July 2007
125 posts
A New Season and Energy for the Round Table
I am really proud of this one, so I want to crow about it extra loud.
Chris and KJ pulled together a cast of RPG luminaries including Matt Snyder, Rob Wakefield, sam Chupp, and Clyde Rhoer (and, well, me) and had a great discussion about introducing story games.
Go grab the Round Table Season 5 Episode 1 […] (via Musings of a Misfit Monkey)
Boogie Nights: Star Wars Edition
Thank you, Julie for the link. (via The Book of Judd)
Round Table 5.01 Posted
The new Round Table is up! Episode 5.01 — Intro to Story Games: Chris (”Grog like dice!”) and KJ (”Where my character sheet at?”) don’t know story games; their guests do. Can old dogs be taught new tricks? Check it out at the House of the Harping Monkey. tags: No Tags Share This
(via Unquiet Desperation)
More Theater of Me
You may recall that SOTC and DRYH got some newspaper reviews recently. Those happened thanks to Michael Erb — who I got a chance to meet at Origins. He interviewed me there (right in the middle of the admittedly loud/busy dealers’ hall floor), recording device in hand. And now he’s posting the interview as a podcast over on his spankin’ new libsyn account. You can hear...
Code Zombie
miniTotoro used one of my twitter icons as the basis for her latest work: The Code Zombie Very, very cool, miniTotoro! This rocks. I want this on a t-shirt and a mousepad. Here’s the original shot: tags: No Tags Share This
(via Unquiet Desperation)
Code Zombie - Finished
Here he is, undead and bloody. You might want to watch this one. By the looks of it he has been researching the best way to find and consume brains. Part I Part II Technical Details Medium: Mixed Media (Pitt pens, watercolors) Paper: Bristol paper Physical Size: 8.5in X 11in (via The Fuzzy Slug)
Skeletor, you naughty boy...
On my drive back home from work last Friday, I had decided to listen to some radio. On the radio they were talking to Skeletor. Yes, friends, you heard me right, Skeletor. That blue skinned, yellow skull headed fellow from the He-Man universe. Being a child of the eighties, I wholeheartedly enjoyed the show. Although, I thought that the villains were way cooler than the heroes. So much in fact...
Home
I’m at my house on a day off, sitting on a roommate’s comuter, blasting Saul Williams, IMing with friends, not moving any boxes, chillin’. There’s a breeze coming through the windows. The little black cat is prowling around me, trying to figure out why I’m here. I might do laundry. More on the weekend and the last Harry Potter later. (via The Book of Judd)
Transformers
I wanted giant robots, explosions, and lots of Peter Cullen. I got what I wanted! Yeah, there were some scenes I really didn’t like. The scene where the Autobots were hiding from Sam’s parents being the main one, and the Sector 7 leader was completely out of synch with the overall feel of the rest of the movie. I thought this was a really fun, kick ass film. It wasn’t...
News Flash! Fred likes to run his yap!
This time, littlestkobold’s game idea about Ordinary Angels is the victim of my laser focus. Come see what designs I’ve burned into the side of his brain! And help the poor sod defend himself. :) http://littlestkobold.livejournal.com/119066.html (via In the big car of life…)
Gluten-Free Article in NYT
Dining & Wine For the Gluten-Averse, a Menu That Works By JENNIFER ROMOLINI Published: July 25, 2007 New bakeries and pizzerias that prepare gluten-free foods have popped up all over New York City, and restaurants that were already celiac-friendly have expanded their menus. (via The Book of Judd)
Moved
Janaki and I went to Madeline’s for some delicious gluten-free desert and walked back up the hill towards the apartment where we’ve lived for the past year but it wasn’t our apartment anymore. All of our remaining stuff was in our car and the apartment keys were tucked away for the landlord. It was just a building and was no longer home. That is an odd thing. The room’s...
