Sunday, June 24, 2012
Monday, June 18, 2012
Super Murghan Glitch
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Battery Upgrade
Today was a good day to work on the car. I didn't really use it over the Winter and my battery reached the end of its 5-year life, so it was time for a new one. The Eclipse is now 18 years old and on it's 4th battery. So things are working out mathematically. I think the first or second one went over 5 years. The others were right on target.
To change a battery, it's always best to consult your vehicle's manual as every car has a slightly different battery enclosure. But for general information, the book to the right is a good reference. It'll give you tips safety as you need to be careful of any loose acid.
See photo on Instagram
Friday, June 8, 2012
Blacksmith's Tribute to Fantasy/Sci-Fi
I thought one of the best parts of crafting weapons in Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning was naming them. It allowed me to pay tribute to some of my favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy worlds. Here are some items I brought into the Amalur universe:
Anna's Laconian Slashers (Phantasy Star II)
- Primal Damaging Chakrams
The preferred weapons of Zema's guardian, Anna Zirski work just like chakrams... they hit multiple enemies and return to the wielder. Laconia is a powerful Dezorian metal.
Armor of Takhisis (Dragonlance)
- Epic Prismere Armor
The black and red prismere reminds me of what I picture the Dark Queen of Krynn wearing when she assumes human warrior mode.
Conan's Atlantean Sword (Conan the Barbarian)
- Primal Ice Longsword
The sword Conan gets from the remains of the Atlantean King is the best crafted movie sword I’ve seen. It can be conveniently used as a one or two-hander. The blade is good for slashing and piercing. It also has a thick guard for defense.
Dragonmetal Armor (General AD&D 2e)
- Epic Sylvanite Armor
Green sylvanite looks ridiculous, so naming it "dragonmetal" made me feel better about wearing it! Crafting armor from dragon scales was from the dragon section of Monstrous Compendium 2nd Ed.
Elsydeon (Phantasy Star I & IV)
- Primal Lightning Longsword
This is the sword used by Alis Landale in PSI and eventually gets passed to Chaz Ashley in PSIV. It’s a great one-on-one weapon and also useful for the macro combos.
Fremen Crysknives (Dune)
- Primal Damaging Daggers
Knives crafted from the crystal teeth of Arrakis' sandworms.
Goldmoon's Blue Crystal Staff (Dragonlance)
- Primal Staff
The great staff used to take down the leader of the Black Wing, Khisanth.
Jedi Lightsaber (Star Wars)
- Sylvanite Lightning Longsword
This one's a stretch, but it’s green and it's energy-based!
Li Mu Bai's Green Destiny (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon)
- Sylvanite Poison Longsword
The actual Green Destiny owned by Master Li is a Tai Chi sword, but poison sylvanite is so green I had to borrow the name!
Lothlorien Mirkwood Bow (Lord of the Rings)
- Primal Ice Bow
This is the type of bow used by Legolas and Lothlorien soldiers. The patterns on the primal bow have similar curve marks as the mirkwood bow, but it’s black and red instead of white.
Plate of Solamnus (Dragonlance)
- Azurite Armor
Armor worn by the highest heroes of the Knights of Solamnia. This is Krynn’s equivalent to Eagonn’s Armor. The azurite armor in the game looks pretty close to drawings of the Plate of Solamnus.
Sith Infiltrator (Star Wars I)
- Studded Leather Hood
This is named after Darth Maul's vehicle from Episode I. I thought it would be a good name for a hood that I use in my custom universalist armor (crafted hood, Harbinger’s Vestments, prismere gauntlets, prismere greaves)
Soul of Malystryx (Dragonlance)
- Prismere Flame Greatsword
Named after the giant red dragon from the War of Souls.
Sword of Azrael (Batman: Sword of Azrael)
- Prismere Flame Longsword
The fiery sword wielded by Gotham's Angel of Vengeance.
Teal'c's Zat'ni'katel (Stargate SG-1)
- Ebony Shock Sceptre
Sidearm used by Apophis’ serpent guards from the Stargate series. The charge attack from a sceptre is very similar.
Zelda's Hyrulian Armor (Legend of Zelda)
- Studded Leather Armor
I wanted to name something after the Zelda world and already crafted too many swords. So I figured Link always wore light armor... a tunic over leather. And since I play with a female character, I named it after Princess Zelda instead of Link.
Anna's Laconian Slashers (Phantasy Star II)
- Primal Damaging Chakrams
The preferred weapons of Zema's guardian, Anna Zirski work just like chakrams... they hit multiple enemies and return to the wielder. Laconia is a powerful Dezorian metal.
Armor of Takhisis (Dragonlance)
- Epic Prismere Armor
The black and red prismere reminds me of what I picture the Dark Queen of Krynn wearing when she assumes human warrior mode.
Conan's Atlantean Sword (Conan the Barbarian)
- Primal Ice Longsword
The sword Conan gets from the remains of the Atlantean King is the best crafted movie sword I’ve seen. It can be conveniently used as a one or two-hander. The blade is good for slashing and piercing. It also has a thick guard for defense.
Dragonmetal Armor (General AD&D 2e)
- Epic Sylvanite Armor
Green sylvanite looks ridiculous, so naming it "dragonmetal" made me feel better about wearing it! Crafting armor from dragon scales was from the dragon section of Monstrous Compendium 2nd Ed.
Elsydeon (Phantasy Star I & IV)
- Primal Lightning Longsword
This is the sword used by Alis Landale in PSI and eventually gets passed to Chaz Ashley in PSIV. It’s a great one-on-one weapon and also useful for the macro combos.
Fremen Crysknives (Dune)
- Primal Damaging Daggers
Knives crafted from the crystal teeth of Arrakis' sandworms.
