CE Wills

     Hey, everyone. Another hot day at the green retreat. I've been preparing things for the cookout tomorrow. I cut the grass, scrubbed the decks and set up tables. Carley is baking cookies and pies. She has some steaks and chicken soaking in Dale's sauce. I think I'm gonna hook up a microphone and amp to my keyboard. Several of the guests are musical, with one guy who has his own band. Looking forward to meeting him. He plays guitar, as well as keyboard, so it's nice to think of someone actually using my electric guitar. I gave my acoustic to one of the grandkids, since I never could seem to make my aged fingers make those chords. Other than that all I have is a really crummy-sounding mandolin.      I am something of a experimenter with beer. I never miss a chance to try a new one. I bought some called Landshark . I think it might be produced by Jimmy Buffett but I can't say that with any certainty. They say you should drink them with a little ...

    Hey, everyone. I can't remember a more pleasant day in the last several months. It wasn't like I picked up a fat contract or had a date with a Penthouse Centerfold. For some reason I just felt relaxed and happy all day. And yes, I just felt contented, which is very unusual for me.      Carley and I went out and had a very nice meal in a good restaurant. We lingered over the good food, chatted about inconsequential matters and enjoyed each others' company.     We walked through a mall and did a little shopping. I bought a pair of swimming trunks more suited to a teenager. Mine had grown too small. They must have shrank in the wash. Ha, ha.     While strolling the mall, we dropped into a gamer's shop. It was huge. They were not a chain store but independently owned. They had comics, games and game-centric artifacts such as things needed to play role playing games. They had a huge room in back where folks could hang out and...

    Hey, everyone. I've really been watching for the new game called Dead Trigger , since I am an aficionado of zombie killing. This game is put out by the creators of the highly successful game titled Shadowgun . In Dead Trigger, you star as a survivor of an apocalyptic event that has turned most of humanity into zombies. Wait, has this already happened in real life? Just joking.      Birds of a feather flock together, so you start hanging out with other survivors, protecting them from the zombie hordes, since you are skilled with weapons. They send you out on dangerous missions, some of which seem a bit trivial. For instance, I got sent to find this dude's case of whiskey. This reminds me of what happened to Miller in my book called Lost Gap . You may remember that Miller's boss had designs on Miller's wife and sent him on a dangerous mission. But I digress.      Dead trigger is not about puzzles. It is not about strategy. It is...

    Hey, everyone. I played Nova 3 for several hours tonight. I had a blast with it. I learned the value of tossing grenades in amongst a bunch of Volterites when they clump up in an area. I fought my way through a huge complex owned and operated by criminals and partially controlled by Volterites. Then I made a new friend, no, check that. I ran into an old friend named Rufus. He and I used to booze together and do the whole party thing. He is what we call in the South a 'good ole boy'. This is mostly a complimentary term for a friend or someone who can be counted on in times of trouble. Generally a solid person, would be the basic drift of the term. At any rate, Rufus and I have just fought our way to an exit, stealing a big Mech Walker and smashing out of a gate. It was fun to drive something with that much firepower. After watching Luke Skywalker and Han Solo fight those Walkers in the movies, it was mega-cool to have one for my very own. I think I will name him Irvi...

    Hey, everyone. When last I talked about the popular shooter game called Nova 3 , I had been on a sweet run, passing several save points and approaching the highly coveted end of Chapter 4(?) I was sick of that derelict space ship and ached to move on.     When I reached the transporter room with my two-faced friend, Maz-Rah, we encountered fierce resistance. We were killing Volterite scum and stacking them up like firewood.     Maz-Rah continually whined, "Disable the transporters, or they'll just keep coming!"     Over and over he said this until I muted the game. I mean, did he tell me how to disable the transporters?? Nooooo, he did not. So, in between shooting guys I tried several things to disable the devices. I threw grenades in them. I shot the blue lights above the doors. I went inside them all (7) and looked for buttons and switches. I went to every control panel in the room and checked for a breaker, switch or...

    Hey, everyone. The number one selling game on the app store since it came out on Wednesday is Asphalt 7: Heat. It is a graphics intensive thrill ride which is a mere 99 cents. Of course, its predecessor was $6.99, so this one does more of an in-app purchase thing. This is both good and bad. Bad for those of us who want one buy, no B.S., and good for those who are playing on a budget. These folks can at least share in the fun of a game which everyone is talking about. Then, if it is just terrific, they can make the decision to shell out the necessary coin to progress. Unfortunately, many games of this type absolutely refuse to let you beat them unless you shell out mega money. The end of the road for developers is that promised land of $50 games for I-Pad like the ones for X-Box. But I digress.    This is a terrific game for 99 cents. On the new I-Pad it looks better than Jessica Simpson, which is mighty fine. I make it a point to play every racing game and ...

