Lucius Antony

Thursday 13

2011-09-22T16:13:00.000-07:00

Dragons have been on my mind a lot lately (my living room is adorned with them).

So, quick list 13 types of dragons so that Darla doesn't feel so lonely this Thursday.

1. Ice Dragons
2. Fire Dragons
3. Winged Dragons
4. Non-winged dragons
5. Red Dragons
6. Green Dragons
7. Gold Dragons
8. Talking Dragons
9. Riding Dragons
10. Pernese Dragons
11. Water Dragons
12. Smaug
13. Dragons that sound like Sean Connery

Thursday 13: 13 Guns I'd like to have and/or shoot

2011-08-03T22:33:00.001-07:00

1. HK Mark 23
A .45 caliber handgun designed specially for use by U.S. Special Forces. One of my favorites.

2. Colt 1911
Another .45. It used to be the the official sidearm of the U.S. army from at least WWII through Vietnam (don't quote me on that). I believe it was replaced by the Beretta M9 9mm.

3. HK USP
Appears to be created alongside the Mark 23 and for the same purpose. Can be chambered in .40 S&W, 9mm or .45.

4. M4
A carbine derived from the M16 assault rifles currently in use by the U.S. military.
It can be chambered in .223 or 5.56 ammo.

5. Desert Eagle
Not sure if there is a technical definition of a hand canon, but I'm guessing this would be one, if it is. It was developed by the Israel Military Industry (IMI) and can be chambered in .357, .44 Magnum or .50 Action Express. Fired one with .357 before, wouldn't checking out the .50 version sometime.

6. Jericho 941
Also developed by IMI, this is much smaller than the Desert eagle. It's chambered in 9mm, and sometimes called a Baby Eagle.

7. HK MP5
A submachine gun chambered in either 9mm, .40 S&W or 10 mm. I believe it was banned in the 1994 Federal Assault Rifles Ban, so it might be hard if not impossible to find. They are (recently, I believe) released a similar gun (at least aesthetically) chambered in .22 LR, but it just wouldn't be the same.

8. Colt Single Action Army
It is the classic Wild West gun. If you have ever seen a Western, somebody was probably using one of these. A friend of mine has it chambered in .22, I'd like to have one in .45 Long Colt.

9. Winchester Model 1894 Lever Action Rifle
Again, another rifle you would have seen if you watch the occasional Western.

10. Mauser C96 "Broomhandle"
The pistol used to create Han Solo's blaster in star Wars. Enough said.

11. Beretta 93R
I like Beretta's pistols, mainly the 92 series (I already have a 92 variant, so I didn't want to put it on the list). This is, essentially, a Beretta 92 9mm pistol but with 3-round burst fire capabilities (i.e. one trigger pull=three bullets fired) to help control the muzzle burst it comes with a muzzle brake, a forward grip, a detatchable stock and a 20-round magazine. I don't think it is produced anymore, I just like the idea of firing a machine pistol like this.

12. FN P90
A submachine gun chambered in 5.7 mm. Like the HK MP5 listed earlier, it was banned in '94 but has reappeared in .22 LR form. again, a .22 would just not be as much fun.

13. Hand-Held M134 Minigun
Just had to add one of these to the list, because it would be a whole lot fun to fire something like this. This is the kind of weapon you'd see mounted on a helicopter, but a hand-held version was seen in Terminator 2 and in Predator. In real life, something like this would have to be mounted, I doubt that anyone could control this thing firing from the hip like they did.

Thursday 13

2010-12-16T19:43:00.000-08:00

13 Shows that I want to see put on DVD (repetitions are there to show emphasis and keeping in form with my past lists which always seemed to come up short, and then bolstered through a bunch of, essentially, B.S.)

1. Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers
2. Rocko's Modern Life
3. Doug
4. Aaahhh! Real Monsters
5. Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers
6. Are You Afraid of the Dark?
7. Rugrats
8. The Angry Beavers
9. Hey Dude
10. Salute Your Shorts
11. Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers
12. VR Troopers
13. Big Bad Beetle Borgs

Thursday 13

2010-06-24T20:16:00.000-07:00

So, I figured I might as well keep up with my pattern of doing movie "reviews" for want of a better term, and list 13 things from the Director's Cut of Kingdom of Heaven that I either liked or disliked.

