Hello everyone!
Star Wars Episode III Count (till I see it) 24 days, 5.5 hours

So I have been managing to post more often these days, and it feels pretty good. Dave has a kinda sorta connection to the Internet now, so that's good. Plus, I've been subbing for the computer teacher quite frequently at school also.

I guess the biggest thing (or at least change) in my life right now has been my promotion at work. Wow. More of a difference than I thought it would be. Last night was a good example. Now mind you I'm still technically just a cashier till Saturday, but I've been training on all my shifts to learn the responsibilites and duties of a Customer Service Manager. Last night there were two or three other CSM's at the store at the same time as me. However, they have been training my friend Stacey (who also is a new CSM--go Stac!) and I pretty hard. Well last night it was just me, and let me tell you it sucked. First off, we had four people not show up to work. They didn't call in or anything, they just didn't show up. That's about 15% percent of our workforce. Then to top things off, our people greeter (the guy that says hi and bye at the door) called in sick. And to top it off, our Courtesy Desk person didn't show up for work either. This means that we now have to fill two other jobs with our cashiers we have. So that put us down six cashiers. And the final dagger in the back was another cashier going home for lunch and simply not coming back. While this is certainly not the norm, it gave me a good sense of panic, when the store was blasted with customers around 8pm, like we always are. I do a lot more running around the store than I used to going from department to department, and yes, I have to deal with more bitchy customers than before, but having your own keys and numbers to do pretty much anything in the story is a good feeling. Too bad I'll only be doing it three days a week and cashiering the rest.

Still have to put up chapter three of my story, but I will do that later today in school. My new game I've been working on, a spinoff of the heavily statistic-laden Pioneers, called Pioneers: Versus! is just about done! Hooray for a new game. My main concern with this one is if it will be fun enough to play...we'll see.

RED SOX UPDATE-Two games down...this is not progress! Yankees are still in last! GO SOX!
----East----W-L-Pct.-GB
Baltimore 13-7-.650-0
Boston 11-9-.550-2.0
Toronto 9-11-.450-4.0
Tampa Bay 8-11-.421-4.5
NY Yankees 8-11-.421-4.5

Cody

STAR WARS EPISODE III EDITION

Love it or hate it, Star Wars Episode III Revenge of the Sith will be the movie of the summer. With almost 30 years of story finally being tied together, I will be happy to see the culmination of a true movie franchise. I will also be sad, unless of course Lucas decides to come out of Star Wars retirement again and bring us Episodes VII, VIII, and IX, which he had originally planned to do. I think I heard at some point that those movies were to feature a female Jedi in the main role? Sure there have been somethings that have bugged me over the years and yes, I did jump on the Star Wars band wagon after Episode I , but I've enjoyed the movies and will be very happy to see how the oldies tie in with the newies.

That being said a few Star Wars lists off the top of my head...which could change if I had more time to think about it. I did 99% of this off the top of my head, so if some spelling or factualities are incorrect, I apologize.

TOP 6 Things That Piss Me Off in the Star Wars Universe...
1. Boba Fett's Pathetic Death-one of the biggest badasses in the galaxy falls into a pit? Weak.
2. Hayden Christianen's Entire Dialouge-"i'm a whiny bitch, wah, wah, wah."
3. The Ewok's Fighting (and Winning)-I like them as characters, but the way they beat up Stormtroopers was ridiculous
4. Boba Fett is just a...clone?-True an unaltered clone, which still makes him kinda cool, but way to ruin a cool character.
5. Senator Jar Jar Binks-wasn't one episode enough?
6. Anakin (the kid) Skywalker blows up the huge ship in Episode I-I understand...like father like son and all that stuff, but it was borderline insanity that that little shit could do this. Sigh.

Top 10 Things I'm Waiting for in Episode III...
1. The Plot to Make Sense-Okay let me sum this up. This confuses me, but most people I guess don't have a problem with the Episode II plot. I'm assuming it was done entirely to set up Episode III, which would lead into IV, V, and VI. I'll explain this below, but this kind of is the end all know all question for this Episode which I will go into later.

