Personal Project: Force Pike – Update and Shopping List

*1. Pool Cue at least 48″ in length – I actually found this at Dunham Sports here near me. You can check the website, but the actual stores have random sizes of pool sticks that I believe have been used before, or are just a cheaper brand. Either way, I got it for about 11 dollars instead of paying 25 plus on it. Yay for me!

*2. Backflow Prevention Valve – Only recently found a new source for this one, which is one of the things holding this project up. Anyway, I managed to get a few dollars shaved off the price here, so thinking I shall go with the new updated link here.

*3. Brass Craft Lavatory Handles

4. Multiflex Riser 1/2 x 4 inch – Finally found this bastard! Not sure why it took so long, just did a quick google search tonight and found one in 2 minutes. I guess perhaps I was spelling it wrong, but either way, I found one now! ***EDIT*** I have found a much cheaper option for this piece which I have now changed the link above to be the new one. Plus if I ever needed this site lets you order in bulk as well 😀

*5. 1″ x 3/4″ Copper Reducer

*6. Deleted for redundency

*7. 3/8″ wooden Dowel

*8. 7/8″ Black Plastic Endcap
Ordered for Free through Alliance Plastics.

*9. Black O-Ring Approx. 3/4″ (These can be found at home depot for dirt cheap it appears. Bought by the bag of 10 looking like for around a few dollars)

10. Seal off Adaptor  – Going to give this one a shot, I am not 100% sure its the right size, but the shape is right. If its the wrong size I shall post here.

*11. Bolts, Washers (these are easy to find at any home supply store, just need to figure out the sizes and buy them.)

*12. Black Corrugated Tubing

With all the pieces found now, I just got to order them! That will take me a bit, as there are a couple of different places I need to order from. I could probably save a little bit if I went to the stores to find all the pieces, but I really have little interest in doing that currently, just dont have the time to be honest.

With the pool stick, I need to start sanding it down to get rid of the color and finish, as well as any indentions as well. Then I will need to cut it down to the correct height also, that is the part that most worries me, as if I cut it wrong, I may have to buy a new pool stick, which would not be cool.

Also, picked up a few things to use as, err, reference? Or it could possibly be because I am just that big of a dork and just had to have it, I will let you decide.

Otherwise though, here is what the two pieces I currently have in my possession look like. Its a start towards completion 🙂

The blue cap on the top is the piece I got for free, worked out nicely as I didnt expect it to be soo tiny! Anyway, this will be the last update for a bit, going on vacation for a week, then once I come back hopefully have all sorts of pictures to post as well as getting time to finally get down and dirty towards this project.

See ya soon 🙂

Review: Star Wars – Jedi Search by Kevin J. Anderson

It was a bit different for me to go back and to read this trilogy when I did. I am normally a stickler for reading things in order and for the most part I have stuck to this philosophy even when reading. Sadly though when I first started reading the Star Wars novels about 15 years ago now, I did not have this rule. So everything pre-Vector Prime, has sort of been read in a haphazard way. (I was around 15 when I started reading, give a kid a break.)

Anyway, because of this, reading this book was a bit odd, as having read everything since Vector Prime in order, having also read “I, Jedi” by Michael Stackpole, which takes place during the events of these books. It left me constantly wondering if I had read these before. I almost gave up several times because everything seemed so similar that I thought I had to have read this before! The problem arose that a lot of the books I had bought prior to a few years ago are all in storage, so I do not have access to them. Anyway though, glad I stuck it out, as I know I have not read them, would have missed out on a good read had I quit.

The premise for Jedi Search has the republic trying to build itself up still from the foundations that were put in place once the New Republic was founded. Having to rely on the diplomats to try to bring disputes under control, without the need for military intervention, brings us to Han and Chewbacca going back to their old haunts on Kessel. Where Hand and Chewbacca are supposed to meet with the current administrator of the facility to try to bring them into the New Republic arms, as the planet is the only place to get pure glitterstim, a valuable commodity used for its telepathic abilities, among other things. (Those of you who watched Episode 2: Attack of the Clones, may remember that it’s also a drug, a psychedelic. Naturally.)

