Rippen

Hmm...smells like jello to me... ------------------ Cmdr. Ross "Rippen" Banta GCV Abaddon, Starbase Hades Wing Leader, Wraith Fleet/Hell Hound Wing "Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war!"

Ah, the joys of knowing people who know people. I've already got my copy of Pitch Black! This movie rocks the casbah. Albeit it's only on VHS, so I have to wait for the DVD like the rest of you fine folks. But for now NYAH NYAH NYAH!!

Holy (add your own explicative)! Looks like I got back just in time! Ok Tac, quit your worryin', I'm back. No need to go and KIA anybody, at least not yet! The Hell Hounds are in good hands. You may notice in my sig that my ship name has changed. Well, theres a reason behind that, which will all be revealed in the story section inside the soon-to-be-online Hell Hound Central. I trust it will be a good read. Rippen out. ------------------ Cmdr. Ross "Rippen" Banta GCV Abaddon *1st Squadron, *Hell Hounds Stationed, *Starbase Hades "Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war!" ICQ# 7311086 EST =WRAITH FLEET=

Well, I'm about to partake on a grand adventure! I'm headed off to the eastern shores of the grand U.S. of A! In a weeks time, I will be moving to Charleston, South Carolina. This is also the first time I will be totally on my own, away from any type of help (gulp!), so wish me luck! It's kind of refreshing to start everything anew. The downside is, is that my computer gets packed tomorrow, and I have no idea how long till I have access again. So, I just wanted to say farewell, and I hope to speak to y'all sooner than later! It's been a real pleasure being part of this community, and after reading the SC's recent interview, I'm pleased to leave with a smile on my face. Oh yeah, if any of you live near that area, drop an email. I'm sure to get it sooner or later Adios! ------------------ Cmdr. Ross "Rippen" Banta GCV Olympus Belle *1st Squadron, *Hell Hounds Stationed, *Starbase Hades "Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war!" ICQ# 7311086 EST =WRAITH FLEET=

Bravo, SC. Bravo! This ought to bring in some fresh fish ripe for my gunsights. Yeehaw! Keep'em comin'!

It was a dark and stormy nightwait, scratch that. It was a pretty descent day. Gas prices were high, people still drove like epileptic monkeys on crack, and that little boy with the limp was still passed out on the corner of Main and Newburgh. I was walking along, and a strange man dressed in black, with a dark X on his suit came up to me. Hey bub, you wanna see a movie tonight? he asked. Well, I have some stuff to do toni SNIKT! A large blade was pointed at my jugular. Surprisingly, the blade came from the mans knuckle. Let me rephrase, he said, you wanna see a movie tonight? Yes, I managed to squeak, Ill clear my shedule. So thats how I found myself at the theaters that night, hanging around all these other kids who have obviously had the same near pant-wetting experience as me. And we were all clueless as to what we were going to experience. Thats when these men dressed in black came out and started herding us into the theater. The lights dimmed and a hushed silence flowed over the crowd. Thats when the pre-previews started. Ah, I though, Ive died and gone to hell. Fantastic. After about 10 minutes of pre-preview nonsense, the real previews came on. Nothing exceptional, with the exception of The Hollow Man, which looks like it could be cool. Curiously, there was no X-men trailer. Well, I thought, maybe next time. Then Patrick Stewarts voice flows over the theatera preview? Hes talking about mutants, and how some people evolve faster than othersYES!! Opening special effects, then the words X-MEN fall onto the screenHOLY CRAP MOTHER OF ALL THAT IS HOLY YES!!!!!!!!!! Ok, so how was it? Well, I was going into this movie preparing to be disappointed. I thought it as going to be mediocre at best. You see, I am a huge X-men fan. I loved the comic books. I have a shrine dedicated in my basement to all the comics that Ive collected, the majority of them X-men, all in mint condition. Right, get a life you say I watched the cartoon religiously. I was completely stoked when I heard they were making the movie. I was also dreading it. It would be so easy to mess up. I hope they do it right. Well, I can tell you this: They did it right, and then some! Everything about this movie rocks. I mean everything. Cyclops is just what I pictured Cyclops to be (though a tad bit on the young side). Jean Grey was awesome. Rogue was fantastic, and her southern accent was dead on. Magneto and Xavier were phenomenal. Every seen where they were together had so much energy, and it was just damn cool. And Wolverine. OhmyGod!!! Hugh Jackman is Wolverine. Hugh Jackman is Logan. Every time he is onscreen he emits this wave of badassness. This man is going to be a star. The bad guys were also sweet. Mystique was so evil I hated her by the end of the movie, and the fight between her and Wolverine is just jaw droppingly cool. Ray Park, the same guy who did Darth Maul, played toad. Ray Park is definitely going to be a star playing bad guys from now on. His movements are perfect! My only gripe is that Sabertooth has been reduced to a henchman, but I suspect his true motivations will come out in the sequel (knock on wood.) So go see this movie. You will not be disappointed. Youll want to see it again. And again. And again. When the movie was over, the first thing I thought was I want more! So heres me giving to props to Fox and Brian Singer for one: not messing it up, and two: making a kick ass movie. ------------------ Cmdr. Ross "Rippen" Banta GCV Olympus Belle *1st Squadron, *Hell Hounds Stationed, *Starbase Hades "Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war!" ICQ# 7311086 EST =WRAITH FLEET=

