Update Archive - 2007

25 Dec 07

Well, here we are. Palidor Media's first Christmas. I should have a festive picture of the mascot, but she's house-sitting at the moment. I know I've fallen short on the update schedule and I'm afraid that's going to continue at least until the end of the week. Happily, I've got the latest chapter of Tico almost finished, so I might give you a double-barreled update over the weekend. There's some new stuff coming your way. Not anything too revolutionary, not at the moment at least, but we're about to get some new blood injected into the works. Hopefully you'll be pleased with the results. Now go out and open presents, eat turkey and all that other good stuff.

Posted by: James
UTC 08:51:31 

15 Dec 07

And here we are. I've got Chapter 24 of KoG 2 for you as promised. I gave FE10 a whirl today. It's been a while, which doesn't necessarily have any connection with me getting smacked around a bit. A bit of a rant is coming, so feel free to tune me out if you don't want to hear it. As FE10 has recently been released stateside, I've noticed a few reviews here and there. A lot of them whine about the difficulty. Let me tell you something. There is no "Easy" in the original version. Normal is the easy mode. And that mid-mission save feature? NOA tossed you guys a bone there. Also not in the original. I imagine they fiddled with some of the stats like they did in FE9, too. You see, when I first heard of things like how they dumbed down FFIV for the American audience, I thought it was fairly insulting. However, with all the whining over FE, I see they were absolutely right to put us in a fricking booster chair. >_> Well, whatever. Have fun and hopefully I'll have the next chapter of Tico by Wednesday.

Posted by: James
UTC 15:26:25 

14 Dec 07

"What you wanna do?" taunts the mascot in a display of pernicious pugnacity. Okay, I don't believe those were the circumstances in real life, but it sure looks like it. It's been delayed quite a bit, but I can now proudly present Chapter 16 of Tico. I could've had it several hours ago, but I fell asleep trying to think up the meta tag summary. Can you believe it? Probably. -_-; Well, I hope to get the next one up a little closer to the scheduled time. I'll be posting the latest chapter of KoG 2 in several hours. Don't touch that dial.

Posted by: James
UTC 23:29:42 

10 Dec 07

Here I go and say not to expect anything from Steff and whaddya know? She's got something for you crazy kids after all. It's a new entry in the Special Projects section of her Gallery. Now that I think of it, I guess she did say that she might publish some of the pieces she's working on to the site, so it's entirely possible that more will follow. 

In other news, I hope to have all the dialog written for Chapter 16 of Tico before the day is out, fill in the narrative tomorrow and then have it all polished up and ready to go Wednesday. Things are looking good, so stay tuned.

Posted by: James
UTC 11:54:52 

09 Dec 07

Hisashiburi. As you can see from the above, the mascot is doing just fine (though the fur on her belly has yet to grow back) and I'm done with the JLPT. Last week was kinda devoted to me getting back in sorts. I didn't even touch FE10 once. I played SMG a bit yesterday to test out my newly healed wrist, but not much action on the gaming scene. As I'm determined to get the latest chapter of Tico up this week (at long last), any resumption of FE10 will have to wait until after that. To make up for the missed updates of late, I've got not one but two chapters of KoG 2 for you. So settle in and take a look at Chapter 22 and Chapter 23. Not much longer now and Volume II will be all done. I really need to wrap up my edits of Volume III before then. ^_^;

In other news, don't expect much activity from Steff in the near future. She's got some gallery thing next month or something to that effect, so she'll be busy with that. And she's got a new job, so all the more to keep her hopping. 

As Yuletide approaches, I'll be heading home, but fear not! I plan to continue updating the site while I'm home. Whether I can produce new material like chapters of Tico or not remain to be seen, but I guess we'll find out together. I'd like to say I have some Christmas present in store for you guys, but I'd better not be making any promises at this point.

Posted by: James
UTC 12:00:08 

28 Nov 07

This is the part where I stand at parade rest and shout, "No excuse, Drill Sergeant!" Well, I've got excuses anyway. My wrist turned out being worse than I counted on, so I couldn't type much last week. Then on the weekend, the mascot had to go to the vet for surgery. (Note the post-op pic above.) And now we're in the last week before the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. Tutoring one of my kiddos has kept me busy for the past month or so and now it really kicks into high gear. Crunch time. Also, it wouldn't hurt to do a little studying myself (since I'm taking the nikyuu). As such, we have the unprecedented absence of the regular weekend update. You might say, "But don't you already have it written? All you have to do is slap on some HTML tags and it's ready, right?" Usually, yes, but in this latest chapter I want to do a little rewriting and the aforementioned items have interfered with that. Hopefully, in the wake of the test, things'll settle down and I can actually get some work done again. (Also, I've learned that I'm rather close to the end of FE10. No playing for this week, but next week I should finish it, opening up even more time.) So, maybe things'll be getting back on track in the very near future. Stay tuned.

In other news, Steff has a new pic in the Special Projects section of her Gallery. 

Lastly, in a feeble attempt to make up for the lack of updates, I'm going to try my hand at a bit of humor. Have you seen the Robot Chicken Star Wars Special? If so, you know the yo' momma fight between Luke and the Emperor? I thought it was a bit odd that Vader simply called out "Yo' Momma Fight!" when one of the mommas in question was his beloved Padmé. That got me to thinking and I came up with an alternate take which amused me. Maybe it'll amuse you, too. With an obligatory nod to the Robot Chicken crew, I present Luke vs. Palpatine: Yo' Momma Fight Gaiden.

Luke: Your overconfidence is your weakness.
Emperor: Your faith in your friends is yours.
Luke: (under his breath) Faith in yo' momma.
Emperor: What was that!?
Luke: I said yo' momma's so fat, Jabba the Hutt said, "Da—-yum!"
Emperor: Oh yeah? Your mother is so ugly, she put the "ug" in Ugnaught.
Vader: Uh, Boss, that's my wife you're talking about.
Emperor: So? You going to let that punk kid of yours talk about your grandma like that?
*record scratches*
Vader: (blankly) What?
Emperor: Oh, come on! Don't tell me you actually believed that "conceived by the Force" crap!
Vader:...
*pause*
Vader: That's not true! That's impossible!
Emperor: (hangs head) *sigh* Oy vey... (regains composure) Search your feelings. You know it to be true.
Vader: Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Luke: (rolls eyes) Don't be such a drama queen, Dad. Geez.

Heh heh heh...

Posted by: James
UTC 07:26:24 

19 Nov 07

It's inexcusably late, I know, but here's Chapter 21 of KoG 2. I was really out of it this weekend. You can't blame FE either, 'cause I didn't play all that much (relatively speaking, that is). That being said, I really should've finished the update yesterday, 'cause today I've got a jacked-up hand that's making this process a real pain. The mascot (cute, ain't she?) is going in for surgery this Friday, so we'll see how all that goes. Haa... Dagnab hand. It's making things more difficult for me. Maybe I should be blaming the dagnab ice instead. Dagnabbit.

Posted by: James
UTC 01:37:21 

13 Nov 07

I've got something you haven't seen in a long time: a new page of the TCW comic. For those of you with keen eyes, you might notice that this one looks a little different. Steff's switched from markers to acrylics for coloring. Something to do with economics. She's worried about her prospects once paint runs out. Maybe you fans out there should send her money. 

Reader: Or you could launch the store like you were promising to do several months ago and we could buy awesome Palidor Media merchandise to help fund our beloved creative crew.

I haven't had the time to assemble a selection of merchandise that'd warrant going public with the shop.

Reader: But you've had how many hours to devote to Fire Emblem?

... ... ... Hey, I'm at the epilogue of Section III. Just another dozen chapters or so.

Reader: So we shouldn't be holding our breath for the next chapter of Tico this week, should we?

I told you not to expect anything. Besides, I've had finals to grade.

Reader: Maybe we should send you back to Italy. You got a lot more writing done when you were guarding the BEQ.

Quiet, you. Anyway, yeah, looks like you all are in for another delay, but there's a three-day weekend next week. I tell you what, one of those three days will be devoted solely to writing. How's that sound?

Reader: *yawn* I've heard your promises before. Stop peddling 'em here. I ain't buying.

Be that way. I'll show you. I'll show all of you. You'll see!

Reader: Ain't nothin' changes but the date.

-_-;

Posted by: James
UTC 06:56:07 

11 Nov 07

Yeah, yeah, I know. What can I say? I was on a roll last night. I've got Haar, Jill, Senerio and Nephenee in their third-tier classes. I want to upgrade more of my Level 20s, but there aren't enough Master Crowns to go around. (I've got one more and I've been thinking about giving it to Marcia, but I might use it to upgrade Kilroy instead. Decisions, decisions...) I'm so glad that the Youheidan actually has some money for a change. Daggone Gallians don't seem to've heard about the custom of paying mercenaries for their services. >_> Anyway, before I can pick up the game again, I have to give you Chapter 20 of KoG 2. I'm not going to make a hard-and-fast promise, but there's a chance I might be able to get Chapter 16 of Tico written up this week. Cross your fingers.

Posted by: James
UTC 11:27:47 

06 Nov 07

Here's the latest page of Bagel. Steff continues to bare her soul to you people, exposing her great personal tragedy for all to see. (Be careful when approaching her. You wouldn't believe the names she's called me for retaining my ability to consume a certain food item. ^_^; ) Originally this two-parter was a single comic, but she apparently jacked up the lower half and had to redo it. 

As for me, finals are in full swing. There's not a snowball's chance of the next chapter of Tico coming out this week, so I'm not going to fill you with false hope like I usually do. My daggone copy of SMG is scratched, so I can't play it until I get something to repair it with. I think FE10 bribed the mascot to attack my Wii and eliminate the competition for my attention. This is a curious choice by the game, as the mascot considers it a rival for my attention, too. The enemy of my enemy, I guess. Even though I won't have the new chapter of Tico out. I'd like to do something for you guys to help tide you over. If I can think of that something, I'll try to put it into action.