1. The beginning- I really liked all that they added here, made me realize how rushed the beginning of the theatrical cut felt.
2. Baldwin V- The child of Sibylla was totally cut from the original cut of the film. It adds to her character (but, ultimately, not the plot) but it was overall well done. I liked it.
3. Guy de Lusigna- extended his character out more, too. Also a nice addition.
4. A fitting conclusion- I never really felt that Saladin was the true villain or perhaps I should say the real antagonist of the film. He was there, was needed, and so forth, but the true conflict was really among the people of Jerusalem. Notably: King Baldwin IV and Balian against Guy de Lusigna. This conflict is finally settled satisfactorily in this extended cut.
5. Jeremy Irons- What can I say? I like the actor, and he's in this cut more.
6. You find out that Balian has been to war before, which makes sense as to why he's so good with a sword at the start of the film.
7. "I once fought for two days with an arrow in my testicle."
8. More is shown with Balian and his wife, making him seem far more in mourning for his recently deceased wife than he was in the original.
9. "God will understand, and if he doesn't then he isn't God and you need not worry."
10. When Guy kills a messenger with a knife he subsequently cuts off the man's head with his sword, explaining why, in the theatrical cut, he has his sword drawn and it has blood on it. That really kinda bothered me whenever I saw the theatrical cut.
11. "I shall confess to God when I see him."
12. It's much longer, which both works and does not work for it.
13. More Edward Norton, too. That's usually a plus.

Thursday 13

2010-06-03T11:02:00.001-07:00

It's an old topic, but for this Thursday 13, I'm going to list 13 things about the recent remake Clash of the Titans. Most of them will be things that bothered me because I'm a nitpicker, know more than the average person about Greek Mythology and have loved the original since I was wee little lad.

1. Perseus' background. Did they really need to change this at all? What was the point? It really didn't add anything to it that they couldn't have had with the character's original background.

2. Acrisius. Again, same as above, except changing his background a bit actually detracted from the film because...

3. A siege on Olympus... a siege on Olympus!? what the Hell was he expecting to gain from laying siege to the fucking gods? This isn't Norse mythology, the gods can't die. At least, not from physical means, and trying to starve them out is pretty stupid, too. They don't need conventional means to move around.

4. Io. According to the movie, she was cursed with immortality after she refused the advances of a god. For one, I don't think a mortal could really refuse a god's advances, unless said mortal was hit with Eros' (aka Cupid) arrow, not the one that makes you fall in love, but the one that doesn't... Anyway, last I knew Zeus turned her into a cow to his his affair with her from his sister-wife Hera. That would've been an interesting conversation to hear: "No, honey, I wasn't being adulterous, I was just visiting this cow..."

5. No matter what issues I may have had with Io... she was pretty.

6. I got tired of Perseus complaining all the time about how he wasn't a god, he was a mortal and needed to do this as a mortal, etc.

7. Did they really need to have Perseus use a lightsaber?

8. The Craken wasn't created from a part of Hades... nor was it a creature from Greek Mythology to begin with.

9. I'm split on Medusa... the top half of her (the woman part) was kinda attractive... which doesn't fit with my idea of Medusa at all. However, her "turn you into stone" look would be similar to what I'd expect of her.

10. Since when was Pegasus black?

11. Since when was there an entire heard of Pegasuses (Pegasi?)?

12. They seemed like they were just name dropping at the beginning of the film, fitting as many references to mythology/the previous film as they could, which really bothered me at the time, but sort of tapered off.

13. Bubo's cameo was probably the best part of the film...

13 things I should be doing right now, but am not

2010-05-27T13:16:00.000-07:00

I'm a procrastinator, so, because I really don't want to do any of them, I'm going to list the things that I need to do that I've been procrastinating on for at least a week, if not more (probably more).

