Virtual Tourist - Yakuza 0 7/21/19

Greetings!

Yes, I dropped off the face of the planet again. Seems a rather common occurrence anymore. :( While I am doing better than I have been, I am not 100%. Sundays have been elusive for some reason. The fact it's quarter-end close and we're doing it in two separate systems hasn't helped! (There's been loads of overtime the last couple of weeks.)

Conventions!

I will be going to my first convention this year in a couple of weeks! ArmadilloCon will soon be upon us!  Looking forward to it. :)

Promotions!

Smashwords is holding a July ebook special offer. Both Crossed-eyed Dragon Troubles and Inner Demons are on sale at 50% off! If you've been curious about my books, this might be the perfect time to try one of them out!

Yakuza 0

Street view of one of the main roads. The Maharaja dance club is across the street. A gaggle of schoolgirls as well.

Tasty looking food display! Not all the businesses are actually there but it does make for some nice scenery. :)

This is Oda. He works for Tachibana Real Estate. He says he's not a yakuza, but he sure knows a lot of their tactics! :P

Interesting club front. lol.

Kazuma takes all the mini-games very seriously. Here's his game face for playing darts! Brint it!

One of the toughest battlefields - a karaoke bar! (You either get to sing or cheer them on. Not for the weak! So hard!

This is the second Japanese game I've played where they educate the players about certain types of alcohol. Bizarre!

When one of the game hints told me to seek out a rather unusual Shinto priest, this guy was NOT what I was expecting - white suit, clown face, and green bushy hair. He has free packages of goodies, which include costumes (not yet far enough to be able to see them or wear them). More importantly, is the shrine itself. Doing certain things in the game gains you CP points. (Eating all the food at a restaurant, completing goals like walking 2 miles, etc.) You spend those points here.

Close up of the biggest and oddest looking priest ever!

Fashion change for a sub-story. This is what a producer of film looks like. (When we meet the real guy, he's wearing the exact outfit! lol)

That's it for this week. Hopefully, we'll get to go to the movies on Friday. This quarter-end has been brutal and since we're going to the merged company's BOLO system 100% for Aug, close for that should be insane. Ugh...


Have a great week!

ArmadilloCon Schedule!

Greetings!

For any of you fun people coming on down to ArmadilloCon this weekend - here's what panels I've been scheduled on.

Friday

9:00 PM - Ballroom F - SF TV Shows We're Anticipating
The Expanse, Man in the High Castle, Minority Report, etc.: Which looks the most interesting and exciting? How faithful can the ones with literary origins be to their source material?


Saturday

10:00 AM - Ballroom E - Silkpunk: Asian themes and influences in SF/F
Exploring the use of Asian concepts and locations in the work of Guy Gavriel Kay, Neil Gaiman, and Ken Liu contextualized as just a few of many.

2:00 PM - Southpark A - Broad Universe
A joint reading by members of the writers' group Broad Universe "promoting science fiction, fantasy, and horror written by women."


Sunday

11:00AM - Southpark B - Reading
Yes, I must find something worthy to torture anyone who shows up. Bwahahahahaha!

2:00PM - Dealer's Room - Autographing



For the full ArmadiloCon programming grid - go here.

For panel descriptions - go here.

And of course, there'll be added treats by Zumaya Publications as both my novel, Jewel of the Gods, and Rie Sheridan Rose's, The Nearly Notorious Nun, debut during the convention!

ArmadilloCon Schedule 7/25-7/27/14

ArmadilloCon has it going on!
They've already finalized their panel schedule.

Here's my list of panels

Tree Creatures
Fri 4:00 PM-5:00 PM Room E
Wells*, Clarke, Oliver, Stanley
Ents, nymphs dryads and more. Discussion regarding the various kinds of tree creatures from myth and legend.

Do Werewolves Dream of Bloody Sheep
Fri 10:00 PM-11:00 PM Room F
de Orive*, Kimbriel, Oliver, Roberts, S. White
What are the beginnings of werewolves in fiction? How have they changed over the years?

