CE Wills

     Hey, everyone. I noticed an ad the other day for an odd Halloween activity. These folks had a big corn field. For a modest price, they would let you come out and shoot paintball guns at Zombies. No, the zombies weren't real. They were people dressed as zombies. They were actors that would shamble out of the corn field toward you, so that you could feel justified in blasting them. I thought that it was a cool idea.     So, tonight is Halloween. I hope all the little goblins stay safe out there. Boy, has things changed for this holiday? I am afraid that all the ghouls are not imaginary these days.      I am sick of the election stuff. Be glad when that is over. In self-defense, I have been playing a lot of Apocalypse Max, still. I have made it to the section called "The Facility". Wouldn't it be great if all the IOS games let you play them this far?      I've been reading a bit this week. An older Western by J.R. Robert...

      Hey, everyone. I have been playing an excellent game yesterday and today. It is called Apocalypse Max and it is one of the good ones. I got it for free, although it is normally $2.99. It has been so much fun that I felt compelled to buy an in-app, just so I wouldn't feel like I was cheating them or freeloading. Even the in-apps are done more fairly than most because you don't really need to spend money to make progress. Rare, in today's app store.      This game is a side scroller, though not an endless runner. Basically you can stand still when you want to catch your animated breath. At other times you advance, mostly to the right, shooting apocalyptic creatures with a bad attitude. There are sections in which you are in the swamps and sewers, as well as other places which I haven't conquered yet.     If you come across some crates, swipe on the screen and smash them open. Most of the time there will be cool stuff l...

      Hey, everyone. Fall continues to ... fall, I guess. The green retreat is quite the multicolored lady. Far to the south of us, another, less attractive lady churns her way toward the U.S.A. Her name is Sandy and she is windy, wet and wild. A seafaring wench. She has some folks worried about her intentions.      Hey, I watched a 2011 movie this evening. It was really good and you know how I like to pass along any news about a good flick, old or new. This particular show is about a young lady named Hanna . Though a mere teen, she is about as dangerous as the just mentioned hurricane. Here's the recipe.      Eric Bana plays the role of Erik Heller. He is a former spy guy, a member of one of those agencies that like to use initials for their names. He had been involved with a project that was  supposed to churn out super-soldiers, like Captain America. They would inject an embryo into a lady's womb and change its DNA ...

    Hey, everyone. I love to watch the internet start to buzz after one of these Apple events. The I-Pad Mini was unveiled yesterday. Much to my surprise, it has the features of the older, but excellent, I-Pad 2. What I mean is this. It doesn't have Retina Display or the A6X chip. Obviously, it will have those very soon, maybe in the Spring of next year. I feel that the target market for this device is the ladies, who want an I-Pad to fit in a handbag, students of high school and college levels and the elderly who love to read but find a full-sized tablet a bit hard to hold for long periods. Folks are also griping about the price points and are comparing apples to oranges as they look at some of the e-readers. Selling products for cost is not for everyone, though it seems to work okay for Amazon.        I have zero interest in a Mini for myself. I want the bigger tablet. Here comes the second internet feeding frenzy prompted by Apple's ann...

    Hey, everyone. As Sunday night becomes Monday I reflect back on the weekend. It has been okay. I watched a little football, played a few games on the Padster and hung around with my wife. We watched some movies. I like old westerns and tonight I watched part of an old Randolf Scott offering called The Nevadan . I was surprised because it wasn't that good. Usually I really enjoy all of Mr. Scott's films. It was in color, which is odd for his flicks. I gave up on it about the half-way point.      Carley has played a bunch of a game called Word Jewels 2 . She played 101 levels of this game. Can you believe it? It has a board with letters arranged in a honeycomb. the red colored letters can be strung into words, disposing of the letters. You only have a certain number of moves until you lose. She enjoys it so much that she only mumbles occasionally, which means it's a 5 star game. It is either free or 99 cents, I forget.     What did...