2. The Utter Destruction of the Jedi-this is supposed to be the darkest movie of the batch, which would make sense, since the next episode is called A New Hope. Hard to have a new hope unless it looks pretty grim.

3. Mace Windu's Death-He's gotta die...who gets to do it? Greivous? Vader? Anakin? Boba? I can't wait.

4. General Greivous-How many Jedi will fall to him? How many? I would personally like to see Vader kill off some and maybe Dooku as well, but I'm thinking Greivous will get the majority of the kills.

5. Count Dooku's Death-Who get's to off this guy? He's probably the most overlooked pivotal character in the storyline. My top three guesses are 1. Anakin, 2. Yoda, 3. Mace Windu or Obi-Wan

6. The Fate of Yoda-Does he give up and leave? Retreat? Is he beat down and banished? How does he go from all-knowing and powerful sage to a rickety old guy on Dagobah?

7. The Clone Army Going Berserk-If they used unaltered humans in Episode IV, V, and VI, due to the clones going crazy, it has to happen in this movie also.

8. Padme's Death?-I'm guessing she has to bite the big one in this movie as well. Her only purpose at this point it to shit out the kids, so let's have them and get rid of the hottest woman in this franchise.

9. A Boba Fett Appearance-Will we get a late teenage/early twenties shot of him? I don't think he should be in the main action, just a passing scene. Unless of course he kills Mace Windu.

10. Count Dooku Being Called Darth Tyranus-This is pretty nitpicky, but he was only mentioned once in passing in Episode II by the name Tyranus. Most people don't even know he has a "Darth" Title. It was obvious to everyone else that the other Darth's, Maul, Vader, Sidious were Sith Lords, why not give this guy the credit he deserves?

Top 10 Star Wars Villians...
1. Boba Fett
2. Darth Maul
3. Wat Tambor
4. Darth Vader
5. General Greivous
6. Count Dooku
7. Jabba The Hut
8. Jawas
9. Tusken Raiders
10. IG-88/Darth Sidious

Top 10 Star Wars Heros...
1. Yoda
2. Obi-Wan (Young)
3. Obi-Wan (Old)
4. The Ewoks
5. R2-D2
6. C3PO
7. Kit Fisto
8. Mace Windu
9. Padme
10. Chewbacca

The Conufsing Plot Points of Star Wars Episode I-III...
Okay, as I stated earlier, this might just be confusing to me...but here goes...

EPISODE I-This episode is fairly straight forward...I think. Main conflict is on the planet of Naboo, where the people of Queen Amidala (Naboo-ians?) and the Gungans team up to battle the Droid Army led by the Trade Federation-headed by Nute Gunray and Rune Haako, who were backed by Darth Sidious and gave them Darth Maul to help battle the Jedi. Easy enough to understand. The droid army is defeated on the ground by the combined efforts of the Gungans and the Naboo-ians with help from the Jedi, while out in space, kid wiz Anakin Skywalker blows up the mothership, thus saving the day from the Droid Army in the skies. Fairly straight forward, right?

EPISODE II-Now things really get confusing. Let's see, first off it would be best to establish a few things upfront. First off, appartenly the droid army wasn't in fact dead at all, that was merely a small section of them. Secondly, there is a clone army, which we will get to in a second. There is also an army called the Geonesians. They are the insectisoid army that look like large flies.