   Hey, everyone. I have been playing quite a bit of games this weekend, as well as painting my house. Late last night I got on a sweet run on Nova 3 , the sci-fi shooter game. It's one of those games that has excellent graphics and feels like you have to advance inch by bloody inch. In a word, it is a pain in the butt.     For instance, I have been stuck on a Volterite spaceship for a month, wandering corridors over and over again like a lost puppy.     I finally cruised over to You Tube and watched a video walkthrough of the level. I eventually noticed that the guy picked up a piece of crystal from the floor in a dark corner of a 'solarium'. So, I went back to the game and at length came back to that area and picked up a crystal shard. Cool, right? I went on my way rejoicing in my heart. I had wild visions of advancing effortlessly through the remainder of this derelict ship and moving on to other exciting levels. Maybe I'd get to go to a dese...

     Good evening. One of the truly great western television series of all time was called Have Gun Will Travel . It starred Richard Boone, a terrific actor, as Paladin. A gun for hire. This series was so different than the normal western, and so much better. Instead of the same tiresome plots, it had some great story lines. Recently, this series has started being replayed on the Encore Westerns Channel on cable and satellite. I have started to tape them on the TIVO and have thoroughly enjoyed them. The series originally aired in the early sixties and late fifties and I can't remember individual episodes, so it is almost like watching them for the first time. Especially tonight, as I was privileged to watch, for the first time, the story of how Paladin became Paladin.       It turns out that Paladin is not even the hero's real name, but the name given to him by his...mentor. The story goes like this.      Paladin lives...

    Hey, everyone. It's a hot day at the green retreat, with the temperature 91 in the shade. I have been playing a few games, such as my new game called The Inversion Project . It is manifest that in order to prosper in this game, you have to learn patience. The wise warrior does not remain standing and shoot it out with the drones. Life is short if you do this. Instead, reap the benefits of those hard-earned lessons which we learned as we played Shadowgun. Pop up, shoot, duck back behind cover, repeat. That being said, I still am playing on level one. I am enjoying it, however.      I went back and played an older game today. It's one of my favorites, Desert Zombies. This game is a terrific shooter game with outstanding graphics and fun gameplay. I have reviewed it already so I won't rehash it. I want to get up to Wave 7 of the undead soldiers, but it is difficult. Today I encountered a huge monster with a huge machine gun, like a 50 caliber or be...

    Hey, everyone. Picture yourself as a macho, futuristic soldier, battling your way through a steel mill. There are unmanned drones firing at you as you kneel behind available cover. You tap a button to stand and fire. You must fire quickly because once you stand, the drones start bouncing lasers off your chiseled frame.      In the upper left corner is a health bar. Not that kind of health bar, which one would eat. No, this shows how close you are to your demise. If you can crouch behind cover, you quickly recover you health, sort of like N.O.V.A. games.       The most interesting part of this game, perhaps, is the Gravlink. This device enables you to skew gravity. It is certainly a hoot to see a flaming pool of metal turned on its ear and not pour all over the floor and (thankfully) yourself. In the upper right corner is a bar for your Gravlink status. It depletes as you use it but can be restored. In order to progress t...

    Hey, everyone. I suppose that all of y'all (southern for all inclusive) are getting out of bed and preparing for a nice Father's Day.  I wish you a happy one, especially those who share with me that duty of being a Dad. Heck of a job, isn't it? Both the responsibilities and rewards are unfathomable.     I fear that we, as children, tend to view our parents in a harsh light. Through many years of watching too many sitcoms we seem to believe that our parents are, and were, perfect. If they are not perfect, it is a huge disappointment to us. I've got a news flash for you. Richie Cunningham from Happy Days was one of the chosen few to have a perfect Dad. It works in reverse too. We are seldom the great brain surgeon and Nobel Prize winner which our folks have hoped for. Ha, ha.      I was listening to my I-Pod tonight and heard a song called My Old Man by John Denver. It's a pretty tune with gentle whistling and finger pick acoustic ...

