Tom

This is for my girls.

2013-07-24T08:02:00.002-05:00

Dungeon Crawl

2011-05-22T21:45:00.006-05:00

Some time ago I found this game called Linley's Dungeon Crawl. It was this cool little game where you control a character in a maze like dungeon and try to get as far down the levels as you can, trying to retrieve the Orb of Zot, fighting monsters all the way down. The fun part was it was all ascii characters.

Recently I discovered Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup. It's based on the original Linley's game but it has been greatly improved. Not only have they added tiled graphics, but you can even play online through in a WebSocket and JavaScript enabled browser like Chrome.

Both games are a lot of fun and very addictive!

Liney's Dungeon Crawl is at version 4.0.0 and can be found at http://www.dungeoncrawl.org/

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup is at version 0.8.0 and can be found at http://crawl.develz.org/wordpress/

Give them a try. I dare you.

Farwell Frosty

2011-01-16T19:40:00.002-06:00

Farewell for now. Winter is not over, so he could be back.

First Snow 2011

2011-01-09T16:33:00.001-06:00

It Snowed in East Texas today!!!

Hunting Season Is Over :-(

2011-01-08T11:51:00.003-06:00

I got to hunt this year. I hunted 200 acres west of Mexia, Texas that my brother and his in-laws own. The property had not been hunted for some time and has a very large hog population on it. I only saw one deer. It was a doe and unfortunately, does where illegal at the time I saw her. I did get a clean shot at a 30 lb female hog. I'm looking forward to the pork chops and sausage. So if you have a good recipe for wild hog, please share it.

True Grit

2010-12-29T18:09:00.004-06:00

I recently went to see the Coen brothers movie True Grit. My wife, having read the book, wanted see it, and I always like a good western.
The movie, like the book, is told from the perspective of a 14 year old girl named Mattie Ross as she seeks out to avenge the death of her father. The setting is very believable and the characters are all distinctive. I particularly liked the manner in which the characters dialoged. Its hard to describe, but now that I'm reading the book, I am finding that the Coen brothers captured this perfectly. I found the acting very good. This is one of Jeff Bridge's over the top performances and Hailee Steinfeld was perfect as Mattie.
If you want to see a good adventure movie with unforgettable characters and stunning setting, go see True Grit.

A Social Network Christmas

2010-12-21T10:36:00.004-06:00

I found this today and loved it. So, I thought I'd share it.

OOTS

2010-11-21T19:36:00.006-06:00

The Order of the Stick is my absolute favorite web comic. I have been following this comic since it started and we are now up to 759 pages. The story follows six adventures, each with their own quirky personalities, as they seek to stop the lich Xykon's nefarious plans to conquer the world and make lots of game and literature jokes along the way. The art is done in a simple stick figure style, but you'll be amazed at how well the artist, Rich Burlew, is able to portray the actions and emotions of all the characters. If you have ever played a fantasy role playing game, you will love the humor. Check it out here

One Post a Week Challenge

2010-11-12T09:54:00.003-06:00

So, I've been horrible at this whole blogging thing. To remedy this, I'm challenging myself to make at least on post per week. I get lots of ideas, but often can't seem to get the thoughts out. I hope this will be interesting for all of you.

Star Man's Son

2010-11-12T08:31:00.004-06:00

I've been on a kind of "Post-Apocalyptic" kick lately. When I was in the 5th grade,that would be 1978, I found this red book called Star Man's Son. On it was a kid with a bow and a sword and a large cat. I had just finished The Hobbit and the picture caught my attention.

What I like about this book is that it isn't your typical "Road Warrior" post-apocalyptic story. There aren't any bands of social misfits rampaging down desert roads in vehicles tricked out with sheet metal armor and machine-guns. It is a cool coming of age adventure story with themes dealing with human nature.
Set in a future America 250 years after a great "Blow up", cities are nuclear ghost towns and mutants roam the wreckage. Fors, a young man who is also a "mutant", sets out with his telepathic cat companion to prove to his community that he is worthy to take his deceased father's place and a honored Star Man.

Its a good read and if you still read to your 9 to 11 year old children, this one might be a good one. There are plenty of twists and turns to keep them interested and it could lead to some good discussions on issues like: Why do men war and How should we handle racial and cultural differences.