I'm gonna put some hydraulics on that bad boy, turn up my bumps, then go pick up some honeys around the rings of Saturn. Then I'll get my groove on, Shaft style, on Europa. Can I get a 'hell yeah!'

*sheepishly peers around a busted crate* I like the Final Fantasy series... I've always had a special place in my heart for console RPGs. Final Fantasy on the NES was my first, so I hold that high above everything else. I also enjoyed Baldur's Gate (booty smackin'), Fallout (phunkalicious), Fallout 2 (also phunkalicious), System Shock 2(bad as hell jusk like my man Sam L. Jackson), and Diablo (it was fun, so sue me!) I'm also looking forward to Anachronox and Deus Ex, which I hope will both kick some major behind. Hopefully they won't follow in the path of Daikatana (which, incidentally, wasn't bad, just very unoriginal.)

I remember, a long time ago, when Transformers: The Movie came out. I remember being totally blown away by how awesomely cool that movie was. But the most memorable thing, I think, was that crazy song "You've got the touch" that played when ever the Autobots started to kick ass. In fact, those cheesy songs where pretty dominant during the 80's, but hey, I thought they were cool. Fast forward to the future. I went to see Titan AE last night. I had no idea what to expect, being as that I've never seen a Don Bluth animated feature before. Let me just say that I will see anything, anything, that Don Bluth puts out in the future. I can't remember the last time I actually had fun at a movie. The movie, at it's simplist, is the same old story of "Father abandons boy to save mankind while the world blows up." Yeah, we've all seen that one before Anyway, while the story may be a tad cliche, the execution is marvelous! The visuals of spanning space vistas and "Jules Verne" inspired space craft are worth the price of admission. The voice acting, while a little cheesy at times, is dead on. You'll cheer for the heros, boo the bad guys when they do bad guy things, and applaud at the end when good triumphs over evil! Oh yeah, and theres pretty cool rock songs scattered throughout the picture, similar to the classic Transformers: The Movie. Sure, there at tad funny at times, but I couldn't help feeling like a little kid in the theaters again, watching Autobots trash Decepticons, or gast when Optimus was shot by the treacherous Megatron! If your a fan of the space/drama/action genre (which I know all of you reading this are) go see Titan A.E. You won't be dissapointed! ------------------ Cmdr. Ross "Rippen" Banta GCV Olympus Belle *1st Squadron, *Hell Hounds Stationed, *Starbase Hades "Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war!" ICQ# 7311086 EST =WRAITH FLEET= [This message has been edited by Rippen (edited 06-17-2000).]

I say have the different parties fight it out! Have a political "Rage in the Cage!" They could even have their own theme songs as the different poloticians walk down the walkway to the ring! Whoever has the most brawns would be the President - and get to wear the Championship Gold Belt! Granted, this has many downsides, but hey, wouldn't it be fun to watch! ... Ventura for President!! P.S. aramike, I just paid $2.19 for gas today. Friggin' rediculous. ------------------ Cmdr. Ross "Rippen" Banta GCV Olympus Belle *1st Squadron, *Hell Hounds Stationed, *Starbase Hades "Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war!" ICQ# 7311086 EST =WRAITH FLEET= [This message has been edited by Rippen (edited 06-15-2000).]

Ok, I know this is kinda goofy, but I just picked up System Shock 2 at CompUSA for $16 bucks (normally it's 20, but I get a feaky-deaky discount). Anyway, this game rules!! I was totally blown away!! I was expecting a Half Life clone (one of my favorites), but this game, IMHO, blows Half Life away!! Have any of you guys played the original System Shock? Is it on the same lines as SS2? Know where I can get it?

Tac: Neutrinos can go through solid objects like it was nobodys business! Rippen: That's right! Nuetrinos are one bad mutha- Tac: Match yo mouth! Rippen: Just talkin bout Neutrinos! Anyway, to expand on what Tack said: A particle traveling at several times the speed of light still has to travel the same space as a particle traveling at the speed of light. It is only percieved to jump from point to point. If you want something to jump from point to point, you have to fold space. That's a whole other can of worms...er, wormholes that is.