In the process of trying to get to talks with the planet of Kessel, the Falcon is shot down and Han and Chewbacca survive only to find that the planet is under the control of Moruth Doole, who was the unfortunate seller of the spice that Han and Chewy dropped all those years ago which resulted in the price being put on his head by Jabba the Hutt. (Finally figuring out what was the cause of the price on Hans head)

In addition, Luke Skywalker is trying to bargain for a chance to reinstitute a new Jedi Academy as well. In addition to finding out where it will be housed, he needs to find new students as well. Finding a person by the name of Gantoris on the doomed planet Eol Sha. Though it seems leading to their meeting, Gantoris has been plagued by dreams of a Dark man. Thinking that this person is Luke, he puts Luke through a set of trials which could lead to Luke’s death if he fails any of them.

I enjoyed this book thoroughly to be honest, knowing it is a part of a 3 part series, it left many more questions than it answered. But we are introduced to many mainstay characters of the Star Wars universe, including Kyp Durron, who plays a larger part in the subsequent books. It begins building to a tense conclusion of which leads to many events to take place in the next book. The thing I think I did not like about this, was the fact, that had I read this book as it first released, I would have probably enjoyed it more not knowing really what’s going to happen. Having read the new books as far as I have though, which takes events some 30 years into the future, I already knew who was going to live, die, and how everything was going to play out. I just got all of the little details built in now.

Otherwise though, this was a great read which I am still glad to have read, just wish I would have read it about 10 years ago.

Rating: 9/10

Review: Star Wars – Allegiance by Timothy Zahn

Timothy Zahn has been one of the better and most consistant authors to have graced that Star Wars universe, in my opinion at least. He has created many of my personal favorite characters from inside the expanded universe, including but not limited to, Mara Jade (both hero and villian) and Grand Admiral Thrawn ( one of the best villians ever in a book). Though over the course of the books he has written, it always appears that the books are part of a larger story arc that has not yet come to fruition. I always keep expecting Thrawn to rise from the ashes to make a glorious come back in the name of the empire. Sadly, that has not happened yet, but I am very glad that Zahn and those who sign the writers, have not left these characters whose still got so much backstory to delve into, to rot and leave in obscurity.

In Allegiance, Timothy Zahn goes back to prior to even the Empire Strikes Back movie, to delve into the past of the character Mara Jade, who is by far, my favorite female character from not just the expanded universe, but in general out of the entire Star Wars realm of history. No other character has both that strength and fragility about them but yet is still managed to be believable. This time though, we get a taste of what it was like for her to work for the man, The Emperor himself, as the Emperors Hand. Through out the other books, we have gotten tid bits of what it was like for her, to kill without thought, just because it was her mission, but never before have we gotten a chance to read it first hand.

The story starts you out with the first of three sets of sub-stories going on here. In one corner you got Mara Jade who starts off going after a Governor of a star system thought to be committing treason against the empire. Searching through his merchandise she finds the information needed to accuse him of his excess, which could only be on account of him embezzeling, but she discovers some paintings as well, which leads her to the bigger story at large her. In the next corner, we got the five imperial stormtroopers, who, after refusing to follow orders to shoot all citizens in a supposed rebel village (most at least didn’t follow the order), they are accused of possible treason by an elite officer from the ISB. (Think of it as being the nazi SS, or the futuristic equivelent). After a minor scuffle, they are forced to run or else be brought on trial for the murder of the ISB officer.Then in the last corner, we have our ever so lovely rebels. We got the still farmboyish Luke Skywalker, the scruffy looking Han Solo, Chewbacca, the droids as well as her royal highness Leia. Now I must say, while they seem to play one of the three major parts of the book, they are sort of in here I think to just get the story rolling, as they really play a overall minor roll. The main focus of the story here is Mara and the stormtrooper squad.

The stories of all three of these come together when a pirate group has been consolidating power in the Shelsha sector of the outer rim. Through a group of events which nearly has all three of them cascading into each other at almost any point of the story, for the most part, none of them ever meet up more so till the end of the story. I was worried about this myself, as I know Mara was not supposed to meet skywalker till she played her part as Arica on Jabba’s palace in Return of the Jedi, but the inter weaving stories was handled expertly by Zahn and at no point did the stories converge exactly.

