Rhillai

World Fantasy Convention in Columbus, OH 2010

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:44:11 GMT

http://www.worldfantasy2010.com/

On the weekend of October 28-31, 2010, please join us in Columbus, Ohio for the World Fantasy Convention. The city is noted for O. Henry and James Thurber, brooding gargoyles, "unicorns in gardens", and is home to a global community of authors, editors, publishers, artists, agents, and others who share a serious interest in fantastic literature and art.

2010 Census WILL count Illegal Immigrants

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:15:08 GMT

Democrats Undermining America.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091105/ap_on_go_co/us_congress_counting_immigrants_1
Senate blocks census US-citizenship question

WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats have blocked a GOP attempt to require next year's census forms to ask people whether they are a U.S. citizen.

The proposal by Louisiana Republican Sen. David Vitter was aimed at excluding immigrants from the population totals that are used to figure the number of congressional representatives for each state. Critics said Vitter's plan would discourage immigrants from responding to the census and would be hugely expensive. They also said that it's long been settled law that the apportionment of congressional seats is determined by the number of people living in each state, regardless of whether they are citizens. A separate survey already collects the data.

The plan fell after a 60-39 procedural vote made it ineligible for attachment to a bill funding the census.

The other novel

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:48:51 GMT

So, I had two novels written. The first, Warders of the Gate, went on to finally get accepted by a publisher and published.

The second, Power Play, was never accepted. And I looked back on that novel and it's not that bad. Then I looked at the slew of vampire, female leads, and whatnot novels out there in today's market. I decided to revamp (pun intended) the novel with a female lead. I'll probably retitle it, too, but I'm currently on Chapter 8 (of 10) editing the novel to fit the female lead. I've taken out the steam-world setting (not very "in" right now) but left the more "noir" style. Once done, I'll go back and edit it again to fill it out more and then send it out to publishers.

Hopefully with one book under my belt, I'll have an easier time getting this second novel published. Maybe look for an agent, even.

Oh, and I'm still working on the sequel to Warders.

Squirrel Season

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:14:30 GMT

Just too funny!

Beautiful Libraries

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:05:59 GMT

http://curiousexpeditions.org/2007/09/librophiliac_love_letter_a_com.html

Disney to buy Marvel

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:51:23 GMT

And the shocking news of the day.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/business/media/01disney.html?_r=1&em

Disney to Pay $4 Billion for Comic Giant Marvel

(Full article at link)

By BROOKS BARNES
Published: August 31, 2009

LOS ANGELES — Spider-Man and his Marvel Entertainment cohorts will join the Walt Disney Company in a $4 billion deal announced early Monday.

Disney said in a statement that it would pay a combination of about 60 percent cash and 40 percent stock to acquire Marvel, which has a stable of some 5,000 characters that includes the X-Men, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Captain America and Thor.

Marvel has aggressively exploited its most popular characters through motion pictures and consumer products, and has a thicket of deals with various studios that will stay in place. Twentieth Century Fox will continue with the “X-Men” franchise, for instance, while Sony Pictures Entertainment will keep “Spider-Man.”

And Paramount Pictures will continue to release Marvel’s “Iron Man” films — at least until that deal expires. So essentially Disney is in business with a trio of rival studios.

Disney sees a deep opportunity to immediately patch the Marvel characters into its other businesses, however. Marvel characters will be added to Disney’s theme parks, while consumer products will be a huge component, particularly internationally where Marvel has made fewer inroads.

University Data

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:04:02 GMT

Found this site. Has some good info on universities.

http://www.stateuniversity.com/universities/WV

The link just includes WV universities, but I'm guessing other states are offered at the site.

Hilarious Spoof Trailer

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 11:56:57 GMT

You should watch the original trailer first:

Twilight: New Moon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiFlkCmRfNg

Then watch the spoof:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbAppj00nZo

Hilarious!

Narf!

Listed on a Website

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 19:03:46 GMT

I'm listed at the Clarksburg Library website.

http://clark.lib.wv.us/

I'm doing a Book Talk on Friday, August 14th.

From here:

http://clarksburglibrary.info/expressyourself

"Mark Murray author of Warders of the Gate will be here to talk about his book and about being a writer."

