So, this came in the mail for me on Monday.

Oh yeah. What we have right here, is an Acer Aspire 8930G. It’s got a full HD 18.4 inch display, 5.1 surround sound, Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT graphics card, and BluRay. As far as laptops go, it’s a powerhouse. And, best of all, it’s black and blue. You know how I like my black and blue.

I’ve been after a laptop for several months now, and Acer’s Gemstone Blue range caught my eye the most. So I saved my scratch, and luckily enough, I about had enough when I saw this new model for sale online. So now I can use Photoshop, play Spore, or watch Clone Wars and Afro Samurai anywhere I want. Well, that is, I will be able to once I find a case that this monster can fit inside.

I think it gets energy from eating other laptops.

Here’s my office right now. Triple impact screenanation!

Oh, but I’m not stopping there. The next mission of acquisition is confirmed. Cintiq, baby!

Sayonara.

Haven’t felt much like blogging here this month. Things have been different what with the upcoming move. But now I have an interesting story to tell.

In the summer of 2006 I put my Cupacabra artwork up on deviantART, before I ever added it here. I guess you could say that it got pretty popular there, since there are a lot of people into that sort of artwork and my piece would come up as a search result when people are looking for chupacabra pics.

Anyway, a little over a month ago I got a comment from someone working for Latina Magazine, who was looking for artwork of a chupacabra for an article. So I was asked if it was ok for the magazine to publish the art and if I could provide a high resolution image for them. So, I figured why not? I sent the original artwork, and now that the issue has printed, they sent me a copy of the magazine. So, here it is.

Yep, it’s Latina Magazine all right. A magazine for Hispanic women. Not something that this Canadian fella would ever think about owning, but here it is. This is the December 2008/January 2009 issue. Hey, it’s Eva Mendes! Right on.

This is the page my artwork is on. Can you see it amidst everything else that’s going on? Yeah, it’s a tiny little spec on the left side. I was kind of expecting something a little bigger. Let’s take a closer look.

There it is along with a little blurb. Seemed like a lot of trouble for them to remove the background. Doesn’t really do the artwork any favors, since I had lighting effects in there, but whatever. I’m credited along the inside of the page with my website and dA account.

This sort of thing is not really what I ever expected to be my first taste of national publication, but it’s interesting all the same. I originally did this artwork for some other project that has probably never materialized for all I know, and I did it for free just for the experience. It’s good that someone else got some use out of it, and that it’s out there for the (latina) world to see. While I doubt that this is going to provide my career with the sort of boost I could really use right now, it’s cool all the same.

Besides, I got a free magazine with Eva Mendes on the cover. Score!

Latina Magazine: BIG TIME.

Sayonara.

I’m in the middle of a move so I’ve been busy packing up everything. And by everything I really mean my action figure collection. Packing up Transformers is a surprisingly time-consuming task. The room feels cold and empty without them.

I’m not taking everything with me, though. I’ve got a bunch of stuff on eBay right now, with more on the way. Including these:

Yep, almost all of my Marvel figures in one lot. More than 80 in all. They’re really cool, and I’ll miss having them, but it’s time to let someone else add them to their collection. A few other Marvel toys are up for auction too, as well as some Star Wars. The collection is getting trimmed.

Check out all of my auctions here and keep an eye on that page for more yet to come.

Sayonara.

Sorry folks, I just haven’t felt much like blogging these days. Everything is fine, I just feel more like playing Spore instead. I find it much more interesting than this regular, normal, boring Earth.

Did you know that here on Earth, there are no such things as two headed blue lizards with space ships? That’s ridiculous! But on the planet of Ninjapocalypse, they are the dominant species! They are known as the Ultimate Sykogriphik, and they are warriors on a galactic scale! They have a vast empire of planets, full of things like evil buildings, cool vehicles, and robotic dinosaurs. They mine spices of every colour imaginable, creating wealth beyond your wildest dreams. But if any aliens make them mad, or are just annoying, then the Ultimate Sykogriphik will simply destroy them. And they do all of this because I tell them too, for I am their creator!

I also made some Pineapples. I think they are nice.

Sayonara.

So, no blogs for awhile. I can explain.

In the post before the previous, I mentioned that my new Computer was giving me a lot of problems, and so I gave it the network name of “Nightmare“. Indeed, it was a nightmare to assemble and get to operate properly with the 64 bit edition of Windows Vista. I closed the post off by saying that maybe the Nightmare wouldn’t end.

Well, it didn’t end. Things just got worse and worse. My login profile got corrupted again somehow. If I wasn’t getting a “blue screen of death” with some vague error message, I was getting a blank black screen that didn’t do anything. I tried to fix it but eventually I was left with a machine that simply would not boot to Windows. I had enough of trying to work with this bloody beast, so I gave up. I didn’t touch it for a week. In that time, I hypothesized that perhaps if I tried using Windows XP instead of Vista, then maybe I’d have better luck. But traditional retail channels are no longer selling any flavors of Windows XP. Microsoft has forced the largely inferior Vista upon the world, and there’s little anyone can do about it.

Unless, of course, you’re willing to break a few rules.

I experimented with a version of Linux for a few days. It was interesting, though I didn’t know how to do anything in it and wasn’t really up to learning, so there was little point in keeping it. But in using it for that brief period I knew that there was nothing wrong with the computer itself. It didn’t do anything stupid like blank out for no reason while I was running Linux. So the problem must have been Windows Vista. My other, general usage machine has been running Windows XP virtually problem free for several years now, and I had even been running Spore on it just fine. So, I needed to at least try running the 64 bit version of XP for my new computer. With no easy way to buy it, a completely paid for but totally useless Vista install disk going to waste, and only a theory of what might work, I had no choice but to turn to the dark side (more so then usual, anyway). And when I did, I found, shall we say, a “torrent” of good news.

I am now running a pirated copy of Windows XP Professional 64-Bit Edition.
I don’t care who knows it.
My new computer is now running nearly flawlessly thus far.
I absolutely have zero remorse over resorting to these illegal tactics in this situation.
I will definitely do it again when I get a laptop.
And finally, Microsoft can go to Hell.
Aside from my printer and scanner not working (which is only a minor nuisance since I just hooked them up to my other computer instead), I haven’t really had any major problems. I can even leave the computer on without getting a blue screen! Amazing!

So, there we have it. A huge problem solved by the simple answer of piracy. It’s not like I wanted to pirate it, but after everything I went through, I feel entitled. Vista didn’t work, and I was fully willing to get a legitimate copy of Windows XP, but that couldn’t happen, so screw them.

Anyway, I’m back now. Maybe I can finally do some new artwork. But I will neither confirm nor deny whether or not I’m pirating Photoshop.

Sayonara.