http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:jmsnooks&section=today deviantART RSS for by:jmsnooks en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Sun, 27 Dec 2009 04:05:57 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/29159439/ http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/29159439/ Thu, 24 Dec 2009 11:42:48 PST
My Early Artwork: [link]

For a long time I have been telling some of you younger people that "you're a lot better than I was at your age." Well, now you can actually see for yourself and compare. I created a tour of my artwork going from approximately grades 6 through 12. So go check it out, and if you guys like that then I'll do one of my early college years also.

I also have the first few bits of my art tutorial posted if anyone is interested in seeing me demonstrate my colored pencil technique.

Part 1: [link]

Part 2: [link]

Part 3: [link]

I thought about recording the ENTIRE coloring process for that picture, but I don't know if that's necessary or how many people will care. I will do it if enough people are interested.


Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:



Watchers in the wate... ]]> ~jmsnooks http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/28816171/ http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/28816171/ Mon, 07 Dec 2009 22:12:18 PST OtakuLiz, I wasn't specifically tagged but I'm a bit upset by some things right now and I think this will help me unwind plus get me more motivated to work on my comics some more:

1_Choose one or more of your OCs (OC = Original Character for those who are not in the know)
2_Your OCs must answer sincerely each question (fair enough)
3_Your journal name must be OC's questions (Declined)
4_When you finish, tag some people and tell them in their profiles
5_Have fun!

Chosen one(s):
Since this whole thing is kind of teen girly, I'm going to use one of my two female characters which are actually kind of in use. I chose Emily from 12,000 AD. Which I will work on, I know that sounds about as sincere as a threat from my dog [link] but... if anyone wants it to go faster they can volunteer to help.

1.What is your name and age?
Emily Tanaka. I'm 42 years old but I haven't aged a day since my construction. I'm a synthetic bio-copy and I might very well last until the end of the universe.

2.What do you like the most?
Math, chemistry, engineering... technical stuff, I used to work in a power plant.

3.O_O...*coff* weird *coff*
Are you getting an attitude with me? It's because of people like me that people like you have internet, mobile communicators, and automated transportation. I'd love to see how you fair as a subsistence dirt farmer, princess.

4.What is your favourite expression *_*?
Um... I don't really have one, I guess...

5.You love someone +__+?
Alfred! He's a lot younger but we look like we could be the same age, and I'll still probably outlive him unless I get killed doing something stupid.

6. So cute <3 You kissed him?
What do you think?

7. What are your favourite colours?
Red and black, even though black isn't really a color.

8. What is your favourite sport?
I don't really have a favorite sport, but I have a dabbling interest in martial arts. But I'm kind of a dilettante when it comes to that.

9. Who would you ?
Huh?

10. Fave meal/sweet?
Well my mom was German and my dad was Japanese, so I tend to swing back and forth on which type of food I prefer. Sweets are easy, I like ice cream.

11. What are your elements?
I'm good at engineering and chemistry, also because of the way I'm put together I can absorb different types of energy and use it in combat if the situation calls for it. My biochemistry is a little different than yours is.

12. What are you scared of?
People who could actually take me down. Um... Governments who might want to dissect me... Dying alone in the vacuum of space.

13. What do you wish?
I have most of the things I want in life. It might be nice to have my evil crazy side removed like Ambrosius had, but I know it probably can't happen in this life.

14. Interesting.... But really, I don't even mind that ¬__¬U.
My evil crazy side or yours?

15. What do you want to do when you're older?
It might be nice to settle down with Alfred and have some children, assuming that we can. Or, it might also be interesting to go out beyond the frontier and do some serious exploration. Maybe even meet aliens. If I can do all of that then great.

16. Whose OCs you think are great?
What's an "OC"?

17.OwO... What OC from him/her would you be?
What?

18. This test's about to finish.
OK... What exactly is being tested?

19. But first, which is your favourite instrument?
Are we talking about for engineering type things or combat?

Now tag someone!

I tag and

Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:
http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/28774310/ Sat, 05 Dec 2009 20:00:34 PST [link] And here they are on a walk together: [link]

Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:



Watchers in the water:

~Felfreak
~alex-sukehiro
*doodlegal
*vaksur
~BigBossTooN
~ikka-nosferatu
~Nemesis12
~http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/28480023/ Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:29:13 PST
My dog is old. He's 13 soon to be 14. Even though he's old he can still go on walks and trot at a good pace if the need arises (although he can't really run anymore). When he was young he never cared much for the company of other dogs. If left alone with another dog there would be a fight. Once when I was taking him for a walk he broke his pinch collar (broke a metal link) just so that he could attack a Dalmation. And when my younger weaker teenage self managed to pull him off of said Dalmation, there was frothy slobber about the Dalmations neck from where my dog was biting him. Something about that Dalmation must really have rubbed him the wrong way. The only dog he ever got along with in his younger days was my grandparents dog, and that was only after repeated exposure and intervention. These last few years his philosophy on life seems to be different. He has never attacked another dog (with one exception which I shall soon explain). He has defended himself when attacked by other dogs. Once when we were out on a walk a huge Golden Retriever rushed to attack him and he tried to defend himself but his back legs gave out. I intervened and saved him. He got attacked a second time by two one year old Boxers (completely unprovoked) and tried to defend himself but again his back legs collapsed (I saved his life on that occasion as well). Now someone might be thinking that he just doesn't want to fight because he knows he's old and he can't fight, but that's not true in all cases. First of all, he has been like this for years, and second, that might explain his reticence to attack dogs his own size or larger, but not smaller dogs. The fact is, he won't bite anyone no matter how much they deserve it. Once a small yapping neighbor dog came into our yard and started yapping at me while my dog was out. So I told my dog, "GO GET IT!" which usually stirred him to action against small animals and inanimate objects. Of course I didn't actually want him to kill the yapper, just to chase it off our yard. He immediately charged it but then stopped short within a foot of it and walked away. Didn't touch it.

A few years later my dad, for some inexplicable reason, decided to get my youngest little sister her own personal dog, and one of her own choosing. This was a first because in the past my dad always purchased a family dog and made the selection as to what type of dog it would be himself. At any rate, she picked out some small white yapping hyperactive fuzzball. The fuzzball of course had boundless energy and would jump up on my dog and annoy him greatly. My dog (which actually belongs to my parents) would turn away and growl, sometimes moan, but never do anything to him. He still has the strength to bite the fuzzball in two even though he's old, because when I feed him real bones he crunches and chews them up like potato chips. Sometimes the fuzzball will pick up something my dog was eating and walk away with it and my dog may growl but he never bites him, as much as he might deserve a good chomp. My brother and his wife recently bought a dog. They used to bring him over more when he was a pupp... ]]> ~jmsnooks http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/28069610/ http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/28069610/ Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:41:24 PDT [link]

That's going to be my plan whenever I have my own place. Either that or just not answering the door.

Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:



Watchers in the water:

~Felfreak
~alex-sukehiro
*doodlegal
*vaksur
~BigBossTooN
~ikka-nosferatu
~Nemesis12
~Beast57
*philippeL
~MadHatter3479
~ElenAtalantie
~Ps2hunter
~Whiteangelnicole
~ ~jmsnooks http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/27934645/ http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/27934645/ Sat, 24 Oct 2009 04:23:04 PDT
I thought the Dark Knight was mediocre at best. Not awful, but certainly not great. It was the first movie I watched since Return of the King that I was ready for it to be over well before the end, and I was also surprised at how long it continued. For me what makes a movie great is an excellent storyline first of all, and great action sequences. The storyline in Dark Knight was stretched far too thin, and the action sequences were nothing spectacular.

The storyline was that Batman is cracking down on the mobs, so they hire the Joker to do something about Batman. The Joker is a psychopath and he ends up liking Batman and decides that he wants to keep him around so that he can just mess with him. So far so good, but that storyline does not require a movie of that length to be told. A subplot was the transformation of Harvey Dent into Two Face. Also good, because Harvey started as a good guy with some repressed tendencies, which eventually took control of him around the time of his accident. I haven't read a lot of DC comics, but I have watched many of their animated series, and one thing I know about Two Face is that he hates Batman but considers Bruce Wayne to be a friend. The way that they set up Two Face was great, he now had a reason to hate Batman, but not Bruce Wayne, and they also got rid of his love interest which was also a love interest for Batman even though as far as I know that character was never a part of the comics (she was unique to the movie). They killed two birds with one stone, and then the conversation between Harvey and Comissioner Gordon was great. Now, if they had ended the movie there then they would have had a perfect set up for a sequel. The Joker would have gotten his last laugh but he would be in jail, and we would all have been waiting for the next movie to see what Two Face is going to do. Instead they decided to drag the movie out and use Two Face as time filler, and then kill him off at the end of the movie. They also decided to add in this lame and unrealistic sequence with the bombs on the boats and the crews having the detonators for the dual purpose of taking up time and getting across some preachy psuedo-humanist message about how people are basically good and won't kill eachother, the over all effect resulted in a heightened amount of suspended disbelief coupled with cheesiness. Batman even says that to the Joker while he also tells the Joker that not everyone is as twisted as he is. He's correct when he says that most people are not as twisted as the Joker. The Joker is a special case, that's what makes him a villain. The part about most people being good by nature is not correct, and it is certainly inconsistent with the overriding theme of Batman. That theme being that people are corrupt and Batman is needed to drive fear into the hearts of evil doers. Batman fights evil with fear. Back in the day DC realized that their stuff was not very realistic, so they made Batman to be more gritty and realistic in order to better compete with Marvel, which did a much better job depicting human nature and creating relatable characters. But I digress, in real life if a situation like that occurred, people would be jumping over the sides of the boat as soon as word of a bomb was mentioned. Then the Joker would have blown up the boats. But to take a realistic approach to that would have undermined their preachy bullcrap message which never should have occurred in a Batman movie, and did nothing to add to the seriousness or credibility of the movie. If anything at nearly harked back to the old Adam West Batman where cheesiness was a deliberate part of the style. The point is, it should have ended with Two Face in the hospital and Joker in jail. They probably thought that since they were able to pull of having two major villains in the last movie they could do it in this one. They could have if they had introduced those villains simultaneously or close to it. But they really introduced Two Face too close to the end to be anything other than time filler. A pointless waste of a major villain.

