CE Wills

    Hey, everyone. It seems the summer has flown by. What with working for a living, blogging, writing and house renovation it has really zoomed along for me. I like to stay fairly active, however.      I hate that I haven't gone to the beach this year. I can feel the sand between my toes as I sit here in my desk chair typing you this missive. It is really carpet, I know, but in my mind I feel the sand.     I think about the mountain trails I used to hike. I think about going to Braves games at old Fulton County Stadium and later at Turner Field. I think about shooting basketball in the evenings and many other things.      What did you expect to do this summer? It may not be too late. If you knew this was the last summer of your life, what would you do? Recently I was sick for ten days with some sort of flu. It made me realize that sweat is a good thing. What I mean is this. You take a guy that is seriously ill, who can't get outside and work. That guy would probably be thri

   Hey, everyone. About once a week I try to sit down and go through the guide on Dish Network. I pick out a lot of stuff that looks interesting and set it up to record. One such thing was an interview with Dolly Parton, and Carley and I watched it this evening. I didn't catch who made this show or I would give them credit, but a power outage messed it up. I still want to talk about it a little bit.      For many years I wondered about the beautiful song Dolly wrote and sang called I Will Always Love You . I've seen her sing it with such feeling and it was evident that it meant a lot to her. Was it for a real person? I mean, Karina, in my books is not real, but she could have been so. Well, tonight I found out, from Dolly's own mouth, who the song was written for.     As Dolly was trying to make it big in Nashville, duets were coming into vogue in country music. George Jones and Tammy Wynette leap to mind. Porter Wagoner had his own TV show. My folks watched it, but I did

    Hey, everyone. My wife and I went out today and had a nice meal. While we were out we went to see the new Batman movie, titled The Dark Knight Rises . Holy cow, Batman, but that is a long movie! I thought about the Aurora shooting as people filed in, and again when the dude came to check that the exits were clear.     I thought to myself, "Would I have the sand to try to take some nut out of action if the crap hit the fan?" No one ever knows how they will react in pressure situations. There have been times when I could hardly have told someone my own name, the pressure was so great. The movie passed without incident, however.     The previews were pretty cool today. I saw previews of the new movie about the Wizard of Oz by Disney. I saw a trailer for Total Recall , which looked pretty cool. There was a preview for Man of Steel , which is about Superman, not Hank Williams Junior.  There was one for the new Bourne movie as well. I'm not sure that I want to see them c

   Hey, everyone. I downloaded several games today, with it being Friday and all the new games floating around. I got one for 99 cents that is sort of an odd duck. It is the game published as a promotional thing for the latest flick titled Total Recall . You older heads will remember this as a sci-fi movie of your youth with Arnold Schwarzenegger. I think my best memory of that movie was a scene with Sharon Stone...     The game is a shooter game, and standard shooter fare. I started playing it and my initial thoughts were that I might not review it because I don't review games that I don't at least have some good things to say about them. As I continued to play it, I decided it was okay. Then I decided it was pretty good, not great, but worth the 99 centabos, certainly. Here's the recipe.     The game follows the script of the movie, basically. You are being pursued by nefarious storm trooper wannabees through the sordid side of town. You have a primary and a secondary w

    Hey, everyone. In the wee hours, I bought the just-released IOS game called Shellrazer . It is a charmer, akin to one of my favorite games, titled Plants vs. Zombies . That sounds odd, because one is a shooter and the other a tower defense game. They are both so darn cute, and cool, and they have such cool abilities, weapons and art, which draws the comparison. Here's the recipe.     Believe it or not, you are riding on a War Turtle. Yeah, I know! Surely one would prefer a swifter, more maneuverable beast for a task like this! No, you instantly love this turtle. He has a comfortable how-dow (?) to ride in, like the Indian Elephants from the old movies. He is armored, also. Plus, he is massive, towering over the orcs, or elves; the goblins with which he has an altercation. I named my turtle Walter, for personal reasons.       I love the stuff you can add to your arsenal in this game. Get this. You can get an Assault Melon. Feed it to your turtle and that rascal will spit seeds