This sounds kind of like Micheal Moorcock's "Multiverse." Fantastic fiction...or if this discussion proves to be fact...well, who knows. I must say, this is definately the most intriguing thread I have ever read. Now I have questions of my own: At what velocity does a particle have to travel to "break" out of our universe and into another theoretically going back in time? What that implies is there really is a speed limit to the universe, it's just much greater than we originally percieved. That at velocity x, the actual time (not relative time) it takes for an object to get from one point to another is the the smallest amount of "actual time" possible. At x+1, enough energy is created to send the object back one smallest unit of time, which causes a different universe to branch off because the same matter/energy can't exist in the same universe without destroying itself. So, in essence, the creation of a new universe is a defensive property, or a survival instinct. Sounds like a living being to me. One more question: in the new universe created, the object, let's say the ship, appears at it's destination at 8:59, one minute before it leaves. Now, according to the thoery, a new universe is branched off at 8:59. What I'm wondering is, what happened to the ship that left at 9:00? Is the new universe just a slightly different one, where the ship left at the exact same time it arrived, instead of 9:00? Will the ships departure time record itself as 9:00 or 8:59 in the new universe? Since matter can't be created, something had to take it's place, or be exchanged when the ship jumped universes...right? Ouch...I think I just pulled something. Time to go lie down and think of midgets... edit: Just had a really funny thought: If they make engines that can travel faster than light and decide to name it after the person who discovered it we'd have...(drum roll)...the WANG DRIVE! Sounds like a porn space opera... [This message has been edited by Rippen (edited 06-09-2000).]

Yup, I would definately say this is the summers first (well, second, I loved Gladiator) blockbuster hit. I would have to say though, that the biggest star is John Woo. Everything in this movie has his "special" touch to it. From all the slow motion, double gunned, butt kicking, action packed, Tom Cruise being a badass, rock the house scenes to the "Impossible" plot, this movie is DA BOMB! Just leave your sense of reality at the door, buy your tub of popcorn, and have a good time. Oh yeah, we can't forget the required doves...always have to have a white dove in a John Woo flick...coooooooooool...

So here we are, sitting at the Disney head corporate office. Someone says "Let's make a movie about Dinosaurs!" Another person says "Yeah! That's a really good idea!" Then another person says "It can be short, only about an 1 hour and 20 minutes long, but we can make it seem to drag on forever!" "Good idea! Instead of making the dinosaurs look real, let's make them look all cartoony, give them American personalities, and have them move like they were ordinary people! I mean come on, who wants to see dinosaurs move like dinosaurs?!?" "Alright, let's start writing the script...I happen to have the Disney cliche book right here! We'll just throw everything in..." And that, my friends, is how "Dinosaur" was made. Pretty sad if you ask me. Cartoony dinosaurs = suck Plot reminiscent of the past 7 Disney films = suck Script that is basically one cliche after another = suck D.B. Sweeny as a dinosaur = suck If you want to see a kick ass show about Dinosaurs, check out the Discovery Channels "Walking With Dinosaurs." That is by far a superior film... Geeze, what's with all these lame movies coming out...first Battlefield Earth, now Dinosaur...things arn't looking to good for MI:2... ------------------ Cmdr. Ross "Rippen" Banta GCV Olympus Belle *1st Squadron, *Hell Hounds Stationed, *Starbase Hades "Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war!" ICQ# 7311086 EST =WRAITH FLEET=

Just saw Gladiator! From the moment this movie starts, you know that this is going to be a kick butt movie! The acting is top notch, and the directing is phenomanal!! Ridley Scott is a GOD! Russle Crowe is the epitome of "badass". River Phoenix's brother is kinda whiney, but I guess that's the way he's supposed to be, so he did a good job. Of course, then theirs the gladiator scenes, which rock the boat, then tilt the boat over. I did a Keanu impression many times...."woa!" Anyway, go see it. It's kinda long (around 2.5 hours), but it's worth it.