Now for some more technical problems. The action sequences were not that great. Batman should have had moves more like Daredevil. The Daredevil movie had splendid fight sequences. Batman has no superpowers, what makes him potent is his intellect combined with his agility. He does not have someone else inventing his gadgets for him, he makes them himself. Batman is a genius. He's an inventor and detective. But in the mov... ]]> ~jmsnooks http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/27778955/ http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/27778955/ Thu, 15 Oct 2009 11:45:19 PDT [link]).jpg had been cast for Picard. It would have still been cool but it would have been like Kirk the next generation.

At any rate, I still hate the ending for BSG. I thought that it undermined the lessons that were learned in the series, I thought it was contrived, forced, unnatural, and it does not make a lot of logical sense. He said that the purpose of the ending for BSG was to set the stage for Blade Runner, and that if you watch Blade Runner right after you finish watching BSG then you will understand the direction they were trying to go or appreciate it more, or something like that.
But what Edward James Olmos said made me hate it a little less because now I know that they didn't intend for the story to end in this dumpy world we live in today. Although I don't know how good of an idea it is to write a prequel to someone else's work, which you don't own the rights to. Olmos also says that his character in Blade Runner (Gaff) is a direct descendant of Admiral Adama from BSG, which is kind of cool, but since they don't own the Blade Runner Franchise I don't see how they can say that. I know that Olmos is doing some of the writing for new BSG movies, possibly one set on earth after they decide to become savage aboriginals (so they will chucking spears instead of flying spaceships), and that he had full character control of Admiral Adama. If he has the same type of thing with Gaff then I suppose he could have the authority to make a statement like that stick. At any rate, the similarities between Blade Runner and BSG are pretty obvious if you watch them both. Similar issues, similar architecture, similar antagonists, and a similar pejorative term for the antagonists (skin jobs).

I do look forward to the sequels and what not, but I hope they find a way to bring the series up out of the mud they left it in, other than saying that it's a prequel for Blade Runner.

Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:
http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/27685503/ Sat, 10 Oct 2009 10:52:56 PDT philippeL. I'm pretty sure I have done this one before, so the challenge this time is to come up with some facts that I have not already revealed about myself which I am actually willing to reveal.

Rules:
1. Post these rules on your Journal.
2. Each tagged person must write 10 things about themselves.
3. At the end, you have to choose and put up ten people that you want to tag, and put them up in your journal.
4. Go to their page and say "I tagged you!"
5. Have fun!

1. A hair from my brothers dog has been stuck in my throat now for over a weak. I tried reaching back there to pull it out but my fingers were of insufficient length and the action of reaching back there seemed to induce a gag reflex. Also tried gurgling, which caused it to move but not to dislodge.

2. Since I have stopped drinking sodas I have been able to run for at least 4 miles without stopping and I still don't know what my upper limit is.

3. I prefer being awake at night, but even on occasions when I don't I still tend to stay awake as I find it difficult to sleep.

4. I'm thinking about trying to publish a book of illustrations of the Middle Earth, if I can, which will be a ~jmsnooks tour of the Middle Earth.

5. I am planning on bringing back a character I invented in high school. I call him the Green Knight.

6. Back in high school I took AP biology to get out of taking physics.

7. As far as I am concerned, the Nobel Prize means jack.

8. I'm trying to work out a story about time travel and it's difficult.

9. My dog is 13 years old and he still likes to go for long walks.

10. I'm a carnivore, mostly.


Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:
http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/27530666/ Thu, 01 Oct 2009 21:48:50 PDT [link]

Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:



Watchers in the water:

~Felfreak
~alex-sukehiro
*doodlegal
*vaksur
~BigBossTooN
~ikka-nosferatu
~Nemesis12
~Beast57
*philippeL
~MadHatter3479
~ElenAtalantie
~Ps2hunter
~Whiteangelnicole
~KAGOME05W
~giogioproductions... ]]> ~jmsnooks http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/27270584/ http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/27270584/ Thu, 17 Sep 2009 20:04:35 PDT
The stupidest thing I heard is probably when my sister told me that they have no blood and their hearts don't beat. They have no blood and their hearts don't beat... Someone either didn't take biology in high or middle school, or they failed it because they were too busy having retarded fantasies. You can't live without blood or a heartbeat, unless you are either a plant, fungus, bacteria, or protist. If you're a smaller organism like an arthropod you can have interstitial fluids and an open circulatory system, but you still have a heart beat because otherwise cells cannot get oxygen or nutrients. Your cells need nutrients in order to carry on their functions, to replace broken parts, and to divide, your cells need Oxygen in order to work. Oh but they're the "undead" right? Doesn't matter, if they are going to move then the muscle cells HAVE to receive oxygen and nutrients in order to function, so you can't move without it. That's why in real life when people are dead, they don't move. Oh but it's magic, there is magic in them that helps them move... Using magic as a black box to explain everything is incredibly infantile, I used to write stories like that when I was in 2nd grade, but to someone with an average level intellect (average is only 100 IQ) then it ought to be an insult to their intelligence. So what I have to figure out is why these books have the power to enthrall so many people of average level intellect, or whether the bar for average IQ ought to be lowered. My IQ is two standard deviations above normal, so it will probably be a rough experience though.

Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:
http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/27247528/ Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:50:10 PDT
Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:



Watchers in the water:

~ ~jmsnooks http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/27235587/ http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/27235587/ Tue, 15 Sep 2009 20:06:02 PDT
Now, the downside:

The storyline was definitely underdeveloped and it lacked a specific quest. The Final Fantasy game I played years ago had a good storyline, which unfolded as the game continued and revealed new complexities. It also allowed for more freedom of movement, a series of smaller problems, quests, and goals, combined with major missions, and finally an ultimate mission. All of these things were lacking in the Third Age game. Mobility was fairly restricted, there was no specific major quest, and all of the minor missions amounted to going towards the red dot and killing enemies on the way. They could have done a lot of cool stuff since they had Ian Mclellen but they totally sqaundered the opportunities by pretty much using him to narrate cut scenes from the movies. There were very few original cinematic sequences, and those which they had were short.

The storyline, such as it was, was quite forced. For example, they pretty much just followed the LOTR characters and participated in the same battles, but they tried to force in new elements like where they get to Osgiliath and one of the other male characters (the guy from Rohan) says "I was here before, and I remember (all of a sudden and out of nowhere) that you were here before too." It's lame. Then they sloppily introduced a love triangle between the main guy (Berethor) and the Elf woman, and the woman from Rohan. As a rule, I absolutely hate love triangles, period. I seldom care for romance but I always hate love triangles. On another note, I would say that the Rohan woman looked like she got beat with an ugly stick except that would not be fair. It would be better to say that she fell out of an ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down, landed on a railroad track, and got run over by a train carrying ugly sticks made in a Columbian sweatshop. And they gave her a totally overstated "sexy" walk. The sort where the body sways back and forth and the butt goes up and down or something. The face definitely didn't match the body, and at any rate, I hate the sexy walk. I think it's slutty, ungraceful, and undignified. It looks as idiotic as the urban "gangsta" walk, which actually looks like the prelude to a seizure. So I just hated even looking at her, from the front or the back. Anyways, this is her: [link] I don't see why I should want my avatar going out with a fugly chic, when I can get fugly chics in real life if that was what I wanted. So much for vicarity. Of course back when I was playing the FF game I was also upset about Squall hooking up with Rinoa, but in that case I just hated her personality.

But I digress, the game ends with you having to fight Sauron, which was completely random, forced, and impossible. After the Battle of Pelennor Fields you just randomly appear on his tower, and of course he's a big eye just like in the movie, and not to mention it undercuts the point of destroying the ring. At any rate, awfully lame and forced, but I kept playing just to see the ending. And what was the ending? A cut scene from the movie with Gandalf congratulating you with a speech that essentially amounts to "yay for you, you beat the game." No ending cinematic showing what happens to the characters afterwords (which is the normal way games have ended since I was in middle school), not even a place to enter your name in the high scores and record your stats like the old 80's games.

The whole game was completely pointless, and while it did feel good to beat something, it was a completely waste of time to play it. Don't bother with p... ]]> ~jmsnooks http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/27105237/ http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/27105237/ Tue, 08 Sep 2009 22:11:59 PDT
Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:
http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/27037787/ Sat, 05 Sep 2009 15:17:17 PDT
Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:
http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/26852984/ Thu, 27 Aug 2009 09:07:55 PDT [link] Now I can work on the next one which will tie in with 12,000 AD, I can work on 12,000 AD, or I can work on something else. At any rate, I'm going to be working with some other artists on some of the newer comics so hopefully it should go quicker.

Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:



Watchers in the water:

~Felfreak
~alex-sukehiro
*doodlegal
=vaksur
~BigBossTooN
~ikka-nosferatu
~Nemesis12
~Beast57
*philippeL
~MadHatter3479
~ElenAtalantie
~Ps2hunter
~Whiteangelnicole
~ ~jmsnooks http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/26536233/ http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/26536233/ Tue, 11 Aug 2009 20:46:30 PDT raccoon-eyes

At any rate, I'm going to draw on a few of them, but I don't know if I should ever make such extensive use of them as she has. I think they are rather over priced. But on the other hand, the using the cards may prove to be a bit nostalgic. When I was in Middle School I used to turn over note cards and draw my characters on the unlined side of the card, then I would turn them back over and write the characters bio on the back. I ended up sticking them all over my walls to the point where huge portions of my wall were covered. Of course the note cards were not good for drawing on and the materials I used back then were horrible (Crayola and Prang). Well, to quote BSG, "All of this has happened before and all of this will happen again."

