The Tharkis.com Blog

The most unexpectedly awesome movie I've seen in years... Sucker Punch

2011-08-28T17:19:00.001-04:00

The critics hated it... It did poorly in the theater, opening at #2 and quickly losing any screen time... and I hadn't even heard of it or seen a trailer for it. But, I picked up a copy of Sucker Punch multi blu-ray pack at Best Buy this last week on a whim, since I had a cupon for a blu-ray, a 5$ store credit, and it was on sale, so I got the 30$ package for 9 bucks.

22% rotten rating on rotten tomatoes, 33% rating on metacritic... I dont care! I had NO idea what the film was about when I popped it in my player, and it didn't matter... It was just pure entertainment. Unfortunately I don't know if anyone's going to let Zach Schneider try something like it again, since it only barely made any money... but I thought it was just real cool and wicked entertaining.

So... dont listen to the critics, go rent or buy and see Sucker Punch and just enjoy yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dzikBZTUy8

(if i'd had ever seen that trailer before the movie came out, i'd have seen it in the theater for sure!)

Day of Triumph 2011

2011-07-31T19:30:00.000-04:00

Today was the Day of Triumph car show at the Larz Anderson museum. A group of us met up at the rest stop on 95 north just before the 495 intersection and drove up together. Paul Rego, who has some of the nicest Triumph sports cars you'll find anywhere, unfortunately over heated just a mile from the museum. That didn't keep him from winning first place in the TR8 category !

I drove the Wedge up, and landed a first place trophy in the TR7 category =)

Incidentally I've also put the wedge up for sale. I'm getting close enough on the TR6 that I know when it's done, the TR7 will be neglected in my garage. I'd rather see it go to a good home than not be driven!

TR6 restoration progress

2011-07-30T21:37:00.000-04:00

So, I've been restoring an old Triumph TR6 sports car in my spare time. It's been a very time consuming but educational experience. I'm getting very close to the point where all I will have left is the body work, and then once the body work is done and the body mounted, the electrical and interior. Here are a few progress pics.

I just got mounted the oil cooler with in-line thermostat, the chassis cross member, replaced all the hardware on the engine with new nuts and bolts, and refurbishing the rear differential. Tomorrow I should be mounting the differential, and then measuring for a new drive-shaft.

Now, I'll have to take back off the intake manifold to get the body back on, but I wanted to get everything in place so that I can get all the hoses measured and cut to size for coolant, exhaust, fuel, etc.

The rear differential has been freshly painted, and is just waiting for paint to dry before mounting with new bushing.

What happens in Vegas... Ends up on youtube within a week!

2011-07-15T21:37:00.000-04:00

So the EQ livequest this year had one part where to get points you had to perform the theme song for EQ with kazoos and singing, loudly and boisterously. As part of an audition for the Gnomish Tabernacle Choir... Well... this was too fine an opportunity to pass up for some embarasing videos! I only got good videos of 4 of the teams, but here they are!

Some teams needed a little more instruction and help than others... not everyone knows the theme song even after 12 years!

This next team is from my play server Luclin, representing the guild Heroes, so I have to give them special crap =) They tried twice, to get a better performance.

And finally, with some sadness, we discovered that not everyone knows how to play a kazoo... neither person on this team did, one had it backwards and the other was trying to blow it like a whistle

More Fan Faire stuff dug out of my bloggie

2011-07-15T21:14:00.000-04:00

I was going through the videos on my bloggie and found a few more things.

First, the EQ Guide program. These people dont get enough thanks for the hard work they put in running events for players. Sure you may not have seen or noticed them, but plenty of others do. Many times we, the players, abuse them (or their NPC avatars) disrupt what they're trying to do, etc. Well, they're trying to make EQ a unique place still, where something out of the ordinary can happen, and where it's not the same day in and day out. Give them a break... and give them thanks. At the FanFaire they also helped run quests, the livequests for all the various games. They take a portion of their time out of their day and vacation to make YOUR vacation more fun. So next time you see a guide in game... thank them !

Secondly... I didnt even know this was in any of my vids. I must have not pressed the stop recording button hard enough, and I caught this audio from when I was up on stage as Linda "Brasse" Carlson was introducing the three of us who were the bloggie contest winners. So... if you've ever wondered "What's under the kilt?" Here is my candid answer, recorded live from fan faire...

Elidroth talks about Lyrical Prankster

2011-07-11T12:54:00.000-04:00

A bard asked during one of the panels why Lyrical Prankster was changed from dopelganger to fairy. Elidroth's following explanation was fantastic... and needs to be heard. Sorry Jyve, we're throwing you under the bus!

New ways to kill halflings!