1. Read a book for history class.
2. Research for my English paper.
3. Write said English paper.
4. Study kanji for tomorrow's Japanese quiz.
5. Study grammar for same quiz.
6. Prepare for oral interview in Japanese next week.
7. Sleep.
8. Eat that liver, fava beans, and nice chianti that are going bad in the fridge.
9. Write that history paper.
10. Read the article for that same paper.
11. Edit another story or two for my News Editing class.
12. Sleep
13. Get a summer job.

13 Lines from The Raven

2010-04-29T19:01:00.000-07:00

So, about two years ago I decided to memorize Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven, for no particular reason other than the fact that I really like the poem. So, I decided to post my 13 favorite, or random, "lines" (might take more than one) from the poem.

1. "Prophet!" said I. "Thing of evil, prophet still if bird or devil!"

2. "Whether Tempter sent or whether Tempest tossed thee here ashore, desolate, yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted on this home by horror haunted tell me, truly, I implore!"

3. And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain thrilled me! Filled me with fantastic terror never felt before.

4. Deep into the darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.

5. But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only that one word as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.

6. This and more I sat divining with my head at ease reclining on the velvet's violet lining that the lamplight pouring over. But whose violet velvet lighting she shall press, ah, nevermore.

7. Much I marveled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly, though it's answer little meaning, little relevancy bore, for we cannot help agreeing that no living human being ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door.

8. Open here I flung the shutter when, with many a flirt and flutter, in there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore.

9. Then, methought, the air grew denser perfumed by an unseen censor swung by Seraphim whose footfalls tinkled on the tufted floor

10. "Wretch!" I cried. "Thy God hath lent thee by these angels he hath sent thee!"

11. "Doubtless" said I. "What it utters is its only stock and store, caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful disaster followed fast and followed faster 'til his song one burden bore. 'Til the dirges of his hope one melancholy burden bore of never, nevermore."

12. Not the least obeisance said he, not a minute stopped or stayed he. But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door. Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door. Perched and sat, and nothing more.

13. Darkness there, and nothing more.

Thursday 13

2010-04-22T10:52:00.001-07:00

Ok, let's see if I can make a list of 13 issue I had with Tim Burton's latest film, Alice in Wonderland. Why? Who knows, it just came to me.

1. It had a plot. IT HAD A PLOT! Anyone who's read Alice in Wonderland would know that the book doesn't have a plot. It's just Alice running around meeting people. This is actually something Tim Burton always hated about every other Alice adaptation. He should've done his research and known that that is what the book was like.

2. The Red Queen. Identity crisis alert! The Red Queen was a character from Through the Looking Glass and what Alice Found there. I don't mind that they used characters from both books, but was there really a point in calling the character the Red Queen when she was clearly, in every sense of the term, the Queen of Hearts? They are two completely different characters, with very little actually in common, aside from both being queens and being associated with the color red.

3. Johnny Depp. I honestly have nothing against Depp... aside from the fact that he is actually rather overrated. I don't think he deserves all the credit that many people give him. He's a good actor, I'll admit that. However, every character he does anymore are all the same. Was I watching the Mad Hatter or Willy Wonka? Sweeney Todd or Jack Sparrow?

4. The White Queen. In the book, she's much older and much more... how should I put this... spacier? She's definitely far more passive, as well, being somewhat submissive to the Red Queen. However, she also lives backwards in time (like Merlin), so I suppose her being younger since it has been so long since the books makes sense. However reasonable it may be, I'm still not taking it off my list.

5. The Jabberwocky. It looked good, and Christopher Lee's voice fit it very well. However, Jabberwocky was the name of a poem in the book. The creature was called the Jabberwock. Goddammit, Burton!

6. The vorpal sword. It didn't go snicker-snack! What's the reasoning for that, Burton?

7. There was no mentioning of any of Alice's cats!

Ok, clearly I'm splitting hairs at this point, so I'll switch topics for the remainder of the list, and list things that I did like about the film.

