Showing posts with label awesome. Show all posts
Showing posts with label awesome. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Sunday, June 01, 2008
To the President Cave!
Last night, at my kitchen table, Tommy Ocean ("Description: George Clooney), Mikaela "Mikie" Daniels (waitress and Buffy fan), Abraham Lincoln (a supernatural creature who takes the form of our sixteenth president because "Abraham Lincoln frees slaves!"),Kazak (an abomination from 2071), and Don Filks Ruth (an assassin from 1865) saved President (Harrison) Ford from Nazi ninjas, but were unable to stop the rest of the Nazis from stealing the Washington Monument and blasting off in it. ("They must be headed for the secret presidential moonbase!")
Yeah, I ran some Feng Shui yesterday. Highlights included a fight in the President cave (like the Batcave, but the bar is better), Mikie stabbing Hans, the main ninja/Nazi, with a flaming American flag ("American flags -- my only weakness!") and a decapitated wooden ninja statue signed by Harrison Ford.
It was pretty fun. It would have run a lot faster if I'd prepped better, but I might not have been able to muster the same level of bizarre-itude if I'd planned things out ahead of time. The players took to the game with enthusiasm, and made up for a lot of my waffling. They did a good job with stunts; thinking up good ones gave them something to do while they waited for their turn, and they figured out pretty quickly that they could invent appropriate items of scenery.
I'd planned for this to be a one-shot, and had been planning to use a series of Feng Shui one-shots in the event of player absence from my upcoming 4e campaign, but the characters came out so well I might just run this as a back-up game instead. The guy who's most likely to go missing wasn't there last night, but if necessary we can have him make a character, too. It doesn't take long. I might, someday, run a full Feng Shui campaign, but for no I'm pretty happy having it as my game-for-when-I-don't-have-a-game.
Yeah, I ran some Feng Shui yesterday. Highlights included a fight in the President cave (like the Batcave, but the bar is better), Mikie stabbing Hans, the main ninja/Nazi, with a flaming American flag ("American flags -- my only weakness!") and a decapitated wooden ninja statue signed by Harrison Ford.
It was pretty fun. It would have run a lot faster if I'd prepped better, but I might not have been able to muster the same level of bizarre-itude if I'd planned things out ahead of time. The players took to the game with enthusiasm, and made up for a lot of my waffling. They did a good job with stunts; thinking up good ones gave them something to do while they waited for their turn, and they figured out pretty quickly that they could invent appropriate items of scenery.
I'd planned for this to be a one-shot, and had been planning to use a series of Feng Shui one-shots in the event of player absence from my upcoming 4e campaign, but the characters came out so well I might just run this as a back-up game instead. The guy who's most likely to go missing wasn't there last night, but if necessary we can have him make a character, too. It doesn't take long. I might, someday, run a full Feng Shui campaign, but for no I'm pretty happy having it as my game-for-when-I-don't-have-a-game.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
The Compleat Strategist, and Awesome Therein
I just went to the New York location of The Compleat Strategist.
It is awesome.
My local store is pretty good, but it mostly sticks to d20, White Wolf, and GURPS. It might have a smattering of other systems, but I haven't check in a while.
The Compleat Strategist, on the other hand . . .
Wow.
Shelves full of d20 books I'd never heard of, systems I'd only read about only, and others I'd never even fathomed. Most of it I probably could have gotten online, but I can't browse online. I'm not surrounded by books, can't pick them up and flip through them, can't walk out with a book I only heard about today.
They even had a copy of the Stargate SG-1 book--the one that's out of print, because Sony revoked the license. I very, very badly wanted to get it, but a $50 price tag and a drought of acquaintances who both like gaming and would care that they were playing Stargate stayed my hand.
Instead, I'm now the proud owner of Feng Shui.
A tough choice, between that and d6 Space, (or perhaps Adventure, haven't heard as much about it but it looked cool) and I would have considered Savage Worlds if they'd had it. Something about it being out of print. I dunno.
(Amusingly, none of these were on the list of systems I want. Ah, well.)
So far, I'm happy with Feng Shui. Prep on both sides of the screen is fast a simple, since it encourages everyone to lean on action movie cliches, so it may fill that "one-shot system" hole I've had in my game line-up for a while. I need to get a chance to run it (I've got at least one weekend free before 4e hits . . .) but it looks like it fits my natural style pretty well. Fast, loose, a fair amount of action, but not nothing but fights, and encouraging cool ideas from the players.
We'll see how it goes.
It is awesome.
My local store is pretty good, but it mostly sticks to d20, White Wolf, and GURPS. It might have a smattering of other systems, but I haven't check in a while.
The Compleat Strategist, on the other hand . . .
Wow.
Shelves full of d20 books I'd never heard of, systems I'd only read about only, and others I'd never even fathomed. Most of it I probably could have gotten online, but I can't browse online. I'm not surrounded by books, can't pick them up and flip through them, can't walk out with a book I only heard about today.
They even had a copy of the Stargate SG-1 book--the one that's out of print, because Sony revoked the license. I very, very badly wanted to get it, but a $50 price tag and a drought of acquaintances who both like gaming and would care that they were playing Stargate stayed my hand.
Instead, I'm now the proud owner of Feng Shui.
A tough choice, between that and d6 Space, (or perhaps Adventure, haven't heard as much about it but it looked cool) and I would have considered Savage Worlds if they'd had it. Something about it being out of print. I dunno.
(Amusingly, none of these were on the list of systems I want. Ah, well.)
