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Dr. Bionicle

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  1. Dr. Bionicle
    Yeah. Just as a quick heads-up...
     
    This isn't The Academy Blog anymore. It's just The Blog. Of my rants. Yeah, TA stuff will show up, but it won't be focused there. Just my overall shenannigans.
     
    And I'll be updating everyday.
     
    Seriously.
     
    Everyday.
     
    Don't believe me?
     
    Come back tomorrow.
     
    So yes.
     
    Over and out.
     
    . Dr. B .
  2. Dr. Bionicle

    Hmmm...

    By Dr. Bionicle,

    I wonder what this button does...
     
    Oh. Errr... I guess this is a blog. Heh. Cool.
     
    Well, just poking around. I'm pretty sure I'll be frequently updating this thing...since I don't got much else to do, even with the promotion.
     
    Anyhow, this has been some cruddy introduction.
     
    Stay tuned for further stupidity/genius.
     
    Oo Dr. B oO
  3. Dr. Bionicle
    Well guys...
     
    School is back in session.
     
    From the current statistics of the RPG Contest #2 Final Poll, it looks like The Academy's up for another round.
     
    If you haven't cast your vote, do so. There are some really great entries this year besides mine.
     
    So what can we expect in the next "semester" of The Academy?
     
    -Those of you who are older members might remember that Zyrul made a visit to a man in a tavern requesting his allegiance. You'll find out what allegiance he will be giving and who his minions are.
     
    -Looking deeper into Zyrul's past. We might find out why Zyrul and Mythias were partners in the first place.
     
    -We'll find out about a new enemy of Zyrul's. One that nobody knew of or expected.
     
    -We'll discover Zyrul's mask power and why he hasn't used it yet.
     
    -Just your everyday all-out war for the good of all Matoran and Toa.
     
     
    The semester's looking good so far. I'm sure you guys will make it even better.
     
    Well don't just stand there! Get to class!
     
    Dr. B
  4. Dr. Bionicle
    Well, you've all been bugging me about dealing with Tommi. So I did. Tommi's lucky to have challenged Thunderbird. Thunderbird's actually a lot stupider about carrying out deaths. K-1 would've had him by the neck. Thunderbird would think nothing less than a grand, traditional execution.
     
     
    Turns out Pohaka's dead. Bummer.
     
    There's some kind of rogue prancing around, Slyz, whom I figured would make an appearance sooner or later. Kind of cute. What with shockwaves and those things that he calls "threats". He seems to be unstoppable at the moment.
     
    Well, at least there's good news for him.
     
    I've heard Karzahni's lovely this time of year.
     
     
    Aye, and Dyron has unleashed The Nuva. I believe GDoT wanted to face off with him. I wonder if he changed his mind. I'd like to see him try. Despite the intimidating description, there's a lot you still don't know about The Nuva.
     
     
    You should see K-1 and Kyshim face off fairly soon. Now we see who ends out on top: The Canine or the Croney.
     
     
    I plan to go on an approval spree fairly soon. So you guys will get a chance to get in on the action.
     
     
    BTW, a round of applause for -Chicken Little-, who made a brilliant Academy AC11 Poster.
     
     
    That's all.
     
    I'm out.
     
    Dr. B
     
     
     
  5. Dr. Bionicle

    Silly Tharvak

    By Dr. Bionicle,

    That made me laugh so hard.
     

    Which of course meant I had to totally blast him off the thing.
     
    As it is, I'm finding Tharvak vs Dyron very interesting at the moment. This might actually last for a while.
     
    Click here to see the latest development.
     
    . Dr. B .
  6. Dr. Bionicle
    What's up guys. It's been a while. So let me give you the update on things going on...
     
    For all my Students: Yes, I re-entered The Academy into the current RPG Contest. I said I wouldn't but you guys got me all sappy and wishy-washy. So I fell through. We're going to do it again. Whether you like it or not.
     
    As it is, the current plans are we're going to have a giant battle outside The Academy's walls. Everybody's going to be busy. Let me give you just a few spoilers and quotes from pending posts...
     
     
    ZYRUL/MYTHIAS DUEL: We'll learn something new about Zyrul's past. And we'll get a slight hint towards Mythias's plans. Not only that, we'll realize something about their partnership. Not only that, but there's something about Toa Metamorphosis we don't know about.
     