Jung Test Meme
INFJ - “Author”. Strong drive and enjoyment to help others. Complex personality. 1.5% of total population. Free Jung Personality Test (similar to Myers-Briggs/MBTI)
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This is my last Ennies post ... for the next 24...
If you haven’t voted in the Ennies, you’ve run out of time to delay — voting ends in 24 hours! If you read this blog, you already know enough to vote. Don’t let a feeling that you don’t know enough of the games keep you from at least getting in there and voting on a couple of the categories — each category isn’t mandatory! Vote here (and vote for Spirit...
Not Much for Theory
I’m not much for theory, but I do occasionally spin off into an urge to combine it with diagrams. One of those moments produced a diagram in which I explained what I saw as the difference between (and inadequacy of) the terms “task resolution” and “conflict resolution”. I’ve gotten a number of requests to see that diagram, so I figured I’d lock it down...
The Social Network Blues
How many social networks do you belong to?
Me? Too many. You could spent all your time keeping up with these things, and man…if you thought MMORPGs were a timesink, you should try to keep up with all the friend requests, zombie apps, etc, etc, etc.
There comes a point where I feel I’ve been social enough, thank-you-very-much.
I’m not the only one feeling a bit burned out by the number and...
Holiday!!!!!!!!!!!!
On Tuesday I go to see Lee Mead in Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! As you can imagine, it is going to take me a couple of days to get wound into just the right pitch of frenzy for this, so I’m heading to London in the morning. Later in the week I shall be brought back down to earth by a few days at the beach… Basically, what I’m saying...
The Essence of VAM: Addendum
After spending a night discussing VAM and the playtest last night with the Rolemonkeys gang (my Alpha playtesters, thasnks guys!) I remembered something else about the feel and essence of VAM that I wanted to slather on top of the last VAM blog post:
Yes, it’s all about all that Second Coming stuff and all that […] (via Musings of a Misfit Monkey)
Okay, JJ, you've got my money
JJ Abrams does an “untitled” movie that by all appearances is a mash-up between Godzilla and the Blair Witch Project (via In the big car of life…)
Friday Feast for 27 July 2007
It’s been a while since I participated in Friday’s Feast, so here we go… Appetizer Describe a toy you remember from your childhood. I was in Toys R’ Us a couple of days ago with my young apprentice and couldn’t help but linger at the new Transformers toys. I was disappointed to find only one Optimus Prime toy that actually transformed into a semi. This particular Prime was...
I wanna... go... aquarium...
Warning, the cuteness level on this video is pretty high. Not advised for anyone with a weak disposition. I would just like to point out, googly eyed fish ROCK! (via The Fuzzy Slug)
Friday Meme
Reading: Yeah, I’m reading Deathly Hallows. I’m about two hundred pages in and its damned fun. Finished the third Alatriste novel and it was solid. Wearing: Black jeans and a t-shirt. Planning: Finishing touches on the apartment tonight, moving in the new place this week and Paula and Mike’s wedding on Saturday. Hectic. In the next few weeks I will sit on the couch for a...
Refreshing RefreshCleveland
It’s official…Dave, Tina, and I are gathering together to try to help bring RefreshCleveland back to life. Rather than interpret for you, I’ll use Dave’s words. He’s British, and sounds so much classier than me:There’s been little activity here for a while now, but I am happy to report that (behind the scenes) stuff is coming together. Myself & Chris are helping Tina to get Refresh Cleveland...
Podcast: Volcanicast for week ending 21 July 2007
It’s another episode of Volcanicast, the show that’s all about what your hungry, your poor, your huddled masses have been searching for on The Google. It’s a three-host week, with Wesley, Bob and yours truly discussing prehistoric fish, historic speeches and posthistoric Baldwins.
As always, Volcanicast is intended for mature audiences, though that’s mostly due to the...
More fun to keep me busy
I found a site which lets you create your own motivational posters. Fun! (via Word Factory)
How many thousand?
