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Howard Tayler's blog

Stuff I Want To Do This Year

Submitted by Howard Tayler on January 3, 2010 - 22:29

I’ve got a long list of things I want to do this year, but most of those things won’t be interesting to you. The short, Schlock-centric version of the list looks like this:

1) Deploy a new Schlock Mercenary website design with new plumbing underneath it. This should be done fairly soon.

2) Kick-ban everybody who leaves comments with suggestions for the new design underneath this post. This can be accomplished starting immediately.

3) Get three more Schlock books in print. With Travis’ help on the coloring I believe this is actually possible. He’s amazing.

4) Overhaul my convention process. I learned a lot at GenCon Indy last year, and expect to be employing what I learned fairly quickly.

Happy New Decade, Everybody!

Submitted by Howard Tayler on January 1, 2010 - 04:01

This year I resolve to make more substantive posts, and to stop procrastinating.

I think I’ll start with my NEXT blog post.

End of the Year Sale

Submitted by Howard Tayler on December 28, 2009 - 01:40

We’re about four days away from a shiny new year. There are also only four days left to get 10% off at the Schlock store using the coupon code Schlocksale09. This includes items from the Clearance section of our store, which has been restocked. You see, during the holiday shipping we had to shift some boxes around, and we subsequently located a pile of lightly dinged and scuffed books. They were lonely and forgotten at Christmas, but now they’ve been found and they want to be sent to good homes.  They’re discounted in our store, and if you use the coupon code they become doubly discounted.

Please don’t tell them you only adopted them because they were on sale twice.

Also, we’re down to our last few  XDM Bundles. Get them before they’re gone.

Sherlock Holmes in Eight Words

Submitted by Howard Tayler on December 26, 2009 - 18:00

“Better than the Holmes we’ve grown accustomed to.”

Sandra and I both really enjoyed the film. If you want to know why, I’ll comment down below eventually. My comments and those of others will end up full of spoilers, I’m sure. You have been warned.

The Hans Zimmer soundtrack is wonderful. It sounded a wee bit anachronistic at first, but I was sold on it after thirty seconds. And yes, I’m turning into a regular Hans Zimmer fanboy – Batman Begins, Angels & Demons, Kung Fu Panda, Pirates of the Carribean, and now Sherlock Holmes. I own them all, and just created a master “Hans Zimmer” playlist. Feel free to suggest stuff I’m missing.

Home for the Holidays

Submitted by Howard Tayler on December 22, 2009 - 22:50

We’re not going anyplace special for Christmas this year. We’re staying someplace special. Home.

If you’re reading this, you have helped us make our home special. It’s not paid for yet, but we’re getting there. It’s warm, there’s food enough for all of us, and you, fair reader, get credit for that.

We’re glad that Schlock Mercenary is entertaining enough that you keep coming back, and we’re ecstatic that some of you buy books and things (hopefully your Christmas card arrived safely!) Thank you for another great year. You haven’t just wished a Merry Christmas upon us — you’ve gone and granted the wish.

Expectations Exceeded: Avatar

Submitted by Howard Tayler on December 18, 2009 - 15:59

I’ll put the spoilers behind a cut just in case.

Best Fern Gully remake EVER.

I had a great time at Avatar, and wholeheartedly recommend it. The 3D adds to the experience instead of being distracting, the special effects are completely seamless, and the story itself is quite solid. It’s nothing groundbreaking, and some will find it a little preachy, but good science fiction usually has a message attached.

Avatar Expectations

Submitted by Howard Tayler on December 18, 2009 - 10:01

I’m going to see Avatar in just over two hours.

My expectations for this film have been all over the map, and I think I’ve finally set them reasonably. Based on what I’ve heard about the film’s budget and the technical aspects of its creation, I believe it is going to be a technical masterwork — state-of-the-art everything, with great cinematography, great editing, seamless special effects, and very immersive 3D and sound.

I expect the story to be moving, but decidedly unoriginal. Let’s face it, if you’ve read lots of science fiction it is unlikely that Avatar is going to break new ground. And for a film that may be costing the studio upwards of $300 million, it’s probably best that they don’t break new ground on the story. They’re taking enough risks with the new technology.

Amazon Affiliates Anonymous

Submitted by Howard Tayler on December 15, 2009 - 22:56

As you probably already know, if you shop at Amazon via any link or banner here at Schlock Mercenary, we here at Chez Tayler get somewhere between 3% and 8% of the money you spend. This is money that comes out of Amazon’s marketing overhead. It’s a cost that has already been passed along to consumers.

Going Fast

Submitted by Howard Tayler on December 14, 2009 - 14:57

This is your friendly reminder note to order from the Schlock store by tomorrow, Tuesday, December 15th for pre-Christmas delivery within the United States. Things ordered after that may still arrive in time, but we can’t guarantee it.

XDM coverWhile you’re in the store you may want to pick up one of the Special Autographed XDM bundles. Our stock is running low and you don’t want to miss it.

Schlock Mercenary iPhone App “Apple-Approved!”

Submitted by Howard Tayler on December 7, 2009 - 22:08

The Schlock Mercenary iPhone app, which is disambiguously called “Schlock Mercenary,” was approved by Apple today, and is now available in the App store.iPhoneScreen2 Click on the application image to the left, or follow this link to go directly to the iTunes store to have a look.  If you’re not using iTunes you can still check out the developer’s page here.