Okay, so this episode starts off and we find that there is a entire clone army that is being built on Kamino. Obi-Wan goes to investigate where they came from...here's where the shit hits the fan. The Jedis are told that the order to create the army (given a long time ago) was put in by a Jedi who has long since perished. This means that the order was put in by someone else. That someone else turns out to be Count Dooku aka Darth Tyranus. (Side Note-in years it had to occur that there was Darth Maul, Darth Tyranus, and Darth Sidious all at one time, which completely blows the "only two Sith there can be, one the master and one the apprentice" theory of Yoda's, unless of course there is some distinction to be made between being called Darth, controlling the dark side, and being a Sith.) Regardless we also learn that the clones are all made from the genes of Jango Fett, who happens to also be the father of Boba Fett, who is still my favorite character. Still following? Good. Main point to take from this is that Count Dooku put in the order for the army.
Now, later on in the story, we find out that the planet of Geonesis has a bit of an unholy alliance occuring. Obi-Wan again stumbles onto this, while Anakin is busy watching his mom die, impregnating Padme, and killing a shitload of Tusken Raiders, and discovers a huge army that is being built here. Apparently this is a factory planet for the Trade Federation and thier droid army. There is a war room scene which shows the leaders of the Trade Federation, Commerce Guild, Techno Union, and a few other confederations in the Star Wars realm. here it is revealed that the Techno Union is actually the supplier of the Droids to various other groups. Obi-Wan ends up getting captured, and Anakin and Padme go after him. The message is relayed to Yoda, who decides they are hopelessy outnumbered and decides to bring along the Clone army to help out thier side. Eventually Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Padme are captured and about to be slain when the Jedis arrive. They are attacked by the combined forces of the Geonesians and the Droid Army and are outnumbered one hundred to one. To save the day, the Clone army arrives, Yoda in tow. They put the whuppin' down on the combined army and save the day. The factory on Geonesis is destroyed and Count Dooku looks dismayed that the army he created is used against him. Or was that the whole plan? In effect, he managed to kill off many Jedis and decrease the numbers of both armies. Dooku escapes to tell Darth Sidious that the clone war has begun, to which Sidious replies "excellent". Then Obi-Wan says to Yoda that if they didn't have the Clones, they would have not achieved victory. Yoda replies "Not victory, a defeat. Begun this Clone War has." At the end of the movie there are literally millions of Clone troopers, ships, vehicles etc. going off into space.

So why did Dooku build the strongest army yet seen in the movies? Was it to finish off the Jedi? To conquer other planets, or was it to get the Jedi to play their cards and use them on the Droids? I have no idea. However, looking just into the toys from the third movie, we can tell that we will have many armies yet again.
-The Jedi
-Droid Army
-Wookie (like Chewbacca)
-Clone Army
-Neimoidian Army
-Utapaun Warrior
-Mustafar Army

Its gonna it the fan!

later,

Cody

STAR WARS COUNT- 29 Days

Hooray for a Wednesday update! I love subbing for the computer teacher!

Not much to report. Starting to send out applications for teaching, which is always a pain in the butt, not to mention expensive. Oh well. Haven't been getting nearly enough sleep, as I'm hoping I'll have tomorrow off to crash, since I have a long night tomorrow at work, and have to teach in Negaunee and 7:30 in the morning on Friday!

Friday I'm planning to have some kind of shindig at my place. Not sure what yet, but the Walmart girls have been bugging me to have them over, so maybe a massive game night or a movie night or something of the sort? Anyone in Marquette interested in attending?

I used my giftcard from Walmart towards Season Two of the X-Files. So hooray for more episodes of that.

RED SOX UPDATE-Still one game behind! To the Orioles and Blue Jays, this is an odd year! Yankees are sucking it up! GO SOX!
----East----W-L-Pct.-GB
Baltimore 9-5-.643-0
Toronto 9-6-.600-.5
Boston 8-6-.571-1.0
NY Yankees 5-9-.357-4.0

More to come...Karen you wanna trade?
Tampa Bay 5-9-.357-4.0

Hello all,

Short post this week, as I had to work an hour later than I originally thought at Walmart. (did I ever mention Walmart sucks?)

Well, first off a few good news, today I got my $25.00 gift card from walmart for being the 4 star cashier from the month of March. New nametag and vest to follow. Except I won't get the vest probably, because...

CODY GOT A PROMOTION!

