Sidney Blaylock Jr.'s Blog, page 43
April 10, 2018
Still feeling under the weather
So sorry, but I’m still not feeling well at the moment. I will try to get back to posting as soon as I feel better.
Sidney
April 9, 2018
What’s on my Bookshelf? Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag for the PS4
Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag. Image Source: Amazon.com
Sorry, but this blog post won’t be extremely detailed today. I’m feeling under the weather today with a bit of a fever and sore throat.
Assassin’s Creed Series
So, I own all of the major in-line Assassin Creed games. I bought the first Assassin’s Creed game when it came out for the Playstation 3 and marveled at its brilliance. And then I couldn’t figure out how to play it as I’d never really played an open-world game before. I had to play InFamous, a superhero open-world game to figure it out. Once I did so, Assassin’s Creed II was released and I’ve finished every game in the mainline series to date (haven’t gotten AC: Origins yet–the latest one).
A Pirate’s Life
So, many people consider Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag to be a “pirate simulator.” It gives you a pretty good approximation of being a pirate with sailing, swashbuckling, and boarding ships, all with the backdrop of Assassin’s Creed lore in the Caribbean setting. While not my favorite AC game, it was still enjoyable. I didn’t really like the ending, but it was still an enjoyable experience. I would rate it a B if I had to grade it (not my favorite, but definitely above average).
Too Many Side Activities
Much of the problem lies in the fact of the “Ubification” of the game–too much stuff to do in order to pad the game’s playtime. I wouldn’t mind finding the “sea chanties” for the crew to sing as the ship sailed along, but having to “chase” them down, only to have them reset if they “got away” is one of many “tasks” that just exists to waste time, so that 1) you play that game–and only that game–for a long period of time, and 2) along with that, as long as you’re playing the game, you’re not trading it in or giving it friends, etc. Every since AC III, expansion of game-time has been a primary staple of AC games.
Anyway, I don’t want to badmouth the game. I think that it is a very good game that I’m proud to have on my bookshelf.
Sidney
Read Skin Deep (Sci-Fi) for Free at Aurora Wolf
Read Childe Roland (Fantasy) for Free at Electric Spec
Read Faerie Knight (Fantasy) in the anthology Fae , Rhonda Parrish, Ed. or the Kindle Edition
Read Ship of Shadows (Sci-Fi) in the anthology Visions IV: Space Between Stars, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Read WarLight (Sci-Fi) in the anthology Visions VI: Galaxies, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Read Dragonhawk (Fantasy) in the magazine Tales of the Talisman, Vol. 8, Iss. 3, David Lee Summers, Ed. or the Kindle Edition
April 6, 2018
The Heart of a Champion: Rocky Balboa vs. Jason Bourne (Characterization)
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Who Would Win?
Okay, so who would win in a fight between Rocky Balboa (RB) and Jason Bourne (JB)? JB would win easily–why, because he’s an operative with fighting skills par excellence. He is a “killer” as the villain in the Bourne Supremacy (#2 in the JB series) says to him. Rocky Balboa wouldn’t stand a chance.
Or would he?
Training Montage in Rocky
Rocky Balboa isn’t a smart man (school-wise) and he knows it. However, he does have heart. Now let’s be realistic for a moment–in the fictional fight between RB and JB that I just set up, JB would take it because the fight is between an “Everyman” vs an “Extraordinary-man.” They are not in the same league as one another (different weight-classes to continue the fighting metaphor. However, my point is that we see Rocky as he trains and gets better and better. When he starts out, we see that Rocky has to eat special food, and that he can’t even complete his first run. He returns, holding his side in pain. Slowly, as the training unfolds, we see him getting better and better, becoming a danger to Apollo Creed (Rocky’s opponent) that Creed’s manager recognizes, even if Creed himself is too busy with the “business” of boxing to pay attention. Finally, we see Rocky’s training pay off and he becomes the best that he can and a worthy opponent to Creed, instead of the also-ran Creed assumed he would be.
