Sadly, there was a scene where she and I walked away from the camera together that didn’t make the final cut.  I suspect that this decision was made because the world couldn’t handle the glorious sight of both of our sweet asses on the screen at the same time.

Here is the screen shot of the scene that did make it however, with handy labels added to it by Donna. (Click to enlarge)

Donna is located with the tag “BG, FTW”, by the way.  The others should be self explainitory.

This is a very early scene in the film, where Pegg & Frost are approaching San Diego ComiCon.  I am the only Sandtrooper in the outdoor scenes and I’m standing next to a Commander Cody Clonetrooper, holding up a banner pole…literally.  The wind was kicking up pretty decently and we literally had to keep the banner from falling over or flying away.  Regardless of this task, I still look patently cool as I watch the slave Leias saunter by.  Art imitates life, huh?

Speaking of slave Leias, lest you think I have somehow lost my love for all beauties scantily clad, I give you this pic of some of the girls from the film shoot:
(Like certain parts of my anatomy, touch to enlarge to full size)

Enjoy it, boys.

The Swag
The aforementioned ABA shirt is no longer available, nor is any of the other ADPoV swag.  Two reasons for this.  First, LucasFilm Limited (LFL) started using Zazzle, who hosted the ADPoV Swag, as it’s own choice to host it’s brand of customizable Star Wars shirts, so in a knee-jerk reaction Zazzle scoured their site and deleted anyone’s swag that could be remotely considered infringing upon LFL’s intellectual properties, which, I can understand, regardless of the fact that 95% of my stuff didn’t do that at all, in the legal sense as it was all either bortQ’s 100% original artwork, or there was no mention of “Star Wars” or anything else from the series, for the most part.  There was one bumper sticker that had the Imperial Insignia, so that’s understandable, but pretty much everything else was clean.  I say all of this with complete understanding, and no ill will towards LFL, believe me.  I was never in this to make any money, so in the big picture, I lost nothing.

Second reason?  Zazzle’s quality sucks.  Horribly.  I was made painfully aware of this fact when I ordered myself an ABA T and matching Tankard, neither of which I was at all impressed with in regards to quality.  I was literally shopping around other venues to move everything to when Zazzle shut me down, so again, nothing lost there.  I do, however want to apologize to those of you who did purchase some of the ADPoV swag, because I felt really bad that the quality was so piss poor.  Had I known ahead of time, I wouldn’t have ever put your hard earned dollars at risk like that.  At least you can say you have collector’s item now, huh?

If there is any intrest whatsoever for ADPoV swag, people are going to have to let me know.  Seriously.

Podcasting here and there…
While I haven’t been doing any new recordings for my own podcast, I have, however been recording for other shows out there.  Most notably The Metamor City Podcast, in which I play the part of Malcolm ard’Valos, and the Cue the Film Podcast’s six-part miniseries covering all six of the Star Wars films, plus a couple games, books, and the new television series on Cartoon network.  If you haven’t listened to these two podcasts yet, go NOW and start listening.  I’m serious…well.. after you read this, I mean… not now now.

Future Projects..
The feed will always be open, and the old epsiodes available, because there’s always someone new right around the corner who may have just heard of the show, and the important lessons it teaches.  They’re timeless, really.  If I think of something new to toss in there, I will, but thus far, nothing new has sprung to mind in regards to continually proving my point.

I would like to sit down and actually write out a story or two to podcast but I’m torn.  I have my memoirs that chronicle my life in the Imperial Army (Fan Fic), but there’s two reasons I haven’t moved forward on this. 

1. Indiana Jim beat me to it with his fanfic Star Wars: Codename Starkeeper …not about me specifically, but a Star Wars themed production and he ended up using damned near everyone I wanted to ask to be voices in my project, so that leaves me kind of high and dry.  (and yet he -never- asked me to be a part of it…Hmmm)

2.  I really don’t want people thinking I’m a one trick pony.  That’s actually a concern of mine, and has been for quite a while now…ever since 7th Son: Obsidian in fact.  I think I’ll put up the sound experiment I recorded and edited a year ago so you can all have a taste of what have been, or what might still be someday.