So far, I'm happy with Feng Shui. Prep on both sides of the screen is fast a simple, since it encourages everyone to lean on action movie cliches, so it may fill that "one-shot system" hole I've had in my game line-up for a while. I need to get a chance to run it (I've got at least one weekend free before 4e hits . . .) but it looks like it fits my natural style pretty well. Fast, loose, a fair amount of action, but not nothing but fights, and encouraging cool ideas from the players.
We'll see how it goes.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Random Thoughts on Iron Man
I loved Iron Man. Awesome movie. Shame I didn't get a chance to write about it until now, but thems the breaks.
I wasn't expecting it to be so funny. It works. It would have been interesting if they'd put one of those testing videos Tony Stark took on YouTube, but it obviously wasn't necessary.
I love tech-y, shiny, robot type stuff. I knew the movie had the suit in it, but then it turns out to have even more robot awesome, and I am officially happy.
I was impressed by the psychology of the movie. I think this movie has the most coherent explanation for why its superhero became what he is, out of all of them that have come out so far.
And his relationship with Pepper Pots seemed more human than the sort of "no, I can't love you, it's too dangerous" business most superheroes satsify themselves with. I mean, it had that, but it had a lot more than that--we work together and depend on each other but I'm desperately afraid of commitment, etc. Standard pieces for relationship movies, but stretching the superhero box a bit.
And--this is a personal thing, not analysis--I liked Tony Stark. A lot more than I like, say, Peter Parker, or Bruce Wayne. I sympathize with Peter, and Spiderman, and I accept Bruce Wayne as necessary. But I don't even particularly like Batman, as a person, I just think he's cool.
I hadn't realized that, until I saw Iron Man. It made him a likable guy. A messed up guy, but in an understandable way. And, in the end, a mostly decent guy.
I wasn't expecting it to be so funny. It works. It would have been interesting if they'd put one of those testing videos Tony Stark took on YouTube, but it obviously wasn't necessary.
I love tech-y, shiny, robot type stuff. I knew the movie had the suit in it, but then it turns out to have even more robot awesome, and I am officially happy.
I was impressed by the psychology of the movie. I think this movie has the most coherent explanation for why its superhero became what he is, out of all of them that have come out so far.
And his relationship with Pepper Pots seemed more human than the sort of "no, I can't love you, it's too dangerous" business most superheroes satsify themselves with. I mean, it had that, but it had a lot more than that--we work together and depend on each other but I'm desperately afraid of commitment, etc. Standard pieces for relationship movies, but stretching the superhero box a bit.
And--this is a personal thing, not analysis--I liked Tony Stark. A lot more than I like, say, Peter Parker, or Bruce Wayne. I sympathize with Peter, and Spiderman, and I accept Bruce Wayne as necessary. But I don't even particularly like Batman, as a person, I just think he's cool.
I hadn't realized that, until I saw Iron Man. It made him a likable guy. A messed up guy, but in an understandable way. And, in the end, a mostly decent guy.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Cool Happenings: Duranmas Duranmas, Contests, and Crosslinking
As a purveyor of fake modern awesome holidays myself, I heartily approve of Duranmas Duranmas. You should approve it too!
ChattyDM has an adventure concept contest. The catch: 10 words.
I finally figured out what Trollsmyth is trying to do. It says right up at the top, "I’ll also link up with as much good stuff as possible for your websurfing convenience," and even expanded on the idea further. But it didn't really click until he linked to a comment about plot and story in a Grognardia post. Then I realized: he wants the game blog-o-sphere cross-linked.
This is an excellent idea. Something I should do more, too.
ChattyDM has an adventure concept contest. The catch: 10 words.
I finally figured out what Trollsmyth is trying to do. It says right up at the top, "I’ll also link up with as much good stuff as possible for your websurfing convenience," and even expanded on the idea further. But it didn't really click until he linked to a comment about plot and story in a Grognardia post. Then I realized: he wants the game blog-o-sphere cross-linked.
This is an excellent idea. Something I should do more, too.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Dinosaurs Make Everything Better
The PCs are all dinosaurs. You run around avoiding meteors and stomping things.
This could be played totally straight where the players are all dinosaurs doing dinosaur things. I spent a lot of time pretending I was a dinosaur as a kid, so there's got to be some fun there.
Or it could be more of a reverse Turok kind of deal, and the dinosaur-PCs eat Marines or Lost World explorers or scientists or whoever it would be entertaining for dinosaurs to eat.
Maybe Dinosaur Escape: Washington, D.C.
This could be played totally straight where the players are all dinosaurs doing dinosaur things. I spent a lot of time pretending I was a dinosaur as a kid, so there's got to be some fun there.
Or it could be more of a reverse Turok kind of deal, and the dinosaur-PCs eat Marines or Lost World explorers or scientists or whoever it would be entertaining for dinosaurs to eat.
Maybe Dinosaur Escape: Washington, D.C.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Be Afraid! Be Very Afraid!
I just discovered something interesting. "Talk Like a Pirate Day" is, apparently, frightening to some people. Not that I've ever met anyone frightened by it, but I have, nevertheless, been informed that this is the case. Any event that involves it will, I have been told, necessarily be badly attended, on account of this phenomena.
This explains a lot about me. I have misinterpreted the normal fear response that the average human experiences when exposed to pirates as awesomeness. As a result, I've been scaring people off by my displaying the symbols and mannerisms of this most frightening of creatures. It will take years of counseling to retrain my shattered psyche, so that I can finally interact with people who are properly afeared of pirates.