Kind of Neat

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 17:57:46 GMT

Thought this was kind of neat.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/5886805/The-invisible-man-Liu-Bolins-camouflage-artwork.html

The Island of New England

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:35:46 GMT

Huh. I never knew that New England was actually cut off from the rest of the mainland US by water. Weird. Orny just posted about his trip to go flying in a biplane (I'm jealous, Orn!) and I looked at his GPS map. I wondered just where he was and was surprised that he went all the way to NY.

So, the water nearby caught my attention. It looked like a decent sized river. Checking it out, I noticed that it goes all the way south to the New York Bay area. Looking North, I noticed it goes all the way to Albany, but I was zoomed too far out on the map to tell anything else. I glanced north of Albany to see Lake Champlain and the waterways there, which go all the way up to the Ocean. I zoomed in and saw that there is a waterway that goes from Lake Champlain and connects to the one in Albany.

All of our New England states and parts of New York are surrounded by water. So, it's the Island of New England. :) Cool!

Just traced a waterway from Lake Michigan in Chicago unbroken to St. Louis, Mo. which then goes south to New Orleans and the gulf. Since the Great Lakes are connected, the waterway goes from northeastern Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico, splitting the US in half.

States Meme

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:01:31 GMT

Put an X by the states you have been to. The average is 8; how do you match up?
Put an L by the states you have lived in.
Airports don't count!

Alabama - x
Alaska - x, L
Arizona - x
Arkansas - x
California - x
Colorado - x, L
Connecticut - x
Delaware - x
Florida - x, L
Georgia - x
Hawaii -
Idaho - x
Illinois - x
Indiana - x
Iowa - x
Kansas - x
Kentucky - x
Louisiana - x
Maine - x
Maryland - x
Massachusetts - x
Michigan - x, L
Minnesota - x
Mississippi - x, L
Missouri - x, L
Montana - x
Nebraska - x
Nevada - x
New Hampshire - x
New Jersey - x
New Mexico - x
New York - x
North Carolina - x
North Dakota - x, L
Ohio - x
Oklahoma - x, L
Oregon -
Pennsylvania - x
Rhode Island - x
South Carolina - x
South Dakota - x
Tennessee - x
Texas - x
Utah - x
Vermont - x
Virginia - x
Washington - x
Washington DC - x
West Virginia - x, L
Wisconsin - x
Wyoming - x

My count = x - 48, L - 9
From what I can remember, that is. :)

Using the Bus or Train System in Cities Causes Higher Global Warming Than an SUV

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 11:40:24 GMT

Yep, new study. Taking an SUV into the city leaves less of a "Carbon Footprint" than riding the bus or taking a train.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.243153c6a091a3b942a75077729e8c92.c51&show_article=1

Excerpt:

Think twice about 'green' transport, say scientists

You worry a lot about the environment and do everything you can to reduce your carbon footprint -- the emissions of greenhouse gases that drive dangerous climate change.

So you always prefer to take the train or the bus rather than a plane, and avoid using a car whenever you can, faithful to the belief that this inflicts less harm to the planet.

Well, there could be a nasty surprise in store for you, for taking public transport may not be as green as you automatically think, says a new US study.

Its authors point out an array of factors that are often unknown to the public.

These are hidden or displaced emissions that ramp up the simple "tailpipe" tally, which is based on how much carbon is spewed out by the fossil fuels used to make a trip.

Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus Movie

Fri, 29 May 2009 14:01:45 GMT

And the B movies just keep getting better! :) This looks like fun.

Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus!

Website here:
http://www.theasylum.cc/product.php?id=155

Trailer in Quicktime here:
http://www.theasylum.cc/video/Mega_Shark_Trailer.mov

Trailer on YouTube here (same as above):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fa7ck5mcd1o

Transforminators Movie

Wed, 27 May 2009 11:46:22 GMT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgPmH30OrQM

I could replace most of the ST crew ...

