So, this is what I'm thinking...» Brian Hoover

AT-AT Wallpapers part two

Brian — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 17:01:34 +0000

Here’s the balance of my AT-AT wallpaper folder. Serving as the “head” of the mechanical walker was a movable command section containing the command cockpit, with room for the commander, pilot, and gunner. The command section housed all of the AT-AT’s weapon systems, as well as holographic targeting systems allowing the gunners a 360-degree view of their position. The cockpit was also equipped with a holographic projector for purposes of external communication. Forward visualization was supplied by a glowing red command viewport. The head could rotate as much as ninety degrees right or left and thirty degrees up or down for an expansive field of fire. Positioned above and below the command section was the walker’s sensor array and blaster cannon energizer, respectively.

AT-AT Wallpapers part one

Brian — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 02:56:16 +0000

Here’s a collection of AT-AT, or Imperial Walker, wallpapers and HR images for your enjoyment. Hover over each image to find a size right for you. The AT-AT walker was a behemoth of a war machine, standing at a height of 22.5 meters. The quadrupedal walker closely resembled ancient beasts of war, or even a giant legendary beast from the dark side of the Force. Designed for the dual purpose of crushing and demoralizing enemy forces, and also serving as a transport for Imperial troops and light vehicles, the AT-AT was unsurpassed as the most awesome vehicle in the Imperial Army inventory. Its intimidating and powerful presence often earned it the distinction of being the first vehicle into a combat zone.

I liken it to the Soviet Mil Mi-24 helicopter: big, boofy, intimidating, well armed and armoured. It’s a kick-ass gunship, and has room to carry 8 troops for an air assault. If you see either of these things heading towards you, you know you’re going to have a bad day.

Anyhow, back to the AT-ATs. General Veers, prepare your men.

I wish I had an XS body

Brian — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 12:22:50 +0000

… and was female because then I could have bought myself one of these nifty R2-D2 shirts! But alas, I’m a Double XL in a male body.

30th Anniversaries this week

Brian — Sat, 22 May 2010 01:19:45 +0000

Wow, I haven’t been paying attention and these kinda snuck up on me. Pacman turns 30 today! Pacman was developed by Namco and released in Japan on 22-May-1980. Wow, has it been that long? I don’t want to consider how may 20s I dropped into coin-ops in the early 80s playing it, avoiding Pinky, Inky, Blinky and Clyde. Pacman came at a time when the most popular arcade games were shooters like Space Invaders and Asteroids, so it came as a welcome non-violent alternative and grew in popularity. Everything about the game was cool: the high-contrast colours, the wocka-wocka sounds, the intro music… it really was the perfect game for it’s time. To celebrate, Google even changed their header logo into a playable version of Pacman for the day. You’ve got to be in Classic Google mode, not iGoogle. I remember saving all my pocket money to buy this on the Atari, but was so disappointed to find that it really sucked.

Another 30th anniversary this week was the release of The Empire Strikes Back. After being blown away by Star Wars three years earlier, it came as a surprise to me that there was another movie released. Remember, these are the days before the Internet and discussions forums, preview web sites and such. I didn’t know about it until it actually came out in Australia, which was a few months after the US release and even then I don’t think I saw it until a few weeks after than. Empire is still the best of the movies. I might see if I can fit it in sometime this weekend, perhaps on VHS for the low-fi experience, the way George Lucas intended.

Meanwhile, here’s a Periodic Table of The Empire Strikes Back.

Click for larger version

Happy Star Wars Day

Brian — Tue, 04 May 2010 08:08:21 +0000

Been away for the weekend. I need to get myself organised before I post anything substantial. So in the meantime, Happy Star Wars Day! I hope to fit in watching the Original Trilogy before bed time

Samurai Wars

Brian — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 13:37:03 +0000

This is called ”Samurai Wars” and is cartoonist Steve Bialik’s humble attempt to reinterpret popular Star Wars characters in the style of ukiyo-e woodblock prints and through the lens of Japanese yokai folk monsters. It is awesome.

Large hi-resolution Star Destroyer wallpapers

Brian — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 12:26:39 +0000

Here’s a selection of Star Wars Star Destroyer wallpapers I found. Of all Sci Fi ships, I think I like the Star Destroyer best. The opening scene of Star Wars had a big impression on me, with the sight of this impossibly large ship flying overhead chasing the Rebels. As it gets to the docking bay, you think this must be where it ends, but then it just keeps going until you see the giant array of engines glowing blue as they power the ship along. A very iconic image! I’m not too fussed with Darth Vader’s Super Star Destroyer, but the regular sized one is just beautiful. Included are some very large pics of a custom/hybrid version. Not sure of the source for these.

Remembering birthdays

Brian — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 02:09:42 +0000

So I’ve found a good way to remember when my kids were born, and my wife’s birthday. Suzanne and I met in 1999, the same year Star Wars Episode 1 was released. Ashton was born in 2002, same year as Star Wars Episode 2. Jett was born in 2005, same year as Star Wars Episode 3. Not only that, but Suzanne’s birthday is the day after Star Wars Day. Am I a complete nerd or what?

Some older Digital Art

Brian — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 14:43:29 +0000

So I was reading a friends blog post where a little program called Celestia was mentioned in passing and it reminded me of some art I’d created many moons ago and shared with the guys at mousedroid.com and potf2.com which are two favourite Star Wars collecting web sites of mine where I’ve met many interesting people and made some great friends. Anyhow, I actually saved a couple of those images from the Great Disk Loss of 2006 and here they are in all their glory. I do remember spending a bit of time getting the angles of the cameras and lighting just right on a lot of shots. It’s not like the movies where the ships are always well lit; when a starship is in the shadow of a planet, it’s hard to see. And it was especially hard on my underpowered little POS computer I had. I did a few others involving fictional planets, ”Beanstalks” and other space stations but these three images are all that’s left. I should check out the latest version and get back into it, make some more images. They might have a “Perfectly light this object” switch now.

Star Wars Zombies

Brian — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 03:11:31 +0000

Some cute images I found on the interwebs. I like that the Emperor is pretty much unedited in Episode 3, Revenge of the Zombies. From Wikipedia: “A zombie is a creature that appears in folklore and popular culture typically as a reanimated corpse or a mindless human being. Stories of zombies originated in the Afro-Caribbean spiritual belief system of Vodou, which told of the people being controlled as laborers by a powerful sorcerer. Zombies became a popular device in modern horror fiction, largely because of the success of George A. Romero’s 1968 film Night of the Living Dead.”

Click “Read More” to, uh, read more.