Goldmoon's Blue Crystal Staff (Dragonlance)
- Primal Staff
The great staff used to take down the leader of the Black Wing, Khisanth.
Jedi Lightsaber (Star Wars)
- Sylvanite Lightning Longsword
This one's a stretch, but it’s green and it's energy-based!
Li Mu Bai's Green Destiny (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon)
- Sylvanite Poison Longsword
The actual Green Destiny owned by Master Li is a Tai Chi sword, but poison sylvanite is so green I had to borrow the name!
Lothlorien Mirkwood Bow (Lord of the Rings)
- Primal Ice Bow
This is the type of bow used by Legolas and Lothlorien soldiers. The patterns on the primal bow have similar curve marks as the mirkwood bow, but it’s black and red instead of white.
Plate of Solamnus (Dragonlance)
- Azurite Armor
Armor worn by the highest heroes of the Knights of Solamnia. This is Krynn’s equivalent to Eagonn’s Armor. The azurite armor in the game looks pretty close to drawings of the Plate of Solamnus.
Sith Infiltrator (Star Wars I)
- Studded Leather Hood
This is named after Darth Maul's vehicle from Episode I. I thought it would be a good name for a hood that I use in my custom universalist armor (crafted hood, Harbinger’s Vestments, prismere gauntlets, prismere greaves)
Soul of Malystryx (Dragonlance)
- Prismere Flame Greatsword
Named after the giant red dragon from the War of Souls.
Sword of Azrael (Batman: Sword of Azrael)
- Prismere Flame Longsword
The fiery sword wielded by Gotham's Angel of Vengeance.
Teal'c's Zat'ni'katel (Stargate SG-1)
- Ebony Shock Sceptre
Sidearm used by Apophis’ serpent guards from the Stargate series. The charge attack from a sceptre is very similar.
Zelda's Hyrulian Armor (Legend of Zelda)
- Studded Leather Armor
I wanted to name something after the Zelda world and already crafted too many swords. So I figured Link always wore light armor... a tunic over leather. And since I play with a female character, I named it after Princess Zelda instead of Link.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Monday, May 28, 2012
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Crystal Wars Reloaded
It was a good thing that I kept a save file before completing Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. After getting all of the new Gear from the Teeth of Naros, I definitely wanted to replay the end of the game with them. Also, when I completed the game the first time around, it was way too easy. So this time around, I didn't equip Alyssa in the custom crafted armor that made her invincible. Previously, the prismere armor gave her and AC of over 2000. This time around I used the better looking armor sets, but their AC fell around 1000-1300 and don't have regen components. It made the cutscenes look better!
The game is still pretty easy though. Armor strength doesn't make a big difference once you get used to timing blocks and evasions. In this playthrough, I equipped Alyssa with my 4 favorite armor sets in this order:
1) Armor of Fury for Klurikon - This is the red and black rogue set from the Teeth of Naros DLC.
2) Bolgan's Bane for Alabastra - This is the set that looks like the gear that my character, Shadow Dragon wears.
3) Warsworn for House of Vengeance - The red Warsworn set is the strongest non-crafted suit up to this point in the game. After completing the House of Vengeance, you get the Vengeance armor set which is stronger.
4) Nightstone for Bhaile - This is the black, blue and gold warrior set from Teeth of Naros DLC.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Lake Pavillion
Location: 60-15 Main St., Flushing, NY
Cuisine: Chinese
Prices: $15/person
Credit Cards: All major
Food: 7
Service: 3
Value: 6
Environment: 9
Frequency: Unique
I got home at around 4:30 and then rested a little bit before heading out again. This time it was a family dinner and our first one out in ages. We heard that the restaurant that took over the Palace Diner space opened this week and wanted to see it for ourselves.
They did a great job of renovating the space. While then outside looks the same, the interior is completely different. The old kitchen area because part of the dining hall, creating a single huge open space. There are also private rooms all around. The decor is an improvement over Palace Diner, which never really did any major renovations.
I thought the food was OK overall. It was just another Chinese place... nothing spectacular, but nothing terrible. The problem is that it's priced higher than downtown Flushing. So it's Main St. prices, but not Main St. quality food.
It was their first week and easy to tell as the staff was confused most of the time. It didn't seem like they had a system for serving food. All of the waiters would bring stuff out of the kitchen and not know which table it was for. During our dinner there, there were 2 dropped dishes (luckily empty). This place isn't really ready to be reviewed. I recommend that you give it a few months before eating here. I just wanted to see it out of curiosity.
Cuisine: Chinese
Prices: $15/person
Credit Cards: All major
Food: 7
Service: 3
Value: 6
Environment: 9
Frequency: Unique
I got home at around 4:30 and then rested a little bit before heading out again. This time it was a family dinner and our first one out in ages. We heard that the restaurant that took over the Palace Diner space opened this week and wanted to see it for ourselves.
They did a great job of renovating the space. While then outside looks the same, the interior is completely different. The old kitchen area because part of the dining hall, creating a single huge open space. There are also private rooms all around. The decor is an improvement over Palace Diner, which never really did any major renovations.
I thought the food was OK overall. It was just another Chinese place... nothing spectacular, but nothing terrible. The problem is that it's priced higher than downtown Flushing. So it's Main St. prices, but not Main St. quality food.
It was their first week and easy to tell as the staff was confused most of the time. It didn't seem like they had a system for serving food. All of the waiters would bring stuff out of the kitchen and not know which table it was for. During our dinner there, there were 2 dropped dishes (luckily empty). This place isn't really ready to be reviewed. I recommend that you give it a few months before eating here. I just wanted to see it out of curiosity.
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