An Atlantis in Eberron?

Well, its not impossible, actually. A city under the sea is a staple of the Genre. Keith and Wizards describe such a sunken city under the Aventi Isles near Sarlona. Called Aventi, it's Eberron's answer to Atlantis.

Not that anyone would try to go there, but it's there. Under the waves. Just waiting for a couple of intrepid explorers from Khorvaire to explore. It's nothing personal, just a way to spend a good couple of weekends looking around for an ancient civilization. After all, what will you expect to find? A stargate? :D

National Association of Photoshop Professionals

I joined the National Association of Photoshop Professionals today. Call me crazy, call me anything you want, I just joined them. I joined them to get a discount on Matt Kloskowski's book on layers. Layers: The Complete Guide to Photoshop's Most Powerful Feature, which you can get for $23.99 as a member of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals. For the price of signing up, I've got some nice benefits. Like watching back episodes of Photshop User T.V. at any time I like. I even get issues of Photoshop User Magazine (YAY!).

Next Time: Schrodinger's Cat -- Doing a report on the Thought Experiment that changed Quantum Physics.

Manufactured Beauty

The Next Part of exploring Photoshop is the manufactured beauty. I can enhance the beauty of models taken in a photograph now. So, this means that all beauty shots you see in magazines, including the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, is potentially manufactured.

For instance, take this photo of a Latina I recently purchased from Canstockphoto. It's a perfect photo to work in manufactured or enhanced beauty. She has a few flaws that can be edited out and worked out with the CloneStamp tool. Notice the large mole on her body and the mole on her face.

Although at the time of this writing, I already have Photoshop opened and ready to use. In fact, I used Photoshop to change the DPI of this picture from 300 (print quality) to 72 (screen quality). So, lets use the Clone Stamp tool to first remove the blemishes to make her more presentable for certain magazines.

1. I revert the Photo back to it's original size (from 72 DPI to 300 DPI). And I first go into my layers palette and clone the background as it's own layer. This insures that the editing I do is non-destructive to the original photo.

2. I first zoom on the first blemish, the large mole on her body, and select the clone stamp tool. With the first blemish removed, I can work on the bigger blemish.

3. I zoomed in on the mole on her face. Again, using the clone stamp tool, I proceed to erase it.

With these two erased, the photo now looks like this:

But I am not finished enhancing her yet. I can increase the size of her eyes to make her look much more cute. Still working from the Layer, I proceed to enhance her eyes.

4. I create a mask around her left eye, and then port it over to its own layer.
5. Next, I use the Free Transform tool to ever so slightly make her eyes bigger.
6. With that complete, I proceed to combine the Enhanced Beauty layer with the two eye layers.

Now, I venture to take care of any blemishes at once by enhancing the beauty over all using Smart Filters.

7. By setting up two gaussian blurs: one to darken and one to lighten. I then set the pixelation to about 10, and work with the median noise filter to set up some noise at 12 pixels.
8. Using a Brush to brush out some areas I want to show through on the layer mask, I proceed to do her eyes and her lips and other areas I want to show through. Like her belly button.
9. Finally, I reduce the opacity of the smart filters which creates a softened effect.
10. Keeping her smart filters in the orginal PSD, I get this result:

So, since I have manufactured beauty with Photoshop, changing a true unadulterated picture of a woman ready for the gym into a photo that is magazine ready, you can see for yourself how beauty is manipulated and enhanced for the printed page.

The Athenian Democracy

The Athenian Democracy

By Elton Robb


The Athenian Democracy is one of the models our Republic was founded on. For the people of Athens, Democracy gave power to the demos. Which means, power to the people, power to the village, and power to the Assembly. How the Athenian Democracy worked was that a citizen, which was typically an Athenian man of Athenian parents, could participate in the Assembly and add his voice to government affairs.

How the democracy worked was that it was divided into a number of branches, all served by the people of Athens. The branches of the Athenian Democracy included the Assembly, the Council of Five Hundred, and the People’s Court. These three main branches were supplemented by other branches of the Democracy. These other branches are the Council of the Areopagus, the Archons, and the generals. Each had a role to play. Legislation was carried on by the Assembly and the Council, with committees of lawmakers or lawyers presenting new laws for review. While the archons and the generals played a role in the Athenian Democracy, they were servants of the Demos. Unlike how our republic works now, where the President of the United States is chief of the Executive Branch and represents our nation to the world, the Archons who acted as President served the people.