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No Training Montage in Bourne Identity
Now, let’s look at Jason Bourne for a second. He is a “killer” with immense physical skills and prowess, but where is his “training montage?” JB doesn’t get one–he wakes up in the park and suddenly “knows” all of the skills that he has. JB has never had to “earn” his skills. We don’t see him getting better, we don’t see him starting at “zero,” hurting, and then pushing past the hurt, the pain, and keep going. He has all of his skills innately. Sure, in the last movie we learn something of his past and see indications of the “training” that moved “broke” him, but we still (outside of a small scene in Jason Bourne with a punching bag) haven’t seen any indication of JB having to suffer to obtain his abilities (although one could argue that JB suffers psychologically based on the trauma that his abilities and who is brings to his personal/social life, but that’s another blog post for another time).
My point is, while JB would totally win in a fight, the fact that we see RB struggling to train and be the best he can be, we tend to throw our sympathies behind RB more. He had to earn his abilities–they weren’t just given to him as JB’s essentially were.
Implications for my Writing
Remember to show the character’s/characters’ struggles. Without struggle, it is really hard for the audience to see the character’s/characters’ progression and arc. JB struggles, but his struggle is more emotional than physical in nature, while RB’s struggles combine both the physical and the emotional and that’s why the movie Rocky is perennially on best films lists, like AFI Top 100 Films (#78) and the 10th Anniversary edition of the List (#57). The Bourne movies, while popular, don’t make the list.
It’s all about heart. 
April 5, 2018
Mini-Review: Alien Legion #6
Alien Legion Vol. 2, No. 6 “Xenos.” Aug. 1988
Mind Blown
Although I’ve featured other Alien Legion (AL) issues before, this is the very first AL comic that I ever owned and read. The others I just happened to have found around town, but this one was so great, that as soon as my eyes spotted anything with the AL logo on it, I immediately went to it and picked it up–and if I had the money, purchased it. With an Aug. 1988 cover date, I probably would have bought it May/June of 1988 at (the now defunct) Waldenbooks in downtown Chattanooga and it would have been something that I read over the summer of 1988 before school started. I probably would have been beginning my sophomore year in high-school at that time as well.
Large and in Charge
While the other two AL stories that I’ve review have featured Sarigar, the commander of Nomad Squad, this issue is pretty much a character study on one of Nomad’s toughest characters–Jugger Grimrod. Jugger is given his own command and while I won’t spoil it–it proves to be pretty memorable. We get to see Grimrod command soldiers on what appears to be a routine mission, but is anything but and we get to see his reactions–sometimes hilarious–in the face of extreme danger.
Characterization
Jugger Grimrod is very much a character cut from the Logan/Wolverine mythos. Very much a loner and a hard-talking, fast-living, remorseless killing machine willing to do anything to get the job done. I’ve always likened Grimrod as a Wolverine in space. While you don’t learn his back story until later in the comics’ run (my next mini-review will actually focus on a pivotal part of his back story), you don’t really need it. One thing that the writers actually do for this story is that they give him an advantage and a flaw. While he is one of the best soldiers out there, he is an enlisted man who hates officers. In this story, he is promoted to an officer–in essence, he becomes the very thing he hates. And now he must deal with it. How he deals with it and the ultimate resolution, I’ll leave you to read, but this small detail causes conflict–both external as he has people whom he’s now responsible for and internal–he has to overcome/deal with being the very thing that he despises (or not overcome/deal with it).
Overall Score: A+
The writing (Carl Potts–Creator/Chuck Dixon–Writer) and the art team (Larry Stroman and Mark Farmer) created a story that really set my imagination on fire as a child. It was inventive, clever, and fun. The hero was larger than life and while I couldn’t agree with the character’s ultimate decision at the end of the story, I did understand it. If you happen across this at a “Flea Market” or “Yard Sale” or “Book Sale” of some kind, and if it is inexpensive, you might consider picking it up for an afternoon of fun reading.
Have a great day!
