The Sound of a Gentle Word

I am feeling rather ill right now.  In actuality I am in better health than yesterday, in which I couldn't even get out of bed to, say, reach a computer--but I still feel rather awful.  In rercent days I have been plagued by a severe stomach-ache, a splitting headache, a fever, and a general feeling of discomfort associated with various sicknesses.  I can assure you this has not been an enjoyable experience.

However, one benefit comes from being bed-ridden: the chance to read excessively.  I chewed through books during my intermittent stints of consciousness yesterday, and even found the chance to read up on PHP and MySQL--my learning of which has been peppered with procrastination.  

It goes to exemplify the fact that when life's fateful twists and turns shut a door, a window is opened.  Sometimes--oftentimes--the window is a small one-square-foot affair barely large enough to be an arrowslit, but notwithstanding...

I feel the need to inform every one of you that ice cream is quite possibly the most delicious dessert ever created by Homo sapiens sapiens.

That is all.

It is no secret that I an a huge fan of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.  Their music is incredible, blending classical style and driving Rock & Roll.  How often to you find an orchestra with liberal electric guitar use?  The "TSO," as it is abbreviated, is skilled at creating both original music as well as taking classics and reworking them into a unique new form.  You don't hear the Trans-Siberian Orchestra on the radio (save near Christmastime, when you will hear "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo" once in a while), but that's okay; you need to listen to the whole album to get the full effect, especially in the rock opera Beethoven's Last Night (which is my all-time favorite TSO album; I'm listening to it right now as I type this in fact).

Paul O'Neill said, when asked what the TSO was about: "It's about creating great art.  The purpose of art is to create an emotional response in the person that is exposed to that art. And there are three categories of art; bad art, good art and great art. Bad art will elicit no emotional response in the person that is exposed to it, i.e.; a song you hear in an elevator and it does nothing to you, a picture on a wall that gives you the same emotional response as if the wall had been blank, a movie that chews up time. Good art will make you feel an emotion that you have felt before; you see a picture of a forest and you remember the last time you went fishing with your dad, you hear a song about love and you remember the last time you were in love. Great art will make you feel an emotion you have never felt before; seeing the pieta, the world famous sculpture by Michelangelo, can cause someone to feel the pain of losing a child even if they've never had one. And when you're trying for these emotions the easiest one to trigger is anger.  Anyone can do it. Go into the street, throw a rock at someone, you will make them angry. The emotions of love, empathy and laughter are much harder to trigger, but since they operate on a deeper level, they bring a much greater reward."

Thusly, I breathe a sigh of frustration and sadness.

I went out to the stable with the intention of lunging Raz, my horse, in the riding ring to give him some exercise.  Unfortunately my plans were cut short by the discovery of a small gash on my horses's thigh.  The leg was swollen, prompting me to worry about infection.  Immediately I washed the wound, and made a makeshift icepack to keep on it for fifteen minutes.  Following this I made a fura-DMSO wrap for his leg.  

The veterinarian was summoned.  He examined Raz and gave me some medication that will have to be administered via injection.  Is it not dryly amusing how something so simple as a cut can put a horse on stall-rest?

It seems Raz will be okay.  The vet says that the wound should heal pretty quickly and the swelling will go down.  I am just happy that this is not a more common experience with me; I am blessed with a very inexpensive horse when it comes to vet bills.  Not including vaccinations and such prescheduled procedure, I have only had to call the vet out four times in all the years I have owned Raz.  He keeps out of trouble for the most part, and is still young enough that he doesn't have any problems with arthritis or joints.  Still,t he infrequency of these injuries doesn't lessen the anxiety they invoke when they do occur.

So, get better soon Raz, okay?