Yes, that's right...for probably the first time I applied for and got a real promotion. I am going to be a part time Customer Service Manager (CSM), who is the red-vested person that is in charge of Layaway, Courtesy Desk, Cashiers, and the Stockmen. A lot more responsiblilies, but a 90 cent raise, bringing me to a killer 8.30 M-S and 9.30 on Sundays. I guess that's not too bad.

I can't wait till school is over, so I can stop teaching...how bad does that sound? I'm just sick of working 60-70 hour weeks. It sucks.

I'm liking the story i'm churning out on my other website, www.lostwall.blogspot.com

So, one of my posts was banned on Puffy's site. I'm kinda see the logic, but it seems to be wholly unfair to take it off because someone complained about it. I don't expect someone's movies opinions to be taken off if I agree with them. Let there be discussion! If someone has issues with something I wrote, let me see them, let me defend myself and let me talk to them, don't use the moderator to hide behind. I'm more than happy to express my feelings about my own work. Just an idea...how about it Puffy?

VERSUS MATCH-April 17th, 2005
Coke v. Pepperoni Pizza-which do you prefer?
(Coke made it here by defeating Pepsi 3-2)

QUICK MOVIE GRADES-recent movies we've watched...
***Cody***Lindsay***Average***
The I Inside 6 6 6
Meet the Fockers 9 8 8.5
Run Down 7 7 7
Bruce Almighty 8 6 7
Big Bounce 5 5 5
Closer 5 4 4.5
Spanglish 8 8 8
Gangs of New York 8 -- --

RED SOX UPDATE-One game behind! Yankees are sucking it up! GO SOX!
East______W-L-Pct.-GB
Baltimore 8-4-.667-0
Toronto 8-5-.615-.5
Boston 7-5-.583-1.0
NY Yankees 4-8-.333-4.0
Tampa Bay 4-8-.333-4.0

That's all for now...I'm dead tired. Leave me some love.

peace,

Cody

Wonderful World of Cody-Exeunt!
Well, the big news this week, is that in fact, this will be the final version of the Wonderful World of Cody. I know, let the teardrops roll, but it may show its head from time to time again, in a much less structured way. The time for the weekly quizzes are over, and while I had a blast, I hope you all did too. I will be doing a versus matchup each and every journal entry from this point forward, but I'll try to get more out about what has been going on in my life as well. The biggest news however, is that I am trying to find a laptop to possibly buy, so that I might be online ALL SUMMER! However, this also depends on our apartment complex offering us "free internet"...to this point, "free internet" has been A-completely free and B-completely not working...so we'll see. I counted Lindsay's score this week as well (no she didn't win), take a look at where you finished up. Some changes, as the big points helped some people, and killed off some others. Anyway, I hope to do updates when I can, but at the very least I'll try to get out one a week (at least the quizzes made me stay on top of that).

Answer to Last Weeks Quiz!

3 points-To the first person to respond to this post...and say anything in my comments! Points to Karen (and Monica and Ableman for being witty!)
7 points-To anyone who can name my exact make and model of my car! Pontiac Grand Prix SE- no points awarded!
11 points-To anyone who can tell me my favorite character on Lost! Sawyer
13 points-To anyone who can tell me which baseball player is probably the biggest assclown ever to lace up his shoes. A-Rod...get it...A...rod? AKA a great role model. Oh wait, that was Pudge Rodriguez...Alex Rodriguez who tried to avoid getting out by knocking the ball out of another player's glove. Great guy. AC! Assclown!
17 points-To the first person to guess what the highest section of my ACT score was. Math! Who would have guessed!?
22 points- to the last person to respond to this post before I tabulate points Nate!
28 points- To anyone who can tell me what my license plate says. SCHISM
31 points- To anyone who knows my hamsters name, and can correctly spell it. Bijou
32.5 points- Where do I want to teach, specific answer... Somewhere in Michigan...maybe it wasn't so specific?
-40 points-Are you stupid? If you answered...you are. :)
100 points- (the only question you are able to use the INTERNET on, and in fact will HAVE TO) What is MY central hypothesis? If you do a search on "Central Hypothesis" and "Cody Fleming" you'll find my old class paper from college, in it my central hypothesis is that "Central banks are necessary for economic growth and development"...try it!
VII points- To anyone who can best describe how I liked the movie Sin City. Open answers-winner is...Chad!
the letter B- The present I got Lindsay for Valentine's was a combination of what two movies? (One for the look and one for the style)