Anyhow, that’s the big stinky on this end, or at least a slice of it.  More to come in the near future, I promise.

 

Some highlights of the excursion:

JC Hutchins had zero idea who I was when I first spoke to him.  Of course, the exact words spoken were “Here, prick” as I dropped his name plate on the table in front of him during the opening panel of the podcast track.  See, JC is an amiable bloke, and rarely has an unkind word to say to people, but I could see the confusion and the tiniest hint of offense in his beady eyes when I dropped that subtle bomb in his lap.  Yes, I enjoyed that.  After the panel was done I walked up to him and announced who I was, and he literally screamed like a girl at a Frankie Valie concert.  That was definately a highlight of the weekend.  Once he knew who I was, we had some great discussions about podcast fiction, how I should get off my ass and do some, and I treated him to a sneek peek/listen to an 8 minute long piece of something I’m actually working on in that regard.  The man knows what buttons to press to make someone feel like they might actually have a shread of talent in thier bones, so his kind words help shove my stubborn ass into the chair so I can start writing my opus.

What can be said about the amazingly talented Mur Lafferty that hasn’t been said before?  She’s a MILF, plain and simple.  Seriously.  I don’t think anyone gives her enough credit in that area.  Sure, everyone waxes on about how bloody brilliant and talented a writer she is, but no one ever comes out and says how hawt she is, so I will.  Mur Lafferty is a hawtie. Period.  Remember that fantasy you always had about the librarian?  Mur blows that skank out of the water in spades.  Now that she’s blushing a nice deep crimson, I will say that she is always one of the sweetest women on this rock, and that my previous vow to “kill for Mur Lafferty” still stands strong.  Just a capital lady and I adore and respect her immensely.  Her baeu is also a great guy, and I think we can all be secure in our envy of the man.  They are both superb humans.

Scott Sigler and I had never met nor spoken more then a couple lines of text in emails and such before this event, usually giving each other crap.  We’re the two angriest bastards in Podcasting, and normally, I don’t like sharing that hard won title with anyone, but for “Soupbone”, I will make the exception.  I’ve been a fan of his work for a while now, especially “The Rookie”, and his “larger then life” personna has always made me chuckle.  He was a hoot to hang out and share a few drinks with, and he throws a mean “Pimp and Ho” party, let me tell you.  Sadly, I didn’t get a lot of time to really talk to the guy, but I’m glad we finally got to have a face to face time after all this time.  And Scott?  Shame you never remembered that room number, you dumbass.

Rick and Ann Springer are also wonderfully talented and genuinely nice people and meeting them was a treat to be sure.  I have always loved thier show, Variant Frequencies, and I’ve already told you all what a severe honor it was to record a story for them.  It was great to chew the fat with two such creative minds about all sorts of topics ranging from Star Wars, Steampunk, and everything else under the sun.

I have known Tee Morris for a few years now, and he’s always a cool cat to hang out with….when he’s not busy whoring himself out for a buck.  I mean, honestly, Tee, and please consider the source, but put the propaganda machine down for a bit and relax, man!  He’s a DJ-author-promotion machine, this one.  It was great to chat and catch up with him, and word is that when BB & and the case of the Pitcher’s Pendant is podcast, he’s got a role tailor made for yours truely, as well as my doing the “story so far” intros for each episode, so I have that to look forward to.

I got to finally meet the Kiwi Goddess, Pip Ballantine at this shindig as well!  We talked a bit about New Zealand, since back in the day, I had spent a goodly amount of time there, training for Hoth.  Great writer, fun gal and apparently she knows of my weakness.  Glitter covered snoobs. Heh.  A really cute and cool lady, that one.

