Wow, definitely forgot I had this. Crazy. Alright, I'm re-restarting this thing. I have no idea what I'm going to do with it, but I'll get to that eventually, right?

The Superbowl failed this year.

There, I said it.

Now, I'm not a Patriots fan, but neither am I a fan of the Giants. Thus you can probably guess that I didn't care about the game itself one bit (well, maybe 1 bit, but that's it). But the game failed, even to my low expectations. You know it's true. A stalemate may be exciting at first, but when it goes on for 3/4ths of the game, it gets bothersome. Granted it got exciting near the end, but I'm betting that a lot of people watching had turned it off by that time. And just like everyone else, I was disappointed with the commercials. Come on, $2.7 million dollars for a 30-second slot, and all you can think of is racial stereotypes? The failure was indeed epic.

In other news...oh, wait, there isn't any other news, since all my focus for the weekend was on the [un]Superbowl.

That's all for now.

Yeah, yeah, I know, I don't blog as much as I should. Shut up.

First, a movie review:

Cloverfield: An excellent film, that was far more fun than I expected it to be. I've read a lot of posts stating that the movie made them sick, and that the movie was horrible because of it. Not true. If this film had been shot any other way, it would have felt fake and silly. The movie, shot with a handy-cam style, gives a great first hand account of the terror and insanity that would be experienced in that situation. Visuals were stunning, and the monster was fantastic. Also, I liked the fact that less was more, it was what you didn't see that gave you the chills. It was a great movie and I highly recommend it to everybody.

Now that that is done with, I have some other stuff to talk about.

First, Happy Winter-een-mas!

If you don't know what Winter-een-mas is, I direct you here:

http://www.wintereenmas.com/

I've spent all week playing on my Wii (insert obligatory snickering here). Played some GUILTY GEAR AC, which rocks. Not because of the new system, but because it allows the old systems to be used. And I have been addicted to GG since it was first imported here to the states.

Actually went out and bought GUITAR HERO III, which, for any of you who know me, are quite probably gripping your chest while you have a mild heart attack at that statement. For years I have decried Guitar Hero, because I couldn't play it worth a damn. I'm a bassist, and my brain can't seem to process that even though the pitch goes up, you have to keep pressing the same button, often out of sync with the rhythm of the music playing. My fingers are conditioned to PLAY THE MUSIC, not press buttons in a seemingly random sequence. None-the-less, even though the game yells at me half the time for sucking so badly, I was having a lot of fun.

Also played some TWILIGHT PRINCESS. Yes, I know, I still haven't beaten the thing. I just got my Wii a few months ago, didn't own a GameCube, and haven't been able to play that much, due to my studies. I'm right outside the Lakebed Temple, since I'm obsessive with Zelda games and feel the need to collect everything, and complete ever minigame, so large portions of the time I'm running around in circles looking for bugs or rupees or bombs or arrows or...you get the idea.

Also got NO MORE HEROES, which is a fabulous game. Each character is pretty well developed and I can't stop laughing at the main character, who's a rabid otaku. Anime references all over the place. Now granted, it is a Mature title, since this game seems like it has OCD to cover everything and everyone in blood. Sometimes you can't even see what's going on, because the blood has covered the entire screen and all you hear is the slashing sounds of the beam saber, with the comments from the NPCs. But it is far too much fun, even though the side missions and the free roam aspects of the game are repetitive and boring most of the time. But the missions offer craziness, and the wii remote controls don't feel like a gimmick. They are both well integrated and fun to use. Highly recommend this game to everybody.

Classes are going alright, and I think I'm going to have a great semester. Hopfully I'll also use this blog a lot more. See you soon.

Alright, I'm back from my Trip to Virginia. Hope that you all had a great holiday, whatever it may have been. Back to my regularly scheduled life.

The trip wasn't bad, and I liked seeing all my relatives again, but I really don't like traveling for the holidays. Dealing with crazy drivers in other states drives me nuts. I have to deal with the idiots around my area of the world, and they're bad enough. You get near the capital, and it goes from bad to AAAHHHH!!!! THIS IS MY LANE, NOT YOUR'S!!!!! Although my family's lucky that I didn't leap out of the car and attempt to egg the White House (Most of you should know how I feel about Bush).


