Rambiling's from the Midwest

Tru Loved wins Santa Cruz film festivals Audience Award

2008-05-25T13:49:00.000-07:00

The film Tru Loved just won the 2008 Santa Cruz Film Festival Audience award.

"I could tell the audience in Santa Cruz loved the movie, but I honestly wasn't expecting to win an audience award. I didn't even see any ballots, and I don't think any of the people I'd brought got to vote. That could be because we were swarmed by folks after the screening who wanted to talk and tell us how much they loved the movie." director Stewart Wade said of the award.

I am very happy that it was such a hit with the audience and I hope that there are many more awards for the film.

Childhood's End - A Tribute to Arthur C. Clarke

2008-05-06T21:20:00.000-07:00

Something that I've have a vested interest in is a project called, Childhood's End - A Tribute to Arthur C. Clarke. I have been putting together the graphics for this and have also done a piece of art work, as well as have a song on the album.

Frank Chase has kindly given us permission to use two pieces of artwork that he did for Arthur C. Clarke. Arthur hung them in his living room. These pieces will be included in the liner of the album. Frank's work is also on the album cover, which is in the lower right corner.

The album will be released soon and as you can see is truely full of stars.

Peace and Harmony

Steve

RIAA gets hammered by Florida judge

2008-05-06T13:22:00.000-07:00

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is going to have to face the music in Tampa, Florida, and answer the charges of extortion, trespass, conspiracy, unlicensed investigation, and computer fraud and abuse which have been leveled against them there. And the judge delivered his ruling against them in in pretty unceremonious fashion — receiving their dismissal motion last night, and denying the motion this morning. The RIAA's unvarying M.O., when hit with counterclaims, is to make a motion to dismiss them. It did just that in one Tampa case, but the judge upheld 5 of the 6 counterclaims. The RIAA quickly settled that one. When a new case came up in the same Tampa courthouse before the very same judge, and the same 5 counterclaims were leveled against the record companies. They in essence "thumbed their nose" at the judge, going ahead and making the dismissal motion anyway, telling District Judge Richard A. Lazzara that his earlier decision was wrong. The judge wasted no time telling the record companies that he did not agree.

The "Green" movement

2008-04-21T12:03:00.000-07:00

It's the "Green" movement everybody! Hey jump on to the band wagon and flavor of the year. Save the planet, save your country, save yourself by going "Green". How about saving your green?

The major corporations sure have jumped at this. Why? What a great PR and Marketing campaign. They want to go green alright, they want your green, as in that green money that is burning a hole in your pocket to save the world. Have you noticed that anything with the tag of being green is more expensive? Hmmm..... you'd think that things that are eco friendly would be cheaper, because they are a natural product and self replenishing.

Why you silly consumer, of course not, it's new , it's hot, it's all the rage! Therefore you must pay more for it! Some of it has been on the shelves for years, and just repackaged for your green shopping pleasure. What about the bottles and packages that the supposedly green product is in. Is that eco friendly and safe?

How do you get those raspberries in January? Flown in from Chile on a 747, vegetables, textiles, you name it, either flown in or shipped in. That's green alright. A pack of Marlboro cigarettes is more green that 90% of the products you are buying.

Your not saving anything, especially your green.

Tru Loved music

2008-04-07T14:13:00.000-07:00

I recently had some music placed in the film Tru Loved.

If your interested in what the movie is all about you can go to their site here:

Tru Loved

Steve

Something's on the Horizon

2008-03-27T14:01:00.000-07:00

I've contributed to a project that will be release in this year.

W.W. I Game "Verdun"

2008-03-09T12:47:00.000-07:00

There is a new game being developed by a group of individuals currently that is based on W.W. I called Verdun. The game is a First Person Shooter (FPS) starting at the time that the battle of Verdun in France was waged in 1916. The battle of Verdun is considered the greatest and lengthiest in world history. Never before or since has there been such a lengthy battle, involving so many men, situated on such a tiny piece of land. The battle, which lasted from 21 February 1916 until 19 December 1916 caused over an estimated 700,000 casualties (dead, wounded and missing).