I also got to meet some fans, which is always way more important and touching to me, and I even got to see an ABA shirt in the wild!  This is the second sighting that I know of, the first being reported to me by Karen Traviss at San Diego ComiCon.  Everyone I met and spoke to was awesome, and I can’t wait to do it again next year.  That’s right, I’m going to be there next year for certain, so make your plans now.

Also, if anyone has ANY photos of me form the event, I’d love to see them, so be sure to either link them here in the comments, or email them directly to me using the email addy in the sidebar at the right.

Thanks to everyone who gave me kind words about ADPoV and my Obsidian story.  Those are the little things that make this whole mission bearable.

I am a lucky trooper, but hey, I deserve no less, right?  Damned right.

Anyhow, wish me luck at the Parsec Awards, and hopefully I can bring home the gold…or whatever it is they give away at these things.

 

Well, I’m still feeling pretty good about myself thanks to the overwhelmingly good response to my contribution to 7th Son: Obsidian, and I wanted to thank each and every one of you who have commented on the story I wrote. It was great experience for me, and it has helped put some wind in my sails to start writing a bit more.   I have a couple of ideas lurking about in my skull so I’ll get those written down in the days ahead.

The Parsec Awards

As of today, A Different Point of View has been nominated for the 3rd annual Parsec Awards, and I’m honored and thrilled to be nominated.  I know that it might seem odd due to my usually sparce release dates, but there are a few segments I’ve released that fall into the required timeline, and since they’ve added the new category “Best Speculative Fiction Comedy / Parody Podcast“, I figure it’s a category custom made for “ADPoV”.

What does this mean?  I’m going to DragonCon, kiddies, so lock up the alien babes and stock up on the Imperial Ales.  While I’m certain to spend much time with members of the 501st, I’m actually looking more forward to meeting people in the Podcast community who I’ve listened to, worked with, and corrisponded with over the years.  Should prove to be a good time indeed.  If you’re planning on being at D*Con, send me a line and we’ll try to work out some sort of hook up so you can buy me a drink and tell me how great I am.

Woot, I tells ya… WOOT.

I will note one thing however…  I have picked a few of the featured podcasts, particularly the audio fanfics, and while there is some gold to be mined, there is a LOT of stuff that I think is below average in terms of production and acting.  Yes, I know… Nitpicky, sure… But I’ve been having a hard time getting into any of the stories when the voice work is horrid, or the production is also subpar.  The story suffers, and you lose audience.

Is Star Wars Fanworks to blame for this? Of course not. They’re simply hosting a list of where to get all these things.  No, it’s the producers of these podcasts that need to really put more work into their shows.

I think the saga deserves it, don’t you?

Regardless, go check out Star Wars Fanworks and dig around.  You’ll probably find something you enjoy there!

1024×768 format.

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There’s a new section of Yahoo that’s opening up called “The World of Star Wars” which is a new destination for all things related to the saga.  Of course, it can’t be complete without yours truly there, so that’s been addressed and you can now find my page there.

Be sure to check out both sites and leave a comment to let us know you came by!

Sex up your PC with this exclusive wallpaper, and also be sure to check out her blog at www.qt-pi.net

 

Yup, making some decent progress….. right up until my sound mixer goes the way of the Alderaanian, and dies.  I need this like I need another hole in my skull.  QT has been running her little metal fingers to the bone trying to repair it, but after consulting Tech 1st Class Mennenga about it, he pronounced it D.O.A., so I need to get a replacement, and that’ll take a few days, if not a week, to get here.  Not bad considering the distance to Tatooine, but still.

On the good news front, Lieutenant Brooks of the Farpoint Station has set up a stable signal feed from here, so now I have a constant avenue of getting things out to you all.  If you subscribe and check the feed now, you’ll find at least one surprise.  The latest ADPoV segment, #22.  This was played back on July 4 on the premiere episode of the reborn “Wingin’ It: 3D” podcast, and now it’s available in the new feed.

