Upcoming Movies for September

There are no good movies coming out in September.




Have a good weekend folks!

Ripley's Wax Musuem (12)

 Me at the preview of Batman vs. Superman Dawn of Justice.

 The Riddler

 The Joker

Michael Jackson


K, that's all I have. See you tomorrow folks!

Ripley's Wax Musuem (11)

 Me with a predator.

Me with the Predator.

 Me vs. Shark

 Off to see the Wizard

 

Me yelling at the cast of Twilight but they couldn't hear me. It was like they had wax in their ears or something.

Ripley's Wax Musuem (10)

 Me chatting with Opera. (she didn't give me a car)

 Me with Letterman. (doing the Top Ten)

 Me shooting'!

 Me fighting Dr. Phil

And Ben Stiller.


More tomorrow.

Ripley's Wax Musuem (9)

 My coolest photo. The thing behind me looks like something from Stagnate!

 A REAL Superman outfit. Nice.

 Me with Chekov

 I can't remember who this is.

But I gave him "bunny ears" all the same.


More coming later...

Ripley's Wax Musuem (8)

Ripley's Wax Musuem (7)

Ripley's Wax Musuem (6)

Ripley's Wax Musuem (5)

Ripley's Wax Musuem (4)

Ripley's Wax Musuem (3)

Ripley's Wax Musuem (2)

DRAGONCON UPDATE!

My my my, I look on the schedule at the Star Wars section at Dragon Con and who's name do I see speaking on Saturday at 11:30am?

Could it be?!

Yep. it's me!

Check it out for yourself here.

Ripley's Wax Musuem (1)

Earlier this month I went to pick up my brother in Dallas. While I was waiting for the plane to come in I met up with Megan and went to Ripley's Wax Museum.

This week I'd like to show you some videos and pics from our trip.

Here's the first one, more to come later today.

Tales from the Galaxy Volume 2 (cover)

My buddy designed another awesome cover to my book this week. I LOVE it. It looks great!

Guess from here on out it'll start bearing the "Legends" banner on them.

Who knows what the future holds...

The Bubber update

This is what Megan looks like when she's in the Dallas Galleria, skating on ice.

......(sigh).....

My 2nd fan fiction short

Prelude to Empire

By Matt Wilkins

 

Palpatine stood by his office window, hands clasped behind his back, silently watching ships fly along the Coruscant skyline. It wouldn’t be long now. Soon all of his meticulous planning was about to pay off. All those years of maneuvering himself into a position of power, right under the nose pf the Jedi was reaching an endgame.

Revealing himself to Skywalker had set things in motion and he expected the Jedi Council to confront him soon. Indeed, this would be a day long remembered. A day that would spell the end of the Republic and the obliteration of the despicable Jedi.

Patience and timing was all it took and he had plenty of that to give for this day to arrive. He allowed the slightest trace of a smile on his lips, to show satisfaction of a job well done when his communicator chimed. Or to be more specific, Darth Sidious’ communicator.

With a snarl of irritation, he quickly slipped on his cloak and threw the hood over his head. He had to make this quick. The Jedi would be here soon, he could feel it.

Flipping the communicator on brought up the image of Sage Postage, one of his most loyal subjects since his days on Naboo. Thought Pestage knew pf his alter-ego Sidious kept the hood on due to the encrypted communication that it was sent. Obviously this was not a regular call for Chancellor Palpatine to handle. “Make this quick,” Sidious hissed through clenched teeth, “The Jedi will be here soon.”

Pestage, wearing his red garb and headdress, looked nervous. Never a good song before the most irritant day in Sidious’ life. Before he spoke, Sideous knew it was not good news. “M-my Lord,” he stammered. “There has been an incident at the clone facility.”

Sidious grimaced but let Pestage continue. “One of the clones managed to escape.”

For the past few months Sidious had allowed Pestage to run a small cloning facility hidden well within the under-levels of the city. Pestage’s obsession for cloning started well before the Clone Wars themselves began. Sidious suspected Pestage had even made a few clones of himself while worling in the faculty. Although he’d allow Sate this indulgence for a time, Sidious now knew that day was coming to an end.

“Who.” He demanded coldly.

His chief advisor flinched, knowing that his master would not be pleased with his response. “Even Piell.”