Just saw the specs for ATI's Radeon thingy... Wow! Talk about power! From the press release, this looks to be the end all-be all of cards. It seems to do everything, and do it better than anybody else! Whew! I mean, jeeze, this card has 128 MB of memory. If I get this card, I'll have mroe RAM in my graphics card than on my motherboard! I'll finally be able to play Quake 3 at 1600x1200, full details, full scene antialiasing, at around 500 fps. Of course, by next week, it will be obsolete. Why ever buy anything? ------------------ Cmdr. Ross "Rippen" Banta GCV Olympus Belle *1st Squadron, *Hell Hounds Stationed, *Starbase Hades "Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war!" ICQ# 62819463 EST =WRAITH FLEET=

Heya Tac, Just writing you to let you know I havn't forgot about the Hounds. There still in good hands. The last few weeks have been kinda hectic, what with the end of school and working non-stop. Hell Hound HQ on Mars is currently under construction. I'm pretty excited about it. I've got some cool stuff in the works for the site (depending on how well I know my HTML), and some nifty ideas for MP. Just wanted to let you know that I'm still here...I'm just hiding in the shadows ------------------ Cmdr. Ross "Rippen" Banta GCV Olympus Belle *1st Squadron, *Hell Hounds Stationed, *Starbase Hades "Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war!" ICQ# 62819463 EST =WRAITH FLEET=

aramike, my deepest condolences. I can't imagine, nor do I wish to imagine, what such a loss feels like. Whenever I'm down, I like to recall this little poem that goes something like this: May the road rise up to meet you, May the wind be always at your back, May the sun shine warm upon your shoulders, And the rain fall soft upon your fields. But until we meet again May God hold you in the palm of his hand. -An Irish Blessing ------------------ Cmdr. Ross "Rippen" Banta GCV Olympus Belle *1st Squadron, *Hell Hounds Stationed, *Starbase Hades "Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war!" ICQ# 62819463 EST =WRAITH FLEET=

I turned 21 on March 18th. I'm just now emerging from the coma. And they thought a person couldn't down 5 Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters in a row...

*slightly off key* Happy Birthday to you, From all of your crew, You look like a Gammulan, And you have a slightly ill-tempered disposition like one too!! Happy Birthday SC

[rp] ....incoming transmission.... ******GALCOM NEWS BULLITEN****** Olympus Mons; Mars Commonwealth The Gammulan invasion has begun! Terror looms over the friendly planets of the Terran government! War is eminant! But our friends at GALCOM have assured our safety. Construction has just begun on Starbase Hades, home to the Hell Hounds, commanded by Cmdr. Ross "Rippen" Banta of Wraith Fleet! Join Wraith Fleet today and see if you have what it takes to be a Hell Hound and stop the Gammulan invasion! Remember, everyone is doing their part! Are you doing yours? Join today!! *message paid for by your friends at GALCOM [/rp] ------------------ Cmdr. Ross "Rippen" Banta GCV Olympus Belle *1st Squadron, *Hell Hounds Stationed, *Starbase Hades "Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war!" ICQ# 62819463 EST =WRAITH FLEET= [This message has been edited by Rippen (edited 03-20-2000).]

Ok Hounds, it's time to get in gear. This is the Hell Hounds roll call ladies. Line'em up! All commanders are required to have the proper sig. Anyone not spoting the correct sig will have to answer directly to Fleet Commander Tac, then to me. And you don't want to get to me. Spit and polish lads, that's what this is all about! Now move it!! ------------------ Cmdr. Ross "Rippen" Banta GCV Olympus Belle *1st Squadron, *Hell Hounds Stationed, Starbase Hades "Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war!" ICQ# 62819463 EST =WRAITH FLEET=

I'd like to tell a story. Down in good 'ole Missouri, there is a little resturaunt called "Smokehouse." Now, the Smokehouse doesn't advertise. "Then how do they stay in business," you ask. Well, when people drive by, they get a whiff of the fantastic Bar-B-Qing going on inside. They think, "damn, that smells sweet!" So they go in. They have dinner, then tell their friends about how great this resteraunt is. So in the 10 years Smokehouse has been in business, they've never had to advertise. They're just the best at what they do. Battlecruiser is the same way. I found out about Battlecruiser slowly, through the net. I didn't read in any magazine or online article how BC was the "be all, end all of games." I heard that from players. I heard it in bits and pieces around the net. Then I found this site. I got a whiff of the greatness. Then I went and bought my copy on v2.0. I had my dinner. Now I sing it's praises to anyone who will listen. Hype is nothing more than hype. Judge something on what you think it is, not what some pompous journalist tells you it is. ------------------ Cmdr. Ross "Rippen" Banta GCV Olympus Belle *1st Squadron, *Hell Hounds Stationed, Starbase Hades "Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war!" ICQ# 62819463 EST =WRAITH FLEET= [This message has been edited by Rippen (edited 03-13-2000).]

Official logo submitted boss! Time to show that Hammerhead pride! ------------------ Cmdr. Ross "Rippen" Banta GCV Olympus Belle *1st Squadron, *Hell Hounds Stationed, Starbase Hades "Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war!" ICQ# 62819463 EST =WRAITH FLEET=