Posted by: James
UTC 02:36:28 

03 Nov 07

Alrighty, people, I've got a hearty serving of Chapter 19 of KoG 2 for you. Man, I had like no time at all to work on Chapter 16 of Tico and it wasn't just on account of FE. As term exams start next week, don't expect the chapter then either. I'll see what I can do, though. As if FE10 wasn't enough to keep me occupied, I got Super Mario Galaxy today. It's pretty fun, but, man, is it hard to place your jumps when you're on those little planetoids. Just stomping a Goomba is tricky. Admittedly, my reflexes are poor and my coordination lacking, so maybe you guys will have less trouble with it. Rosetta vaguely reminds me of Lydia (from Tico). Thankfully, Rosetta doesn't talk like Lydia. Otherwise it wouldn't be an E-rated game. ^_^;

Posted by: James
UTC 16:57:46 

29 Oct 07

I'm sure you can imagine why I'm giving you the latest page of Bagel today instead of yesterday. 

No doubt you find me a nefarious liar for saying I was going to take a break from gaming, only to get sucked into FE10. You're probably going to note that Super Mario Galaxy gets released over here this Friday, basically assuring that little or no work will get accomplished whenever I'm at the ranchero. Well, what can I say? I can say that I'm glad to have Nephenee back in my party. I just need to reteach her her ougi so she can be every bit as awesome as she was before. (Shoot, frickin' Chap's become a decent character now. What's the world coming to?) You've probably concluded that the prospects of getting Chapter 16 of Tico tomorrow or even Thursday are dim. You might be right. Then again, you never know. I might just surprise you. (And if I don't, well, hey, predictability has its merits, too, right? ^_^; )

Posted by: James
UTC 02:25:56 

27 Oct 07

Well, it's taken me long enough, but I gave ol' Ashnard the boot last night. It's a happy ending for Crimea. Yay. Now, I know I said I was going to stop for a while after FE9, but when you think about it, minus that stretch devoted to Phantom Hourglass, I really haven't done a lot of gaming lately. "Why do you bring this up?" you ask? Well, I had the best of intentions, really I did. I just wanted to watch the opening movie for Akatsuki no Megami. Then I decided I might as well get my file set up. Then I thought it wouldn't hurt to play the first mission. The I saw no reason not to play the next one. And the next one. And the next one... Yeah, I'm at Chapter 7 now. Those of you waiting for the English version, I'll tell you something: hang on to that save data from FE9. You know those coins that seem absolutely worthless? Hold on to 'em. And Saza (Sothe for you guys)? If you've got the bonus EXP lying around to max him out, you'll be glad you did. (Two words: thief tank.) Okay, out of my sheer commitment to you people, I've got Chapter 18 of KoG 2 ready for you now instead of waiting until after I've got a good night's (or morning's) sleep. Now that I'm fighting for Daein, it almost seems like I was the bad guy before. Reminds me of Starcraft. Sucked being liable for all that went wrong in the world (and getting treated like crap for it, too). I was only happy as a Cerebrate. The Overmind was a good daddy. ^_^;

Posted by: James
UTC 19:52:14 

24 Oct 07

Here. Chapter 15 of Tico. No more delays. Good. Now, bed. So tired...

Posted by: James
UTC 18:12:37 

23 Oct 07

Well, Steff doesn't have a new page for Bagel or the TCW comic. Her excuse is a horror movie marathon on the Sci-Fi Channel, which is lame (but no lamer than any of my excuses ^_^; ). That doesn't mean she has nothing for you. She's got a new pic in the Special Projects section of her Gallery. I don't think he's related to Mr. Tumnus, but I reckon you never know. 

In other news, Chapter 15 seems to be on track for Wednesday. I'd love to say I'll bundle in Chapter 16 to make up for the delay, but I doubt I can pull that one off.

Posted by: James
UTC 00:19:18 

21 Oct 07

As you can see, the mascot took over my laptop, which is why the update is late. (Okay, I got wrapped up in a bunch of other stuff and it wound up getting late on me. I'd love to say "It's not my fault," but I reckon it is.) Anyway, here's Chapter 17 of KoG 2. I beefed up the keyword list in the metatags of all the KoG pages. I'm hoping that and the summaries I added a while back will improve the search results once the engines update at the end of the month. We'll see.

You're probably wondering about Chapter 15 of Tico. I'm going to plead my belly. No, I'm not pregnant. A different sort of pleading of the belly. You see, I suffered a minor poisoning earlier in the week and it took me a while to get over it. I have photographic evidence. See!

That, my friends, is more fugu than is prudent for any one man to eat by himself. I should be thankful Tenchou-san was so skilled. Otherwise I would've been far worse off. Anyway, this time I'm not going to let anything get in the way. Come Hell or high water, I'll get the daggone chapter done. Yes, I realize my record for keeping promises is spotty at best, but this time for sure.

Random Guy: "Yeah, we've heard this one before. Dude, why don't you do us all a favor and stop making promises you aren't going to keep?"

Hush, you. It's going to happen this time. You'll see.

Posted by: James
UTC 11:20:03 

15 Oct 07

I've managed to scrounge together just enough energy to give you the latest page of Bagel now instead of waiting to do it tomorrow. 

Well, Phantom Hourglass has been beaten, so I have even less excuse not to have Chapter 15 of Tico up on Wednesday. Less of an excuse, but I'm known for my resourcefulness. I'm sure to find a way. ^_^;

Posted by: James
UTC 14:09:27 

13 Oct 07

Well, Chapter 15 didn't come together this week (not that Phantom Hourglass dominated my time at the ranchero or anything ^_^; ). The dialog is essentially done. I just need to go in and add the narrative. Shouldn't be a problem. Well, I've got Chapter 16 of KoG 2 for you. That's really all I've got at the moment. It seems like I'm on track to beating Phantom Hourglass this week, maybe as early as tomorrow, and if I can take out Ashnard on FE9, I'll take a break from gaming to put a little more time and effort into my writing. I really need to wrap up the rewrites of KoG3. For those of you who are interested (and I doubt many of you are), my next gaming challenge will be Mother 3. Since they're going to have Lucas in SSBX (or Brawl for you Yanks), I feel I should play the kiddo's game. Also, it's rather ridiculous of me to have held onto the game for something like two years without playing it. My backlog is so massive it's not even funny. Maybe I have too many interests... Better than having nothing to do with my time, I suppose. Anyway, this is it for now. Steff should have a new page of Bagel ready on Monday. Until then.

Posted by: James
UTC 16:48:58 

09 Oct 07

Got the latest page of Bagel for you. Yes, I probably should've put it up yesterday, but I was kinda wrapped up in Phantom Hourglass at the time. Managed to beat the dang ghost ship at least. Isn't it ironic? I get the game when it was released here in Japan and don't get around to playing it until around the time of the stateside release. "What about FE?" you ask? It takes a little extra energy to wrangle with Ashnard and his goons. I probably won't get around to it again until the weekend. I really need to throw some weight into getting Chapter 15 of Tico up and running, to say nothing of all the side projects I've got on my plate. Ah, what a life. Never a dull moment.

Posted by: James
UTC 12:54:41 

06 Oct 07

Ha ha. No Sunday release this time. (You can thank Ashnard for killing Kilroy and Phantom Hourglass for ticking me off.) Here's Chapter 15 of KoG 2. Ugh. I just got done giving all the files on my side of the site unique summaries in their metatags. Later I might beef up the keyword lists, but not today. Enough of that for now. ('Bout to make me go cross-eyed. -_-; )

Posted by: James
UTC 17:02:14 

04 Oct 07

Once again, I'm coming in a day late, but surely that beats the month-long hiatus from before, right? Also, as you can see from the above, the mascot was threatening to jump, so I had to bring in the crisis negotiators to talk her down. (Note: Did not actually threaten to jump. Not that a 2.5-meter fall would be much of a threat, but anyway...) Okay, yes, getting back on track, I have Chapter 14 of Tico ready for you. I will tell you all one thing. The mysterious unnamed rear admiral from today's chapter has made a prior appearance. Good luck figuring out where. ^_^

Posted by: James
UTC 13:06:38 

30 Sep 07

There's a reason the update is late. No, you can't blame Fire Emblem, not entirely. (You're goin' down, Ashnard!)

You see, we've got a a new addition to the site. Steff has a new comic. I give you Bagel. This little oasis of randomness should allow Steff to have a regular update when time and resources don't come together for a new page of the TCW comic. That's the idea at least. If you're wondering about the name, you'll have to ask her about it. 

Of course, I also have Chapter 14 of KoG 2 ready for you. Catherine makes a comment about having some Elvish blood. Don't get too impressed, though. We're talking about 1/32528, a grandpa with thirteen greats. Don't ask me to trace back to the ancient sage she's talking about, because you know I'll do it. -_-;

In other news, there are a couple new items in the Links section. Have a look, why don't you? 

Posted by: James
UTC 12:23:58 

27 Sep 07

Yes, I realize the update is a day late. I had to have a live demonstration to test out one of the scenes. Was it an abuse of my position as an educator? Probably. ^_^; Anyway, here's Chapter 13 of Tico. I can say with no small amount of confidence that Chapter 14 should be up on time next week. As for the new thing from Steff, I'll try to have it up tomorrow. Now, all of you, go out to KFC and ask about the seaweed chicken. After you're done reading today's chapter, of course. ^_^

Posted by: James
UTC 14:47:11 

22 Sep 07

You thought I was going to forget to update today like I'm supposed to. I'll have you know that I haven't even touched FE since last Saturday. Either tomorrow or Monday (yay, observation of the autumnal equinox), I need to go ahead and get the daggone thing beat. Anyway, here's Chapter 13 of KoG 2. In other news, Steff is wanting to debut something new here in the near future. I'll have to wait until she's available for discussion again before I can iron out the details. Stay tuned.

Posted by: James
UTC 15:14:16 

18 Sep 07

It's been a while, but Steff's got a new page of the comic ready for you. "But this is only half a page," you say. Well, Steff's thinking about going with a new format. If you complain enough, she might go back to the old format, but you might want to toss in a bribe while you're at it. Apparently those markers of hers get expensive. 

I'll most likely be missing this week's deadline for Tico. Wearing my editor's hat, I've got some obligations to fulfill and I don't think I'm going to have the time to get that chapter knocked out. Maybe it'll happen, but I doubt it.