It is a hard book to find , being out of print. I found a later publishing renamed Daybreak-2250 A.D. on Amazon for about $5.00

Catching Up

2010-01-28T11:11:00.009-06:00

OK, its been quit a while since my last post. Sorry about that. So what's been going on? A whole bunch and nothing at all. What I mean is, nothing big or ground breaking has happened. We've just been busy with life.

My job with EveryC arList ed.com is going well. The site is doing well and I continue to grow in my programming skills.

Laura and I took the family to Florida with some friends during the summer. We stayed in a condo in Rosemary Beach. It was one of the best vacations I have ever taken. Everyone had a great time.

I didn't get to go hunting this year. That was a real disappointment, but I did get a new Weatherby .300 Win Mag. It packs a real wallop and took a few shots to get used to the kick. It's a tack driver and a hoot to shoot.

I took my younger girls camping for the first time. We went in the spring and then again in the fall. I think this will become an annual tradition.

I've gotten the chance to play some 40K. Its been a good long time since I played last and found the rules had been revised again. It was good to field my Tau army. I'm currently collecting a new Space Marine army.

So like I said, nothing really ground breaking to report. Laura and I continue to grow in our relationship with the Lord and in our marriage. The girls are all growing up way too fast and keep us very busy. We're just living life the best we can and being grateful along the way.

So whats to come? You'll just have to come back and see.

A Republic. If you can keep it.

2009-05-01T09:58:00.003-05:00

I got this in an email from my wife. You can find this at http://www.patriotpost.us/

*****
Alexander's Essay – 30 April 2009
"A republic, if you can keep it." --Benjamin Franklin

The Peaceful Revolution's First 100 Days

By Mark Alexander

Last fall, Barack Hussein Obama pledged that his administration would carry out a "fundamental transformation of the United States of America." Today, as we reflect on the first 100 days of the Obama regime's occupation of the executive branch, with Party allegiance in the legislative branch, it pains me to report that he has exceeded the wildest expectations of his Socialist constituencies.

In the wake of last year's "October Surprise" (the catastrophic meltdown of the nation's largest financial institutions), his chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, said of Obama's strategy, "Rule 1: Never allow a crisis to go to waste. They are opportunities to do big things."

Indeed, Obama has done BIG things. In the words of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, "Obama's first 100 days have been spectacularly successful. Obama is the strongest domestic Democratic President since Lyndon Johnson. ... In just 100 days, Obama has been devastatingly effective in moving forward swiftly the most radical, government-expanding agenda in American history."

How did that happen?

Some political scientists argue that democracy is a conduit for "peaceful revolutions," including radical shifts in political ideology, without a shot being fired.

I agree, except that our nation is not a "dumbocracy." It is a republic, or at least it was before the once proud Democrat Party became infested with Socialists, who masterfully co-opted the education system along with the modern "opiate of the masses" (television and print media), and re-educated those masses.

So successful has this Leftist strategy been that their dumbed-down constituencies now follow their messianic leader like dullard lemmings.

Consequently, here is an account of a few notable events from the first 100 days of "hope and change."

Under the aegis of "economic stimulus," Obama promptly raided the Treasury and doled it out to his constituencies -- at terrible expense to this and future generations. Asked how one might evaluate the effectiveness of his plan, Obama replied, "I think my initial measure of success is creating or saving four million jobs." Not even Bill Clinton had the hubris to suggest something as slick as "saving four million jobs."

Remarkably, Obama managed to ram that one through Congress without a single Democrat claiming to have read it.

As for his cabinet, a long list of Obama nominees agreed to pay back taxes in return for rubber stamp appointments, including Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, who, despite owing more than $40,000 now oversees the IRS.

Poor nominee Tom Daschle, who in a previous life as Demo Senate Majority Leader proclaimed, "Tax cheaters cheat us all, and the IRS should enforce our laws to the letter." He was all but confirmed as HHS Secretary until we learned that he had cheated us out of $130,000 in back taxes. Apparently even Obama's hypocrisy knows some limits.

Obama last fall repeatedly promised to end the practice of special interest earmarks. Then, he signed an appropriations bill with more than 8,000 earmarks, including $2 billion for House Appropriations Chairman David Obey's lobbyist son's projects, $3.7 billion for contracts to Sen. Diane Feinstein's husband's company, and $4.19 billion for Obama's favorite voter fraud outfit, ACORN.

When the pork-laden bill passed, Obama had the audacity to proclaim, "I'm proud that we passed a recovery plan free of earmarks."