Sidney
Read Skin Deep (Sci-Fi) for Free at Aurora Wolf
Read Childe Roland (Fantasy) for Free at Electric Spec
Read Faerie Knight (Fantasy) in the anthology Fae , Rhonda Parrish, Ed. or the Kindle Edition
Read Ship of Shadows (Sci-Fi) in the anthology Visions IV: Space Between Stars, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Read WarLight (Sci-Fi) in the anthology Visions VI: Galaxies, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Read Dragonhawk (Fantasy) in the magazine Tales of the Talisman, Vol. 8, Iss. 3, David Lee Summers, Ed. or the Kindle Edition
April 4, 2018
250 Words a Day
Why 250 Words?
As I detailed in a different blog post, 250 words (using a serif font, like Courier, or the like), when typed out on the page and double spaced, equals about 1 page of manuscript draft. So for instance, if you set the margins to about 1 inch/1.25 inches, double space, and set the font to Courier, then once you’ve typed your draft from top (ignoring headers) to the bottom (ignoring the footers), you should have approximately 250 words on that page. This was a trick that typographers in the 1930s-1970s used when setting type from authors manuscripts during the heyday of popular fiction/reading in America. It was so ingrained that it was repeated in the writing handbooks of the day (I know because my local library used to have a fairly large selection of how to write books in the 800s that were fairly old when I was growing up and I often saw this advice–too bad that I really didn’t try to use this advice earlier in life–ah, the follies of youth).
By Any Means Necessary
Now that I know this and now that I know many prolific writers have word counts, I’ve started with the very basic–let’s try for 1 page a day (=250 words). So far, I’ve been fairly consistent and I’ve managed to finish Project Skies and I’m on Scene 2 (of 3) for Project Poet. The key is trying to get 250 words down by any means necessary. Yesterday, I failed at it–I’m just going to be honest. I only managed about 75 words on Project Poet because I left it too late in the day and by the time bedtime came around, I just didn’t feel like working it (Too tired–I was asleep minutes after going to bed). This morning, when I awoke, and I tried to write while eating breakfast, but the words wouldn’t come. I took a shower and then thought about all of the schoolwork that I have to do today and tomorrow and the words on the story came flowing out of me–I had to stop writing it so that I could work on the blog. If I have other things to do (such as schoolwork), I stop putting off the writing, but if I don’t have other things to do, then its the writing that I put off. As I always have plenty of schoolwork to do, maybe that’s the key–250 words before starting on the schoolwork
Now I just have to find a way to make sure that my schoolwork doesn’t suffer. 
April 3, 2018
“Ubification” of Ubisoft Games
Several popular Ubisoft game characters. Image Source: WhatCulture
So, as I sit here waiting patiently to register for classes for the upcoming Summer and Fall terms, I find myself reflecting back on the game that I was playing over the Easter Holiday weekend, Ghost Recon: Wildlands (GRW). Not really the most appropriate game for such a religious holiday, but I’m about half-way through it and I really want to finish it. It is both fun and a slog. How can that be, you might ask. A game is either fun or it isn’t. Well, it is much like Mass Effect Andromeda, fun in spurts, but far too long.
Jim Sterling on the “Ubification” of Games
Now, there is a video game personality, Jim Sterling, who talks about games and game companies’ practices on a regular basis. He is something of a legend in the video game community, a pundit who is at times lauded and hated. I don’t usually watch pundits, but every now and again, Jim calls out a segment of the video game industry that video game companies would prefer you not to notice. Today, he chose to point out some of the things that Ubisoft is doing with their games, and since GRW is published by Ubisoft, I thought I’d watch. Here’s the YouTube video if you’re interested–WARNING: NSFW (Harsh Language–unfortunately, Jim Sterling is in love with the F-Bomb and Crap word).