The one thing I really loved about this story was the going back to learn more about the Emperors Hand. As always in other books, Mara has always described herself as a merciless killer. Which, coming from someone who was personally trained by the Emperor himself (I mean look at Vader, who was also Trained mostly by the Emperor, perhaps not so much trained but for sure twisted). In this book Mara is around the age of 18 or so, still a child in all respects, but she relates to the Emperor as a “wise and good man”, as one would probably see their own father. You figure though, she has probably been trained for years before this, as such, he has been with her most of her life, as such, she would see the “good” in him. In this story, she don’t come across as a ruthless cold blooded killer, she is ruthless in her persuit, but she seems to not kill without reason. A soldier in that respect. I see someone that believes they are doing the right thing, someone that anyone could place themselves if the circumstances put you in her shoes. Which is why I love Zahns characters, they are down to earth and fallible. They are and could be anyone of us.

The only problem I had with the story, is it took a few chapters to really get going. A minor problem to begin with and one that’s really not worth the words here. All around this is a great read in every aspect. If you have read some of Zahns other works in the Star Wars fiction you will love this. If you have not read them, please, leave me your address so I might come to your house and beat you over the head with a stick, as these books are not to be missed by anyone!

Rating: 10/10

Also, to those who are interested, it appears that there is another book coming out portraying the events of Mara Jade as the Emperors Hand, as well as the Stormtrooper unit calling themselves the Hand of Judgement. The book releases July 12th, you can preorder it here through amazon.

Star Wars: Choices of One

Personal Project: Force Pike – Shopping List!

Just wanted someplace where I could post the links to the places I have found some of the items. This has turned out to be a bit more of a research project then I expected, as the original list I am following is several years old. So many of the components I would have been using are no longer made, so I have had to adapt. Either way, the project so far is fun to research and if I can get the end result, it will be worth it in the end. 🙂

*1. Pool Cue at least 48″ in length (Probably find this at Wal-mart or Dicks sporting goods locally, need to look more into it.)

*2. Backflow Prevention Valve

*3. Brass Craft Lavatory Handles

4. Multiflex Riser 1/2 x 4 inch (yeah, no luck here yet either. Sad Panda. 😦 )

*5. 1″ x 3/4″ Copper Reducer

*6. 3/4″ x 1/2″ Copper Reducer

*7. 3/8″ wooden Dowel

*8. 7/8″ Black Plastic Endcap
Ordered for Free through Alliance Plastics.

*9. Black O-Ring Approx. 3/4″ (These can be found at home depot for dirt cheap it appears. Bought by the bag of 10 looking like for around a few dollars)

10. Seal off Adaptor (this one will likely have to be replaced, cant find the right size. The search continues)

*11. Bolts, Washers (these are easy to find at any home supply store, just need to figure out the sizes and buy them.)

*12. Black Corrugated Tubing

Looking like I have most of the pieces, at least in theory, that I can get. Now I just need to find the time to buy them and to start assembling them into place and see how this will work!

Personal Project: Force Pike

I have come across a quite awesome site, at least for those of you who are Star Wars fans. Its inspired me to create my own Force Pike. What is a Force Pike you ask. Well that is a good question. Here is the explaination (or sample of it) from Wookiepedia.

These were used by my personal favorite characters from the Star Wars Universe (those that arent primary characters at least)

The Pike is the weapon you see in his hands. All around I think it will be fun to create this piece, and to help me complete it, I have the interwebs to thank. Came across the 501st legion’s website while searching for how to create stormtrooper armor for my eventual take over of the local renaissance festival one of these years. While on the site I found a link to a sister site which was dedicated to these awesome creations. So there we are. Items I am going to need are:

1. Pool Cue at least 48″ long or so. This will be used for the main shaft of the Pike.

2. Backflow prevention valve

3. Brass Craft Lavatory Handles 2745

4. Multiflex Riser ½” X 4”

5. 1″ X ¾” Copper Reducer, 3/4″ x 1/2″ Copper Reducer

6. ¾” Black Corrugated Bilge Pump Hose

7 . 3/8” Wooden Dowel

8. 7/8” Black Plastic endcap (have already ordered this, its blue, but thats nothing a simple paint job wont fix) Cost: Free