Piell. One of the Jedi Masters who had died during the Clone Wars, although he hadn’t been there to witness the account, Tarkin had given him a full report along with a sample of the deceased Master’s DNA in case the Chancellor had need of it on the future… and Sidious did.

Pestage mistook the silence for anger and continued. “I have units looking for him now. We will apprehend him shortly. In the event he makes it to the temple his memory should give him no idea where he’s been the past-“

“Enough!” Sidious glared at the image of Pestage and watched him to flinch once again. The a long time loyal subject of Palpatine’s dating back to his days on Naboo, being a coward was one of Sate’s strong points. It not for his quick cunning, Sidious would have delta with him a long time ago. “It’s too late to make a difference now. The Jedi will soon be finished. Leave it be for now.”

Pestage opened his mouth to object “But my Lord, I’m sure we can-“

Sidious pulled back his robe to reveal the cold glare in his eyes until Pestage went silent.

“This experiment of yours is over. I want all cloning tanks shipped to Mount Tantiss. There I will have skilled hands take control and what you could ineptly not.

”He watched with smug satisfaction as Pestage slowly acknowledged his defeat. “Yes, my master.”

“And after you are done cleaning up there I will need you back at the Senate. There will be much to do shortly.”

Pestage bowed as Sidipus ended the transmission.

Heaving a sigh as he shrugged off his coat. Sate would get over his disappointment and as for the cloned Even Piell, Palpatine would just use another clone to replace him. Jorus C’boath perhaps? Either way it wouldn’t matter. Once Order 66 was given even the cloned Jedi Master wouldn’t last long. The Jedi were finished, all of them. Nothing could stop that now.

A feint flicker in the Force alerted him to Mace Windu’s presence. He was arriving with three other Jedi Master’s in tow. Good. Killing four Master’s would mark a fitting beginning to his new reign. Besides, he looked forward to showing his skills against the deluded Council. He looked forward to exposing the Jedi’s ignorance.

Palpatine sat back in his chair, waiting for them to arrive. His other projects could wait. He had an Empire ahead of him to rule. 

Announcing: Murder by the Numbers

I'm extremely pleased to announce that my next dinner theatre script has been written and approved as the first show of the 2015 with Murder is Served!

This will be the 2nd play I've written and I look forward to also directing it come next year.

Stay tuned for more details later on this year!

Polyhedron Magazine

Continuing my never-ending quest to collect all EU fiction I've once again uncovered some more! Recently, I've been digging into online RPG material I may have missed the firs time around.

Thankfully I was rewarded when I came across this magazine from the early 2000's which featured quests from the old Wizards of the Coast material.

The Polyhedron Magazine didn't carry many stories, mostly it was information on starships which had been reprinted in other RPG's I already own. But I was able to find a few unprinted stories among some of the issues, which made it a rewarding experience in the end.

It never ceases to amaze me just how much EU information was out there. And every time I think I've got it all, something manages to pop up!

May this wonderful EU treasure hunt never end! 

R.I.P. Steve Munz

Local theatre took a huge blow this morning as the classy respectable Mr. Steve Munz passed away this morning from brain cancer.

Upon my early ventures into theatre, I did my 2nd ever show for the Strauss, Footloose. I'd just ridden off the wave that was Beauty and the Beast and the pressure of doing back to back shows was wearing me down.

I had trouble adjusting my character from "cartoon" to "comedy" and had just worked out the kinks before our first show. Steve was working the show as the Backstage Director and he pulled me aside before the curtain went up and said the kindest words to me about my performance.

He'd seen B&B and was around for the practices in Footloose, he told me I had amazing talent, like he hadn't seen in years and hoped I'd be returning the theatre to do more things. It was the most encouraging thing anyone had ever told me at the time and I thanked him for it.

Over the years I did several shows with Steve and they're great memories I'll never forget. Our talks, our laughs shared and our time together will all be cherished.

Before he passed away he approved my last script to be performed. He was putting me in the Director's chair and I was looking forward to his opinion on how I'd do. I won't get that now but I'm not worried about it either. I'm thankful for every moment spent with my friend Steve Munz.

Rest in Peace dear friend!

Zumba! Zumba!