    QUOTE: Mythias laughed mockingly at his opponent. "Do you really think that once I defeat you I'll take your Academy and steal your scheme?" He knocked Zyrul's blade off his own.
     
    "This Academy of yours is nothing but a pathetic ploy of yours. You have no idea what waste you are putting the secret of Toa Metamorphosis to. You don't even know the full extent of its power."
     
    Zyrul scoffed at this. "You made clear, precise notes on your study, Mythias. You wrote the whole thing out for me on a page. I understand it completely."
     
    "Oh yes," Mythias said as he dodged a swing, "All my notes were very precise and specific. But were they ALL my notes, Zyrul?"
     
    The eyes met. Zyrul's rage began to grow. Mythias's grin grew wider.
     
    "Yes, there is a secret you have yet to unlock. One that, once in my hands, will let me go much farther than your excuse for a master plan."
     
    He blocked a blow and sent Zyrul spinning back with a wind blast. Zyrul smashed against a rock, but quickly regained himself. The two clashed swords and held them there in a lock of turmoil.
     
    "Zyrul, if you knew the secrets of Toa Metamorphosis...you wouldn't have wasted your time with The Academy."
     
    He laughed.
     
    "You'd be dominating the world."
     
     
    KYSHIM/K-1 BATTLE: This is going to be a good one. One of them will die. I will not reveal which one, though. You'll have to wait that one out.
     
    QUOTE: K-1 snarled at his opponent.
     
    "Traitor. Nothing but a traitor."
     
    Kyshim glared at him as the two worked their swords against each other. The clang of the metal pierced their ears. The blades threatened to tear apart whatever it came in contact with, whether it be armor or fur.
     
    "It's all in the line of power and survival," Kyshim responded, dodging a jab from K-1's blade.
     
    K-1 snapped his jaw towards Kyshim's throat, but he was rapped with an iron fist.
     
    "You know, we Kohm have some tradition in our species, being an intelligent sort."
     
    He leapt over a sweeping blade and brought his sword down on it.
     
    "And we have a very specific proverb about treachery."
     
    He snarled as Kyshim's fiery eyes glared at him.
     
    "If your brother claws you in the leg..."
     
    He slid Kyshim's sword smoothly out of the way and got a nice scratch across Kyshim's stomach, causing him to wince.
     
    "...turn and bite his neck."
     
     
    THUNDERBIRD: Not much will be happening yet. I have to deal with Tommi temporarily. Then we'll have a large showdown between Tawke and Gukko. No quotes.
     
     
    DYRON: We'll see some of his skills coming into play, especially in vehicle use. He will soon be entering the battlefield on a vehicle that will greatly benefit his side. It won't happen for quite some time though. No quotes.
     
     
    As it is, I've decided to turn this blog into an Academy Blog, because I figure it'd be a nice way to hear it from my point of view.
     
    Anyhow, I'll see you all later.
     
    Dr. B
  7. Dr. Bionicle
    Hey, guys! I'm back from my inactivity slump!
     
    Needless to say, there are enough great members and topics that I haven't posted in to pull me back into my frequent visits. Not to mention, after buying Dekar and Defilak and having them duke it out for a while, I'm looking for the Toa Mahri in my store. Jaller, for the win!
     
    So yeah, needless to say, I've been sort of revived in my interest.
     
    Anyway, updates...
     
    Chaos in the Deep has been a big factor in pulling me back in. My only real RPG experience has been in The Academy (save a few very newby posts in BZPRPG 2004), where I've been the big, bad villain, so RPing in a team environment has been really great for me. Especially that, as much as I love the BZPRPG, it's nice just to get into a new territory with a completely different set of characters and situations.
     
    I remember being incredibly jealous during Staff Survivor and particularly Staff Idol, so actually getting to participate in one of these Staff RPGs is really pretty sweet.
     
    Speaking of the RPGs, some major revelations are going down in the BZPRPG (as I'm sure several of my frustrated Academy Students on AIM have heard over and over ). Suva Nui will be wrapping up fairly soon, just a few things need to be taken care of. Mythias and Kyshim are in captivity, while mutant pirates are now wreaking havoc on the battlefield.
     
