FrankL

Had a small surgery on my nose last week. Before it could be done, I had to stop taking one of my daily nutrient supplements and could not start back on it for a week after surgery. I have found over the last few days that taking this supplement drastically improves my mood. I can feel my temper shortening and want to say things that will cause fights with friends and family. This was the first morning I could take it again. Now, I'm trying to hold out until things get normal again.

And I have to go off it again next month before and after a colonoscopy!

I woke up cold in the night last night, so I grabbed a light shirt I keep near the bed for such an occasion, put it on, and went back to sleep.

I then woke up cold in the night wondering where my shirt was.

No, I hadn't taken it off in my sleep. I had dreamed I put it on. This is the first time I recall a dream of waking up.

But what has Athens to do with Jerusalem?

And yet, she married you. 

 

I kid, Frank, I kid.

No problem. She might even say the same thing.

If we had Netflix, I would watch this based on the recommendations of this thread alone. I'll be watching for it to hit DVD. Have to watch it alone, though. My wife doesn't like the weird genre.

I believe he's referencing a Ray Stevens song.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

I preferred Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters, myself.

 

And it was Pre-Teen... kangaroos.

Let us not forget the KungFu Chickens (big as a house, strong as the dickens). Let see, names were Fricasee, Cordon Bleu, Catchatoree, and Stew.

Was on YouTube listening to Lindsey Sterling this morning. One of the "you may also like" said "Halo Theme - Lindsey Sterling." For a moment, I read it as "Hal Lindsey" and wondered how YouTube's algorithms really needed work.

What I noticed is that they are all gluten free except the Wheat Chex. That would be rather difficult to accomplish, I suppose.

[Proudly stolen from Jerry Clower and Lewis M. Grizzard Jr., my highschool idol and a great American!]

I was just remembering this morning an event from my high school days.

Back one dry summer, no body was catching any fish. They'd spend all day at the lake and rivers but come home empty. Not so my boyhood friend and idol, Chad J. Carpenter, a great American! He'd go out and return with his pickup truck loaded down with ice chests full of catfish, striper, or bass (depending on where he went that day).

One day the local game and fish warden came to see him. "Son, I want to see how you're catching all these fish when no body else can get a thing."

Chad shrugged and said, "Get in."

15 minutes later, out in the middle of the river, Chad pulled out a stick of dynamite from a tackle box. He trimmed the fuse. The warden said, "Son, that's against the law. You can't do that."

Chad lit the fuse and handed it to the warden.

"Son! Weren't you listening! I said this's against the law!"

Chad raised an eyebrow at him. "Sir, you gonna sit there and argue or fish?"

Took the four boys from church to a Ranger Kids' day in the next town over. One of the games was "Needle in a Haystack." This was literal. While my kids were taking their turn to look, one of the other commanders said there was a special prize for the boys who found the golden needles. I said, "Maybe next year you can have them look for the marble in the oatmeal."

The adults gave me weird looks. My youngest piped up, "Yeah! And the special prize would be getting to drink from the fire hose!"

They looked at him like he had grown a third arm and said, "That would knock a little guy like you right over."

I said, "You're awesome, Jonny."

[Nobody found the needles all day. Sometime when I'm not so wiped out I should share the story of the boffer sword fights (made from pool noodles). Great fun!

Pictures here! That's me in the second picture, blue vest, back to the camera. You can see me better in the boffer fight pix.]

When Roy is being evaluated, he makes a statement about his father's action and how his father can "go to Hell" something along those lines. The one judging Roy says, "We're well past the point of that being an actual possibility." I'm wondering how much his actions in the afterlife will impact his destination. Don't get me wrong, Roy's dad certainly strains the Good side of Lawful Good to the breaking point and the Lawful as well

Even after reading a review with decries the movie flopping around between blatant sexism and gun worship, I still have no desire to see it.

But is the palindromedary plotting with itself (?themselves? ?herself? ?himself? ?hirself?)?

That was my first thought.

Vegan available.

 

Vegan Melt Pig Roast.

 

Not as wrong as "Halal version available" or "Kosher for Passover available."

John Byrne was the first to say this is how it worked in his excellent Man of Steel post-Crisis Superman reboot, although i'd have just said "Kryptonians have no beard" and left it at that.

 

In a very old comic that my mother gave me when I was about 7 (it had been hers in the 60s), they made a statement that Superman's beard never grew. He had lost his powers and memory was trapped somewhere in Asia.

We are talking comic books (or comic book logic, anyway). In both comics and Hollywood, the training montage is more than enough to turn almost anyone into a world-class warrior (let alone ageless demi-goddesses with physical prowess beyond normal mortals). Not realistic, but a long-accepted trope of the genre.

If I weren't at work, I'd head over to Giant in the Playground to find Elan's training montage.

My sons have started playing Clue. They wanted to move around the board faster so rounded up every die they could find in the house. 15d6 later, they were shooting across the board at one go.

Great ideas, everyone. I got ideas from everyone of the posts. While I haven't completely settled on which villain I'll use in "To He Who Overcomes," this single story is stretching into a miniseries! I'm leaning towards Glitch (Bolo's hacker) for the first story and Rachel the Cyborg for the second or third. There's more drama if she comes back after Jack and Debbie marry. 

No Man Is An Island (Hunted: ???)