Or, I suppose, I could revel in the SHEER TERROR I can invoke through the use of a simple pirate hat, which I, due to my unusual mental constitution, can tolerate.
This explains a lot about me. I have misinterpreted the normal fear response that the average human experiences when exposed to pirates as awesomeness. As a result, I've been scaring people off by my displaying the symbols and mannerisms of this most frightening of creatures. It will take years of counseling to retrain my shattered psyche, so that I can finally interact with people who are properly afeared of pirates.
Or, I suppose, I could revel in the SHEER TERROR I can invoke through the use of a simple pirate hat, which I, due to my unusual mental constitution, can tolerate.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Finding old notes is Awesome
I just discovered that I have this huge mess o' roleplaying stuff on my hard drive. I went through a period where I thought I had to do massive write ups for campaigns, so I have all these (unfinished) documents detailing various aspects of campaigns that I never actually ran. And I still have all the material I prepared digitally, for the campaigns that I did actually end up running. So there's a rather larger number of documents in my "Old Roleplaying" folder than I expected to find when I opened it.
Some of it is pretentious and lame. Like how I went through a period--that only lasted for one campaign, thankfully--where I decided that the thing to do about the races was to give them all different names. Elves become akkan and so on. I don't know why I thought this was a good idea.
Some of it is . . . interesting. I'd forgotten that I'd once had the idea of running a campaign that revolved around empires run by characters with bloodlines. I got about halfway through the list, detailing the kinds of empires each had, or the role they played in other empires. I'm actually sort of intrigued by it, so much so that I might finish the rest of the entries, and touch up what's already there. I'll never get to run the campaign, but I find that campaign design can be a past time of its own.
Mostly it's just gotten me kind of nostalgic. I've got the notes for the first adventure I ever ran. The only one I ever made a flow chart for. It's 7 pages of notes, filled with science nonsense, acronyms I don't understand, and detailed encounter descriptions that, if memory serves, I completely ignored.
Some of it is pretentious and lame. Like how I went through a period--that only lasted for one campaign, thankfully--where I decided that the thing to do about the races was to give them all different names. Elves become akkan and so on. I don't know why I thought this was a good idea.
Some of it is . . . interesting. I'd forgotten that I'd once had the idea of running a campaign that revolved around empires run by characters with bloodlines. I got about halfway through the list, detailing the kinds of empires each had, or the role they played in other empires. I'm actually sort of intrigued by it, so much so that I might finish the rest of the entries, and touch up what's already there. I'll never get to run the campaign, but I find that campaign design can be a past time of its own.
Mostly it's just gotten me kind of nostalgic. I've got the notes for the first adventure I ever ran. The only one I ever made a flow chart for. It's 7 pages of notes, filled with science nonsense, acronyms I don't understand, and detailed encounter descriptions that, if memory serves, I completely ignored.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Lazer-Beam Eyes!
Confound it. It just finally occurred to me how awesome post-apocalyptic sword & sorcery fantasy would actually be.
At least, if "post-apocalyptic sword & sorcery fantasy" means "You are a dude with a sword, or possibly a crazy wizard. You see a robot dinosaur with laser-beam eyes stomping across the blasted landscape on the horizon."
This is going to drive me crazy. Because as much fun as the hex map is, and as weird as it is, it's still very much standard D&D fantasy, with elves and forests and kings in castles. And that's cool, and I made a conscious decision to do it that way, because this if I run it at all it will probably be for a group of people who haven't played D&D before, and I'd like them to get an idea of what the baseline is.
Don't know if that's a necessary thing. It seems like a good idea, but I don't have enough direct experience in the area to know for sure.
This is the sort of thing I would normally subject to a quick poll from the group, but right now, I don't have a group.
Which brings up another point: how much is this something that I want to run at some point, and how much is it something that I'm using to kill time until I get another group together? Also, it's not like I can't keep working on the current hex map, with the intention of running it, and start on a stranger world that's more an exercise in awesome-osity.
At least, if "post-apocalyptic sword & sorcery fantasy" means "You are a dude with a sword, or possibly a crazy wizard. You see a robot dinosaur with laser-beam eyes stomping across the blasted landscape on the horizon."
This is going to drive me crazy. Because as much fun as the hex map is, and as weird as it is, it's still very much standard D&D fantasy, with elves and forests and kings in castles. And that's cool, and I made a conscious decision to do it that way, because this if I run it at all it will probably be for a group of people who haven't played D&D before, and I'd like them to get an idea of what the baseline is.
Don't know if that's a necessary thing. It seems like a good idea, but I don't have enough direct experience in the area to know for sure.
This is the sort of thing I would normally subject to a quick poll from the group, but right now, I don't have a group.
Which brings up another point: how much is this something that I want to run at some point, and how much is it something that I'm using to kill time until I get another group together? Also, it's not like I can't keep working on the current hex map, with the intention of running it, and start on a stranger world that's more an exercise in awesome-osity.
