Happy Star Wars Day everyone! May the Force be with you... Always.

And don't forget, these are not the droids you're looking for! :D

To those of you who aren't acquainted with Quenyan Elvish, namárië (pronounced nah-MAH-ree-ehh) translates roughly to "be well". Today in Boston, two bombs were detonated in a crowd of people watching the Boston Marathon.

I will not be so bold as to declare this an act of terror; until someone comes out and says "I did it for these reasons" it can't accurately be called such. However, I think we can all agree that whoever was behind this needs to be brought to justice. 

Please remember the families of those who were killed or injured today in your prayers, as well as those who are investigating this incident. They need divine help right now.

And now, Namárië to you, my readers. Be always vigilant, be always brave, be always virtuous.

~WH

Since the Second Amendment of the United States is under attack, I thought I would share my ideas of why it's important to be enforced to the letter. Caution, if you believe in never second-guessing the government, you may be disturbed by what follows. 

APRIL FOOLS!!!
I'm not that good at fooling people but this was my attempt. Hope you enjoyed it/groaned/thought a little green alien had taken over my website. :)


Greetings, everyone, I had an amazing experience today and I wanted to share it with you.

I was playing Skyrim this evening, modded, trying to get it stable. I have one of the glitchy copies where it freezes and quits at the most inopportune times. Anyway, I had been going strong, killing bosses like a boss :) and then suddenly, HISSSSSS! The coolant in the heat transfer system in my PC burst through the copper pipes. 

Needless to say, my nice gaming rig is totaled, the motherboard is shot and the only thing I could save was the hard drive. Luckily for me I had left the cover on the case; sometimes I like to take it off. If it had been opened I could be dealing with serious burns.

So, I guess my gaming days are over for a while, at least a few years. It will be some time before I can afford a new rig; probably after my mission. Meanwhile, I'll find less interesting things to do with my time than playing computer games 20 hours a day :)

Hope you all have a wonderful April Fools day and don't get trolled too much!

~WH

I was going through the archives, and realized that the Machine has been online for a year! In fact, I missed the anniversary by two months. Let's all wish websterhamster's Machine a happy One Year Anniversary and hope for many more!

I'd also like to thank my readers and subscribers. You really make this blog a wonderful hobby, and your comments and input have helped me see daylight during some dark times. Thank you guys, you're awesome!

And as I always say,

Namárië! (Be well)

~WH

On a Yahoo group I'm a member of, a question was asked about how a teen might discover their life's mission or career. As someone who recently went through this phase of life, I was inspired to share my experience with this, in the hopes that someone might profit.

Hello loyal readers, today I have something new to write about! I must admit finding good material can be difficult at times, but I had little hesitation on this topic.

Well, the readers have spoken! Or reader, that is. Remember when I suggested that you send me some of your ideas for posts? Well, John M. requested that I talk about the recent laws on marijuana legalization in Washington and Colorado. I'll do my best!

In November of 2012, the states of Washington and Colorado both approved laws that legalize the use of cannabis (also known as marijuana or “pot”). Proponents for the “legalization movement” have called this a major victory, and are continuing to advocate in other states as well as at the federal level.

I know I said I was on leave for a while, but I just got back from seeing The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey for the midnight premier. It was AWESOMELY EPIC and I just had to write a little review. Don't worry, I'm avoiding spoilers so you'll enjoy it just as much as I did when you see it!

Of course, I watched it in IMAX 3D, which was my second experience in a movie theater (my first was How to Train your Dragon) and my first in IMAX and 3D. I enjoyed the way things looked and felt like I was in the action!

I compared the movie to Peter Jackson's previous renditions of J.R.R. Tolkien's works, The Lord of the Rings, and I noticed a lot of differences. When you see this movie remember that this is new ground for Jackson, 3D and all.

First, and most importantly, the storyline. It seems to me that the storyline is followed very faithfully from the book, with a few alterations, all for the better. There is much more humor and funny parts, which is quite proper, considering the lighter tone of The Hobbit; watch for Bilbo's facial expressions, they really make him come to life! Indeed, the actor for young Bilbo Baggins, Martin Freeman, is a much better actor than Elijah Wood, who plays Frodo Baggins. 

Other things to note about the storyline is that it's clearly meant to be used as a starting point, with many details pointing toward Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, including tie-ins to details in the LoTR movies that aren't in the books. If you're looking for an appearance by any of the Fellowship, however, you're bound to be disappointed.

Detail is astounding in this movie. Everything you see is well thought out and shows a great deal of care. Nothing in this version of Middle-Earth appears cheap or half-finished (except perhaps the entrance to Dol Guldur...) and everything has that flavor of High Fantasy that we've come to love from Tolkien's works.

To summarize (because I really have to go to bed :): The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is an excellent movie, and I deem the ~$50 spent on tickets for my mom, brother, and I for last night to be extremely well spent. Although the theater was NOT filled up (I guess not everyone wanted to see it in IMAX 3D) I believe this will be a hit and I strongly urge anyone who can to see it or get it when it comes out on DVD. Single sentence summary: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be heralded as the best movie of 2012 and will be seen as a groundbreaking achievement in the history of cinematography in our society's history.


I'm glad you took the time to read my review and I hope if you haven't already that you subscribe to receive more goodness from the Machine!

As always,

Namárië! (and good night!)

~WH