9. Black O-ring approx ¾”

10. Bolt

11. Washer

12. Rubber cone-shaped washer

13. Seal Off Adapter

14. Lubrimatic Seal Off Adapter

Tools:
Exacto Knife
Drill
Super Glue and Goop
Fine Sand Paper
Hot Glue-Gun
Screwdriver
Chrome Paint
Gloss Black Paint
Glossy Clearcoat

I am thinking alot of these things will be fairly cheap overall, though, the pool stick is starting to worry me a bit. The cheapest I can find them currently is around the 25 dollar range. While that is not expensive, it is a bit more then I wished to spend on this. I was hoping to keep this project under or close to the 50 dollar range, if the pool stick hits the 25 dollar mark, thats half the budget done already. So I shall need to keep an eye out for bargains.

As of now I dont have any plans on when I shall complete this. I shall be doing this in my free time and hoping that I will get it complete in a month or two? Shall see how this goes.

Update 5-9-11

I had originally planned on trying to get myself to update this every Sunday. Alas, I have failed 3 weeks in. Seems I fell asleep very early yesterday and just woke up a few hours ago. Anyway, a simple update here as I didnt get what I had wanted to do last week done, work kept me too busy, plus we are ramping up our vacation plans as well and I had to look into some things. Either way, planning is going on, as is this here blog things I am doing.

Reviews completed now:

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies  by Seth Grahame Smith

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed by Sean Williams

In other news, I have come across two books actually just a little bit ago that I am thinking about picking up and reading here soon. One of them being “Children of Men” by P. D. James. I have seen the movie to this and I must say it is one of the most influential movies I have ever seen. Taking place in a world in which children have not been born for close to 20 years, in which humanity has in that time lost all hope. The governments have all become increasingly hostile and have began weeding out those who are different from the majority thinking that they are the cause of the plague or virus that has condemned everyone to extinction because of the human sperm count mysteriously hitting 0.

The other book is the “Hungar Games” by Suzanne Collins. I came across this one while reading a bit about the “Children of Men book”, which I then became intrigued by. The description of the book sort of reminds me of the movie “Gamer” starring Gerrard Butler, I pretty decent movie in its own right.

If you have not seen Children of Men yet, I strongly recommend it as being one of my personal favorite movies as all time. Its right up there with American History X for the type of movies that make you think and leaves a resounding impression upon you. (also another movie I highly recommend people to watch.

Trailer for Children of Men

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NikEQy1XxDE

In all honesty, the trailer does not do the movie justice, I just watched it for the first time myself lol. Check it out and be amazed by the full movie 🙂

On top of this, a book I am highly looking forward to is also one of the books that got me hooked on reading so much, at least where it pertains to science fiction, Star Wars: Heir to the Empire 20th Anniversary Edition. Written by Timothy Zahn, this is the book that really got all the Star Wars novels rolling many years ago. Its also the book that has hooked me as well as the series that introduced me to several of my current favorite Star Wars characters of all times. Mara Jade and Grand Admiral Thrawn. A well written book, its able to captivate my attention even after the 6th time I think I have read it now. The 20th anniversary edition is also coming with a new short story written by Zahn at the end of the book as well starring Grand Admiral Thrawn. Read more about the book and pre-order it hereStar Wars: Heir to the Empire: The 20th Anniversary Edition” target=”_blank”> Star Wars: Heir to the Empire 20th Anniversary Edition .

It seems though as of now,  Amazon has not updated the release date, as the release is now set for 9-13-11. Sad face 😦

Review: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Ok, let me get this out in the open right here at the beginning, I. Do. Not. Like. Jane. Austin. There I have said it, I have come clean. I honestly don’t care for her writing as she always comes off as someone who is all prim and proper that was born to privilege and has an attitude that always comes off as being prissy and thinks she is better than everyone else. In modern day terms, she would be called Martha Stewart. So I bet you are now asking yourself, why would you even then bother reading a bit that is based upon one of these American classic (pieces of toilet paper) novels of all time? Well, I would say to you that’s because there was the term zombies in the title! Zombies make everything better don’t they? Well, in the most straight forward way I can possibly say it, no, not even zombies can save us from this catastrophe of a book. (Why don’t you tell us how you really feel?)