Does anyone else ever use those things?


Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:



Watchers in the water:

~Felfreak ~jmsnooks http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/26326731/ http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/26326731/ Sat, 01 Aug 2009 21:23:55 PDT
Allright, I have just finished watching BattleStar Galactica (BSG), so now it is time to review. The main focus of my review is going to be the last portion of season four, and especially the ending, which is what prompted this review.

And now the ending. I thought season 1 was great (A), season 2 was good (B+), season 3 was awesome (A+), the first half of season 4 was cool (A), the second half of season for was all right but not great (C). They did a good job with their character development, individual story arcs, metanarrative concepts, and plot twists (except for the painful ending). There were a lot of plot elements, imagery, and issues which I found inspirational from a creative perspective, just not the horrible ending.

I also posted this review on amazon.com and gave the season 4.5 a two star rating.

I really enjoyed BSG, the unexpected plot developments, the philosophical issues involved in the metanarrative, the fighting, and even some of the romantic elements which I felt were not overdone. Most of the individual story arcs were good, there were a few episodes that dragged however. The character development was good.

One thing that I found to be a let down was the sudden fall into evolutionism. I thought I had finally come across a sci-fi series that was based on something other than evolutionism, and in the end they fell right back into that tired old refrain. "What are the odds that another species of humans could evolve?" To answer the question, none I should say, since it is completely impossible that life and the universe could exist on it's own. Evolutionism, which is nothing more than pantheism recast in a psuedo-scientific frame (I mention most of this because other reviewers have mistakenly associated science with atheism). And they had the Neanderthals which had no language, science, or civilization yet buried their dead. Typical evolutionist beliefs. But perhaps I should give them credit for knowing that speech is a learned behavior not an instinctive one. Maybe they did or did not know that once a child passes a certain age they can never learn syntax because the development of the speech center is time sensitive. The origin story they ended with was completely unoriginal and uninspired, and reminded me of sloppy attempts by some evolutionists to combine their beliefs with a form of ID. "It started on another planet," and "theistic evolution." In retrospect it is a bit ironic that some recognize that a deity would be necessary to accomplish the events described in evolution, yet, evolution was created to do away with the need for believing in a deity. I realize that writers tend to draw on their own beliefs for inspiration but I saw no need to bring earth into the series like that, at all.

Furthermore, there are plenty of other ideas which are absurd. Why would EVERYONE have decided to abandon technology? And even if they had abandoned technology why abandon civilization? It took them over 100,000 years to become civilized again? Absurd. There should still have been writing and basic craftsmanship, and yet, even with the most biased and liberal methods for deriving dates no one has pinned a date that old on any written document. It does not square with anyone's idea of written history. While I was glad the Agathons survived, I don't understand why Hera's Mitochondrial DNA would have become dominant to the point of her being declared Mitochondrial Eve. And as to the Agathons settling in the area of Tanzania, there are no white or mongoloid (Asian) races or civilizations indigenous to sub-Saharan Africa.

When I first started watching the series I supposed when they mentioned they were looking for earth that they would reach modern earth. At that point they would either assimilate and live at a more primitive level or perhaps have a conflict with modern man. I assumed that assimilation was what would occur. That was the obvious conclusion when they said they were looking for earth. I was relieved when they found earth and it was destroyed because I assumed they would move onto higher things. That assumption was based on the mystery surrounding the final cylons, the prophecies, and the visions. The visions of the opera house were dismissed in a sloppy and anti-climactic fashion. It did not involve a mysterious setting, reveal any secrets, or involve any action on the part of the final five. The prophecies were left unaddressed, and ultimately the human and cylon civilizations were destroyed. What was the point in that? So instead of ending on a high note, it was almost like they just blew off writing an ending. The series ends with thousands of years of barbarism and because of the barbarism none of the lessons were learned. They reverted back to writing in the obvious ending, which was done in a sloppy and un... ]]> ~jmsnooks http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/25655148/ http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/25655148/ Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:46:39 PDT
Your name?
Decline.

If possible, your age?
27--soon to turn 28 and unhappy about it. A little under 3 years before carousel.

When did you start drawing?
When I was able to hold a drawing implement. Probably at about 2 years old if you can call the wild scribbles I engaged in drawing. I suppose to me they were. My earliest memory of drawing was when I was just a little snot many moons ago in our second house in the basement before my dad finished it off. I had a variety of crayons and a huge piece of primitive printer paper or something that my dad brought from work. I quickly wrought some colorful designs upon it which looked like scribbles to everyone else, but to me it was a bananna boat sailing on an ocean of multicolored waves.

Which hand do you use for drawing?
The Right, which is also my political orientation.

Which is easier to draw - male or female?
Used to be males but I don't know anymore. I think it's about the same, but I'm more painstaking when drawing the female gender because I don't want them to turn out ugly.

Which is easier to draw - long hair or short hair?
Short for dudes long for chics, although I suppose it really makes little difference.

Is it easier to draw the head facing towards the right or the left?
No difference.

Is it easier to draw the side view of the face or the front view?
That's a good question, I don't know.

What do you have problems in drawing?
I have difficulties with perspective because I have depth perception problems in real life.

What do you like to draw?
Sci-fi, sci-fi, and um, illustration, usually sci-fi

Are you a traditional artist or a digital artist?
Traditional.

Where do you start drawing from?
The left so that I don't foul myself up.

What is your drawing habit that you are aware of?
Digging the pencil in too hard and being unable to erase all the mistakes.

What do you keep in mind when you do lineart?
Whatever idea I am trying to convey.

Any tips for coloring/shading?
Graphite and waxed based media do not mix. Erase your pencil lines before trying to color your art.

How long does it take to finish a piece of art?
If it's just a character or costume sketch, a few hours. If it's a complete piece done with colored pencil, probably the equivalent of 20 to 30 hours, which might completed over the course of a week or 2 days depending upon how much free time I have.

What music do you listen to while you draw?
Trance, Jpop, sometimes classical or Indian.

How long does it take you to come up with an idea?
I have more ideas than I can possibly do anything with. Not very long really, but the more time I have to think about it the more refined it gets.

Your favorite drawing utensils?
Regular old yellow pencils with flat sides, and prismacolor colored pencils.

Your favorite color/the color that you use a lot?
Green and blue.

Your favorite style(s)?
I can appreciate anything so long as it is well done.

Are you satisfied with your current art?
Usually, if not I redo it or abort the project.

What kind of artist are you aiming for?
A better one, which improves constantly. I probably need to work on my speed.

Thank you.
Now please fill in the next columns by writing the names of the artists that match the criteria.
Artists tagged must fill in this baton.

Well, most of these people will probably not respond but I suppose it's worth a try. I can tell a girl made up this list because no guy would list qualities like "Cute" "Stylish" or "Tasty".

Cool： Allright, it's going to be ~TheM-Man, a good healthy combination of creativity + cynicism.

Cute： My first choice for this one has abandoned DA, so I'm going to go with ~ShadowX5479, who fits the bill in a macabre sort of way.

Stylish： I choose ~TheTowerSentry for this one, because of her custom created superheros.

Unique： ~timbo19 is pretty unique, so he gets this one.

Moe： I don't even know what this means... But ~Egek has some cool stuff.

Tasty： *kainthevampirelord comes to mind for this one.

Smart： My old friend ~mindflenzing is one of the smartest people I know, so he gets this one.

Sexy： Supp... ]]> ~jmsnooks http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/25624450/ http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/25624450/ Mon, 29 Jun 2009 08:49:27 PDT
The Cell Phone:

Kid: Hey dad, can I have a cell phone.

Me: Well I don't know, can you afford one?

Kid: No... I'm only 13.

Me: Well then you can't have one.

Kid: Why not?

Me: Because you're a 13 year old kid and you don't need one. I'll consider getting you one when you start driving depending on how my budget is and how responsible you are.

Kid: But everyone else has one.

Me: Well then everyone else has stupid parents, I have spoken.


First Date:

Kid: Hey dad, there's this girl at school that likes me.

Me: Good for you son.

Kid: Can I go out with her?

Me: It's fine with me, but there might be some logistics problems considering that you're only 13 and you can't drive.

Kid: Well can you drive us both to Starbucks and--

Me: Nope.

Kid: Why not?

Me: Why should I, if you want to date someone then that's your responsibility.

Kid: Well can I have some money then?

Me: Nope, it's not my job to subsidize your relationships. My dad never gave me money for frivolous things like that, and he had a lot more money than I do.


Pets:

Kid: Hey dad, can I have a _______________

Me: No.

Kid: Why not? Because first of all you can't afford it, and second, at your age the odds are you won't take care of it I don't want to have the added responsibility of looking after your ________ cluttering up my free time. Aside from that, we have a family dog, and that's the only pet you are going to have until you are old enough to get your own. I have spoken.



Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:
http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/25525441/ Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:42:14 PDT [link]

The first thing that struck me, aside from the puddle of blood, was how beautiful she was. Of course I have been interested in Iran for a long time, and I have done reading about traditional Persian culture, poked around on BIA2.com, and fooled around on myspace with Nyla and some of the popular music artists from there. So I already knew that they have an unusually high proportion of attractive womenfolk. She was obviously in shock, and her eyes were staring at something in a nearly blank fashion. And then the blood began to pour out of her nose and mouth and as she died there was a great deal of clamor from the people around her. Neda was 27 years old, which is how old I am for a few more weeks anyways. And the state run police killed her, and I found myself thinking about why. Obviously she was killed for a reason. She was perceived as a threat and her life was taken to protect something, so what was her life exchanged for? Anything good? Nope. She was killed because she was supposedly a threat to the government. I don't think it's a fair exchange at all. I think Neda probably had more value to contribute to society than that ridiculous government which kills women for defending themselves against rape, fines and beats girls for not wearing a rag on their heads, and locks people in jail for becoming Christians. Of course for those who may not know yet, I am on the far right of the political spectrum, in fact I have gone so far to the right that I have moved beyond the "government which governs best governs least," to the point where I am generally opposed to governments beyond the community or municipal level. And I will say this, the protesters in Iran could have gotten rid of their horrible government by now if they were armed. Governments do not restrict the right to bear weapons because they want to "protect the people" they do it so that when they want to declare martial law there won't be any armed resistance.


Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:
http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/25373229/ Wed, 17 Jun 2009 13:02:22 PDT [link] Or, should I color it digitally on my computer, in which case the characters would be colored somewhat like this: [link]

I don't really know which to do, so I want opinions before I start the coloring process. I will now list the pro's and cons of each:

Markers:

If I color it with Markers I will get done a lot quicker because there will be far fewer steps in the process. In some of them the pencil lines were dug in pretty deep and they may be hard to cover up.

Digital:

If I color it on the computer it will take way longer but I will have a much wider range of colors to choose from.

And so, help me decide.

Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:



Watchers in the water:

~Whiteangelnicole
~KAGOME05W
~giogioproductions
~orbofnight
~SQUWAPE
~http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/25271925/ Fri, 12 Jun 2009 11:41:37 PDT
- Rejected: 'Khaless vs. the Tyrant Molar'

Reject: Other reason...
You must include with every image a) the name(s) of the character(s) in it and b) the title of the movie/comic/game/whatever it is based on - the full title, not only an acronym. This info must be in the image description or title, or on the image itself.
- Rejected: 'Klingons, Blood Will Tell'

Reject: Other reason...
ou must include with every image a) the name(s) of the character(s) in it and b) the title of the movie/comic/game/whatever it is based on - the full title, not only an acronym. This info must be in the image description or title, or on the image itself.
- Rejected: 'Romulans'

Reject: Other reason...
ou must include with every image a) the name(s) of the character(s) in it and b) the title of the movie/comic/game/whatever it is based on - the full title, not only an acronym. This info must be in the image description or title, or on the image itself.

It suffices to say that I was perturbed, and I showered them with some choice invectives in the privacy of my room. I found the experience more irritating than getting rejected by women (which has happened so many times that my ego no longer suffers from it). How dare they reject my splendid artwork. At any rate, I had never had problems uploading art to the fanart gallery before, so perhaps the rules changed and I was not notified.

Having the name of the series completely spelled out rather than an acronym is reasonable enough, although I had enough in the description that anyone should have been able to tell. Aside from that, naming all the characters in the first one [link] would have been a chore, but possible. For the second one [link] I did name the pertinent characters. Molar and Khaless. The women have no names, they're just concubines I put in there because an evil tyrant has to have his concubines and/or wives. But I'm supposed to name them now? How stupid is that, I just made them up. Am I supposed to make up names for them too? Probably if I told them that then they would say that original characters cannot go in the fanart gallery, even though anyone else would recognize that fictitious characters based on a franchise like Star Trek or Marvel are still considered fanart. And of course the Romulans are ALL made up. None of these have names [link] nor were they ever in any ST series, movie, comic, or book. But it is ST fanart because ROMULANS are the copyrighted inellectual property of the ST franchise, or Paramount, whoever it is that owns the ST franchise. The elfwood Mods are stupid, but fine, I'll name them. From left to right; we have Marissa, Lila, and Bobby, and they all hate elfwood moderators. I have spoken.

Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:
http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/25193699/ Mon, 08 Jun 2009 08:39:42 PDT angel-t is taking commissions. The way I understand it is that he is selling pencil sketches of whatever you want for $5. He's actually pretty good and I think he may have even done some work for Marvel. At any rate he has done some work for ~Marvelfans. At any rate, it's worth checking out.

Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:



Watchers in the water:

~Whiteangelnicole
~KAGOME05W
~giogioproductions
~orbofnight
~SQUWAPE
~BijantheGreat
~Riptor25
~shizkitt
~tod309
~Unicornsoul
~RealGold89
=catemate
~LheenasArtwork
~takamashiendo
~TheM-Man
~ ~jmsnooks http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/24710647/ http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/24710647/ Mon, 11 May 2009 19:50:22 PDT Warning, this review contains spoiler information.

I must admit that I went in without high expectations for a variety of reasons. The first being that it was an odd numbered movie and the odds are usually not so good, with the exception of ST5 which I actually thought was great but many will disagree with me on that. Second, I was afraid of the continuity errors it would create. STTOS had rather simplistic looking environs, the reason being that it was created in the 60's prior to the advent of sophisticated computers, so it was mostly guesswork. However, cannon is cannon. Also they have changed the physical appearances of entire species, what happens when one goes beyond warp 10, and the gender of Mr. Data's cat. Changing the design of the STTOS Enterprise between the series and the first movie was logically explained as a technological overhaul, however, the new movie created the problem of the interior and exterior of the Enterprise looking more advanced than it did in TOS. So the fans must now follow the assumption that the Enterprise NCC1701 underwent a refit prior to STTOS in addition to a refit after STTOS and prior to ST1. At any rate I was bracing myself to have my intellect insulted by an Enterprise which appeared in the previews to resemble the movie series Enterprise rather than the TOS.

As it turned out, the Enterprise in the new movie resembled neither. The deflector array was not inverted as it was in the old movies. It still protruded, but it was rimmed with blue. The warp nacelles were actually larger and more primitive than those of the TOS Enterprise, which was logical if it was intended to be an older design. So my impression was that it was intended to appear an older design than the TOS ship. It looked more primitive on the outside, and while the inside appeared more advanced, it was also less spacious. I considered it to be appropriate. At any rate, prior to the movie I was preparing to write a scathing journal entry advocating that they return to the source material and create a new timeline with the original crew, and I was going to follow it up with complaints about how no one with decision making power listens to me even though my ideas were brilliant. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they did just that.

In the STTNG time period a star went nova and sent out shockwaves. The energy wave was on a collision course with Romulus. Spock invented a machine which would create an artificial quantum singularity of sufficient size to divert the wave from Romulus, unfortunately he did not deploy in time. An angry Romulan minor chased Spock with the intent to kill him, but the quantum singularity sent them both back in time, which creates a new timeline. So the goal of the Romulan, is to destroy Vulcan and make Spock watch, and to destroy earth. He actually succeeds in destroying Vulcan. I have to say, that in my opinion the Romulans were improved massively. In STTNG they were looking kind of lame, with those drab grey checkerboard looking uniforms and identical haircuts. I mean, even the women had the same haircut, it was silly. In the movie, they showed two kinds of Romulans, the elites, who sported better costuming, and one of which was black, and the minors. They also mentioned that there were 3 Romulan languages or Dialects. If any species needed a makeover, it was the STTNG Romulans. The minors were very cool, the men were all bald and tattooed. The tattoos varied from individual to individual. The women were also tattooed but they had long hair (FINALLY!), about freaking time they fixed that. They also wore trench coats, some of the guys had beards, and a few of them carried melee weapons. One had a sharp looking battleaxe with a short handle and another had a sword. Sulu got in a swordfight with those two, which was awesome. The Romulans however, weren't that smart. The main bad guy was not an evil genius like Shinzon or Sela. He was just an angry minor whose planet got blown up and whose wife got killed. He drives a dingy mining ship, but since it is from 120 years in the future it is a lot bigger and more advanced technologically than the federation ships of the day. He uses his mining ship to drill, and technology from future Spock to create artificial quantum singularities.

In my opinion Uhura was looking way better in this movie than she did in STTOS. Probably because she had much better hair. Contrary to what many people assumed, there is no fling or relationship between Kirk and Uhura. There is something going on between Uhura and Spock, which I thought was great. I used to be averse to romance scenes but as I have gotten older I have learned to appreciate the opportunities they present for vicarity (spelling?), which is all I can get pending an act of God. There were some good tie ins with different ST serie... ]]> ~jmsnooks http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/24659026/ http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/24659026/ Fri, 08 May 2009 20:50:47 PDT
1. Shire*
2. Esgorath*
3. Mirkwood*
4. Harad*
5. Far Harad*
6. Avari
7. High Elves*
8. Lothlorien
9. Bree*
10. Misty Mountains Orcs
11. Variags
12. Mordor Orcs
13. Easterlings*
14. Umbar
15. Gondor
16. Rohan
17. Dunedain
18. Lossath
19. Dwarves of the Lonely Mountain

The goal is to have eight people group to a page with a map in the middle. I have already completed one page (obviously) and I can easily do another. The ones with the stars next to them are the ones I finished. For the sake of consistency, I'm trying to focus on groups that were present in the 3rd age. It looks like I am going to have three extra groups once I get done with the 2nd page. So here are some other groups I COULD add in order to finish taking up space on the last page: Black Numenoreans, Dunlendings, Dale, Uruks of Orthanc, Generic Silvan Elves (the silvan elves scattered around in forests and mountains mentioned in the Hobbit), Ents, and Trolls. Of course the Ents and Trolls would not be drawn to scale with the other groups unless I wanted to make the poster freaking huge. Of course I don't plan on going over three pages and I will probably submit other stuff in between pages so as to avoid monotony. At any rate, I await input/feeback.




Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:



Watchers in the water:

~Whiteangelnicole
~http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/24534508/ Fri, 01 May 2009 16:56:32 PDT
At any rate, I'm back now, obviously, so it is time to leave comments and post deviations. I'll be coming around...

Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:



Watchers in the water:... ]]> ~jmsnooks http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/23683780/ http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/23683780/ Fri, 13 Mar 2009 20:09:56 PDT to let people know. Obviously I have a lot of comments to respond to when I come back and a lot of deviations to comment on, and it's not that I have been meaning to be rude or anything, I've just been preoccupied with getting my butt kicked by life. So I will respond to everyone when I get back, and I should have a few more deviations to upload as well. Hope to see you all before too long.

Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:



Watchers in the water:

~BijantheGreat
~Riptor25
~shizkitt
~tod309
~Unicornsoul
~RealGold89
=catemate
~LheenasArtwork
~http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/22722964/ Wed, 21 Jan 2009 21:02:44 PST
Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:



Watchers in the water:

~BijantheGreat
~Riptor25
~shizkitt
~tod309
~Unicornsoul
~RealGold89
=catemate
~LheenasArtwork
~takamashiendo
~TheM-Man
~YuMixPeaCH
~hdub7
~footbalove
*kainthevampirelord
~http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/22496536/ Fri, 09 Jan 2009 21:52:34 PST [link] in my inbox. It gets really hard to be civil. I have noticed that hatred against Jews typically takes on two forms: 1) race hatred (common in western countries) and 2) religious hatred (common in the Middle East). If you believe that hating Jews or any other group is important to your identity then fine, whatever. It's sad that you have to be so narrow minded and foolish but you have that right. You are entitled to your own opinions and feeling regardless of how stupid and wrong they are, and I really don't care, so long as they don't harm others. You're even entitled to publicize your stupidity and create hate propaganda if you want. BUT! As soon as you go public with that stuff then you open yourself up to criticism and you need to be prepared for that. So this guy =oesalces posts his psychotic anti-Jewish hate propaganda and then starts wimpering and hiding comments of anyone who criticizes him. So I am going to criticize him RIGHT HERE since he's hiding my comments.

1) The Jews are not the terrorists. There is a huge heaping fundamental difference between the Jews and douchebags like Hamas. The IDF does not hide behind women and children when they target an enemy. The IDF does not deliberately target non-combatants, and they use precision attacks to minimize collateral damage. Sometimes they do hit non-combatants and that's unfortunate but it's also an ACCIDENT. Now Hamas TRIES to maximize collateral damage. They try to kill as many people as possible, and while they're at it they also hide behind their own women and children, because if an Israeli bullet pegs one of their women then they can snap pictures of it and mail it off to Aljazeera. They blow up school busses, night clubs, whatever. I can graphically illustrate what Hamas is all about just by going to youtube:
[link]
[link]
[link]

2) The Jews are not bent on Genocide. They are not the ones telling their children that their enemy is pigs and monkeys, or that they need to be wiped out completely. In fact they don't even indoctrinate their children with the notion that any specific people group is an enemy. IF the Jews wanted to obliterate the Palistinians, they could do it over night and no one in the region could stop them. Nor would they try because contrary to the propaganda no country in the Middle East has a personal stake in Israel. First of all the land is small and resource poor, and second none of the Arab countries have productive or necessary economic relations with either the Jews or Palestinians as far as I know.

3) Now he compares the Jews to Nazis and puts a Swastica in the Magen David. First of all that's desecrating a holy symbol. Second, it's complete BS because in case anyone has forgotten the Nazis were hellbent on wiping out the Jews, and they don't much like eachother nor has either group particularly cared to emulate the other. Now there are also people in the US that like to associate the Jews with Nazis and that is one breed of stupidity which I will never be able to make sense out of. It's even dumber than blaming black people for the KKK or telling my dog he's a bad cat because he did something good.

4) And if the Jews can't be in Israel than just where the, I mean, where are they supposed to go? Because it made no sense for them to return to their ancestral homeland which was mostly vacant at the time when they could have stayed in places like Germany and Russia, because they were treated so well in Europe and had such a great time there... And of course having no country at all works out great, I mean just look at what a good time the Kurds are having...

5) Clearly what he wants is the same thing Hitler wanted, death to all Jews. And he accuses me of spreading propaganda and supporting terror... Anyone who has looked through my gallery can attest to the fact that there is no hate propaganda in it, nor have I ever posted any artwork demeaning a specific race, culture, or ethnic group. I have found that there are exceptions to any generalization. You can make a generalization about... ]]> ~jmsnooks http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/22461794/ http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/22461794/ Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:11:46 PST TheTowerSentry has offered to help me so now I should (in theory) be able to make some serious progress, assuming school doesn't kick my butt this semester like it did the last.

Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:
http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/22342881/ Thu, 01 Jan 2009 21:32:19 PST jmsnooks. At any rate, when I went home later (after we ransacked some things in the woods) I asked my mom and it turned out it was his property so we'll leave him alone. After all I hate it when people cut through my parents property and not liking someone doesn't justify trampling on their natural rights. All the same, how can someone have power lines running through their yard like that? Not me, if someone wants to build something in my yard they have to have my permission, and they aren't going to get it more likely than not. My mom said that it is their property but some laws allow for businesses or government(s) to build stuff through their yard. Not me, if they're going to seize control of my yard against my will and build something in it then I'm not going to maintain that portion, not going to cut the grass or pay property taxes on it. The swine...

Anyways, the point is I don't like having to be around lots of other people. My brother and his wife just bought a house, and it's pretty awesome, 2 floors, 4 bedrooms... but the houses are built nearly on top of one another and there is no access to any wilderness land. Where can they go for walks or just to run around and blow off steam? Nowhere. and my dad's neighborhood is better but now I am going to have to walk down the street through the neighborhood a ways before I can reach the sheltering shade of the forest. The neighborhood we lived in in Texas was way worse through. Way more crowded, with more than a few stupid anal sissies. I feel like I'm being suffocated in environments like that. I don't like that so much, I would be much happier if I didn't have to see anyone when I went on a walk, or for that matter any signs of human habitation other than my own. So I have decided that I don't want to live in a neighborhood, whenever I get my own place I'm going to move further away from the city in one of those older houses that's just sort of by itself. That way I can walk around with my dog unleashed and carrying whatever sized blade I want without someone whining, calling the police, or making idle threats. And not only that but I can do whatever I want to my house without having to deal with neighborhood ordinances designed to keep up the property value or mitigate eyesores.

Anyways when I was out in the woods I made this: [link] And I thought it was pretty tight and worth sharing but not submitting as a regular deviation. It will probably be like that for a long time because hardly anyone else ever goes back there. Although it took me a few tries because my crazy old dog attacked the logs whenever I put one down and dragged it away. He has this deal with tearing up dead trees and big logs that are lying on the ground, and if he sees me mess with a log in any way then he feels he has to attack it. Go figure, but here's a pic of him doing that: [link]


Siblings:
~jmsnooks http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/22269795/ http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/22269795/ Mon, 29 Dec 2008 21:52:08 PST [link] So go there and check them out.

On the other hand, I discovered another upside to having no woman in my life. Earlier today/yesterday I passed through the family room and found my dad watching some old cheesy slapstick looking kiddie movie from the 50's or 60's with my mom and youngest sister. That got me thinking, I've seen him watch a lot of dumb movies with my mom and sister(s). A few days ago he asked me if I wanted to watch one of those movies with them and of course I said no because it sounded like something that wouldn't interest me. He said that he doesn't particularly enjoy those sorts of movies either but watches them for my mom's sake. One of my old girlfriends continually badgered me to watch all kinds of awful things and I hated it all. It was all either dry and boring, or it was just boring mush and slush. Being single means that I don't ever have to watch any Disney crap, or any moronic chic flicks. I also don't have to listen to any nagging criticisms about my wardrobe, lack of shaving, etc. Now I'm not COMPLETELY against romance per-se, but it has to be framed within a genre that interests me. For example, the Sharon and Helo relationship from BSG was very well done and powerful.

On another note, as strange as it may sound I have decided to write a romance of my own. It will be a comic, and it will stretch your mind.



Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:
http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/22201346/ Thu, 25 Dec 2008 22:47:01 PST . I'm trying to take advantage of the Christmas break to impart unto her my coloring techniques using a variety of media. I'll only have to teach her each one once because it's simple to do but it takes time. I have a few new drawings but they aren't really worth submitting at this point, but I am working on another drawing of Klingons.

Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:



Watchers in the water:

~Riptor25
~shizkitt
~tod309
~Unicornsoul
~RealGold89
=http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/22107592/ Sun, 21 Dec 2008 17:28:13 PST [link] and draw a quick sketch of sorts to go with it because I can't submit any deviations without a visual of some sort. I figured I would do that because a few people expressed interest in the backstory, and since I remember the dream pretty well, I can. But for my next art project I have been toying with a few ideas:

1. A montage which will be a tribute to the Klingons Blood Will Tell series.

2. A surreal landscape which popped into my head while driving, also the potential prototype for a mural on my sister's wall.

3. Finish up my clothing anthology. Well... truthfully it will never be finished, but what I mean is fill up the last 2 slots on the first page: [link]

4. A picture of Ayumi Hamasaki.

5. Some fanart for Battlestar Galactica.

Truth is, I want to and plan to do all of those, but I'm a bit stymied as to what to do next. I'm open to suggestions/voting.


Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:
http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/21822507/ Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:08:50 PST
Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:



Watchers in the water:

~Riptor25
~shizkitt
~tod309
~Unicornsoul
~RealGold89
=catemate
~LheenasArtwork
~takamashiendo
~The... ]]> ~jmsnooks http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/21637897/ http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/21637897/ Sun, 23 Nov 2008 19:49:56 PST
Iraq:

There is a chance that there may be a premature and cowardly withdraw. I wish to see Iraq standing on it's own feet without a US military presence, but a premature withdraw could produce unprecedented disastrous results. Right now the surge is working, and the terrorists are on the run. Muqtada al Sadr has fled to Iran where hopefully he will stay. It would be best to carry the surge to its logical conclusion and finish driving the terrorists out of the country before withdrawing the troops. Otherwise, the terrorists will remain there, and they will see the US withdraw as a victory, it will encourage them to step up their activity and I am not sure that Iraq is prepared to handle all that by itself. Obama campaigned on a rapid troop withdraw, but it may be that all of that talk was strictly rhetoric, and he may actually wise up once he gets into the office. He also talked about bombing Pakistan (absolutely brilliant, NOT!), and taking troops away from Iraq to step up activities in that region. At any rate, in this case the hope is that Obama is a liar and we cannot take him at his word. If he really intends to follow through with all of his campaign promises and slogans then Iraq is screwed, and I apologize on behalf of American conservatives, we tried to defeat Obama and we failed. I am sorry that you all may have to bear the brunt of it.

Israel:

Chances are Obama will pursue a "land for peace" type policy, which would be consistent with the past efforts of previous Democrats. Carter pressured Israel to give up Sinai, which was a huge concession for Israel and there was no need for it. Israel already proved that it could defeat Egypt & Friends, there was no need to buy them off as if they were some kind of mob boss that would break your knees for not paying your dues. Clinton pressured Israel to give up Gaza and the West Bank, which was also unnecessary and solved nothing long term. In both cases Israel lost tactical advantages and gained nothing in return. Obama will probably try to get Israel to give up Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. Hopefully I am wrong in this but time will tell. Remain strong, and remember that you still have allies left in the US even if our government is not on your side. Not all Americans are bad (even though Obama is not American), so don't judge us all by our crappy government. Again, I apologize for the election and the fruits it will bear, even though I had nothing to do with it. We tried and failed.

At any rate, if I turn out to be wrong in both accounts then I will be thrilled, but based on campaign rhetoric and previous activity from the Democrats this is what I believe will happen. Time will tell. In the meantime, I am thinking about leaving the country and moving to India perhaps, more on that later.


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http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/21508053/ Sat, 15 Nov 2008 20:32:22 PST has once more become active on Deviantart. So if you get some time feel free to drop by her gallery, but she's only 16 so take it easy. There are some vague stylistic similarities because I taught her how to draw when she was really young, but she hasn't had an art lesson from me in years do to time constraints (hers and mine). We may do some more of that during the Christmas break, depending on how much is going on.

Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:



Watchers in the water:

~TheM-Man
~YuMixPeaCH
~hdub7
~footbalove
*kainthevampirelord
~AfternoonShadow
~2wingo ~jmsnooks http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/20927234/ http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/20927234/ Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:03:28 PDT [link] I heard some good things about it when I was in the comic store once, and since I usually trust my comic store people I decided to check it out. I got the first season from moviestop when I went to pick up my Iron Man movie that I had reserved. It actually turned out to be pretty awesome. The series is a spin off of the Terminator series, it's supposed to be an alternate timeline where the events of the 3rd movie never occur. This time the terminator is not a big huge buffed out guy, or even a buffed out woman, but it's someone younger and more effeminate and harmless looking. They picked Summer Glau from the Firefly series. In Firefly I didn't care for her as much but she's gotten better looking since then so it's alright now.

Anyways, the first season was pretty good, the second season is also fairly decent but I'm a bit less sanguine about it because they are adding too many new characters, which slows down the story line just a little bit. In the movies there are never more than 3 protagonists, but what really bothers me is the Riley character. In the 1st season John is sort of coming onto the terminator girl, but in the 2nd series they decide to give him a human girlfriend. And I really cannot stand her. She's obnoxious and superfluous with a somewhat typical empty headed teenage girl personality. She's the sort of girl that used to hit on me when I was a teenager. Bubbly and empty headed, and none too attractive either. I never could stand people like that and used to avoid them like the plague. The character is an all around dud and her presence irritates me in a way similar to intense redneck accents.

At any rate, I went to the official website and according to the gossip there, a lot of fans and critics were grossed out by the idea of John Conner dating a Terminator, so they wanted to move away from that, and Fox supposedly forced in the human girlfriend (too many cooks spoil the broth, leave the writing up to writers). What I do not understand, is why that should bother anyone. First of all, it's not real life, it's a TV series and it's called SCI-FI for a reason. SCI-FI stands for SCIENCE FICTION. Which means that there is some science involved but it's mostly fiction. The reason we watch stuff like that is not to get an overwhelming does of pure reality, for that we watch the news (although the media is often riddled with yellow journalism). By "we" I refer strictly to intelligent people, not the majority of people. We watch sci-fi to get a dose of something creative and novel. In the series, she's a sentient being so it's OK for him to date her, and it would be cool because it would be different. The only concern I might have would be to make absolutely sure she's a girl cyborg, and not a masculine or asexual brain in a female body. As it turns out she is. She does ballet dancing in her room, puts on makeup, nail polish, and gets pissed when other people go in her room without permission and rummage through her stuff. So obviously she's a girl cyborg.

I noticed that the people in the forums who defended the idea most were trekkies, and they cited the relationship between Data and Yar as a positive example of a human being romantically involved with an artificial life form. Good point, Data and Yar had a good time with one another and Data was really sad when she died. I think the reason that we Trekkies are down with relationships like that is because the various ST series are riddled with examples of trans-species romantic encounters, and we tend to take for granted the fact that intelligence can exist in other life forms. Also, I think that Star Trek tends to attract people with above average intellects, people who are more capable of thinking outside the box. People who are artists and engineers, which seems like an unusual mix but it's true. Probably because to fully appreciate Star Trek one must be capable of abstract thought, and most people live their lives as simply a cog in the machine. But I digress, my guess is that the Terminator franchise has spilled over and attracted a significant following of more normal people. And normal people have more limited minds. "EW DAS SO GWOSS CUZ SHES A MACHINE LIKE A TOASTER!" Hardly, and it's irrelevant because human beings are also machines, it's just that we are sentient and in REAL LIFE (not sci-fi) the machines made by humans, so far, are not sentient. If it ever became so then the only distinction would be the materials used in construction, and that distinction would become irrelevant. At any rate, if the more normal sorts of people are unwilling to be mentally stretched then they should steer away from Sci-fi and stick to reality TV, Sports, soap operas, or whatever. Actually watching something like "Biggest Loser" might do them so good. I also wonder... ]]> ~jmsnooks http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/20322145/ http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/20322145/ Thu, 04 Sep 2008 10:41:57 PDT
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http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/19770080/ Mon, 04 Aug 2008 11:46:24 PDT
The thing is I don't even like going to Sunday School, I would much rather get an extra hour of sleep so that I don't fall asleep in church. I'm not really the Sunday school teacher type, the fact of the matter is that I'm religious but I'm not spiritual, and I don't thing I could give a mindless feel good type message or a prolonged discussion on metaphysics. I asked my brother what he had planned for next Sunday and he said he had no plans, I was supposed to just come up with something, anything. So my first idea was to just spend some time refuting evolutionism, but my brother already did that and prior to that the youth pastor had them all watch the Hovind Seminars. So then I thought of maybe dealing with the value of chastity except that it's already too late for some of them, maybe more than just some of them. My next topic of choice would be to discuss politics except that supposedly that is not allowed. So eventually I decided to just go through some of the evidence I found that corroborates the Bible. They probably don't get to hear a lot about that since most people tend to predicate their beliefs in the Bible on circular reasoning or subjective personal experiences. And the public school system is always telling them the Bible is false, so they could use the extra help. I read a lot so I know a bit more than the average person, especially more than the average teenager which is the age group that I will have to deal with. Still, I really hope that I never have to do this again.


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~jmsnooks http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/19668689/ http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/19668689/ Tue, 29 Jul 2008 19:53:20 PDT
At any rate, I realized that I have never seen a DC animated feature that I didn't like, and I also happened to enjoy the more recent DC movies (Batman Begins and Superman Returns). So I gave Justice League a chance and it was absolutely great. They managed to seem less cliche, the adventure and problem solving aspects were good, the fight sequences were good, and there was even some romance for the ladies. Concerning that, I thought it was too bad that Superman didn't hook up with Wonder Woman. I realize that in the comics Superman is a very old character, in fact he was invented way before I was born, early on DC bought the rights to him. The idea of him being the last of his kind was strongly played up, and I believe he antedates most of the other characters, so they figured it would be logical for him to pursue a normal human female. Having extremely limited options has a way of making a man broaden his parameters. I apologize (and warn) in advance, because what I am about to say may come across as vulgar. Putting the problem of limited options aside, the conjugal experiences involved in a relationship like that could not be anything good. First of all, Superman is bullet proof, can withstand nuclear blasts, can even move small planets, which means that he could horribly maim a normal human female. Granted that I have no actual experience in the area of conjugation, but it seems that he would have to lie completely still because any movement could be fatal. To him she would be as soft as jello pudding, even if he were only half as strong. And as to Superman Returns... Genetic incompatibilities put to the side, even if he could impregnate her if the baby kicks just once then his foot is going to pierce strait through Lois. Anyways, I think the pairing is retarded but it has decades of DC cannon behind it which is not easily shrugged off. The series does not follow DC cannon in all cases, but they followed it in regards to Lois. According to the discourse from the makers a great many fans were hoping that Superman and Wonder Woman would hook up. It would be a logical match, but they had Lois in the Superman series so he's still with her in the Justice League series. An unfortunate and illogical pairing.