8. The Cheshire Cat. Wonderful character. Just the right amount of creepiness and humor mixed into him. The CGI on him was also very good, making him look all soft and cuddly. I want one!

9. The CGI. As I mentioned before, the CGI on the film was excellent.

10. The Bandersnatch. It didn't speak, but it had a character... to some extent. You could actually kinda care for him at one point.

11. The March Hare. Best character in the film... also probably the most underused. He was funny, clearly mad, a very interesting interpretation.

12. The slight nods to the books were nice, such as "Twinkle Twinkle little bat," the partial recitation of Jabberwocky (I like that poem), and even many of the little creatures you see running around all have basis in the book.

13. The actress playing Alice was cute.

Thirteen Best Jesus Christ Superstar Song

2010-04-08T17:37:00.002-07:00

Well, since this has been an obsession of mine for a while, and inspired by Darla's Thursday 13, I decided to grab my iPod and type out my 13 favorite songs from this play in order of appearance, mostly, I'm guessing:

1. Heaven on their Minds
2. Strange thing Mystifying
3. Simon Zealotes
4. Poor Jerusalem
5. Pilate's Dream
6. The Temple
7. Damned for all Time
8. The Last Supper
9. Pilate and Christ
10. King Herod's Song
11. Judas' Death
12. Trial before Pilate
13. Gethsemane

The last one was added out of place, because I had to go back in and add one at the end and I am too tired and lazy to place it in order.

2010-04-08T17:37:00.001-07:00

Flash Fiction "Friday"

2010-04-03T20:38:00.000-07:00

I may be a day late, but here is something I cooked up, and thought I'd share.

The messenger knelt on one knee, head hanging low. He was visibly trembling and a thin veil of sweat glistened on his face. His message was not a good one.

“My Lord,” he said, voice raspy. “I regret to inform you that Ambassador Stross is not who he says he is.” The messenger swallowed, an action slightly painful to his dry throat. “We’ve received word from Atylia that the true Ambassador Stross was found dead in his country home. The imposter could not be found.”

Duke Tefios was known to the entire known world as a short tempered tyrant, and the messenger feared for his life at the delivery of this message.

“Siena!” the Duke barked, his fists clenched.

“We’ve already doubled your personal guard and have soldiers patrolling the palace, looking for the fake ambassador and his secretary,” Siena replied.

“And now, for you,” the Duke said, drawing a hand-and-a-half broadsword and holding the tip to the messenger’s neck. “Who is responsible? Who is trying to kill me?”

“I don’t know!” the messenger screamed, crying.

“Then you’re useless!”

Before Duke Tefios could slit the messenger’s neck, the door burst open. Two figures stood in the door, wearing long, flowing, hooded garments. They both held swords, dripping with crimson blood, matching their garments. He immediately recognized the lithe, small frame of the alleged ambassador’s secretary and knew that the other much be the imposter, himself.

They were Ackonian assassins.

The woman struck first, striking with her curved, single-edged sword. Siena blocked the attack with her armored arm and drew her own sword. A short battle ensued, but the assassin was far more agile and adept with a blade than the Captain of the Duke’s Guard. Siena was cut down before she had the chance to even attack the assassin.

The Duke threw the messenger aside and brought his sword down in a long, sweeping arc that clashed into the ground as the assassin dodged. The assassin buried his sword to the hilt inside the Duke’s stomach before he could recover from his failed attack.

He wiped the blood off of his blade before he returned it to its sheath and turned to the messenger. The messenger was standing and had regained his composure.

“Do you have what I asked of you?” the assassin asked the messenger as his partner came up beside him.

The messenger dug into his tunic and pulled out a rolled up piece of paper.

“A list of his co-conspirators in his plot to overthrow the Ackonian Empire,” he said, holding the towards the assassin, but pulled it away as he reached for it. “First, where is my money?”

The assassin took a money pouch from the folds of his robe and tossed it to the messenger. He caught it with one hand and gave them the list.

“May I ask why you wanted me to deliver that message to the Duke?”

“Duke Tefios is a master swordsman, but he can’t react as well under such anger,” the female assassin said.