I will also admit right now, that this travesty was so bad; I couldn’t even bring myself to finish it. I think I only made it perhaps about 70 or so pages into the book before I thought about throwing myself out a second story window because of sheer boredom. I really am not sure if I could show the amount of boredom I had reading this book? Perhaps trying to sky dive without a parachute and landing face first onto a 20 foot spike would be more fun? I would likely try that before I ever tried reading this book again.

The story is still the classic tale of Pride and Prejudice, it follows the movie and the book to the T, but instead of nothing entertaining happens, we get zombies thrown into the mix to spruce things up. Yeah, doesn’t work though.  I did think the writing Seth Grahame Smith has done is a great job, he tries to throw in a bit more of a comedic tone to the entirety of a story that needs to just be banished off the face of the earth. I have been told even that at some point during the story ninja’s pop into the story as well for some zombie carnage. Sadly I didn’t it make it there though.

I would assume that during this day and age everyone knows the basic plot for the original story. If not, basically you have Ms. Elizabeth (who I think is actually Jane Austin in disguise) falls for the Mr. Darcy. In between there is just random (or not so random) occurrences in which they meet up and have a duel of words to see who is the smartest and most unrelentingly dull person in the world. At the end they decide to call it a draw and get married. The End.

Ok, so I am ripping this book apart. True. I am a fan of zombies but I am most for sure not a fan of Jane Austin. I picked this book up for two reasons, first, it was recommended by a bunch of other zombie fans, so I figured it couldn’t be that bad. Second, I got it for a few dollars at a book stores going out of business sale. I will also go on the record of saying, that to those who may actually like the old English literature that which is the style Jane Austin’s original book was, you will likely enjoy reading this book. If you enjoy zombies in your fiction, if you enjoy blood, ninjas and romance all in the same book? This might be for you. If you, like me, have a deep seated hatred of anything related to reading Jane Austin (I actually can tolerate the movies, but even those tend to drag on after the first hour) then stay away from this as if it had the Ebola. As a matter of fact, you would probably have more fun getting Ebola, or perhaps being devoured alive by a group of lions.

Myself personally, I shall wait till the movie comes out to figure out how this book ended. Perhaps I shall find the movie a bit easier to swallow. Yes, you heard right, this is being made into a movie as well. That at least, is something to look forward to.

Rating: 1/10

Review: Star Wars The Force Unleashed by Sean Williams

  The Force Unleashed was first released as a game for several gaming consoles back in April of 2008. The premise of the story is that you are playing as Darth Vader’s secret apprentice who has been trained for what appears to be close 16+ years. This would have put the beginning of the training back during the purge, which is the events that happened after the Revenge of the Sith movie, in which Anakin Skywalker claims the title of Darth Vader and begins a genocide of any force users in the galaxy.

Anyway, the story here is that of the Apprentice who goes by the call sign Starkiller. Coincidentally, or not, Starkiller, is also part of the original title of the first Star Wars movie from back when it was still being written in the 70’s. Now it seems that while the primary reason that Vader has trained the Apprentice was to fight Jedi, but you found out fairly early, that that reason is a smoke screen for their true goal, which is to unseat the Emperor from power and to take it for themselves, Darth Vader becoming the Emperor and the Apprentice becoming a true apprentice and not just a secret ally. In order to help with the training, as there is only so many Jedi in the galaxy now days, Vader had the droid Proxy created in order to asset in Starkillers’s advancement. Proxy’s primary programming is to try over and over again to kill the apprentice, as such; he has been programmed in the art and style of a variety of forms of lightsaber combat. Along with Proxy, Vader has assigned the elite Tie Fighter pilot, Juno Eclipse, to be the Apprentices pilot chauffer him across the galaxy on his murderous and one tract quest to exterminate the remnants of the Jedi.