 

The Friend who tried to help and got cut off. (Ie: Ant-Man).

 

QM 

Something to consider... Jack's grief not only hurts himself and his immediate family but those close to him. One friend turns villainous from that. Interesting thought. 

How did the wife die? Did the villain play any part in it?

Accidental death. Villain played no part. I haven't decided if she died in a car collision or collapse of a building or fell off a cliff when hiking. Either way, Jack was there and unable to get her to safety. The guilt led to him building the suit.

From what you've put up so far you're looking at a Tony Stark/Justin Hammer rivalry. Hammer wanted Stark's armor, or the tech that powered it, to sell to villains. Thus the Armor Wars happened.

I hadn't thought of selling the tech to others, but that's why I posted the question. I'll be reading up on Armor Wars, but if anyone else has ideas, don't stop posting them.

I’m working on a story with a power suit character. The setting is first wave, the suit-wearer (code name: Search and Rescue) is the world’s first hero. He’s trying to keep out of the spotlight. His motivation for being a hero and building the suit is guilt. He has never forgiven himself for his wife’s death four years ago. He witnessed her death but could not get to her. Thus, he built the EXO suit.

I’ve sketched out most of the character arc and storyline, but I’m missing a big segment—the villain. Can you help me with ideas for the villain?

Working Title: To He Who Overcomes

Hero: Victor Jack Baker (goes by Jack)

Occupation: Mechanical Engineer

Hero Name:

·         EXO-6000 in private test runs,

·         Search and Rescue when he enters public eye

Motivation: Assuage guilt. Prevent others from feeling the same guilt and powerlessness.

Supporting Cast

Neighbor: Jack’s neighbor Paul Peterson is also an engineer and programmer. He helps build and expand the suit. Quirky, fellow-widower who often quotes poetry and ancient philosophers.

DNPC: Son Nicholas is in high school. Feels neglected since Dad spends all his time in the basement working on the EXO-6000.

Love interest: Debbie van Straus. Works with him as the new head of internal audit, discovers that Jack has been making interesting hardware purchases through payroll-deduction (allowed by corporate policy). Those purchases were for components used in EXO-6000. Debbie pieces together that he is S&R. Attracted to him before knowing, but he won’t make a move. As the story progresses, he does ask her out. Debbie is also the Damsel in Distress that S&R rescues from the BBEG. End of story, she's part of his support team and they're married.

Suit powers (everything in the original design until the villain appears will be rescue equipment and not weaponry. Some can be used as weaponry but not its original purpose):

·         Speed of thought: An inner helmet that allows Jack to operate the suit’s more advanced technology completely by thought. Plugs into his suit and is worn underneath the Power Armor helmet. Jack did not invent the helm. It was given to him in the story.

·         Searchlight

·         Ceramic plate armor that can withstand the heat from a rocket launching

·         Gauntlet blasters

·         Welder inside the gloves

·         Enhanced strength to remove debris from people

·         Jaws of life. Hydraulic blade on the hand can cut through most metal

·         Sprays flame retardant foam and fire dispersal gases

·         Life support. Can survive in deep cold or deep water. Suit regulates pressure to prevent bends on rapid resurfacing.

·         CANNOT fly (he and Peterson devise a way for the suit to operate as a motor bike for speedy movement. He still has to be wearing the suit.)

·         Medical stabilizers to use on those he rescues. Broad spectrum of antibiotics, burn creams, respirator, heart monitor and defibrillator, splints, etc.

·         Others as the story needs them. (Not wanting to limit myself at this stage.)

Personal Disadvantages:

·         Hunted: Personal Enemy (As Pow, Cap/Kill)

·         Hunted: The press 8- (Less pow, NCI, watching)

·         Psy Lim: CVK (common total)

·         Psy Lim: Naïve with women (Ver com, mod)

·         Psy Lim: Needs to prove himself (VC, strong)

·         Psy Lim: Overly protective of those close to him

·         Psy Lim: Novice hero (very common, strong)

·         DNPC-youngest child, Nicholas, is still at home. (Other two, Joan and Alexander, are in college)

·         Soc Lim: Secret Identity

·         Unluck 2d6

I don’t want innate powers in the setting. The villain is the first super villain the world has known.

I have considered the villain being after S&R’s helmet (it’s one of a kind) to power his own tech. I want the villain to be a reflection of Jack’s guilt in some manner.

Captain Underpants isn't worthy of picking up Hank's poop.

I've got my book Seven Deadly Tales on Kindle Countdown Deal right now. It hit the top 100 in three Amazon categories last night!

#55 in Christian Fantasy (books)

#66 in Christian Collection and Anthologies (books)

#77 in Christian Collections and Anthologies (Kindle)

The free upgrade is due to end on July 29, one year after Windows 10's initial release. When it goes, so too will accidental and unwanted upgrades. Nonetheless, this payout is hard to interpret as anything other than an invitation for other disgruntled Windows 10 recipients to take legal action against Microsoft. There have been rumblings of a class-action suit against the company for almost as long as the upgrade offer has been available; this court victory could provide the impetus to make that actually happen.

We can hope.

I overheard my sons talking the other day. The eldest said, "You should have come with us. I met a man with a wooden leg named Smith."

The youngest said, "And what's the name of his other leg?"