    Meanwhile, for those of you who have forgotten all about Mentru Corp. and Tdreeco Nachia, you'll be finding them hitting the spotlight soon. And for those of you still asking the question: "Where the cow is Kriyax?" that too will soon be revealed!
     
    So it looks like we'll be wrapping up the summer with some pretty good stuff, especially with one major revelation that none of you old Academy Students will be expecting, but have been secretly wishing for over the months.
     
    For my compatriots in the BZP Library, I'm in the pre-stages of creating a new epic. I'm taking this one slowly, as I want this to be a quality product, and to actually carry through in writing the whole thing.
     
    The subject?
     
    None other than the origin of the Six! So Academy Students, be on the lookout for some literature.
     
    Last of all, this blog has been getting fairly neglected recently. I swore that I would never promise a rate of activity, and I'm still holding to that pledge, as I hate breaking promises. All the same, I should be giving this a fair amount of entries soon.
     
    As for my personal life, right now, I'm prepping up for a trip to a wonderful camp known as Camp Barnabas, where I will be working as a volunteer. Camp Barnabas is a Christian camp that exists specifically for people with mental or physical disabilities. These range anywhere from impaired vision to autism to cancer victims.
     
    Some of you may have heard about it through an episode of "Extreme Home Makeover", where Ty Pennington and his crew came and gave the house where the family who run this camp lives a much-needed face lift. On top of that, they were gracious enough to give the camp some upgrades.
     
    I'm excited, if a little nervous, to be heading off a week from now out to Purdy, Missouri to be a Barnstormer (AKA a general camp helper). It's my first time going, hopefully the first of many trips. I've heard wonderful things and I have heard horror stories, so we'll see what happens for the week I'm there.
     
    Anyway, that's basically what's up with me right now.
     
    It's good to be back in the groove.
     
     
    Your Friendly Neighborhood,
    Dr. Bionicle

  8. Dr. Bionicle
    I think I have a new theme. When I feel up to it, I'll put a little link to a totally awesome BZP-appropriate song at the beginning of my entry with which you can serinade the entry. Most everything I put up will be found via Dogpile's Audio Search.
     
    So anyway, for a starter, here is Flight of the Thunderbird.
     
    The background for this little ditty goes back to 7th Grade. At that time, our little band was under the direction of a brilliant man named Mr. Kelly. While 7th Grade bands are usually aimed to simply improve from the loathed 6th Grade bands (shudder), our band went above and beyond. I'm not one to usually gloat about my own band, but 7th Grade was pretty awesome. For my fellow band geeks, I'm going to detail each section to you. For my unfellow not-band-geeks...well...you might want to wait for my next entry, because this will probably bore you.
     
    Trumpets: THE most nefarious section of ANY Junior High Band. There are so many reasons that Trumpets tend to sound bad. One, in 7th Grade Band, there is no auditioning for a higher or lower band. Two, Trumpet is the instrument a majority of kids take up when their parents force them to play an instrument (besides clarinet). And third, there's a freakin' LOT of 'em. We had a total of fourteen trumpets, about six of which were actually dedicated to the band and the music.
     
    Now, being the largest section, there are a few things bound to come up. Trumpets are ALWAYS...
    The loudest The blattiest The most out-of-tune (save Low Brass) The worst-sounding section This is no offense to any trumpets, as I am only observing my own band, and it isn't totally their fault. There were some golden trumpets in that group. But there were a lot of burlap trumpets too. This group didn't suffer from talent, it suffered from a lack of work ethic. A great amount of trumpets never practiced or ever put forth any effort at all.  
    Suffice to say, only the gold nuggets made it to the Symphonic Band next year and outplayed the 9th Graders by chairs.
     
     
    Trombones: Put a big instrument with a slide in a 4th Grader's hand, tell him to blow, and move the slide up and down randomly. That is your average 7th Grade Trombone in the 2005-2006 7th Grade Band. Honestly, a good deal of these people were not the kind of people you want to be put on such a specific instrument. The trombones were of about eight, and only two or three made the sound.
     