    Hey, everyone. It has been my great pleasure tonight to watch a documentary on T.V. The title of the show was The Untold Story of 007. It was shown on a satellite movie channel called EPIX 1, which is available on Dish Network.     It is the story about the movie-making side of the James Bond series and it was outstanding. I have been a Bond devotee since I was 12 years old and I learned a lot of new things tonight. The film had commentary from several of the Bond actors and several U.S. Presidents, among others. I'll try to share a bit about the film with you.      Ian Fleming was actually in the espionage game during WW 2. He dreamed of buying a beach cottage in Jamaica after retiring and that's what he did. The last time I checked, you could still rent that house for a vacation, something I'd love to do. Fleming started writing the Bond series in that home. He was a bit of a recluse, loved the booze and loved the ladies. When...

      Since I had lowered myself to the point where I was discussing the stars on Wonder Woman's panties on my last post, I felt I should grow up a bit today. Therefore I want to do some serious reporting and I have chosen to talk about Orcs. Yes, those creatures made famous by Role Playing Games the world over. In particular I want to review a game called Orc Vengeance .     This game came out a few weeks ago and cost $2.99. It garnered some good reviews and appeared to be fun so when I saw that it had gone on sale yesterday(?) for 99 cents, I pounced on it like white on rice.      This game is a huge file (400 MB) and is very deep. A bad boy with the dreadful monicker of The Dark lord has taken over the troubled world of Argon. Deep in the bowels of a dungeon is Rok, an Orc with an attitude. He wants Vengeance (hence the name of the game) for the wrongs done to his people, if I may call them that.    ...

    Hey, everyone. I have spent some time in meditation this week, seeking a greater level of peace and contentment. Since my personality and maturity run to the 15 year old level, despite my advanced age, here's the thoughts that are uppermost in my mind. 1) Why is Spiderman so darn unlucky? I'd like to see the dude happy, prosperous and blessed. I was so happy for him, about 40 years ago, when he bought his first motorcycle. 2) Why is it always rainy in Gotham City? Why can't Batman move to Nassau and wear a Speedo, get a tan and all that? Or, he could just add a touch of color to his drab costume. Maybe a rainbow-hued scarf around his neck? 3) What do the stars signify, if anything, on Wonder Woman's blue panties? Is it similar to the U.S. flag? Are there that many city-states on her island nation? Does Hera have that many daughters? This is something that must be brought to light. It is something worthy of an Indiana Jones movie. I need a battered Fedor...

       Hey, everyone. Good to see you. No, I can't see you, really. I did hear, just the other day, that certain government agencies can turn on the speaker of your cell phone and use it as a microphone so they can hear every word you say. But I am here to talk about a game I bought the other day called Justice League . It is about those Superheroes from DC Comics who keep the universe relatively safe.      This game came out a couple of months ago and was released at the price of $2.99. A couple of weeks ago I bought it for 99 cents, on sale. Although it is certainly worth the 99 cents and was probably fairly priced at $2.99, I leave the game fairly disappointed. It could have been so great!     You start out by choosing a character to be your avatar as you battle an alien invasion. You see the following characters: Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, Flash and Green Lantern. Here's the first irritation; you can only play...

     Hey, everyone. If free games makes the start of a new week a little better, we're in luck. Check these out on your friendly, neighborhood app store. 1) Cowboys vs. Aliens vs. Ninjas- This is a dual stick shooter, much like Mini-Gore . You are an old-west cowboy with a vast array of weapons (earned gradually). You have to move and shoot, avoiding death, as you battle Ninjas and aliens. Some aliens are quite large. Some enemies are big Sumo Wrestlers. There are sword-wielding ninjas and these aliens that yield a mini-nuclear explosion when killed. When your enemies die they leave behind little stacks of money, or skulls. You collect these items because of a strange hobby of trophy grabbing for your macabre collection. Just kidding, the items can be spent or used as the game progresses. This is a good game and I played it for a while last night. 2) The Heist - A puzzle game with a twist. As you try to open a bank vault, you must face a series of different puz...

