Monday, March 19, 2012

Some Good Background Gaming Music

In my continual quest for cool music to write and game by, here's a piece from the group Wardruna called Hagal.

The Walking Dead

No spoilers here . . .  but let me tell you, if you've been watching the Walking Dead, your going to love the season finale. Its filled with suspense and drama and lots of action. Some characters finally step up the plate and they've set up a damn good reason for me to tune in next fall! I've been a little irritated of late with some of the story arcs, but the focus shifts.

Watch it if you can....and if you missed the one last week, watch it first. It'll help understand what's going on alot.

Friday, March 16, 2012

Wooly Mammoth's Street Cred Questioned

It would seem that someone has the audacity to doubt the video of a Wooly Mammoth taken in Siberia not so very long ago. Man, first they deny bigfoot is an alien and now this. What's the wold coming to...

Thursday, March 15, 2012

This Ides of March

Do not forget the Codex of Aihrde pre-order. Get set up today and be a part of a truly Epic Setting. You can create your own barony! Be sure to check out all the packages and pick the one that works for you best!

The Ides of March

What a great expression...Beware the Ides of March. Of course that was probably not said to Julius Caesar, but who knows. But here is a great explanation of the Roman calendar. The way the counted backwards from Ides or Nones is pretty cool and a bit confusing for us modernizers.

Why in the heck

Would you shave the belly of a drunken sailor? I see the reasoning behind putting him in a long boat until he's sober. But the shaving? ;)


The Irish Rovers! Awesome stuff!

Red Deer People

Every time archeologists find some bones they immediately announce a new species and rewrite the history books. Apparently they found four sets of bones that differ markedly from our ancestors and have announced the possibility of a new species, or sub-species (by they I mean this one guy of course, there being no collective they). This reminds me of the hobbits they found in south-east Asia a few years ago which has caused no end of controversy.


Who knows, maybe there were many diverse groups living at the time that we eventually wiped out. Its possible. My best guess however, is that these were some really ugly people that went to live in a cave and all died. ;)

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

The Hobbit Riddles & Tolkien

Here's a treat for a Wednesday morning..Odin's Day as they say (who they is I don't know, perhaps some lonely norseman wanting to go on a Viking)...a little bit of The Hobbit as read by some obscure chap named JRR Tolkien.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Cave Signs

Its seems that our early ancestors may have had a sophisticated form of communication: the written word. Studies are still preliminary, but after a massive cataloging and comparison of symbols archeologists have found that many of the symbols repeat themselves an a diverse number of caves; the symbols extend beyond to jewelry as well. Though these symbols are not likely to be complete sentences, they probably convey some meaning to the bards of paleolithic France.

Monday, March 12, 2012

John Carter

I went to see John Carter this past weekend. With most movies I watch I try not to focus on the negative, but with John Carter, its not even a challenge. This movie rocked! I loved this movie from the beginning to the very end. The story, the action, the actors, the setting, all of it. As Mac pointed out, even the CGI characters maintained their book-born personalities and the movie makers did a great job in bringing these out. And John Carter was as bad as and action oriented as the book character. Dejah Thoris was perfectly cast as well; I had some misgivings about her, but the actress, Lynn Collins did a spectacular job with the roll.

Its a must see. Really classic pulp, sci-fi, action based movie.

The DO deviate from the original story a little, but the spirit of my second favorite fiction character of all time (next only to Tarzan) was beautifully rendered and captured! Very cool movie News!

Friday, March 09, 2012

Austro-Hungarian Empire

Born from the ashes of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire sprawled across central Europe encompassing Austria, pieces of Italy, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Transylvania, Bosnia, Hervzgovina and a good chunk of modern day Poland. This multi-national Empire was rather liberal in its treatment of its nationalities and astonished most military and political analysts by its ability to keep a very large (though not quiet as skilled) army in the field for over 4 years.

Thursday, March 08, 2012

John Carter of Mars

We are at last upon the threshold of bad asseryness. John Carter of Mars is upon us! This weekend opens a movie that cannot help but be cool as it is one of the greatest story's ever told! They have a 10 minute preview up on the site: John Carter.

Traveling the Planes

This is a great little video about the birth of the Earth put together by a dude who is a fan of the earth. Makes the whole cosmic dance really cool!

Its All About the Presentation

As more and more business becomes comfortable with the internet platform, we are treated with true gems of advertising. This is one of the best I've seen...AND with the added bonus of offering some really good product!

Tuesday, March 06, 2012

DOOM, we are all dead

Looks like the Maya were only a few months off in the call for DOOM to us all. Doom, doom, doom.

 

Doom, despair and agony on me....

An asteroid is headed our way. It's slotted to hit in T minus something under 365 days. Our doom clock begins boys. Roll your dice and hope for a nat 20.

 

 

Humans are Worms

Or is that Wyrms. Anyway....

Palaeontologists have traced the origins of humans and other vertebrates to a worm that swam in the oceans half a billion years ago, according to a new study.

Looks like a Wyrms baby.

 

 

Friday, March 02, 2012

New Monsters - Giant Penguin and Giant Slea

Both a giant flea and a giant penguin were discovered recently. The flea could not jump (maybe dinosaurs were slow) and up to 2cm long. The penguin was 4 and half feet tall. So, what do you think? Can you imagine your hero through a room full of 2cm long fleas or better yet, while searching for that horrible beast, the yeti, the characters instead find a giant and ravenous penguin.

 

Seriously thoiugh, that beak could skewer a person.

 

 

The Journey Begins - Art

A nice work from Daniel Lieske. Very evocative. Very much a gamer view.

 

 

Thursday, March 01, 2012

John Carter trailer number 3

I believe this is the last of the promo's before the movie is released. Its looking better and better.

 


And its in 3D.

My tired eyes.

Star Wars Toys rejects

George Lucas and crew actually rejected merchandising? I am shocked. Heck, for what its worth thye wouod probably have made a million bucks of each rejected item. I guess it affected the 'Star Wars mystique.'

 

I guess.

 

I would have really like this one.

We need some enterprising young wood worker out there to build a Castle Keeper's throne.

Out of bones!

Davis

 

Gygaxian Fantasy Worlds: An Introduction

For several weeks now, we’ve been hyping up the Gygaxian Fantasy World series on various platforms, Facebook, X, Instagram, and Twitch. It ...