    Hey, everyone. Carley and I were just sitting on the porch, drinking some beers and chatting. We were playing with the I-Pads and just enjoying being lazy. We had been to the big city and eaten mass quantities of vittles (food). We stopped by the theater and I was thinking about watching Prometheus . The next showing was the 3D version. They had a banner outside that proclaimed that they would add a charge of $3.50 for each ticket for the cardboard and plastic glasses they dole out. This is over and above the extra ticket charge for the 3D. It irritated us enough so that we just went on our merry way home.  Hey, get this. They have the gall to ask you to throw your 3D glasses in a bin on your way out to "hold down costs". If this wasn't a 'G' rated blog I'd tell you what I think of that.      As we sat on the porch, two scrawny-looking deer came walking out of the woods. Carley tried to get a picture with the I-Pad 3 but it didn't turn out t...

    Hey, everyone. This game by Chillingo is free at the moment and it is a real hoot. I downloaded it night before last and I have played it a lot. The graphics are very good, the colors are bright and the controls are fine. What's more, the game is really different.     I hate horror movies, so it is a wonder that I like this game so much, because that is what this game is all about. It features horror movie villains, or their clones, as the enemies in the game and another bad guy, with a hockey mask, as your avatar.     Let's call the chief warrior Jason, shall we? He starts out with a machine gun and nearly unlimited ammo. Shortly thereafter you buy a shotgun. There are upgrades to get, health potions to buy with in-game cash and ammo crates to pick up. Chillingo doesn't pressure you to spend money, however. You can have a ton of fun for free. I definitely intend to buy something because the game is so good and I don't want to freeload...

    Hey, everyone. It was good to hear that Siri is coming to I-pad. The lady's voice feature will be most welcome, to me at least. I must say that the chick's voice in Shadowgun sounds better. It will be nice to try out this feature. I guess that we will have to wait until the Fall, when IOS 6 comes out.      Casually slipped into the Apple store is a new case. It is a 'smart-case' but it has both a front and a back cover. When the original, one sided smart-case came out, I called it a not-so-smart case in my blog. I mean, it offered no protection in the back and indeed was slippery to the touch on the back side. I guess all of us who spent $40 to $50 dollars on the original case are just out of luck and ...not-so-smart. Ha, ha.     I bought yet another game today. Project 83113 is an unusual game. In an alien world, a race of monkeys has been enslaved by a superior race. But a child is born to fight for their freedom. He is a purple...

    It was the Fall of the year when the plague came. Roughly half of the population either died outright or were in the process of turning into zombies. They prowled at night, gorging mindlessly on anything they could obtain, but human flesh was their favorite sustenance.     What was left of the military from The Great War rallied to protect the people. Men like myself, with a military background, were pressed into service in many capacities. I became a gunner on a helo. Our first mission came on my very first night, my first flight.     Some folks in an isolated farmhouse had a ham radio and had called for help. It was a large 3-story house and refugees were fleeing to it from the surrounding countryside. Unfortunately, zombies were streaming toward it as well.     I can't describe the pressure as we circled the old house. I, as the only gunner, was all that stood between good, decent people and a horrible death. With sha...

    Hey, everyone. A funny thing happened to me. I was playing Max Payne Mobile on my I-pad and I was being meticulous about doing a manual save every few minutes, lest I have to go back very far. So I do a save and what happens? Oh yeah, I immediately get 'killed'. Then, when I 'tap to load last save' I immediately get shot again. I swear, it is like a groundhog day movie. What would Bill Murray do?      So, I actually deleted the game, then went to the app store and re-downloaded it. So, I was able to start the game over at chapter 1. I got very frustrated with this as you can imagine and tapped chapter select for my latest game save. I thought that having re-downloaded it, it might have mercy on me and start me at the save point before the instant kill spot I was on. No, not so much. Now I am in a constant rehash of a bad moment. The bullet comes so fast I can't run. Sigh. I would download it again but my internet company is doing their Gig limit...

    Hey, everyone. The other night I watched a video clip on the internet of the Queen's Jubilee Concert from London. I got a real kick out of seeing Tom Jones. Back in the day, he had his own TV show and the women swooned at his feet. He is probably 65 or so now but looked slim and fit. Man, his voice sounded deep and rich. He performed the old song by Three Dog Night called Mama Told Me Not To Come and it was great.     Elton John was there and did one of my old favorites entitled Your Song . Elton's voice seems to have gotten a little deeper with age but it was still good and strong.      Of course, Sir Paul was there and I always enjoy his stuff. He finished with the James Bond theme for Live and Let Die , complete with fireworks. I sat and watched, thinking that I would have loved to have been there. I get a lot of readers from Great Britain and doubtless, some of you who are reading this were there. Lucky you.    ...