“It was quicker this way,” the other assassin said. “Now, we need to go. We have people to kill.”

Ruminations on Foolishness

2010-03-29T16:08:00.001-07:00

Well, after my whole first blog post (that I was kinda proud of, in many respects), I hate to report that, three months into the new year, I've already failed my resolution. I have (seemingly) refused to change, the very things that I wanted desperately to vanquish from my mindset and behavior have not been stopped at all. My New Year's resolution has, so far, been a complete failure.

Failure, I guess that is the point of this whole blog. Did I really fail? Was I being foolish in my expectations? Or was I being a fool in thinking that I could change at all?

I am undecided in this matter.

When I wrote that (at 1 a.m.) I was determined to live up to it. I believed what I was writing and, more importantly, I wholeheartedly believed that I could live up to my promise. It seemed that I would wake up after sleeping through the night (or, rather, morning and early afternoon) and be a completely different person.

Perhaps, that was the foolishness of my thinking.

I want certain things to change, things that I've believed would be solved quickly and with time, if I just left it alone. When that failed (for far too long), I decided to force the change upon myself. That was the revelation that led to my prior post. I believed that this change was well overdue and that I deserved it. And I still believe that, goddammit! Why don't I deserve this? Aren't I good enough?

Anyway, I digress.

I believed that 24 hours was sufficient time to change something that has been a part of my life for over 2 years, at this point. What the hell was I thinking?

Can change really happen that quickly? Can change from something that clearly affected my life so profoundly? I believe that a big event can change someone overnight, but that takes something on a much grander scale than metaphorically turning on a light.

So far, I've only found myself making the same decisions that I always have, but for slightly different reasons. It may still be rooted in the same reason, but I also have a different excuse for my reasoning, as well. But, if I'm truly just making excuses, maybe I'm worse off that I was before.

Lately, however, I've found myself making a few steps in the right direction. I don't know what'll come of it, but that is something only time will tell.

I suppose, all said and done, the year is still rather young. Time exists for me to be a new man by the end of the year, but this is something that I can't really procrastinate in doing, now can I?

Or, perhaps I'm wrong, and I was simply a fool for thinking that I could force this upon myself.

Either way, I've only truly succeeded in fooling myself.

Flash Fiction Friday: The Hippie Killer

2010-02-05T23:30:00.001-08:00

The Hippie Killer

Call me the Hippie Killer. You see, I don’t like hippies; they annoy me. Their foolish talk of love and peace irritates me. What is even worse than that, and their singing, is their incessant pot smoking. It smells terrible and makes them even more idiotic and prone to son.

I’ve decided to take it upon myself to rid humanity of this boil on its ass. And when I’m finished, and the hippies are extinct, then I will be worshipped as a god amongst men!

On second thought, that sounds like a lot of work. I think I will just start a blog, instead.

Flash Fiction Friday

2010-01-15T20:03:00.000-08:00

This is a little something I cooked up for a picture prompt some time ago... content warning, by the way.

I love you.

The words swarm in my mind, wanting to escape. But I won’t let them.

The beach is beautiful at night, and the sand is cool on our naked feet as we saunter across, hand-in-hand. I swing in front of her, and clasp her other hand in mine.

Her skin is soft, smooth, and milky white. Her cerulean eyes gaze back into mine, so much like Renee’s. And the look in them, the curiosity and excitement, is the same as Renee’s. She knows what I want to say, she can read me as easily as I can read her.

I love you.

My heart aches; I still can’t say the words. Why?

Renee? But that was so long ago, have I not healed since then?

She releases my hands and throws her arms around my neck and kisses me with fierce passion; she knows my pain, she read it in my eyes. I crush her to me, returning the kiss with a passion that I’ve not felt since Renee passed away.

She knows about Renee, I haven’t kept that from her, but she doesn’t know the full story.

The truth is that I first met Renee a thousand years ago. I watched her grow old and die in my arms. Burying her was the hardest thing I had ever done. Twelve years later I buried our son, Paul, next to her.