In the Assembly was where the real power of an Athenian Democracy was held. The Assembly (or Ekklesia, the word where Ecclesiastes comes from) was the regular gathering of Athenian men who enacted their duties as part of the Legislative branch. In the Assembly the citizen voted on decrees that affected every aspect of Athenian life. Including your public life and your private life. They also voted on decrees that dealt with matters of commerce, finance, religion, war, festivities, and treaties with foreign powers such as Egypt or Israel. In the Assembly, you had an opportunity to speak your mind and to exercise your voting rights daily. It seems to be the perfect government. But no government is perfect.

Every government has its dark side. A democracy is no exception. In our republic, we send representatives to Washington to represent the Voice of the People in each of our three branches of Government: the Legislative, the Executive, and the Judicial. We often do not know what goes on in Washington, unless you want to watch C-SPAN for much of the day. Thus we have no idea what sort of laws are being passed. The Athenian Democracy is worse than our Republic. Since all the power is held by the People, at any one time the people can turn on a citizen and try him for false crimes.

It was by the will of the people that Socrates was murdered by hemlock. After being defeated by Sparta, the Athenians looked for anyone to lay the blame of their defeat on. They chose Socrates. A man who was ugly by Athenian standards, who dressed like a pauper, and debated like any expert citizen. Socrates, who revolutionized philosophical thought, was the scapegoat for Athens defeat.

So, the qestion is: is a pure Athenian Democracy a government that can work in our day? The answer is no. The Athenian Democracy can only work if a bare maximum of two hundred thousand citizens are participating. The Athenian Democracy is a flawed government when dealng with populations as large as the United States of America. A true Democracy is grossly inefficient for our day and our time. Our government was framed as a Republic, meaning we elect representatives to represent us in our government. Although inefficient, our government does not depend on three million citizens to provide a voice. However, the Athenian Democracy did work, as it is a form of mob rule. In today’s world, with so many people in government seeking power over others, the truly efficient form of government is government of one’s own self.

Caesarism, Two Cows . . .

After being exposed to the "two cows, government" website, I thought I'd do some more.

Under Julius Caesar, you have two Cows. You raise them for the glory of Caesar, who comes along and takes them for the glory of the Republic. When you protest, Caesar explains that he's the Master of them all.

Under Augustus Caesar, you have two cows. Caeser says that your cows are better than any other cows because they are morally upright and worship the old cow gods. He also makes you proud to have your cows, because you no longer have to take care of them. although he takes care of them, while cow talking to the cow council for advice. The cow council thinks they are in charge, while Augustus owns all the cows.

The Athenian Democracy, two Cows . . .

In an Athenian Democracy, you have two cows. You want bigger pasture, so you and your friends go to the assembly to vote on whether to allow you to expand your pasture for your cows.

In an Athenian Democracy gone bad, you have two cows. Your friends are jealous that you have the cows so they vote to take your cows away. They also make up a charge that your herding methods are corrupting the Athenian Youth, so they vote to make you drink Hemlock.

Under Libertarian thought, you have two cows. Your libertarian friends will fight for your rights to keep your cows.

Under the extreme radical feminism: you have two cows. The feminazis come along and convince your cows that they are bulls.

Come to Atlantis

Atlantis Returns . . . Come to Atlantis, the Lost Continent. . . .

I am working with Storn Cook to illustrate my vision of Atlantis. A place of fantastic imagination and energy in motion. Storn is a fantasy artist. Here's an example:

The picture is that of the Magian, a character in the Birthright Campaign Setting. The Magian is an awnshegh lich, meaning he's an undead character with the blood of a god pumping through his veins. As you can tell, Storn Cook is a good artist. With a few good things

And now, a final review of Atlantis campaign and Roleplaying Game options:


ATLANTIS: THE SECOND AGE!

Note: This is not a playtest review.

Atlantis the Second Age is a beautiful book on the Second Age of Atlantis, the lost civilization described by Plato. It also happens to be a Roleplaying Game and it uses the Omni System.

Written by Scott Agnew, Atlantis the Second Age is a roleplaying game based off of the Bard Games' original -- Atlantis the Second Age. I never played the original game, so I can't say how faithful it actually is to the original version.

the cover itself is a gorgeous cover. Queen Isis in the foreground, with part of the Atlantean city behind her. The book details many civilizations from those in North America to those in ancient China and Khemit (Egypt).

The omni system is easy enough to play, with a few additions from the d20 System (3.5 of course). It's also faster than the d20 system, by all appearances. You still use the d20 die, making it a d20 system before the d20 system was devised by WotC.

The magic system is more inventive, you can produce magic effects based on how you want them to manifest. If you want a spell that makes flames of fire lift objects without burning them, by all means you can do so. There is no hard and fast rules to the magic system in Atlantis: the 2nd Age.

