CE Wills

    Hey, everyone. I went to see the movie entitled The Counselor . I found it very interesting, as I have written a book or two about that same part of the world, Juarez and it's surroundings. I also recommend it to you. But my post tonight has to do with what happened after the movie.     It was dark and overcast as I climbed into my car and drove toward my home. I turned on my radio, which I seem to do less and less as I get older. It surprised me when my car spoke to me through the radio speakers. "Hey," it said in a deep voice. I jerked my head toward the back seat, almost running off the highway. Then I reached into the back floorboard and ran my hand over the floor and the seat, my heart in my throat. "Hey, dude," the voice said, "man up and calm down. It's me, your car, that's talking." "You can talk?" I queried in a high-pitched squeak. "Yeah. We all can, when it serves our purpose. At least those of us that have

    Hey, everyone. It has been intense gaming this weekend here at the author's green retreat. Dead Trigger 2 is very tough to beat at any difficulty level, once you get to Africa and enter the mines. There are some strategies that I think might help you, however. For one thing, you have to bypass some of the fights. Don't feel like you have to kill every zombie. Run past them and focus on the task at hand, whether that be setting detonators or opening flood gates or whatever. Also, don't even think of going in there, at least to win, unless you have at least four sets of painkillers and four grenades. A third helpful thing; for those of you who have done an in-app for gold coins: go to the smuggler dude at the hideout and buy two things for 10 coins each. The health doubler and the damage doubler for your weapons. Be advised that these upgrades are time sensitive and only last an hour. I wouldn't buy them until I had tried the levels several times in order to famili

    Hey, everyone. I have spent about 5 hours playing the newest zombie game called Dead Trigger 2. It is a very good game. Great graphics, as you can see above, and action galore. It is also free, which is cool. I was very glad to see that they have added a choice of difficulties, ranging from easy to hard. I was very appreciative of this and had, in fact, e-mailed them to that effect.       You are a warrior, trying to survive the Zombie Apocalypse. At first you are in the USA, fighting in missions. You start saving a few talented people, with whom you start to 'network'. For instance, there is a lady who wears a very cool shirt. She will fix you up with some painkillers, for some of your in-game coin. It is important to keep some of these medicines around so that you can heal yourself when you get into a tough fight. Then you save a tech guy. Then you save a weapons specialist. When you buy stuff from these people, it may take seconds or hours to get the finished product

     Hey, everyone. I don't consider myself as a tech blogger but I'd like to talk about Apple's latest iteration of the I-Pad. I'll give you more of a common man's perspective, I hope. All you folks in Cupertino can use this to get a feel for mainstreet USA. I've owned I-Pads since the original came out and have owned the #1, #2, and #3. I have to say, as I've said before, that of all the things I've bought in my life, these devices are the best. So, here are some thoughts on the new one. 1) I like the idea that they have developed an I-Pad Smart Case , as opposed to the Smart Cover . You can still buy the latter, and it's cheaper, but why not protect both sides? We like to say, "Cover Your ***" here in the States. Besides, since the new device is thinner and all, it might be good to have the extra protection. (The new Case is to be $79, I think.) 2) Twice the Wi-Fi performance. It has two inlet channels and two outlet channels. This i

    Hey, everyone. I once took a walk with two people. We were hiking a trail up a small mountain and the going was fairly rugged over the rocky terrain. Soon, we came to a forking of the path. From experience, I knew that one trail was steeper than the other. It would get you to the top a bit more quickly but the exertion was intense.     The other trail was more gradual, the slope gentle and less arduous. My two companions disagreed on which way to go. One friend, a puzzler, wanted to take the difficult route. He said, "What's the point of going if there's not some challenge?"  The other person said,"Let's just take the easy trail and have a nice relaxing walk in the wilderness."      I wonder what makes up the puzzler's mentality. I  admire their gift, and their desire to figure things out. After some of the training I've endured, the last thing I want to do is figure anything out unnecessarily.      This week I have been finding new puz

   Hey, everyone. It is I, sending you another missive from the author's green retreat. My wife is at work this morning and I'm left to my own devices. Speaking of devices. As you may have noted from previous episodes of the blog, I sort of want a new I-Phone 5s (Gold, 16 gig). Just for curiosity, I have been keeping tabs on the places that might have one. At this precise moment in space and time, there is one such beast within 100 miles of me. Siri has assured me that she can navigate a course to the store that is its fabled lair. I have the funds necessary to buy it. I have the time, the drive, the ambition. I have a dependable, dirty vehicle in which to make the journey. Yet I do not go. Why?     Well, I have a nice phone, the I-Phone 4s. It does all the stuff that I need a phone to do. Wasting money is something that I have conquered over the years. But the hype machine that puts the impressionable aboard this Apple Device Upgrade Train (ADUT) calls to me. Sigh!      So

    Hey, everyone. Carley and I watched a movie on satellite tonight. It was made in 2001 and stars Jean Reno as a French Knight in shining armor who lived centuries ago. However, he gets transported to present day America by a rather marginal wizard. In America, Thibault (Reno), seeks the help of pretty descendant Julie (Christina Applegate).      Thibault, even with Julie's help, finds it difficult to locate a wizard in Chicago. They are helped by Thibault's hilarious man-servant/slave Andre who is rude, crude and socially unacceptable. Let me give you a hint, don't ever take a breath mint from the guy.     It is imperative that Thibault returns to his own time, in order to save his bride from death. There is skulduggery afoot and it has washed its way through the corridors of time.      But, Julie needs help as badly as her ancestor. She has a really bad boy friend who is is in the process of stealing her ancestral estate. It must be karma, as well as comedy, that b