Obama also converted the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation into instruments for nationalizing the banking system.

Under the pretense of responding to "global warming," Obama has plans to impose almost $2 trillion in cap-and-tax energy taxes -- this despite his oft-repeated pledge that 95 percent of Americans wouldn't see their taxes increased.

Obama's $3.5 trillion 2010 budget includes projections for more than $9 trillion in near-term increases of national debt. Feigning fiscal integrity, Obama demanded budget cuts of $100 million -- which is to say that even while obscenely expanding the size of government, he targeted some spending that was out of line with his ideology. For the record, $100 million represents three one-thousandths of one percent of Obama's FY 2010 budget, or approximately what the central government redistributes every 13 minutes of every hour of every day of every week of...

Harvard Economist Greg Mankiw also offered some perspective on this $100 million spending cut, noting that it's the equivalent of a family with a $100,000 income cutting a $3 latte from their budget.

Of Obama's budget, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi exclaimed, "[F]or the first time in many, many years, we have a president's budget ... that is a statement of our national values. ... It's a very happy day for our country."

Meanwhile, according to The Wall Street Journal, in February, the price of single-family homes in 20 major metropolitan areas fell 18.6 percent from the previous year, after a record 19 percent drop in January.

In the first quarter of 2009, the U.S. economy contracted at a seasonally adjusted 6.1 percent annual rate, and Americans lost more than two million jobs. No doubt Obama's bold and swift action saved four million other jobs.

Perhaps the most dangerous of all the Obama policy shifts, however, is his framing of our foreign policy with atonement for America's past, which he says has been "arrogant," "dismissive" and "derisive." In doing so, he lends credibility to the anti-American attitudes and actions of our enemies.

Some of the most telling examples of Obama's ideology are apparent in the last few of his first hundred days. For example:

Day 97: Obama's White House Military Office appointee, former Clintonista Louis Caldera, authorized a photo shoot of Air Force One over Manhattan, an event which involved the low flight of a large jet plane with two F-16s in pursuit over Ground Zero and points nearby. Because the public wasn't told, many feared another 9/11 attack was in progress.

Indeed, an FAA memo prior to the flight warned of "the possibility of public concern regarding DOD aircraft flying at low altitudes." To which Obama responded, "It, uh, was, uh, a mistake. It, uh, will never, uh, happen again."

The Air Force reported that the flight of the VC-25 (customized Boeing 747) and its two attendant F-16s cost $328,835. However, the actual cost associated with the operation of VC-25 alone, when considering all support and planning for this photo folly, was closer to $775,000 (and who knows how many Al Gore carbon credits had to be purchased to offset this operation).

On the other hand, the one-time purchase of Adobe Photoshop costs around $600.

In January, Obama chastised private sector executives for using corporate jets to commute, most of which cost $3-$5 thousand per hour to operate. The plane we taxpayers fund for Obama costs $260,000 per hour to operate, and Monday, it was cruising around without him.

Day 98: Obama's EPA administrator, Lisa Jackson, in an NPR interview about Obama's Orwellian cap-and-tax policy, remarked, "The president has said, and I couldn't agree more, that what this country needs is one single national roadmap that tells automakers, who are trying to become solvent again, what kind of car it is that they need to be designing and building for the American people."

The interviewer asks, "Is that the role of the government? That doesn't sound like free enterprise."

Jackson, obviously in need of her ObamaPrompter, replied, "Well, it, it, it is free enterprise in a way. Um, ah, you know, first and foremost, the free enterprise system has us where we are right this second. And so some would argue that the government has a much larger role to play then we might've when Henry Ford rolled the first cars off the assembly line."

Some might argue that "we are where we are" because government has played "a much larger role since Henry Ford rolled the first cars off the assembly line."

Day 99: After the media fanned the flames about a "swine flu pandemic," Obama warned, "This is obviously a serious situation, serious enough to take the utmost precautions." He then promptly applied his "Rule 1" and asked Congress for $1.5 billion in emergency funding.

Day 100: The ObamaPrompter addressed the nation yesterday, and not only did he claim, "We inherited a $1.3 trillion deficit. That wasn't me," but once again trotted this one out: "[My recovery act has already saved or created over 150,000 jobs."

We checked, and Congress sets budgets, the Democrats have controlled the Senate and House for the last two years (which coincides with the housing and financial market collapses) and Obama was in the Senate for two of those years.