    Hey, global neighbors. I am listening to some oldies as I type this. Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu by the great Johnny Rivers is playing at the momento. Today I need to give some love to the puzzle lovers. One of the great puzzle games that I have played is 4 Elements . But, like many sequels, 4 Elements 2 is making some people mad.       I have actually done a review of the original game so I guess I won't go through the whole gameplay mechanic. Suffice it to say that you are trying to assist a faerie in her desire to get stuff that appears to be lava from point A to point B. This is done primarily by running your finger over like-colored stones and causing them to melt out of your way. Sometimes you must shift some pipes so that flow can go through them. That is different from the original,  by the way. It is a fun game and cool as a moose. There are mini-puzzles as well, in which you must find hidden objects or play I-Spy, or wh...

     Hey, everyone. Tonight I watched a really good but really freaky movie. The title is Crush . Let me start this review by saying that I never, ever, watch horror movies for the simple reason that I don't like them. This movie seemed sort of like Fatal Attraction , so I thought I'd check it out on Showtime Extreme. Here's the recipe.     You don't know this is a horror movie until the last 30 minutes. A college guy named Julian has the world by the tail. He is in Australia on a student visa. He will soon be an architect. He is a Karate champion, or about to be. He has a smashing blond girlfriend named Claire. Then fate throws a monkey wrench into the moving equipment of his life by the decision he makes to house-sit for a wealthy family for a few months.       The home is really an estate, just a lovely place. Harry, the owner, seems like a nice chap. The place has a security system that is fairly nice. No worries, right? Wrong. Before...

    Hey, everyone. Tonight I finished an interesting novel. It is titled Bad Doctor and it is written by John Locke. The title is a bit of a misnomer because Doctor Gideon Box is a very good doctor. He is, however, a very bad person. To start with, Doctor Box kills people. That is, if you enter his hospital, after incurring his wrath, you won't leave there alive. He doesn't get even, he gets more than even.     Secondly, he is the greatest heart surgeon in the world. He operates on the most hopeless cases and the stress makes him do really odd things. By thrill-seeking he relieves his stress. He breaks in strangers' houses and assumes their identities. He goes to clubs and does odd things. He operates on people wherever he takes the notion, like a parking lot, for instance. He lies, a lot. He pays people off, is blackmailed and does numerous other things too rough to mention on a 'G' rated blog.     In this book, Gideon steals the identity...

     Hey, everyone. I have noticed an oddity about the weekly release of I-Pad games. There is a cluster of games that have the limelight. They are previewed and written about and put on the front page of the app store. Inevitably there are one, or several, games that sneak up on people until you realize that hey, this is a good game. Such a game crept onto the platform this week with the offering called Death Dome . This game is a huge file, over 600 MB. It is a sword fighting game set in a future time which is not so pleasant. There has been a disease called simply The M-Virus. It makes people swell up into monstrosities with black dots all over them or tentacles emerging from their bellies. They are called behemoths and have been placed under a huge dome which covers most of a city. A woman named Phoenix (now you) is trapped inside the dome with these things. She is more or less normal, I guess. She packs a serious weapon, armor and shield and goes hunting for t...

    Hey, everyone. I walked into a Subway sandwich shop. It wasn't crowded, really, but I had to wait in 'line'. As I waited, I noticed a young couple sitting at a table by the window. They had two little boys with them. The lads were probably both under two years of age, but let's say that the oldest was 2 and the younger was only a year old. A nice, young family, out for a bit of supper. I waited and let my gaze and my thoughts drift hither and yon. The bulk of the mountain outside the glass, starting to turn burgundy in spots, an elderly man in the corner, complete with white beard, busily playing with a cellphone which had a fold-out keyboard. His movements and mannerisms so effeminate and precise.     When my gaze drifted back to the little family, the mom was giving the two year old a bite of pizza. In a flash, a moment of time, as though a veil was lifted. I saw the enormity of her present and pending task. My God, I thought. She has the responsib...

    Hey, everyone. A few weeks ago there was a lot of cool games either coming out or going on sale. I had quite a few that I didn't have time to play very much. It is easy to let good games 'fall through the cracks' of your I-Pad. I was pleasantly surprised when I went back and played Warcorps Genesis for several hours last night. The game is pretty darn good. I'd call it a shooter that 'even a caveman can play'. Here's the recipe.      This is a futuristc war game. You are one of four soldiers, collectively know as the Hellhounds. I am currently playing as The Falcon. You pick assignments and missions from a game map. You are sent into areas to prevent the enemy from doing bad things. Things that are more serious than cutting the funding to 'Big Bird'. Ha, ha. I'm talking about stuff like bringing a nuclear weapon into an area.      So you go in alone and are tasked with stuff such as killing 20 enemies or surviving two minut...