     Hey, everyone. If you are trying to play through the terrific shooter game called Mass Effect Infiltrator , one of the places on which you will get stuck is at the end of Chapter 7. There is a thing called an Ogre Mech and to say that he is resilient would be a gross understatement. He is practically indestructible. After failing to kill him countless times I accidentally stumbled on a way to dispose of the bounder.      When the Ogre Mech appears, there is also a squad of Geth Warriors in the area. I always just jumped in and fought all of them. Then, since the Geth were easier to kill, I tried to kill all of them first, then turned to fight the Mech.      What I didn't realize was that the Geth and the Mech were fighting each other, as well as me! Heck, let them kill each other and make the world a better place to live. Here's how to do it. When the Ogre Mech first appears, run straight at him, then past him to the door with the red markings. Then just stand there and

    Hey, everyone. I have been having trouble, yet again, with my internet provider, Wild Blue. It is a great service, other than being undependable, over-priced and having strict limits on gig usage allowed. On top of that, they make you sign a two year contract.      The good news is that I have downloaded a free app called Impressionism HD . This is an app for art lovers and those who would like to expand their horizons a bit. I am no expert on art but I enjoy it and there is no genre I enjoy more than Impressionism.      With this app you can carry around on your I-Pad, several hundred of the greatest masterpieces of all time. Gauguin, van Gogh, Renoir, Degas and their friends! Da Vinci would have freaked out if he could have seen this.     What I like to do with a painting is to take my time, pick out one that interests me, then meditate on it. I begin to pick out things, notice things. Soon I can begin to see the artists mood, his inspiration. Maybe I see something that reveal

    Hey, everyone. At the moment I am in the caves of the Volterites, standing next to what appears to be a pillar of Green Kryptonite. It is a good thing that my pard, Superman, is not with me. As you may have guessed, I am on the 8th chapter of the excellent game called Nova 3. After long hard battles and many sticking points I have arrived at the next to the last level of this game. My gaming friend, Trevor, assisted me to get past a stopping point this evening. So, I have had a good time as I began this Chapter. I went through a transporter with 'good ole boy' Rufus, who wound up somewhere else. I have ran from lava fissure to lava fissure to keep from freezing to death. Then I eased quietly past a huge monster who appears to be made out of solid lava and is taking a bath in a sea of molten lava.      Then I came into this odd area with some shrine-like things. Maz-Rah, my back-stabbing sort of friend spoke in my mind briefly, to no purpose. What's his deal, anyway? On

    Hey, everyone. While my Tivo is taping the British Open I thought I'd blog about gaming a bit.   The change in the fledgling app store has caused this gamer to evolve a bit. What I mean is merely that I can see myself gradually changing my gaming philosopy. Until lately, I bought a lot of premium games. The $5 or $6, and $7 or $8 games were commonly bought by yours truly. They were cool games, mostly. I'd research them thoroughly, by reviews and video clips, then squeeze the trigger on a buy. Some of them were good buys. Games like the legendary 9MM had the difficulty level set where it was very challenging for me, but I persevered and finished it, all the way, a rare feat for me. I loved the game and I'm playing through it again right now.     The problem was, most of the higher end games were cool for a couple of levels. You'd say, "Wow, what great graphics and exciting game-play. This is fun!" You'd tell your friends, or, in my case, do an enthusia

    Hey, everyone. I took some time today to watch the British Open and I really enjoyed it. Adam Scott played terrific and leads for the start of the final round. The conditions were wonderful and it must have been a great day for the patrons.     I was watching it on the telly, in HD, and must admit that HD is worth having. Only got this feature in the last couple of months. Much less painful to watch it this way than for the youngster who received a plonk on the head from Rory McElroy's errant shot. Classy of Rory to spring for the dude's hotel room.     I felt bad for Snedeker, who had the lead and was playing without a single dropped shot until mid-round. Then the wheels came off just a bit. I like him a lot, though, and will probably pull for him to get back in it tomorrow. Another player I like is a youngster named Olesen. He was paired with Tiger today and I thought he had a great, relaxed demeanor. Watch out for this 22 year old in the coming years.      I am game-p

    Hello, everyone, and welcome to another exciting night from the 'too old to party' crowd at the green retreat. This morning I sat on the porch and drank coffee while I watched 18 robins hopping around our yard. They would run a few steps and stop, standing with their regal, erect posture, much like an actress on the red carpet. Then they'd peck the ground, unlike an actress.      Later, I painted a bit. Not a portrait, nor a landscape, but window frames. Then I downloaded and played a new game called Containment .     This is an odd one. It is not a shooter, nor an action game, but is in fact a puzzler. Here's the recipe.      In a future time there is a zombie problem. With your puzzle skills you must contain the epidemic by surrounding the unfortunate creatures with your people. These resources are cops, people in contamination suits and others. Once the zombies are surrounded, your assets kill the zombies. Unfortunately, there are strict time constraints becau

