I've been quiet since returning from Comic Con late July, but that doesn't mean I haven't been doing anything. The last two weeks were spent working over the database and admin panel for the backend systems of this website. I managed to cut out over 1200 lines of old, redundant code. I also made it so that some pages will display any tags a content item has if I want them to (see bottom right of this post).

Also dependent on the updates to the site is "Bridges of the Mertynn." CMExpress, the system that keeps this site running, will be used to develop the website and database that will store the user-made levels and high scores. There's still a lot of work to be done, but for your benefit and my own, I am working on a list of things to be done and will be posting that shortly.

So I found out why I get so many people coming here looking for sandwich shops. It turns out that The Sandwich Shop Ninja is currently the second result when you search for "sandwich shop" on Google. I guess Google thinks animated ninjas who happen to own sandwich shops are more relevant to people looking for sandwich shops, maybe to eat at, than Subway and a dozen more actual, real sandwich shops?

So if you came here looking for a place to eat, uh... sorry? I don't even have any ninja sandwich recipes or anything, but I guess I could list a few sandwiches I like at various places:

• Quiznos - Baja Chicken

• Togos - Chipotle Roast Beef

• Subway's a little different. I don't get any particular sandwich. I get a ham and bacon with pepper-jack cheese and cucumber. Lettuce is pointless on any sandwich, as it's basically just a solid green form of water. Unless it's spring mix or Romain lettuce, then it actually tastes like something besides water.

Don't buy those sandwiches on the Amtrak trains. They're way overpriced, and taste disgusting.

Still making progress on my game project. The graphics are turning out nicely, though what you see is scaled down to about 75% so that it will fit in this little box thing. Drawing all those trees and grass is surprisingly time-consuming, though. It's definitely easier to draw them from a side-on perspective rather than a top-down.

Next week is the San Diego Comic-Con. This will be the second time I've gone. I leave early Thursday morning for an 11-hour drive, check in to the hotel, and hopefully get on the tram going towards the convention center and not the one that's going to the Mexico border.

Last month's search engine queries were unfortunately more of the same, for the most part. Just lost people looking for sandwitches, sandwishes, and a "ninjasandwich" stood out from the countless people on the search for sub shop designs.

Could this be a start of a new spin-off series of the ninja in his younger years?

No.

Various changes to the website coding have been made, and The Sandwich Shop Ninja website is now fully integrated with the CMExpress system that the majority of my website runs on. There are a few things missing that require more changes in CMEx before they can be reimplemented, but those are very minor. The RSS feeds now decode properly, and this should be the last time everything since 2004 is marked "new" in Google Reader.

The next news entry will be an update on the next TSSN episode's progress, though the blog will keep updating on a more frequent basis.

The first episode of The Sandwich Shop Ninja can now be seen on YouTube in a high-definition format.

So I guess someone came here looking for "the sandwich shop Utah" for some reason. I don't know how someone could employ an entire state to work in a sandwich shop, but whatever.

Progress on the game has gotten a bit slow as I try to get some of the graphics done and try to figure out a style that works. I tried to fake perspective on the cliff edges and pillars, but it doesn't look very good, and to make it look good would take a few months of drawing every pillar and edge at multiple angles.

There was a really cool lightning storm going on tonight.

Recently I've been working on a new game on my own. In heart, it's a remake of OSGWTTFWYSOTTM with more puzzle-type elements, a story mode, and a level editor that will allow people to upload their personalized levels to an online database for people to browse and play. I've been calling it "Terrestrial-Based Game With Tiles That Fall When You Step On Them Too Much" since it will be based on land instead of outer space, but that's just the working title and will change when I think of something better.

Once I get everything finished and working, the next thing will be to figure out how Flash game licensing deals and MochiAds work so that I can sell out make money and keep doing this stuff at the same time.

Finals are over again, I've moved back to California and got most of everything set up again, and the game graphics project is finally done. Things will be picking back up again, and I'll post a link to the game when it's finally released.