Saturday, December 06, 2014

End-Of-Year 2014 Stuff

Wow!  It's been a while since I posted here, hasn't it?

It's been a really busy year for me, with some stuff that I can't talk about here taking up a good portion of my time and energy.

But as with all things, the year must come to an end.

Next Monday, 12/15, will be the last article of the year.  It is, of course, the annual Brutally Honest Awards article, featuring the best of the best and - more often than naught - the worst of the worst.

And things have been more worst than better.

I actually wanted the year-end article to be much earlier than the 15th... but recent events compelled me to spend at one week talking about them before I wrap things up for the year.  I can't give it the literary thrashing that it is due if it's part of the year-end stuff.

New articles will return sometime late January or early February.  Unlike a certain Internet radio station, a certain favorite MMO, and a certain muse or two, I do plan on coming back.  I have no intention of letting you guys down, even if the same cannot be said for the things that I treasure.

I hope you have been enjoying the "new venture" I've been involved with called "Sodomite Championship Wrestling".  At the very least, you know now why I have a face for radio.  And, yes, we will continue to churn out new episodes, even during the Holiday Season.

I'm still pretty busy with my other venture too... which you can check out over at the Battlerock Comics website.  I have a new comic series that should be coming out in January that I hope people will like.

And there's at least one more idea that I want to consider working on... sort of a really quick version of Brutally Honest rants, but they would be on YouTube.  The inspiration came from, yes, talk radio and one station's quick promos for their overpaid commentator.  Anyway, it's stuff that I am pondering, and if it does come to fruition, you'll see it here in the Random Thoughts blog.

Well, that's all that I have for now.  Hope you guys keep checking back here, and of course check the other stuff that I've been working on.  And if I don't hear from you until next year, I hope you guys have a great holiday season.

Monday, August 11, 2014

What's been going on... 8/11/14

Hey guys, it's been a while since I've posted here and I'm sure some of you have been wondering what I've been doing.

First of all, you probably know that AHTV sorta kinda fizzled out.  Sucks, but nothing I can do about it.

But the weekly columns are still going on.  I've been doing everything possible to keep the weekly schedule going and keep the articles interesting, informative, and sometimes entertaining.

Plus, as some of you know, I've been pretty busy with Battlerock Comics.  Thanks to some very good friends, I've been able to get new material so I could resume work with the comic series based in the world of the City of Heroes MMO.  (Just to make this clear: the MMO itself is still gone.  I'm just using the most recent software to get new material.)

So that leaves... "The New Thing"!

RJ and company are back, providing social commentary through a whole new route.

Welcome to SCW: Sodomite Championship Wrestling!

SCW provides social commentary through wrestling-style promos.  Think the best (and worst) of the 1980's "Wrasslin" programs with all the drama, all the face-paint, all the crazy behaviors...

And where do I fit into this mix?

Well "The Brutal One" gets to dust off his acting card and serve as the broadcast announcer of this crazy zoo.  I provide the face and the voice of "Whin Badlee" which you will see at the start of each video.

That pique your curiosity?  Good.  Now get over to Facebook and to YouTube and check out the very first episode!

Whew!  How's that for an update, huh?

Wednesday, April 02, 2014

Happy Eighteen Years!

It's hard to believe that eighteen years ago yesterday, yours truly put together the website that would be the weekly commentary column known as "Brutally Honest".

As I always seem to mention in these annual trips down memory lane, the world has changed much since that somewhat cold Sunday afternoon in 1996.

I have lost... a lot... since those days. In fact, I've lost a lost of stuff very recently.  Most notably I've lost my father just a few weeks ago.  But even before then, I lost my favorite online radio station and my radio show.  A year before, I lost my favorite MMORPG.  I lost my best buddy in the world in 2010.  I've lost my muse (although she and I are still friends).

And just when it seemed like I got a handle on things, like things are about to get better... there's another bomb dropped on me.  Another loss.  Something else I have get along without.