    Hey, everyone. The last few days I have had the opportunity to play the game I briefly mentioned the other day, Major Mayhem. This shooter is a lot of fun and I think that for the price of free or 99 cents it is a no-brainer to at least check out. Here's the recipe.     First off, about that price. It has been changed back and forth from 99 cents to free. Either way, the game is very much worth it. The graphics are really nice, crisp and cute. This war game doesn't overpower you with tacky blood-letting. You send your officer, Major Mayhem into battle in three realms, the Tropics, Metropolitan and the Desert. I have played through the tropics so far and I've gotten a real kick out of it. I'd like to thank the developers for the fact that one can play it without getting irrevocably stuck. The good major (your avatar) battles Ninjas that hide everywhere; huts, rocks and tall grass, even rivers. They hurl both red and blue shurikens (throwing stars) at you. This will

    Hey, everyone. I read Google News on my PC, almost every day. You can customize it to suit your interests and one of 'my' sections is any news under the heading of blogs or blogging. Wow, is it educational and a little freaky to read some of this stuff?     There are bloggers who have a lot of trouble. Just yesterday, I read about a lady called The Skinny Blogger who had made some comments about Kate Upton being fat. (Don't know what photos she was looking at. Ha, ha. ) Anyway, this lady blogger received death threats and rape threats over this stuff. Are we as a people getting too serious about certain things? Well, yeah, I think so.     Some bloggers have been put in prison over things they wrote, I guess. Especially when they are blogging in a country with a totalitarian regime. I admire their grit. Several bloggers who stepped on the wrong toes down around the Mexican and U.S. border have been killed.      Bloggers have been hauled into court over messing up some

    Hey, everyone. I just wanted to say a special thanks to David Morris of Ryde, Australia for his very gracious 5 star review of KGB Retirement Program, over on Amazon.Com. Thanks, Mate!     I'm CE Wills.

    Hey, everyone. I just published a new short story over on Smashwords.com. It is free and you can grab it, if you like. For those of you who are like me and a little leery of web sites, Smashwords is a very reputable site. I'll give you a link after a brief description.      John Land was once a well known guitarist and singer. Then he became a drunk and wound up on the street. One day a youngster extended the hand of friendship to him. Both lives were changed forever. http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/205719      I am not pleased with the cover. I forgot that white backgrounds don't show up too well and this one certainly doesn't.     The ebook is about 5000 words, an easy read for your morning commute. By the way, there are no adult situations in it. There are a couple of mild curse words so be advised of that.     From the author's green retreat, I'm CE Wills. P.S. I actually was a drifter, like John Land, many moons ago. I drifted through this same p

Hey, everyone. I'm having a bit of fun today with the latest physics puzzler called Amazing Alex . This game is produced by Rovio, the outfit that gave us those Angry Birds and hated piggies. I am probably the last IOS gamer to buy the game, judging by its position in the top ten, but here are a few of my thoughts.      Firstly, there is a bit of dissension on the app store because this is a game that was released as Casey's Contraptions , then bought by Rovio and re-released as Amaxing Alex. I assume that there were a few changes but since I didn't have the original, I can't say.      In this game, you are the star, as a boy inventor. You are faced with various puzzles. For instance, you must maneuver boards in such a way as to funnel 3 balloons onto a pair of scissors, where they pop as they contact the point of the scissors. Sound easy? Well, some of the puzzles are easy and some are not. In the picture above, there are two planks to position in such a way as to gu

    Hey, everyone. We have been dividing our time between the green retreat and our place in the valley. This morning we were up at the green retreat and noticed that dozens of our poplar trees had died, simultaneously. What with an extended dry spell (recently broken) and temperatures over 100 degrees, it is not surprising that more trees have noticed the difference. I'll say it again, I believe that global warming is very real and very dangerous. I also believe that we have already passed the point of fixing it. I was amused to see the oil company executive pontificating on that subject the other day. Whatever.      As I've mentioned before, we have had several species of trees die in our years on the mountain. First it was the dogwoods, then the pin oaks, then sourwoods and now the poplars. Our woods, and our world are changing more rapidly than most believe. Only those who live or work close to nature can hear her silent screams.      Hey, I went on one of my games call