Monday, August 06, 2007
A Sign of True Excellence
Monday, July 23, 2007
Quotes III
"I don't want to attain immortality through my works. I want to get it by not dying." Woody Allen
"Incompetence is not a defense." Designated Sidekick
"The less I know about Japan, the better of a person I am." David
"Here, eat cake. It solves problems." David
"Nothing bad can happen to you on the internet. There is an internet in the way." quantumelfmage
"A blurdy blurdy blur!" Captain Blank
"If I were a Death Eater, I would have been sure to research my own jam preferences before impersonating myself." Albus Dumbledore
"The pope does not have power over time." Captain Blank
"Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain!" Arthur Weasley
"Free at last! You're all dead, but we are free at last!" Richard
"You can't pull an echidna backwards through a cardigan." Tanya Cochran
"The threatened houses are now out of the woods. The woods themselves, however, are still largely on fire." Los Angeles Reporter
"We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses." Carl Jung
"Edge will retain, probably by escaping the cage rather than by decisively defeating his opponent." Paul O'Brien
"If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge an evil mutant." Paul O'Brien
"Pudding is the only substance that is transdimensional by nature." Evil Jon
“Turning people inside out and sideways is wrong, and I can stop whenever I want to.” Dr. Bonefish
"Everyone knows God is larger than normal people, so he needs larger cookies." quantumelfmage
"Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced." Barry Gehm
"Time magazine won't put headless corpses on the cover! It doesn't play well with their target demographic of people with heads!" Desmond Fish-Man
"When the Phantom Stranger is at your wedding it means one of two things: either you are really really cool or your marriage is not going to turn out well." Scipio
"On second thought, let's not go to Guam." quantumelfmage
"And by halflings, you mean horrible subtraction errors." Oddysey
"Unfinished jokes and lies are probably an acquired taste, humor-wise." Tycho
"As long as we live in a culture where the good guys sometimes sound just like the misogynists, the misogynists are never going to get the message that they are not normal and that most people–strong, successful men included–do not hate women." Kate Harding
"NOBODY HERE IS TRYING TO SELL CRACK TO YOUR FUCKING CHILDREN, KEVIN." Josh Olson
"Begone, demon, or be plagued with high interest rates!" Lars Sturtz
"More games should feature bears attempting to maul the good guys." Jeff Rients
"You want the demon alive and uncancelled." Ray Chason
"Can't sleep. Future will eat me." Kestrel
"Writers write. Bees bee. Bears bear. It’s pretty simple." Kevin Arbouet
"No officer, it was failure to yield to bears." quantumelfmage
"You've definitely got to swoon like a man." Michael Oliver
"Incompetence is not a defense." Designated Sidekick
"The less I know about Japan, the better of a person I am." David
"Here, eat cake. It solves problems." David
"Nothing bad can happen to you on the internet. There is an internet in the way." quantumelfmage
"A blurdy blurdy blur!" Captain Blank
"If I were a Death Eater, I would have been sure to research my own jam preferences before impersonating myself." Albus Dumbledore
"The pope does not have power over time." Captain Blank
"Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain!" Arthur Weasley
"Free at last! You're all dead, but we are free at last!" Richard
"You can't pull an echidna backwards through a cardigan." Tanya Cochran
"The threatened houses are now out of the woods. The woods themselves, however, are still largely on fire." Los Angeles Reporter
"We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses." Carl Jung
"Edge will retain, probably by escaping the cage rather than by decisively defeating his opponent." Paul O'Brien
"If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge an evil mutant." Paul O'Brien
"Pudding is the only substance that is transdimensional by nature." Evil Jon
“Turning people inside out and sideways is wrong, and I can stop whenever I want to.” Dr. Bonefish
"Everyone knows God is larger than normal people, so he needs larger cookies." quantumelfmage
"Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced." Barry Gehm
"Time magazine won't put headless corpses on the cover! It doesn't play well with their target demographic of people with heads!" Desmond Fish-Man
"When the Phantom Stranger is at your wedding it means one of two things: either you are really really cool or your marriage is not going to turn out well." Scipio
"On second thought, let's not go to Guam." quantumelfmage
"And by halflings, you mean horrible subtraction errors." Oddysey
"Unfinished jokes and lies are probably an acquired taste, humor-wise." Tycho
"As long as we live in a culture where the good guys sometimes sound just like the misogynists, the misogynists are never going to get the message that they are not normal and that most people–strong, successful men included–do not hate women." Kate Harding
"NOBODY HERE IS TRYING TO SELL CRACK TO YOUR FUCKING CHILDREN, KEVIN." Josh Olson
"Begone, demon, or be plagued with high interest rates!" Lars Sturtz
"More games should feature bears attempting to maul the good guys." Jeff Rients
"You want the demon alive and uncancelled." Ray Chason
"Can't sleep. Future will eat me." Kestrel
"Writers write. Bees bee. Bears bear. It’s pretty simple." Kevin Arbouet
"No officer, it was failure to yield to bears." quantumelfmage
"You've definitely got to swoon like a man." Michael Oliver
Monday, July 09, 2007
Not That I Need A Reason
Transformers is awesome.
I've seen it twice already. I may go see it again in theaters, and I'll definitely watch it twelve times when it comes out on DVD.
I spent a long time trying to figure out why. I have two posts, 500 words, trying to explain why. Like I had to justify myself. Pointing out all the reasons why it's good, all the aspects of it that are good.
Except that's not why I like this movie. I could go on and on about the acting, the writing, the music, the cinematography, whatever. It's good, it's not good, ultimately, it doesn't matter. Because that's none of that is why I like the movie. It may be what allows me to like the movie, but it's not why.
I like this movie because I can honestly imagine hanging out with the Autobots. Doing this, just chilling, whatever. I can imagine enjoying being around them.
