The philosophy was deepder, the action was more intense, the special effects were breathtaking, the fight scenes left me in awe (move over Yoda - Neo has taken center stage!), and the ending! When the movie ended, the entire theater let out a collective "AARGGGGGH" of frustration. Fortunately the trilogy will conclude in November, rather than another 4 years.

SPOILERS AHEAD:

So what do we know about the matrix? What does it all mean? This movie answered a few questions, such as "who is the oracle, why can Neo do what he can do, how does the city of Zion survive when all else has fallen to the machines?" We even get to hear the actual artichet of the matrix explain to Neo what it's all for; but for all that it raises more questions than it answers. How did agent Smith get seperated from the system? What role is he going to play in the final movie? What will happen to Morpheus now that his beliefs are shattered? Why was Neo able to do what he did in the final scene? Is the matrix really there, or is all a box in a box like layers in an onion? Is Neo part of the system? Why didn't he choose the same path as the other One's before him? Will that ultimately have any effect on humanity's freedom or will it spell their ultimate doom? What about trinity - how did he revive her - is she like him? Or does that lend further evidence to the box in a box theory? If so, how deep does it go, and who's really in control?

I guess we'll have to wait until November. In the meantime, kudo's to the Wachowski brothers for an amazing story.

So I thought I'd share some of the great miniature reference sites that I use.

First up is a site full of information about websites that sell miniatures. It's a yahoo discussion group, so to see the messages you have to get a yahoo account, but it's well worth it if you're the type that wants to make any type of online order for miniatures. I have yet to find a site that sells miniatures that didn't have a message thread on here with people detailing their expieriences (good and bad). It's nice to get a warm fuzzy about a site before ordering from them the first time. Check them out here.

And here's another one of my favorite sites to visit. It has literally tens of thousands of pictures of miniatures that people have painted. You can even upload your own miniatures. Then people vote on how well they like the paintjob and give comments (usually constructive critisism or outright lavish praise). There's also an excellent article link that has dozens and dozens of articles on every facet of miniature painting/modeling/terrain, etc.. that you could ever want to know about by some extremely talented people. Check it out here.

Click here.

Without further ado, here are some pictures of the project:

The castle was made from Hirst Arts Castlemolds. The grass, water and bushes are Woodland Scenics, and the lilipads and cattails are from an article located here.

Invest $800 get over $350 million back. How? Simply travel back from the year 2256 in your own time-machine, with full knowledge of the stock-market. Sounds crazy? Well who knows, but it's the explanation of 44-year-old Andrew Carlssin who performed the neat little investment trick. Not everybody is buying the story though, as insider-trading knowledge is supposed to be the real explanation. He'll tell us the cure for AIDS and Osama Bin Laden's current hideout if he's set free though.

If you think this is a hoax story, just do a google search on "Andrew Carlssin".

Here's the yahoo version of the story