July 2005

The Postal Service

Recently I've seen several psychedelic M&Ms commercials with slow, hauntingly familiar music playing in the background. I couldn't place it but I knew I'd heard another version of that song somewhere before - and as I hardly listen to the radio any more I doubted it was from there.

Lo and behold, I found it by searching through my iTunes library. Apparently it's one of the free songs I got from indiefeed. The original version, by The Postal Service, is a bit faster and has a more electronic edge, but to me it still feels soft and relaxing - not something I'd listen to in the car, but nice for after I've gotten home.

A quick search shows that they've also got a website and are available on the iTunes Music Store as well.

3's the charm

Say hello to Jocelyn Smith, who will be played by Kim. I henceforth promise to no longer be whiny about not enough people playing to make it a good game - I'm sorry if it was a bit much for some of you.

Everything's to be falling into place ... Mwa-HAHAHAHAHAHAHA ... er ... sorry about that.

Seriously, it looks like we'll be starting the game on Wednesday.

Another BESM Update

We've got a new character up on the page: Gavin Sizemore, who will be played by Nate. There will also be a new NPC (the spoiled brat that raced Fatt's character and is the nemesis of Paul's PC) as soon as Paul puts the finishing touches on his character.

Deck Rebuild and BESM Update

I rebuilt my Rolo-deck, taking it back up to 100 cards and fixing a mana imbalance. I also added some cards that I'm not going to talk about, since it'll be more fun to see people's faces when I play them. (They're not THAT good ... just different.)

I also surprised myself by building my first black deck in a long time. I call that one my "Pests" deck and, like all new decks I build, I have no idea how well it'll work.

Why the sudden deck building? I'd say it's 50% hold over from our recent gaming binge in Scranton and 50% waiting for characters to roll in for the BESM d20 game I'd like to run. When I first started telling people about it I was quite happy with the number of people who said they might play, but so far I only have one character submitted and one more potentially on the way. I suppose I should have expected a turnout like that, but oh well.

If you've been thinking of joining my campaign and just haven't gotten around to making up a character, please give the free rulebook a gander and send something in. Otherwise, I'll be starting next week with the 2 players I have so far.

Books Books Books.

I just finished Orson Scott Card's Speaker for the Dead not five minutes ago, and I already feel like I should go out and buy another book in the series. Although Ender is still the main character, this book is NOTHING like Ender's Game. Still, it's a good read and it actually kept me off of the internet. That in itself is a measure of how much I liked it.

Still, I won't be reading any books in the Ender series any time soon. I haven't even cracked the spine of the new Harry Potter book (Curse you, Stana and Kim! How could you finish so fast?!), and then there's those three books that Paul loaned me.

Heh - it's amusing to think that last year I was beginning to worry that I wasn't reading many books as I used to.

Historic Tale Construction Kit

I found this to be amusing, but I couldn't play with it without thinking of Monty Python.

Big Day

Kelli gets the stitches out today. She'll still have to wear the boots for another 3 weeks, but this might help her walk with less pain.

Free RPG Stuff

I posted a while back about 1000 Blank White Cards, a free game that, now that I play tested it with a few people (Kelli, Paul, Kim, & Fatt), I like even more.

Now that I'm working on starting up a BESM d20 campaign I'm trying to collect more resources to help me out. Since I think I've spent enough money on RPGS recently that can only mean one thing.

Find free stuff online.

My first stop was the Guardians of Order website. They have a nice selection of free downloads, including a complete set of the rules for BESM d20. I don't regret getting the book, but the downloadable version is a nice plan B.

My next stop was to the official page for Wizards of the Coast. They have a nice sized selection of downloads as well, and to be honest I'm still going through them. I'm most likely going to take bits and pieces of their free adventures to round out my campaign, since I already have a strong idea for how I want the plot to go.

My last stop (for now, at least) was to RPG Now. True, it's a commercial site, but they do have a section for free downloads relating to a variety of games.

So, now that I have all the pieces, I just have to put them together. BWA-HAHAHAHAAH ... um, sorry.