Posted by: James
UTC 04:39:59 

16 Sep 07

*ahem* Yes, well, I could pretend that I didn't get carried away with FE9 again, which led me to forget about posting the update. I could certainly do that. Now, I don't think any of you would believe me, but you might just be polite enough not to say anything. (Ha ha ha.) Let me just say this: Boo-yah, Black Knight! Rocked on your tin-can a— *ahem* Yes, Daddy's been avenged. (I still say he threw that fight. Dangit, Dad! You made Tiamat cry!) Anyway, I suppose apologies are in order. My quest for vengeance has made me neglect my duties. If it's any comfort, I'll be taking a week or two off (from gaming) between beating FE9 and starting up FE10. Who knows what I might get done with all that time I've devoted to laying waste to my foes on the battlefield? Anyway, here's Chapter 12 of KoG 2. Stefan makes his debut here. Now, I better not hear any of you calling him Edward without the alcoholism. :P The Quest for the Pendants is picking up steam now that we've got the team assembled. In other news, I'm going to have to buckle down to get Chapter 13 of Tico ready for you. Will I make it in time? Survey says...

Today's picture of the mascot... Little disturbing, eh? Secret: She's really an alien. Makes her rather appropriate as the mascot of an SFF site, don't you think?

One more thing. I recently got the brilliant inspiration to write up summaries for the various works posted in the Four Arcs' pages. When I'll actually manage to get all that done is another story, but soon you'll be able to have some idea what all those enigmatic titles are about. Then you can hound me about actually getting them written. ^_^;

Posted by: James
UTC 10:00:44 

12 Sep 07

You thought I'd spend so much time playing Fire Emblem that I'd miss my deadline again, didn't you? Well, you guess wrong. Here's Chapter 12 of Tico. Ha ha.

Huh? What about Steff, you ask? Well, what about her? :P No, no, she's got some stuff occupying her time at the moment. She should probably have something up next week. Until then, you'll just have to make do with what I've got for you. See y'all again Saturday.

Posted by: James
UTC 11:45:07 

09 Sep 07

Y'all are mad at me, right? Here I was, saying how easy it was going to be getting Chapter 12 of Tico up and running and then come Wednesday, nada. Then, on the one day I hold an almost perfect record of regular updates, nada. On the first part, let me tell you, it would've been easy to get Chapter 12 ready if I had my usual workload, but this week was the term exams, so I had a lot of extra crap to deal with. Yesterday really doesn't have any good excuse. I plumb forgot. It happens sometimes. What? You suspect Fire Emblem had a part to play in all this? I admit nothing, other than the fact that I now have only nine chapters to go until I can move on to Akatsuki no Megami. And that Sigrun is frickin' gorgeous. Other than that, I admit nothing and I resent what you're insinuating. What? The righteous indignation act won't work? Ah, hee hee... ^_^; But, hey, look what I got you as an apology. Three prime pics of the mascot.

Viewer: You think some pictures of a kitten are going to make this go away?

Me: If they don't, I've got nothing else.

Actually, that's not true. I don't have nothing. As I've noted before, Volume II has long since been complete, so with a wave of my magic wand, I give you Chapter 11 of KoG 2. And now that the tests are over, I'm quite sure I can get Chapter 12 of Tico churned out easily enough. I'm quite confident I can succeed this time. Whether that confidence is justified or not is another story.

Posted by: James
UTC 06:49:11 

01 Sep 07

And so we wrap up another bunkasai. I learned the hard way that a PVR tuner is ill-suited to gaming. You can manage a turn-based strategy game, but anything else is a no-go. Haa... Well, I don't expect to be loaning out my TV again anytime soon. Oh, yes, I guess I should be focusing on actual site-related stuff. I've got Chapter 10 of KoG 2 up for you. We're about to dive into the second trimester tests, so I'm going to try to keep that from stalling the release of Chapter 12 of Tico. (I reckon I can always get some writing done during the Enemy Phases when I'm at home playing Fire Emblem. ^_^ ) Tonight I go see the new Eva flick. I'm sure Anno isn't half as crazy as he was 12 years ago. I wonder what effect that will have on the finished product. I'll let you know. Later, cats and kittens.

Posted by: James
UTC 08:18:18 

29 Aug 07

It's been a long time—a long daggone time—, but here it is at long last. Chapter 11 of Tico is now available for your viewing pleasure. Yes, I know I said I'd try to have Chapter 12 up, too, but I've been saddled with a lot of extra stuff lately. (The fact that I've picked up Sou'en no Kiseki since yesterday doesn't help either.) I'm pretty confident about the flow of the story from here on out, so I should be able to maintain a regular update schedule. However, I should note that Murphy's Law seems to apply doubly for me. ^_^;

Posted by: James
UTC 19:46:44 

27 Aug 07

Here we are, with a new page of the comic. Near as I can tell, this is going to be the new schedule. So look for your TCW fix every Monday. 

In other news, I can say with total confidence that you'll be seeing Chapter 11 of Tico on Wednesday, even though they're piling mounds and mounds of crap on me. It'll happen and at long last and you'll get to play with pirates... in space! Look for it! ^_^

Posted by: James
UTC 13:22:26 

25 Aug 07

Here's Chapter 9 of KoG 2. Dagnab work. I reckon it pays the bills (the costs of this site included), but, boy, can it ever put a dent in your groove. I'm so painfully close to having Chapter 11 of Tico done. Today was dominated by social engagements, tomorrow I've got a favor I'm going to try to fulfill and then Monday I've got more extra work. And, man, bunkasai is this weekend. That's going to keep me hopping I reckon. (At least I can take comfort in the fact that I'll be seeing the new Eva flick Saturday evening. Time to watch Shinji go crazy again for the first time. ^_^ ) If I have to stay up late to get it done, Chapter 11 will be out on Wednesday, hopefully with Chapter 12 to accompany it. Also, I've received word that Steff wants to cut back her update schedule again. Tentatively, it's looking like Mondays from here on out. Well, I think that covers things for now. Enjoy the chapter.

Posted by: James
UTC 18:03:34 

22 Aug 07

Picture yourself as the matriarch of an Australian household. You've agreed to host a Japanese student while his class is on excursion in your fine country. You get a letter from the little darling. His English is far from perfect, but you can understand it just fine. He introduces himself, tells you about his hobbies and then goes on to talk about his family. Then he starts talking about his beloved pet. "My dog is very cute. Every day fondle." You stop and go over it again. Surely that can't be right. A mistranslation, a misunderstanding. It has to be. Or is it? You watch those tabloid programs that occasionally bring up the seedy underbelly of Japanese society. He couldn't possibly... Or could he? It's a different country, a different culture. Maybe that sort of thing is actually okay. You shudder. A few weeks later, the class arrives in country. Your new ward seems to be perfectly agreeable, but that letter sticks in your head, that one line burned into your consciousness. You have pets, after all. Can you really trust him to be alone with them? And so the dark taint of mistrust ruins what could have been a productive international exchange. You see, occasionally I have actual work to do. This was one of those times. I had a healthy stack of such letters to go through, sparing both the students and their host families unpleasant mix-ups such as the above. Had I shunned my duty to preserve international relations, I would have Chapter 11 of Tico up right now, but I couldn't do that and I'm sure you wouldn't have wanted me to poison the well of friendship between Australia and Japan. Provided there are no new outbreaks of this work business, I should be able to get the chapter up tomorrow. If not, I'll have two chapters for you next week. (And this time I can pull it off. Chapter 12 will be easy.)

What's with the mascot, you ask? Oh, I let her read the offending letter. That's her reaction. ^o^

In other news, I have an idea that may or may not see the light of day. I'm going to fiddle with it once I get Chapter 11 done. If it shows signs of coming together like I want it to, I might share some details. In the meantime, stew on the possibilities. ^_^

Posted by: James
UTC 13:54:10 

21 Aug 07

At long last, a new page of the comic. Kell fans, rejoice! Your angel's wandered by. ^_^ Speaking of things coming at long last, I should be able to get Chapter 11 of Tico out on schedule. It's a pretty big one, so that'll partially make up for the story being on hiatus so long. Keep your eyes peeled, folks.

Posted by: James
UTC 13:02:33 

18 Aug 07

See how helpful our mascot is? Well, try as she might, she hasn't stopped me from having Chapter 8 of KoG 2 ready for you. In other news, unless something goes terribly wrong over the next few days, Chapter 11 of Tico should be ready at long last. Fingers crossed, people.

Posted by: James
UTC 16:15:03 

16 Aug 07

Okay, I admit it. I should've focused on getting Chapter 11 of Tico done earlier this week instead of working on KoG3. But at least I'm actually writing now. That's something, right? Well, I'm making progress on Chapter 11 now, so that's also something. Something, but not enough, huh? Patience, I tell you.

As for ol' Steffers, she says the comic will pick back up Tuesday. She's all psyched 'cause Kell comes on the scene. To tide you over until then, she's offered to let you take a glimpse at some of the work that's been keeping her busy lately. You'll have to ask her about the details, but she made up a couple pieces for this exhibit at a library. One of those pieces can be found in the new Special Projects section of her Gallery. Enjoy. 

Posted by: James
UTC 16:20:57 

11 Aug 07

Well, now that I've finished Shadow of the Hegemon, that wraps up the little sextet of OSC books I got. I'm glad I read the books in the order they were published as opposed to the groupings of the box sets. Had I stopped on Children of the Mind, I might've given up on Card entirely. Thankfully, Ender's Shadow redeemed him in my eyes. Now I might just continue reading his stuff. If CotM was the final note of that set, I can't say I would've been too willing to try anything else. I just can't figure out the people who gave CotM five star ratings on Amazon, especially those who said it was as good or better than Ender's Game. Talk about varelse.

Okay, enough about that. Here's Chapter 7 of KoG 2. I may or may not be going on a little adventure in the first half of this week. If I do, don't expect anything. If not, I hope to bring the first update to Tico in a long time, maybe even the launch of the Cross Arc that was supposed to happen this week. We'll see, we'll hope.