The feed has been submitted to iTunes, so you should be able to subscribe there in about a week, but for those that can’t wait, here’s the feed URL so you can subscribe now on your own.

http://www.adpov.net/category/shows/feed/

Just scroll on down to bask in the goodness!

Maybe I’ll even do the latest ADPoV “live” on the show.  Depends on how good the ale is, and how much I’ve drunk?…drank?…drunken?… How faced I am.

Well, the long march is over, and overall it was a stupendous success.  I raised (as of this post, still collecting) $2,474.36 to help fight Multiple Sclerosis this year, and I’d be a fool to think I did alone.  YOU are the ones responsible.  YOU are the ones who kept my feet moving.  YOU are the ones who blasted the shots and brought down MS’s shields.  YOU inspire me to continue to do the Empire’s work, and for that, I thank you.

Among those I’d like to take some time out and thank are the podcasts and groups that stepped up to the gunner’s station and really put the ammo into my hands by making everyone aware of this in the first place.

All of the individuals who donated-
You all dug into your pockets and gave what you could, and every red cent made a huge difference.  I thank you for helping me help those with MS, and I hope that I can call on you again next year, as I’m afraid that this battle will be hard fought for many years to come.

Star Wars Galaxies Kettemoor Roleplayers -
This was the second year you all took up the post with me, and it only adds to the reasons I call you all my friends and holonet family, as dysfuctional as we all.  Thank you from the bottom of my black, shriveled heart. Even you stinkin’ Rebels.

The Podcast Community-
This was the first year I really put the call out to the many “voices” of the metaverse and groups such as FarPoint Media and TheForce.net really spread the word, as did the indie podcasts out there such as the lovely and talented “Lipstick Aliens”.  The RP community fired the first shot, and the Podcasters fired the next salvo that brought me up to this amazing level.

I will be recording an audio “Thank you” to you and all your listeners for supporting this cause of mine, and I hope that in the future I can return the favor, and depend on you next year as well.

To you all,
Thank you.  Thank you. Thank YOU.

If you missed out on your chance to make a donation to this most noble cause, don’t fret.  I’m still accepting donations until May 14 via THIS LINK.

Funny stuff, this…..although they forgot the dent….and the dirt…hmmm…

regardless, I’m flattered that someone would take the time to do this.

here are some snapshots of my new home away from home:

This is a view once you teleport into the area.  I wanted it to envoke memories of a pivotal if not laughable time in the Saga.  I try to sprinkle my sense of humor throughout the place, and the exterior is no exception to this.

An AT-ST (no, I didn’t build it) was chosen because bortQ had done a cartoon of one with the stickers all over it some time ago for my website when I had first opened the actual swag shop online at zazzle.

This just needed to be done, damnit.

Once you enter the Bunker (I do spend a lot of time in bunkers, don’t I?) you go down a ramp to the shop itself, and with a whoosh the door opens and you enter.

This is the first thing you see.  My subtle marketing skill. The ultra hot Twi is none other then our own Niavi.

A look down the left side of the store.  The windowed area is the listening room, but more on that later.

The MS Walk marketing/awareness machine churns onwards, even in virtual worlds.  By clicking this poster, people are sent to my MS Society donation page.  There are a few of these throughout SL put up for me by some super people, such as Drift Monde. In the background you can see ol’ Darth Vader himself pimping away for the ADPoV website.  This is also a “click to load a website” type of poster. You click it, and adpov.net loads in your web browser.

Here is the current line of men’s shirts available.  Eventually I’m going to try to design some other men’s clothing, but for now, T-shirts are all I got… Besides, T-shirts are manly enough.

The current selection of ladies clothing.  Just Ts as well, but we are -very- close to releasing our swimwear line, which is leading us to learn more about how to make other garments as well. Ironiclly the “I like my men dirty” shirt is the best seller in the place.  Go fig. QT is one of the models, as are Drift, Niavi, and TrooperFanGirl.

This is a new section for me.  The accessories line.  Mostly jewelry at this point, but also the custom Sandtrooper backpack I made myself is for sale as well.  I really like the way the chokers and collars turned out though a great deal.