       Hey, everyone, and particularly those writers that read the blog. I had occasion yesterday to do a search of my own name and discovered that certain places on the web were offering my books as a free and paid download. Places that I didn't know existed.      For instance, one return on the search was for "The Centaur Series" on megashares.com. Another return on the search was from an outfit called filestube. Another search return comes from firstload.com.     To get to the actual web pages on some of these I guess you have to be signed in to a user account. On one of these sites, I clicked a box that stated 'report abuse'. I then read through a long statement of legalese designed to scare away complainers.       I found it interesting that on one of the search results, it was specifically mentioned that it was a kindle edition. Fascinating. So, do they buy one ebook off Amazon and upload ...

    Hey, everyone. Do you remember my bear I told you about? The one that a guy carved out of a solid chunk of pine, using a chain saw? Well, I named him Smokie and I have grown rather attached to the little guy. He doesn't talk much, just sits by the fireplace and thinks his thoughts. Recently we put him out in the flower bed to watch over the bushes. Today I moved him, so that I could cut weeds and I discovered that he has maggots invading his...uhh, base. His stand. It is a real bummer, as we used to say, back in the sixties.      I sprayed his bottom with insecticide and the maggots died, but I am still concerned. I mean, he's so unselfish and has given of his free time to watch over the bushes and scare the dog away that might want to crap on the hydrangeas.     Is there a moral to this story? Well, gee.. 1) No good deed goes unpunished. 2) Nice bears finish last. 3) When you start trying to do good deeds, you'd better watch yo...

    Hey, everyone. In older homes, before groceries were readily available in close proximity to your dwelling, it was common to have a pantry. This was a closet that was used for storing food. In this house which my wife and I have renovated, we have fixed up a little pantry and it is very handy. It provides a cool, dry place to store your grub and display it on shelves so that it is easy to see those things you need and grab it. If you have small kitchen cabinets, a pantry is especially helpful. If you catch a nice sale on something, you can buy a case of it and store it for a rainy day. I like a cheap red wine that seems to suit my tastes and I usually buy it by the gallon and store an extra one so I don't have to make a long drive just for something like that. The nearest liquor store is 30 miles away from the house we're renovating and 50 from the green retreat. Plus, my wife's folks are good to give us some canned (I'm talking about sealed in mason jars) vegetable...

     Hey, everyone. We have a bush in our yard that is having an identity crisis. It is a hydrangea and it doesn't know whether to produce red or purple blooms. I understand that the PH ( a measure of its acidity) of the soil will control the color of the blooms. But one would have to think that the PH would be the same with the close proximity of these blooms.    Of course, I know next to nothing about gardening. It could be that the relative age of the bloom is the factor. When the red one has been around a couple of days it may turn blue or purple. Or vice-versa. I do know they are beautiful and big. I like that.      We watched a movie on TV tonight called Man of the House , starring Tommy Lee Jones as a Texas Ranger. He is assigned to protect a group of cheerleaders at the University of Texas because the ladies saw a murder and they are being stalked by the killer.      Nobody plays a grouchy old man better th...

    Hey, everyone. I played a lot more of my new game called Razor Salvation and it is a lot of fun. Plus, I am getting really decent at this game. Tonight I broke into the top five in one category, world-wide. I was in the zone, blasting zombies and Grunts and snipers. I shot crates for extra cash and saved many civilians. I fantasized that the civilians purposely came to my side of the ship because they knew that I was there to hover over them like a big eagle, smiting down their enemies in the nick of time so that they could board my ship.     In fact, I got so into it that I started thinking about the old Rocky movies. You remember when Apollo's trainer is rubbing his shoulders, getting him ready for the fight? I thought he was talking to me as I went out to slay the alien scum who were destroying my planet. "You're the best," he said. "You're the best now and you're the best that's ever been. Women love you, little kids love you. Women want y...

    As you know, my wife, Carley, is a puzzle person. She constantly tries to convert me to this type of game. Well, tonight she was telling me all about her game called Puzkend . This game involves thinking and stuff like that, so it won't be one of my favorites. I do like it, though, and it is free. The graphics are nice too. If you can see the picture okay, you have to slide your finger over matching groups of symbols. When you do, they disappear, allowing other symbols to fall. You must do this strategically so that you can clear the board. Here's the rub, as we say in the states, and this is what makes it different from the standard 'match 3' game. I mean, the falling tiles have to go to the right place to match or you fail. Fortunately there is a button that allows you to back up as many moves as you want to.     I've played the game quite a bit and I am now in a region where the puzzles are getting more difficult. So, while my wife is extolling the ...