FINAL POINTS!
Monica 179
Nate 165
Lindsay 143
Chad 122
Abelman 92
Puffy 89
Greg 72
Karen 63
Katie 56
Cristen 55
Amy 21
Sara 3

VERSUS MATCH-April 10th, 2005
Coke v. Pepsi-which do you prefer?

QUICK MOVIE GRADES-recent movies we've watched...
***********************Cody*****Lindsay*****Average******************
Meet the Fockers 9 8 8.5
Run Down 7 7 7
Bruce Almighty 8 6 7
Big Bounce 5 5 5
Closer 5 4 4.5
Spanglish 8 8 8
Gangs of New York 8 -- --

new exposition story on the other blog

Wonderful World of Cody Special Edition! #13-13points of Cody's Life

Well, since I had two ideas in my head from a while ago now, and I wasn't sure which to go with, it led to the #12 and #12.5 last week. So this week, I decided there was no better time to do it. I was going to do both ideas, but I guess the opening of baseball season will have to wait until next week. Funny how the calender works, as I felt I should try the 13point exam today. In honor of my blog's name and the original premise of it (having 13 points) today, I present to you the Wonderful World of Cody!

Last Weeks Quiz!
1 point- What Nickelodeon show featured a band of adolescent campers at some strange place called "Camp Anawanna"? Salute Your Shorts
2 points- What Nick show featured a band of ranch hands working for a NY business man? Hey Dude
3 points- Name the Nick show that featured Melissa Joan Hart as a teen girl going through life's trials and tribulations. Clarissa Explains It All
4 points- What show featured the following theme song?Skinnamarinky dinky dink... (Sharon, Lois, and Brahm's) Elephant Show
5 points- This show was a bit bizarre and featured a bunch of muppet looking (perhaps inspired) characters living in a giants wind up toy. Eureka's Castle
1 point- Which sitcom featured a family with a father who grunted on his television show? Home Improvement
2 points- Name the sitcom where everybody knows your name. Cheers
3 points- Which sitcom featured a furry alien who "liked cats"? Alf
4 points- Which sitcom featured roommates and contained the following theme song...Sometimes the world looks perfect... Perfect Strangers
5 points- Get this and you are sad. Which sitcom showcased the wonderful Edward Asner as a garage owning grandpa? Thunder Alley

Points are as follows- (Out of a possible 195)
Abelman 129
Chad 115
Monica 106
Puffy 89 up one!
Greg 72 down one!
Katie 68 up one!
Karen 60 up one!
Cristen 55 down two!
Nate 55
Amy 21
Sara 3

On to this week's quiz! No whining and follow the rules! (Keep in mind points are pretty much arbitrary)
3 points-To the first person to respond to this post...and say anything in my comments!
7 points-To anyone who can name my exact make and model of my car!
11 points-To anyone who can tell me my favorite character on Lost!
13 points-To anyone who can tell me which baseball player is probably the biggest assclown ever to lace up his shoes. Seriously, I think if he died, his own family would be happy. Fucking assclown. Assclown.
17 points-To the first person to guess what the highest section of my ACT score was.
22 points- to the last person to respond to this post before I tabulate points
28 points- To anyone who can tell me what my license plate says.
31 points- To anyone who knows my hamsters name, and can correctly spell it.
32.5 points- Where do I want to teach, specific answer...
-40 points-Are you stupid?
100 points- (the only question you are able to use the INTERNET on, and in fact will HAVE TO) What is MY central hypothesis?
VII points- To anyone who can best describe how I liked the movie Sin City.
the letter B- The present I got Lindsay for Valentine's was a combination of what two movies? (One for the look and one for the style)

HAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! The real fun begins!

love y'all,

Cody