New to SL?  Then my shop should be the -first- place you go.  We give you a FREE shirt, as well as a notecard with tons of super useful info about getting started in SL written by the dutiful QT… Plus we have great big blue, glitter covered SNOOBS, see?  What better reason do you need?  More on them later.

The aforementioned “Listening Room”.  The purpose of this area is to give people a place to hang out and actually listen to all the “A Different Point of View” (ADPoV) segments streamed directly into Second Life.

You can also look over the TeeDee comic strips by bortQ, and the wonderful “Show the Love” pictures sent to me from ladies across the net. And don’t worry boys, they’re all displayed in a slideshow, for hands free enjoyment.

Here’s what you find on 13′s coffee table.

And this little page turner to keep QT-pi running and happy.

And here’s the view back towards the entrance.

I hope to see many, if not all of you swinging by some time.  It’s been a lot of fun making this place, and I hope it goes well because QT and I have other plans in the works for other businesses within SL.

One of them was even mentioned in a ADPoV segment a looong time ago.

The grand opening date will be announced here with plenty of time for you all to get SL accounts and be ready for the festivities.  Much fun will be had, trust me.

 

Slice of SciFi
Michael & Evo’s Wingin’ It
Kick Ass Mystic Ninjas
Geek Fu Action Grip
Lipstick Aliens
The Force Cast
Chuck Chat Technorama
Jack Mangan’s Deadpan
Something to Say, Something to Knit
Geek Zen Daddy
The Babylon Podcast
Off Topic Talk
All the Billion Other Moments
The ADD Cast
Dragonpage Cover to Cover
Mad Marv Online
Musings of a Wired Pig
Pickle Pen
FarPoint Media

I’d also like to thank the players of Star Wars Galaxies – Kettemoor Galaxy (server) for their awesome contributions as well. It is because of YOU ALL that I am doing so well at this, and I am eternally thankful for your service to me.

It’s a damned shame we’re going to have to vaporize this rock anyhow.

More news to come!

I’ll be doing the annual MS Walk in full armor once more. 6.1 miles through the Arizona heat, with full armor, backpack, and rifle. This has become a very important cause to me, not for any one reason, but because I’ve pretty much adopted it as “my baby” event .

I need your help! As you may have guessed, I am doing this to RAISE MONEY for the MS Society, and I’m asking everyone out there to please help out any way they can. I’m not asking for entire paychecks, but a small donation of whatever you can spare to help me reach and hopefully surpass my goal of 1000.00, helping my team reach our 20,000.00 goal collectively.

Then click on “Make a gift” right under the little themometer. The event will take place on Saturday, April 14, 2007, so I’ll be collecting until then.

Day One:
We arrived in Pasadena and get our billeting taken care of, and report in.  Upon giving my designation number to the billeting Officers, I hear “I thought I told you not to invite him!“  I turn to see who said such a thing.
It was Steve Sansweet.  Apparently, my reputation in the Rebel propaganda circles precedes me. 

 

 

 

2035 and I head up to our room, where we meet these two:
The one on the left is TK-Cola Im Helm, and the one on the right is TK-Blacky.  The’ve been stationed in the German Garrison.  One’s a bit twitchy, and the other isn’t..as much.  2 whole Credits for whoever can guess which is which.

So we bunked with these guys for a week.  I’ve had worse roommates, trust me.  Cola Im Helm even brought along a little hottie with him, and that my friends, is always cool.