It hit me, as I was trying to explain why I like this movie, that this is what defines the stories that I truly love. Hulk, Hellboy, Animorphs. There are others. X-Men satisfies this criteria, to a somewhat more limited extend, and Oblivion probably falls in this category. Maybe Reboot. But those are the main ones--and now Transformers falls solidly in that category.
These are stories that I desperately want to be real. I feel like that in a general way about a number of things: robots, AI generally, (friendly) aliens, space travel. (This is why I read science fiction. I want it to be true.) But these are specific stories that I want to be true. These are characters that I want to be real. These are people I want to meet.
That's why Transformers is awesome.
I've seen it twice already. I may go see it again in theaters, and I'll definitely watch it twelve times when it comes out on DVD.
I spent a long time trying to figure out why. I have two posts, 500 words, trying to explain why. Like I had to justify myself. Pointing out all the reasons why it's good, all the aspects of it that are good.
Except that's not why I like this movie. I could go on and on about the acting, the writing, the music, the cinematography, whatever. It's good, it's not good, ultimately, it doesn't matter. Because that's none of that is why I like the movie. It may be what allows me to like the movie, but it's not why.
I like this movie because I can honestly imagine hanging out with the Autobots. Doing this, just chilling, whatever. I can imagine enjoying being around them.
It hit me, as I was trying to explain why I like this movie, that this is what defines the stories that I truly love. Hulk, Hellboy, Animorphs. There are others. X-Men satisfies this criteria, to a somewhat more limited extend, and Oblivion probably falls in this category. Maybe Reboot. But those are the main ones--and now Transformers falls solidly in that category.
These are stories that I desperately want to be real. I feel like that in a general way about a number of things: robots, AI generally, (friendly) aliens, space travel. (This is why I read science fiction. I want it to be true.) But these are specific stories that I want to be true. These are characters that I want to be real. These are people I want to meet.
That's why Transformers is awesome.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
You'd Really Have To Hear It
Have you heard of The New Dominions?
They're an a cappella group. They sing rock songs. By which I mean, they sing the lyrics. And the percussion. And the other instrumentation. And the wacky tech bits.
They sing "Drive My Car" on their latest album, Almost Awesome. "Drive My Car" has a guitar solo.
It is possible to sing a guitar solo.
I don't mean that it's possible to produce the same notes as a guitar solo. I mean that it's possible to produce roughly the expected sound of a guitar solo with your voice. Or with someone's voice.
Maybe this is a normal thing. Maybe to everyone else, this is just another day in the world of music. But to me, this is new. And it rocks my world.
They're an a cappella group. They sing rock songs. By which I mean, they sing the lyrics. And the percussion. And the other instrumentation. And the wacky tech bits.
They sing "Drive My Car" on their latest album, Almost Awesome. "Drive My Car" has a guitar solo.
It is possible to sing a guitar solo.
I don't mean that it's possible to produce the same notes as a guitar solo. I mean that it's possible to produce roughly the expected sound of a guitar solo with your voice. Or with someone's voice.
Maybe this is a normal thing. Maybe to everyone else, this is just another day in the world of music. But to me, this is new. And it rocks my world.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Strangely Attractive
This is the geekiest, and the most frightening, thing I've seen all week. Batman. LEGO. LEGO Batman. Naturally, Nightwing has truly strange hair.
There are plans for a video game.
There are plans for a video game.
Saturday, June 09, 2007
I sang to a llama because that’s how I roll
Got this awesome blog meme from Jeff's Gameblog. It's just crazy enough to work!
Fwd: I smelled a noodle because I'm sexy and I do what I want.
Fwd: I yelled at my science teacher because I'm sexy and I do what I want.
Subject: I ran over a stuffed animal because Big Bird said to and he's my leader
Work the 3 tables below, then: type out the sentence you end up with in the subject line of a blog post and copy this text. Also, link back to the blog you read it on. DON'T LEAVE ME HANGING ALONE!
Pick the month you were born:
January-------I kicked
February-----I loved
March--------I karate chopped
April----------I licked
May---------- I jumped on
June---------- I smelled
July-----------I did the Macarena With
August-------I had lunch with
September---I danced with
October------I sang to
November----I yelled at
December----I ran over
Pick the day (number) you were born on:
1-------a birdbath
2-------a monster
3-------a phone
4-------a fork
5-------a snowman
6-------a gangster
7-------my cell phone
8-------my dog
9-------my best friends' boyfriend
10-------my neighbor
11---- ---my science teacher
12-------a banana
13-------a fireman
14-------a stuffe d animal
15-------a goat
16-------a pickle
17-------your mom
18---- ---a spoon
19------- a smurf
20-------a baseball bat
21-------a ninja
22-------Chuck Norris
23-------a noodle
24-------a squirrel
25-------a football player
26-------my sister
27-------my brother
28-------an ipod
29-------a surfer
30-------a llama
31-------A homeless guy
Pick the color of shirt you are wearing:
White---------because I'm cool like that
Black---------because that's how I roll.
Pink----------because I'm NOT crazy.
Red-----------because the voices told me to
Blue----------because I'm sexy and I do what I want.
Green---------because I think I need some serious help.
Purple--------because I'm AWESOME!
Gray----------because Big Bird said to and he's my leader.
Yellow--------because someone offered me 1 ,000,000 dollars
Orange --------because my family thinks I'm stupid anyway.
Brown ---------because I can.
Other---------because I'm a Ninja !
None----------because I can't control myself.
Now type out the sentence you made and put in your subject line and copy the text of this post.
Don't forget to link back to the person that tagged you!
