CE Wills

    It's not unusual for me to seek out a few freebies in the app store on a typical weekend. I'll play them and if there is a good one at a reasonable price, I'll buy it. I downloaded about 6 or 7 over the course of the weekend and have played several of them extensively. 1. Captain America, Sentinel of Liberty, lite. A fair amount of fun. The full version is on sale for 99 cents this weekend but I recommend you get the lite version and try it before you buy. I enjoyed throwing my shield at the Hydra soldiers. 2. Mad Wheels. This is a good game. I got the free version and came back and bought the full version for 99 cents. I feel like, once I bought it, that I am entitled to mention that it appears to have a small number of levels. True, I haven't played all the way through, but if it only has 7 levels as it appears, that is not really enough for the paid version. Sorry, but that's how I see it. However, I will say that it is very fun. You race against several o...

    Hey, everyone. I had a nice day today. Slept in, lounged around reading Pulse news on the Padster. Played about 20 songs on the keyboard. Carley and I sang a few. I was using a music book called Anthology Of Rock Songs. Some nice person really did a good job breaking those songs down so that they are fun and easy to play, although still quite representative of the original. It's quite fun going from one generation of songs to another as you flip the pages.      Have you ever noticed how many songs there are that the title does nothing to help you remember the song? Like I was playing a song by Toto today called Africa. He sings about the rains down in A..fri..ca. No problem, the title and the words are mutually efficient in bringing back a memory so you can buy it without saying, "You know that song called Berkely Blues but it's really about Africa?"     Books and movies are the same way. So many titles seem to have nothing to do...

   Hey, everyone. Cool Mushroom, huh? This was growing under my deck and it looks like a granny's hair that has been out in the Kansas wind all day. There is a bit of yellow streaks in the fuzz also.    New games came out on the app store today and I bought one. This is certainly not unusual but I rarely buy a puzzle game. Gesundheit! is a cute game with some odd characters. Most notably there is a little pig with allergies. He sneezes and blows snot around. This has been sort of an issue in his life, as one can imagine. It has cost him a few friends. It has hindered his love life. On the positive side of the ledger, it saves him from a monster. This monster has been terrorizing the community. The monster has some baggage, though. He likes to eat boogers. I know, gross. It is with difficulty that I can write about this. Feel free to quit reading at this point.      As the little green pig with the sniffles tries to negotiate mazes, the monster p...

    Hey, everyone. Someone asked me the other day if I would upload a picture of myself. So, dutifully, I looked up my most recent photo and uploaded it. However, I feel that I should give you a few pertinent facts about this picture. 1. This is a black and white, which indicates it was probably taken during the 50's. 2. This was the last time I smiled. 3. Since this was taken I have learned a new language. English. 4. My abs look about the same as they did then, thanks to my exhaustive regimen of beer, pizza and playing video games. 5. I don't play with my toes anymore. 6. I am still devoted to one woman; it's just a different woman. 7. My hair style is similar now to what it was then. The amount of hair available is similar. 8. I have a few more teeth. 9. My knowledge level has increased but has also subsequently decreased since this picture was taken.     From the author's green retreat, I'm CE Wills.

     Hey everyone. Once upon a time I worked at a chemical plant that was about a mile from a big river.There was a big tank of acid on the site and groundhogs had burrowed under the tank, which is not uncommon. The river was East of the tank and the sun set, of course, to the West. I worked evening shift and usually found a way to stroll around outside, just a bit, at sunset. Most evenings in the summer, the groundhog would come out to enjoy the sunset. The oddity was, he always faced the river, which was out of sight, rather than the sunset. I've always been a keen student of nature and animals and the weird behavior of this groundhog has bothered me for years. I mean, he would sit and watch out across the fields in the direction of the river. He cared nothing for the beautiful sunsets to the West. He wouldn't move for several minutes at a time, sitting statue-like on his hindquarters with his forefeet in the air.      Did I detect a wistfulnes...