 

 

My Zumba instructor's last week was today. Sharon was the best and I'm going to miss her. I remember when I first started doing Zumba with Megan and Priscilla I thought it was stupid and didn't want to do it. But slowly as they gave up and dropped out of the class I pushed on becoming more intrigued with the class and the exercise I was benefitting from doing it.

Now that Sharon's gone I'm not sure I'll return to class. She had so much energy I doubt anyone can match it. The other lady who teaches there is awful, too bad she isn't the one leaving instead.

Anywho, have a good weekend everyone!

Share a Coke with me

Coke's newest ad campaign about sharing with friends has my name all over it... literally. It seems every 6th bottle I see carries my name on it. So here's what I thought I could do:

1) Demand royalties over the use of my name
2) Sue Coke for defamation. (I'm a Pepsi fan)
3) Demand 30% of the cokes around the world be returned to me. (at least half)
4) Nothing, because this whole post is just a random thought I had yesterday at lunch.

Have a good day folks!

Na, na, na, na, na, na, BATMAN!!

The best news to come out of the Comic Con this year was the announcement about the release of the 1966 Batman series and oh baby I can' wait! (already got a copy reserved on Amazon)

This series was so good I'm glad they're finally coming out. (and not soon enough) Anyone curious about getting these then I highly recommend them. Even today they hold out as an excellent show!

November 11th will be a good day indeed!

Best Atari games

A few years back I posted my favorite games from systems I had growing up. I skipped Atari because we never owned one but our neighbor across the street did and we played it all the time. So today I'm going to name off the best 5 games I ever played on the Classic Atari. Here goes:

 Defender

The many hours spent with this game were full of laughter and enjoyment. It sounds morbid, but shooting ships carrying humans and watching them fall always cracked us up.

Maybe I should go talk to someone.

 Galaga

A classic to be sure, but who can blame them for naming it so? When you have hundreds of enemies literally lining up at you to be shot at, I don't know of anyone who wouldn't love this game!

 Pole Position

Though hard to play, it was so much fun racing around the track and crossing the finish line. (which was rare for me since I usually ended up crashing most of the time)

 Breakout

Another classic game that was so easy to play on your computer, seemed a million times better on Atari. The joystick was way easier to control. Heck, I could STILL spend hours on this game today!

 Pacman

I have to pick my main man once again here. The old Atari design was so much fun to play on. Until I started this post, I'd forgotten the layout of the levels. Awesome.

What about you? Any Atari owners out there want to chime in on what games they loved as a kid? I'm all ears!

Top Arcade games

Today I wanted to share with you the top arcade games that took my money as a kid.

Pacman

This old classic was a real tempter to me as a kid. It was EVERYWHERE back in the day, easy to play and fun, fun fun! Unless you were there back in the day you just wouldn't understand.

Tekken 3

I didn't spend much money on fight games but this arcade was the exception. I can't remember who was my favorite to fight with but the only way I could win is if I had to play some little kid who didn't know how to work the controls.... yep. I sucked!

Star Wars Trilogy

We didn't have this game at our mall but at my grandmothers mall they did and let me tell you, many a quarter was given to this game when I was there. It was fantastic. I remember thinking how video games will never evolve more than this one.

A year later I'm proved wrong, but needless to say I was very impressed back in the day!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

I spent so much money on this game as a kid I used to ask folks to pay me in QUARTERS so I wouldn't have to go to the bank for change. (no joke) There's no telling how much I spent on this game. It was my ultimate favorite for years! And when TMNT 2 came out for Xbox, I bought it only because you could unlock the original arcade game during game play. (though that game turned out to be pretty awesome itself)

Best Arcade Game. Ever.

What about you?

Another "me" update

 Been a while since I've done an update on little old me, so I thought now was the perfect time! First off here's a few pictures from our party at Chase last month.

 It was one of them fancy ones too. With free food (which I had a lot of) and free booze (which I had none of) but check out this ice sculpture! Pretty cool right? I even had a "dance off" at the party with another employee... which got way more attention than I thought it would.

Finally I got this award for all the work I did in Phoenix last year. Hooray! My first company paperweight!

What can I say? Life is good!

BC Powder Sinus

I couldn't figure a good section to fit this one in on my "Remember" posts so I thought I'd speak a little about it today.

Remember the red BC Powder? It was pulled from shelves because the FDA discovered it "may" cause heart attacks in women. It's to bad too, cause this stuff WORKED!

