The Return of the Geek...
Why, yes, Frank, I am a geek (c'mon, man, I had written as many or more posts than you to your 'geekdom' site...which reminds me, I should do another one...although paintball is a little active for your average geek). I had a good time...I'm stiff and sore in places that I'd forgotten were part of my body, but I only got two tender spots from paintballs. I'll put a pic of the one on my collarbone up later, maybe (although it's far from the most atrocious hit I've ever taken...but I rarely bruise, and the best bruises I get from paintball are always when I get shot right on a bone. Usually, it's a rib...)
I don't think I actually had anyone swear at me this year...I did have one guy flip me off after I shot him in the back (and then, as he was walking back to his dead zone, he told three of his team-mates where I was hiding so they came looking for me--sore loser...) I REALLY love the rule they started the second year we had Predators in this game...after having to let so many people go the first year, out of not wanting to shoot them in the back from three feet away when they dropped for cover behind the bush I was hiding in, they made the rule that Predators can call a person out if they are within ten feet or so of where we're hiding. That's actually how I got most of my 'kills' this year.
The best was a string of three guys. I was tucked into the scrub trees at the top of a small ridge, just off a little path that went up over the top of the ridge. The Mercenary team had a couple of guys nestled in under a tree on one side of the ridge, and the Marine team had a whole string of guys that came up from the other side of the ridge. When the Mercs started shooting, the Marines started fanning out, looking for a good angle of fire.
The first guy I saw coming up 'my' path was a given, but I figured I'd be leaving after I got him, because there were five other guys at the base of the trail...once he walked out, surely they'd know I was there. On the other hand, I couldn't just let him go, because once he realized I was there, he'd most likely panic and turn around and start shooting from two feet away (I know, it's happened to me). So I figured I'd get the one and move on...levelled my marker at him and waited for him to come into the clear.
"Player, I'm a Predator. You're out."
He turned, looked at me for a second, then picked up his marker and walked off the field. Unlike another player previously mentioned, this one was a good sport...didn't say a word, just kept going right past his teammates. Now, I thought, surely...a man just walked past them, marker in the air, and had not called himself 'hit'...someone will do the math...
No. Thirty seconds later, another guy came up the trail. I repeated the routine, calling him out...and he, too, walked away cleanly.
Now, certainly, someone had to figure...
Forty-five seconds later (give or take), ANOTHER guy came up the path. Once again, I covered him with the marker and waited for him to come cleanly into my sights, then called him out.
This guy gave me one of the best laughs I've had all week. For a second, it was like he couldn't believe what had happened. He just turned and looked at me...or what he could see of me behind my marker, since the muzzle was only about a foot away from his mask...for about five seconds or so. Then he just said, "Okay," and walked off.
At that point, I figured the Marines needed the trail more than I did. Besides, my mask was starting to fog up, and eventually, someone was going to realize that guys kept walking out of that trail with no paint on them...and when they did, if they went par for the realization, there would be five guys come up the trail with paint flying in advance, and I just didn't want to be part of that. I got up, climbed out of the bushes, and walked off the field to go clean my mask.
I'd have to say, for each guy I actually shot out of the game, there were two that I just called out. I've got a trick I want to try next year...almost tried it this year, but I wasn't feeling quite that reckless--wait in the bushes until a squad passes me, then get out and follow them and tag individuals out with either my hand or gun barrel...
Yeah, I'm a little cocky sometimes. Playing Predator is one of the few places where I indulge myself.
In other events, the film premiere was pretty good. Our spoof was far from the best film of the night (and I didn't even stay for the whole thing)...but for what it was intended to be, it was pretty good (as the director explained it, this was his point of highlighting all the ridiculous stuff George Lucas did with the prequels, that just killed them as far as his enjoying them--things like multi-bladed lightsabers, droids that serve no recognizable function, characters that exist only for comic relief, etc...) It was also paced like the majority of the prequels...a little on the slow and expository side...
But I still enjoyed it...both watching it and having done it. I'm hoping to work with the same director again...we did a short fantasy film (my first opportunity working with him, and a MUCH better film than the spoof), which he wants to expand into a feature-length story. We've started bouncing some ideas around, and we'll see what happens (he's having to massively revise his story idea, because our lead actor had some health issues and lost a LOT of weight and a few teeth--he wasn't a particularly large guy in the first place, built kind of like me--tall, lanky, wiry...so I can only imagine what he looks like now.) I'm hoping to actually have a part (a significant part) in the expansion of the story, as opposed to having to watch the short and say, "Okay, see the Marauder with the bow right there? That's me...and this clip right here of the monster, that's me...and that's my hand..."
But, y'know, even if it wasn't a great acting gig, it was a great costume and prop gig (I made two scabbards, a bunch of arrows, decorated several bows, and chased down and modified a lot of the armor). And the short actually got specifically designated for the costuming at the Hollywood DV Festival--considering the fact that there were dozens of shorts entered, that's nothing to scoff at. I'm still waiting to get my copy of the DVD (our cinematographer was putting it together...on top of being a perfectionist, he's also ridiculously over-booked, so DVD production has been languishing in limbo for two years or so, now...)
Yep, I'm a geek...but it suits me. Being a geek is actually kinda fun, y'know? I know a lot of non-geeks who don't have as much fun as I do...