Hey, everyone. I've had an I-Pad for more than a year now and I've had an I-Pad 2 since the day they came out. Over that time I have seen a steady increase in the quality of games. They have been especially good on the Deuce (I-Pad 2), as they look better and play more smoothly. 9 mm by Gameloft is one of the best games available for I-Pad. There is plenty of action, a bit of thinking, a good storyline and above all else, it is an FPS (First Person Shooter) with a capital S. You have a choice of impressive weapons, limited only by your degree of ruthlessness in wresting them from the dead hands of drug dealers, human traffickers and people who curse a lot. Before I forget, I would like to thank Gameloft especially for the EASY mode which enables poor players to make decent progress and not grow discouraged. There are odd little niches in the game where you are riding on top of a tractor trailer. You are dodging low-hanging signs and shooting at a fugitive who is fleein...

Hey, everyone. First, let me say that I am having trouble again with the blogger function called New Editor and have found it necessary to revert to Old Editor. This probably meshes better with my age. That's a joke. For this reason you will not see chapter indents until this is resolved. Also, the post I produced called South Bound Train had a problem crop up with the photo. I just deleted the picture. We went out to eat today and everywhere we went, people seemed to be having trouble with their air conditioning. The south and a lot of other regions are really having a heat wave, here in the good ole U.S. of A. I went to Books-A-Million while we were in civilization. I was hoping to buy some books at a reasonable price. There were several books I wanted, but didn't buy. One of them was $15 for a paperback. Yeah, you heard me right. I priced them as e-books Friday night and I've noticed that publishers have started their campaign of Gradualism on that front. They have ja...

Hey, everyone. I read a different kind of book the other day. The title is Geek Mafia , by Rick Dakan. I downloaded it as an ebook via Stanza , which is an excellent source of free ebooks. The actual ebook came from Feedbooks , through the Stanza app. Rick's books are for sale on Amazon, also. Now that all that is out of the way, I'll give you the recipe for this novel. Paul Reynolds is a comic book illustrator and creator. He is on the outs with some 'friends' whom he had joined in a business venture, striving to create a video game from Paul's successful independent comic called Metropolis 2.0 . Unfortunately, Paul's bosom buddies have decided to fire him from the loose corporation which he had founded. Worse still, he is to be cut loose without a dime of compensation. A side note here. The writer has a background in the comics industry, I believe. I wonder if he has had an unpleasant experience? Stupid for me to think this because I write about a lot of t...

Hey, everyone. It's a nice warm day in the green retreat and I'm enjoying a day off. Gameloft, one of the leading game companies for the Padster has another sale going this weekend and you know how I like to shop the sales. Yesterday I bought Real Golf 2011, HD for the princely sum of 99 cents. Here's the recipe for this game. First of all, I like it a lot and would give it 4.5 stars out of 5. The graphics are exceptional and the game-play is fun. You have 10 courses, beautifully depicted. You have 10 golfers, not so beautifully depicted. They are not really recognizable as the avatar of the pro they are depicting, which is surprising with the otherwise great graphics. For each golfer, you have a little intro with their background. There is on-line multi-player, which is supposed to be a lot of fun, though I haven't tried it. You can also play over local WI-Fi or bluetooth. This game is normally $6.99 so this would be a good time to grab it. I love Tiger Woods PGA T...

Hey, everyone. I had the occasion to be out late tonight. I was driving North and passed a south-bound train as the tracks happened to be next to the highway. It was a pretty night, 75 degrees and a big, bright moon. I had my roof open and my driver's window down. I could hear the click clack of the train on the track and the creaking of the box cars as they wobbled. There must have been a couple of miles of empty box cars, some with their doors open. As I looked over at the silent box cars, peering idly into their deeply shadowed interiors, I felt a chill in my inmost being. The creeps, as they called it when I was a kid. "What an odd thing to feel!" I said out loud. I couldn't see any reason for it, really. I never was one to ride the rails. I hitch-hiked when I was young, all over the United States, but I was not a hobo. As I watched the cars rattle by I wondered what dark deed might be even then taking place inside one of them. What a scary place to be if you w...