I drove to the comic/used-bookstore today.  I always enjoy browsing through this particular store.  In order to correctly visualize the shop, allow your imagination to paint vividly my following description: the windows and walls of the store's outside are covered in life-sized painting of various comic-book and television characters, such as Doctor Strange, Tuvok, Batman, and many more.  After pulling open the door, you are greeted by a friendly clerk and an immediate entrance to the immersive collection within.  Several rooms are filled with countless comics ranging from classics published decades upon decades ago to brand-new issues of Marvel's Civil War miniseries.  Open-lidded boxes full of comics crowd old tables, and brushing the ceiling on the top shelves, as well as hanging from the walls in copius quantities, are innumerable action figures, little plastic renditions of familiar heroes and villains.  

Even more treasures are hidden within.  Themed board games and Star Wars model kits are nestled among inflatable Spider-Men.  A bookshelf full of hardcover graphic novels lies to the right of a display containing countless assorted DVDs.  To the far right lies three rooms filled to the brim with books of all varieties.  There is no end to the fun found here.

I walked out of the store satisfied, with two Amazing Spider-Man comics featuring my all-time favorite villain, The Lizard (issues 313 and 365, the latter of which was an eighty-page thirtieth anniversary celebratory issue with a holographic cover) and a graphic novel adaptation of Shakespeare's classic tragedy, Hamlet.

Already, I find myself wanting to go back.  There is always so much to discover there, and never a short supply of entertainment.  It's all in the pages, be they textual or graphical.

The title of this post is in fact not a typo.  Thank you for your concern, though.

I know I've mentioned on BZP  the fact that I help a certain local equine rescue shelter, though I have never delved into detail.  Free Spirit (that is the name of the shelter; it is a registered non-profic organization) takes in abused, neglected, and abandoned horses and rehabilitates them, providing food, exercise, and a safe place to stay while they regain health.  After a horse has gained back its strength, it is made available for adoption to a caring owner.  

The nature of my assistance encompasses a wide variety of topics, such as creating the quarterly newsletter, maintaining the web site (which I also created...apparenlty I am a deft multi-tasker), visiting the shelter often and grooming the horses, as well as assisting at various events.  Today I was helping out at a benefit horse show to help raise funds for the shelter for an incredibly long time, and afterward had to clean my horses' stalls.  

You may extrapolate that one gets a great deal of satisfaction from this, and that is very true.  However, the fact that I wanted to help and volunteered to do so doesn't change the fact that working all day in the excruciatingly intense heat is ghastly.  Add to this the fact that I cleaned horses' stalls afterward, and I was rendered exhausted.  I think I may go to sleep and not awaken for a week.

In the end, however, it was all for a good cause, and therefore worth it.  Additionally, I read Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad today, which was not the greatest book I've ever read, but very well-written.

I plan to lapse into preordained subconsciousness (known to the general populace as "hitting the sack") shortly, so allow me to offer my humble apologies is this seems sub-par in quality, or lacks some kind of flair.  I had to rise early today, and I will have to awaken even earlier tomorrow.  These kinds of things take their toll on the lazy cerebellum.

What I wanted to make note about here was tonight's episode of "Stargate: Atlantis."  This is the only television show I regularly watch (unless you count the news, of which I watch several different forms on various stations; I like to stay informed you know).  Throughout this week I had been anticipating this episode's premiere, which would hopefully resolve a story arc that had its roots before the season gap.  The episode surprisingly started out slowly but culminated in a rollicking, shocking conclusion.  My goodness I love this show.

The episode wasn't an amazingly great one compared to some other classics in this still-new program.  However, I suspect this episode will be prominently remembered for some time to come due to its unprecedented finale.  Usually in television programs, questions of ethics, morality, the value of human life, and the definition of an enemy are not resolved in a split-second decision.  Contrarily to reality, television characters generally seem to find time to ponder over these troubling issues, and if the decision is made speedily, it falls into the less morally risky choice, even if danger will follow because of it.  

Kudos to the writers for Atlantis doing the unexpected.  In this episode, the SGA crew found themselves in an ethical emergency like described above, and Major Sheppard made the split-second decision, aware of the potential ramifications, to serve what he believed is the greater good.  Roughly 100 people--people who may have been enemies and may have not been--were killed to eradicate a large group of wraith that could have brought about an invasion of the Earth.

