Gloria Oliver's Blog, page 113

Virtual Tourist - Star Wars The Old Republic 1/22/12

More tourist in-game photos!


The Republic Fleet as seen on approach from the bridge of my Jedi Consular's bridge.

This is on Alderaan. We found a back way accidentally to this place and thought it was our next quest point. Because we came in the back, we found that you couldn't get down. So we were walking on an invisible bubble. That's John way in the back of the pic, floating on air. (We found out later it was an Imperial spot!)

This is me, floating, with the camera view overhead.

More cool pics of Dromund Kaas. The sky never clears and lighting is constant. They must use electric poles to disperse buildups in static electricity.

Weird glowing plants that throw off luminescent seeds.


Kaas, the main Imperial City at the heart of the Empire.



This ugly sucker is a companion for Dark Jedi's. Eek! 

Monument to one of the Dark Lords.


Sith Council building.

Imperial Information Gathering Headquarters.

Sith Council Center.

An apprenctice's attempt to flatter his Master by building a humongous statue of him. Ugly cuss.


Found our first holocron on Alderaan (not that we could get to it any better than the others). lol X -162 Y -367 Z 107.
The guild I belong to Veritas Aequitas (Justice - Truth) got together yesterday to do a guild photo. Hoping they post it soon so I can share!
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Movie Review - Underworld: Awakening

Underworld: Awakening



Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Stephen Rea, Theo James, Michael Ealy, India Eisley, Charles Dance, Sadrine Holt, Kris Holden-Reid, Jacob Blair and more.

Directed by: Mans Marlind and Bjorn Stein Story by: Len Wiseman Screenplay by: Len Wiseman, John Hlavin, J Michael Straczynski, Allison Burnett Based on Characters by: Kevin Grevioux, Len Wiseman, Danny McBride Original Music by: Paul Haslinger

Premise: The humans have become aware of both the lycans and vampires then unite to clean house. Twelve years later, Selene awakens in a center for disease control facility called Antigen. She believes Michael is the one who set her free and goes off in search of him. But all is not as she believes. (Rated - R)

Review: If you're into loads of action, street chases, werewolves, mad scientists, and more - this movie is for you.

There is a quick recap at the beginning for those who've not seen any of the previous films, or haven't seen them in a while, so no worry there - for the most part. That segues into a short intro on how things got to be the way they are now - with humanity aware of the underworld and the extremes they've gone to to take care of the problem.

CGI work was great! Very nice integrations between reality and added things - there's a chase scene in the street with lycans and normal cars that was very impressive. The silver nitrate grenade explosions are especially awesome in the IMAX 3D.

The fight sequences were very well done. Selene kicks major buns as usual. David and Eve (though her name was never said in the movie) are no slouchers either. Plenty of explosions, bullets, knives, grenades, claws, and more throughout the film.

The story itself works pretty well and they even build up to leaving it open for another sequel. There were a couple of things that were glaringly ignored, probably so no one would question them, but they are definite holes. One has to do with the entire reason for the film in the first place. Another has to do with David. (Trying not to spoil anything.) Perhaps the next film will address these items, perhaps not. There were some nice twists in the plot, so they compensated a lot for the other two issues. So if you don't look at things too closely, you won't have any troubles enjoying it.

No scenes at the end, so you don't need to sit through the credits.

Overall, definitely worth a watch as it will more than fill your action cravings.

Rating: 4 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission)

Picture Kaleidoscope 1/18/12

Let's see what food for your eyes I can come up with this time. This post will also suffer as part of the casualties of being sick last week. :(

Little Britain: Photographer Paul Stephens Creates a Miniature World from The Telegraph.  These are quite neat looking! Slide show of his pics.

This one is too cute! Can only link to Flickr though. By Susannegipson - Too Cute!

Something you don't think about but there seem to be a lot of it - Coquettish Murals of Tehran by Reza.



Seattle's Space Needle by Kate. Sine great lighting and colors!


Yeah, looks like this will be a lame post... Sniff...
I'll do better next week!

Have fun!

Mind Sieve 1/16/12

This will probably be a very poor showing for a Mind Sieve post. Was out sick all last week and aside from sleeping and sitting on the recliner like a mummified vegetable, I didn't do much. Let's see what I can dig up anyway.







Since Supernatural has actually been getting decent again, figured I'd plug this week's episode. :P


Really neat recap of all things Gak! (Need to make time to look these all up! Oooo!)



Designing From Bones - The Stone Giant and Escalating Tension (The Cardiff Man!) by Gene Lempp. Greed, Fraud, PT Barnum! (Sucker - I fit that description. Doh!)

This one looks insanely fun - Moonlight Kingdom.









How To Self-Publish So It Benefits The Readers? by Chuck (NSFW) Wendig. Great stuff!

