Virtual Tourist - Secret World Legends 8/27/17

Morning!

Things eased up a little this week at the day job, but I felt crappy on Friday, so no movie review... Again. So here's a quick one.

The Hitman's Bodyguard - (Rated R - mostly for language and graphic violence - so definitely NOT for younger kids). Excellent stunt work and they even had some really fun and fresh ideas in several spots. When the two guys meet for the 1st time face to face - awesome! Then when AAA complains to the bartender at the outside bar, more super awesomeness appears! The movie was a ton of fun, and the soundtrack totally rocked! Rating: 3.75 out of 5 (Hubby's rating: Pay Full Price to See Again!)

Secret World Legends

View at the top of the central tree. A lot of energy and light float around it.

Too weird not to take a picture of. Man of gold? Behind him is a portal leading to another location on Earth.

Other locations on Earth and their portals.

 

The other side of one of the portals. Hello, New England!

We've arrived at Kingsmouth Town. The glowing area is a spawn point.

This fellow fills you on what is going on around here. It isn't good. Major paranormal stuff is going down!

 

The Sheriff - one of the few survivors in town after the fog rolled in. They've fortified the police station until more substantial help comes.

View of Kingsmouth Bay. Zombies and worse roaming everywhere.

 

The view when looking to the left of the bay. 

Hope your Sunday is productive and restful!

Food and Towels!

Morning, all!

Two of the most fun things about Disney Cruises are the food and towels!

Food is a given. Not only does it taste good, but they make pretty too. And every night when you return to your stateroom, a neat towel figure has been placed on your bed to amuse.

Mmmm yummy creme brulee!

Cheesecake!

A crab?

A bunny! So adorable!

Couldn't you just frame this one? :)

A frog!

I think it's a monkey or orangutan. What do you think?

A lovely elephant!

One night at dinner, they did the napkins like little suits. Adorable!

A ghostly pirate, perhaps? Or creature from the deep?

Funky, isn't it?

Pluto relaxing while his master's away?

Aren't they all just adorable? Which is your favorite? I can't choose!

Have a great Friday!

Disney 2016 Sneak Peek!

Greetings!

Life has been...chaotic! Busy! Piling up! Making me way behind! Mostly due to the day job. But just a few weeks ago, hubby and I went on vacation. We departed for the Mediterranean for a week.

It was my first trip ever to Europe. Had been looking forward to it for over a year! With only a week and four ports of call, there wasn't time to see everything. We barely touched the surface. I think we left from vacation more exhausted than when we went! lol.

Where did we go? Let me show you.

I took a jillion pictures. It's how I roll. But due to unexpected circumstances and some bad luck, I lost 600+ of them. *cry* Even now, with how busy life has been, I've only been able to upload some.

But don't worry, I won't flood you with them. :) Figured I'd share just a few to wet your appetite. :P

The sunsets out here were amazing!

Some awesome skies too!

Coming into Livorno.

Doesn't it scream Europe? Taken on our way to the boat for the National Park of Cinque Terre.

Seeing this made me homesick for Puerto Rico. The island's architecture and forts were built and influenced by the Spaniards who came there, so I really shouldn't have been surprised. :)

Isn't this gorgeous? One of my few surviving pics of Rome. *sniff*

 All of them are not up on my site yet, but if you want to see more, come on by and check out what's up my gallery so far. :)

I want to go back!!!!

Writers of the Future!

Morning!

This weekend is the 32nd Annual Writers of the Future Achievement Awards!

Both authors and artists are celebrated each year at the prestigious event.

This year, you can even watch it live from their website at 6:30pm Pacific Standard Time on Sunday the 10th of April.

I love that you can dress formal or Steampunk formal! How cool is that?

But what is the contest about? Here's the first piece of the contest's history from their website: 

Established and sponsored by L. Ron Hubbard in 1983, the “Writers Award Contest” was a budding competition aimed at discovering, and eventually publishing, deserving amateur and aspiring writers. The field of speculative fiction and fantasy, was chosen not only for Mr. Hubbard’s love of and success within the genre—but for the freedom of imagination and expression it provided as what he described as the “herald of possibility.”

Submissions to the contest are free and happen quarterly and even have cash prizes. The winners also get to see their stories/art published in a print and ebook anthology.

So if you're interested in writing and getting out there, this might be a venue to explore. :)

Have a great day!

ConDFW 2/12-2/14/16 - My Schedule!

Morning, all!

This weekend is ConDFW!


I'd meant to put up my schedule earlier, but life has been pure chaos lately. DOH!

Friday 

PROGRAMMING 2 (MADISON) Friday, 3pm: Google Maps is Your Urban Fantasy Guide Panelists: Gloria Oliver (M), Seanan McGuire, Paul Black, Sue Sinor, Bradley H. Sinor Looking for a good location, and can’t remember clearly where you grew up?  Trying to figure out how long it takes to drive from Houston to Dallas when you’re riding the Great Hunt?  It’s amazing what technology can show you these days, and learning a neighborhood can be a little safer if you browse from the computer (at least at the beginning).  Our writers talk about finding the perfect location for their urban fantasy stories.