Why, yes, Frank, I am a geek (c'mon, man, I had written as many or more posts than you to your 'geekdom' site...which reminds me, I should do another one...although paintball is a little active for your average geek). I had a good time...I'm stiff and sore in places that I'd forgotten were part of my body, but I only got two tender spots from paintballs. I'll put a pic of the one on my collarbone up later, maybe (although it's far from the most atrocious hit I've ever taken...but I rarely bruise, and the best bruises I get from paintball are always when I get shot right on a bone. Usually, it's a rib...)
I don't think I actually had anyone swear at me this year...I did have one guy flip me off after I shot him in the back (and then, as he was walking back to his dead zone, he told three of his team-mates where I was hiding so they came looking for me--sore loser...) I REALLY love the rule they started the second year we had Predators in this game...after having to let so many people go the first year, out of not wanting to shoot them in the back from three feet away when they dropped for cover behind the bush I was hiding in, they made the rule that Predators can call a person out if they are within ten feet or so of where we're hiding. That's actually how I got most of my 'kills' this year.
The best was a string of three guys. I was tucked into the scrub trees at the top of a small ridge, just off a little path that went up over the top of the ridge. The Mercenary team had a couple of guys nestled in under a tree on one side of the ridge, and the Marine team had a whole string of guys that came up from the other side of the ridge. When the Mercs started shooting, the Marines started fanning out, looking for a good angle of fire.
The first guy I saw coming up 'my' path was a given, but I figured I'd be leaving after I got him, because there were five other guys at the base of the trail...once he walked out, surely they'd know I was there. On the other hand, I couldn't just let him go, because once he realized I was there, he'd most likely panic and turn around and start shooting from two feet away (I know, it's happened to me). So I figured I'd get the one and move on...levelled my marker at him and waited for him to come into the clear.
"Player, I'm a Predator. You're out."
He turned, looked at me for a second, then picked up his marker and walked off the field. Unlike another player previously mentioned, this one was a good sport...didn't say a word, just kept going right past his teammates. Now, I thought, surely...a man just walked past them, marker in the air, and had not called himself 'hit'...someone will do the math...
No. Thirty seconds later, another guy came up the trail. I repeated the routine, calling him out...and he, too, walked away cleanly.
Now, certainly, someone had to figure...
Forty-five seconds later (give or take), ANOTHER guy came up the path. Once again, I covered him with the marker and waited for him to come cleanly into my sights, then called him out.
This guy gave me one of the best laughs I've had all week. For a second, it was like he couldn't believe what had happened. He just turned and looked at me...or what he could see of me behind my marker, since the muzzle was only about a foot away from his mask...for about five seconds or so. Then he just said, "Okay," and walked off.
At that point, I figured the Marines needed the trail more than I did. Besides, my mask was starting to fog up, and eventually, someone was going to realize that guys kept walking out of that trail with no paint on them...and when they did, if they went par for the realization, there would be five guys come up the trail with paint flying in advance, and I just didn't want to be part of that. I got up, climbed out of the bushes, and walked off the field to go clean my mask.
I'd have to say, for each guy I actually shot out of the game, there were two that I just called out. I've got a trick I want to try next year...almost tried it this year, but I wasn't feeling quite that reckless--wait in the bushes until a squad passes me, then get out and follow them and tag individuals out with either my hand or gun barrel...
Yeah, I'm a little cocky sometimes. Playing Predator is one of the few places where I indulge myself.
In other events, the film premiere was pretty good. Our spoof was far from the best film of the night (and I didn't even stay for the whole thing)...but for what it was intended to be, it was pretty good (as the director explained it, this was his point of highlighting all the ridiculous stuff George Lucas did with the prequels, that just killed them as far as his enjoying them--things like multi-bladed lightsabers, droids that serve no recognizable function, characters that exist only for comic relief, etc...) It was also paced like the majority of the prequels...a little on the slow and expository side...
But I still enjoyed it...both watching it and having done it. I'm hoping to work with the same director again...we did a short fantasy film (my first opportunity working with him, and a MUCH better film than the spoof), which he wants to expand into a feature-length story. We've started bouncing some ideas around, and we'll see what happens (he's having to massively revise his story idea, because our lead actor had some health issues and lost a LOT of weight and a few teeth--he wasn't a particularly large guy in the first place, built kind of like me--tall, lanky, wiry...so I can only imagine what he looks like now.) I'm hoping to actually have a part (a significant part) in the expansion of the story, as opposed to having to watch the short and say, "Okay, see the Marauder with the bow right there? That's me...and this clip right here of the monster, that's me...and that's my hand..."
But, y'know, even if it wasn't a great acting gig, it was a great costume and prop gig (I made two scabbards, a bunch of arrows, decorated several bows, and chased down and modified a lot of the armor). And the short actually got specifically designated for the costuming at the Hollywood DV Festival--considering the fact that there were dozens of shorts entered, that's nothing to scoff at. I'm still waiting to get my copy of the DVD (our cinematographer was putting it together...on top of being a perfectionist, he's also ridiculously over-booked, so DVD production has been languishing in limbo for two years or so, now...)
Yep, I'm a geek...but it suits me. Being a geek is actually kinda fun, y'know? I know a lot of non-geeks who don't have as much fun as I do...
posted by Curtis at 9:17 AM
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