I went to go see a few movies too:

Walk Hard: A fluff parody that I would only recommends seeing if you have both (1) seen Walk the Line and (2) laugh uproariously at fart jokes. I have a feeling that the audience is fairly small. It was funny, but I'd say that I probably couldn't sit through it again. In all honesty, it felt like a Mad TV skit that went on far too long. If you're looking for a movie that would be funnier with alcohol, you don't have to look further. I have a theory that a couple beers or a few shots of bourbon could make that movie funny again. Can't really recommend it to anyone though.

Sweeny Todd: Fantasitc movie. Johnny Depp and Helena Boham-Carter both do fantastic jobs, and surprisingly, so does Sancha Baron Cohen and Alan Rickman (who knew they could sing?). But this adaptation was a great accomplishment, a great tribute to the stage play, and presents a bizzare view of the world that only Tim Burton can create. Loved every second of it. Go see it. Now. Go on, I'll wait...
......
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...There, you see? Good, wasn't it?



I'd like to take a moment of your time to discuss presents for Christmas. I have to say, that my mother, for all her attempts, has trouble with video games. Now, she doesn't have any problems with any other types of items, but when it comes to games, she has an abnormally difficult time with things. I'm beginning to think that she does it on purpose. She, in the past, has bought the wrong game entirely (nothing says Mortal Kombat like Primal Rage), the right game for the wrong system (no...I need Halo for the PC, I don't even OWN a X-BOX), but now, she's topped her past accomplishments. I received Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii for Christmas this year. Which is great, it's what I asked for, there's only one system that it's on, so we have the right system. All good right? Except...It's in Spanish. That's right, Spanish. She bought the wrong language. I laughed about that for a long time. I don't blame her for it, because she's not really into that scene, I just find it amusing. I love my mother, but I think she doesn't check what she's buying sometimes...

So to all who are buying games for your friends, family, whatever; please check the box, otherwise you might find you have bought the wrong thing.

been a bit of time hasn't it?

Anyway. I've spent the last week in my room, with only minimal contact with the outside world. Finished my finals, and they went about as well as could be expected, since the only class in which my grades suffered was the one that I already knew about.

Went to go see I am Legend on Sunday. For the most part, the movie wasn't bad, but the fact that they were basing it off of a book made me pretty pissed off. Sure, Will Smith actually had an incredible role that he played, but the story was one of a completely different nature. They took out most of the storyline, and the whole replacing vampires with mindless mutants? They failed horribly in keeping with the original story. It was a good movie, but the fact that they claimed that it was based off the book? Truly, this was an epic failure on their part.

The rest of my week has been spent writing, reading the Mistborn books (fabulous by the way, Brandon Sanderson now has my approval for the upcoming Memory of Light completion) and watching movies and anime. That's just about it. I'll try to post sometime in the next week, but I can't say for certain, because I'll be traveling to Virgina for the Holidays.

You know, sometimes things happen that make me positively giddy with excitement. Today, when I learned that Robert Jordan's last book Memory of Light was going to be finished, filled me with glee. You know, back in September, I despaired that this series would ever be finished, and we'd never learn what happened to the characters that were so important to all of us. I'll be the first to admit that Wheel of Time was one of the first fantasy series beside Lord of the Rings that I read when I was a lot younger. But we have a new author, Brandon Sanderson,picked by Harriet herself.

My only problem with the man is that I haven't read anything by him yet. I've seen them on the bookshelves, but I never got around to picking them up, even amongst rave reviews. Needless to say, once finals are over, this guy is going to the bookstore and getting the three novels he's published so far.

I'm not too worried though, since Harriet (RJ's wife, for those who don't know) picked him herself. Harriet, besides being married to the man, was also the editor for all 11 novels. Not to mention she still has all of RJ's notes, which by all accounts are fairly extensive.

Back to studying. Bah.

It's that time again, that wonderful time that every college student has nightmares about. Finals. Such a simple word, yet it carries such dark and forbidding connotations that fills each of us with dread. We lose sleep (not that I sleep much anyway), worry ourselves sick, get headaches, indigestion, and all sorts of fun complications from these tests. Ugh.