Moving along... As far as I know the series ran 2 seasons, and then they created a new series called "Justice League Unlimited" which I am watching now. Unlimited is still good but I feel that it is not as good because they added far too many new characters. In the first series most of the episodes exist in 2 parts giving it a somewhat epic quality. One episode is a one parter and there are a few that exist in more than 2 parts. In the first season they inadvertantly made Superman look weak. In the comics Superman can contain a nuclear blast in his hands, he can crush coal into diamonds, he can move fast enough to assemble a dummy version of Clark Kent inside a cage and stopping the bad guy in the blink of an eye so that no one knows who he is, and so on and so forth... He has all the characteristics of a classical pagan god. And incidentally, in the last Marvel DC crossover (which was also VERY good) he beat Thor, although only barely. In the first season of Justice League he gets taken down by missiles and lasar blasts. The creators said that they actually did that to make the bad guys look more powerful rather than make Superman look weak, but they overdid it so they made changes in the 2nd season and in Unlimited.

At any rate, it may be that I also become a DC fan, so I may do some DC fanart. I may try reading some more of their comics next time I go to the comic store. One thing I do like about DC over Marvel is that evolutionism is not an essential part of the DC universe and it doesn't crop up nearly as much as it does in Marvel. I stopped reading the new X-men comics years ago because the evolutionism was just getting too intense. Especially in the Ultimate X-men. I like X-men a lot more when I was in my teens because I could identify... ]]> ~jmsnooks http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/19509558/ http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/19509558/ Sun, 20 Jul 2008 23:42:55 PDT

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Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:
http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/19419629/ Tue, 15 Jul 2008 23:54:40 PDT



Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:
http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/19117161/ Sun, 29 Jun 2008 21:02:16 PDT
I took one of my friends to the Atlanta Airport so he could pick up his friend's car. His friend was on the way to Germany, and he was going to be riding the Lufthansa to get over there. So we had to wait while they went through all the absurd rigamarole. But then the Lufthansa flight crew came out for whatever reason and just watched people go through the rigamarole. There were about 8 maybe 10 people, mostly men. The women were fairly unremarkable, a little chunky and sloppy looking. But the weird thing was that the men all looked like me. Or at least there was a high degree of similarity. They were like the brothers I never had (and perhaps never wanted) and actually, they looked more similar to me than my own brother does. They differed from me only in pigmentation, which surprised me. They were all rather dark, which lead me to believe that perhaps tanning is currently popular in Germany. I happen to be a light red color, except for my hands, feet, and the area around my eyes which is a darker red color. During the winter my hands sometimes turn a blood red color which freaks people out. At any rate, I have for the most part resisted the notion that individual countries have a specialized look, regions yes, but countries no. While I realize that what I saw was a fairly small sample and possible inadaquate for the purpose of generalization, I must also recognize the possiblilty that there could be some countries that actually do have a distinctive look. As it turns out I have ancestroy from Germany, so some of them could be distant relatives. If anyone is curious as to the sort of look I'm talking about check out Paul Van Dyk. He's famous and he also has that look.

Also tried out a REALLY long distance relationship with a girl in India. She was really great but over the course of time I found out how many barriers the government has put in place to mitigate immigration from India so I gave up. I don't understand the basis for such discrimination, but then, there's a lot about the mindset of evil wicked people that I don't understand. So eventually I'm going to have to rant about the government's hypocritical and inane immigration policies but not here. I thought that it would be good to look to India because I wanted to find someone who was still a virgin. But I can't do an overseas relationship. That's too hard for me and I lack the faith and patience to see it through. At any rate, I now have more time to draw.

Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:
~jmsnooks http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/18460018/ http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/18460018/ Fri, 23 May 2008 08:34:14 PDT rince Caspian” and now it is time to write a review on the movie. I have to say that my overall impression of the movie was NOT good and I do not recommend that anyone else spend either time or money to see it. The first Narnia movie was pretty good actually, and deviated only slightly from the book. Minor deviations must be allowed for in movie renditions of books as it is no easy task to translate from the text to the big screen and retain everything in full and original detail. In the case of Prince Caspian it seems that they interpreted the attention, revenue, and accolades received by the first movie to be synonymous with an unmitigated creative license for any future endeavors. So in other words, the movie deviated further from the book than the LOTR movies did. The overall effect was that I was tense and cringing through the entire experience, trying to recognize the familiar in the unrecognizable. There were only a handful of scenes that came directly from the books: 1. The scene where they are waiting for the train and get pulled into Narnia. 2. The scene where Edmund fights the dwarf. 3. The scene where all the mice are planning to cut off their tails on Reepacheeps behalf. Beyond that there were about 2 or 3 scenes which were roughly based on events from the book but greatly altered nearly to the point of being unrecognizable.

When the movie started with that fight scene with Peter I was confused and cringing. Granted it has been about 4 years since I read the book, but I believe that never happened. And the way Peter was acting throughout the movie was a misrepresentation of his character. I realize they might have thought it was an audience grabber to have a “jerk” character, a role which Edmund fulfilled in the first movie, but there was not supposed to be any jerk among the protagonists in Prince Caspian. The key is to follow the intent of the author because he knew what he was doing. It was CS Lewis’ idea to put jerks in some of the books and none in others, there was a reason for it all. Furthermore, they all learned their character lessons in the first book, so there was no reason for it in the 2nd. Then there was that scene where they invaded the castle of Miraz, and about 15 minutes of the movie were devoted to that. I had a really horrible tense feeling during that scene because it just seemed like it didn’t belong, but then, why devote so much time to something that never happened? So I leaned over to my sister who had just read the books and asked her about it, and she said it never happened. I was annoyed. It was more annoying than elves at Helm’s Deep. And what about the way in which the Telmarines were portrayed? From the style of the armor I could only conclude that they were supposed to be Spanish conquistadores. And if that was not enough there were also the fake accents, and the style of facial hair. However, if they were supposed to be Spanish why were some of them portrayed by mezoamericans? Stupid Hollywood people who know nothing about sociology or history. At any rate, on the surface one could almost laud them for casting (or attempting to) them as conquistadores, considering that that is exactly what the Telmarines acted like in the book. However, if they were Spanish than the problem of the language barrier would arrive, and everyone in Narnia speaks English. So for the movies they have them speak English, but with a Spanish accent, how silly. I have a better idea, why not just follow the books, especially since you’re playing off of the titles of the books and if it weren’t for that then no one would go see the movie. How about showing some respect? And the trees themselves do not move like that. Someone confused Narnia with the Middle Earth. It’s Tolkien that has the moving trees, they’re called Huorns and they are trees that used to be Ents who fell asleep and turned into trees. Tolkien draws on a different source of inspiration, he was more inspired by northern European myths and traditions, where as Lewis was more inspired by classical Greece. That’s why he has Centaurs and Fawns, Nymphs, Naiads, and Baccanalian (lesser) deities (also absent from the movie). So in the books the trees do not move, some of the trees are possessed by dryads, which are female humanoids that live inside the trees and are capable of coming out and interacting with people. They do bear roughly the colors of the trees they inhabit, hair the color of the leaves and skin the color of the trunk. They are not motile trees neither are they petals blowing in the wind. They are solid humanoid females, as they are in traditional Greek mythology. It wouldn’t hurt to read the books, and it bothers me how they can make up something almost completely on their own, slap a famous title on it, and make... ]]> ~jmsnooks http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/18204386/ http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/18204386/ Tue, 06 May 2008 21:48:23 PDT
So what are some of the ways I differ from normal people? Just off the top of my head there are quite a few, and the result is that my personality tends to defy most stereotypes or forms of classification. Which is another reason why I get so irritated with normal people who claim to understand me when really they have absolutely no idea what's going on. So just to list a few, in random order, and without any explanation:

1. Politically I am an anarchist. I absolutely hate and loathe the idea of government. Most conservatives believe, or at least say, that they are against big government or extensive government action, whereas I take it a step further and do not recognize any necessity FOR government, period.

2. Given a choice, I do not listen to modern western music except for trance (which is a world genre) and new age (which is negligable). I do listen to classical music, and any contemporary music I listen to tends to hale from EAST of the Mediterannean.

3. I like the second ammendment, but I don't care for guns personally. I do however LOVE knives and swords, and I sleep with some near my bed.

4. I do not care about sports of any kind. I cannot fathom why people enjoy watching something that has no storyline or expository value. The mystery behind watching sports eludes me. I... ]]> ~jmsnooks http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/18099701/ http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/18099701/ Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:30:26 PDT
Mesoamerica: [link]
Rome: [link]
Persia: [link]
India: [link]
China:


Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:

~jmsnooks http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/18023172/ http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/18023172/ Fri, 25 Apr 2008 13:39:01 PDT

Mesoamerica: [link]
Rome: [link]
Persia: [link]
India: [link]
China:


Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:



Watchers in the water:


~Scarecrow-Jack
~makyoyo
~SuperEvee
~l33tpwnzagez0rz
~http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/17955539/ Mon, 21 Apr 2008 08:11:37 PDT

Mesoamerica: [link]
Rome: [link]
Persia: [link]
India: [link]
China:


Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:
http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/17769110/ Wed, 09 Apr 2008 18:24:29 PDT
Mesoamerica: [link]
Rome: [link]
Persia: [link]
India: [link]
China:


Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:



Watchers in the water:

~jmsnooks http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/17679880/ http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/17679880/ Fri, 04 Apr 2008 08:36:23 PDT


Art Exchanges:











My favorite authors project:

JRR Tolkien: [link]
CS Lewis: [link]
Isaac Asimov: [link]
Frank Herbert: [link]
Brian Herbert: [link]
Frank Peretti:
Edger Rice Burroughs: [link]


Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:
http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/17623142/ Tue, 01 Apr 2008 06:40:10 PDT
Art Exchanges:











My favorite authors project:

JRR Tolkien: [link]
CS Lewis: [link]
Isaac Asimov: [link]
Frank Herbert: [link]
Brian Herbert: [link]
Frank Peretti:
Edger Rice Burroughs: [link]


Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:
http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/17557545/ Fri, 28 Mar 2008 13:16:48 PDT
I've got less money than Gene Starwind from the "Outlaw Star" series. In fact, I'm so poor that the government GAVE me money after I filed my last tax return. Afterwards I told my dad, "See, all I had to do was go through the federal government to get some money from you." Because it was my dad's money that I got paid with. My dad was somewhat irritated by that, and truth be told, I was too, because I don't like how the federal government takes money away from people, and I don't believe in taking things from others without their permission. However, I would rather take the money from the federal government than give it back to them as donations, because I don't want to support the government if I can help it. I mean, I might work for them if they paid me, but getting paid for doing something is in an entirely different realm than getting paid for doing nothing.