    Our trombone section was unique in that instead of us always telling them to back off (like the Trumpets), we always had to tell them to play out. We had a remarkable first chair who could belt like nobody's business, and he was the trombone section in and of himself. Tell the section to play, then tell Mitch to play, and you don't get a whole lot of difference. He reigned over the Trombones, and not surprisingly, he was the only one that advanced into Symphonic Band.
     
    I'm happy to say that everyone in that group improved drastically. People who were pulling their slides out could articulate a scale and play through a piece fairly well. Still, improvement is a gradual thing, and if you aren't there, then you just aren't there yet.
     
     
    Tubas: There's very little that I can say about them because there were only two and you could never hear them. Tubas are hard enough to hear when they have their notes down, but our Tubas had the chronic problem of not knowing your fingerings. Really, this was a lost section, and it might've been a good thing that nobody ever heard them. Still, one's in Symphonic Band, and he's getting much, much better now.
     
    And for those of you that scorn Tubas, try to play a scale on one of those things. That's a lot of tube for one breath.
     
     
    Baritones: Now if there was any section that was on top of their game, it was the Euphoniums. Two players, two, and they powered the Low Brass. And they could cover for each other. If one was gone, you hardly even noticed. These two were the ultimate rivals as far as chairs go, and it was always the question of the week who would come out on top. Really, these people have got good hope for a career (or at least a profitable hobby) if they keep it up.
     
     
    French Horns: It's so hard to stay objective about your own section. I'd love to tell you that we were the most amazing horns you've heard since Dennis Braun, but that would be untrue. Truth is, at the beginning of the year, we were all pretty horrible. Like most horn sections I hear, we faced some of the common horn problems:
    You could never hear us in full band Problem with close notes High notes  
    Needless to say, we were pretty bad. Then my friend Ian and I discovered something called 'breathing'. This changed our whole way of playing. Finally, Mr. Kelly was telling us to tone it down instead of bring it out. Unfortunately, the three other horns never fully discovered this technique (though the one that is still playing certainly is getting there). I'm happy to say that the Horns were one of the more appreciated sections of the 7th Grade (particularly on the song you are/were/didn't bother listening to) and Mr. Kelly loved us.
     
    In 8th Grade, Ian and I advanced. The third chair converted to Percussion, the fourth chair moved on to be the first chair of the Concert Band, and the fifth chair decided to use Choir as her fine arts requirement instead. We still have a killer Horn section, though, and I can say that with no guilt.
     
     
    Percussion: The remarkable thing about this percussion section is that, at the beginning of the year, only two of them could actually count. This is actually a pretty chronic problem among 7th Grade Bands. Of course, they knew their quarters and their half notes and their eighths, but get into sixteenths and you're in a whole new world. I have a good deal of appreciation and pity for percussionists, who have to drill themselves on rhythm day in and day out. If I get a rhythm wrong, but still play the right notes, it still sounds fairly decent. You can't really do that in Percussion.
     
    We had some amazing snare drum players, some sturdy bass drum players, and some good bell players. The real problem was the Timpani. You couldn't get the thing loud enough. And when you're playing something like Duel of the Fates, you really need that thing to boom.
     
    Overall, they definitely got drilled their 7th Grade year, and those who deserved it got into Symphonic Band. And we love 'em for it.
     
     
    Saxaphones: This, without any doubt whatsoever, was the best woodwind section, and possibly the best section in the whole band. They knew their stuff. Rhythms, down, notes, down, everything. The last chair was insanely good, and the other two were constantly battling over first. There isn't much I can say about this group except that Symphonic Band wouldn't be the same without them.
     
     
    Clarinets: Oi. Much like trumpets, this was the biggest group and the most hazardous. Clarinets have a great potential to not get their notes right. We did have some great players in there, but we also had some not-so-great. Unfortunately, I can't exactly say that they improved very much because only those who had been good at the beginning of the year went onto Symphonic Band while the others either dropped out or went to Concert Band (where, actually, a few of them are starting to sound really good).
     
     
    Oboe: I'm sorry, but I have this thing against oboes. Nothing against oboe players, I have the utmost respect for you picking such a difficult instrument, but I can't stand the sound of those things. The reason why? I'm used to hearing Junior High Oboe. The definition of a Junior High oboe (here, anyway) is most commonly "out-of-tune". This guy knew his notes and his rhythms, but he was out-of-tune.
     
