BRAINSTORM BLOG PODCAST 001 : Cars, Murals, Working From Home, and Children’s Party Etiquette

Alright, let's break this down.

I'm not entirely sure what this blog is going to become, or if it will become anything at all. Right now, the plan is to let it evolve naturally as we go along. Essentially, it's going to be a brainstorming session. Together, we'll explore ideas for the content and format of this show, right from the depths of my mind. Though I'm not entirely certain how it will unfold, let's embark on this journey and see where it takes us. I've tried something similar in the past, and I've found that it works best when I'm in a meditative state, like when I'm driving. It provides me with a sense of having a conversation partner, and I believe it gives you, the listener, someone to think along with. There's no formal structure or script here; it's just going to be whatever thoughts pop into my head during my daily commutes in the morning and afternoon. We might release these as daily episodes, or perhaps twice a day. I don't intend to heavily edit these recordings. While they won't necessarily be personal journals, sometimes personal thoughts might creep in. As you've probably noticed, I tend to ramble a bit. We'll be taking the easy road with less traffic, allowing us to focus on our thoughts, just like Ned Stark concentrates (if you're a Game of Thrones fan). Now, let's talk about something interesting: how you can tell which cars have been parked in garages versus those left out on the street or driveway. Have you seen those blue tints at the top of windshields? They were a thing for a while, but they seem to have disappeared. My car has a little dot pattern near the top, which probably helps reduce glare from the sun. Speaking of cars, I think it's time for me to get a new one. My current one, the "exploder," is showing its age, and I've invested quite a bit in repairs. Moving on to other matters, I recently got a new lunchbox after using the same one for almost eight years. It was a gift, but it was finally time to replace it. I also did some online shopping for lunchboxes, pens, and markers for my mural project. Working on this mural in my garage has been surprisingly satisfying. I never thought I'd find creating a mural enjoyable, but it's been a rewarding experience. Reflecting on my childhood, I remembered doodling on my walls, mostly in pencil, which would eventually fade over time. I drew various things, like the Stooges and yin-yang symbols, and even wrote on the walls. There was a kid I knew who drew the crow and its logo on his wall, which inspired me to do something similar. Back then, I was a fan of the movie "The Crow," and I still think it's a good film. Fast forward to today, and I find myself driving to work on a beautiful morning with a desire to open my window for some fresh air. The sun is shining brightly, which can be a challenge when you're driving east in the morning and west in the evening. Those sun visors with a blue tint used to help, but now I have a different pattern on my windshield. Speaking of cars again, I've realized it's time for me to make a decision and get a new one. I'm 36 years old, and all my previous cars have been hand-me-downs, which is perfectly fine. However, my current car is showing signs of age, and I've spent a considerable amount on repairs. It's a 2007 model, and it's time to upgrade to something more modern and reliable. I'm considering a Toyota Highlander or any car with good gas mileage and a warranty. On a side note, I recently celebrated my son's tenth birthday. It's hard to believe it's been ten years since he was born. He's growing rapidly and will likely be six feet tall soon. It's a relief that he's learned to take care of himself, including bathing. As a parent, you reach a point where you have to ensure your child can handle basic tasks independently. Tomorrow, we're planning an outdoor movie night with a projection screen, and it's going to be a fun time. We'll hook up a PlayStation, maybe watch a Blu-ray or a streaming option. We'll see if my wife's computer can handle it. As for the challenges of commuting, it's a relief to work from home, avoiding the daily traffic grind and saving on gas. The pandemic had its downsides, but working from home was a definite highlight. It allowed me to focus on my home life and enjoy the simple pleasures. Finally, I touched on the importance of setting boundaries, whether it's dealing with unruly kids at a party, managing people's behavior at social gatherings, or simply maintaining respect and courtesy. Boundaries are essential for creating a harmonious and enjoyable environment for everyone involved.