I took my Japanese final today, but that's one exam that I wasn't so worried about. Next up is re-editing two papers (poetry WHHHHHHYYYY??!?!!), then to prepare for Biology and my other English class. Although for the English class (my lit course, not my writing one) it really doesn't matter what I do, as I'm failing that class anyway. It was quite a shock this year, because all my other English classes were very high (I may have one B, but I believe the rest are A's, although I'd have to check my transcript to be sure). And now this grade which I don't believe I can get out of with even a D. I'll probably retake it sometime in the future.

Oh well, such is life.

Good luck to all those taking these lovely exams.

A notice for today. I'm back, and I am no longer going to just use this place for writing excerpts, but for everything. Reviews, thoughts, this will be a regular blog. I'll still include writings, but I'm going to use as a blog should be.

Two quick reviews:

The Golden Compass: Don't, I repeat, DO NOT go see this movie. I can't believe someone messed the book up so badly. In today's age of incredible Fantasy movies (Lord of the Rings, Narnia, a few others) Chris Weitz manages to kill it. He killed it dead. He messed up not only the interpretation, but left out a huge portion of the book. He also decided that the original order of the story (you know, the one that got the book proclaimed the last masterpiece of the 20th century?) wasn't good enough. He destroyed characters, ripped out plot points, and left out the original ending entirely. Oh, it was very pretty to look at, and the designers are absolutely brilliant when it came to creating the world, but the story was butchered. It reminded me of an anime that America got a hold of and screwed up (One Piece anyone?). Don't support the man. I don't want to see what he does with The Subtle Knife or The Amber Spyglass.

No Country for Old Men: One word. Brilliant. I couldn't believe that I hadn't seen this movie before now. I was floored. The original word by Cormic McCarthy was a great book, and to see it come to life was amazing. The Cohen brothers made a masterpiece, each character well thought out, each scene crafted with care, you could feel the intensity of the characters through the screen. All three characters were at once so different, yet so similar, it gave me the creeps. And I don't creep easily. The only difference between them was how far they had sunk into madness. A dark masterwork, the movie gave me chills at the end. I don't think I can say much more, or I'll give everything away. But it ranks in my top movies as of now. Go see this.

It's hard to believe that both these movies are book adaptions, but the quality and care given to the movies is so vastly different.

That's all for now, I'm going to try to update this thing with a regular basis, so anyone who reads this, more content will be coming.

Gather round children, it's time for Pat's storytime that will scar you for life!

excerpt from tavern scene

The tavern’s soft glow soaked into every corner. It was a dramatic change from the outside, where the storm raged in the night. The startled someone as it slammed open, lightning illuminating the figure that stood at the doorframe. Wind swept through the room, carrying rain from the storm with it. The figure moved inside the room, stamping the mud-caked boots near the door. His cloak swirling with the wind, he entered, not removing his hood. The wind whistled as it whirled around him, slamming the door shut with a tremendous bang.

To some observers, it seemed that though the door was shut, the storm still raged in the space. The man had an air about him that suggested that the storm had taken on a human form and now walked among them. Without a word, the stranger sat in a corner, still not removing his hood As the serving girl approached, the hood moved, it seemed that he was searching for something.

“What can I get you sir?”

The hood swiveled at the noise, looking at the girl that had spoken. She caught he breath as she peered in to the hood, trying to see the stranger’s face. Two eyes, glowing golden in the light of the lamps, peered out at her. Eyes that she had only heard tales about, rumors and legends that only the storytellers knew. Eyes, golden eyes, with a slitted pupil, like those of a cat. Original. He had original blood in him. Men who had the legendary eyes were said to be psychotic killers, that the blood interfered with their ability to connect to reality.

He held her gaze for a moment, and with a crash, she stumbled back, smashing into the table behind her. Spilling food and drink, she fell to the floor. The patron jumped up, soaked with spilled beer. She felt a hand grasp her wrist, and the soaked patron yanked her up with a jerk.

“Hey, hey hey hey hey hey what’s this bitch doin’?” He slurred, obviously drunk.