Don't Eat The Butt - Lies That Can Poison Our Writing Careers #1 by Kristen Lamb. Amen Sistah!

Here There Be Blog Trolls - How To Spot Them And What To Do by Kristen Lamb. Oh very helpful! Blogger/writer's worst nightmare. Eek!







25 Things Writers Should Know About Finding Their Voice from Chuck (NSFW) Wendig. Good (and mind bending) stuff as always. :)

From Kristen Lamb - What "Star Wars: A New Hope" Can Teach Us About In Media Res. Very nice!


Yes, mighty thin pickings but what AWESOME pickings they are! Heh heh.
Have an awesome week, ya'll!

Virtual Tourist - Star Wars The Old Republic 1/15/12

Sorry about not having a movie review on Friday. Meant to do one of the stuff I'd been watching while sick, but didn't happen. Was feeling better yesterday so did some virtual tourism again. So here it is. :P



My ship! My lovely Jedi Consular ship! Isn't she a beauty?

This is Alderaan! A planet we've only seen from space in the films. Gorgeous world. And a marked changed from Tatooine.

Me and my flashy ride.


The Organa House.

Me and my latest matching duds. (My companion is suffering from mismatching clothes though. A fashion victim. :P)

Inside Organa House - decor is very similar to the senate's.


Look at those mountains! Almost like being in Seattle.

Bird-fish thing. Not clickable. Found out later that larger ones are used as taxis!

Like this one! Heh.




Totally breathtaking! 
Now to uselessly try to catch up on other things. See you later!

Picture Kaleidoscope 1/11/12

Welcome!

From Petapixel - Dreamlike Photo Manipulations of Earth and the Starry Night Sky.

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From Behance - Illustrations by Raphael Vincenzi. This are pretty darn cool!


15 Images for 2011 by Camera 47.


From Pelfusion - 40 Creative & Catchy Typography Print Ads.

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Art of Weislaw Walkuski - cool stuff!


Surrealist art from Beksinski.


The Girl Who Loves to Levitate - 14 photos by Alice.


Time-lapse of comet Lovejoy Rising Above the Andes Mountains by Stephane Guisard - article by Michael Zhang.  Pretty neat looking especially at the end.

Some artists names got bandied about a week plus ago and here's another super cool one - Pablo Palomeque.


And another - Stephanie Pui-Mun Law.


John Picacio is also the BOMB!


Till next time![image error]

Mind Sieve 1/9/12

Howdy! Welcome to the latest round of fun. Let's see what I can rustle up to share with everyone this week.





This is a blast from the past and a total blast to boot! Star Trek as the A-Team.



From ZD Net - Japanese Vending Machines: Now Dispensing Wi-Fi.  50 meters around the vending machine. Sweet! Drink and surf! Heh.


Secrets of Life on Newport's Medieval Ship Revealed by Nicola Smith at BBC News. 10th Anniversary of the find.

Poster for Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman's "The Paperboy" - looks promising. Very retro.



Ukranian Lighting Engineer Stuns the Audience.  This is way way cool. Had seen something similar before but not to this scale. Starts about a minute in, so wait for it. You won't be sorry!


This is a longer version than the one you see on TV. This is so darn cute I had to share it when I saw someone post it again. Heh heh.  The Force: Volkswagon Commercial.


This is beyond wicked awesome! From the Tel-Aviv Quantum Levitation peeps at www.quantumlevitation.com This will blow your mind!


From Gene Lempp - Designing From Bones - Fantastical Realm, Real World - Lemuria. Ah King Julian causing trouble again! (Yes, I watch way too much Penguins of Madagascar. But I'm, telling you, those Lemurs can be a handful. And like Julian wouldn't just LOVE having a cult. heh heh. :P)

Worldly Wednesday: Muslim Terrorists? from Ellie Ann. Great post about seeing the whole truth. Nice!


Looters Butcher Roman Mosaic In Spain from the History Blog. This is just sad. :(

Bayard and Holmes Post Apocalyptic Management Services. Heh heh, heh heh. Heh heh heh heh.







How to Build Your Reputation as a Writer by Paul Rance. Nice, quick little post with some definite wisdom thrown in.

Your Author Blog or Website - what an editor might look for. Great post by Theresa at EditorTorrent.







From Chuck (NSFW) Wendig - 25 Things Writers Should Stop Doing.

On the same vein I give you a post from DIY MFA - Making the Most of Failure. More awesome wisdom for the new year!

From EditorTorrent - Switching Senses.  Great tips!

Internal Dialogue from Lisa Gail Green. Nice explanation and an example! (I love me some internal dialogue!)


Okay, my eyes are being mean to me today so this is it. Enjoy![image error]

Virtual Pictures - Star Wars The Old Republic 1/8/12

Yes, I've been out playing tourist again. I even found a way to get the frames out of it. Heh heh.