Metal Gear Solid Retrospective

Metal Gear Solid, Snake? Snaaaaaake!!! Vulcan raven, decoy octopus, sniper wolf, psycho mantis, revolver ocelot, solid snake, cyborg ninja gray fox, colonel Roy Campbell, Meryl Silverberg, Naomi Hunter, Frank Jaeger, Foxound, Liquid Snake, Jim Houseman, Donald Anderson, Kenneth Baker, Mei Ling, Master Kazuhira MacDonald Miller, genome soldiers, Metal Gear Rex, Solid Snake... they are all here for everyone's favorite Metal Gear Game by Hideo Kojima... Artwork by Cool Dojo artist Charlie Fithian. GET THE ENTIRE CAST OF CHARACTERS ON YOUR STUFF!!

We just passed the 35 anniversary of “Metal Gear”’s debut. Granted I never played the original two games in America but I did play Metal Gear Solid on the PlayStation back in 1997. I remember going over to my friend Danny‘s house one day probably to spend the night, and he had just bought a video game that week for the PlayStation. My brother and I had a Nintendo 64, which still had Zelda and a couple other fun titles, but MGS was literally like playing a movie. I remember the intro of the game having actual credits that played over the cut scene at the beginning, and even while you were playing that first stage on Shadow Moses. Even though now, the graphics are extremely dated, it was the coolest thing you could ever see that you could actually interact with as a video game. For the few hours that I was over at Danny‘s house, we never made it past the first stage, I don’t even think we made it to the elevator. We played the VR missions and watched the briefing tapes… even those drawings that stood in for footage were mesmerizing to me.

"METAL GEAR SOLID 4: Guns of the Patriots" Old Snake. Artist Charlie Fithian's interpretation of the Hideo Kojima game. Screaming at your mantis and gear up with this solid shirt you need 2 of for your sons of which you should take to see the liberty bell. Grey Fox or ninja cyborg? Our fortune was told on that day to vamp when we needed to be stillman. our patriots like mr. Snake and Colonels like campbell didnt pray to the god raiden. An ocelot holding a revolver would not know what to do with the solidus nature of this teepublic teeshirt from cooldojo.com artist charlie fithian other that to shop and buy one for himself or herself. Put down your videogame and turn on your sony disposition. Ray and rex need one.

It would be another four years whenever I was in high school When Danny rented “Zone of Enders”. The main reason he rented it was because it came with a demo disc of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. You played a partially finished version, in Japanese, of the tanker mission. I don’t even think you could get to Bossfight, against Olga. But the graphics alone were so amazing we they looked so real. Again it couldn’t get any better. MGS2 was one of the first games we got in 2001 when we bought a PlayStation 2. Believe me when I say, I have played through that game more than 35 times. The story never made sense and there were so many little things to discover and achieve. If you manage to collect a ton of dog tags, you could get the infinity ammo bandanna, the infinity ammo wig, and if you collected even more dog tags, you would get to use the stealth camouflage. The only way you could see the story play through again was to play through the game again. Nowadays you can just pull up damn near everything on YouTube. But if you wanted to see if you could figure out the secrets and who the patriots were you had to play through that game all the way all the time.

It wasn’t too long after MGS2 came out that MGS3: Snake Eater was released. A lot of the same mechanics were reused for 3. But that was where the similarities ended, we played as a variation of Snake which in reality was actually Big Boss on one of his earliest missions. Set in the 1960s during the Cold War. You were outside for about 90% of the game. This was the big departure from MGS2 along with not being able to use a radar system that you had used in the previous games. You had to heal yourself, feed yourself, and become a master camouflage artist. The boss-fights alone are a strong point of not just this game but the entire MGS series as a whole. The story for MGS3 in my opinion was just as convoluted and confusing and detailed as the previous games. It is widely considered as the best of the entire MGS series. But my favorite of all of the games was to come out next in 2008.

"Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater" art from Charlie Fithian. Ocelot, Eva, Volgin, the Boss, The End, The Fear, The Pain, The Sorrow, The Fury, and the first metal gear machine the Shagohod. Also featuring the Operation Snake eater team: Sigint, Para-Medic, and Major Zero. Cipher, Who are the Patriots?

“Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots” was to be the next in the series released on the next generation console… PlayStation 3. As you can probably guess we also thought this systems graphics were even better than the previous. They still hold up and still look great. But the game mechanics had slightly switched, and took a little while to get used to. But Metal Gear is known for being easy to pick up and hard to pick up at the same time. The introduction of the OCTO camo was a welcome addition. This was to be the end of the series, as they had teased that snake would die in the very end. And all of the answers to all the questions would be revealed. Who exactly were the patriots? And what was going to be the fate of all of the characters we had seen previously in Metal Gear Solid 2. More awesome mechanics, even better graphics, and somehow and even wackier story. The game did have a definitive ending and is still considered to be the final story in the Solid Snake arc.

Before MGS4 was released there was metal gear Solid Portable Ops and AFTER MGS4 came Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker. MGSPO was an interesting game but very confusing story-wise and showed the limits of the PSP as well as the Full extent of what the machine could do. This story turned out to be the least impactful of the series canon, more like an inconsequential episode of a long running tv series. But it seems that after the trial run of MGSPO we got a true sequel to Big Bosses story in MGS Peace Walker. Showing the full extent of the PSP and utilizing the history of Big Boss we saw the creation of (at-the-time) Outer Heaven. The addition of Kaz, Huey and Paz would be the catalyst that would mature the evolution of the franchise.

"METAL GEAR SOLID 4: Guns of the Patriots" Old Snake. Artist Charlie Fithian's interpretation of the Hideo Kojima game. Screaming at your mantis and gear up with this solid shirt you need 2 of for your sons of which you should take to see the liberty bell. Grey Fox or ninja cyborg? Our fortune was told on that day to vamp when we needed to be stillman. our patriots like mr. Snake and Colonels like campbell didnt pray to the god raiden. An ocelot holding a revolver would not know what to do with the solidus nature of this teepublic teeshirt from cooldojo.com artist charlie fithian other that to shop and buy one for himself or herself. Put down your videogame and turn on your sony disposition. Ray and rex need one.

When Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes was revealed to the world, and then was made playable we saw what became the prologue to the actual game, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. The Experience of V would show the full potential of both the PS3 and PS4. An open-world Metal Gear? How was that going to be possible. Well it worked. BuildingMother-Base, upgrading weapons, tools, Fulton extracting enemies, vehicles, supplies, and sheep!! The Marking tagets was a welome additon to replace what we thought was essential in the radar system from the previous games. Yes we all know that the game was not truley completed by Kojima, but what we got was fantastic. I really doubt that even though we were given ideas that could have been used in the game it would have felt more complete than it was. Look for the actual ending online.

THE FUTURE

What is there left to do? We got Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, a complete departure from the rest of the series, but still a welcome addition. What would love to see is a remake of the original 1st two “Metal Gear” games. Use any of the engines and let us play through those stories as Big Boss / Solid Snake / Grey Fox … Why not?! How do we get the rights to make that story a reality? How do we get more Metal Gear? Fan fiction, fan movies/comics. Looks like the closest thing we are going to get is the animated version from Mitchell Hammond. Check it out.

Metal Gear Animated short

KEEP METAL GEAR ALIVE!!

"Hercules: Legend of The Labors" My New Book is Available Now!!

After 4 years it’s finally done. Over 100 pages of illustrations and words written by me (author & Illustrator) Charles Fithian!! As I am writing this blog, I have just made the book publicly available on amazon.com … Click the link above to get your paperback copy. This if the first printed book I have officially published on Amazon. I knew from the beginning I wanted to make this a printed non-digital product. I know you hear a few people say that holding the book in your hand is not the same as digital, but in this case it’s true. The illustrations are meant to be seen on a large 11x17 size book (if I could have made it 24x32 I would have) and that is what your are going to get!

Phobos and Morpheus from “Hercules: Legend of the Labors” now available on Amazon.com

The plan is to sell these on (best case scenario) global scale through Amazon.com, but I will also make them available for purchase at my local bookstores, comic-shops, and craft shows. So now I get to not only sell my book with over 100 pages of illustrations but posters as well. So make sure to stop by the CoolDojo booth and get a signed printed copy (prices and locations TBD).