Fwd: I smelled a noodle because I'm sexy and I do what I want.
Fwd: I yelled at my science teacher because I'm sexy and I do what I want.
Subject: I ran over a stuffed animal because Big Bird said to and he's my leader
Work the 3 tables below, then: type out the sentence you end up with in the subject line of a blog post and copy this text. Also, link back to the blog you read it on. DON'T LEAVE ME HANGING ALONE!
Pick the month you were born:
January-------I kicked
February-----I loved
March--------I karate chopped
April----------I licked
May---------- I jumped on
June---------- I smelled
July-----------I did the Macarena With
August-------I had lunch with
September---I danced with
October------I sang to
November----I yelled at
December----I ran over
Pick the day (number) you were born on:
1-------a birdbath
2-------a monster
3-------a phone
4-------a fork
5-------a snowman
6-------a gangster
7-------my cell phone
8-------my dog
9-------my best friends' boyfriend
10-------my neighbor
11---- ---my science teacher
12-------a banana
13-------a fireman
14-------a stuffe d animal
15-------a goat
16-------a pickle
17-------your mom
18---- ---a spoon
19------- a smurf
20-------a baseball bat
21-------a ninja
22-------Chuck Norris
23-------a noodle
24-------a squirrel
25-------a football player
26-------my sister
27-------my brother
28-------an ipod
29-------a surfer
30-------a llama
31-------A homeless guy
Pick the color of shirt you are wearing:
White---------because I'm cool like that
Black---------because that's how I roll.
Pink----------because I'm NOT crazy.
Red-----------because the voices told me to
Blue----------because I'm sexy and I do what I want.
Green---------because I think I need some serious help.
Purple--------because I'm AWESOME!
Gray----------because Big Bird said to and he's my leader.
Yellow--------because someone offered me 1 ,000,000 dollars
Orange --------because my family thinks I'm stupid anyway.
Brown ---------because I can.
Other---------because I'm a Ninja !
None----------because I can't control myself.
Now type out the sentence you made and put in your subject line and copy the text of this post.
Don't forget to link back to the person that tagged you!
Sunday, June 03, 2007
WoAdWriMo: Best Name Ever
This is a bit late, but-- Worldwide Adventure Writing Month! It's awesome! Tell your friends!
I haven't quite decided that I'm going to do it, on account of having a lot of stuff that is to be happening this month. But, most of it is in the first half, and then I'll have a lot of (hypothetical) free time.
I've done National Novel Writing Month, so part of me says I should do it just on that account. So I can say I've done both, and because it can't be any harder. I hope.
I'm thinking that my somewhat misreading of Keep on the Borderlands might not be a bad place to start. Also, something desert themed. Probably do D&D, or maybe possibly d20 Modern/Future, because I have a decent idea of what works in those systems.
Not that I have any idea how to write an adventure. I've never actually run a published adventure, if you don't count three hours worth of Nightfang Spire which I subsequently abandoned because it was weird and incomprehensible and really not what anyone in the group was looking for. I've run a couple of decent campaigns, but I've never run anything remotely approximating an adventure, because it's unusual for me to work in such episodic terms.
Which is, oddly enough, why I think I should do this WoAdWriMo thing. Because I've never done anything much like it, and I don't think I'd be likely to for any reason other than a defined event like this.
I haven't quite decided that I'm going to do it, on account of having a lot of stuff that is to be happening this month. But, most of it is in the first half, and then I'll have a lot of (hypothetical) free time.
I've done National Novel Writing Month, so part of me says I should do it just on that account. So I can say I've done both, and because it can't be any harder. I hope.
I'm thinking that my somewhat misreading of Keep on the Borderlands might not be a bad place to start. Also, something desert themed. Probably do D&D, or maybe possibly d20 Modern/Future, because I have a decent idea of what works in those systems.
Not that I have any idea how to write an adventure. I've never actually run a published adventure, if you don't count three hours worth of Nightfang Spire which I subsequently abandoned because it was weird and incomprehensible and really not what anyone in the group was looking for. I've run a couple of decent campaigns, but I've never run anything remotely approximating an adventure, because it's unusual for me to work in such episodic terms.
Which is, oddly enough, why I think I should do this WoAdWriMo thing. Because I've never done anything much like it, and I don't think I'd be likely to for any reason other than a defined event like this.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Quotes II
"If I was in a gang, I'd totally run away from Wishbone, because I'd be all like 'Oh shit! It's Wishbone!'" -- David
"They sell themselves for money on the street. To inanimate objects." -- David
"I knew that someday Flava Flav would influence trends in European high-fashion." -- Dr. Thorpe
"You have failed to protect the Queen. Turn in your big tall hat immediately and report to the runway." -- Dr. Thorpe
"Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad with power." -- Charles Beard
“Wake up! We need to leave before the black market closes.” – Captain Blank
"No one ever shanked Jesus." -- Qwerty
"Anything genocide-related, I want to save as a last resort." Secretary of Defense Robert Stark
"I got a crush for the freaky one, and nothing feels better than Machinegun GoGo." -- Panzer AG
"Things are more like they are now than they have ever been before." -- Dwight Eisenhower
"A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week." -- General George S. Patton
"Cheerios are full of mystery!" -- Kevin Read (?)