Now as per the rule of the Sith, deception is a key with the story arc, seems at every turn Sean Williams adds in some sort of plot twist to the story which always keeps things interesting and keeps the reader guessing. Right from the outset, a set of events is set in motion that gets Starkiller thinking about his place in the galaxy and what it means to be sith. There is a large web of sub stories being told here are that are told over the course of the entire book, and it’s not till the end, that you are able to put them all together. Even so though, there are a few things that are hinted at, but, not ever truly said to be known as true, guess I will have to read the second book in order to find out the answers to these questions.

The depth of the characters in this book is by far its best attribute. Sean Williams adds a lot of inner monologue with the characters Starkiller and Juno. Its during these instances when a lot of the subtleties of the story is brought to the fore. He brings to life the insecurities of both characters so well that by the end you truly do care for the characters, they seem to become real people that we are reading about. Not some fictional story about a place that never existed in the real world. Although, the relationship that seems to start developing seems a bit odd to me, as there almost does not seem to be any merit for it, a minor complaint though against otherwise phenomenally fleshed out character development.

On the downside though, while Starkiller and Juno are equally well done characters, most of the other characters in the book seem only to be there to progress the storyline, they don’t really add to much. Even the main Jedi that is around through the majority of the book Rahm Kota, seems to be a flat character overall. This character especially had the chance to be something great to add to the storyline, but I just never really cared about him like you do the others. While he does serve the purpose of why he is there, I just wish he could have had a bit more depth added to him. Instead, he just comes off as a whiner for the majority of things, which made him more annoying in the long run than anything else.

All things considered though, I found this to be a great addition to the timeline that which is Star Wars. The story here fills in a gap of previously unknown area of the events leading to the rebellions rising between the events of Revenge of the sith and A New Hope. If you are a fan of the game and want to get a bit more depth into the psyche of the characters you grew to enjoy playing as, this book is for you. Otherwise if you are a Star Wars fan, I find this one to be a must read, if for no other reason than to fill in the gaps as previously mentioned.

Rating: 9/10

Random Star Wars Goodness

Just a few videos that I have come across over time that I think is quite hilarious actually:

Vader Sessions

COPS: Stormtrooper — fills in the blanks for what really happened to Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, How did the Imperials figure out what Jawas sold 3PO And R2? Watch and find out…

Chad Vader – What if Darth Vader was a shift manager at a grocery store?

Update: 5/1/11

So far been a fairly productive week for me. Got two reviews posted, got another one written, just waiting to see if I want to change anything too it, found a few more things I plan on posting about which is sort of off in left field, but interesting things I think. Im still going through and reading the books I got at the Borders that closed locally, think I picked up about 15 books in the weeks towards its closure so I got plenty of new material to go through. 🙂

The reviews I have completed so far can be checked here:

The New Dead: A Zombie Anthology — A book about zombies, how can that be so bad?

Star Wars: Red Harvest — Star Wars and Zombies and Sith, Oh my!

Things I still have coming up:

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed by Sean Williams (written just in preview status right now) — review up!

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame Smith (will this be a bad review? Yes, yes it is.) —- review up!

Chasing the Dead by Joe Schreiber (Quickly becoming one of my favorite horror authors)

Patient Zero by Jonathan Mayberry (currently is my favorite horror author, who is this Stephen King fella anyway?)

Among these there are still plenty more I have read over the last few months as well as just over the last few weeks. I think of the 15 books I got while Borders was closing, I have read about 7 of those. On top of the books though, I am also planning on starting back up a 3d modeling tutorial that I never got around to finishing. Not touched anything 3d in over about 3 or so months now and I badly wish to get back into it. On top of this, I do the occasional Photoshop project as well, usually along the lines of retouching photographs, but some times its different things. I am thinking about posting some of the things I have learned in small little tutorials as well (similar in style to the Batch Processing Camera Raw that I posted)

Otherwise though, I have a busy week ahead I think. Got alot more I need to get written and posted. So far my experience at wordpress has been better then the other site. I have noticed there is a huge increase in traffic coming across the page, the other site all my pageviews were mostly myself checking back from time to time.

Anyway, till next time 🙂