Hey, everyone. I have dubbed this moth the Butterscotch Moth . He is a big guy and looks like he has furry legs and tufts of hair growing from his back. Like a 50 year old plumber in a strap tee shirt.Da Vinci himself couldn't have painted his wings so beautifully. I just read an interesting article from Sports Illustrated.com by Al Michaels, the terrific sportscaster. He was filling in for Peter King while Peter is on vacation. First of all I was very impressed by how well Al wrote. I mean, this guy could have had a great career as a writer, a columnist or a blogger. Moreover, it would be nice to just sit down and chat with this guy. It was a lengthy piece and Al touched on a number of subjects with bluntness, knowledge and a toughness that does not condone B.S. 1. The NFL lockout 2. America's infatuation with football. 3. The Oakland Raiders. 4. His admiration for John Madden. 5.Restaurants. 6. Hotels. 7. Stadium Deals and NFL football in Los Angeles. 8. Chris Coll...

   Hey everyone. It's very late here in the woods. I've been playing my new game tonight. It is the aforementioned Rainbow 6 tactical combat game. The game rocks. It's a solid 4 stars out of 5. I mean, it's not Rage , but what is? The free sample game allows you to do one mission and gives you a little mini-game in which you try to stay alive for one minute in a room full of elite hostiles who want you dead.       The mission they give you is challenging, at least for the elderly. It's like you are John Clark, the character that Clancy created for his books. If you look up Lethal Weapon in the dictionary, you'll be referred to the iconic Mr. Clark. By the way, if you haven't read Clancy's book titled Without Remorse , you have missed a treat. Anyway, in the game, you are commanding an elite team of commandos and are tasked with saving an Ambassador from terrorists. So you go in and try to keep yourself and your team alive. Hint #1. Don't throw a gre...

    Hey, everyone. Good guy, Darren Clarke has won the British Open today at the age of 42. In conditions that were blustery, with winds gusting to around 50 mph, Mr. Clarke played calm, solid golf when his very soul must have been swirling like the tempest around him.     Like most writers, I like to study people's faces. I think that it was around the 16th green when I saw a look of such peace come over the face of Darren Clarke. It appeared that he had lain some specters to rest, somewhere during one of the brief squalls that he had played through. Down the stretch, he didn't seem to start playing tight or trying to aim everything. He just gripped it and ripped it. Then he gripped the Claret Jug and no one would rip it from his grasp on this day.       Lefty threw a ball to a fan he almost brained, and charmed the crowd as usual, but he finished 3 back of Clarke. It was a tournament that I enjoyed immensely and I felt really gl...

    Hey, everyone. I've been playing video games today.  I downloaded the free version of a new game for I-Pad called Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Shadow Vanguard . It's a shooter game in which you command an elite team, like a seal team, as they take on dangerous missions all over the world. The full version has 11 missions and costs a healthy $6.99. I am not sold on the game just yet and will play it for a couple of days before I buy.       In a very limited amount of playing time I have noticed several things. The makers of the game seem to be trying to instill in you a bit of responsibility. When you tell your team to move up and one of them gets killed, it's game over. It is like they expect you to care about your people and shoulder the responsibilities of command. Shirking responsibility and withdrawing from life is the main reason I play games. This is tongue in cheek so please, no poison e-mails.     I read the novel by ...

      This picture was taken in Kansas, back during the 1980's. The star is our pooch, a really good dog. This was my son's dog, when he was just a little guy. The picture was taken out on a farm where we lived. Looking back, it was certainly a beautiful day to be alive and go for a walk. We often walked out the country road for miles and of course the dog had to go, which was cool. She would go a little distance and look back like this to make sure we were coming. The dog pictured lived with us for many years. My son was grown and gone, with kids of his own, when I came outside one morning and found the pooch dead and stiff. It was a tough day for me, I can tell you that.      I've only had one dog of my own. He was a long-haired bird dog. I had him when I was a kid and another kid shot and killed him just for sheer meanness. Not being very civilized at the time, I gave the other kid a good beating. This did not bring my dog back but it fel...