The Ennies votes are approaching 10,000 in number of votes made. Has the Summer Revolution’s voice been heard? August will tell the tale. But we’re not there yet! You’ve still got a few days to make sure you and all your friends have voted. Go vote! (via In the big car of life…)
Bookstores
I really love bookstores. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve loved wandering around looking at all the different books on the shelves, reading the blurbs on the back to see if I’d like the story. I don’t take the time to just enjoy being in a bookstore any more. I went for a walk up to Dun Laoghaire on my lunch today and stopped into Hughes & Hughes. Great bookstore. Loads of...
Interviews
I was on the Canon Puncture Show with Orklord, Common Dialogue and Norwood. It was neat to be on the other side of the podcasting. Jeff mentioned that it was the least um’s and uh’s he ever heard me say. This could be because I had guzzled half a bottle of sangria while eating dinner out with Janaki that night. Luke chews his dinner into the mic discusses the making of Mu with Clyde...
Contributing to The Round Table
If you listen to The Round Table, and you’d like to have more of a say in what we cover, or want to appear on the show, please read this annoucement that I put on the HHM boards. It describes how to recommend topics for the show and how to get on the list to appear on the program. I’ll post more announcements here and there as they happen. tags: No Tags Share This
(via Unquiet Desperation)
Taking Over the Round Table
Download Official Round Table Announcement Mick has made it official…KJ and I are taking over creative direction and production of The Round Table. Mick says:
I want to let Monkey patrons know about a little behind-the scenes adjustment that is taking place that is designed to improve the quality - and hopefully the consistency - of episodes of the Round Table.
Chris Miller and K.J. Johnson...
Harping Monkey Newsbrief July 07
I just recorded and released a special newsbrief on the Harping Monkey. If you don’t get it via feed, you might like to go grab it at HHM.
(via Musings of a Misfit Monkey)
The Rules of Comedy
I’m still here, I’m still here! Just being a busy little pre Festival bee. Every couple of years I get myself embroiled in a show for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (for out of towners you can catch up on what this is all about here…) http://raesblog.blog.co.uk/2006/08/08/festival_fever~1024298 It seems like a really good and exciting idea at the time, but I forget what hard...
Code Zombie Part II - Ink!
Well, here is the inked version of Code Zombie in all his flesh eating glory (and friends). Am I done? No. What good is a zombie without color… red oozing color? I am planning on doing a wash of watercolors over the whole piece. So, stay tuned for the final version. :-) (via The Fuzzy Slug)
App-rich, but org-poor
Since getting back from vacation I’ve been in a “clean up and declutter” mode. This has ranged from cleaning up my desk to re-evaluating the tools I use. The former was easy, the latter is much, much harder. Like many powerusers, I have more programs and widgets than I know what to do with, and more importantly, more than I remember to use. I want to try to streamline things…find the best...
Mulling over the Ennies
So, thanks to everyone who’s voted for Spirit of the Century so far as a part of the Ennies, whether or not it was part of the Summer Revolution. Now that I’m back from DexCon, there’s just one week left in the Ennies voting … and they’re up to 6000 votes. My brain’s fried by the con, but I’m trying to think about some questions. I’d love your...
The Essence of VAM (ported from the VAM site)
One of the things David and I have been struggling with is how to convey the feel and color of VAM - at least the things we think are the focal points and main thematic arguments - in a concise but compelling way so that newbies and folks who are going to participate in the […] (via Musings of a Misfit Monkey)
DexCon 10, Playtesting, and the Me-Dia
Back from Dexcon. I got a chance to playtest two games (no, not DFRPG — that’s still a bit off), and the one I least expected to catch fire turned out to be my runaway hit of the convention — enough that someone asked to run it *the next day* based on their enjoyment of the night before. This was intense: two playtests, effectively back to back, with the second one testing out...
So I caved
I saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. It was actually an enjoyable movie. I especially liked the fight between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader - I mean, Dumbledor and Voldemort. There were a lot of Star Wars moments. Not nearly so many or as blatantly plagiarized as in Eragon, but definite “patience young Skywalker” and “know you will feel the power of the Dark Side of...