As for jobs, I am sure that Obama has "saved" all our jobs! Hail Obama! Let's us all bow down to "The One."

House Minority Leader John Boehner correctly surmises, "The president's first 100 days can be summed up in three words: spending, taxing, and borrowing."

Suffice it to say, the list is as long as it is absurd, and you can bask in a litany of examples we've compiled for your reading displeasure at "The First Hundred Days."

As for "peaceful revolutions," John F. Kennedy declared in 1962, "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."

I would argue this case: "Those who undermine our republican rule of law make violent revolution inevitable."

To that end, there is some good news on the "checks and balances" front, though some may find this a bit disconcerting.

There are now more than 65 million gun-owning Patriots across this nation, many of whom have taken sacred oaths "to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic."

We stand ready to honor that oath, understanding that, in the words of John Adams, "A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever."

And the ranks of Patriots are growing.

In the last three months of 2008, Americans bought enough guns to arm the national armies of both China and India -- a total of 12.7 million guns last year. Gun sales in the first three months of 2009 were 27 percent higher year-over-year than the first three months of 2008 (which also recorded record sales).

Perhaps all these gun purchases are coincidental, not consequential. But I doubt it. As Americans begin to awaken to the reality of Obama's Socialist agenda, it will be interesting to see how his next 1,361 days unfold.

At the close of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin was asked if the delegates had formed a republic or a monarchy. "A republic," he responded, "if you can keep it."

We will see.
*****
I concur.

What If

2009-03-24T08:43:00.004-05:00

I found this video through twitter the other day. Representative Ron Paul gave this speech on February 12, 2009.

This is the original footage.

I haven't completely jumped on the Libertarian/anti-NWO band wagon, but I found Mr. Paul's questions intriguing and thought provoking.

I would love to hear your comments.

10 Years

2009-02-23T10:53:00.009-06:00

On February 13, 1999, I married Laura in small Episcopal church on the west side of Houston. Since then, God has used her to mold me into the man I am today.

I think back over the last ten years, and I see the birth of our two daughters and the adoption of our third one. I see the career changes we have made, one trying to better provide while the other sacrifices to raise and teach our children. I see the trials that have made us stronger. I see a couple learning to love more deeply everyday.

Laura, I am so grateful that God put you in my life. Every day I learn how to love more, to give more, and to be more, because you deserve more.

Besides, how can I not love a girl that can shoot like this?

I love you, Laura, and I can't wait to see what the next ten years brings.

Back At It

2009-01-08T19:45:00.012-06:00

Well, it's been some time since my last post. A lot has happened in the passing of the last two months. To start, I was laid off from my job at Pine Cove. It was a big blow. We had a bunch questions. Would we need to leave Tyler, Texas? How long would it take to get a another job? What if my severance ended before I found something else? What I did know, was that God was in charge. He would provide or He wanted to teach me something. What ever it was, I never failed to know that He loves me and he had a plan. My job was to be diligent and purposeful in all I did.

I need to mention that during this time, I was truly blessed by people that I know are my friends. One man in particular really came along side of me. We had the opportunity spend time with each other hunting and shooting. We didn't see any deer, but the time he took to listen to my ramblings, encourage me and pray for me meant more to me than anything else. To Mark; thank you.

I was only unemployed for a week. I was offered an opportunity to try something new and use my skills in a different area. So I switched from network and system management to programming, and I am loving it.

Thanksgiving day was special this year. I had some much to be grateful for. I had heard from an old friend through Facebook. He had gone through a very tough time and came out the other side with the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Now I can tell you that when Brian and I where kids, God and eternity where the last thing on our minds. If it was at all. I came to faith in 1996 after hitting a bottom in my own life. After that I had often wondered about those in my past. Had any ever came to the same point in life and saw God for who He is? I often had prayed this for Brian. To find out that my best friend from my teenage and young adult years would be there in Heaven too is more of a blessing than I can truly express.

Christmas was great. On Christmas eve, our family had a little devotional. My eight year old, Claire, read Luke's account of the first Christmas. During the whole season, the girls really tried to keep Jesus the center of their Christmas. Oh sure they had the list of gifts that they wanted, and the lists changed almost daily. But, they also continued to ask questions about Jesus and his birth. It was such a blessing to see my daughters growing in their knowledge of Him. We all got some great stuff too. I received some new games, and I'm looking forward posting some reviews soon.