"I think it's a helpful thing for the development of the character of a young person to be different from their peers. It's a blessing to be different and stand up for that." -- Mitt Romney
"Oddysey, Marill breeding is not a valid hobby." -- Rae
"Everywhere I go I'm asked if I think the universities stifle writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them. There's many a best-seller that could have been prevented by a good teacher." -- Flannery O'Connor
"There's no excuse to be bored. Sad, yes. Angry, yes. Depressed, yes. Crazy, yes. But there is no excuse for boredom, ever." -- Viggo Mortensen
"I realize I am generalizing here, but, as is often the case when I generalize, I don't care." -- Dave Barry
"It's kind of like porn, Keith. It's Star Trek." -- Margaret S.
"Saving world. Please don't turn off your computer." -- Fable
"It's like trip spec'ing, except with the Force." -- Rae
"If you are of the opinion that the contemplation of suicide is sufficient evidence of a poetic nature, do not forget that actions speak louder than words."
-- Fran Lebowitz
"What was his name? Banjo or something? Played the drums for the Beatles." -- Qwerty
"It is my opinion that if you put a hat on a bear, you deserve whatever comes next." -- Gabe
"You know, there's a fine line between excessive sarcasm and permanent bitterness." -- Phillip
"This is America, which makes you the Prince of absolutely fucking nobody." -- Paul
"Oh, sure. We're safe from Lite Brites. But what'll happen when the Lego people of Connectitron-5 attack?" -- Mike Dowden
"Think of alignment as crusty ol' grandpa in his rocker. Old, wants to help you, and not always very lucid." -- Rick_TWA
"If I had a reason for everything I did, I'd be crazy." -- Fighter
"That quiet chomping noise you're hearing is the noise that my backbrain makes while it's eating my forebrain." -- Darren MacLennan
"They sell themselves for money on the street. To inanimate objects." -- David
"I knew that someday Flava Flav would influence trends in European high-fashion." -- Dr. Thorpe
"You have failed to protect the Queen. Turn in your big tall hat immediately and report to the runway." -- Dr. Thorpe
"Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad with power." -- Charles Beard
“Wake up! We need to leave before the black market closes.” – Captain Blank
"No one ever shanked Jesus." -- Qwerty
"Anything genocide-related, I want to save as a last resort." Secretary of Defense Robert Stark
"I got a crush for the freaky one, and nothing feels better than Machinegun GoGo." -- Panzer AG
"Things are more like they are now than they have ever been before." -- Dwight Eisenhower
"A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week." -- General George S. Patton
"Cheerios are full of mystery!" -- Kevin Read (?)
"I think it's a helpful thing for the development of the character of a young person to be different from their peers. It's a blessing to be different and stand up for that." -- Mitt Romney
"Oddysey, Marill breeding is not a valid hobby." -- Rae
"Everywhere I go I'm asked if I think the universities stifle writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them. There's many a best-seller that could have been prevented by a good teacher." -- Flannery O'Connor
"There's no excuse to be bored. Sad, yes. Angry, yes. Depressed, yes. Crazy, yes. But there is no excuse for boredom, ever." -- Viggo Mortensen
"I realize I am generalizing here, but, as is often the case when I generalize, I don't care." -- Dave Barry
"It's kind of like porn, Keith. It's Star Trek." -- Margaret S.
"Saving world. Please don't turn off your computer." -- Fable
"It's like trip spec'ing, except with the Force." -- Rae
"If you are of the opinion that the contemplation of suicide is sufficient evidence of a poetic nature, do not forget that actions speak louder than words."
-- Fran Lebowitz
"What was his name? Banjo or something? Played the drums for the Beatles." -- Qwerty
"It is my opinion that if you put a hat on a bear, you deserve whatever comes next." -- Gabe
"You know, there's a fine line between excessive sarcasm and permanent bitterness." -- Phillip
"This is America, which makes you the Prince of absolutely fucking nobody." -- Paul
"Oh, sure. We're safe from Lite Brites. But what'll happen when the Lego people of Connectitron-5 attack?" -- Mike Dowden
"Think of alignment as crusty ol' grandpa in his rocker. Old, wants to help you, and not always very lucid." -- Rick_TWA
"If I had a reason for everything I did, I'd be crazy." -- Fighter
"That quiet chomping noise you're hearing is the noise that my backbrain makes while it's eating my forebrain." -- Darren MacLennan
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
On To Something
Best. Theory. Ever.
Alberto Gonzales and Kyle Sampson (his ex-chief of staff) are gamers, and that's why they can't remember anything about the firings. They were too busy rolling dice.
Alberto Gonzales and Kyle Sampson (his ex-chief of staff) are gamers, and that's why they can't remember anything about the firings. They were too busy rolling dice.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Quotes
"The meaning of life is 'bucket'" -- Richard
"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary." - James D. Nicoll
"I'm coming up there to get you! I'm walking up the steps now!" -- Batman, Ninja Master of Surprise
"Without my power ring, I'm superpowerless--except from the waist down!" -- Green Lantern, Hal Jordan
"So I built a third scientist! That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp!" -- John Seavey
"Lawyers make me think of the 70s." -- Qwerty
"Fear! The crack that might flood your brain with light!" -- Guildenstern
"Step away from the lobster trap." -- Batman
"The time to stop talking is when the other person nods his head affirmatively but says nothing." -- Henry H. Haskins
"Those of us make stuff up for a living face a wide variety of possible ways to make ourselves crazy." -- Robin D. Laws
"I heard a rumor that you're an idiot. Any truth to that?" -- Owyn
"The dumber people think you are, the more surprised they are going to be when you kill them." -- William Clayton
"Reality is a pie of which I do not require another slice." -- Shelley Winters
"It's an empty journey to triumph if you don't plant the seeds of catastrophe along the way." -- Tim Jones
"The safest way to approach lava is to have another person with you and he goes first." -- Volcano photographer Villi Knudsen
"Laughter is the best medicine. Next to sex, of course. And medicine." -- Vice Pope Doug
"True freedom is found by looking inside mountains filled with lava." -- Riff
"All men are frauds. The only difference between them is that some admit it. I myself deny it." -- H. L. Mencken
"I wish I could find out who was responsible for the 'orcs look like orangutans, half-orcs look like Kramer' artistic decision." -- pawsplay, on RPGnet
"It takes a village to raise a child, but it takes a Viking to raze a village." -- Jeff Meija, a.k.a. "the Evil DM"
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." -- Lazarus Long
"It's all good clean fun until someone gets their sword polished with poison." -- Captain Blank
"How many boards could the Mongols hoard if the Mongol horde got bored?" -- Calvin
"Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo."