    And I can't say I care all too much for the sound of the things at any length. That's just my opinion there, so feel free to hit me in the face with an Italian Pie if you want.
     
     
    Bassoon: This guy has the loudest foot tap you will ever hear in your entire life. He wears sandals that are amazingly thick and make such a noise on the floor of a band room that you wouldn't believe. Unfortunately, for someone with such a monstrous foot tap, he has trouble with rhythm. He knows his notes and is good at fingerings, but rhythms are confusing to him, and he's actually capable of throwing off a whole woodwind section when he's tapping out of rhythm.
     
    He's in Symphonic Band and he's much better now, but he's still got that Godzilla foot tap.
     
     
    Flutes: Well, flutes are a lot like trumpets. There are some extremely amazing and gifted people...and then the rest are kind of bleh. The flutes were a good section last year, but it took a lot of hard work to get them there. And I'm not surprised, flute is hard. It takes twice as much air, it has a difficult mouthpiece, and there's a lot of fingerings. We were lucky in the fact that our flutes weren't overly dominant, but weren't background noise either. We had a good, strong flute section.
     
    Our Symphonic Band flute section is amazing, hands down, and the others that are still doing it are probably the most amazing section if Concert Band. So rock on, flutists.
     
     
    Bass Clarinets: I could never hear these guys, I'm afraid. They're rocking this year, but I just couldn't hear them in 7th Grade.
     
     
     
    So yeah, that's just an overview of my band. I know, you're probably thinking "Why'd he have to tell us all that?!" Well...it's a blog. And I'm trying to get this thing active again, so you might have to wade through some entries like this. Sorry.
     
    Band Geeks forever.
     
    Dr. B
  9. Dr. Bionicle
    Well, yesterday was fun. We had our own personal Thanksgiving yesterday with our family here in Kansas because over Thanksgiving Break we're going to Kentucky to my aunt's place and having a Thanksgiving there.
     
    You know that wave of Christmas anticipation you feel when Thanksgiving ends?
     
    Yeah. Boom. I got a major case of it yesterday.
     
    My sister made some absolutely amazing food. The turkey was great, the stuffing was excellent, and it was so good I was about ready to puke by the end of the day. My grandparents and cousin shared our Thanksgiving, and it got to a point where there was food spraying across the table because we were laughing so much.
     
    Now here I am, in tomorrow-land, with it feeling like Christmas should take over the wheel.
     
    Oh, and I guess I should explain something. Every year my siblings and I put on a little performance for our parents on Christmas night. Sometimes it's heavily rehearsed, sometimes it's almost completely improvisation. We've had many memorable plays with Court TV, game shows, commercials, talent segments, and yours truly doing a spastic rendition of "I'm a Train" as performed by the King Singers. Our parents have taped all of these performances so that today we watched them and just about went into another foodspray.
     
    Granted, part of the humor was that the first play was in '02, back when I was a head and a half shorter, about an octave higher, and wasn't developing facial hair.
     
    But besides that, I've realized that almost every play we've done has been based off of the audio series 'Adventures in Odyssey'. It's a great series and we get some great plays from it, but we haven't done a lot of very...original skits.
     
    This year, with the middle sibling taking over the writer's position, that changes.
     
    Our theme this year is fairly simple. Here's the situation:
     
    Five/four (depends on whether my little brother will count or not) people are out Christmas caroling. They go around "town", almost always being split up (since we only have a cast of five) and experiencing some strange situations. From wrestling with a bell ringing Santa to the tune of Carol of the Bells to irritating "neighbors" with a terrible rendition of Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!, this will be a fun play to put on. Not only will there be singing (as we have attempted to put into every play) but we can actually do bad singing.
     
    The problem?
     
    All of the scenes (most of them, anyway) have to conform to a Christmas carol.
     