Offline...or at least not as online as much
Having registered for my fall class, I’m going to pack up the ole computer. I should be checking my e-mail every so often from here and there. (via The Book of Judd)
Time for a change…
BEFORE…
AFTER…
Blogged with Flock
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(via Unquiet Desperation)
The Little Things
I’m at that point in the moving where the big stuff (other than my computer and computer desk) are packed and over there but now its just the little things. In the room we’ve been using as a study is a pile of stuff that I want to bring over when I head on over to move in. There is a staff-thingie that Little Big Joe made me, Glamdring, my grandfather’s two fedoras, my other...
Grassroots music festival (in my home town)
I’m not much of a hippie, despite my upbringing… nor am I much of an afficiando of live music… despite being surrounded by it here in Ithaca. But we have Grassroots in Trumansburg, a festival of some 35,000 over 4 days… been going on for a decade plus. I never made it when I lived elsewhere, because it always came in between Origins and Gencon conventions and I never...
Quite tired
We got anyaphoenix home. Her plane was delayed by nearly an hour, apparently there were severely bad weather conditions around Heathrow. Poor thing had been traveling since 10pm Thursday (GMT) and didn’t get out of baggage claim until 9:30pm Friday. We had MacD, Suzy, and Dave with us, armed with a banner Suzy had made. There tears. Lots of them. Got home, fed her tea, got drunk. Now...
Podcast: Volcanicast for week ending 14 July 2007
The latest episode of Volcanicast, the podcast about the hottest Google search terms for the week, has been posted at Volcanicast.com. This week Volcanicast goes retro, returning to the classic two-host format you may remember from way back in early June 2007! Topics this week include porn stars you went to high school with, baseball, reporters who go that extra mile to get the inside scoop, song...
Welcome Home
anyaphoenix gets home tonight. We’re all set to pick her up and hopefully the weather will improve. She’ll be here in just just over 11 and a half hours, which means she’s already on the plane. (via Word Factory)
Wicked Sky
This shot was from last night. We had a few big storm clouds move through and as the sun was setting I happened to look outside. Photo time!! The moon even was at the right spot next to the clouds. How perfect is that? Technical Details Aperture Value: f/7 Focal Length: 38 mm Exposure Program: Program ISO: 200 Shutter Speed Value: 1/200 sec Exposure Bias: -1EV (via The Fuzzy Slug)
Written this morning
I crank up the music and enter into my own world between worlds. This is the experience of commuting for me, the world surrounding me, the music flowing through me, and the keyboard in front of me. I have a ghetto laptop, an AlphaSmart liberated from some elementary school Language lab where, no doubt, they were called “computers.” But Alphie is the perfect guerilla writing...
Podcast: Geeklabel Radio Episode 50
While Chris and I were at Origins earlier this month, the guys from Geeklabel not only took us out to dinner, but invited us to record a couple of segments for Geeklabel Radio with them!
Geeklabel Radio Episode 50 - Origins and Transformers
The show features hosts Kingfish and The Vicar with superproducer Billy Flynn and a bevy of special guests:
Victor “Tangent” Cantu (Fist Full...
Fred Says Nice Things
At 34 minutes in, Fred says nice things about Dictionary of Mu on the Game Master Show. And he gives some solid lists of IPR games if you are curious about ‘em but aren’t sure what to pick up. (via The Book of Judd)
Wiz Rock
Were I of the Potter Generation, 11 years old when the first book came out, I’d start me a Wiz Rock band. But we’d be Wiz Punk Rock, the Dirty Mud-Bloods. Our first, self-titled album would have the following songs: Slash Fic: Buggery All Around Snape’s Innocent, You Filthy Cunt The Sorting Hat’s My Cum Rag Knife the Malfoys in the Neck The Ballad of Tom Riddle Vomiting...