“How you gonna pay for this? Ya got money to pay for this expensive coat?” She glanced at the coat, a dirty, ragged old thing.

“Weell?”

“Sir, that coat isn’t…”

‘Isn’t wha? You think my coat is worth less than your hide? You don’t got the money, I’ll take it out of your flesh.”

He pulled his belt knife out, brandishing it at the startled girl. Someone screamed. It was her.

The cat eyed stranger, who had remained motionless during this exchange, suddenly shot out of his seat in a flurry of motion. His cloak billowed out around him, exposing a body nearly covered in weapons. His hands a blur, something shot out. The threatening patron suddenly dropped the knife which dropped with a musical chime as it collided with the floor. Three separated throwing knives bloomed in his hand, chest and head. Crashing to the floor, the blood pooled around the corpse. Reaching down, he tore the knives out, placing them carefully in their respective places. He offered a gloved hand to the frightened girl, now cowering behind a chair. Hesitantly, she reached out, not sure of his intentions. He said not a word, just held his hand out, as if waiting for an eternity would not bother him in the least. Tentatively, she reached out, and he grabbed it, hauling her to her feet.

The silence that had begun at the start of the fight suddenly ended, people talking as if it had never happened. However, if one were to look closely, not a one glanced at the body, as if it didn’t exist.

The bartended came over and shouldered the body, taking it into the back to dispose of it. The stranger sat back down, seemingly undisturbed by the fact that he had just extinguished a man’s life. The bartender came back and stared at the stranger, as if willing him to get up and leave. If the man noticed the stared boring into him, he gave no indication.

The serving girl, gathering up her courage, approached the man once again. She approached warily; she knew what she was dealing with now.

“Thank you sir, you know, for helping me.”

The eyes stared out at her.

“Um, what can I get you? It’ll be on the house. As thanks for saving me.” She added.

The eyes went out of focus for a second, as if he was in deep thought.

“Lamb, I think, the lamb seems to be good tonight, seeing as how many people have ordered it.” He stated

His voice was calm, almost mellow. It was deep, melodious. It didn’t sound like a killer, but the blood soaked floor said otherwise. She stared, she’d been serving everyone all night, and she hadn’t noticed how many had ordered it.

“Right away, sir.” She hurried off to tell the cook,

The stranger waited, as if in deep though, lost in some unknown memories. Soon the smell of freshly roasted lamb approached, and he looked up. The serving girl was placing a large plate of it in front of him. Thanking her, he tossed her a gold coin, giving her more money then she’d probably see in a year. He ate quickly, stood, and walked out into the storm. As the candles flickered in the wind, the patrons stared at one another, thinking that the apparition must have been a dream. But as they each looked down at the drying blood spilt over the floorboards, they realized that it was all the proof they needed.

Here's an excerpt from a story I've been working on recently. It should be noted that some material in not suitible for young children or faint of heart.

Ok, I warned you.

berserker episode

Hiding behind the trees, he eyed the town. So close, yet so far. The opposing force currently occupying the town had cleared the area of the surrounding forest, to prevent ambushes like the one that he was to try. In addition, 40 feet of stone quarantined the town off from the rest of the world. After all, the soldiers had announced that anyone leaving would be executed instantaneously. Checking his gear, he reached deep within, calling the power that plagued him. Sometimes, he thought even a curse can be a blessing. Something shifted in his demeanor, and as he glanced up at the silent gates surrounded by torch light, it seemed that in the glow, that his eyes had a reddish tint in them. He ripped his weapons out, the light catching on the two blades. He charged at the gates. As he left the shadows of the night and the cover of the forest, one of the guards spotted him. The guard shouted something, probably halt, but no one shall ever know, his cry died away in a gurgle as a knife appeared in his throat. It seemed like it belonged, or had always been there, so quickly did it appear. With a spray of pink mist, the soldier fell to the ground, eyes bugging out as he drowned in his own blood.

With a howl, the man shot toward the gate. The Rage was in control now. Reduced to a monster within a human shell, his crave for violence knew no bounds.