Hercules encounters the Nemean Lion from “Hercules Legend of the Labors” Available now on Amazon.com

If you are a fan of the Cool Dojo stuff like the posters, and t-shirts now you can get an entire book of Charlie Fithian artwork. I have always loved to draw superheroes and monsters, with this book I could take a familiar concept and turn it into a something with my own spin on it. This is not the same traditional story you may have heard, but instead my version of it. As your read this book, I want you to turn the page and say “whoa! that rocks"!” I want kids to read this book and be inspired to become artists, trace the pages, and stare at the detail!

“Return to Olympus” from “Hercules: Legend of the Labors” now available on Amazon.com

Hercules from “Hercules: Legend of the Labors” available now on Amazon.com

I really want to show you every page But like I said, it’s meant to be read on big paper. One thing I do want any followers to know is that I made this book appropriate for all ages. I want kids that love to read and adults that love creativity and superheroes to get this book and share it with their kids. I think it will be great book to read together at bedtime over the course of several nights. Especially during school, it could be great way to entice your kiddos to get their teeth brushed, bathe themselves, and get in their jammies… all so they can get plenty of reading time in before bedtime!

Don’t be fooled, this book has plenty of text to read along with lots of big colorful artwork to look at and admire. I also really hope that anyone who reads it will interpret some kind of moral lesson… But I’ll leave that up to you to decide.

REVIEW “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredders Revenge”

Cowabunga dudes! The Turtles are back in the newest TMNT video game released for multiple consoles!!! I got mine on the Nintendo Switch. It was the best option for me and my kids, it makes the game portable, and the quality I’m sure is just as good as playing it on PlayStation or Xbox. The bottom line is, this game is just plain nostalgic fun. Right off the bat you’re able to pick up and play this game as though it was a direct sequel to the classic ninja turtle arcade games you played on your Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega, and Super Nintendo. It has everything you want in a Ninja Turtles game. Classic villain bosses like Bebop, Rocksteady, Krang, Leatherhead, Dirtbag, Rat King, and of course Shredder make an appearance, along side some fan favorite baddies from the 1987 series!

Oh and don’t worry, there are plenty of jet engine-hoverboard/surfing levels to play as well. With a few secrets to find on your first Playthrough, and challenges for experts to accomplish. The only gripe I have about this game is the short length, but it has just as much play time as the old games we played as kids!

This game is all I’ve been reading about online for the past week there is no doubt in my mind that the expansion pack and add-ons will be coming soon!

Be sure to check out Cool Dojo’s Ninja Turtle designs on TeePublic.com/user/CoolDojoBro !!!

Death Stranding Revisit

I’ve been playing through Death Stranding again on ps4. I had beaten the game a few months after I originally got it after day one of release. After realizing that there was just continued play after you beat the initial game. You travel the continent and pick up lost packages and fish loose-end orders. After a few plays trying to rebuild roads I decided to just start over and play through the game with the knowledge that I had from beating it. Maybe to make better sense of the story and give myself a few “oh now I get it” realizations playing through the game again. So, I had played it for a while and then dropped off after getting to Lockne story arc in the game. Then put it down for almost half a year. I just picked up again after having some spare time to play through again. So here is where I am now. (SPOILERS AHEAD) Mama died, merged with Lockne, lost BB, faught Cliff Unger, got BB back, met Hartman face to face, and now I am (hopefully) wrapping up orders in the snow covered mountains. The all-terrain eco skeleton makes travel much easier in the snow, but I try and keep a PCC on me so I can build zip lines once I make it across a particularly long trek. The game overall has long stretches of relaxing walks, but that eventuates the moments of stress and excitement when they do happen. Kojima and Del Toro’s story is so weird and there aesthetic/environment design is familiar yet so different. The sense of completion after accomplishing a task like delivering an order over a long and difficult journey is different in this than most games. I have to say that my favorite accomplishment in the game is building a road. I wish I could get more help with that from other players though. Maybe the next time I pick it up, I’ll make the effort to research how to connect with players and build these roads faster.

if you fancy watching my stream of Videogame play through a look me up on YouTube!

Anywho, this is the first blog I’ve written in a while. Maybe even over 5 years since I created this website.

I hope to keep writing them, maybe in an effort to keep you all up to date on current projects.