I had never loved anyone as deeply as I had loved Renee and Paul, who was so much like his mother. As the decades turned to centuries, I never thought I’d love anyone again.

Then I met Jasmine, the beautiful blonde I now hold in my arms.

A playful push and now I’m on the ground, and she straddles me.

“It’s ok,” she whispers as she caresses my cheek with her fingertips. “You don’t have to say it.”

I thrust my lips into hers and paw at her clothes in ravenous desire.

Can I handle this again? Burying a fourth wife? More children?

Jasmine may never replace Renee, but I do love her; and when she dies, a piece of me will stay with her and love her forever. Just like Renee, and Munya, and Felicia.

I will tell her my story: my life, my curse, and my love. And then let her make her decision.

Her nails dig into my skin and I capture her moans with my mouth as we both reach the crescendo.

She won’t push me away. She’ll happily live out the rest of her life with an undying man.

We both collapse onto the sand, sweaty and exhausted. She rests her head on my chest and I hold her close, clasping one of her hands in mine.

I love you.

I love you.

Still, even now, I can’t say the words.

I love you.

I love you.

Damn my weakness. Damn my cowardice. I love her, why can’t I tell her?

I love you.

“I love you.”

Change

2010-01-01T00:45:00.000-08:00

What better time than now to change? Life around us is changing, preparing for a new year, a new set of troubles and challenges. A new set of happiness and ecstasy. A new month begins, the start of a brand new year.

Change is always inevitable. It can be for the better, or for the worse of a person, a family, a society. Let's face it, another year, another year older and another year closer to the end. What can we do about it?

Perhaps there is nothing we can do, maybe we can only sit back and watch as change envelopes us. We'll always grow older, weaker. Eventually the cashier will stop asking us for our license when we buy alcohol (happened to me earlier), eventually we may lose our ability to comprehend the basics around us, forget our own children and grandchildren, or mistake them for someone else. Eventually, we'll die.

We can choose to accept that, to sit back and watch as Fate, God, the Giant Spaghetti Monster or whatever deity you may or may not believe in directs us to our final end. "To face the sling and arrows of outrageous fortune" as Hamlet put it.

Maybe that's not the only option. Perhaps we can fight against change, and bend it to our will. "To take arms against a sea of troubles and, by opposing, end them" as Hamlet said.

How great would that be? To be masters of our own Fate, to challenge that very thing which appears immortal, unbeatable.

I've never really been in that latter category. Though I don't consider myself a religious person, I do believe in some deity who is omniscient. Since he is omniscient, God (for lack of a better term), would be in control of our Fate, our destiny. So, what power do we have to overcome our preordained lives? None, of course.

While I seemed mostly content to live with this helplessness, hoping that Fate will see it necessary to change my life for the better, things are no longer the same. I won't sit back and hope for things to get better. I won't. What was it that Misato Katsuragi said in an episode of Evangelion? "Acts of man are more reliable than acts of God."

I've been living in the past for far too long. I've lived with an undesired and undeserved sense of helplessness and personal hatred for far too long. And only I, it would seem, can change it.

That is what is necessary and my goal for the changing times.

Raise your glasses with me, my friends, and let us drink to change, the most worthy cause of all! Happy New Year.

13 Movies

2009-12-31T12:33:00.000-08:00

For this Thursday 13, I figured to make a list of the best movies of 2009 I saw in theaters.

1. Star Trek

2. Watchmen

3. Avatar

4. Zombie Land

5. District 9

5. Drag Me to Hell

6. Inglorious Basterds

7. Taken

8. Terminator: Salvation

9. Ninja Assassin

10. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

11. Sherlock Holmes

12. Crank 2

13. G.I. Joe

Looking at this list (and the list I grabbed it from)... this is almost all the movies that I saw in theaters this year... this makes me sad, I love going to the movies and I hardly ever do it, anymore. *Sigh*

It's alive!

2009-12-19T21:01:00.000-08:00

Don't know why, guess I was just bored... Anyway, here you'll find random thoughts from yours truly.