Beginning of the end.

I saw my first back to school commercial today. My days of sleeping in until noon are surely numbered.

Attack of the quotes!

"I want a hunka chunka peanut butter" - Beka

"I'll explain it later, if you're bored." - Me

"I probably won't be that bored." - Gretchen

"I'm a ninja today! HIYA!" - Gretchen

"You shouldn't speak with my mouth full." - Me

"Have you seen a weight bearing camera?" - Beka

3 things

1.
We went back to the hospital today to check on Kelli's ankles. First a nurse looked at them, then a doctor, than two more doctors, and finally yet another doctor. Then one of the previous doctors came in and wrapped them back up in ace bandages and put them back in what I refer to as the "Goth Boots." Everything looks nice and the stitches should come out in two weeks.

2.
My sisters and I are doing a get-together in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Gretchen wants to see the cute sharks in the Aquarium, Beka wants to see the American Visionary Art Museum, and we all want to stop at the Discovery Store and play with the toys. Of course I'd be happy just visiting the 2-story Barnes & Noble they have.

3.
Filibuster hits the nail right on the head.

4.
There is no 4th thing.

What the ... ? #5: Army Guy

(I'm beginning to run low on unusual marketing ideas. If you have any good ones, please send a pic to the email address below.)

This edition of "What the ... ?" was at first just written off as your usual sterroid abusing (You can't see it in the pic, but his chest was at least 3 times the size of his waist - that's just not right!) paramilitary tough guy action figure with a gun that would give Freud plenty to write about., but on closer inspection I noticed something odd about his facial hair.

Now I know that there are many ways to wear facial hair, but never before have I seen anyone - toy or otherwise - shave his face but let the hairs on his neck grow into a nice, thick, beard. Honestly, if I had owned a toy like that in my youth I would have had him rushing into battle screaming "Fear the fury of my neck hair, evil scum!"

Granted, it might actually be some type of neck warmer or other kind of clothing, but then I think it would cover more of his neck than that thin little strip.

... perhaps the artist that sculpted the prototype just had problems with neck proportions and needed a way to cut corners?

Masamune Movie

Way back when I was just barely starting to find out about anime I came across a cartoon by Masamune Shirow - an artist who, in my opinion, is one of the best out there. Like any artist he's had good days and bad days, but I recently picked up a new copy of Appleseed and I'm really glad I did.

Now I've read the first few books of the manga and seen the original movie, so I had a good idea of the characters and setting for the 2004 flick. The plot was different enough to keep me guessing through the whole thing, however. (I expected that as well, since Masamune Shirow was once quoted as saying he never wanted to tell the same story twice.)

As for the animation quality ... I've seen my fair share of cartoons where the animators got their hands on some computers and said "Hey, let's see what we can do with these!" This of course led to many cartoons where the CG graphics and traditional animation blended like oil and water. This was not one of those cartoons. There was enough of a CG feel in the characters and enough of a "hand drawn" style in everything else to help everything mesh well.

If you like anime, sci-fi, or philosophy, you should check this one out.

Face from Space

You know that whole bit about a face on Mars? Looks like the Martians have something to look at, too. (Thanks, Google Sightseeing!)

1000 Blank White Cards

This sounds like a cool idea. Sparksol posted a link to this game, which encompasses creating a deck of cards before and in some cases while you're playing it. It doesn't actually entail creating 1000 cards, unless of course you want to do a marathon game session.

Sound like it could get unbalanced fast? The came creators thought that too. I quote:

Q: Is winning important in this game? A: Absolutely not at all. The whole thing is pretty arbitrary and random; in fact, it's almost impossible to win intentionally. Sure, you could make a card that says "+ 1 Hojillion Points" and play it on yourself, but how long do you think it will take another player to make a card that forces you to eat it? Aggressive play simply doesn't work very well. The real object of the game is to draw silly pictures and have fun. Cheesy, yes, but true.

I really want to give this game a try now. Anybody have some index cards?

[EDIT: Looks like there's also a Wikipedia entry on the subject.]