    Hey, everyone. Recently I was on a 'dig' at a buried tomb and had a brush with the local populace. Yeah, I'm kidding. I was actually playing the new game called Escape From Doom . This game is an endless runner, which means that you start at the same point every time and your character runs, dodges etc. until meeting his...er... doom.      The creators of this game have taken a page from Iron Man 3 and added a dynamic that involves finding weapons with which you can defend yourself (this game might be unpopular on Capitol Hill for this reason.)      As you flee from the tomb, you dodge right and left to avoid mummies and try to run across vases and treasure chests which contain goodies like keys and the aforementioned weapons. The game also gives you goals like 'kill 10 mummies' or 'find so many keys'. Keys will unlock chests you run across. 5 keys will unlock additional ammo. Like most games, the rewards need to be more generous so that you won'

     Hey, everyone. I bought the new flick with Jason Statham just the other day. It has been out on DVD for a few days and I snatched it up for several reasons.     Reason #1 is that I love Jason Statham as an actor. I like to hear his gravelly voice and I particularly like to see him kick the crapola out of people.    Reason #2 takes more explanation. I actually saw this movie being discussed on IMDB, one of the best sites for movie lovers. There's a link to the right. It was supposed to come out at the theaters a couple of weeks ago, or so I thought. Sometimes a company will just release a movie straight to DVD for whatever reason. This is a terrific movie but I think it may have alienated a group of people and was not sent to cinemas.     The place is modern day London and Joey Jones (Statham) has recently returned from the Afghan War. He is a wreck. He lives on the streets, sleeps in a box, is an alcoholic and a drug addict and has severe post traumatic stress syndrome. H

   Hey, everyone. As you know, Halloween is approaching and I like to do a spooky post occasionally.( By the way, check out the tab (label) at the bottom of this post that says 'Spooky'. Especially, you should read Campfire Song, The Old Man In the Straw Hat and The White Sign .) Anyway, this is a true story.     The other evening I got a message on my I-Pad that says, "Google Maps has requested access to your microphone." Weird, since I have never even used that app, or at least not recently. No big deal, I like a good joke as much as anybody. So, I push "Don't Allow" and go to the Google Maps app and delete it.      Then today, I had been reading the morning news on different sites and had closed the Padster and placed it on my keyboard (music keyboard). As I walked to the kitchen I heard a soft ding and returned to open the 'smart cover' on the device, thinking I'd gotten an email.    To my surprise the screen was filled with a mes

     I am Pervious, the gnat warrior. As you know, we gnats exist for the sole purpose of bothering humans. We rejoice in the apparent irritation we cause people. You are probably not aware that there are such things as Gnat Warriors.  The distinction between us and regular gnats is that we bite. We prefer to bite your face and ears. The ear lobe of humans is a special delicacy. When I 'eat out' with lady gnats, that is where I like to go. The ear lobe. The flesh is so soft! Sometimes there are these tiny hairs that feel good on my feet.      You know what I really love? I love it when a human takes a swing at me, misses and hits himself in the face! That is hilarious.      I know what you're thinking, at least the Germaphobes among you. You think that we gnats are nasty because we have been seen, hovering around gross stuff. This accusation is true. But pride will not endure in the fast-paced, live on the razor's edge world of the Gnat Warrior. Any moment could be

     Hey, everyone. After a tough week at work, I decided to just hang around the house all day. After being suitably lazy for much all of the morning, I recovered admirably and did some chores. In this rural area, America guys do this thing called "Hauling off the garbage". I took my garbage to the dump. This involves loading plastic bags full of garbage into a truck, or the trunk of a car and getting it out of your life forever.       I know I have a lot of overseas viewers, which is why I tell about this mundane stuff. If I haul garbage in the trunk of my car, I put it in a big plastic bin so that any leaky fluids will not smell up my car. Obviously, we don't have a garbage service out here in 'the country'. That's okay with me because I don't like for anyone to keep up with my business. I had a friend who worked as a garbage man. He used to try to tell me things about people and I told him I didn't want to hear it. I mean, hauling off other fol

    Hey, everyone. I saw on the internet, just now, that author Tom Clancy has died. Recently I wrote in a post that he and James Clavell were in a class by themselves as writers. So today, the world has lost a great man and a producer of art. Wilbur Smith would hang with these two guys and considering his advanced years, his loss may be imminent as well. Someone will doubtless step forward to write their types of books, but there will certainly be a vacuum for a while.    Clancy was one of those guys that had me scheduling vacation on the day when his latest book was scheduled to go on sale and there was no way that I would wait for the paperback. These types of guys appear by the handful, not the bucketful; a few in your lifetime. It is wonderful that he received the acclaim he deserved. Not all people do. Somewhere there is a writer as good as Clancy who can't even be published. If you don't believe that, remember that Harry Potter was picked from a slush pile.       As