    Hey, everyone. We ventured forth into the real world today. I enjoyed it somewhat but there were times that I wanted to be home, playing video games on my Padster. It rained all day and the traffic was fierce. We ate at a buffet and went to see a really funny movie. I had read some reviews that slammed this movie but it was excellent.       I'm not saying that you should take your kids to see this. There was one commercial prior to the show that was probably fit to be a good strong 'R' rating. But hey, I like my shows to be fairly adult and I've watched enough animated flicks to last me a lifetime. Being old has one redeeming feature, you can watch what you darn well please. But I'm off track. Back to the movie review of Horrible Bosses. Here's the recipe.     These three guys have really baaaaaad bosses. They have stood for about all they can, and decide to hire a hit man to eliminate their problems, which are physically inc...

    Hello. I'm an I-Pod Touch. I belong to Carley Wills. Less than 15 months ago I was a hot item. I was in a case in Best Buy. People would come by and try the display device and they would ... want me. I have to admit, not bragging, that I am really cool. 32 gigs of storage, a nice-sized screen and all the capabilities of an I-Pad.       One day a nice lady came in and tried the display. When she decided to buy one of us, I was thrilled. "Pick me!" I shouted, but no one could hear. She seemed like she would be a good owner. I had heard horror stories at the factory of owners who were hard-core gamers. They tended to get excited and pound the buttons so hard. Then there were the careless teenagers who left their Touch out in the rain. I shuddered at the thought. The clerk picked me up from the stack in the case and I knew the deal was done. I was happy! Soon I would be playing music for the lady and we could read a book together. Then the lady b...

    If you wanted to use moths instead of gargoyles on your castle, this guy would be ideal. I dubbed him the Goth Moth but I have no idea what he is. What I like about him is that he is so mellow. He mostly just sits. I hate to perpetuate a stereotype but he really likes to hang around lights.    These are tiny pink mushrooms, growing on a rotten log. I doubt that you can make them out on a small screen.     This is a mushroom which I call the bar-bell mushroom. Makes you want to dig down a few feet and see if there are any more 'weights' on it. Ha, Ha.      Finally, here is a winter  picture Carly took from the front window during a cold winter night. All of the creatures seen were deer, although the one in the foreground looks like a tall coyote with a humble personality.      I had to add just one more shot because I hate winter and didn't want to end on a chilly note. This shot was taken, many years ago,...

   Hey, everyone. I had not planned to post again today but I ran across a bargain I wanted to share with you. These 4 games are free for a limited time and if you don't get them today, you may miss out. They are all by the same developer. I haven't had time to play them hardly at all, but the graphics and colors are extraordinary. 1. Nanosaur 2. You are a flying dinosaur with bombs and lasers. Other dinos try to jump up and grab you and watch out for the tall trees and gun towers. 2. Enigmo 2. A puzzler's game with a lot of depth. 3. Cro-Mag Rally. You race stone age cars against other cave men, picking up power-ups like bottle caps and dodging cacti and other hazards. 4. Otto Matic. You are an odd little robot who wanders into trouble on alien worlds. The big red blobs have to be blasted by your ray gun. 5. Bugdom 2. I almost forgot about this one. You are a bug who walks around in your front yard. Looks to be a captivating game for the little ones in your life.  ...

    All I really wanted was a simple suit, but noooooo! He had to get fancy with it. It's hard to remain incognito with an outfit like this.     Hey, everyone. I ran across this picture we took over at Graceland (Elvis' home in Memphis), and thought it would make a good blog subject. It's hard to imagine a guy with the sort of panache that could wear this stuff and make it cool. Regardless of what is worn, massive cool comes from the inside. I'm not sure it can be trained or developed. You either have it or you don't. Elvis had it in spades.     If I can find the rest of those photos from Graceland, I'll post a couple more of them.       Speaking of people that I'm angry with, check this picture out. I took this picture of a display at the Pro Football Hall Of Fame about 10 years ago. The subject of the display was a time I remembered well. Here's the recipe.     Once upon a time in a land called Am...