Hey, everyone. Today I had one of those odd moments in gaming. I had downloaded a freebie game called ISniper 3D. During the early stages of my campaign, I was on a hill, giving support to my guys by ushering enemies through the Pearly Gates. As I put the crosshairs on one individual, I saw an orange squirrel hopping about at his feet. Was this a guardian angel, disguised as a squirrel, protecting this guy? Was it a test from my superiors, to see if I would be distracted from my mission? Or was it a small robot drone being used by the CIA to spy on the compound?     I don't really know but that darn squirrel was almost impossible to hit. Maybe he was a ninja squirrel or a phantom. Perhaps a ghost squirrel. Maybe the job was getting to me? Then I realized that my meticulous nature was causing me to over-think the issue. The squirrel must die but only after the last soldier was dead. After all, the squirrel had no gun, unless it was concealed...     I spent two hours this morning t

    Hey, everyone out there in gaming, reading land. I have been under the weather with a summer flu. It really is not fun. My wife is not here to spoil me, so I must persevere, kill zombies and drink too much coffee. I have a number of things to address today. 1) About Frankenword. Last time I talked about Frankenword. It is a good game but I like to inform you if I run across something about a game which I have discussed with you. Frankenword takes the liberty of turning on Notifications for your device. I don't like this. It is not like it is really nefarious, but they shouldn't do it without your consent. As I've said before, I want to play a game, not have my game chatting back and forth with a remote location. Do as you like, but I turned it off on my I-Padster. To do this, go to settings, notifications, Frankenword, then turn all the boxes to off. You may want to keep it, I don't know your tastes. I kept the game and turned off the notifications. 2) Major May

     Hey, everyone. You've probably seen the old Frankenstein movies where a mad scientist cobbles together body parts to build his own person. Not a great looking person, really. Well, if you want to seriously mess up your  spelling and vocabulary, try a game called Frankenberry (oops, that's a cereal). Rather, try a game called Frankenword . It is free on the app store and I like it pretty well. Carley really likes it and has played 50 free levels and then went to buy additional levels for 99cents. For 99 cents you get 150 more, or 4 packs of that size for $2.99. She bought the whole enchilada. Here's the recipe.      You have the challenge of melding words together in order to make new words which currently don't exist. This is why I mentioned messing up both your vocabulary and spelling abilities. In the middle of your screen there are two boxes which will give you the clues for the two words. With my agile(?) mind I decided that the first one would be dwarf. The

     Hey, everyone. I was on my way home tonight and heard one of my favorite older songs called Seven Spanish Angels. It is by Ray Charles and Willie Nelson. I don't know if you've heard it or not, but here's the recipe.     This song is the story of a young couple during the old west days of gunfights and fugitives that fled across the Rio Grande to start a new life in Mexico. One such young man had just married a lovely young lass when his pursuers from Texas finally caught up with him. In the presence of that young wife, he determined that "If they take me back to Texas, they won't take me back alive!"      Well, they shot him down in the street, in front of his wife and friends. Then the girl determined that she "didn't want to live without her man. She knew his gun was empty and she knew she couldn't win, but her final prayer was answered, when the rifles fired again. Then seven Spanish angels took another angel home."     Have you

   Hey, everyone. Let's say that you pay millions for a roof on a stadium. Cool. Then you have a tennis match of epic proportions. Cool. You start the match with the roof open. Maybe cool. Then you actually have a rain delay with a roofed stadium. Not cool. Then you come back out to play and the favorite son falls heavily to the grass on the wet field and his game seems to have a big letdown.     The first set of the Wimbledon Final was amazing. It gave me cold chills with its drama in the early going. There was sparkling play from both participants. Even the ice man, Federer, seemed a bit tight. Then the rain delay and so on.     Murray seemed to have more trouble getting his first serve in today. Of course, he also had to contend with that little problem of playing (probably) the greatest player in the history of the sport. Even with all that, there should never, ever, be a rain delay when you have a roof. That's my opinion. Just shut it and leave it shut until the match is

    Hey, everyone. Yes, you were right. My stomach was upset yesterday after that midnight snack. That is not the purpose of this post, however.       A few days ago I read a terrific article by a lady named Alexandra Alter. I read it as an excerpt on Zite, I think, but when I wanted to reread it, I had to do a search and found it on the Wall Street Journal. The title is Your E-Book Is Watching You . It is excellent and I thought I'd share the link. online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304870304577490950051438304.html       Let me say that I love the creepy picture of the eyes on the printed page. I do hope that you read the article calmly. Like most technical things it is not as bad as it seems but could certainly be abused by governments and others. Here's the gist of the article for those gamers who popped into the site and really have no interest in ebooks.      Evidently, several of the big on-line booksellers have something built into their apps which can mine data