Reading
Sat 10:00 AM-11:00 AM Southpark B
Oliver

Quetzaxuahuitzalochtlicueotl
Sat 1:00 PM-2:00 PM Room E
Richerson*, Brown, Maresca, Oliver,
Discussion of Aztec mythology and why it isn't used in more genre stories.

The Denisovans and Homo floresiensis
Sun 10:00 AM-11:00 AM Conference Center
Antell*, Mahoney, McKay, Oliver
New discoveries in DNA research. What are they and how many more are out there?

See you there!

Picture Kaleidoscope 8/31/11

Have a good pile to share this week. :)

Just gorgeous! Earth Shots Photo of the Day: Close Encounters by Roberto Bertero

Thor Dropped One by Jerry J Davis.

I love the way the photographer fools the eye on this one. There are more at the link.

Believe it or not, that's a real car. Large Objects Shot as Miniatures Using Giant Coin and Shift-Tilt Effects over at Peta Pixel by Michael Zhang.. 

Another Earth Shot Photo of the Day. This one is Detifoss: Raw Power by John and Tina Reid.

This one just has so much raw power to it as well. You can feel the Rhino's motion.

Also from Earth Shots - Rhino Charge by Peter Delaney


I took a picture of these because I'd never seen such a thing before - paper shoes! Funky!

A couple of sunrise shots. You know you like them. :P

I went to ArmadilloCon this past weekend. Got some cool shots of the hotel, but even better, a super cool display of Lego Art! The spaceport is original art, while most of the rest are reconstructions. So COOL!

Oh, yeah, can't leave out the Zumaya Publications table from the Dealers Room. My books are in there somewhere. Heh heh.

Totally unimpeded carpets!

This one I took because at that angle it looked like a bird! Very graceful.

They had a huge fish tank too. Really nice!

Okay, okay, here's the super beyond cool lego pics! Group is called TEX LUG - Texas Lego Users Group. Check them out at http://www.texlug.org/.  This first one is original SF art.

So is this ship. A beaut!

Ghostbusters anyone?

New Orleans!

Loved this little garden!

And look at this sucker!

The Legos were fab!

That's it for this week. Have an awesome day!

Armadillo Con Schedule!

If you're going to be in Austin at ArmadiloCon, here's my schedule!


FRIDAY

Fr2100SA What's New with Doctor Who

Fri 9:00 PM-10:00 PM San Antonio

F. Duarte, M. Fletcher*, G. Oliver, A. Porter, R. Rose

A discussion of recent developments with the classic BBC TV show.

SATURDAY

Sa1000SB Game of Thrones: Comparing the Book to the Series

Sat 10:00 AM-11:00 AM Sabine

M. Bey, A. de Orive*, S. Leicht, G. Oliver, J. Rountree

Exploring the faithfulness of the adaptation and the high points of the book vs. the show.

Sa1500SM Broad Universe Reading

Sat 3:00 PM-4:00 PM San Marcos

J. Cheney, M. Fletcher, P. Jones, A. Latner, N. Moore*, G. Oliver, C. Rambo, J. Reisman, J. Vanderhooft

A series of rapid-fire readings arranged by a prominent women's writer organization.

Sa2030SM Reading

Sat 8:30 PM-9:00 PM San Marcos

Gloria Oliver

 

SUNDAY

 

Su1000SB Fans in the Mainstream Media: The Big Bang Theory, The Guild, and More

Sun 10:00 AM-11:00 AM Sabine

R. Eudaly*, Mi. Finn, P. Jones, G. Oliver, A. Porter, L. Thomas

Long regarded as social outcasts, sf/f fans are now the subjects of successful television shows, web series, and movies. How and why?

Su1100DR Signing

Sun 11:00 AM-Noon Dealers' Room

K. Kimbriel, J. McDermott, G. Oliver, J. Reasoner, V. Villafranca

Hope to see you there!