   Hey, everyone. I have been trying a couple of free things. One of them is a free IOS game called Plight of Zombies. It is a simple puzzle game in which you have control of zombies and are trying to guide them to food. (Brains) Yeah, I know. It does sound a little gross. Any normal humans which you encounter are turned into zombies. There are obstacles to bypass and power-ups to obtain. In the store you can use your in-game cash to buy stuff like sunglasses, a Sheriff's hat, snorkels and night vision goggles for your undead friends.      This game reminds me of Spy Mouse, quite a bit. It is rather fun, and free for a limited time. Be sure to get the full version, rather than the lite, since both are now free. There are 150 levels to the game. I have played the first 14 levels.        When you guide your pet zombie around the maps, there are civilians with shotguns which you must avoid. You have to watch the civilian's range of visi...

Please disregard previous post. I wasn't aware that all subsequent levels of that game were 99 cents each. The game is called Robot Time 1. Now I know why it's named #1, I guess.    I am an embarrassed CE Wills.

    Hey, everyone. I mentioned a new game earlier and I thought I'd come back and review it, now that I have played it for about an hour. This game (Robot Times 1) is seriously worth a dollar. It is a lot of fun. The graphics are very good. There are no ads. There are no in-app purchases, if you can imagine that. Here's the recipe.       In a secret weapons factory, battle robots have become self-aware, like the movie called Terminator, and are killing the scientists. You are a good robot and are sent in to fight the mean robots. The rascals are pretty smart and have positioned themselves on rooftops, scaffolding and on the ground. Moreover, they have attack style, robotized helocopters that shoot at you and ping bullets off your handsome, metalized frame. There are suicide robots that scurry across the ground and blow themselves up just as they reach you.      But hey, you're no pilgrim, yourself. You have two big 50 caliber gu...

     Hey, everyone. I have had a nice day. Carley and I went for a walk in the woods. I watched the Atlanta Falcons go to 5-0 and I talked to Siri a little bit. I asked her if she thought Brad Pitt was good-looking. She said, "My opinion doesn't matter." Later, I asked her if she was my friend. Her reply? "I'm not just your friend, I'm your BFF."       Sort of made my day. Especially when I consider how many of her fellow computer persons I have slaughtered in Trigger Fist . Obviously, her affection for me transcends mere race, creed or computer animation brotherhood.      This morning I bought a pretty cool game for a mere 99 centabos. It is called Robot Times 1. In this game, there is a factory that produces fighting robots. The machines in this factory have run amok and began to fight the humans. So, good robots go inside the walls to battle bad robots for the sake of mankind. The graphics are good. The gameplay ...

    Hey, everyone. I'm glad I didn't pay $6.99 for The Amazing Spiderman. I have played it for a while today and I don't like it much. I find myself playing the same challenge over and over and finding it hard to move on. I wander around and don't make progress. There are in-apps galore but they are a bit pricey, especially for those early adopters who paid full price. So, I see the future of this game as being deleted from my I-Pad. Whatever. I didn't invest much cash in it, so I have no hard feelings. The question is: How did it get all those great reviews?     It's cloudy and cool today. The highest temperature I've seen is 60 degrees. It is overcast and breezy, as well. I sat on the porch and listened to music for a bit. My wife is at work and I am bored. I did play the game called The Last Driver . I had downloaded an update because they have inserted giant robots into the game. I do wish they'd put in some save points so I could finally see the...

    Hey, everyone. I would be remiss if I failed to acknowledge  the help of a nice lady who has created some book covers for me. I asked her to do a new cover for The Dan Tattoo and the above-pictured spy thriller, KGB Retirement Program. She did a great job and was very pleasant to work with. I am enclosing a link for all you indie authors who follow the blog, so you can check out her web site. Here's the link. http://tat-94.wix.com/viladesign#_contact     I'm CE Wills.