We Spent New Years Eve with friends and brought in the New year with a huge fireworks display. 2008 had a few of ups and a few downs, but God was always there. God used this last year to drive me to Him. So, along with some other resolutions, I'm back at it with this blog. I hope you all will come back and see what 2009 brings.

Hockey, A Real Man's Sport

2008-11-05T11:46:00.007-06:00

As you can see, I changed the name of my blog to reflect the one other thing in the world I love to watch. That's Hockey. Now to some of my fellow native Texans, hockey seems a little confusing, too fast, and low scoring, but it's action like this that keeps me watching.

What's really cool is that Milan Lucic of the Boston Bruins, who made this hit, comes back in his next game two days later, and scored his first hat trick, that's scoring three goals in a single game. These guys are incredible athletes. They play a game schedule as rigorous as baseball, but harder hitting than football. Also, you don't hear about the players are involved in illegal extra curricular activities. They are players of a sport that can really be admired on and off the ice. As the 2008-2009 seasons moves along I'll be sharing more about the players I like and the team I'll be rooting for as we get closer to the Stanley Cup.

As for the Fans, I think this says it all.

Happy Halloween

2008-10-27T09:37:00.006-05:00

Well, Halloween is upon us. Soon all sorts of ghosts and goblins, super heroes and princess, pirates and ninjas will be hitting the streets, knocking on doors and yelling "Trick or Treat!"

Its neat seeing the kids going door to door again. During the 70's, there was a big scare of poisoned candy and razors in apples. The town I grew up in started providing Halloween Carnivals and Haunted Houses to give kids something else to do. This was all fun but it never was the same. There was something uniquely fun about putting together a costume and for one night be what ever I wanted to be going door to door.

The girls have questions about ghosts and witches and I think this is a good thing. Its an opportunity to teach them about my faith and what the Bible says. I can use Halloween to teach them about evil and keep them innocent of it.

Now, I am all about safety and protecting our kids. My girls will have flashlights. Mom or Dad will be near at hand, and of course, I will be sampling the goodies. Happy Halloween.

The McKeands

2008-10-20T09:17:00.007-05:00

When I told my wife, Laura, that I had started a blog, she said, "I hope you write about how wonderful I am." She said that jokingly, but I can tell you, she is best wife a guy could have. She is super smart, beautiful, creative and she puts up with me. God truly blessed me with a wife that is fun and a joy to share my life with. I also have three awesome daughters. They all get there beauty and wit from their Mom.

We all recently went to Crier Creek for a weekend. We had a great time. I chased Claire and Megan around doing different activities, while Laura and Stormie got a chance to reconnect. The girls rode horses and I got wet when the canoe tipped over. The food was great and Sam, the director, did a great job leading some family devotionals. We came back physically exhausted but recharged emotionally and spiritually.

We had the opportunity to think about who we are as a family. Who are the McKeands. We then derived five concepts that we could say are pillars that our family can stand on. We chose Love, Faith, Integrity, Commitment, and Fun, but the foundation is our Lord Jesus Christ. With out Jesus these "pillars" would have nothing to hold them up. You see, we are not perfect. We sometimes loose our tempers, and sometimes we say things that wish we could take back. We do a lot of things we shouldn't, but we believe that Jesus Christ was put to death on a cross for our sins and God raised him from the grave. Through this we have eternal life and we are in a relationship with the Father that allows to go to Him to seek forgiveness. We then can live our life as a family loving each other and those that God puts in our path. We find comfort in tough times because we know we are loved. We can tell the truth in all situations even when it is hard to do so. We will stick together through the good and the bad and have lots of fun along the way. That is who we are. That's the McKeands.

Lets get this thing going

2008-10-14T14:55:00.004-05:00

Well, I haven't done much with this sence I started. So I'm thinking I need to commit to at least post something once a month. I've made some changes. I added some detail to my profile and changed the color scheme. If I can find a descent picture, I'll try get that up soon. The name Hunting Games reflects my two main interests, hunting and gaming. I hope to share more about these topics as things move along. I am also very involved with my church and will be posting topics on that, and of course there is my family. With three daughters, there are a lot fun things happening in the McKeand family.

I just got a new gun and will be posting my review soon.

The First Post

2008-04-02T16:29:00.000-05:00

Well I'm doing it. I have started a web log. What will I do with this? I'm not sure. I have lots of interests I would like to write about. We'll just have to see.