The first thing that comes to mind when most people thing of W.W. I battles is trench warfare. A lot of peoples thinking of this comes from the movies and T.V. shows that portray that. Indeed there was trench warfare going on, however there were also a lot of battles outside the trenches. The game Verdun is not solely concentrating on the trench warfare and will include several maps with out said trenches. So far it looks like it going to be a good game to play and best of all it will initially be a free game.

Here is some preliminary information from the site:

Nations
The first versions of Verdun will feature 3 factions directly involved in the battle of Verdun. Find yourself in the epic struggle around the fortresses of Verdun in 1916 as either a French or a German soldier. Or see some action as a rookie American marine in the Meuse Argonne offensive in 1918.

Later on, Verdun will also include the British, Canadian, ANZAC and Belgian forces in the western front battles of the Somme, Ypres, Vimy and Cambrai. In later releases we are especially interested in the Italian front with fighting between the Italian and Austria-Hungarian forces in mountainious settings. The lesser known battles of the eastern front will not be forgotten; not to mention the Mesopotamian and Galipoli front. With the community growing and with more people on the team this shouldn't be hard to realize soon.

Locations
In Verdun a variety of locations will be offered. You will meet your opponent in the shell-torn landscapes which dominated the Verdun salient. Maps that are going to be added contain names like Cote 304, Mort Homme and Fort Vaux/Douaumont for the French/German 1916 campaign. Trench warfare will be the main theme of this campaign with claustrofobic close combat, nightly trench raids, and massive infantry charges. Indoor locations like Fort Vaux and Douaumont, as well as some destroyed villages will be featured.

The American part will have a different theme, this time the front is more mobile. You will see the Meuse Argonne battle first hand while entering the Argonne forest, clearing huge bunker complexes. Another part will be the Meuse plains behind the Verdun front where you will face elite German sniper teams and machine gun outposts.

Features

Multiplayer
Verdun will initially focus on multi player, AI support will be included when the resources are available. Verdun multi player will feature up to 64 player support to ensure some really explosive battles.

Game modes
In the first version you'll be able to play free for all and team death match. Where you will either take on any opponent on the battlefield or soldiers from the opposing faction.
In later versions we will include objective based matches, capture the flag and new innovating trench warfare type matches which will come to the light further down the development line.
Verdun will try to be innovative, but at the same time tries to keep cool and not overambitious. Because of this the more interesting new game play will be included ones we have a base to work with. This will be more fun for the players because they will be able to play the game earlier, as well as for the developers because of the time saved.

Iron sights
In Verdun all firearms will receive iron sights, so the player can look down them in order to get a clear aim on the target. Some rifles will have removable sights which must be mounted prior to taking aim. Per default, the rifle is held at chest level. The sights will allow you to raise your rifle in front of your face in order to have a good view. During this mode you will not be able to run or sprint.

Sprinting
In a certain situation you might want to sprint to or from a fight, or charge the enemy position. Verdun will feature a stamina indicator which will display the amount of stamina left during the sprint. Depending on the equipment, and the weapon held, the speed at which you can sprint will vary. You are able to fire a weapon while sprinting, the accuracy will decrease significantly.

Enhanced team play
For Verdun we have some nice plans worked out considering team play. We want to force people to work together more by rewarding it. Team members will receive all sorts of bonus features when sticking close to a squad captain.

Squad teamplay
Currently on the drawingtable. The Squad creation ability will allow players to create there own type of squads. Each type of squad has his own range of weapons and will form a kind of sub-faction. Examples of these are: Raid, machine gun, stormtroop, centry and rifleman squads. For example you can only choose the trench club when you join a raid squad. Or the famous mp18i when you join a squad of stormtroopers. More advantages are linked to joining a squad, for instance centry squads can carry a body armor for more protection. Each factions has different types of squads and this makes the game more interesting and never the same to play.

Inventory
For later versions of Verdun, besides the squad based game play, we will add a drag-and-drop inventory system. Which allow the player to customize their equipment. This also depends on the type of squad. Players can create equipment packs for each type of squad with the range of unique squad inventory items and weaponry. They can pack until the weight reaches it's maximum. By adding more weight, the speed at which can be run/sprinted is decreased dramatically. So a good balance of equipment is necessary to survive on the battlefield.

If your interested in this, here is the link to the official site: http://verdun-online.com/index.php