Now, Jim noticed this trend of Ubisoft’s games looking similar to one another with the release of Far Cry 5 last week, but as a player of quite a few of Ubisoft’s catalog (The Crew, all major in-line Assassin’s Creed releases, Tom Clancy’s The Division, and now Ghost Recon: Wildlands), I’ve been noticing that loop myself for a while. Ubisoft actually has a gameplay mechanic that has been mocked and parodied in the gaming community for a while now– the unlocking of more of the game “map” by visiting some sort of “tower.”
Making it Relevant to Scholarship
One of the things that I’ve wanted to do for a while is to find a way to make what ever I’m currently playing relevant to scholarship. While games, game theory, and video gaming is being studied in academia, it is still a very niche idea with too many scholars not understanding that many of the talented individuals who would be writing literature (books) or crafting cinema (movies) are actually working in the gaming arena. What some scholars dismiss as mere “fluff” or have the idea that games that are not relevant to the greater society of the whole are missing a whole wider world in which subculture, especially gaming culture, is influencing and being influenced by the culture of gaming (don’t believe me–trace the backlash against Anita Sarkeesian and the GamerGate controversy with the backlash against Leslie Jones and the Ghostbusters (2016)–they are quite similar in reaction/rationale all happening “approximately” the same time). My hope is that I can somehow use GRW to talk about video games in scholastic context. I’m still formulating how I want to approach it (perhaps talking about Open World games in general). We’ll see, but video game rhetoric is still such a new topic that the field is still fairly wide open as to what I can analyze, so there are many opportunities for scholarship from this one game. I just need to figure out how to approach it.
Well, that’s it for now. Have a great day!
Sidney
Read Skin Deep (Sci-Fi) for Free at Aurora Wolf
Read Childe Roland (Fantasy) for Free at Electric Spec
Read Faerie Knight (Fantasy) in the anthology Fae , Rhonda Parrish, Ed. or the Kindle Edition
Read Ship of Shadows (Sci-Fi) in the anthology Visions IV: Space Between Stars, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Read WarLight (Sci-Fi) in the anthology Visions VI: Galaxies, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Read Dragonhawk (Fantasy) in the magazine Tales of the Talisman, Vol. 8, Iss. 3, David Lee Summers, Ed. or the Kindle Edition
April 2, 2018
What’s On My Bookshelf: Star Wars: The Complete Saga
Star Wars: The Complete Collection (box, slipcase, and discs). Image Source: Zavvi
This collection is available from Amazon.com, however, it appears to have been rereleased later with the packaging being different than the one I bought.
The Prequels
Star Wars: The Complete Saga is one of those purchases that Lucasfilm marketing and George Lucas counted on fans like myself buying. Until Lucas sold the SW brand to Disney, SW was pretty much my favorite series of all time due to the characters, mythology, and world-building. Regardless of how you like (or dislike) Disney’s handling of the sequels, SW: TCS represented all 6 of the movies on Bluray up until that point. The fidelity of the movies (picture quality and sound) are stunning. While the prequels are of questionable quality based on their story and characterization, they are a masterful technical achievement with the space battle sequence of the 3rd movie integrated computer graphics.
The “Original” Story
It should be noted at the outset that if you are “purist,” you still aren’t getting the “original” release of the original SW movies with this collection–rather the “Special Editions” of those movies that Lucas recut in the late 1990s with the additional CGI material added in. Just so you’re aware. I prefer the original cut of the movies, but it isn’t a make or break deal for me. I’ve gushed over this trilogy before in other blog posts, so I won’t rehash it here, but I think that the audio and the picture fidelity is really good. Not 4K unfortunately, but still an awesome 1080p master of the movies.
No Sequels (or Digital Editions)
So, that’s right–this came out before Lucas sold the rights to the brand to Disney, so The Force Awakens isn’t included (nor Rogue One, and now, The Last Jedi), so it really is the “Not so Complete Edition,” but at the time it was “complete.” One thing that really bums me out about this edition is the lack of Digital Editions. This almost was a deal-breaker for me, and I almost didn’t purchase this edition. The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy Extended Editions did come with Digital Editions (and the Extended Editions to boot–but I don’t think Amazon is selling that “edition” anymore as it wasn’t there when I looked for this post). Lucasfilm wanted to “double-dip” and get paid twice for the same content. As much as I would like the convenience of digital as these are my favorites, I refuse to pay again for these movies and I do not own them in digital format, especially when their competition figured it out. Still, to have the “complete” (at the time) set, I ultimately decided it was worth it.