"Dhaaaaa!" -- Dimo
“You cut his arm off!” – Lars
“Um . . . dis vos de right von, yah?” Ognian
“It’s melting!” – Lars
“Yop. Dot vas it.” – Ognian
"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary." - James D. Nicoll
"I'm coming up there to get you! I'm walking up the steps now!" -- Batman, Ninja Master of Surprise
"Without my power ring, I'm superpowerless--except from the waist down!" -- Green Lantern, Hal Jordan
"So I built a third scientist! That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp!" -- John Seavey
"Lawyers make me think of the 70s." -- Qwerty
"Fear! The crack that might flood your brain with light!" -- Guildenstern
"Step away from the lobster trap." -- Batman
"The time to stop talking is when the other person nods his head affirmatively but says nothing." -- Henry H. Haskins
"Those of us make stuff up for a living face a wide variety of possible ways to make ourselves crazy." -- Robin D. Laws
"I heard a rumor that you're an idiot. Any truth to that?" -- Owyn
"The dumber people think you are, the more surprised they are going to be when you kill them." -- William Clayton
"Reality is a pie of which I do not require another slice." -- Shelley Winters
"It's an empty journey to triumph if you don't plant the seeds of catastrophe along the way." -- Tim Jones
"The safest way to approach lava is to have another person with you and he goes first." -- Volcano photographer Villi Knudsen
"Laughter is the best medicine. Next to sex, of course. And medicine." -- Vice Pope Doug
"True freedom is found by looking inside mountains filled with lava." -- Riff
"All men are frauds. The only difference between them is that some admit it. I myself deny it." -- H. L. Mencken
"I wish I could find out who was responsible for the 'orcs look like orangutans, half-orcs look like Kramer' artistic decision." -- pawsplay, on RPGnet
"It takes a village to raise a child, but it takes a Viking to raze a village." -- Jeff Meija, a.k.a. "the Evil DM"
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." -- Lazarus Long
"It's all good clean fun until someone gets their sword polished with poison." -- Captain Blank
"How many boards could the Mongols hoard if the Mongol horde got bored?" -- Calvin
"Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo."
"Dhaaaaa!" -- Dimo
“You cut his arm off!” – Lars
“Um . . . dis vos de right von, yah?” Ognian
“It’s melting!” – Lars
“Yop. Dot vas it.” – Ognian
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Best. Webcomic. Evar.
Seriously. Yeah, I'm writing two posts in a row about the same thing, but Girl Genius is Just. That. Awesome.
It's got mad scientists. It's got robots. It's got constructs. (Oh, man, does it have constructs.) It's got wacky Germanic accents, a circus, lunatic heroes, hats, plumbers, and a talking cat.
Mostly, what it's got is win.
All the characters have clear, unique voices. I can hear these people, the way they talk, and they all talk in a distinctive way. There's heavy use of dialect, which is normally a bad thing, but in this case it's cool. (My theory is that it's a large group of characters that all use the same dialect, so you don't have to learn a different one for each individual character. And it's very funny, the way they talk.)
It also exercises my plot sense, (like spider sense, only for plot rather than danger) in an extremely satisfying way. Everything that happens feels right, but it never feels boring. It's always, "That's exactly what has to happen! Awesome!" and never, "Gee, I kinda saw that coming." It escalates a lot, with plot twists galore, but it never feels cheap. It's exciting, and frustrating, but in a seriously awesome way.
It's got major character death that doesn't feel like a lame plot device! It's crazy!
Yeah, so, read it. NOW!
It's got mad scientists. It's got robots. It's got constructs. (Oh, man, does it have constructs.) It's got wacky Germanic accents, a circus, lunatic heroes, hats, plumbers, and a talking cat.
Mostly, what it's got is win.
All the characters have clear, unique voices. I can hear these people, the way they talk, and they all talk in a distinctive way. There's heavy use of dialect, which is normally a bad thing, but in this case it's cool. (My theory is that it's a large group of characters that all use the same dialect, so you don't have to learn a different one for each individual character. And it's very funny, the way they talk.)
It also exercises my plot sense, (like spider sense, only for plot rather than danger) in an extremely satisfying way. Everything that happens feels right, but it never feels boring. It's always, "That's exactly what has to happen! Awesome!" and never, "Gee, I kinda saw that coming." It escalates a lot, with plot twists galore, but it never feels cheap. It's exciting, and frustrating, but in a seriously awesome way.
It's got major character death that doesn't feel like a lame plot device! It's crazy!
Yeah, so, read it. NOW!
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