    Hey, everyone. Carley and I loafed around today and had a good time. We ate mass quantities of food, which, as you may know, is the favorite vice of the elderly. We also went to see the latest Liam Neeson flick, called Taken 2.     As you are no doubt aware, this is the sequel to the action thriller named Taken . In that movie Liam Neeson stars as Bryan Mills, a retired CIA man with a particular set of skills. His daughter is kidnapped in Paris by a ring of white slavers. He tracks down her kidnappers and places them in the cold embrace of death. In this second installment, the father of one of the guys whom he killed, seeks revenge.     Bryan goes to Istanbul on a security job. He is joined there by ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) and daughter Kim. (Maggie Grace) They anticipate a pleasant vacation. They don't get it. What they get is grim reality.  Murad Krasniqi (played byRade Serbedzija) plans to kidnap, torture and kill all three ...

    Hey, everyone. Yeah, it's the weekend! The new movie, Taken 2 comes out today and I am going to see it, I reckon. (That's Southern for 'planning on it'.) But hey, there are games to talk about, so let's do it.     First of all, The Amazing Spiderman is on sale for 99 cents. This is a huge game (and file) and I have been waiting for it to go down in price before buying it. I bought it yesterday, but I haven't played it because... I have been playing two freebie games called Blood and Glory and Blood and Glory 2: Legend . Here's the recipe for these sword fighting games.      In Blood and Glory the characters are speaking either Latin or Italian, I think. This is fitting, since they are fighting in the Roman Coliseum style, like in the Gladiator movie with Russell Crowe. (One of my favorites.) I actually took a year of Latin and two years of Spanish in school, but they didn't teach me the words for the  macho, sword and kil...

     Hey, everyone. The other day, something triggered a memory of a really odd happening in my life. Many years ago, I was working at a plant that was situated in a rural, residential area. One house was very close, just on the other side of a fence, and an elderly couple lived there.     This couple was in their eighties and were very feeble. They barely managed to get around and their relatives lived in another state. They were independent and just desired to live alone as long as possible.      Unfortunately, sometimes the man's wife would fall and of course the elderly gentleman was unable to pick her up. He'd call the plant and whoever was on duty would go over and carry her to bed, to the couch, or wherever she wanted to go.     They had been in the diplomatic corps for many, many years. They were the sweetest, most gracious people I've ever been around. Even now I can see her in my mind's eye; I can see h...

    Hey, everyone. I have been reading a good book by James Patterson. Patterson is always on the bestseller lists, it seems, but somehow I have never read one of his books until now. I have watched two movies about his character, Alex Cross. After reading I, Michael Bennett , I may go back and read all his stuff. Let me give you the recipe for this novel.      Michael Bennett is a New York Police Detective. His wife is deceased but he has a lot of kids. He has a live-in nanny by the name of Mary Catherine. He also has a live-in Catholic priest called Shamus.     As our story opens, Mike is part of a task force that is trying to put a Mexican drug lord in jail. The dude's name is Perrine and he is a rough hombre. He has a very dangerous woman working for him. Her name is Marietta and she is a stone killer. During the arrest of Perrine, Marietta kills Bennett's friend, Hughie McDonough. She is a lethal, long, tall drink of tequila. ...

     Hey, everyone. It is a rainy morning at the green retreat. It is also raining in Gotham City, as you can see from the above pic. Last night I played The Dark Knight Rises for a considerable time. I am now a 'level 14' and I am into the second Chapter, the third mission of that chapter.      To get to this point, I, in my alter-ego of Bruce Wayne, had to escape from a pit. It was tough, but I persevered. To do this I had to hack doors and climb scaffolds, fight low-born knaves and climb a vertical well. It certainly felt good to get out of that place and get back into my Bat suit, I'll tell you that.  Ahhhh, the exquisite thrill of freedom as once again I swung over Gotham and swooped down on Kane's evil legions. When will these guys learn to fear the Bat?     I have found that it really makes a difference when you 'power up' on your character. When you hit harder and inflict more damage with your Batarangs, the battles are...