(By the way, it looks like other projects will be keeping Steff from updating the comic on Tuesday. If that's the case, hopefully she'll have something ready for Thursday.) 

Posted by: James
UTC 15:44:33 

10 Aug 07

I wanted to have something up for you. I was thinking something along the lines of a short or something, but a series of unfortunate events got in the way of that. This little pic of the mascot will have to do.

Posted by: James
UTC 15:47:11 

07 Aug 07

Got a new page of the comic for you. Ol' Lori's just full of spunk, ain't she? Well, on the subject of spunky females, our resident spunkmeisterin is so busy playing with male models and attending grand soirees that she won't have a comic for Thursday. I'll try to ease the loss by bringing something to the table. 

Posted by: James
UTC 02:48:24 

04 Aug 07

Autobots! Transform and roll out! Yes, you can imagine what movie just came out over here. ^_^ Putting aside my childhood memories turned CGI, I've got Chapter 6 of KoG 2 up and ready. After a Fall of Byrn chapter, the Quest for the Pendants seems awfully tame by comparison, doesn't it? Well, there's still a ways to go yet. I can't say it's gonna be all unicorns and rainbows. (Of course, having seen the Robot Chicken sketch about them, the absence of unicorns is probably a good thing. ^_^; )

Posted by: James
UTC 15:47:00 

02 Aug 07

Here's the latest page of the comic. It's too hot for any witty banter today. Call back in September. 

Posted by: James
UTC 12:24:22 

31 Jul 07

Well, today marks the end of my vacation. My skeptical audience asks, "Well? You feeling better now, cupcake? Going to actually give us some new content you haven't written years ago?" Maybe, you little punks. Wait and see. :P Actually, I've just started reading Orson Scott Card. Stayed up till 0600 reading Ender's Game. Just now got into Speaker for the Dead. I can't promise when I'll be paying attention to other stuff. ^_^; (Actually, I expect to get back in gear once I'm in the office again. Long as I don't bog myself down too much doing critiques at SFF World.) Maybe not this week, but very soon I'll be launching the Cross Arc with a short and a preliminary title list. Look for it.

In other news, here's the latest page of Steff's comic. We were talking yesterday about some of her future story ideas. Let's just say that you Steff fans have a bright future ahead of you. ^_^ 

Posted by: James
UTC 11:34:11 

28 Jul 07

Aha! No repeat of last week's little embarrassment this time! Yes, I didn't let naps with the cat and such cloud my mind. Right on schedule, I've got Chapter 5 of KoG 2 ready for you. Prepare to taste the true brutality of the Marauders' campaign in Byrn. Will the Byrnans be able to rally against Randwulf's merciless military machine? Stay tuned.

In other news, I just finished workshopping the latest draft of TCW. Steff's getting close to the end now. For those of you with religion, pray some publisher has the presence of mind to scoop the manuscript out of the slush pile when the time comes. Everybody wins that way. Trust me on that. ^_^ 

Posted by: James
UTC 12:44:49 

26 Jul 07

Got another page of the comic for ya. This time we get to make Loriniichuan. Oh, wait... This the Mermaids' River, not Jusenkyou. Never mind then. 

Posted by: James
UTC 10:37:12 

24 Jul 07

I've been reading Lovecraft lately. All manner of ungodly horrors to be found in New England. I finished "The Dunwich Horror" yesterday. Given how Steff is a bit on the witchy side, I wonder if she'll be the next one to try to summon Yog-Sothoth... Anyway, on the topic of Steff, here's the next page of the comic. Enjoy. 

Posted by: James
UTC 01:23:51 

23 Jul 07

This is going to make me look really bad, but I plumb forgot about Saturday's update. You'd think after all this time it'd be almost reflexive, but it seems that the combination of lazy vacation days and our new mascot has thrown off my usual patterns a bit. I could just wait until next Saturday, but I'm not going to hold things up any longer. I know it's late, but here's Chapter 4 of KoG 2. Enjoy. Hopefully I won't forget next Saturday. ^_^;

Posted by: James
UTC 06:26:12 

19 Jul 07

Got a new page of the comic for you. That's it. 

Posted by: James
UTC 12:13:44 

17 Jul 07

Just because I'm on vacation doesn't mean I can't update the site. Well, this week at least. I might be going out and about next week. We'll see. Anyway, here's the latest page of the comic. Steff and I were having an interesting conversation about the mermaids last night. I don't know if any of it will ever make it into the canon or not. ^_^; 

Posted by: James
UTC 02:08:09 

14 Jul 07

Say hello to the new mascot of Palidor Media. (She's still pretty shy, but it's only her first day on the job.) I haven't decided on a name yet. I'm inclined towards Ayame or Shion, but it'll largely depend on what she takes a liking to. If she was all white, I'd try to push "Yuki" on her. Who knows? She might pick that one anyway.

In other news, I've got Chapter 3 of KoG 2 for you. We've now kicked off my magical vacation, which will last till the end of the month. We'll see if it's the magic fix I've been hoping for. If nothing else, I'll be able to beat Super Paper Mario. ^_^

Posted by: James
UTC 08:27:08 

12 Jul 07

I'm sorry, kiddos. I know I said I'd have a short or two for you yesterday. I had one ready, but I didn't think it met the quality standards for the site. I'm not so desperate to get content out there that I'm just going to put any old thing up. I've been doing a lot of critiques lately, and that's been eating a lot of time that might otherwise be devoted to writing. I won't lie to you, though. My brain hasn't quite kicked back on yet. I doubt I'd have much meaningful output anyway. Well, my vacation starts next week, so let's see what that does for me.

In the meantime, enjoy the latest page of the comic. Mmm, mermaids. Chicken of the sea. Toss one on the grill for me. There's a beer in it for ya. ^_^ 

Posted by: James
UTC 12:58:39 

10 Jul 07

Ossu. Yeah, for those doubters out there, I wasn't kidding about the whole volcano thing. I'll be spending the rest of the week recovering from that little adventure. (I can almost walk halfway normally today, a major breakthrough.)

Let's get down to business. Today marks the beginning of Chapter 2 of Steff's comic. Looking for a more tenable schedule, she's going to scale back the updates to twice a week. Expect your dose of TCW goodness every Tuesday and Thursday. 

I'm going to try to have a short or two up for you tomorrow. Consider Tico to be on hold until August. Hopefully I'll be able to resume the regular release schedule by then.

Posted by: James
UTC 10:08:56 

07 Jul 07

I been thinking about you guys. Really, I have. I wanted to get a little short up to compensate for the absence of Chapter 11 of Tico, but my brain can't seem to kick into gear. The good news is that I have just one more week until my vacation. I'm hoping, hoping some proper R & R will recharge my batteries a bit. We'll see. If not, I guess I'll just have to get over myself and write anyway. ^_^; Anyway, I've got Chapter 2 of KoG 2 for you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a volcano to climb. (No, really.)

Posted by: James
UTC 00:47:29 

03 Jul 07

Today's page marks the end of Chapter 1. From the sound of it, Steff won't be starting Chapter 2 until next Monday. That gives me extra incentive to get Chapter 11 of Tico done by tomorrow. Don't know how feasible that is, but the incentive's there. That's something, right?

Posted by: James
UTC 01:07:12 

02 Jul 07

Well, let's get this week kicked off right with a new page of the comic. Chapter 1 will be wrapping up soon. Things'll really kick into gear once we get to Chapter 2. If you haven't read the novel teaser, I won't spoil Lori's upcoming trials and travails. Let's just say that it's more serious than any octocentennarian bean farmer. ^_^ 

Posted by: James
UTC 00:08:02 

01 Jul 07

Sorry the update is late, but I had a social engagement to attend and I didn't get it together before I had to leave. The same thing might happen next week for the same reason, but I'll try to get everything together the night before so all I have to do is upload. While we're talking about delays, I realize you didn't get new pages of the comic on Friday either, but things should be back to normal starting Monday. Now that that's out of the way, here's Chapter 1 of KoG 2 for your viewing pleasure. As an advance warning, I get the distinct feeling Chapter 11 of Tico won't be ready this week, but I'll see what I can do.

Posted by: James
UTC 09:39:13 

27 Jun 07

Now, I realize that I've had more than enough time to produce the chapters I've been promising you. One chapter a week should be no problem whatsoever, but how things ought to be and how they are rarely align. I've fallen behind yet again, but not quite as miserably as the past couple weeks. I do at least have one chapter for you. It's definitely taken me long enough to get it done. So, here's Chapter 10 of Tico. If I can get myself up to half-awake, I might just finish Chapter 11 in time for the deadline next Wednesday, but at the rate I'm going, I promise nothing. In other news, Steff has a new page of her comic. She may not have one for tomorrow, though. Just so you know.

Posted by: James
UTC 13:54:42 

26 Jun 07

Here, page. What? That's all I got. 

Posted by: James
UTC 14:17:46 

25 Jun 07

What better way to wake up to a Monday than a new page of the comic? What? Coffee? Well then, what goes great with coffee? Huh? Donuts? Okay, what goes great with coffee and donuts? The newspaper? Haa... I give up. -_-; 

Posted by: James
UTC 01:31:52 

23 Jun 07

Lately I've been letting you down on Tico, but it's a lot harder to miss your deadlines when you finished the work a year ago. ^_^ Yes, it's that time. Without further ado, I present you with Knight of Gladius - Volume II: The Quest for the Pendants/The Fall of Byrn. Why the twin subtitles? Well, Volume II is actually two stories, set ten years apart, with a single purpose. That single purpose is to set the stage for the finale. Between the two, you'll be well-equipped for Volume III when it comes out. Let's get you started with the Proogue. I've also got the character glossary and the temporary map of Byrn up for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy this, the adventure before the adventure (and the parade of villainy in between).

Posted by: James
UTC 07:51:26 

22 Jun 07

It's a new day, with a new page. Nothing else to say, really. 