Well, that’s it for today, and I hope you enjoyed this brief look at another boxed set that is on my Bookshelf.
Sidney
Read Skin Deep (Sci-Fi) for Free at Aurora Wolf
Read Childe Roland (Fantasy) for Free at Electric Spec
Read Faerie Knight (Fantasy) in the anthology Fae , Rhonda Parrish, Ed. or the Kindle Edition
Read Ship of Shadows (Sci-Fi) in the anthology Visions IV: Space Between Stars, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Read WarLight (Sci-Fi) in the anthology Visions VI: Galaxies, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Read Dragonhawk (Fantasy) in the magazine Tales of the Talisman, Vol. 8, Iss. 3, David Lee Summers, Ed. or the Kindle Edition
March 30, 2018
Two, Two, Two Writing Styles in One
Two Types of Writing: “Formal” (Academic) and Creative Writing. Image Source: Sheltech Consultants
Academic Writer
One the things that I’ve learned over the past two years is that I have two different writing styles–and they are incompatible with each other. The first type of writing style is my academic writing style. This style is super strange in that I need to first find a “container” or “form” for me to be successful. Once I find a form/container, I’m good. I can basically write and finish a draft and that draft will be very strong and either may be the one I turn in or only needs to be edited in order to be turned in. The real time consuming element is finding that “container”/”form”/”design” (or Thesis). Once I have that, the rest is just putting words on paper. Writing this blog is akin to academic writing for me: my container = the headings. Once I put the headings down into the blog post, the rest of it is just writing the words underneath (and that’s the “secret sauce” to the writing of my blog posts).
Creative Writer
So, what I’ve learned during my time at MTSU, is that my academic writing style does NOT work for my creative writing style. To write creatively, I (personally–may not be applicable to anyone else), need to “build” my stories draft by draft. I have to take the time to outline (foundation), rough draft (framing), “working draft” (interiors & finishing construction), and submission draft (cleaning and landscaping). I HAVE to go through all these stages, adding, refining, and generally making the project better at each stage of the process. One draft will NOT suffice under any circumstances for me (even if I have the container/form. Skipping through these stages doesn’t work for me–either I go through these stages, or I end up with incomplete drafts or abandoned projects.
Two in One
What I’ve learned is that I need to switch between the two as necessary. Why have I continued to try to force my academic writing style on myself as my creative writing style is unknown to me. However, if school is about learning, then I’ve at least found one great thing out about myself that I may be able to use to my advantage in my writing life.
Sidney
Read Skin Deep (Sci-Fi) for Free at Aurora Wolf
Read Childe Roland (Fantasy) for Free at Electric Spec
Read Faerie Knight (Fantasy) in the anthology Fae , Rhonda Parrish, Ed. or the Kindle Edition
Read Ship of Shadows (Sci-Fi) in the anthology Visions IV: Space Between Stars, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Read WarLight (Sci-Fi) in the anthology Visions VI: Galaxies, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Read Dragonhawk (Fantasy) in the magazine Tales of the Talisman, Vol. 8, Iss. 3, David Lee Summers, Ed. or the Kindle Edition
March 29, 2018
Mini-Review: Alien Legion #1 (Vol. 2)
A New Beginning
Alien Legion #1 (Vol. 2) marks a new beginning for the team. I’m not sure, but I think I purchased this issue from a spinner in Waldenbooks well before they went of business (when they were still a thriving store). The cover date is Oct. 1987 and since comics usually went on sale about a month or two prior to their cover date (the date was “fiction” to show how “new”/”fresh” it was), I probably got it in Aug/Sept of 1987, so please forgive me if my memory is a little off.
