This post has nothing to do with the following film.

I’ve been trying to spend more time outside lately, engaging in activities that get me out of the house. I already go biking every weekend, weather permitting, but I don’t think that’s enough. To be completely honest, I feel useless and lazy when I stay indoors, and that’s highly irritating to me.

Fear not, I’m not ditching my indoor hobbies, like my enjoyment of books, films, and video games (I’m currently addicted to Dragon Quest IX). Time spent outside just feels better, if that makes any sense. I can do indoor stuff whenever I want; I hate wasting days with great weather.

Here’s some of the ideas I’ve come up with. Some of these ideas do involve an up-front investment, and lack of funds is often a hobby killer, but it’s still worth recording these for later reference.

• Fishing. I haven’t fished since I was about ten or eleven years old. My grandfather would take my brother and I to a large pond located near his house, and he taught us basic skills in order to catch perch and other small fish. Those skills have faded into nothingness over the past two decades, but I figure I could at least to try to recapture them. It’s fishing, not rocket science, so I’m sure I could at least become competent at spincasting and catch-and-release. Oh, and I’d definitely opt for lure fishing rather than bait fishing. For all of my love of horror movies and death metal, I still find live bait repulsive.

• Boating. Big problem with this one: I do not own a boat. Nor would I have a place to store a boat, even if I did. Oh, and I get seasick. The closest I’ll come is buying one of those inflatable raft-boats for use on lakes. I’ll look like a total dork rowing around in an air-filled dinghy, but far worse things have happened to me.
• Biking. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, biking is a standard weekend activity for me, as long as it doesn’t rain. (When it does rain, I fly into a rage, and just end up going to the gym, which isn’t nearly as fun. I already hit the gym three times a week, and while that’s healthy, it’s still an indoor activity. Plus, quite frankly…it’s boring as shit. The barbecue joint next door doesn’t help, either.) I know the technical term for biking might be “cycling,” but I think that’s more reserved for racing bicycles and folks who do all of their riding on smoothly paved roads. Since I ride on roads as well as trails, I own a hybrid bicycle as it’s simply more adaptive to different types of terrain, not to mention more comfortable. Anyway, I’m thinking of biking more during the week; it’s just difficult to work around my gym schedule at times.
• Hiking. I’ve been a fan of this leisure activity since I was a kid. Wandering and exploring the woods is always great; I just have to be cautious, as I’m severely allergic to poison ivy. For spring or fall hikes, this isn’t much of an issue, as I’ll be wearing long pants. In the summer, it’s a considerable danger. I can also mix hiking with geocaching, if I’m so inclined. I’ve already planted one cache and found a few others, but I need to get in gear and do more. The one thing that’s holding me back right now? I seriously need a new pair of hiking boots.
• Camping. My girlfriend and I were supposed to go camping this summer, but we got a bit lazy, things fell through, and all of the state campgrounds’ good spots are taken. We’re going to be much more proactive next year. Camping’s a bit more fun in the spring or fall, anyways, as nothing beats sitting by a fire at night enjoying freshly cooked meats.

Halfway through the summer isn’t the best time to have such an epiphany when it comes to outdoor activities, but it’s better than nothing, and can certainly help set the standard for next year. That is, if my notoriously short attention span can even remember or remain interested in this shit by then!

There’s been a lot of buzz building over the Scott Pilgrim comic book series lately, largely due to the live-action film adaptation being released in a few weeks. Now, I’ve never read Scott Pilgrim in its entirety — only bits and pieces here and there — so I’m no expert. I also have no desire to see the film right away, as I can’t stand Michael Cera. But I can certainly understand the comic’s appeal, especially to the Internet generation for which it is intended. It’s got a unique art style and hyperkinetic way of storytelling, and creator Bryan Lee O’Malley deserves all of the recognition and accolades he has received.

However, there’s one big problem that I have with Scott Pilgrim, and that is the central plot. It all boils down to this: the eponymous protagonist wants to date Ramona Flowers, but she requires that he defeat her six superpowered ex-boyfriends (and one ex-girlfriend!) first. The six Scott Pilgrim graphic novels detail the hero’s quest to vanquish his seven foes and get the girl.

And that’s what bugs me. Seriously, dude, if a woman is that high-maintenance…tell her to fuck off, and get someone down-to-earth! Cripes, if a woman asks you to beat up one ex, superpowered or not, that’s too much. She’s obviously more concerned witih petty revenge than you.

Come on, Scott Pilgrim. Don’t be such a pussy. Man up and get yourself a girl that respects you!

After much annoying deliberation, I’ve decided to move my remaining LEGO® models into storage. 99% of the ones currently on display are Star Wars models, and while they look great, they’re taking up space I require for other nefarious purposes. The top third of my bookshelf is filled with models, as is the top of the hutch on my desk. As I own an massive amount of books, freeing up shelves to store them is probably a good idea.

The other reason is that the models are a pain in the ass to dust. They’re made of ABS plastic, which is a dust magnet to begin with, and my apartment is carpeted, which only makes things worse. I vacuum the floors once a week, but it’s still an uphill battle. I’ve been using Swiffer dusters once a month to clean the models, which is a pretty good solution…but dust still manages to collect in the cracks and other hard-to-reach places. Compressed air can get that, but I really don’t feel like attacking my models with an air can for a few hours every month. I do not have that kind of time or patience.

One model that will not be going into storage is this massive statue of General Grievous. I have no idea how I’d safely pack that one up, and disassembly is out of the question; it took me nearly three hours to build it in the first place!

Finally, my purchasing of LEGO® sets is also going on hiatus. Aside from the obvious expense, I simply don’t have the space to display any more models! I’ve had to put plenty of them in storage before because of this, and it’s well past time I just stop feeding the vicious cycle for a while. This isn’t the end of my LEGO® fandom, fear not. Plenty of my non-Star Wars LEGO® kits are already in storage, and once I get a house, condo, or other larger living space, I fully plan to build a workshop for this sort of thing in the basement. I’ll build one hell of a diorama down there! (Including a city with a railroad, but I must complete my real model railroad first.) I’m sure I’ll get back into it in the future — I tend to rediscover my interests every few years or so — but for now, I could use a break.

A notable exception might be the collectible minifigures, as those take up very little space. (Not to mention that collecting them is highly addictive.)

(WARNING: This post is very image-intensive. Please be patient if the pictures take a while to load.)

Holy shit. I’ve owned this damned dot-com for ten years as of today. It’s come a long way from its beginnings as an online portfolio when I was job-hunting after college to its blog format today.

I purchased the liquidcross.com domain name and associated web hosting on July 23, 2000, and set it up as a place to display the artwork and other design materials I was working on in college. I was set to graduate the following semester, and I wanted something that I could easily send to prospective employers; nothing’s simpler than a web link, after all.

Over the following years, liquidcross.com went through a few visual changes, but eventually the online portfolio ceased to be relevant. In 2003, I revamped the site once more and turned it into a blog. Aside from being a method in which to teach myself Movable Type, I used it to write about all manner of stuff. In addition, I eventually created static pages that featured random articles I’d written about video games and my other hobbies, plus pages devoted to my various collections: games, models, books, et cetera.

I stopped blogging in early 2008 due to failing interest and readership, but about six months later, I was bitten by the writing bug once more. I installed WordPress and created a new blog, complete with a proper title: Text and Violence, a blog specifically designed to be an outlet for my grumblings with the world. I removed the static pages towards then end of 2009, as constantly updating them was getting tedious.

Hop into your DeLorean, kids, and check out some snapshots of the various designs that I’ve created for liquidcross.com over the years. To my great dismay, I cannot seem to locate the very first version of the site, so we’ll just have to begin with the first major revision in 2001:

Much to my chagrin, I don’t have a picture of every permutation, but that’s because I was stupid and didn’t snap them every time I created a new design. Also, as I said before, some of the very early files have sadly been lost. However, I do have a few unused designs, which have never seen the light of day…until now! Aren’t you lucky?

Other than my own personal stuff, liquidcross.com has also been home to a few subsites over the years; most notably Breakfast at Timpani’s, Iron Man 2020, and Crimson Plague.

Breakfast at Timpani’s (or B@T for short) was a superhero webcomic drawn by myself and written by my friend the Reverend, which ran from 2001-2004. It ended because real-world priorities took over, but such is life! Anyway, here’s a sample of what that site looked like:

The Iron Man 2020 site was just a shrine of sorts to a lesser-known character within the Iron Man mythos that I particularly enjoy. The site was removed in 2009.

Crimson Plague, however, had a much higher pedigree. The Crimson Plague comic book was the brainchild of legendary artist George Pérez. A science fiction horror story, Crimson Plague was notable for the fact that every single character in the book was based on a real person with the same name. Only George’s photorealistic drawing style could have made this possible. While the book had a modest web presence on the publisher’s site, I was fortunate enough to build the official Crimson Plague fansite with George’s blessing. In fact, it ended up being my senior project for my bachelor’s degree! George’s help was invaluable, and he provided me with all manner of images, scripts, and other media. Series star Dina Simmons was also incredibly helpful in promoting the site and providing content, as well! Since Crimson Plague sadly did not last, the fansite shared its fate.

Anyway, check out a screenshot:

I’ve considered reuploading the subsites for archival purposes, but some of them are so out of date and broken that it would be a colossal undertaking to make them work properly again, even just for nostalgic reasons. Still, it’s an idea…

So liquidcross.com really has a come a long way in a decade. As for what the future may hold? Honestly, I have no fucking idea. I had no clue this was what the site would evolve into when I started, so any premonitions I do have are likely to be completely wrong. As such, the only real way to find out what’s going to happen in the future is to just experience it in realtime. Here’s to many more years…

You know what’s ridiculous? People stuck on their cellphones…on the goddamned beach.

Seriously, what the fuck are you doing?! Who the hell wants to talk on the phone instead of enjoying the sun, surf, and sand?

I went to the beach over the weekend, and you could barely take a few steps without coming across someone constantly talking or texting. For them, the beach did not exist. So what was the point in even being there for these idiots? See, I’m one of those old farts who believes that when you’re vacationing, even just for a day at the beach, you should leave your daily routines behind. While there, I like to forget about everything else in the world and just relax.

My girlfriend and I want to rent a beach house for a few days next year, and we wouldn’t mind bringing some friends along. I, however, would wish to enforce a no-cellphone rule. If there’s an emergency, use the landline in the house to call 911! This stance practically guarantees that we’ll be going alone, but hey, more relaxation for us, right?

It’s very simple: your conversations, text messaging, and Twittering are not important. Get over it. They are wants, not needs. Put that shit down, and pick your head up. If you can’t live without that stuff, then don’t bother going on vacation in the first place.

If someone’s interrupting your day at the beach with their senseless yammering on the phone, just grab it and pitch it into the sea. And for added amusement, paraphrase Biff from Back to the Future II:

“You want your phone back? Go get it!”