Tomorrow's the debut of KoG: Volume II, so keep an eye out for that. ^_^

Posted by: James
UTC 02:07:08 

21 Jun 07

I thought I could get Chapter 10 of Tico ready today and save a little face, but no. I'm going to try, try to have two chapters for you next Wednesday. We'll see how it goes. I've got some vacation time coming up next month. I'm hoping a little R & R will help me recoup my energy deficit so my productivity can bounce back to a respectable level. As with all things, we'll see.

Anyway, here's the latest page of the comic. Yes, the farmer's speaking Greek. Lori's found herself on the Isle of Lesbos. Use your imagination to guess what follows. (Sightseeing in Kalloni, of course. :P ) 

Posted by: James
UTC 13:48:42 

20 Jun 07

Sorry, kids. Looks like there's no Santa after all. I knew I wasn't going to be able to get two chapters up for you this week, and, due to a number of factors, now it's clear that I won't be getting one chapter up either. If I can finish it tomorrow, I'll put it up then. Otherwise, you'll just have to wait till next week.

Well, just because I'm out of it doesn't mean Steff isn't doing her bit. Here's the latest page of the comic. Bon appetit. 

Posted by: James
UTC 15:35:19 

19 Jun 07

We've got a new page of the comic and more agrarian antics. Remember, kids, all roads lead to somewhere. 

Posted by: James
UTC 05:10:58 

18 Jun 07

And here we are at the start of a new week. I'm sure you've been wondering what kind of mischief Lori's been getting into over the weekend. Head to the latest page of the comic and find out. 

Posted by: James
UTC 00:36:45 

16 Jun 07

It's been a long journey, but this is the end of the road. Or is it? "It is not the end. It is not the beginning of the end. It is the end of the beginning." Yes, obscure 80s SF films can be good for a quote or two. ^_^ And that really catches the spirit of it. Next week we kick off Volume II. For now, enjoy the Epilogue of Volume I. It's rather cruel of me, but today's cliffhanger won't be picked up until Volume III. Don't worry, though. I'll remind you to reread the end of Volume I when the time comes. ^_^

Posted by: James
UTC 10:15:25 

15 Jun 07

Here we are. You, me, and a page of the comic. Let's draw straws. The loser becomes "energy" for the rest of us. It's about survival, man. 

Posted by: James
UTC 01:28:55 

14 Jun 07

Another day, another page of Steff's comic. Enjoy. 

Posted by: James
UTC 08:27:02 

13 Jun 07

Looks like I've fallen behind this week. I'll just have to give you two chapters next week. I do, at least, have a new page of Steff's comic. At least one of us is pulling their weight around here. -_-;

Posted by: James
UTC 13:50:56 

12 Jun 07

Another day, another page of the comic. And I thought I told you to watch where you were going. :P 

Posted by: James
UTC 02:10:34 

11 Jun 07

Another page of the comic, fresh out of the oven. Remember, kids, be careful when walking down those streets. ^_^ 

Posted by: James
UTC 00:47:25 

09 Jun 07

Well, our heroes managed to triumph in the face of incredible odds, but it's only just beginning. There are enemies in the shadows far greater than anything they've faced before. That brings us to today's update. I've got Chapter 16 of KoG for you. With the epilogue coming in next week, that'll be it for Volume I. Volume II will be quite the change of pace, but it's a tale that needs to be told if you want to make much sense of the finale. Enjoy.

Posted by: James
UTC 07:29:27 

08 Jun 07

Got a new page of the comic for you. Also, the text size has been increased, so that should make for easier reading. Enjoy. 

Posted by: James
UTC 10:53:10 

07 Jun 07

Drumroll, please. Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages,the Palidor Media Circus proudly presents an act so amazing, so death-defying, you'll come back to see it again and again. I give you... The Closed World: The Webcomic! Step right up! Step right up! Now, don't be afraid, folks! It won't bite. Come in and get a closer look. One at a time, one at a time! Isn't it the most amazing thing you ever did see? Alright now, give everyone a chance to see. We'll be here all week.

For the time being, it looks like Steff will be able to update with a new page every day Monday-Friday. I've scaled down the pages so they can be viewed easily in an 800x600 window, but you can see the full-sized version by clicking on the pic. I might change the interface around later, but I've got a nice, basic format for now. I'll let you know if anything changes. Stay tuned.

Posted by: James
UTC 13:45:56 

06 Jun 07

Yo-ho, yo-ho, a pirate's life for me! Arr, me hearties, I got somethin' for ye. Chapter 9 o' Tico. It be not ev'ry day ye come across a rare find like this. Maybe but once in a whole week. ^_^

Tomorrow will be the debut of a new subsection of the site, so stay tuned. Steff fans who feel burned by the premature end of TCW's serial run, take heart. Your life's about to get a bit brighter. ^_^ 

Posted by: James
UTC 14:38:18 

02 Jun 07

Well, today's the big climax of Volume I, so I made something special for you. It's not perfect, but the above pic is Mark and his companions in Mii form. Hopefully I painted the word picture adequately enough for you to tell who's who. Kawaii daro? ^_^ As for that climax I was talking about, I've got Chapter 15 of KoG for you. I feel bad about not having the map of Gladius up for you, so I'm going to settle on giving you the crummy bitmap I use for personal reference. I'll replace it with a better looking map in the future. In the meantime, I hope this will suffice. And that's not all. I've also got a new lesson up in the Editor's Room. And it's not over yet. There are two new editions in the Chibis section of Steff's Gallery. She wasn't happy with the old pic of Harrowe, so she's made a new one. Doesn't really look all that SD to me, but she says that he's even more sharp, angular and lean in proper proportions. I guess it's not entirely unlike that SD pic of Ty and Miranda I posted a while back. Yes, that's the squashed-down version. What can I say? She's a tall girl. ^_^; Anyway, that's all for now. More fun to follow.

Posted by: James
UTC 11:51:22 

30 May 07

It's late and I've spent too much time wandering in the mountains this evening to come up with a clever post. I'll be boring this time and just hand you Chapter 8 of Tico. There you go. Who's the mystery man at the end? Find out next week. ^_^

Posted by: James
UTC 14:55:39 

26 May 07

Here we go. A new update. I've got Chapter 14 of KoG for you and that's it.

Steff's been bouncing around lately, but she should have something for you next week. In other news, I've been given access to the store and I've been fiddling around a bit there. I'd kinda like to have a Q2 launch, but we'll see. We need a wider range of products and seeing as how my artwork sucks, I can't contribute much at the moment. I'll keep you posted at any rate. Stay tuned. 

Posted by: James
UTC 04:35:15 

25 May 07

I said that I'd fix the forums if one legitimate user requested access. Well, that one user spoke up, so now the forums are open for new members again. All I did was revert the files I'd altered and now we're back to where we started. I imagine the spammers will be back in force, so I'm going to have to look into countermeasures again. Well, more fun for me. Yay.

Posted by: James
UTC 05:34:12 

23 May 07

Alrighty, we're about to get caught up in the thick it. Let's all bid the Ticonderoga a fond bon voyage as she sets out in Chapter 7 of Tico. What's that? We've just been assigned to the Tico? We're supposed to rendezvous with her in the Saturnian Sphere? Well... Looks like we'll be going to war, too, folks. Pack your gear and kiss your girlfriend goodbye ('cause even if you don't buy the farm, Jody's gonna steal her away :P ).

Posted by: James
UTC 07:51:34 

21 May 07

I've launched a new sub-section of my part of the site: The Editor's Room. This is where I discuss recurring issues I find in the amateur work I go through. If you're interested, check out my first lesson on dialog tags.

You might've noticed the site looks a little different. Well, I got a complaint about the text size and though I told that person just to toggle the settings in his browser, I decided to play around with the settings a bit. I increased the text size and the line spacing a bit and 'cause it looks so good, I'm going to keep it like this. Hope this makes for easier reading.

Posted by: James
UTC 09:56:02 

19 May 07

Time seems to go by so fast. Do you realize that we've only got four more updates and Volume I will be done? (I really need to make that map of Gladius... ^_^; ) We've come a long way, but there's still plenty to look forward to. Not just Volumes II and III, but The Three Warriors, Children of Darkness and so on and so forth. And that's just the Gladius Cycle. To give you a forecast of the near future, I'm going to continue with the KoG trilogy and once Volume III's done, serialize T3W. After that, it's a tossup between another story in the Gladius Cycle and The Trident War Chronicles. Man, so much to do, so little time. At least the party ain't stoppin' anytime soon. ^_^

As for today's update, I've got Chapter 13 of KoG for you as well as some pics for Steff's Gallery, one for Chapter 2, one for the Chibis and one for Miscellaneous. Of the latter two, you might be askin' "Who are these people?" Well, Steff's been really hammerin' away at TCW and she might actually get it done in the very near future. After a good round of editing, she'll be ready for primetime, so you'd better start petitioning the publishers to pick it up. Which ones, you ask? Why not all of them? ^o^

Posted by: James
UTC 07:37:30 

16 May 07

Every once in a while, I just happen to come through for you guys. True to my word, I've got both Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 of Tico up for you. To be entirely honest, I just finished Chapter 6 not ten minutes ago. This is definitely a different feeling for me, presenting a story as I go. We'll see if Tico's better or worse for it. Well, progress is progress, I guess. Anyway, enjoy the new chapters and I'll see you again Saturday. Later.

Posted by: James
UTC 09:33:27 

12 May 07

While the weight of my little promise to you guys dangles over my head, I've got Chapter 12 of KoG for you.

Nothing from Steff, though, I'm afraid. Something to do with an attack by Rainbow Faeries or something. After she's disposed of those prismatic pixies, she should have some new stuff ready. Probably not until next week's update. Those Rainbow Faeries are mean little buggers, you know. Anyway, enjoy the latest chapter while I get to dragging the crew of the Ticonderoga through two chapters before Wednesday. Later.

Posted by: James
UTC 07:21:36 

10 May 07

You probably noticed I missed the update yesterday. Yeah, I've fallen behind, but I'm going to make it up to you. Next week I'll have two new chapters of Tico waiting for you.

Doubting Thomas: "You talk a big game, but you don't deliver much. Tell me, where's the map of Gladius again?"