I cannot judge whether his decision was the correct one or not, but it was refreshing to see something different for once.  I love this show.

It seems fitting that my fifth post in this blog would commemorate five years of BZPower.  
  
I've been a registered member of this web site for over three years now, and at this moment of reflection for BZPower's half-decade anniversary, I find my thoughts drifting back throughout my time here.  I was not present for BZ's earliest days; I stumbled upon BZCommunity once, but did not linger nor register.  I rediscovered the site merged into BZPower.com later and started visiting regularly as a guest not long after the Māori incident that resulted in a switch to Invision (formerly, BZP used Ikonboard).  I devoured the up-to-the-minute news and spent countless time browsing the forums.  It finally occurred to me, after quite some time, that if I liked the site so much, I should join it.  Thusly, several months before BZPower's 2-year anniversary, I registered as an unremarkable newbie called "Smeagol4," bearing an avatar of Pohatu from the Base Gallery and a signature emblazoned with a quote from Robert Jodran's The Wheel of Time series.  I quickly discovered that enjoyment of BZPower multiplies by unprecendented degrees upon registration.  This was fun!  I began posting steadily, showcasing my mediocre MOCs and artwork, publishing my fan-fiction in the Library forums, and participating in the official BZPower Role-Playing Game.  I also made sure I knew the ordinance well and reported any rules-violating posts I saw in an attempt to help out.

Looking back these three years later, I find myself in awe of all that has happened on this site.  Back in the early days of my membership, I never would have believed that I'd see my username in green on the active user's list.  I never would have expected my humble Bohrok fic to be hailed by some as one of the best epics on BZ.  I never would have imagined I would someday co-host my favorite online RPG.  This web site has been great to me, and I hope I've managed to help it in return.  

I remember the old BZP banner, with the parabola of masks crowning the now-classic masthead.  I recall when there were separate collectibles forums, Kanohi and Krana, the latter of which later had "Kraata" added to its domain.  The time when there was only one artwork forum still seems near to me.  Countless contests are fresh in my memory, alongside the now-rare BZP Giveaways.  I still see in my memory countless retired staff members, such as Israeli Toa, GaliGee, Raptordx1, Hypermecha, Tomiam, Windrider, and so many more.  I remember when Captain Schizo was a mere ST.  

So many fond memories are forever in my mind through this site.  Thank you, Jon, Rich, Kelly, Matt, Mark, and Andrew, if I may use your first names.  Thank you for this great site and these wonderful memories.  I will treasure them.

Here's to five more years, Tohu.

Ninjo told me I should do it.

Omi told me I should do it.

I kept planning on doing it.

I just never got around to it...

That all changes now.  Minutes ago, I paid for lifetime premier membership.  And as you may have extrapolated, the good feeling of knowing you were able to help support a site you enjoy also comes with perks...such as the fact that this blog will not fall idle following the revocation of celebratory premier privileges.

Premier Membership: Helping out BZ and getting gifts too!

Essentially, what this now means to you, dear readers, is that you can now enjoy my scattered ramblings forever.  



(post scriptum: Four posts already in one day.  Apparently I'm prolific!)

I've added a fun little feature to this blog: "Most Recent MOC."  Lately I've been MOCing a great deal more than I used to, and have been striving to improve.  I've been "studying" under the tutelage of some of the best Bionicle MOCists and hope to continue bolstering the quality of my MOCs.

As for the blog feature, it is arranged in an orderly manner (let the "Linnaeus" jokes pour forth).  The MOC's name is in bold, followed by a small picture of the creation, then a link to the brickshelf gallery, and, if applicable, a link to the BZP topic in the BBC forum.

My first MOC featured is a revision of what was and now still is my best MOC to date: "Mosquito," a former BBC entry.  This version of the Mosquito has some major improvements in the abdomen and internal construction.  The photo displayed in the "Most Recent MOC" box has been color-edited in Paint Shop Pro 8 to reflect a real mosquito's coloration; unfortunately I had to use trans-blue pieces instead of red on the MOC as the necessary bricks are not available in the correct color.