Maybe that's why there's really not much to-do here about those eighteen years.  All that has changed, all that I've lost, all of the routines that I've had to write off... the only thing constant, the only thing still going on, is the column.

Still, I appreciate the feedback I've been getting and all of you who have read my columns and shared them with others.  Hopefully we'll make it to the 20th anniversary in just two years and things will be a whole lot better by then.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Sad but important news...

Hey everyone...

It's been a while since I've posted a blog here, but I needed to let you know what's been going on.

Some of you already know that my father's been in poor health these past few months. The treatments for his latest cancer were complicated by a spill that he took in the hospital last year.

So while he was being treated for the swelling in his face and neck from the cancer treatments, he was slowly losing control of his lower half. He went from being weak to needing a walker to losing all control of his legs and needing a wheelchair. The doctors discovered that he had an impacted disc in his spine, which was responsible for his growing paralysis. They operated on it, then had him in a nursing facility for recovery.

Unfortunately during that time he suffered pneumonia and later a severe case of shingles, which caused tremendous pain through most of his body. Sadly, these were too much for him, and he passed away this past Sunday.

This is still a shock for everyone. This was a strong man, someone who was fighting all the various forms of cancer he was given, and he had every intention of beating this one as well. Nobody expected this to happen, never mind happen so relatively quickly.

We are still trying to get my father's affairs in order, so there will not be a Brutally Honest column for the week of 03/03/14. We will hopefully resume the columns the following week, but please keep checking here if that needs to change.

I want to thank everyone who have already expressed condolences and well-wishes, and for everyone else, I want to thank you in advance for your patience and understanding.

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Getting Ready For Another Year Of Commentary

Hey everyone!

Hope you all had a better holiday season than I did. The past few weeks have been very trying for me in terms of my father's health and just the usual stupidity that goes on around this time.

Next Monday will be the start of another year of weekly Brutally Honest commentary, which you can find over at the column site.  I already know what the subject will be, so it's just a matter of putting it to words and then getting it ready to be posted.

As for the audio rants... well, that won't be ready yet... if at all.

There are a few reasons for this.

My father's health is one.  I am putting in long hours at work on my feet, and then coming home and helping my father, which has not been easy of late, and it has been eating into the things I would normally be doing.

Work is another key reason.  Again, I'm putting in eight hours a day on my feet.  When I did the radio show, I at least could rely on some spontaneous news reports and callers.  But I barely had time to spend doing the prepared rants.  And that was for a live show that had very little preparation otherwise. 

Doing prerecorded audio rants takes a considerable amount of production time, even for something as short a ten or fifteen minutes long.  And I am very much a perfectionist when it comes to these things.  That's why I get the kind of compliments I receive... for those that do listen.  If I can't provide that kind of quality on a regular basis, then I'm wasting my time and yours.

Plus I still don't know what I want the new production to be... do I want to resume the Brutally Honest audio rants?  Do I want to try to get a live show going somewhere?  Do I want to take the short-lived "Hero Corner" bit on TGWTG.com and bring it to the next level?  Do I want to do audio... or video?  Too many things for me to ponder and work on if I want to move forward with it.

So, right now that's on hold.  I'll let you know what I'm leaning towards.

Plus, don't forget I still have my comic book productions going on over at Battlerock Comics.  That also takes time, which I have very little of nowadays.  The latest issue of "Future's Guardian" goes online on January 15th.  And there's also something very "strange" that was posted there on Christmas Day.  Think you know what it means?

Oh, and remember AHTV?  Well, if you haven't had the chance to watch "You Hired Me", then here's your chance.  Be sure to check out my debut as "David 2.1" and see why I have a face for radio.  If you like it, share it with others, and if you don't, then say so in the comments section there.

Well, that's what I have so far to start 2014... so stay tuned and get ready for continue seventeen years of Brutally Honest commentary!