... ... >_> Yeah, yeah, I get the message. I'm a perfectionist, you see. I'll spend hours on some trivial nonsense here and there. No one may care that the combined Reserve component of the Air Force made up 8.17% of the Earth Union Armed Forces as of the 120 census, but something compels me to record that datum. Then there's the matter of me goofing off. I do a lot of that, too. -_-; If nothing else, the usual Saturday update will be up on schedule. We'll see what I can do about keeping that promise, though. I've got to get better at that (keeping promises) or I'm going to have some awfully discontented children. It'll be like every cookie-cutter family movie out there. *shudder*

Posted by: James
UTC 09:34:12 

06 May 07

Yeah, I got in too late yesterday to do the update and I was sorely tempted to put it off until tomorrow or even next Saturday, but I told you I'd have it up this weekend and I'm obliged to keep my word. Here you go, Chapter 11 of KoG and a new pic in the TCW Miscellany section of Steff's Gallery. Not only am I going back to the grind tomorrow, but I still need to get Chapter 5 of Tico slapped together in time for Wednesday's update. Whee.

In unrelated news, I stumbled on Afro Samurai today. Good for some nice, wholesome ultraviolence, but the dialog made my ears bleed. (Except for Ninja, of course. ^_^ ) Let me say this: Samuel L Jackson can't pronounce "katajikenai" to save his grandma, but he pulled off a rather smooth "oishii". At least he didn't have any extended bits of Japanese like Uma Thurman and Lucy Liu had in Kill Bill. Not quite "Jim Apple Francis" stuff, but still... Thanks to Jin'no, I've got that "Boku wa Kuma" song from Minna no Uta stuck in my head. Boku wa kuma. Kuma, kuma, kuma... Kuruma ja nai yo. Kuma, kuma, kuma...

Posted by: James
UTC 15:31:49 

27 Apr 07

Before I head off to enjoy Golden Week, I've got an early update for ya. Not only do I have Chapter 10 of KoG but three, count 'em, three new pics in Steff's Gallery, one in the Chibis section and two in the new Miscellaneous section. Who are these new faces? In the wake of last week's announcement, I can't say you'll be finding out anytime soon. Mean ol' Steff.

In other news, you'll probably see the next update Saturday instead of Sunday. I should get back from Tokyo Saturday evening, so I really don't have much excuse for not getting the update out there. For those of you who aren't about to enjoy a week-long vacation, have fun at work/school. I'll be thinking of you while I'm having a nice, leisurely hanami. ^_^

Posted by: James
UTC 15:31:49 

25 Apr 07

"Tico's been going for a while now and we ain't had a dang thing blow up since that cruiseliner. What kind of war is this?" If that's what you've been thinking, then fear not, gentle reader. You'll get your explosions in today. I've got Chapter 4 of Tico ready for you. As next week is Golden Week, there won't be any update on Wednesday. I'll be occupied from Saturday to Saturday, but because I'm such a nice guy, I'll get out the usual update this Friday (27 Apr) and next Sunday (06 May), respectively.

Hopefully Steff will have that stuffs she's promised Friday morning or you'll have to wait until the sixth to get it. In the meantime, take in your first real taste of the Sheol War.

Posted by: James
UTC 07:28:55 

21 Apr 07

Well, here we are again. You, me, and an update. Why do I have the feeling I've used that line before? It's entirely possible, I suppose. Anyway, I've got Chapter 9 of KoG ready for you.

I don't have anything from Steff, though. She's having issues with her supplies, but she's promising big things next week. However, this comes with some bad news for those of you following TCW here on the site. Steff has decided to cancel the serialization of the story. She wants to devote more energy to actually getting it in print and is scaling back her efforts here. The existing chapters will remain available to the public. Consider it as a sort of teaser for the real deal. Steff's still going to post her artwork to the site and the silver lining in all this is that now she isn't restricted to making pics in accordance with the release of the story. This could potentially mean that she'll be churning out more art than she's been doing up until now. We'll see. If you want to petition her to restart the serialization of TCW, you can always e-mail her at steff@palidormedia.com. (Watch Steff yell at me for this. ^_^ ) 

No, I haven't fixed the code on the forums yet. I was thinking about doing it today, but I have a better idea. You see, I'm kinda liking the fact that I don't have to delete a spammer or two every day. If you're a hopeful new user who wants to participate in the forums, contact the Administrator at admin@palidormedia.com. Until I see that fateful first letter, I'm going to leave the code busted so I have one less thing to deal with. Sound like a plan? No one asked you. :P

Posted by: James
UTC 09:50:46 

18 Apr 07

Wake up! Wake up!! WAKE UP!!! Yes, if you can imagine the voice cracking on the third time, you've just relived nine weeks of mornings for me. >_> Hey, we've got Sean-bear on the scene! (You'll understand the reference next week.) Here's Chapter 3 of Tico. In other news, I might actually have a plan for Chapter 5. Good thing, too, 'cause I'll have to have it up in two weeks. ^_^;

If anyone but spambots were trying to register for the forum, I'd apologize for not having fixed the code yet. I'll get around to it eventually.

Posted by: James
UTC 01:04:21 

16 Apr 07

Better late than never, right? Steff apparently had quite the fight with some new materials which delayed the completion of her current piece. It's now, waiting in the TCW Chapter 2 section of her Gallery. Take a look, why don't you? Make her feel like her effort is worthwhile. 

I haven't gotten around to fixing the buggy code on the forums, but I'll try to take care of it tomorrow.

Posted by: James
UTC 10:03:28 

14 Apr 07

I hope no one had any encounters with a hockey mask-wearing, machete-weilding psychopath yesterday. Speaking of masked pschopaths, you can see one in action in Chapter 8 of KoG. Steff might have a picture ready later in the day, but I wanted to go ahead and post this chapter. If Steff's on the ball, I'll have another update later in the day.

As I mentioned on the Announcements section of the fourm, new users can't register at the moment. I jacked up the installation of a mod, so I'm going to have to sort out the code. As we haven't had any legitimate new members in a while, I don't think it's much of a problem. Still, I'll try to get it fixed as soon as I can.

Posted by: James
UTC 07:00:15 

11 Apr 07

Alright, the uniform for the day is K-pot, pistol belt and tennis shoes. Formation's in ten minutes, so get ready!

Ah, brings back memories... Anyway, I've got Chapter 2 of Tico up. Two more weeks and I'm actually going to have to start writing new chapters. ^_^; In the meantime, say hi to Cav and Nyx for me.

Posted by: James
UTC 09:01:16 

07 Apr 07

Here were are again. I've got Chapter 7 of KoG ready for you.

Steff's also got some pics up in her Gallery. One of them, a chibi, is brand-new. The rest are the comics she originally hosted on her blog. She's all excited about the new markers she got, so look forward to some new artwork from her. I don't know if I've said it before, but she likes to get all the illustrations done for a given chapter before moving on. She does actually have more of the story done, I swear. I'm sure you're getting antsy for Chapter 3, but it'll come in due time. Apparently there's a new expansion pack to Oblivion that's been keeping her occupied. And it's not like I've been making much progress myself. You can't talk too big when you're living off your reserves, after all.

In other news, Steff's been doing some work to get the store up and going. It's technically online now, but I want it to be built up a little more before I go public with it. I don't have a projected launch date at the moment, but for now, let's say I'll launch sometime before the end of the month.

Posted by: James
UTC 09:59:53 

04 Apr 07

Fall in! Alright, pri'ates, we got a command ceremony today, so look sharp. We're gonna march on down to Tico. Chapter 1 is waiting for us there. It ain't gonna take long, so let's roll out and get this party started.

Posted by: James
UTC 02:14:52 

01 Apr 07

Ugh... I'm not going to apologize for the update being late. And why not? Well, the flu's given me the smackdown and I prolonged my recovery by foolishly going to work on Friday. I've managed to make up for that lost progress yesterday and I might, just might be well enough that I don't get shot back to square one by going to work tomorrow. We'll see. My symptoms seem to get worse as the day goes on, so how I feel in the morning doesn't count for much. Well, whatever happens to me, at least you'll have this update. I've got Chapter 6 of KoG for you and a new pic in the Chapter 2 section of Steff's Gallery. Enjoy.

On a personal note...

婚約おめでとう、我が変態妹 ~By お兄様 ^_^

Posted by: James
UTC 06:45:54 

28 Mar 07

"In AD 2101 war was beginning..." No, no one's set up us the bomb and all my base are still belong to me. Actually, I've just launched Ticonderoga: Volume I. Now the Space Arc can enjoy regular updates. I hope it appreciates the effort.

In other news, I've added an illustration to Chapter 2 of TCW to follow in the mold of the previous chapter. I have absolutely no clue what Steff has planned for this week, but you can look forward to the next chapter of KoG if nothing else. In the meantime, give Tico a look-see.

Posted by: James
UTC 05:10:53 

26 Mar 07

As promised, I've broken down Steff's Gallery into sub-sections to better organize it. It doesn't look pretty right now, but I'll doll up some text later. My work laptop's got a pretty puny font selection, you see. I probably should have a certain someone take care of it, but I reckon it stands a better chance of getting done if I do it. 

In other news, I've decided to go ahead and launch Ticonderoga on Wednesday, so look forward to that. Military space action with scads of salty language. Aren't you in for a treat? ^_^

Posted by: James
UTC 06:39:51 

25 Mar 07

Okie dokie. Steff managed to come through and now there's a new pic in her Gallery. I can now expect posts on the forums like "Curse you, strategically placed hair!" and "Lori's recoiling in horror from Lefty's face. Burn, dude! Burn!" Actually, the posts would probably be less literate than that. Something to the effect of "hurr hurr...... bewbz......" Ah, the children of the Internet. God bless them, every one. In other news, I guess I should finally get around to splitting up the Gallery like Steff requested way back when. I'll probably do it tomorrow. I'd like something a little fancier than plain text, but I might use it as a placeholder for the time being. We'll see. Stay tuned. 