Saturday 

READING (ADAMS) Saturday, 12pm: Gloria Oliver, T. M. Hunter


MAIN PROGRAMMING (JEFFERSON) Saturday, 4pm: Magic vs Technology II: Exploring Technology in Urban Fantasy Panelists: Gloria Oliver (M), Seanan McGuire, Carole Nelson Douglas, P.N. Elrod, C. Dean Andersson, Mary Gearhart‐Gray Last year we looked at the effect of technology on magic in Urban Fantasy.  This year we flip the sides and look at how magic effects technology.  A perfect example of this is in the Dresden Files, where magic can actively destroy modern technology by being used nearby.  Does modern technology replace magic?   Can it coexist?  How modern should tech be so it isn’t mistaken as magic itself?  Our authors explore this knotty problem with SCIENCE!


PROGRAMMING 3 (HAMILTON) Saturday, 5pm: Where do Heroes Go to Die? Panelists: Tracy S. Morris (M), Barbara Ann Wright, Patrice Sarath, Gloria Oliver, Michelle Muenzler Last year we heard that Arnold Schwarzenegger is doing Legend of Conan (eventually?  Maybe?  Now it looks like November 2016) as a direct sequel to the first Conan, where it ended with him being King, old and grizzled.  As a concept, the idea is neat, and is something that Howard dealt with in his original stories as well.  Just how do you write old heroes?  Our writers of sword and sorcery discuss these topics and more.

Sunday 

PROGRAMMING 2 (MADISON) Sunday, 1pm: Interstellar Archaeology: Part Two – The Debunking Panelists: Mel White (M), Chris Donahue, Gloria Oliver, Teresa Patterson, David Doub, Stina Leicht The second of two panels where we inflict discover startling artifacts of OBVIOUS alien origin.  Our experts tell us how wrong the previous esteemed panelists were!  Last year, Sunday’s panel thoroughly debunked Friday’s experts.  Help us, they can!  Confuse us, they will not.

Hope you come! I'll also have a table in the Dealers Room. :)

Puerto Rico - Land of Enchantment!

After way too many years, I finally went back to my roots - Puerto Rico!

I'd brought up the idea last year about doing a trip there to visit family and it be three generations of us girls. (My Mom, my daughter, and me!) Since we're all getting older, I figured this might be the last chance for something like this. And I wanted my daughter to learn more about where we all came from.

Puerto Rico is an island in the Caribbean. It's small, only 100 X 50 miles, but chock full of culture and exotic foods and more! Better yet, you don't need a passport to go there. Puerto Rico (meaning Rich Port) is a property of the US - so while it might seem foreign, it's still part of the old US of A!

We spent a little over a week there, staying with my uncle. We drove all over the place. And like usual, I took a ton of pictures! heh heh. I'll share a few with you and also links to the albums in case you want to see more. (Albums have a slideshow feature!)

View from my uncle's porch. So awesome! He lives outside the city of Caguas. 

This is the beach at Luquillo. The colors of the water are gorgeous!

El Morro is an old Spanish fort in San Juan. A huge fort! Lots of history here.

San Juan has a section where all the roads are as they were in the past. Built from the weights carried in the ships as ballast once they came to port to fill up with goods from the island.

El Yunque (The Forest) is a protected rain forest. You will have never seen so much GREEN! :)

Have several more albums - Caguana Indian Ceremonial Park, Camuy Caves, Guajataca, Ponce, and Other.

Hope you get a chance to visit the island someday!

FanDays 2015

Running late on my post. DOH!
All my plans went kaput when I popped off my tire trying a new way to go home in the middle of a giant storm. Yeah....
Been one of those months...

While I missed about half of FanDays due to work, I still made it in time to get a few pics. Yay!

My daughter had not made one of these triple layer flowers in forever. Someone saw it on the banner and asked for one. I think they are super cool!

Look at the awesome detail on her headdress. Fascinating!

Her weaponry and the buddy with her also had it going on!

Hawkwoman! Lots of nice detial.

See what I mean? Came out great!

The armor looks awesome!

Master Splinter and Raphael! Master Splinter is in the original comic style. Poor thing.

Talking of originals - here's the Penguin! Qack qack qack. (He looked awesome!)

A young Poison Ivy was hanging around too. Her necklace is super cool!

Pic my daughter sent me that Friday. She had my back while I was slaving at the day job. My bro came too, so he had her back. :)

Hope you have a great Wednesday!
While I missed about half of FanDays due to work, I still made it in time to get a few pics. Yay!

My daughter had not made one of these triple layer flowers in forever. Someone saw it on the banner and asked for one. I think they are super cool!

Look at the awesome detail on her headdress. Fascinating!

Her weaponry and the buddy with her also had it going on!

Hawkwoman! Lots of nice detial.

See what I mean? Came out great!

The armor looks awesome!

Master Splinter and Raphael! Master Splinter is in the original comic style. Poor thing.

Talking of originals - here's the Penguin! Qack qack qack. (He looked awesome!)

A young Poison Ivy was hanging around too. Her necklace is super cool!

Pic my daughter sent me that Friday. She had my back while I was slaving at the day job. My bro came too, so he had her back. :)

Hope you have a great Wednesday!