I remember nothing worked better for Sinus or Allergies than this stuff. When we heard about the stop in production, my cousin and I went around town buying by the cases everything they had left.

When it finally ran out that's when my allergy and sinus problems came back.... and I haven't been able to get rid of them since!

Why is it the effective medicine ALWAYS gets pulled from the shelves?! DANG!

And so it begins...

Last month the new Star Wars Insider came out with a "canon" short story. I was wonderful if I'd be Abel to resist reading it (since I read EVERTHING Star Wars) and found that not only was I able to avoid it, I had no interest what-so-ever in it.

A good sign, showing how I really feel about the new Disney Empire. It'll get harder of course. As the month grinds down, Dark Horse will stop publishing comics and thus ending another era of the old Expanded Universe.

In September, Disney era books and the Rebels TV show will hit, heralding the first of many Star Wars stories to come. By the end of the year the only EU stuff still coming out will be the RPG books and after 2015 they will end as well.

It's switching over to a Star Wars I care nothing about and when it finally makes that turn for good with the release of Episode 7, I'll be done having Star Wars in my life.

Wild to think.

War Eagle 2014

 

 

What's this?! Respect in the pre-season? Why it's unheard of! Auburn ranked #5 is surreal to us Tiger fans. In fact, I liked it better when we were referred to as the underdogs. It was Auburn's strength being underestimated.

Now we'll just have to settle for being a real threat in the SEC. (and an underdog when we play Bama)

But for 2014.... WAR EAGLE!!!

In Memory...

Last week my Grandmother died at the wonderful age of 98. She led an incredible life and I'm thankful for her and all that she's done.

She used to tell me stories about her family would sit around the house, listening to their favorite radio shows. Hers came n Thursdays, it was "Night at the Opera" I can't remember who she said hosted it, but her face glowed just talking about it.

How incredible is it to have been alive while Thomas Edison was alive. Or receiving ice by the block, before highways, having a Milkman stop by or any of the simple things they had back then that are moot now.

She had incredible stories of a time forgotten but that wasn't her only gift. She was kind. Extremely so. If you had stopped by her house in Alabama and told her you were a friend of mine, she'd invite you in, make a room ready, cook you dinner and breakfast the next day, then ask if you were staying for lunch. She was always happy. Always in a joking mood.

When Megan and I went to see her back in June she still was making faces and jokes even though I could see her discomfort. (the tumor she had in her stomach had gotten quite large and was beginning to bother her at the time)

I loved my Grandmother, no doubt. But I'm glad so many other people got to know her too. I'm leaving for her funeral today in Gadsden, AL and just wanted to say a few words about her before I left.

I know she's in heaven, happy and laughing even more and I thank God for all his mercies and blessing in the life she lived and the lives she touched in her long wonderful life.  

Do you remember? (7)

Remember the old McDonald's? Let's talk about it today!

 This playground toy had the best story from McDonald's for me as a kid. Jeremy and I rode this after eating and on the way back, he got so sick from all the spinning he threw up in the van on the way back home.

He was never allowed to ride it again. I remember this was the best this on the playground to play with.

 Though this was a close second. That metal was extremely hot, but spinning around in this merry-go-round w's great! Especially when you had a little kid on there and started spinning it as hard as you could, the kid would fly right off it and bits it on the ground!

Which is why you don't see them around anymore.

 What about the old Styrofoam boxes the burgers would come in? Totally envious of whoever has this collection!

 An old Happy Meal toy I remember you put the stickers on yourself. I LOVED putting stickers on cheap plastic toy!

The store front from back in the day.

 

I remember the slide would burn your legs it was so hot in the summer!

 

 The old style cups for coffee. Back when everyone loved brown, yellow and orange. The official colors of the early 80's. I knew they were ugly back then!

 Fry Guy rockers that were built on these iron springs that hardly moved! Awful playground material but it was the staple at every McDonald's back then.

 The old hashbrown container. I still have fond memories of eating out of it.

The Burger Jail was the stupidest thing they ever had on their playground back in the day. You climb up a ladder on the inside, then.... crawl around inside the mouth of the burger. Where it was freaking hot from baking in the sun all day! (like the swing)

Maybe I'm glad this playground isn't around anymore now that I think about it.