    Hey, everyone. As a serious gamer, I maintain a strict training regimen, waiting for the Olympic Games to adopt contests for Shadowgun . Therefore, I only eat low calorie stuff. Tonight I had a midnight snack that you might find interesting. I wanted some champagne. I filled a large glass with the bubbly. Then I saw fresh strawberries. I cut several of them up and piled a bunch of whipped cream on them. So far, so good.     As everyone knows, a snack plate must have widely divergent flavors to be effective, so I got a boiled egg and put mustard on it. Then I reasoned that some cheddar cheese would go well with the egg. Of course, saltine crackers are a must with the egg and cheese. I noticed some of those miniature candies in the basket. Hmmmmm... I decided to have a Mounds (love coconut with champagne) and a Reeses peanut butter cup. Lest I be accused of being smart, I added a Hershey's with toffee and almonds.      As I was walking to my recliner, I stopped by the pantry an

     My goodness, the pressure for an entertainment glutton such as myself. I have had a tough week, with loads of overtime, late hours and a modicum of fun. Now it is time to break out!      Let's talk about games a bit. Man, I am having a ball with the 99 center called Asphalt 7: Heat. If, for some reason, you don't have this title, go get it. It is fun. I love the new cities, and the old ones, for that matter. I raced in Los Angeles last night and it was mega-cool. We were neck and neck, with cars bumping each other, wrecking each other and exchanging the lead every few seconds. Then we plunge off an overpass and we're down in an open aqueduct, like the scene in The Terminator 2 , where the Governator is saving the kid, you know? In Asphalt 6, there was no water in the big, paved canal. In Asphalt 7 you are in and out of the water, music pounding, your spotter (really nice voice on that lady) squealing in alarm and calling you "cheeky". Man, I like this game

     Hey, everyone. My wife was wanting to use the I-Pad 3's camera with the zoom function and she took this photo of a bug. She thinks it might be a Katy-did (hopelessly wrong spelling?) but I don't know about that. I really enjoy the I-Pad camera because it is so simple and our Sony camera is rather complex for a hillbilly like myself.     This bug's head almost looks like he has a worm mounted on it, which would be weird as well as ugly. He is probably a nice person, although he is ugly. Have you ever noticed that ugly folks usually have a nicer personality? Beautiful people seem to feel a sense of entitlement. I love how, after you get to know someone, their looks are transformed by some odd filter inside your brain. Beauty can become ugly and ugly can become beauty.     Have you ever seen a nice looking woman with an ugly dude? Sure, you see it all the time. It's easy to say, "Wow, he must have money, nice car etc." I think that really nice looking peop

    Hey, everyone. So, you are on vacation? But, like so many of us, money is a bit tight. As you watch your friends drive away, heading for the beach, you feel like the Lone Ranger, a poverty stricken, underprivileged outcast. (Cheer up, I have to work tomorrow.) Perhaps you'd like to have a lot of fun without dealing with the heat, the traffic, obnoxious people and expensive food. Other than the loss of a tee shirt, does this sound good?     Let's go to the app store and investigate the July 4th sale. It is one of the best to  hit the store in a while. Why?     Here's a list of a few of the very best games on earth, which you can buy cheap. For $10 you can have a blast and it will last until Christmas, long after your buddies return with their sun-burned bodies. For a full review of most of these games just look at the label for games which is a pop-out at the right of your screen. 1) Shadowgun- For 99 cents? Are you kidding me? This sci-fi shooter will rock your world

    Author's note: This post was written a week ago but not published until today. Hey, everyone. I'm off today, (hooray!) and I am being lazy. I've been working so much lately that I almost feel guilty when I just chill out. I was up early and wanted a low-calorie breakfast so I went to Hardee's and bought a bacon/egg/cheese biscuit and the dreaded cinnamon raisin biscuit. It was good but I had to wait in line at the drive-through for 15 minutes. After breakfast is over, there is never a line. I normally don't wait in line for anything.      I was just over on Smashwords.com, reading Mark Coker's updates. He was asking for opinions on the lending of ebooks from libraries. Wow, what a complex situation! I've been involved in the ebook thing from its inception, almost, and it is an historic moment for mankind. I mean, we are changing a part of human culture that has existed for ages. From stone tablets to dusty manuscripts, people have been reading for thous