After this, a beastiary is included. The bestiary includes everything from Animal men (andamen) to the makera or tritons. So, in short the book has everything you need to play in Atlantis, the Second Age.

Gordon B. Hinckley Died

President Gordon B. Hinckley, who led The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through twelve years of global expansion, has died at the age of 97.

President Hinckley was the 15th president in the 177-year history of the Church and had served as its president since 12 March 1995.

The Church president died at his apartment in downtown Salt Lake City at 7:00 p.m. Sunday night from causes incident to age. Members of his family were at his bedside. A successor is not expected to be formally chosen by the Church’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles until after President Hinckley’s funeral within the next few days.

Brother Gordon Bitner Hinckley was a great man. He was definitely a prophet, as mighty as Moses, Elisha, and Simon Peter. He enjoyed service to the Church for most of his life: having given many of the Proclamations to the World from the Messiah. As the leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Messiah's own church, he presented the Church to the world. From the time he was President, many temples had been built -- exploding from very few to 132 Temples across the world (one in Ghana, one in South Africa, one in Boston, one in Hong Kong, one in New York City, etc.). Even though he didn't live to see the Jerusalem LDS Temple built (which is forthcoming and to be built by Latter-day Saints) his actions will lead for that to be built.

He presided over an Era of Temple Building, and the explosion of the Internet, and an era of increased faith and spiritual awakening all over the world. He was one of the greatest men today, as Theologian in Chief (not Commander in Chief). So, who will be the new President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? President Thomas Monson.

Body Acceptance

A new week, a new Adventure!

From what I learned this past week, produces a lot of questions and some needed answers. Anyway, I'll talk about that as I learn some more information. On to a better topic -- Body Acceptance!

Did you know that Jennifer Love Hewitt has been called "FAT?" She is a size 2, and no way can Jennifer Love Hewett be fat. She decided to fight back, and tell everyone that she's a healthy size 2.

There has been some good news on the Body Acceptance front, and not just my fellow naturists have been trumpeting the news. There is one thing about having a beautiful woman who is healthy: 150 pounds/68 kilograms is generally an acceptable weight. Tyra Banks, the famous Supermodel, is part of a movement to get women curvier again. She wants to make curvy women feel better about themselves.

So, is pencil thin something to be attracted to? I don't think so. Queen Latifah looks great because she also accepts her figure as normal. As for me, I prefer a woman with a healthy body wieght: 150 lbs/68 kg is good enough. Or at least somewhere in that range. And yes, a size 2, 3, or 4 -- or even 7, isn't fat.

Prepaid Legal

Hello everyone!

I recently reacquired a membership with Prepaid Legal to help me weather the storms of Real Life (Legal-wise). Prepaid Legal is Legal Insurance -- according to the idea, you'll get the assurance of having legal counsel everyday and any day. And a legal shield against any legal infractions made against you. I think this is awesome. Especially now, since minor infractions of justice can or will crop up against me. I recommend to you all to find your local Prepaid Legal agent and sign up immediately.

Galaxies and Dates

Galaxies and Dates. This is a beautiful represenation of M51, which is sometimes called the prototypical Pinwheel galaxy. As you can probably tell, I photoshopped it.

Oh, I actually went out on a date. 1st date in a long, long time. Her name was Whitney, and she has a wild side. A young LDS maiden, she thought that skinnydipping is wild and edgy. So she thought I was cool when I tried skinnydipping.

Unfortunately, she's going to Brazil for 18 months. Yeah, it's unfair. But she's was a nice conversationalist, and even though the date took place in the classroom, it was fun and she was IMPRESSED!

I felt really cool! This is the first time I went out on a date for a long time and it was fun. I'm stoked, I'm ready to date again!

Using Photoshop

I am a God. Oh, I surely must be. What began as a journey with Corel Photopaint 7 to make web graphics has gone full circle with Photoshop CS3 Extended. I can make anything with Photoshop working with the images that I have acquired and or scanned.

I have barely scratched the surface, and already I'm amazed at what I can do. Photoshop is used by Industry professionals to digitally edit images and make them better. You can also make web graphics and paint with Photoshop.

Photoshop is a tool with a seemingly infinite range of capabilities. Notice I said tool. Photoshop is neither evil nor good, because both producers of Playboy and producers of Ensign both use Photoshop to manage their graphics for their respective magazines. And those two magazines are as different as night and day. I use photoshop purely for educational and artistic purposes these days.

But as I said, I have barely scratched the surface.