    Thus far, here's what we have on the drawing board:
     
    -Carol of the Bells: Fight with bell-ringing Santa
    -Hark! The Herald Angels Sing: Some "out-of-tune angels".
    -Silent Night: A soloist who doesn't understand the meaning of piano singing out to a very noisy neighborhood.
    -It's Cold Outside: A rewritten version where a freezing caroler is trying to persuade a sleepy homeowner to let him in for a few minutes.
    -Silver Bells: A lulling piece, save the fact that one of the caroler's picked up the wrong set of handbells.
    -Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: A carol that would be cute if the dog who was supposed to be Rudolph didn't suddenly decide to have a revolution.
    -It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year: The one carol where absolutely everything just goes wrong.
     
    Those are our ideas. If you have anymore, please post them! We'd greatly appreciate it.
     
     
    Cheerily,
    Dr. Bionicle
  10. Dr. Bionicle

    Happy Dirtday!

    By Dr. Bionicle,

    You'll have to excuse the title, but unless you're familiar with Gus from Cinderella and my three sisters, you're not going to get it.
     
    Anyhow, yesterday marked BZPower's 5th Anniversary. Pretty sweet. Five's a nice milestone.
     
    I've been all giddy due to the return of my rank image and my blog, and this has convinced me to finally send in my donation for another year of Premier Membership (though, due to my mostly having twenties, Big D's gonna have a lot of quarters to count).
     
    I was secretly wishing for a giveaway or something of that sort, but I can live without it. If I remember correctly, last year they gave away a prototype Pahrak and...I think it was an Iruini with the canister signed by GregF. Hm. Can't really remember. That was a cool little contest, though.
     
    Along with every BZPower Anniversary, we get to see Big D/Hapori Tohu's spinny change. Hapori Tohu got to me first (due to an interesting little link in Cap'n Exo's signature). The Olmak is officially the new five-year spinny.
     
    Mahalis always does a great job with spinnies. He designs them quite well.
     
    I'm just going to give you my preferences on the spinnies for the first five year milestones. I'm not saying anything about design, simply about selection.
     
    Year 1 - Vahi: This was a really nice choice. This is a very neutral mask that doesn't favor any real character except possibly Tahu (though it was capable of use by other Toa in the Bionicle PC Game, which crashed and burned in 2001). It was a nice little way to mark your first year at BZPower, with something that represents time.
     
    Year 2 - Avohkii: Another good choice, seeing as the Avohkii was basically center of attention at that point in time. While it did slightly favor Ta-Koro, Takanuva was a very neutral character as the Toa of Light. It's another nice little trademark.
     
    Year 3 - Great Huna: While I don't care too much for the idea of sticking to one specific division, I can't really think of any better choice at the time. I don't believe we had much info on Lhikan's set before the spinny was made, though I could be wrong. There wasn't really any better choice besides Vakama's Huna, due to the lack of masks/faces. The only choice that would seem neutral enough would be the Noble Kiril, and that yet again was a Ta-Based character. I think the Great Huna, however, gives a certain feeling of veteranship, considering how long ago the Toa Metru fought and how they are now.
     
    Year 4 - Norik Head: Yeah, this one was meant to make you feel old. You're now represented by a hunched-over elder. I personally like this spinny because of that very feeling of veteranship, even if it does stick back to Ta roots. Some people were vouching for a Rhotuka, but that just seemed kind of 'Bleh' to me. I like the idea of the Rahaga head, due to its "ancient" feeling.
     
    Year 5 - Olmak: We kind of take a step up here. We go from hunched-over old guy to big, titanic warrior with double blades and claws. Brutaka was a good choice, considering the fact he's been around since the first Toa (making him older than Norik) but the concept is still a little strange. This is also the real bad guy we've had for a spinny, compared with Good Guys and Neutralities. I think I would've liked to see an Ignika spinny, though there might not have been enough information on it at the time the spinny was being decided. What would've been really cool would've been if it did a kind of 'tumble' sequence where it would not only spin around but also spin vertically so that you could see both sides of the Ignika (Vezon and the Mask). Fenrakk would've been pretty nifty too. But of course, Brutaka does have that one little flash that neither of those two choices have: Gold. ^^
     
    There ya have it.
     
    Yeah, that's basically what my blog's gonna be like, just me putting in my opinion on things. Little stories here and there, maybe.
     
    Anyhow, that's basically it for now. I might put up another entry later today.
     
    Yours Truly,
    Dr. Bionicle
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