Friday Funnies - Dexverse Issue #1

Hey there, faithful blog reader! I'm starting a new...uh, segment? Do you only call it a segment on a show? Column? Section? Feature? Whatever the heck it is, I'm starting a new one for a couple weeks!

Unlike some of my fellow geeks, I have zero aptitude when it comes to drawing. I dabble in photography and Photoshop so I do consider myself to be somewhat artistically inclined with a decent eye stylistically. I'm also not very good at writing stories but think I'm okay at coming up with ideas for things. What this new series is going to cover are various characters I've created for MMORPGs. If you don't know what that stands for, you probably missed your exit on the information super-highway. There will be some info and images showing the evolution and/or costume variations of the characters over time.

When I started playing City of Heroes way back in 2004 I struggled for an idea for my first hero. Sure you can just pick a couple of power sets and create your costume, but if you know me when I get into "create mode" you know I am crazy about detail! I didn't just want to make any Superhero #1138, he needed to BE a character. The brain started firing and I remembered one of the comic characters I created in middle school when I was 13. His name is Captain Blaze.

Check out that school-issue math paper!

Real name Douglas Shaw? How lame is that for a hero?

League Post - Play Ball!

This week, the League of Extraordinary Bloggers wants to take you out to the ballgame!

America’s past time has been prominently featured  in pop culture for over a century, so this week, we’re talking baseball in an open-ended way!

In my years in the corporate world, I've worked for a few different help desks. On occasion, someone will ask where I'm located and when I mention the Boston area the usual conversation goes like this:

"Oh, so you're a Red Sox fan, eh?"
"No."
"Patriots?"
"No, I don't follow sports."
"Wow you don't follow sports and you live near Boston?!"

That's right! I am one of the least sports-centric people you'll ever run into. Something my wife and I happily share. About the only sports I enjoy watching are volleyball and skateboarding. I never go out of my way to find them, these are the things I will not suffer through if they happen to be on.

Anyway, my extent of baseball experience as a kid was racked up on my Atari 2600, and not even the RealSports version...

Image from UGO

My other interaction, which believe it or not was more fun, was from the old timey arcade game.

I don't mean to brag (too much) but if you follow the above over to Flickr, then go to Actions, View All Sizes this image is great for your desktop!

Other Leaguers Who Don't Care If They Never Get Back

Flashlights Are Something To Eat reminisces with some songs and baseball card collection

Learn about Star League Baseball for the Atari 800XL computer at Lefty Limbo

Monthly Movie Recap - March 2012

As always, clicking on a title link will take you to Amazon where you can purchase the movie and possibly put some coins in my pocket too! 

TILT: The Battle to Save Pinball (2006)
This documentary delves more into the dying pinball industry, where last month's Special When Lit only touches on it. Pretty interesting to see how Williams Electronics tried to rejuvenate pinball with the Pin2000 project.

Cool: The idea of combining traditional pinball and video game elements sounded like a good idea
Lame: It's sad that this form of entertainment is slowly dying
Rating: 8/10