Posted by: James
UTC 13:41:13 

24 Mar 07

Well, I put off the update until now because a certain someone promised she'd have some material ready for me. I was certainly not shopping for a Ukrainian mail-order bride. (As if Anastasia would pick me anyway.) *ahem* Well, said certain somebody (not the lovely Anastasia) now says tomorrow she'll have whatever she's working on ready. We'll see. At any rate, there's no point in me putting off my contribution. I've got Chapter 5 of KoG for you, featuring the stunning debut of Sonia (pictured above with kid sister Jill). "That picture is absolute rubbish." Hey, we're not all Rembrandt. I'm new to the world of digital artistry. If I'd actually practice, I might get better at it.

In other news, I'm thinking about increasing the pace of the update schedule. You see, I already have dang near all of KoG written already, so I'm not really straining myself to get these updates in every week. Since part of the purpose of this site is to force me to pick up the pace with my writing, I'm thinking about kicking off the serialization of Ticonderoga, my Space Arc flagship. If I do, you'll see the prologue on Wednesday. Unlike KoG or most of my other stories in the Tellus Arc, I haven't plotted out all of Tico yet, which will make the whole process rather interesting. Maybe the story will actually benefit from me having to plot one weekly installment at a time. Who knows? While I'm at it, I might decide to get The Tale of Gottfried going, too. Can't leave out the Earth Arc, now can I? Of course, I have even less idea where I'm going with it, so I don't know. If I'm firing off all three arcs, then you'll see updates on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I'll decide what goes where later. (I mean, I'd probably keep updating KoG on Saturdays, but since Saturday is Doyoubi, it'd make more since to update the Earth Arc then...) Well, tune in Wednesday to see what's what. At very least, I'll probably kick off Tico and decide on GottMo later. Well, go on and enjoy the chapter. Maybe Steff will have her little project ready by tomorrow. You've got a reason to live another day. Ikiro.

Posted by: James
UTC 13:23:01 

17 Mar 07

Alrighty then. I've got Chapter 4 of KoG up for you and there's a new pic in Steff's Gallery. The aforementioned goober is starting to make comics on her blog, wild and crazy stuff involving such obscenities as salt and vinegar potato chips. Yes, the stringy, bearded individual known as "the BND" is yours truly. Maybe she'll want to start publishing her comic here on the site. I'll look into it for you guys.

You might be saying, "Where's the map of Gladius? You keep on promising to make it, but you don't do it. It's 'cause of this kinda **** I don't believe in Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. And why I hate my parents. And burned down the school." All I can say in response is that you, my dear audience, deserve quality and until I can deliver that quality, I'm not going to settle for some slipshod rush job. Also, I'll be contacting the authorities. Lucy, joo've got some 'splainin' to do. ^o^

Posted by: James
UTC 10:29:20 

10 Mar 07

The update's a bit later than usual. I was seriously trying to get the map of Gladius done first. (Believe it or not, I haven't read any MTC all day.) I'm not happy with how it's turned out, but I might wrap it up and post it as a placeholder for the time being. It's either that or I start over. Well, at any rate, I'm not going to be able to stay up much longer, so I might as well post what I've got. I've got Chapter 3 of Knight of Gladius up for you.

Steff's fallen behind in her work, but she has written up Kell's profile and submitted a handful of links. Better than nothing, right? I'll see if I can't get that daggone map ready tomorrow. We'll see.

Posted by: James
UTC 16:30:55 

06 Mar 07

A while back, Steff suggested that we get a guestbook for the benefit of those who'd like to say something but would rather not sign up for the forum. This was the same conversation where she suggested a links page. Since I've done one, I might as well do the other while I'm at it. I picked up our guestbook from Bravenet.com. They've got a bunch of other nifty little webtools that I may just consider using. That's for another day. In the meantime, you non-forum-going Philistines, feel free to scribble something in the guestbook. The link is on your left, next to that friendly-looking pen. 

Posted by: James
UTC 08:27:39 

Small update today. For those of you not viewing the site full-screen (like me) or those of you viewing in 800x600, having the lnks on the Links section open in the inline frame doesn't exactly offer the ideal viewing experience. Rusty's blogroll fits nicely, for instance, but you might maybe, just maybe, want to be able to view the whole page without scrolling. Also there's the matter of other links that show up in the future... Well, I came up with a solution. There's a little checkbox on the page now. If you want the link to open in a new window (or tab as the case may be), just make sure the box is checked (which is the default setting) and you're good to go. I didn't develop the nifty bit of code myself, so I need to give props to spk100 of Webmasters Cavern for writing it and Dynamic Drive for hosting the article. Steff's supposed to have a list of links she wants added that she'll hand over along with her update this Friday, so keep an eye out for that. 

Posted by: James
UTC 00:34:40 

05 Mar 07

Yes, yes, I know I don't have the Gladius map up yet. But, man, that case with the serial bomber was positively riveting! What? That's not a good enough excuse? Satou and Takagi almost got it on, dagnabbit. Does that mean nothing to you? It doesn't? ._. Oh...

Anyway, I've launched a new Links section. Our debut link is (Un)Dead Man Blogging, the serial novel/blog (sblogel?) of Douglas S Pierce. Check it out. Angsty necromantic federal employees are fun. ^_^ 

Posted by: James
UTC 04:55:21 

03 Mar 07

March is a very special month for us here at Palidor Media. I'm kicking off a promotional campaign to start drawing some traffic to the site. The first part of it is Network Solutions Search Engine Visibility service. I'm looking forward to being able to Google this place. ^_^ The second part involves me joining several different forums for some networking. It essentially makes me a door-to-door salesman, but as most admins frown upon bald self-promotion, I'm taking the more subtle route of building up a reputation in the various communities and reeling 'em in that way. I don't expect it to be a quick process by any means, but Rome wasn't built in a day.

Moving right along, for today's update we have Chapter 2 of Knight of Gladius and a couple new pics in Steff's Gallery.

I'm really going to have to get that map made up. I suppose I can postpone my Conan reading long enough to do it. ^_^ Well, enjoy!

Posted by: James
UTC 03:37:15 

24 Feb 07

Well, Steff's managed to lay a meager offering on the sacrificial altar, a single new pic in her Gallery. Baal is bound to be displeased. He'll probably devour her children now. Or is it Molech? Hard to remember which pagan god infests this corner of the Internet. Maybe it's disputed territory. Anyway, enjoy the pic. More to come, I'm sure. (And those of you who figured I'd spend the day reading Conan and napping get a gold star. I can't compete with your Sherlockian deductive powers. ^_^; ) 

Posted by: James
UTC 13:45:28 

Here we are again. You, me, and an update. Cheers. I've got Chapter 1 of Knight of Gladius up. I'm going to try, try to have the map of Gladius done today and not divide all my time on naps and Meitantei Conan. I promise you nothing. ^_^; My plans for artwork have been consistently derailed by that charming little detective. I'm on the 26th tankoubon right now and earlier this week I collected the rest of the series, so now I've got all 56 tankoubon currently available. Yes, plenty of time to be spent on unravelling the twisted webs of murders most foul. I am actually making some progress on the writing front at least. After months of stalled progress, I've finally pushed through Chapter 26 of Volume III and am on the fast track to finishing it. (Yes, I'm that far ahead of the game, but that doesn't say much because I've been in the production phase for five years now.) I really want to finish Volume III before I devote too much time to artwork. So much to do, so little time. I'm going to launch a major promotional campaign starting next month and the clock is steadily tick-tick-tocking down. Well, we'll see what I can manage to get done. I've just got to take things as they come. Speaking of taking things as they come, Steff currently working on a big drawing project that isn't quite ready yet. She might have something to toss out to you folks before the weekend's out. Maybe not. We'll see. At any rate, enjoy the new chapter. Later.

Posted by: James
UTC 06:12:36 

17 Feb 07

Okie dokie. Steff thinks the pics in her Gallery are too big, so I resized 'em for her. If you miss the bigger pics, you can always complain to her at steff@palidormedia.com. That or, you know, be happy with what you've got and enjoy the daggone pictures. Whichever. 

Posted by: James
UTC 14:58:43 

Hisashiburi! It's been a while, hasn't it? As you've probably noticed, I haven't put up any artwork on my side of the site. Yeah, I wound up spending Kenkoku Kinenbi reading Meitantei Conan instead of drawing. ^_^; I'm working on a particular side project right now and if it turns out well, I'll be more than happy to share it with you.

In the meantime, I've got our weekly update. Steff's finally got Chapter 2 of The Closed World up and ready. Rejoice, ye sons of earth! She's also got a new piece of artwork in her Gallery. Now that some Chapter 2 artwork is in the works, I'm going to have to break it down into smaller sections as she's requested. I'd rather not have just a plain text interface, so I'm going to fiddle around with some ideas before the first Chapter 2 pics start coming in. 

As for me, today marks the official launch of the flagship series of my Tellus Arc: Knight of Gladius. We start with the Prologue of Knight of Gladius - Volume I: The Eagle in the East. I also have the Character Glossary up. It's more or less spoiler-free, but if you want to play it 100% safe, then stay away unless you've forgotten who someone is. I'm going to make it my goal to get a map drawn up this week, among other things. If nothing else, you know you'll have Chapter 1 waiting for you around this time next week. I'll try to get something made up in the meantime, but that side project of mine might take a while before it starts to bear fruit. We'll see, we'll see...

Posted by: James
UTC 07:39:43 

12 Feb 07

Okay, tiny little update. I've linked the symbols for the content ratings with the Ratings page, so people don't have to navigate via the About Us Section just to see what a V3 entails. Although I haven't begun work on it yet, I'm still hoping to get some artwork done today. It's not even noon yet, so I've got plenty of time.

Posted by: James
UTC 02:35:14 

11 Feb 07

I've managed to get a little bit done today. I've reformatted the TCW Character Profile section to better reflect Steff's original intent. (She wants to make the information reflective of the individual charas, not only in the subjective nature of the content but also the color and typeface.) 