Native fauna at the starport for Nar Shaada. I'd hate the feeding costs on this beastie.

Considered a high tech but corrupted world. Dangerous. But very colorful.

We'd seen these Dr Who Tardis look alike boxes in previous worlds, but only here did we realize what they were - bathrooms!  They even had a line with an impatient person or two.  Whoever got to build this place had a ton of fun as you will see in the next few shots. NPC's for the win!

Someone who partied too hard is throwing up in the square fountain.

This is one BIG statue for an already BIG Hutt!

Girls bathing in the fountain being fawned over by the guys. lol. 

I loved, loved, loved the virtual trees.

City scape during taxi travel.


One big mean robot!

Love some of the awesome detail. Lovely carpets!

Neon bling everywhere!



Cool statue at the starport of Tatooine.

Tatooine is just gorgeous! 

We got our personal vehicles here. Couldn't ask for a better venue to drive the things!



Me, my companion, and hubby. :P


Those awesome Tatooine horizons!


Holocron spotting! No idea how to get at it. Wahhh! X  -641, Y -15 Z 437



This was a datacron. There's another on the roof. Found out you have to get on a balloon way on the other end of the dessert. Takes about 40 minutes to get here. I still missed the second jump. Disappointed when I found it wasn't a holocron but some kind of jewel collection? Oh well! X -2387 Y -1380 Z386


This is on the Imperial side. A couple of more pics of Hutta before I left the newbie world with my spy.

Climbed way up a mountain side and the vegetation was so lush, I had to take a pic. Heh.

Inside the Imperial Fleet.

Imperial Starport at Dromund Kaas.

An utterly lush and dark place. Caught the lightning in the back.

Weird glowing plant pods. They also excrete a glowing pollen.

Looking down from one of the cliff sides. Gorgeous!
Yes, couldn't resist. I'm sure there'll be more pics. lol. 
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Movie Review - War Horse

War Horse


Starring: Jeremy Irvine, Peter Mullan, Emily Watson, Neils Arestrup, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hiddleston, Celine Buckens, Toby Kebbel, David Cross, and many more...

Directed by: Steven Spieldberg Screenplay by: Lee Hall and Richard Curtis Based on the Book by: Michael Morpurgo Original Music by: John Williams Cinematography by: Janusz Kamiski

Premise: After a young man, Albert, and a young horse, Joey, are brought together and bond, the two are separated with the coming of World War I. But not before Albert vows to somehow meet again someday. (PG-13)

Review: Black Beauty meets The Red Violin! I don't know what it was about the previews, but I eagerly awaited the coming of this film. Hubby had no interest, but ended up going with me and loved it.

Older audiences will be reminded of great classics like My Friend Flicka, Black Beauty, and Old Yeller. And because the film follows not only Joey's adventure but Albert's father's regiment flag, as well as the encapsulated stories of those Joey meets, the film was very reminiscent of the captivating film the Red Violin.

War Horse is a family friendly movie. Spieldberg went out of his way to hide moments of death to anyone the viewers might have become vested in, so though they die, it shouldn't traumatize the kids. There are still some scenes of violence, but very few, and the blood is kept to a minimum. Do take a hanky just in case. Some will need it. (I did!)

The film is a coming of age tale showing the courage of animals and people, of hope and loyalty. Between the goose, Joey, and the major's black horse, the animals steal the show. The acting was also superb from everyone present. Some of the best scenes were those without dialogue - where a look or a simple gesture conveyed volumes. Very nicely done.

The locations are fabulous. The sets for the trench warfare and no man's land will make you feel like you are there. Some truly majestic and sweeping camera work.

Definitely worth a watch, with or without the kids.

Rating: 4 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission)[image error]

Picture Kaleidoscope 1/4/12

Let's feed the eyes, shall we?






Our second falcon/hawk encounter. We were backing up out of the driveway. This time, he didn't move, just kept an eye on us, so I was able to click this off. Could he be getting used to us/suburbia in general?

As you can see, the dawns have been quite colorful of late.

Tried some magnification here to give more sky, less black/land.
Now for stuff I've run across.
Jetty Park at Cape Canaveral by Tom Baker.
From NASA - A Brewing Underwater Volcano.


From NASA - First Low Altitude Pictures of the Asteroid Vesta.

This pic was genius! A Chtulu Christmas Tree. Hee!
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Liquid Rose Shot With Food Coloring by Anthony Chang. This is quite cool!

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At the Behance Network - Tales and Stories by Kinuko Y Craft. Loads of other great art at this page.


Transform Smoke Photographs With A Dash of Color from Petapixel.

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From NASA - Ring of Fire.


From NASA - Orange and Blue Hazes from Titan.



At Behance - Dante's Inferno - game trailer art. They've got the trailer there too. Pretty awesome looking.


See you next time! Enjoy![image error]