The basic gist of the comic is that the commander of the Alien Legion squadron, Sarigar, “lost” is squad on what appeared to be a suicide mission and he was the only one to make it out alive . . . or so it seems. This issue marks the beginning of a new storyline with a new formulation of new team members (I think it also marks a new art team, but don’t quote me on that).
Sarigar For the Win
The focus is squarely on Sarigar in this issue. There are very few other characters–and they are mostly secondary characters by which the commander gets to show off his characterization as being someone who loves the Legion, but who loved his squad more, and is willing to risk his life to get them back.
Duty and Honor
This issue very much focuses on the idea of “duty” to one’s fallen friends, especially when they might not be as . . . fallen as first supposed. It also has the idea of “honor” in that Sarigar is too much of a “true” Legionnaire to allow the uniform that he wears be sullied with disgrace by engaging in a bar fight with three bar room bullies. However, when he takes off the uniform, we get to see just what a complete warrior Sarigar really is–the fight scene is only 2-3 pages long, but Sarigar wipes the floor with them easily.
The only thing I wished was that there was more interaction/story about finding the team than there is currently. Still, its a really good read and holds up pretty well even after all these years.
Overall Grade: B+
March 28, 2018
Project “Space Trucker”
Project Space Trucker
So this will be a short blog entry today. I just wanted to let you know that I’ve started the “Rough Draft” of a new project: Project Space Trucker. Yes, I know the title is inelegant, but it is what the story is about. Well, not literally about Semi-Trucks in space, but about the future and how a “Trucker” in the future might be realized in terms of world/setting, characterization, plot, etc.
This project has no relation to the 1996 movie Space Truckers. I’ve never seen that movie & didn’t even know it existed until I googled the words Space & Truck for the above image. After seeing the trailer (see below), I’ve no real desire to see the movie as it is apparently B movie in every sense of the word (bikini-clad female co-pilot and ship that apparently has a semi-truck “trailer” attached to the back of the ship). If I ever run across it on streaming (& I have a couple of hours to kill), I might watch it now that I know it exists, but its not something I’m going to go searching for as you can see for yourself from the Trailer posted on YouTube.
Inspiration
No, this project was inspired quite a bit by my commute to school. I often pass by Semi-Trucks on the road and I started noticing the names of the shipping companies on the trailers or the names of the transport and logistic companies on the sides of the trucks and that started me to thinking about how these companies might exist in a space/science fiction environment.
Also, along the route to school, there is a truck “pull-off stop area.” It isn’t a rest area per se, but a small set of lanes where trucks can pull off the highway safely and sleep/rest before making their way to a mandatory truck checking area that is a few miles up the road. This way truckers can sleep/rest and not get fined or penalized for not having taken mandatory rest breaks as required by American law. On one trip, I saw a couple of truckers conversing with each other outside their trucks and also began to wonder how that interaction might play out in a sci-fi universe.
What’s Next?
So, I really like the way this project is headed so far. I have a fairly clear idea of the character. I’m working on the Rough Draft this week and over the weekend, I hope to work on character sketches for the two main characters. Right now, I’m plugging away on the “Working Draft” of Project Poet (Poet). I’m not sure what’s on deck after Poet as I still need to go back and do another draft for Project Skye as well, but I’ll update you next week.
Well, looks like I’m out of time for today. Have a great day!
Sidney
Read Skin Deep (Sci-Fi) for Free at Aurora Wolf
Read Childe Roland (Fantasy) for Free at Electric Spec
Read Faerie Knight (Fantasy) in the anthology Fae , Rhonda Parrish, Ed. or the Kindle Edition
Read Ship of Shadows (Sci-Fi) in the anthology Visions IV: Space Between Stars, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Read WarLight (Sci-Fi) in the anthology Visions VI: Galaxies, Carrol Fix, Ed. or the Kindle Edition.
Read Dragonhawk (Fantasy) in the magazine Tales of the Talisman, Vol. 8, Iss. 3, David Lee Summers, Ed. or the Kindle Edition