I managed to make my contribution for the week as well. It's a cute little slice-of-life short called "No One Likes the Chocolate Ones". It features two of my leads from The Tale of Gottfried. Despite the fact that the characters have been with me a good twelve or thirteen years, I still haven't fully plotted their adventures, so it might be a while before you see the main event. For some reason, Earth Arc stories are the hardest for me to plot, followed by the Space Arc stories. I mean, with the Tellus Arc, the whole quest formula makes it fairly straightforward, but once you get into what's essentially everyday life, how do you control that? I can see how episodic series carry on as long as they do. You just grab onto some basic idea, make a chapter/epsiode and then hop to the next idea. The only thing is that I'm too controlling for that. Even in the franchises that are meant to have an episodic structure to 'em, I want to be 95% sure of where I'm going from beginning to end. Well, maybe the serial format of this site will make it easier. We'll see. Oh, in other news, tomorrow is the observation of Kenkoku Kinenbi, so I've got the day off. I'm thinking about spending the time making some artwork for my section. (However, I can't make any guarantees. I might just spend the day reading Meitantei Conan. ^_^; ) Looking a little farther into the future, I'll probably debut Volume I of Knight of Gladius. I've given you a taste of my three active arcs and now I should really get on with the show. (Also, I'm running out of usable short stories. If I don't start putting up KoG, I'm going to have to resort to my old poetry assignments, and nobody wants that. ^o^ )

Posted by: James
UTC 13:25:04 

10 Feb 07

Okay, Steff (Gumdrop) has a new piece of fanart for yours truly. This time it's a rendering of Umbriel (the eponymous "Stranger"). See if you have the courage to face his steely gaze at the Special Unicorn Rainbow Heart Happy Happy Gallery. 

Posted by: James
UTC 15:08:05 

Ugh... I just did some significant overhauling to the site. For those of you who like to browse with full screen windows at high resolutions, I've just made your day. Originally, I had the site optimized for 800x600 and since I don't surf in full screen, I never noticed how jarring the delimiters were. I seem to recall doing it in response to some display issue, but I'm not seeing any issue in IE or Firefox, so who knows why I did it?

Steff's side of the site's got a new color scheme. I'd been encouraging her to strike out with her own unique style ever since the beginning, but she was worried about being inconsistent with the rest of the site. In all likelihood, I'm going to have to change my color scheme as well so she won't feel like she's the red-headed stepchild. She's got some new entries in her Gallery and a new Character Profiles section for TCW. She still doesn't have Chapter 2 ready yet, so hang on a bit longer. Because I've been doing all this other stuff, I haven't prepped a story for today's update. I'll either post it in a few hours or do it tomorrow. There's still plenty more to get done, but I figured I ought to post what I've done so far so Steff can go over it.

(By the way, she took the whole Gumdrop thing in perfectly good humor. The only reason I hadn't heard from her in a couple days is 'cause she was having Internet trouble. Dodged a bullet there, my friends. You can never tell with women, after all. ^_^; )

Well, take a look at the new pics Steff posted and I'll try to have more ready for you in the very near future. Peace and carrots.

Posted by: James
UTC 14:10:07 

07 Feb 07

Just some minor tweaks to the Sitemap and Update Archive.

I haven't heard from Gumdrop yet, so I don't know if I'm in hot water or not. Pray for me, brothers. ^_^; 

Posted by: James
UTC 06:12:09 

06 Feb 07

Well, someone (Steff) has become quite the little diva. I'm not naming names (Steff), but this someone (Steff) think that her (Steff's) work ought not mingle with the Crayola scrawlings of the unwashed masses. So, to appease this person (Steff), I have moved her (Steff's) work to it's own special place. If you want to see that smashing pic of Cassandra that she (Steff) drew, then know this: The old name (Steff) has passed into oblivion. She (Steff) has transcended her (Steff's) old self (Steff-self). To mark this glorious ascension, she (Steff) shall no longer be called by the old name (Steff) that I have not once uttered. Henceforth, she (Steff) shall be known as... Gumdrop. Go forth, and bear witness to the works of her (Gumdrop's) uparalleled hand at Gumdrop's Special Unicorn Rainbow Heart Happy Happy Gallery.

Oh, and, Gumdrop... :P

Posted by: James
UTC 01:27:03 

05 Feb 07

This barely deserves to be noted, but in the name of thoroughness, here we are. I changed the border for Gallery and Fanart entries and adjusted the layout of my Fanart page to be more accommodating to future entries. (By extension, this will affect Steff's Fanart page, too. Once it gets some submissions, that is.) One of the big challenges last week was getting the forum up and running. Now that that's taken care of, maybe I can find the time to get some artwork of my own thrown together. (I'm not nearly as talented as Steff in this regard, but I have a mind to try my hand at furnishing my own graphics.) I can't make any forecasts, though. Before I devote too much time to artwork, I'd like to finish this one chapter I'm working on. We'll see how things go...

Posted by: James
UTC 02:31:23 

04 Feb 07

Small but significant update today. I've got my first piece of fanart, a lovely rendering of Cassandra from "The Stranger". (I don't actually give her name in the story itself. She's simply referred to as "the Elf" most of the time, but you'll be seeing more of her in the future, namely when I start writing The Brothers Pendragon.) A hearty thanks to Steff. I'm so pleased that I don't even mind the fact that Chapter 2 isn't ready yet. :P Well, don't just stand there, people. Head down to my Fanart Section and check it out. Aa, nante uruwashii, waga megami yo...

Posted by: James
UTC 15:42:33 

03 Feb 07

Okay, I've got a new short story up in the Space Arc, "Bear Shirt". I'm not as attached to it as I am to "The Stranger", but I don't want the other arcs to get lonely. I don't want to give you the impression that I'm exclusively a fantasy author, so it's nice to step out of the ol' swords and sorcery every now and again.

Also, Steff recently designed a border for TCW's Table of Contents and I've just now put it on the page. Hopefully she'll be ready to post Chapter 2 sometime tomorrow. She's been doing a fair bit of artwork lately, so I'm sure you'll cut her some slack, right? 

Posted by: James
UTC 15:56:53 

02 Feb 07

Well, it's Groundhog's Day. I don't know whether Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow or not. (And, yes, I had to look up the spelling of "Punxsutawney.") Actually, the ceremony probably hasn't happened yet. I forget to figure in the time difference sometimes... Anyway, on to the matters at hand. Steff finished up a couple new pics, which you can see in her Gallery. "Lori Walks to School" is also featured in Chapter 1 of The Closed World. Check it out. 

Posted by: James
UTC 01:54:45 

01 Feb 07

The forums are finally up and running. Hip hip hooray! I was at the point where I thought I was going to have to learn all the ins and outs of both PHP and MySQL in order to figure out what was wrong. You want to know how I fixed it? I'll tell you. You see, even though the host calls itself "localhost," that name doesn't get you anywhere. Following an off-hand comment on this one site, I decided to use the IP address of the database rather than the name. Guess what. It worked. So, for any of you out there trying to install a phpBB2 forum, if you're getting an error message about it not connection to the database, try using the IP address where it asks for the host name. It's that easy.

Posted by: James
UTC 08:00:22 

31 Jan 07

Steff finished the cover for The Closed World yesterday, so I've added it to her Gallery and Story pages. The cover now acts as the splash page for the story. Just click on it to go to the Table of Contents. If that sounds too difficult for you, I made a direct link on Steff's side menu. You can't miss it. Oh, and by the way, feel free to send her an e-mail at steff@palidormedia.com praising her work. 

Posted by: James
UTC 01:18:18 

29 Jan 07

I've installed counters on the What's New, James and Steff sections of the site. I'm not expecting much until I start paying the search engines to notice me. Still, there it is. I've got some different options for counter styles, so if you really don't like the looks of one or the other, speak up and be heard. Remember, all site-related stuff goes to admin@palidormedia.com. Still working on the forums. I swear, I might have to learn MySQL yet...

Posted by: James
UTC 06:49:01 

28 Jan 07

I recently installed the Internet Channel on my Wii, so I took the opportunity to see how the site displays for Opera users. It looks like neither the italics or emphasis tags display. I guess I'll have to go into the stylesheet and fiddle with that. In the meantime, I adjusted the side menu a bit so it won't be quite as wonky. I don't know how many Opera users are out there, but, hey, a web designer should be committed to reaching out to the broadest possible audience, right?

Posted by: James
UTC 14:22:16 

I did some tweaking to the code to fix some display errors in Firefox. The top menu bar wasn't quite lining up with the right edge of page, but I finally found a way to take care of it. As an unexpected consequence, the text on the top menu is larger now. I figure that just makes it easier on the guests, so I'll leave it as is. I plan on adding some graphics to my section of the site sometime this week and Steff should have some pics ready in the near future as well, so keep an eye out. Also, I hope to get the forum up and running by the end of the week. I'm having some problems installing the dang thing, but I'm bound to get it licked. Hang in there, folks.

Posted by: James
UTC 12:47:52 

27 Jan 07

Welcome to Palidor Media! We're finally up and running! Allow me to introduce myself. I'm James Carmack, the founder of Palidor Media, the current administrator of this site and one of the lead contributors. Rather than spend years leaping through the flaming hoops of the traditional publishing industry, I decided to take advantage of the power of the Internet to deliver my content directly to the readers and cut out the middleman. To make this happen, I formed a partnership with my friend and colleague, Stefanie D. Johnson, a talented author and illustrator. One day, Palidor Media might be known as a haven for rising talent. Maybe it'll never become anything more than me and Steff's personal playground. Who knows what the future holds?

In the coming weeks, we'll be adding a forum and later a shop to sell Palidor Media merchandise to all interested parties. For now, we intend to update the site at least once a week. We might shift to a more frequent update schedule if there's enough demand for it. A lot of things are still in development, but I'm committed to giving you my guests, the best possible experience I can offer. If you've got any questions or comments related to the site itself, you can contact me at admin@palidormedia.com. If it's story-related, then mail me at james@palidormedia.com.

Here's a greeting from Steff:

"Welcome to our Worlds! Enjoy your stay, but close the door behind you. You'll let all the heat out. And please check your shoes... we don't want our Worlds to get dirty."

If you want to talk to her, you can mail her at steff@palidormedia.com.

For our first update, I've posted a short story from my Tellus Arc, "The Stranger" while Steff has Chapter 1 of her novel, The Closed World. This is but the beginning. Enjoy!

Posted by: James
UTC 04:23:16