At the howl, more guards were alerted to his presence, quickly rushing to the aid of the gate. The iron bound wood creaked and squealed in protest as the soldiers poured like water to confront the attack on their prize of a town. Seeing the hunched figure leaping through the air at them, the raised their assorted weapons in defense. Slashing anything that moved, he pushed the defenders back as his continued strikes reduced their defense to splinters and scrap metal. They had no hope to stand up to the swords that the man had in his possession. They had stood the test of time, made by the finest smiths money could buy, never losing their sheen, or their edge, even after all the years that they had existed.

As the weapons were destroyed, his blades were greeted by flesh and bone. As he hewed his way through, hacking off limbs, he didn’t notice until the spewing blood covered his face. Turning, he raised his hand, slicing off his opponent’s hand in the process. Smashing his hand down, he was rewarded a warmth, drenching him in a rain of blood. Moving like the wind, he flitted between guards slicing, ripping through wood and metal, cloth and mail, flesh and bone. It seemed the world was reduced in motion, so fast was he. Snapping his wrist, he brought his blade spinning into a near body, watching intently as blood shot out of the wound he had created, splattering across the ground, turning the dust into a hellish type of mud. From another point of view, it seemed a sphere of solid air, with streaks of silver spinning ‘round. As more men fell the whirling blades, the streaks of silver slowly turned crimson. Amid the cracking bones and spraying blood, the man was like the eye of the storm. In the center, fury raged, but on the surface, all one could tell was the chaotic smile. Around his body, chaos reigned. Men fell, disemboweled, dismembered, beheaded. And among it all, the smile, fixed in place. Genuine, but tainted with the glee his killing spree endowed him with. His destruction left onlookers speechless, that is, until his blades found them as well.

And suddenly, silence. The man stood, the only one left, amid the carnage that he had created. As nothing was moving, the demon had been satisfied, and slowly retreated into the depths of the man’s soul, awaiting the point when it would be called again.

As light returned to the man’s eyes, he glimpsed the slaughter that he stood in. Realization came over him, and as he saw, his legs failed him. Falling to the ground, the man wept, tears of horror leaked down his face. The intense joy was no longer there, and he felt empty. No, not empty, he felt hatred, hatred for what he had done.

"Insert obligatory introduction sentance here"

I figued that this was a good place to post this story that I'm working on, so here is a sample of one of the scenes. Not violent, but i needed scenes with characters that didn't involve death and destruction. I think it sets a change of pace that is quite refreshing. If anyone has any critisism, I'll listen to them, I might not act on it, but i'll listen.

Bus Stop
by patrick Ridout

As the downpour began, they broke out in a sprint. Still, by the time they reached the shelter of the bus stop, they had been soaked. Hair dripping, they panted together as water ran off their clothes in small runnels. Reaching for a cigarette, the box damp but still workable, Gabriel prayed that his lighter wasn't soaked through. Luckily, it wasn't. Lightning flashed in response to the flick of flint against steel.

"You look like a wet dog."

He stared at Sarah in disbelief. As wet as she was, he couldn't have been any worse. The drenched shirt clung to her like a second skin. Her dark hair curled in response to the saturated air. He looked at her, noticing that with the clinging shirt, he could make out the details of the bra that she wore. She caught him looking and playfully hit him in the chest. The contact made a squelching noise as water leaked around her fist.

"See something you like?"

He didn't say a word, just pulled his cigarette from his lips and blew a cloud of smoke that wreathed his head in the enclosed space.

The torrent of rain continued. He stared out, barely able to make out the buildings across the street. Collapsing on the bench in the back, he sighed. The bright yellow of the ad pasted onto the side of the stop was jarring in comparison to the grey of the rain world that they seemed to exist in. He grunted as she plopped down on his lap, curling into a ball on top of him.

"Mmmm...warm." She cooed.

Resigning himself to the role of heater, he pulled his soaking coat over her. She nearly disappeared in the tan folds of the sopping wet material.

He looked down. Now this was a wet dog. Her big brown eyes, so like a puppy's stared up at him through a mass of tangled hair. He laughed.

"What?"

He didn't respond, knowing how she would react. Instead, he leaned down and kissed her, engulfing her lips with his. She hesitated a moment, the old fear of being intimate in public rising in her, but then melted in his arms and returned it.