Thu, 14 May 2009 22:52:42 GMT

Funny. I'm Worf by 5%, but then there's a three way tie for Sulu, Picard, and Riker with Data only 2% behind them. Talk about talented. I'm a warrior with Worf and Sulu's skills, a leader with Picard's, logical to a fault with Data, and well, Riker's sort of a bonus. In other words, I'll logically decide to kill you, implement it with authority in a quick and effortless manner, all the while looking good. Okay, that's me. :)

Your results:
You are Worf

Worf		65%
Mr. Sulu		60%
Jean-Luc Picard		60%
Will Riker		60%
Data		58%
Spock		50%
An Expendable Character (Redshirt)		50%
Mr. Scott		45%
Leonard McCoy (Bones)		35%
Chekov		35%
Deanna Troi		30%
Uhura		25%
Beverly Crusher		25%
Geordi LaForge		25%
James T. Kirk (Captain)		20%

You are trained in the art of combat
and are usually intimidating.

Click here to take the "Which Star Trek character are you?" quiz...

Macro Photography

Wed, 13 May 2009 13:35:36 GMT

This was brought to my attention from another forum. The photos are simply amazing. Check them out!

http://photo.net/photodb/member-photos?user_id=1783374&include=all&unlimit=1

And then there were ... none, no, wait, one.

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 18:13:03 GMT

The local Food Lion Grocery store had fruit trees for $13.99. There were several varieties of apples and pears and I think even a cherry. Well, I was debating getting one for the yard since we cut down our Holly Tree. We need some shade for the yard.

So, Jenn and I finally decided to get one. We loaded up us and Happy in the Jeep and went to the closest Food Lion. They had a sign up that the price was cut to $6.99. And, yep, you guessed it -- the trees were all gone. Back to the house to drop Happy off and back out again to the other Food Lion.

We got there and they had about 6 trees left. All Cortland Apple trees. I never heard of Cortland but it was better than nothing. It's planted in the middle of the yard now. I looked up Cortland and it seems like a great apple.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortland_(apple)

Oh, and I borrowed my uncle's small rototiller, so I can put in a bigger garden. We might have corn on the cob this summer yet. :)

Whooooosh

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 21:02:54 GMT

We bought a small, round grill. I put it together today. Directions said to burn charcoal for 15 minutes with lid closed to burn off all the new, factory stuff. So, I put a few charcoal bricks in there and tried to light them. With the lid down, they wouldn't stay lit. With the lid up, the wind came through and created a major fire.

After one episode where I lifted the lid and nothing was burning, I added the rest of the small bag of charcoal. Lit them, put the lid down and waited another 10 minutes. When I went to check, I lifted the lid and Whooooooosh, a fireball blew outward, covering my arm and up into my face. Yuck. Luckily, it dissipated before reaching my face. However, it burned all the hair off of the underside of my right forearm. I put ice on it and now it's only a little red.

Jenn read the directions on the bag and it said to use half the bag and keep the lid open. Uh huh. Sounds good now, except the wind was making it a forest fire type fire with the lid open.

Anyway, all is good. I ended up only burning five hot dogs out of eight. But the hamburgers all came out great.

And now I have a squirrel roasting in a piece of tinfoil with butter, pepper, and tarragon spices. I have foiled Darth Squirrel! ;)

Mini Garden

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 22:34:39 GMT

For quite a few years, I've had red rasberry plants. Last year, I planted one of them in the ground. The other is still in a large pot. This spring, I found a grape plant at Wallys, which I bought and planted.

Today, we went to get charcoal for the grill at Wallys. Going through the garden section, Jenn and I decided to get some plants and seeds. We bought quite a few seeds, but only planted cauliflower and small leaf spinach. 3-6 plants worth. Or about that much from the wee seeds of cauliflower. We kept the corn, beans, and peas for planting later. Why, you ask? I'm glad you did.

I don't have a rototiller, so I had to remove the sod with a shovel and then break up the ground with the shovel and then break up the clumps with the shovel. I got as far as a tiny plot about 5 feet by 7 feet. Along with the seeds planted above, I planted two green pepper plants, one cinnamon basil plant, one big boy tomato plant, and one strawberry plant.

If I get energetic, I'll dig up another section of yard and plant some corn.

GoodReads

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 17:23:57 GMT

I found a Book Reading site. Seemed okay, so I joined.

My profile is here:

http://www.goodreads.com/MarkMurray

What a Car!

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 12:53:11 GMT

Nissan GT-R. The car to drool over.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,477584,00.html

"The $76,840 GT-R lives up to that hype, and stands tall among the best that the sports-car world has to offer at a relatively discount price. It's a goal achieved through a mix of technology and, well, mystery.