Once we got our barracks situation hammered out, we get some chow.  We sit down with FrankenTrooper and MaraJen, getting ready to eat while 2035 drones on about how nice the Germans look in thier blazers, while he and I look like thugs in our BDUs and Unit Ts.  Then these guys show up:
The boys from Italica Garrison, which is located in Italy.  Go fig.  (The fellow in the ballcap is the Legion’s illustrious founder, Albin Johnson.  Great guy, trust me.)  These guys are wandering around aimlessly throughout the chow hall, so I call ‘em over to join us at out table.  Chicks seem to dig these guys, so I figure they can handle my overflow so I can actually get some work done, right?  Benevolence is my middle name, you know.   Between “Motorhead” here and the Germans, it was tough to stay sober…or quiet….or sane the entire week, and I mean that in the nicest way, trust me.  They were all a blast to hang out with.  Anyhow, there we are, eating our grub when who should show up next to pay me his respects?

That’s right, George Lucas.  I know what you’re thinking.  “Dear Heavens!  TeeDee’s going to blast him where he stands!“  Not so, kiddies.  Turns out Uncle George is quite the Imperial, and HE was the guy that wanted an Imperial take-over of this little Rose Parade shindig.  Plus, he’s paying the tab, so I decide to behave myself.  Besides, I’ve got a few ABAs in me, so I’m nice and forgiving at this point in the evening.  George waxes on a bit, and gives a dandy “You’re all expendable, and most of you won’t survive” speech, which brought a nostalgic tear to my eye, since it reminded me of boot camp.  After this, we finish our chow and head to the racks to catch some shut-eye.  We have a busy week ahead of us.

More to come soon.

Author’s Note: All photos are either taken by someone I know, or I merceilessly swiped them from the web since I never seem to take one photo anywhere I go.

While they were sowing the seeds of international good faith and friendship, I concentrated on something far more important.  Alien babes.  I made nice-nice with some rather gorgeous ladies from Ryloth.

Good times…. Good times.

More when I get it.

Maybe next year I’ll have her make a few of these for the bunker…. Of course, I’m not certain having a droid baking anything is such a good idea, but we’ll see, huh?

Anyhow, Happy Holidays from Me and the hard working staff of QT-pi and bortQ!

If you’re going to be in the Pasadena Area on New Year’s Day, be sure to come out to the parade and cheer us on… and be sure to wear some of the great ADPoV Swag available now!  The rest of you, TiVo it, tape it, post it…all while wearing some ADPoV Swag, of course.

Yup…. It’s about time.

For the full story,check THIS LINK

Also of note… I have a stein.  Others may sell you bottle openers, but I’m offering something to actually pour your drink into!  Heh.

 

On the PodCast front, I just got my mixing board, mic stand, and other stuff, so tomorrow my droid QT-3.14159 and I will attempt to adapt this archaic tech with my comms unit here in the Bunker, so hopefully we can “dumb down” everything on our end to work with this stuff.

Once that’s done, I’ll start playing around with things and see where we go from there.

And COME ON, people.  I know you all have problems.  I can help.  Send me a voicemail at the number listed at the top right of the site for the upcoming, ongoing segment, “Ask TD”..Or maybe we’ll call it, “What would Thirteen do?”… Either way, you have questions, and I have all the answers, trust me.

Some of the things I’m planning on doing in the PodCast:
A Different Point of View – Well, duh.  Of course these will be done here.
Star Wars News
Star Wars Galaxies News (although this might end up lumped in with SW News)
Language Courses – Yes, You’ll actually *learn* something on this show.
Ask TD – Have a problem?  Need advice?  A Moral dilemma?  Use the Voicemail Line and ask me about it.  I’m from the Empire.  I’m here to help.

If you have a PodCast and would like me to play your bumper, just send it to me.  I would prefer that the Podcast be Sci-Fi related, but I’ll be making some exceptions myself, depending on the show.

If you are a musician, and part of, or have access to, a band, particularly a really hard thrash type, contact me, as I’d like to have a new, full Version of the Imperial March for the opening and such.  The one you all hear currently on the ADPoV segments is what I’m looking for, but it’s not the whole piece of music, and I’d love to have a full version to use on the show.

Anyhow, that’s what’s happening, kiddies.  If you have any comments or ideas, you know how to reach me.

 

I mean…isn’t that what Aunt Beru would do?