Art Exchanges:











My favorite authors project:

JRR Tolkien: [link]
CS Lewis: [link]
Isaac Asimov: [link]
Frank Herbert: [link]
Brian Herbert: [link]
Frank Peretti:
Edger Rice Burroughs: [link]


Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:
~jmsnooks http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/17246855/ http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/17246855/ Sat, 08 Mar 2008 20:53:54 PST
Art Exchanges:











My favorite authors project:

JRR Tolkien: [link]
CS Lewis: [link]
Isaac Asimov: [link]
Frank Herbert: [link]
Brian Herbert: [link]
Frank Peretti:
Edger Rice Burroughs: [link]


Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:
~jmsnooks http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/17197348/ http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/17197348/ Wed, 05 Mar 2008 15:27:15 PST



Art Exchanges:











My favorite authors project:

JRR Tolkien: [link]
CS Lewis: [link]
Isaac Asimov: [link]
Frank Herbert: [link]
Brian Herbert: [link]
Frank Peretti:
Edger Rice Burroughs:


Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:
~jmsnooks http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/17139320/ http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/17139320/ Sat, 01 Mar 2008 20:37:36 PST angel-t It should help me hone my technique and force a phaze of accelerated progress on me. I say SHOULD. At any rate, I'm hoping to assimilate some useful new techniques. I got the new colored pencils I need so I'm back in business, and I started work on my Edger Rice Burroughs drawing, and then Frank Peretti is next and last for now. Once that is done, I have agreed to engage in some art exchanges with the following people, if anyone else wants to join in let me know. If anyone else is upset with me for not finishing Sir Justice or is just anxious then also drop me a note.

Art Exchanges:











My favorite authors project:

JRR Tolkien: [link]
CS Lewis: [link]
Isaac Asimov: [link]
Frank Herbert: [link]
Brian Herbert: [link]
Frank Peretti:
Edger Rice Burroughs:


Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:
http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/17124393/ Fri, 29 Feb 2008 20:54:00 PST
In other news, my old fat dog got into a fight with a neighbor dog. My dog is an old labrador weimeraner mix, and he used to have lots of energy but now he's tired and sore a lot, and has a hard time getting up, perhaps something we can all look forward too later in life. Anyways, a white labrador came up onto our back porch and stood right behind the door. It took a while for my tired old dog to notice him (hearing is going away), but when he did he was suddenly adrenalized and all the hair on his back was standing way up. He got up so quick and was snarling and barking. He wanted to go out pretty bad so I figured I would let him out and I figured that he would be OK because I figured that he knew he was too out of shape to get into a fight. Apparently I figured incorrectly, and he charged that dog and body slammed him off the porch and I think bit him as well. The other dog was overwhelmed and was nearly knocked over. Once he had driven him off the porch and down the stone path a ways he relented, and the other dog seemed to have a hurt hip and staggered a bit, but then ran off. I was thinking, "man, what a sociopath." I can't understand the emotions or thought process into treating a complete stranger, who has not expressed any hostility, in such a violent and reactionary way. Sure if someone broke into my house I might thrash them a bit, but just for wandering bye? I don't understand.





My favorite authors project:

JRR Tolkien: [link]
CS Lewis: [link]
Isaac Asimov: [link]
Frank Herbert: [link]
Brian Herbert: [link]
Frank Peretti:
Edger Rice Burroughs:


Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:
~jmsnooks http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/16999013/ http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/16999013/ Thu, 21 Feb 2008 19:12:20 PST
But first, a brief history of my allergies. One of my sisters, I think it was the youngest one, dared to make a smart mouth comment about me having a weaker constitution or some other bullcrap. To which I probably responded with an offer not to stuff her head in the dogs waterbowl or something in exchange for her shutting up. At any rate, it's not true. Parents often make their mistakes on the oldest one, and as it was, when I was a kid there were a few years when I would come down with a cold or something similar seasonally, I think it was during the winter. My parents and my grandmother over-reacted to it and put me on all kinds of anti-biotics, which were unfortunately prescribed by a doctor. One of the medications caused me to be very sick and my face swelled up that I had a hard time seeing out of my eyes. So what happened was after they started doing that, each year the infection lasted a bit longer, until I was 12 and we moved to Texas, at that point the most annoying symptom of the infection (my nose being perpetually plugged up) never went away. So essentially an infrequent minor problem was turned into a continuous major problem through careless overreaction. My nose was perpetually crammed full of snot, and as if that wasn't enough, it would sometimes splatter out at inopportune times if I laughed too hard or something. It was viscous and opaque, and my nose kept producing the stuff so that if I didn't blow it out it would just run down my throat (which it did when I was sleeping). In addition, I frequently experienced heightened symptoms when I became exposed to anything I was allergic too, which turned out to be quite a few things. If I happened to get a cold, things got even worse, and in those cases I would frequently lose my voice and cough up blood. Of course it made my life more difficult but I managed to function anyways, my energy level dropped, and I gave up any hope of ever being normal (physically) again. Middle school was abjectly miserable for me, my extreme allergies required me to carry around a box of tissues in my backpack, and whenever I sometimes had to ask the teacher if I could keep the trash can next to my desk, either that or I would fill up the desk with used tissues, and make a few trips to the trash can at the end of class. When I got a little older I underwent some alternative allergy treatments, neither of which gave immediate or obvious results, and neither of which I ever completed. At any rate, my allergies got a little better, so that one nostril was clear enough to breath through half the time, and I could go a bit longer without blowing my nose. Still, it took very little to set off my allergies, and it could be done without me even smelling whatever set them off because my clear nostril would plug up so fast in reaction to the allergin. I think this may have been part of what kept the girls away from me back in highschool, or at least, the desireable ones. As an adult I tried some regular mainstream allergy shots, which helped a bit, but the symptoms usually returned when I stopped taking the shots.

Finally I got involved in another new treatment, and I think it's safe to say that my allergies are almost completely gone. Not only that, but they have been so for a while. It's amazing to be able to breath through both nostrils at the same time, and not even feel anything bubbling or sliding around. Sometimes I don't even have anything to hack up in the morning. I can smell all kinds of things that I used to be unable. I can smell plants when I walk through the woods, and that's during the winter. I could smell all those roses my dad got for my mom and sisters just by being in the same room with them, and I don't like the smell, but still. This one time a few weeks ago, my mom was complaining about how bad the dog smelled, but I couldn't detect his natural musk over the scent of perfume that was on him. So I say to my mom, "All I can smell is the perfume. Who put perfume on him?" And she says that no one did, but my sister-in-law petted him before she went to work or something, and the scent of her perfume was still on him. Perfume I don't like because it still upsets my allergies, although not as much. I was even able to detect my oldest sisters natural scent, which I would rather not smell but I'm glad I can smell and breath without snot running down my throat or face.



In other news, I saw another recent picture of Brittany Spears. She was wearing a 2 piece and lying around. She looked like a beached whale. I think she was lying around trying to sun herself. Perhaps if she's fortunate the heat from the sun will cause some of that grease to bubble up... ]]> ~jmsnooks http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/16787392/ http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/16787392/ Fri, 08 Feb 2008 15:45:10 PST
Her account has mostly her older artwork and nothing new because she misplaces a lot of it and it dissapears before I can scan it. It's also hard to get her to sit down and upload.

At any rate, by using terminology such as "the force" or "the power within" I am certainly not attempting to invoke the mystical, I am merely coining euphemisms. Colorful euphemisms which refer to a persons innate talents and skills. Sometimes when you sit down with the intent to draw, you may feel stymied during the brainstorming or planning process, but once you just put the pencil to the paper it kind of flows out of you. You just have to let yourself go to a certain degree.

In other news, my drawing of Yavanna Kementari is coming along pretty well for the most part, and completely without ink. That however will not be used as my Tolkien drawing for my favorite authors project. I just wanted to draw Yavanna in a way that would make her the focuse of the picture because she's my favorite of the female valar. Besides that I have another picture which will show most of the valar as well as some scenery and that one will be for my authors project. After that I'm going to do something from Lewis.


My favorite authors project:

JRR Tolkien: [link]
CS Lewis: [link]
Isaac Asimov: [link]
Frank Herbert: [link]
Brian Herbert: [link]
Frank Peretti:
Edger Rice Burroughs:


Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another:
http://jmsnooks.deviantart.com/journal/16712371/ Sun, 03 Feb 2008 18:23:22 PST

My favorite authors project:

JRR Tolkien:
CS Lewis:
Isaac Asimov: [link]
Frank Herbert: [link]
Brian Herbert: [link]
Frank Peretti:
Edger Rice Burroughs:


Siblings:



Groups I'm involved with in some way or another: