joe randel's art dump

Happy Thanksgiving America… you do know that this actually happened a month ago right? ^_^

Ummm… let’s see… what can I write about today?

Oh, I know.  Have you heard about this guy?

He’s a 78 year old man in Japan and he LOVES his American made first person shooters.  Yup, you read that right…. love’s em.

Akira Kitajima first started on DOOM II when he was 65 and never looked back.  Now he even has a web site up with a list of games he’s played and the walkthroughs he’s made up for them.  That’s hardcore in my books.  I’ve been playing games since I knew what they where and I’ve NEVER written a walkthrough (and I don’t plan on it ether).  He has some 25 titles under his belt and is waiting, and wondering, if Far Cry 2 will ever make it to Japan.

Good on ya old man.  I hope I’m as hardcore as you are when I reach that age.

Funny how as we get older we’ll pick up new hobbies we might not have been interested in our younger days.  I have a friend who’s Dad took up wine tasting after he retired.  Took classes on it and now makes his own.  Crazy… I wonder what things I’ll want to try when I get on in years…

Oh, and congrats America on the largest simultaneous rick roll during your Thanksgiving day parade. ^_^

Today, I was feeling bummed and a bit depressed over the whole “studio might be going down the tubes” thing so I doodled somethings for my daughter over MSN Messenger.

I liked them so much I thought I would share them. It started with me drawing a dinosaur in reference to an old computer. My daughter saw it and asked for a princess. After that a few of those I thought the two might want to get together. My favorite is the one where the dino is wearing the crown. ^_^

When the sketch option in MSN came about I thought it was great. I used it to draw funny pictures for people. But the thing is… if the other person doesn’t draw (or have a tablet), then you don’t really get any in return. Oh well, I still have fun drawing things for people.

My sister in law actually prints them out and puts them on her cork board. That’s me… making people happy one doodle at a time. ^_^

Got the word yesterday that the studio is cutting the amount of work hours by 15%.  Why?  Because it looks like we’re going to lose another project.  Publishers aren’t paying the studio for the work we’re doing.  Why aren’t they paying?  Because they’re not getting any money from the distributors for the games they’re publishing because of the crap-tastic economy.

Joy…

So yeah, next month my pay will be 15% less then normal.  I’ve already made contacts with people that I know in close by studios.  Maybe get a tip on what they’re looking for in a folio that will help get me in the door.

Man am I depressed.

Best guess is that the studio will live until February and then it’ll be done.

I hope I’m wrong.

I’m currently playing through Mega Man ZX Advent on expert. It’s hard. Really hard, bit not impossible. I actually have been through all the Mega Man Zero games on GBA on the hardest settings and loved it. It all boils down to watching the enemy patterns and being in the right spot to avoid taking damage and attacking at the proper times. It’s even possible to do boss encounters with out taking a hit (I’ve done it).

I don’t usually do the hard modes of game as I find them cheap rather then hard but I do enjoy the Mega Man difficulties. They seem more planned out rather then just jack up enemy damage.

So what about you? Do you bother with the higher difficulties in games? Do you just play the normal settings and that’s it? Or do you jump right in on the hardest setting as soon as you start up the game?

Or are you a wuss that only plays on the easy settings so you can rip though a game and give yourself a false feeling of accomplishment.

That’s right, I said it…

So today as I drove out to the WalMart Super Centre I got lost and drove out to the country a bit.  It’s not a big deal.  I actually like to get lost as I never feel that I am actually… lost.  Logic will get me back on track.  it always does.

Anyway, that’s not what this post is about.  This post is about getting older and discovering more about yourself.  As I drove I looked at the homes out in the country and found my self longing to own one.  A nice one with a huge lot that backs up on to a nice piece of wooed area for my kids (and myself) to explore.  It would be quiet and peaceful… and wonderful.  The last few times I’ve driven out side of the the city I’ve actually found myself thinking these thoughts.  I even feel a huge urge to stop the van and run out in to one of those fields and explore the small patches of wooded areas or even check out those lone trees you see in farmers fields.  I really can’t explain it more then that.  Strange…

I remember when I was young I loved the city.  I never really wanted to live in a house and thought my Dad was crazy for living way out in the middle of ass crack nowhere.  Now the older I get the more I want those things (I already have the house part).  Will I get it some day?  Who knows, but I do think it’s interesting that as we get older, tastes start to change and I think we begin to find out who we really are.  We might even find that we’ve been fooling ourselves the whole time.

Yeah…  I totally have nothing to post about tonight.

ummm…

yeah…

oh!  Look!  I have 100 posts left to go to make it to one post a day for a year!  We’re in the home stretch now I tells ya.

…

good night ^_^