   Hello again, my friends in the ether. We have had a nice day, here in the green retreat. We did some chores, like mowing and washing clothes. We were preparing for a cookout tomorrow and had to change out some burners in our grill. For those of you who don't grill much let me tell you a bit about grills. I have a medium priced grill that costs about $350.  The trend today is to have components that intentionally  wear out within a year or two in order to optimize revenue. Sort of a 'make things cheap so we can sell replacement parts annually' operation. The marketing gurus call this planned obsolescence. I call it a bit crooked. They charge twice as much for replacement burners than they should, also. We found some burners much cheaper on Amazon.     We had to replace the burners in our grill for the second time in 3 years. They just fell into dust. We got the job done, then we sat side by side on the deck so we could share ear buds on an I-Pod. On...

    Deep in the forest a young man was walking. In his pocket was an envelope which contained instructions for a scavenger hunt. A certain young lady had given him a quest. If he were successful the lady would be his girl. If he were not successful then he would cease his attentions toward her.     The young man's name was Jeremy. Sancha, the girl in question, was a bit of a dreamer. She fancied herself as a princess and Jeremy couldn't argue with that. He saw her through the eyes of young love; that great, transforming power of youth.     He was walking through a piece of remote government-owned land in southern Kentucky. Massive hardwoods were all about but there were well-defined game paths to walk on. In the hour that Jeremy had been in the woods he had already spooked a couple of deer and seen a coyote. Then he ran across a little surprise.     He heard her before he saw her. Great heart-wrenching sobs that seemed to be...

    Hey, everyone. First of all, let me say that I have made a few changes to the blog. Let's list them.     1. There is a gadget on the right which you can click if you want to receive new posts by e-mail.     2. To your right you will see a video bar. This has clips from you-tube. As key words I selected gaming, appvee.com and the 1960's. Appvee, by the way, has very good reviews of IOS games. That is, games for the I-Pad, I-Pod and the I-Phone.     3. Beneath each post is a bar that allows you to share what you read with people on Facebook, Twitter and other places.     Now that all that stuff is out of the way, lets talk NFL Football a bit. Firstly, one of my old-time Baltimore Colts has passed away. Yes, I'm talking about the great Tight End, John Mackey. It was a joy to watch big John play. He would run over defensive backs and I've seen him drag one or two of them for 5 yards. I was sorry to hear that ...

    Hey, everyone. It's a lovely day here in the green retreat. I thought I'd show y'all a few more pictures. The first picture is one that shows some brilliant yellow mushrooms with cupped tops which were holding a bit of water. These yellow dudes were as big around as my hand.     Picture #2 shows some odd mushrooms that grow out like skinny little fingers. The first time I saw them I was a bit surprised. I'm sure they're fairly common but I've never seen them until I moved up here. Heck, I wouldn't even swear that they are mushrooms because that is not my area of expertise.     Picture #3 is a common sight here in the South. In fact, it is common everywhere, most likely. Around here, they are just called chigger flowers for the simple reason that they are full of microscopic bugs that love to nibble on folks. They bite, then the spot itches like crazy until you scratch the white top off the bite mark. Then they disappear. It's hard to sl...

    Hey, everyone. This is the road I live on. In the terminology of the South, it would just be called a country road. Not much different than a thousand others. Flat roads and straight roads are about as common as giraffes around here. Country roads are handy for a lot of things. Things as simple as berry picking and other things that are a bit more sinister.     I remember one night when I was coming home from work in the wee hours. It was probably about 3 o'clock in the morning. I was coming up a steep place on the road to the top of the mountain. About half way up I came around a curve and there was a car, stopped in the middle of the road, about 50 feet ahead of me. I often stop to help people but I could see this guy's exhaust (winter) and I had that feeling on the back of my neck. You know, that feeling that you get if you have been raised on the street and you know something is wrong in a situation.      Not to be melodramatic but ...