2011-07-11T12:42:00.001-04:00

Using the Sony Bloggie Touch camera that I won, I went and recorded a few of the Everquest Developers and their thoughts and comments on the game. Unfortunately, I had no way while in vegas to get the videos OFF the camera, as I dont own a laptop or tablet. Better late than never, this is news that ANYONE would wait for !

Veil of alaris details

2011-07-08T17:12:00.003-04:00

Lore: from another plane of existence where gods gained power through worship and alarans could ascend to godhood

Discord drove the alarans from their plane to norrath during the age of scale. The alaran gods sacrificed themselves to move the alarans to a continent on norrath. Final god sacrificed itself to raise the "veil" around continent. Continent is on the globe in skyfire

Known zones: argath bastion of ildaera
City of bronze
Temple of splendor
Beast domain
More to come

Expansion details: guild halls with trophies and better housing item management
Two different guildhalls
New guild rank system
Resizable hotbars

Email items
12 buttons per hotbar
Ability to link items and clickies directly to hotbar
Including from inside bags!

Customizabe guild ranks

EverQuest expansion: Veil of Alaris

2011-07-08T05:08:00.001-04:00

Quick update. More to come later. New eq expansion announced Veil of Alaris

Features to include
New continent with 12+ zones
Find out who orchestrated the demise of cazic Thule and why
New guild halls
Five more levels... Max 95
Hotbar revamp

Eq2 to get mercs and beastlords

Fan Faire : Day -1. Airports

2011-07-06T10:52:00.000-04:00

So here I sit at the Providence airport waiting for my flight to Vegas. Last night I attempted to stay up late and to the sleep as late as I could int the morning to try to start adapting to the three hour timeshift ahead of time. Unfortunately it didn't work very well... I stayed up till 3am which is midnight in Vegas and planned on waking up at 10:30 to get to the airport for 11 to leave time to eat before my one o'clock flight. Eight AM rolled arround and my body said "you have to get up now or you'll be late for work"

Well, I hope that I can sleep on the plane. The time change is always the worst part of Fan Faire when it's out west. I'm ready to fall asleep just as everyone else is partying. Then I'm up at rediculous times in the morning like five or six AM.

I have since learned to always take an extra day off at the end of Fan Faire to give time to recover.

Anyways... Las Vegas here I come!

My first blog entry! Fan Faire 2011

2011-06-28T22:09:00.002-04:00

This is an entry to a Sony Online Entertainment sponsored contest.

So here it is, a week before I fly out to Vegas, and despite this being my eleventh Fan Faire in ten years, I still get that feeling of nervous anticipation.

There are always a huge number of tasks to accomplish before Fan Faire. You would think that after so many years it would become routine, but it never does. First I must compile a list of all the names and numbers of friends heading to Fan Faire. Next I make sure that I've packed all the things that I know I'll forget if left to the last moment... I've lost count of how often I've had to buy a phone charger or tooth-brush because I left mine at home in the rush to prepare costumes or to ship items ahead. Finally I have to try to plan out how to get together with everyone that I know who is going. This last may not sound like much of an issue, but after over ten years of attending the Fan Faire, the number of people who I know across games and guilds has grown tremendously. Whether it's playing Guitar Hero at 3am with friends from Antonia Bayle in EverQuest 2, going to the Hofbrauhaus with my guild from Luclin in EverQuest, or meeting up with new friends from Darkness Falls in DC Universe Online, there is never enough time to get together with everyone!

For years I have kept an informal photo-blog of the Fan Faire, but this year I wanted to try something new. This will be my eleventh Fan Faire, but my first blog! I've been asked what keeps me coming to the Fan Faire every year. My first Fan Faire was the summer of 2002 in Boston. I was a junior in college with no money to travel, but I was in Boston already and figured that I should go to the convention. Not knowing what to expect, I envisioned a bunch of stereotypical 'basement dweller' nerds arguing incessantly over utter nonsense like a bunch of rule-mongering D&D players. (If you have ever played a tabletop RPG, you know what I'm talking about.) I couldn't have been more wrong. What I found instead were a bunch of extremely diverse people who shared two common traits: they loved EverQuest, and they LOVED to party! I was blown away by how much fun I had not only meeting other players, but developers and various website personalities as well. Fan Faire, as an attendee, turned out to be one massive multi-day party, with short bouts of sleep tossed in for good measure. I made friends that weekend who I've gone on to party with every year since.

The friends, the parties, the mayhem... it all really has to be experienced to be adequately described. No year is ever the same. Whether it is waking up early on Sunday morning to help the Nvidia rep tear down his booth or trying to get a full suit of chain-mail through airport security, every Fan Faire has its unique moments and memories. It is these memories, and the creation of new ones, that truly keeps me coming back for more!

-Justin “Tharkis” Mercier