The GT-R can accelerate from zero to 60 mph in as little as 3.2 seconds and has been seen turning quarter-mile times of 11.5 seconds, which is blistering to say the least. A 190-plus mph top speed is icing on the cake, and all of it is even more impressive considering the car weighs nearly two tons, crushing the scales at 3,836 pounds. That's several hundred pounds heavier than competitors like the Porsche 911 Turbo and Corvette Z06, each of which have significantly more horsepower, or so they say."

...more...

"An automated 6-speed gearbox with dual clutches is largely responsible for the ease in which it does this, but there is so much technology stuffed into this car that it exists for the singular purpose of easy speed.

The all-wheel-drive system is unique, delivering the power from the engine to a rear-mounted transaxle, which in turn sends up to 50 percent of it back to the front wheels through a secondary driveshaft when required. This isn't intended for getting to school on snow days, but purely for performance.

When you shift the transmission into manual mode and engage the GT-R's launch control for sprints of maximum acceleration, it lets you hold down the brake, floor the gas pedal, which spools the engine up to 4,500 rpm, then sidestep the brake."

...some specs...

"Base Price: $76,840

Type: Front-engine, all-wheel drive, 2-door coupe

Engine: 3.8-liter twin turbocharged V-6

Power: 480 horsepower, 430 lb-ft torque

Transmission: 6-speed dual-clutch automatic

MPG: 16 city/21 highway"

Made the goal

Sun, 12 Oct 2008 12:38:58 GMT

So, my weight has been fluctuating between 190 and 195 for a little while now. My goal since I hit 180 was to get to 200 pounds. Once, I came as close as 197. But, dropped back down. Friday, October 10th, after coming home from a week in Memphis, TN, I weighed myself and I hit 200 exactly! WooHoo! Goal achieved.

Reminder

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 02:10:24 GMT

If you want to read my blog about writing, it's here:
http://rhillai.com/blog/

The site for my book, Warders of the Gate is here:
http://www.rhillai.com/

Carlo has a new forum up for writers. It's here:
http://www.hyzathra.com/forum/

Harvey Korman

Fri, 30 May 2008 11:48:06 GMT

There are a few people who, in passing, darken the world with their absence. Harvey Korman is one of those people. *sigh*

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,360302,00.html

LOS ANGELES — Harvey Korman, the tall, versatile comedian who won four Emmys for his outrageously funny contributions to "The Carol Burnett Show" and was seen to hilarious effect on the big screen in "Blazing Saddles," died Thursday. He was 81.

Korman died at UCLA Medical Center after suffering complications from the rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm four months ago, his family said. He had undergone several major operations.

"He was a brilliant comedian and a brilliant father," daughter Kate Korman said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "He had a very good sense of humor in real life."

A natural second banana, Korman gained attention on "The Danny Kaye Show," appearing in skits with the star. He joined the show in its second season in 1964 and continued until it was canceled in 1967. That same year he became a cast member in the first season of "The Carol Burnett Show."

Burnett and Korman developed into the perfect pair with their burlesques of classic movies such as "Gone With the Wind" and soap operas like "As the World Turns" (their version was called "As the Stomach Turns").

Another recurring skit featured them as "Ed and Eunice," a staid married couple who were constantly at odds with the wife's mother (a young Vickie Lawrence in a gray wig). In "Old Folks at Home," they were a combative married couple bedeviled by Lawrence as Burnett's troublesome young sister.

Korman revealed the secret to the long-running show's success in a 2005 interview.

"We were an ensemble, and Carol had the most incredible attitude. I've never worked with a star of that magnitude who was willing to give so much away."

Burnett was devastated by Korman's death, said her assistant, Angie Horejsi.

"She loved Harvey very much," she said.

After 10 successful seasons, Korman left Burnett's show in 1977 for his own series. Dick Van Dyke took his place, but the chemistry was lacking and the Burnett show was canceled two years later. "The Harvey Korman Show" also failed, as did other series starring the actor.

"It takes a certain type of person to be a television star," he said in that 2005 interview. "I didn't have whatever that is. I come across as kind of snobbish and maybe a little too bright. ... Give me something bizarre to play or put me in a dress and I'm fine."